Darkness.
Not the quiset kind.
Not the empty kind.
This darkness
Was alive.
Breathing.
Watching.
Nyxara couldn't feel her body.
Couldn't feel the ground.
Couldn't even feel where she ended
And where anything else began.
"…Cassian?"
Her voice didn't echo.
It didn't travel.
It just… existed.
And then
Something answered.
Not in words.
In presence.
A shift in the darkness.
A pulse.
And suddenly
She wasn't alone.
She turned
Or at least, she tried to.
Movement here felt different.
Like intention instead of action.
And then she saw him.
Cassian.
Standing just a few steps away.
Unmoving.
Silent.
Watching her.
But something
Was wrong.
"…you don't look surprised," she said slowly.
Cassian didn't respond immediately.
His gaze was fixed on her
Too focused.
Too sharp.
Like he was seeing more than just her.
"I remember this place," he said quietly.
Nyxara's chest tightened.
"…what?"
A pause.
Then
"I've been here before."
