ECHO OF PARADISE:
THE LEGEND OF LOVE
AND EXILE
by Lutova Viktoria
Eve, in her love for the Lord God, desired to become Him when He entered into her. Because of this, God's soul was shattered, and He cast Eve out of paradise along with Adam, who could not protect her.
God loved Eve above all as His creation, for He had given her a part of Himself, created from Adam's rib, who had been made in His image. For Eve, part of God became paradise, while another part became hell. Adam sought her eternity and fought for her with God, while Eve fought for the chance to become God, because she loved Him so deeply that she wished to possess all of His being and be with Him.
As a human, Eve forgot her husband and all that had bound them together. But God continued to love Eve and to hate her, and thus the souls of Eve and Adam remembered paradise and longed to return home, to simply love each other again. Yet, they were tormented by the dark part of God's soul, and only a tiny spark of light remained burning in their hearts.
© 2025 Viktoria Lutova. All rights reserved.
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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 a part of me. If you walk away, I will follow—even if it leads me to death.”
Eve turned away, but his words stirred something deep within her. She couldn’t explain why, but his love was both a comfort and a weight. She loved him, and yet, her love for God was greater.
And now, cast out from paradise, that love had become thirst.
A thirst to become what He was.
Chapter Two
The Voice of Darkness
Night had fallen, and with it came the cold.
Adam and Eve, sheltering beneath the trees, tried to sleep. But sleep would not come. For the first time, they felt fear. In paradise, there had been no night, no darkness, no unknown. Now, they were alone in a world that felt foreign and wide.
Eve lay on the ground, staring into the darkened sky. She thought of God—of how He had looked at her, of how He had loved her. But now, that gaze felt like a dream slowly fading. She closed her eyes—and heard a voice.
“Do you feel it, Eve?” the voice whispered—low and deep, like an echo rising from a void.
Eve’s eyes snapped open. She looked around. There was no one. Adam lay beside her, his breath slow and even. But the voice continued:
“That emptiness within you?
That is your strength.
That is your freedom.”
Eve sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“I am part of you.
I am the darkness you brought into this world.
I am what you could become.”
A chill moved across her skin. She didn’t know where the voice came from, but it had a strange, quiet calmness—almost comforting.
“I don’t want to be darkness,” she said.
The voice laughed, soft and hollow.
“You already are. Don’t you see?
You fractured God’s soul.
You cast yourself out of paradise.
You are the source of your sorrow.
But that is not weakness, Eve.
That is power.
You could be more than human.
You could be God.”
Eve hesitated. The words sounded like a promise, like the answer to the hunger that had been growing inside her.
And yet—deep within—something stirred in protest.
“Adam…” she whispered, glancing toward her sleeping husband.
“Adam is weak,” the voice replied. “He follows because he does not know who he is.
But you, Eve…
You know.
You feel.
You can become more.”
Eve closed her eyes, willing the voice to leave. But it did not.
It remained—quiet, steady, and impossibly close.
And in that moment, she understood:
it was part of her.
And it was not going away.
Chapter Three
The Road Ahead
At dawn, Adam and Eve set out on their journey.
They did not know where they were going, but they knew they must keep moving. The world around them was harsh, yet not devoid of beauty. The sun rose over the horizon, bathing the earth in a golden light.
Adam stole a glance at Eve, but she avoided his gaze. She was lost in thought, wrestling with something he could not understand. Still, he chose to stay by her side, no matter what lay ahead.
“We will find our way,” he said softly, trying to offer comfort.
Eve nodded, but within her heart, a storm raged.
She knew their path would be long, fraught with trials—through pain, darkness, and temptation.
But she also knew she could not stop.
She had to find answers.
She had to find herself.
Ahead of them stretched a world of tests, and a God who watched them with both love and sorrow.
Chapter Four
Shadows of the Past
Days turned into nights, and Adam and Eve pressed on.
The world around them felt alien, but it was not devoid of life. They found sustenance in wild fruits and drank from rivers, but all of it seemed but a pale shadow of what they had once known in paradise. With each step, they were reminded of all they had lost.
Eve withdrew further into herself. Her thoughts constantly returned to the moment she had touched God—when she had felt His soul. It had been like touching eternity, like gazing into an abyss where there was neither beginning nor end.
