The two Adrians stood facing each other.
Elara slowly backed away.
"This is officially the worst university I've ever attended."
Neither man laughed.
The original Adrian pointed at his double.
"That thing was created by the Codex Umbra. It copies a person, their memories, even their voice."
The double tilted his head.
"You say that as though you're the original."
"I am!"
"Then explain why you remember drowning."
Adrian went silent.
Elara stepped between them.
"Enough. We need answers, not another fight."
She held up her father's notes. The black symbol on her wrist glowed, and a line of silver light appeared across the paper.
A map formed.
At its center was a room marked THE LIBRARY OF CHAINS.
The double smiled.
"Your father left you a lovely path."
Elara narrowed her eyes. "You know my father?"
"I know what he became."
Before she could question him, the walls opened.
Chains shot out of hidden compartments, wrapping around their arms and pulling them into a vast chamber.
Thousands of books hung from the ceiling in iron cages.
At the far end stood a desk.
Behind it sat a woman with silver hair and a face Elara recognized from an old photograph.
Professor Seraphine Wren.
"You're late," the professor said.
Elara stared. "You disappeared ten years ago."
"According to university records."
Seraphine rose. "The Codex Umbra doesn't merely record knowledge. It stores possibilities. Every decision creates another path."
She pointed toward the two Adrians.
"One of them came from a possibility that should never have existed."
The double lunged at her.
Seraphine raised her hand. The chains snapped tight around him, lifting him into the air.
"Sit down," she ordered.
He laughed.
The chains began turning black.
"Professor!" Elara shouted.
"Get the book!"
Elara sprinted toward the desk. A massive volume lay beneath a glass cover.
The Codex Umbra.
She broke the cover with the brass rod.
The instant her fingers touched the book, every chain in the room shattered.
A blast of dark energy threw everyone to the floor.
When Elara opened her eyes, the professor was gone.
The original Adrian was unconscious.
And the double stood beside the desk, holding the Codex.
He looked at Elara with pity.
"Your father was r
ight about one thing."
"What?"
The double opened the book.
"You should never have been born."
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