Merisa POV
Merisa sat on the cold stone of the courtyard floor, unmoving, as if even the act of breathing required more strength than she could spare. The world around her felt distant, dulled at the edges, like sound muffled beneath deep water. Her gaze remained lowered, fixed on nothing and everything at once, while her mind struggled again and again to circle back to the same truth Nova had forced into the open. It refused to settle. It refused to be accepted cleanly. It tore instead, slow and persistent.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the object in her hand.
A deep royal-purple crystal, shaped like a droplet.
Razeal's blood essence.
It rested against her palm with an unnatural stillness, its color rich and heavy, as if it carried more than just blood something final, something severed beyond repair. She stared at it, her pupils trembling faintly, unable to look away.
At the time, she had dismissed it.
