Elena was pulled into a place unlike any other. This time, she was certain there was no coming back.

  She could no longer feel her body. There was no ground beneath her feet, no sky above her head. There was only a world of pure, featureless white-no shadows, no beginning, and no end. The white light was painfully bright, impossible to discern, as if it were a living entity swallowing everything in its path.

  Her right hand moved on its own-an involuntary twitch. Her index finger reached out toward the void. The light rippled like a stone falling into still water. Golden circles shimmered and expanded, surging toward her as if responding to a hidden call. A soft, serene melody rose, announcing a momentous event.

  Luminous particles, like shards of light, drifted into her body and sank deep within. They settled in her lower back, forming a third tattoo. The ancient patterns interlaced, glowing softly with a warm light and a unique magic.

  This time, after retrieving the third mark-The Mark of Creation-Elena could not regain control of her body. She was startled; the last two times, she had regained command instantly. What is happening now?

  Suddenly, she ascended, soaring upward at a staggering speed. A transparent bubble enveloped her-soft as water, yet as strong as an invisible shield. She remained connected to the ground by something resembling a cord, completely sealed within. There was no sound, no air-only a deathly silence.

  Inside her mind, she screamed in terror, her voice echoing through her being:

  "Zill... what's happening?"

  "Zill, where are you?"

  No answer. Only silence. Elena continued to scream, her mind pleading in despair: "Please... don't leave me alone..." But it was in vain; no voice replied.

  Suddenly, something moved outside the bubble. It was barely visible due to its extreme speed, and then it appeared: a book floating before her. Its brown cover resembled the bark of an ancient tree, its golden engravings shimmering as the silence deepened around it. At first, there were no clear letters-only pulsing golden patterns like sunlight.

  With every pulse, the book began to "speak." It wasn't an audible voice, but a resonance directly in her mind, or perhaps she was receiving vibrations and translating them. The book spoke with a calm, deep voice, as if the wisdom of all universes were gathered into one:

  "Elena of the Prophecy, the Long-Awaited One."

  Elena could not speak, but every thought she formed was heard by the book. Terrified and trembling, she asked: "Where am I? Who are you?"

  The Book of Truth replied:

  "You are now inside the Womb of Azaveria. You shall be born anew in 45 days."

  Elena gasped. "Born anew? How can I be born anew?"

  The book answered: "Do not be hasty. I will answer all your questions. You shall not leave this place until you have every answer regarding who you truly are. Let us begin from the beginning. I am the Book of All Truths. I speak only in facts. I do not narrate; I reveal. I will make you live the past, not merely hear it."

  The book paused for a moment, then continued gently: "Though you were born of a human womb, the Sacred Light can only be planted within you by Azaveria. Everyone here was born of her womb. And now... it must be born within you."

  Though Elena's mind could barely process this, she asked again: "Where is Zill? Where am I? I want to go back to my mother and Ryo!"

  The Book of Truth replied calmly: "Elena, Zill was never separate from you."

  Still motionless within the Womb of Azaveria, she tried to understand. The book continued: "You never lost her because she was never a separate person. She has always been a part of you. She is the part of you that belongs to Azaveria, sealed within you by your father so that Tibar would not find you. But now... the time for your true birth has come."

  Overwhelmed by confusion, she asked: "Who am I? I don't recognize myself anymore."

  The book replied with reassuring stillness: "Who you are may seem like a simple question, but its answer is deeper than you imagine. To answer it... I must show you what happened from the very beginning."

  Suddenly, the book creaked open, sounding like an ancient door worn by time. It opened to the middle, and on one of the pages, a sentence was etched out of nothingness in golden letters, glowing like warm rays of sun. It was the beginning of everything.

  The scattered letters drifted into the air one by one. Then, the featureless white world began to change. The floating letters reshaped it, like curtains being lifted to reveal a hidden stage. A strange world formed-a world she had never seen before. It was as if she were standing inside a massive screen surrounding her, or perhaps a perfect simulation of a history that hadn't existed moments ago.

  Elena looked around her surroundings, observing. Everything seemed vibrant with life, yet she remained a silent observer, confined within the Womb of Azaveria-present, yet motionless.

  Then, the voice of the book returned, retrieving a lost memory in its deep, steady tone:

  "Some say it happened millions of years ago. No one knows the exact duration. It was an ancient time, nearly forgotten, when universes were formed and dimensions began to intertwine. Azaveria was created. It is not merely a planet or a world; it is a self-contained universe-a living entity of pure energy, born from the purest essence in existence."

  "In its heart, in its furthest depths, the First Source rested-an infinite origin of power buried in the deepest layers of the earth. It fed the Second Source with pure energy. The Second Source, located directly above the first, was connected to every part of Azaveria, nourishing every creature on its surface."

