Maya leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed on the amulet resting in her hands as the weight of Astron's words settled over her. She let herself sink deeper into the chair, feeling the smooth wood beneath her back as her thoughts spun.
'This charm… it will allow me to confront the other part of myself.'
The concept wasn't foreign to her, not entirely. She had been aware, in her own way, of that shadow lingering within her. How many times had she woken from a nightmare, hearing a voice, her own voice, yet different—harsher, filled with a desire she couldn't quite understand?
It had been unsettling, those nights when she'd lie awake afterward, dismissing it as some lingering memory of the failed evolution.
'But was it really just a dream? Or was it something more?'
