Darkness.
Complete, suffocating darkness surrounded Aiden. Yet it wasn't cold or empty. A warm, calming sensation enveloped him, like being cradled in the gentlest embrace. His eyes remained closed, his body floating in peaceful nothingness, as if he were simply sleeping after an exhausting day.
Then, a familiar voice called out from everywhere and nowhere at once.
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"Master! Master! Master!"
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Aiden heard it. The voice pulled him gently from the depths. He slowly opened his blue eyes, groggy and disoriented.
Everywhere he looked was nothing but endless darkness — an infinite void, as if he were drowning underwater in the deepest ocean. No light, no ground, no walls. Just pure, weightless black.
Aiden's voice came out soft, almost a whisper. "What… happened…?"
A relieved sigh echoed around him.
Aiden looked up.
There she was.