  Elena saw the earth breathing with energy. Massive floating trees shimmered with golden veins like luminous roots, each one pulsing with light as if made entirely of it. She saw creatures that resembled beams of light. At first, she thought they were human because of their human-like faces, but upon closer inspection, she realized they were not. They appeared as light encased in a dark, shadow-like shroud, like silhouettes. At the center of their forms, a circle of light expanded and contracted, stretching upward and downward. Glowing lines extended across their shoulders, necks, arms, and stomachs.

  But what caught Elena's attention most were those three etched symbols, arranged just like the ones she had received herself.

  Suddenly, the image shook, shifting into a completely different scene. The book's voice echoed again with a familiar tone: "More than five hundred years ago... witness the truth."

  Images appeared before Elena: armies of black shadows. Yes, she had seen them before, in the hotel. She thought to herself: I know them well. But... they look like the creatures I saw earlier...

  The book interrupted her: "What you saw before was but a simple point in the depths of truth. What you are seeing now is the beginning of the crisis... the beginning of the collapse."

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Elena's eyes returned to the vision, still and silent, as she watched. She saw massive armies invading Azaveria, its light dimming by their terrible presence. She witnessed great battles. She saw Tibar. He was there. His cold gaze and lethal smile made the entire place feel colder.

  Azaveria began to crumble. The once-luminous land was fading into darkness inch by inch. With every strike, the First Source collapsed. What made matters worse was the loss of the Heart. The First Source, which was the pillar of Azaveria and its only true origin of energy, surrendered to death.

  A death that was not eternal-for it would be reborn every five hundred years-but without its Heart, it could not function.

  The Second Source, though vital, was incapable of creating energy from nothing.

  "I have spoken the truth."

  A silence fell for a moment, as if the book had realized something profound. Elena felt a deep ache in her heart. Although she had never met the Shadows of Light before, she felt as though every fiber of her being belonged to them. She felt a responsibility toward them-a duty she could not explain.

  The book's silence did not last long; it resumed its narration in a calm, deep resonance:

  "The Shadows of Light searched every corner of the universes for a new power source. Their fate hung by a fragile thread, for they are not physical beings, but creatures made entirely of energy. If they lose their source, they vanish into nothingness. After a long and exhausting search, they discovered that the closest place they could absorb energy from was Earth."

  A vision appeared before Elena: Earth glowing blue amidst the darkness of space, like a solitary jewel in an infinite desert. The Sun was the key to survival.

  The book continued: "When sunlight passes through Earth's atmosphere, it becomes absorbable by a specific type of the Shadows of Light known as the 'Energians.' That energy is then channeled to the Second Source. Despite the scarcity of resources, this was their means of survival. But the Shadows of Light are unlike other creatures; they are the purest form of existence. They cannot take anything, no matter how necessary, without the consent of humans. Humans are the rightful owners of the Earth and all upon it."

  Elena saw how an agreement was forged with a diverse group of humans. The Shadows of Light did not gather sunlight from a single location, but distributed their presence across the globe. This diversity was what guaranteed their survival.

  "But the nature of humans carries greed in its veins. Some were content with precious stones in exchange for energy, but as eras passed, humans realized the Shadows of Light were far more intelligent. They exploited this through bargains: sunlight in exchange for advanced technology. Every few years, they obtained innovations greater than the last. And so, a new era began with the hope of recovering the Heart before the First Source was born anew."

  The world vanished, and the letters that formed it scattered rapidly, returning to their source: The Book of Truth. Once it reclaimed its letters, the book closed again without another word. A profound silence blanketed the space.

  Days passed for Elena inside the Womb of Azaveria. There was nothing to see but the pure whiteness before her-a featureless world shaped only by the letters of the Book of Truth. She looked at her body, trying to comprehend what was happening. The luminous shards scattered within the womb began to take shape upon Elena's skin, forming glowing patterns.

  She watched them closely, trying to understand the past and anticipate the future. She realized that a part of her belonged to the Shadows of Light; she was beginning to transform, nearly becoming one of them.

  But the question that remained unanswered...

  She thought in silence, then spoke with her mind, her voice breaking: "Why... me? What do I have to do with any of this?"

  Silence. No answer.

  The Day of the Long-Awaited Birth

  Suddenly, the Book of Truth opened to its center. Upon the page were letters glowing like suns. The letters were few, but their meaning was heavy:

  "The Day of the Long-Awaited Birth."

  The letters scattered once more to reshape the formless white world. The veil was lifted gradually to reveal parts of Azaveria. Elena saw a long river; it looked like water, but it wasn't. It pulsed with golden symbols, almost as if it were singing. On its banks were small, completely transparent creatures adorned with shimmering golden patterns. They leaped into the river, playing and dancing. Their tiny voices sounded like the soft melody of a flute, blending with the sound of the river. Their small bodies grew as they merged with the water, then they opened their mouths to release the glowing liquid, returning to their original size before detaching from the river.

