Darkness swallowed everything.
Not ordinary darkness.
Not the absence of light.
The absence of structure.
The absence of reality.
The absence of everything Sarya had learned to recognize.
There was no observation realm.
No throne.
No crystal.
No watchers.
No Nexus.
No stars.
No dimensions.
Nothing.
And yet she remained conscious.
The sensation felt deeply wrong.
Her body was gone.
Her bridge connection was gone.
Even the hybrid scar felt distant.
As though she had been stripped down to the simplest possible version of herself.
A single awareness drifting through emptiness.
Then a voice spoke.
Not the Auditor.
Not Elias.
Not the ancient presence.
A new voice.
Gentle.
Tired.
Human.
"Well."
The darkness rippled.
A small wooden chair appeared.
Then a table.
Then another chair opposite it.
The simplicity felt absurd after everything she had experienced.
The voice laughed softly.
"I had the same reaction."
Light appeared.
Not cosmic light.
