Chapter — After the Shattering
The first thing Neo felt was silence.
Not the absence of sound.
Something deeper.
The kind of silence that came when the world itself seemed to be waiting to see what happened next.
Then gravity remembered them.
The battlefield returned all at once.
The shattered platform.
The storm above.
The cold air burning in his lungs.
Neo hit the ground hard.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
He wasn't sure if he was injured, exhausted, or simply trying to convince himself that the fight was actually over.
The Sword of Light lay beside him, its glow reduced to a faint flicker.
Not gone.
Just tired.
Like him.
"Neo?"
Beatrix's voice reached him first.
He opened his eyes.
She was kneeling beside him, one hand pressed against the ice, the other reaching toward him. Her armour was cracked, her hair was dishevelled, and the glow of her blade had faded to almost nothing.
But she was smiling.
Barely.
"You're still alive," she said.
