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violets pov
Darkness enveloped me, heavy and suffocating, like a thick fog I couldn't wade through. I was floating—or maybe falling—adrift in a sea of shadows. Every now and then, faint flashes of light would break through, distant and blurry, like stars on the other side of a storm.
There were voices in the distance, indistinct murmurs that echoed strangely, as if underwater. I tried to reach for them, but my body wouldn't respond. I wasn't sure if I was moving or still, alive or dead. Pain pulsed somewhere in the depths of me, sharp and searing, but it felt far away, dulled by the numbness that wrapped itself around me.
Memories drifted in and out, fleeting and fractured. The echo of my own name, the heat of an explosion, and then... nothingness.
I felt weightless, yet impossibly heavy. There was a tugging sensation, as if something—or someone—was trying to pull me back, to tether me to reality. I wanted to reach for it, but fear whispered in my mind. What if I couldn't hold on? What if it was too late?
You promised... The faint echo of Powder's voice rippled through the void. A surge of guilt and panic rose within me, pushing back the darkness momentarily. I couldn't leave her. I didn't leave her.
Fingers brushed against mine, faint and fleeting, and for a moment, warmth surged through me. A lifeline. I clung to it with everything I had, willing myself to follow it back to where I needed to be. The warmth grew stronger, and the voices became clearer, though still muffled and distant.
Pain returned first, sharp and biting, radiating from my side and spreading through my body like fire. Then came sound—the low hum of somebody, the faint shuffle of a footstep, and the steady rhythm of my own heartbeat.
Finally, light. Blinding and unforgiving, it pierced through my closed eyelids. My breath hitched as I struggled against the heaviness in my limbs, willing my body to respond.
"Took all three docs to patch you up," a familiar voice muttered beside me, low and gravelly. My eyes fluttered open, wincing at the sharp, intrusive light piercing through my vision. I blinked a few times, each movement feeling like a struggle as the world around me slowly came into focus.
I turned my head, the ache in my neck pulsing with the effort. My heart pounded as I caught a glimpse of a figure beside me—large, shadowed, and seated calmly. For a moment, I swore it was Vander, and my chest tightened painfully. But when I looked closer, the image shifted and softened into someone else.
"Loris," I muttered, my voice hoarse and broken. Relief mixed with confusion as I stared at him, trying to reconcile the swirl of emotions and memories clawing their way back to the surface.
He leaned forward, giving me a faint smile. "Wasn't sure you'd pull through," he said, his tone light, but his eyes betrayed his worry. "Guess you've got that thick noggin of yours to thank."
