Chapter 79: A Choice

Elena sighed into the darkness.

Once again, she floated through the eternal expanse. Surrounded by twinkling stars, the slow swirl of navy, indigo, and black. No ground beneath her. No sky above. Just the same void, infinite and silent, holding her between life and death.

She already knew what this meant.

She was alive.

But only just.

This time, though, something felt different.

Her body was there with her… heavier than before. Her arms, dimly lit by phantom starlight, were feathered with spiral scars stretching from her fingertips to her elbows, up her arms and trailing onto her collarbone. Pearlescent, like trails of white ink with a violet shine. Symbols of something sacred… or cursed. A purple glow could be seen here and there.

Her eyes ached when she blinked. The skin was tight, especially around the edges.

More scar tissue, probably.

But the worst part wasn't the pain.

It was the emptiness.

There were no disembodied voices now. No ancestors reaching out to comfort her. No spirits whispering between the stars. No family. No gods. Not even the gentle hum of mana she had once felt beyond the veil.

She was alone.

Utterly, terrifyingly alone.

Time drifted.

Days, maybe weeks, passed without change.

She would sleep, if one could call it that in the void, only to awaken again, floating.

Still there.

Still silent.

Still missing him.

Still unfound.

But slowly, things began to shift.

Her scars faded; subtly at first, then more rapidly. The burning ache in her arms eased. Her face no longer felt so tight.

Still, she floated.

And waited.

And began to understand something far more terrifying than death:

No one was coming for her this time.

She's going to have to figure it out for herself.

Elena took a deep breath and placed a hand out before her. A sigil appeared, faint but glowing with purple magic. Her scars shone like pearls, violet glimmering, and she heard thunder crack around her.

She poked the sigil, lightning and wind suddenly blasting her, strangely not floating away.

Before her, in stead, was a cave. A cave… on a beach? The tide was just coming in, cool water lapping at her bare feet. A strange triple spiral symbol was carved into the stone. She heard a mighty roar, like that of a lion.

And then-

A sound.

Soft. Small.

An impossibly young laugh.

A young girl, no more then 5-6, sat upon a mighty lion with a black mane. Her hair was long with wild curls- like hers.

Both lion and child had the same soft silver eyes.

They sulked out of the cave, smiling, and handed her a pendant made of jet and carnelian in the shape of a triple spiral.

It glowed bright in her hand, too bright-

Her heart lurched. So familiar.

Wait, have I had this the whole time?

When she opened her mouth to speak-

She fell.

The sight of the girl waving, the lion roaring from above faded slowly from her.

"Mami, come home!" she could've sworn she heard.

She took a deep breath and surrendered to the fall.

Eyes closed, hands clasped over her chest with her glowing pendant, she let herself plummet.

Am I waking up?

She didn't know.

But she didn't resist.