Seraphina’s POV

My eyes flew open, and for a moment, all I could hear was the frantic pounding of my heart in my chest.

I looked around for a while, wondering if I had somehow woken up in another strange world, but to my surprise, I was back in my room. My room.

The garden, the black-and-white world, my mother—it was all gone. It had been a dream. Just a dream, but the tightness in my chest, the lingering confusion, made it hard to believe. It had felt so real.

I sat up slowly, running a hand through my hair as I tried to arrange my thoughts. The images from the dream were vivid, refusing to fade like dreams usually did.

My family’s house in Aldoria, the muted black-and-white world, my mother’s younger face… and then Solara.

Solara.

Of all the things I had seen in that dream, she had to be the most confusing one, and the dream had felt oddly specific and far too detailed for my subconscious to conjure up randomly. And then there was that face—Electra’s face.

“Electra…” I murmured, the name slipping from my lips.

The resemblance was insane. Solara’s face was so identical to Electra’s, down to the most basic details on their faces, and the only difference was a subtle maturity in Solara’s features, as though she were an older version of Electra.

It wasn’t just a passing similarity—it was as if they were the same person, with Electra being a younger version of Solara, which was impossible since my mother was in that dream, and Solara and my mother seemed about the same age.

Whoever she was, though, I was certain that she and Electra had to be connected in some way, and the thought sent a shiver down my spine.

I pushed myself off the bed, pacing the length of my room as I tried to piece together the fragments of the dream.

Could it have been some sort of flashback? A memory from long before I was born? But then why was I there, and how did Solara fit into it all? Was the dream simply for me to find out that a woman who looked identical to Electra knew my mother personally?

My pacing quickened as my thoughts spiraled, and I started to wonder if Electra had a much older sister or something. She had never mentioned an older sister—or any sibling, for that matter, but then again, we still didn’t understand why Hunter Vale existed in this world when she wasn’t supposed to have any siblings.

Unfortunately, the resemblance between her and Solara was too striking for me to just dismiss. Could it be possible that Electra was connected to this woman in ways even she didn’t know? Could she be Electra’s aunt or something?

She couldn’t possibly be Electra’s mother because I’ve met Queen Jella, and Jella and Electra didn’t look identical in any way, so that couldn’t have been a younger version of Queen Jella.

“Think, Seraphina,” I muttered to myself, dragging a hand down my face. “There has to be an explanation.”

I stopped in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection as though it might hold the answers I wanted. If only the foolish dream had at least let me hear what Solara had to say to my mother and why my mother looked so nervous.

I let out a frustrated sigh, glaring down at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was a mess, and my eyes looked tired, shadowed by the remnants of the dream.

A knock at the door startled me, breaking through the haze of my thoughts.

“Seraphina?” a voice called softly from the other side.

It was Electra’s voice. My breath caught for a moment, and I quickly turned around, wondering why she was already here by this time in the morning.

The timing of her arrival felt almost too perfect, as though she had been summoned by my thoughts.

I rushed to the door, pulling it open without hesitation, and to my surprise, Electra was standing there, her golden hair slightly mussed like she had been tossing and turning all night, and a faint annoyance etched on her face.

The moment she saw me, her brows lifted in surprise.

“Wow, you’re actually awake,” she said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. “It’s five in the morning, Sera. I thought for sure I’d end up heading back to my room and dealing with my dumb roommates if you didn’t hear me knocking.”

I closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment as I tried to shake off the creepy feeling I got from seeing her face and instantly remembering Solara’s.

“Yeah, I couldn’t really sleep,” I responded. “I had a… strange dream, and I’ve been thinking about it. That’s why I’m up.”

Electra paused, glancing at me with a flicker of curiosity before moving further into the room. She flopped on my bed with a dramatic sigh, sprawling out as if it was her personal escape.

“A strange dream, huh?” she said, her tone distracted. “Well, at least you weren’t dealing with real-life nightmares.”

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at her. “What happened, Electra? Why aren’t you in your room? What did your roommates do again?”

She groaned, rolling on her side to face me. “Liana,” she said with a heavy sigh, as if the name alone carried all the explanation in the world. “She brought her girlfriend over last night, and they’ve been at it since one in the morning. And by ‘it,’ I mean they’ve been having sex nonstop. Loudly.”

