After Crystal blacked out, consciousness returned slowly.
She opened her eyes.
Everything was different.
She found herself standing in a new world. Or a realm. She couldn't tell which, and the distinction seemed meaningless here. There was nothing around her except an endless sea of red. Water, perhaps. Or blood. She couldn't determine which, and something told her that checking wouldn't provide answers.
The sea stretched in every direction, extending to a horizon that seemed both impossibly far and uncomfortably close. There was no land. No landmarks. Just the flat expanse of crimson liquid reflecting a strange light from above.
Crystal noticed she was standing on top of the sea without sinking. Her feet rested on the surface as if it were solid ground, yet she could see the liquid moving beneath her, rippling in patterns that followed no wind or current she could detect.
She looked up.
A massive red moon hung in the sky, enormous beyond reason. It dominated her entire field of vision, close enough that she felt she could reach up and touch it if she tried. The moon looked down on the crimson sea like a giant eye, unblinking and eternal.
There were no stars. Just empty blackness surrounding that singular red moon, creating a void that seemed to press down on everything.
Crystal turned slowly, surveying her surroundings with methodical precision. There was nothing. Just the endless ocean of red stretching in all directions, uniform and featureless. No islands. No debris. No other beings. She was utterly, completely alone.
The silence was absolute. No wind. No waves lapping. No distant sounds. Even her own breathing seemed muted, as if the air itself absorbed sound.
She had no reason to investigate the liquid beneath her feet. Somehow, she understood that touching it would provide no answers, only more questions.
So she simply sat down.
The surface beneath her was cold, but not wet. It felt solid where it contacted her body, yet she could still see it rippling and moving like liquid. The contradiction didn't bother her. In a place like this, contradictions seemed natural.
As she sat there, memories began flooding back.
Not all at once. Not in a chaotic rush. But steadily, like water filling a container, each memory settling into place with crystalline clarity.
Her grandfather's face appeared in her mind first. Old and weathered, with kind eyes that had seen too much violence but still managed to smile. He'd raised her after her parents died. Taught her to hold a sword before she could properly walk. Told her stories of the Asura Clan's glorious history, of ancestors who'd shaken the heavens with their power.
He'd loved her. Truly loved her, with no ulterior motive or hidden agenda. Just pure familial affection.
Then came her sister's face. Younger by five years, with the same black hair but a gentler disposition. She'd always been the diplomatic one, the one who solved problems with words instead of blades. They'd not been close, because of what happened after her mothers death since then even though they are sister. They were never close.
Her master appeared next in the flood of memories. A stern woman with impossible standards and even more impossible techniques. She'd taken Crystal as a student when no one else would, seeing potential where others saw only a scarred orphan. She'd beaten discipline and skill into Crystal's body through years of brutal training, but she'd also shown her moments of kindness when Crystal needed them most.
And then came Noah.
His face formed in her mind with perfect detail. Every feature, every expression she'd memorized over years of watching him. She remembered the first time she'd seen him at a royal banquet, how her heart had stopped when their eyes met across a crowded hall. Love at first sight, or at least what she'd believed was love.
She remembered their courtship, brief but intense. The way he'd said exactly the right things, made exactly the right gestures. How he'd pursued her with focused attention that made her feel special, chosen.
She remembered when they slept together for the first time, how she'd given herself to him completely. Body and heart, holding nothing back. She'd been so happy, deliriously convinced that she'd found something rare and precious.
When her grandfather agreed to their marriage, she'd thought she'd finally gotten everything she ever wanted. A loving husband. A position of power and influence. A future bright with possibility.
Or so she'd thought.
But reality, as it always did, proved much crueler than fantasy.
The truth had revealed itself slowly, piece by piece. Noah didn't love her. He'd never loved her. She'd been a tool, nothing more. A means to an end he'd planned long before they'd ever met.