Lucien was falling.
Falling fast.
Falling deep.
Falling into nothing.
She couldn't move. Couldn't summon a single spell. Her arms flailed once—then dropped.
"So this is it," she muttered.
"Can't even save my damn self. I really am pathetic."
She closed her eyes.
Let the weight take her.
If this was death, fine. Let it be quick.
But after a long pause…
The ground never came.
Lucien cracked one eye open.
Still floating—just inches above the floor.
Suspended like a glitch in reality.
"…Huh."
WHAM.
She smacked face-first onto the ground.
"Damn," she groaned, rolling over.
"Can't even die peacefully."
That's when the air changed.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Something behind her. A presence—vast, suffocating.
She couldn't breathe. Her fingers trembled. Sweat clung to her spine.
She turned—barely.
A woman stepped into view.
Elegant. Silent.
Radiating pressure so thick it pulled the breath from Lucien's lungs.
Lucien collapsed to her knees, gasping for air.
And then—
The pressure vanished.
Lucien coughed, dragging air into her lungs. She blinked up.
And froze.
It was her mother.
Unchanged. Untouched by time.
"What are you doing here, young lady?"
The voice was sharp. Familiar.
Lucien blinked again, stunned.
"I… I don't know."
Her mother sighed, arms crossed.
"Come with me."
Lucien stumbled after her, dazed and shaken.
"Wait—Mom… did you die too?"
Her mother gave a small, amused laugh.
"What are you talking about?"
"Of course not. I felt your danger. So I… shifted."
Lucien furrowed her brow.
"Shifted?"
"My soul."
The words came so casually, it made her head spin.
"Coming here has consequences. But for my daughter? I'd face worse."
She looked back over her shoulder, voice low.
"The shaman forbade the Banished from helping you."
"I can't interfere… but I can show you the way