I blinked, unsure whether to laugh or sympathize. “Seriously? “Is that why you left?”

“Obviously,” Electra huffed, propping her head up on her hand. “Liana’s girlfriend isn’t exactly… quiet, and for some reason, I’m the only one who’s bothered by it. Jolene and Ashleigh are just out, snoring like nothing’s happening. Meanwhile, I’ve been lying there, wide awake, wishing I could evaporate.”

She gestured dramatically, her voice tinged with exasperation. “So I finally gave up and came here.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse,” she muttered, flopping on her back again and throwing an arm over her face. “I swear, I’ll never understand how people deal with having roommates. It was never my thing, and it’ll never be my thing.”

Her dramatics were almost enough to distract me from my dream, but the more I looked at her, the more I thought of Solara’s face. Seeing Electra’s face in front of me and recalling Solara’s face in my head, it was almost like I was looking at the same people, but one was slightly older than the other.

“Electra,” I called out quietly. “Do you by any chance have any older siblings? Like, maybe a sister, or perhaps a cousin who looks exactly like you?”

She lifted her arm just enough to peek at me, her brows furrowing in confusion. “No? Why would you ask that? Does this have something to do with your dream? Is that why you’re staring at me like that?”

“It was a strange dream, Electra,” I responded, moving to sit beside her. “It felt so real, but it didn’t make any sense. And I know I’m going to sound a little crazy, but in my dream, I was back in Aldoria, in my family’s house, but everything there was different. The place looked like it was from another time; it was in black and white, and my late mother was there. She looked younger—like she did maybe twenty years ago.”

Electra’s brow furrowed, but she didn’t interrupt.

“And then there was this woman,” I continued, my voice dropping slightly. “Her name was Solara, and she… she looked exactly like you. Like, exactly. The same face, the same features, but slightly older. The resemblance was uncanny, almost like I was looking at you, but in a different world and with a different name.”

Electra’s eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of unease in her expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but then hesitated, as though unsure of what to say.

In a voice that wasn’t quite steady, she asked, “Did you just say… Solara? That you saw a woman named Solara in your dream who looked identical to me?”

I hesitated, studying her expression and the slight tremor in her voice. Slowly, I nodded.

“Yes,” I said. “She looked just like you, Electra. Same face, same eyes, even the way she carried herself, but she was older, maybe by ten years or so.”

Her face paled ever so slightly, and her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve. It was subtle, and anyone else might have missed it, but I noticed.

I opened my mouth to say something, to ask what was going through her mind, but before I could, she shook her head sharply and straightened her shoulders.

“I don’t know anyone named Solara,” she said quickly, the words tumbling out in a rush. Her voice was firmer now, like she was trying to shut the door on the conversation entirely.

“Maybe you’re just overthinking things, Sera. Dreams are weird sometimes, right? They don’t have to mean anything. You should get some sleep instead of dwelling on something that’s probably just your brain making stuff up.”

Her deflection was too obvious to ignore, and I narrowed my eyes, leaning closer as I studied her. “Are you sure you don’t know anyone named Solara?” I asked, my tone laced with suspicion.

She met my gaze head-on, her jaw tightening slightly. “I’m sure,” she said firmly. “I’ve never heard that name before, and I don’t know anyone like that.”

The lie—if it was a lie—was delivered so smoothly that for a moment, I almost believed her. Almost, but the way her hands clenched in her lap, the way her eyes flickered away from mine for just a second too long, told a different story.

Before I could press her further, she let out an exaggerated sigh and flopped back on the bed, stretching out dramatically.

“Look,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration, “can we not do this right now? I barely got any sleep because of Liana and her noisy girlfriend, and I’d really like to at least catch a few hours before I lose my mind. Can we talk about this later? Please?”

I hesitated, the words on the tip of my tongue, but there was a weariness in her tone that made me pause. As much as I wanted to push for answers, she looked genuinely exhausted.

“Fine,” I said finally, my voice softer now. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, already pulling the covers over herself and curling up on her side. “You’re the best, Sera. Don’t ever forget that.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I stood and crossed to the other side of the bed, climbing in and pulling the covers over myself, even though I knew that I’d probably not be getting any sleep.

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