The Introvert

The sensation of falling was nothing like Lena had ever felt before.

It wasn't gravity pulling her down.

It was something else.

Like she was being pulled through time. Through memories.

Shadows twisted around her, flashes of color and light streaking past her vision—fragments of moments she couldn't quite grasp. She tried to move, to control the descent, but she was weightless, drifting through an endless abyss.

And then—

She landed.

Her feet hit solid ground, but the impact sent her knees buckling.

Lena gasped, trying to steady herself, her palms pressing against something cool and smooth.

A marble floor.

She looked up—

And froze.

She was no longer in the warped world with Riven and Sable.

She was in a palace.

Tall pillars stretched high into a vast domed ceiling, adorned with intricate carvings that shimmered faintly under the soft glow of floating lanterns. The scent of something familiar—jasmine and old parchment—filled the air.

But more than anything—

Lena felt it.

A strange, aching familiarity.

Like she had been here before.

She swallowed hard.

"Where… am I?"

"You're inside a memory."

Lena spun around.

Sable stood a few feet away, her dark robes blending into the dim light.

Riven was beside her, arms crossed, watching Lena with an expression she couldn't decipher.

"This is your past," Sable continued, stepping forward. "A piece of it, at least."

Lena's stomach twisted. "That's impossible."

"Is it?"

Sable raised a hand, and the air shimmered.

The palace around them shifted.

Suddenly, the hall was no longer empty.

Figures appeared, moving as if replaying an old scene. Their faces were blurred, but their voices echoed through the air—

"…She can't stay here."

"She doesn't belong with us."

"She's too dangerous."

Lena stiffened.

The voices were angry.

Fearful.

One figure stood apart from the others.

Lena's breath caught as she focused on them—

A woman.

Tall, regal, with sharp eyes that burned with intensity.

She wasn't blurred like the others.

Lena could see her clearly.

She felt her chest tighten.

Because something about that woman—

Something about her presence—

Terrified her.

The woman turned, and for the first time, Lena saw her face.

And in that moment—

Everything stopped.

A sharp pain exploded in Lena's skull, as if something had cracked open inside her.

She gasped, clutching her head.

Flashes.

Memories.

A name—

Aarya.

And then—

A single whisper echoed through her mind.

"You are not who you think you are."

Lena's knees buckled.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

---