Raya came back to consciousness slowly, not in a single moment...
But in fragments....
Like something pulling her upward through layers of darkness, each second heavier than the last, each breath a small war against the weight pressing her down.
First, it was the weight.
Thick.
Crushing.
Settled deep into her bones as though something unseen had planted itself in her marrow, refusing to let her rise, refusing to release her back into the world she had been stolen from.
Then came the cold.
Not sharp enough to shock...
But constant.
Unforgiving.
And then....
Pain.
It began as a distant ache.
Deep.
Buried somewhere beneath her ribs, curling quietly in her abdomen like a living thing waiting to be acknowledged. A quiet, coiling pressure. Patient. Still.
But it didn't stay quiet.
Built slowly.... into something that felt wrong in a way her body understood before her mind did. Unnatural. Like her insides were rearranging themselves without her permission.
