Before this sky lightened...
Within the black sea of Ren's inner world, silence had returned after the storm. The mana that once surged in wild, crashing waves now rested still, a dark mirror of stars and void.
Nyxa stood at the center, barefoot on the obsidian water, her silver eyes wide. Her hair flickered like smoke as she stared down at Ren's sleeping form submerged just beneath the surface. His body floated perfectly still. No wounds. No blood. No breaks.
But something was wrong.
Something was deeply, horribly wrong.
"Master..." Nyxa whispered. Her voice trembled. She knelt beside him, reached out, and pressed her palm against his chest. The beat of his heart was steady. The rhythm of his breath unbroken.
Yet inside this sea... the essence had changed.
The dark sea that once responded to Ren's will, now felt cold. It ignored Nyxa. Refused to move. As if it belonged to someone else entirely. As if it was hiding something.
Then the pressure shifted.
★★★