  Watching this, a gentle warmth seeped into Elena's heart. She smiled faintly, even though she had tried for days to move any part of her body to no avail. She raised her eyes to the sky, but it was not a sky as she knew it. The sky was pitch black, without a sun, yet the place was filled with light. She focused, squinting slightly, and realized the sky wasn't dark-it was filled with tiny luminous creatures fluttering through the heavens. They were so bright they were barely visible.

  Elena noticed that everything in Azaveria bore its own unique engravings: the swaying grass, the wind, the light. Everything seemed like a living being, possessing its own identity, memory, and purpose.

  Suddenly, she saw a figure she didn't recognize, but instantly knew he was one of the Shadows of Light. He cried out with exaggerated joy, as if announcing a grand event:

  "The time has come! The Womb of Azaveria... the Long-Awaited Prince is coming!"

  He leaped into the sky, a beam of light shining from his back like the sun, flying between floating structures and transparent bridges, spreading the news across Azaveria. Everyone gathered, waiting for the moment of birth-the moment the Prince would emerge from the Womb of Azaveria.

  Moments later, the Womb descended gently, signaling full maturity. The Queen reached out and took her son, her little prince. She was overjoyed, her smile radiating across her face.

  But that smile... vanished in an instant. It was replaced by a look of fear and doubt. The Queen nearly collapsed from shock. She looked at the King in bewilderment and terror, her marks flashing rapidly. She spoke in a trembling voice filled with horror:

  "He has only two marks... The Mark of Union is missing."

  In Azaveria, the Marks of Destiny always consisted of three primary symbols: The Mark of Lineage, The Mark of Union, and The Mark of Creation. These marks organized society and ensured its continuity. The Mark of Union meant that two people carried identical marks that complemented each other-two halves of a whole. Love and attraction existed only for the person bearing the matching mark. Love was not simply given; it was bound to the marks.

  The Mark of Lineage was a single symbol. When a couple decided to have a child, a ritual of surrendering the Mark of Lineage was performed. Their marks would merge, ascend, meet, and then be enveloped by the Womb of Azaveria to form there for four and a half days. As for the Mark of Creation, it determined a person's greatest talent. The Royal Mark of Creation was inherited only by the royal bloodline.

  The newborn Prince lacked the Mark of Union. This meant the royal bloodline could not continue, which spelled the fall of Azaveria. For in this world, every person excelled only in what they were born for, and nothing else.

  But the King, despite his shock and confusion, was a king by nature. This was what gave him the wisdom to act rightly and the strength to suppress his emotions when necessary. He paused for a moment, then spoke in a calm voice-the voice of a leader born ready for battle:

  "There can be no mistake. Azaveria does not err."

  The crowd watched in astonishment and confusion. It was deeply unsettling, for they all knew that Azaveria never made mistakes. Yet, what they saw before them was nothing but an error.

  Suddenly, and without warning, a calm and enchanting voice filled the space. It was the Voice of Consciousness, a voice that rarely appeared, reserved only for Great Announcements. The wind carried it in glowing, scattered symbols that shimmered in the air.

  The Voice of Consciousness said:

  "Azaveria does not err... This was the plan from the beginning. The royal bloodline shall continue. I see a brave girl."

  Then the wind wrapped the newborn in his mother's arms like a gentle breeze and whispered clearly, yet tenderly:

  "You are Ravaz. You shall become the happiest and the saddest king Azaveria has ever known. Let us hope you find joy amidst your sorrow."

  And just like that, the voice faded, having fulfilled its mission, leaving behind an echo of unanswered questions. How could he be born without the Mark of Union? This was impossible for the Shadows of Light-inconceivable. But the Voice of Consciousness carried only the will of Azaveria. And the will of Azaveria is never questioned.

  The book reclaimed its letters once more. The formless white world returned as it was before. Elena watched calmly, as usual. The Book of Truth stood before her, its pages slowly closing again. Then it spoke with an appreciation and majesty that filled the void:

  "You have seen the truth."

  But questions swirled in Elena's mind, finding no answer to the one that haunted her: What did all of this have to do with her? Why show her things that seemed so distant, unrelated to who she was?

  The silence deepened around her. Inside the Womb of Azaveria, time itself seemed to have frozen. A heavy stillness covered the place. Then, the deep voice of the book shattered the silence:

  "The time has not yet come to know your role in this. But... do you truly wish to?"

  Elena paused. She stopped thinking for a moment, realizing that what was being shown to her was part of a linked chain of moments, and she could not reach the final link without passing through everything that came before.

  Then she spoke through her thoughts, gently: "Do what is right. You know best."

  The book's voice rose again, with its usual wisdom and calm:

  "Choices shape the future,

  but sometimes destiny leads us to choose what was ordained from the very beginning."