Echo of paradise: The legend of love and exile - Виктория Юрьевна Лутова

PART NINETEEN THE DEEDS OF HEROES      140

Chapter Ninety-Five: Lina’s Deed      141

Chapter Ninety-Six: Ray’s Deed      141

PART TWENTY THE CHALLENGES OF CIVILIZATION      143

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Conflict of Worlds      144

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Loss of Ira      144

Epilogue: The Eternal Light      145

PART TWENTY-ONE THE COMPLETION OF THE JOURNEY      146

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Last Day of Unity      147

Chapter One Hundred: The Tree of Life      147

Chapter One Hundred and One: Love as Eternity      148

Epilogue: The Light That Never Fades      149

A Message to the Children of Love      149

Prologue

In the beginning, there was light—and that light was God. He was everything: origin and end, breath and stillness, fire and water. Within Him, there was no division, no uncertainty, no pain. All was one, and this unity was called Love.

Yet, in being everything, God felt alone. In His perfection, there arose a longing—for something to reflect Him, to witness Him. And so, He created man. Adam came forth from the dust, shaped and given breath. He bore God's likeness, but not His essence. He was pure, but empty—like a vessel awaiting its meaning.

God looked upon Adam and said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” So He took a part of Adam—his rib, his heart, his essence—and formed Eve. But Eve was unlike Adam. She was not merely shaped; into her, God breathed something more—something of Himself. She carried His breath, His light and His shadow, His love and His yearning for the infinite.

When Eve opened her eyes, the world shifted. God beheld her with reverence; Adam, with wonder. She was beauty and completeness, yet in her gaze there stirred a spark even God had not foreseen. She was made for love, but her love carried hunger—a desire to know, to become, to transcend.

Paradise was still, but within Eve was a storm. She loved God not with the reverence of a creature, but with the longing of a soul reaching toward its source. Her love was not worship—it was a striving for unity, a desire to be not near Him, but one with Him. To be Him.

God saw this. He felt it in the way she looked at Him—not as Creator, but as possibility. And He loved her for it. Yet in that love was sorrow. For God understood: a love that seeks to merge completely can unmake the very thing it loves.

One day, when the silence in paradise deepened, Eve came to Him. She said nothing, yet He heard her. She reached out, and He did not turn away. In that moment, she touched the infinite. She felt power, eternity, presence—and she wanted more.

“I love You, Lord,” she said. “And because I love You, I want to become You. I want to hold Your soul, as You have held mine.”

Her voice was gentle, but within it echoed a great upheaval. God looked at her with love, and also with pain. “You cannot be Me,” He said. “You are part of Me. To become Me would be to cease to be.”

But Eve did not listen. Her love had become longing too vast to contain. And in that moment, something happened that even God had not foreseen. His oneness, whole and indivisible, split. One part remained light. The other became shadow. From the light, paradise endured. From the shadow, hell emerged.

And so, God sent Eve away—not out of wrath, but out of love. She could no longer remain without unmaking what was. Adam, seeing her departure, wished to follow. And he did—for his heart had always been hers.

God stood alone. His creation, His beloved, the fragments of Himself, were gone. What remained was silence, and the ache of absence. He had loved them, and could not recall them. Their path now led through suffering, through choice, through time. And yet He knew: only through the journey could they return to Him freely.

Paradise grew quiet. Adam and Eve stepped into a world where light and shadow interwove. Within them burned a quiet flame—a memory of God, of love, of the place they once called home.

And so began the story of humanity.

PART ONE

LOVE AND SIN

Chapter One

The World Beyond Paradise

When Adam and Eve first stepped out of paradise, they were met by a world unlike anything they had ever known. There was no eternal light, no joyful birdsong, no sweetness in the air. This world was harsh and cold, ruled by silence, broken only by the whisper of the wind.

Eve walked ahead, her gaze fixed forward. Conflict raged within her. She yearned for the Divine with all her soul, yet she was tormented by a quiet sorrow. She sensed that she had lost something essential, though she could not name what it was. The God she had loved now felt far away, and the emptiness within her grew with every step.

Adam followed in silence, fists clenched at his sides. He could not understand how it had come to this. Why had he not stopped Eve? Why hadn’t he held on to paradise? But more than anything, one question echoed in his mind: why did he still love her? Even now, in exile, his heart was still hers.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” Eve asked suddenly, her voice low but edged with pain. She didn’t turn to look at him.

Adam froze. He had no answer. “I…” he began, but the words caught in his throat. He could not admit the truth—that he hadn’t stopped her because he could not imagine a world without her in it.

Eve halted and turned to face him. Her eyes were filled with tears, yet in them burned the same fire that had led them here. “You were meant to protect me, Adam. You were meant to fight for me. Why did you just follow?”

Adam looked at her, feeling his heart break apart.

“I couldn’t leave you, Eve. I couldn’t… You are