And now that abyss lived within her, whispering, calling her.
One day, as they rested at the foot of a hill, Adam spoke.
“You’re thinking of Him.”
His voice was soft, yet tinged with sorrow.
Eve turned toward him. Her eyes were filled with longing.
“I cannot forget, Adam. His light… His love… It was more than I could bear. I feel like a part of me is still there, with Him.”
Adam looked away. He knew he could not compete with God. He was but a man, formed from dust. But he also knew he could not let Eve go.
“I have lost a part of myself too, Eve. But we can find each other. We can create our own paradise.”
Eve looked at him, and in her gaze flickered a shadow of doubt.
“Adam, don’t you understand? We are no longer who we were. I feel it within me… The darkness. It grows. It calls to me.”
Adam stepped closer and took her hands in his.
“I feel it too. But I won’t let it win. We are together, Eve. We always will be.”
Eve wanted to believe him. But deep within, she knew their journey was only beginning. And ahead of them lay trials that might separate them forever.
Chapter Five
Temptation
On the third day of their journey, they encountered a mysterious figure who blocked their path. He was a man, yet not quite ordinary. His eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, and his smile was as cold as the winter wind.
"Who are you?" Adam asked, stepping in front of Eve, as if to protect her.
The figure laughed softly.
"I am the one who knows what you seek. I am the one who can give you the answers."
Eve stepped forward, ignoring Adam’s warning gaze.
"Answers? What answers?"
"You seek God, don’t you?" the stranger spoke, his voice smooth, yet powerful.
"You wish to understand why He left you. Why He divided Himself. Why you can no longer be with Him."
Eve froze, the words struck her like a blow.
"Yes… I want to know."
The stranger took a step closer.
"You can know. But to do so, you must accept what you deny. You must embrace your darkness, Eve. You must become what you are destined to be."
Adam grabbed Eve’s hand, pulling her back.
"Don’t listen to him! This is a lie. God cast us out, but He didn’t abandon us. We must find our way back to Him ourselves."
The stranger turned his mocking gaze toward Adam.
"You, as always, are weak, Adam. You cling to what has already been lost. But Eve… she knows. She knows that true strength lies in acceptance. Tell me, Eve, don’t you feel that you were made for something greater?"
Eve hesitated. His words seeped into her soul like poison. She did feel that she was made for something more.
But at what cost?
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
"Nothing that you don’t already want yourself," the stranger replied.
"Simply allow yourself to become what you have always been. Let your darkness become your light."
Adam tugged at her hand.
"Eve, no! We must keep moving. Don’t listen to him!"
Eve looked at Adam, then at the stranger. A storm raged within her. She knew that the choice she made now would alter their fate forever.
Chapter Six
The Sundering
Eve turned away from the stranger and followed Adam.
Yet the words the stranger had spoken clung to her.
They were like a seed buried deep within her soul—
and she knew it would grow.
When they were alone again,
Eve asked the question that had long haunted her:
"Why do you always try to protect me?"
Adam replied,
"Because I love you."
Eve stopped and looked at him.
"But you don't understand me," she said.
"You don’t see what I feel.
You want to reclaim what we lost—
but I long for more.
I want to understand who I am."
Adam sighed.
"We lost paradise, Eve,
but we didn’t lose each other.
Isn’t that enough?"
Eve shook her head.
"I don’t know, Adam.
I don’t know."
And that night,
as Adam slept,
Eve heard the voice again.
"You’ve made a choice,
but this is not the end.
You know your path is not with him.
You must keep going."
Eve closed her eyes.
She knew the voice spoke the truth.
But she also knew
that every step she took
drew her farther from Adam—
and that was the deepest pain of all.
PART TWO
EXILE AND SEPARATION
Chapter Seven
Fire and Ice
Eve awoke in the stillness of night.
Moonlight filtered through the branches above, casting shadows across the earth.
Beside her, Adam slept peacefully—
his face serene, yet lined with weariness.
He bore not only the weight of exile,
but the burden of love—
a love that had become a trial.
Gently, Eve rose, careful not to wake him.
She felt a pull, invisible yet undeniable,
