Lilith remained in Starforge's conquered world in the void long after Lucien had been taken back to his origin world.
At first, she told the others that it was because she wanted to train and grow stronger.
That was true.
But it was not the deepest truth.
The deeper truth was uglier.
When Lucien died, something inside her had twisted so sharply that even now, thinking of it made her chest hurt.
It had not been only grief. It had been helplessness. The kind that bit into pride and stayed there.
And the cruelest part was that even if she return, she had not known whether she truly wanted to.
Because what if she returned and found only silence? What if she returned and learned that they failed to revive Lucien? What if she returned and had to stand there while the others grieved someone she had not even managed to protect?
That fear kept her rooted in the void world.
Fear, and something else.
Something more humiliating.
