The first vision came without warning.
It was a morning like any other, cold, gray, and merciless. The courtyard was draped in dawn mist, the kind that clung to skin and dulled the edges of breath.
Ahce's blade gleamed faintly beneath the rising sun, her arms aching as she followed her instructor's barked commands. Each strike, each parry, was mechanical, born from exhaustion rather than will. Sweat clung to her temple. Her body moved, but her mind drifted.
Then, everything stopped.
The clang of steel ceased midair. The air itself thickened, the mist frozen in place like a held breath. For a fraction of a second, there was no sound, no wind, no pulse, no world. And when Ahce blinked, the courtyard was gone.
She stood instead amid ruin.
Where am I?
What is this place?
Wait...
I think I know...
