The pain rose to her bones through tears for someone she could barely remember, the date of his demise carved into her being, making her sight blurry and her path, her future, feel hollow. A void so deep in her chest she could almost hope to find something at the edges; stars, maybe? A whole universe? People say the universe is infinite, human emotions small compared to galaxies. Some time ago, all she could think about was the presence of that person beside her.

Why was it that something which once filled her with a light strong enough to make her existence whole now made her feel destroyed? The scars ran deep, outshining what little hope she kept in her heart. Her lover had died by the hands of her furious brother, who had once rivaled them in a duel. After their demise, she couldn't stop shivering. Not from the cold this time, but from sheer pain. She could almost feel her heart splintering into a thousand pieces, like the gems her lover used to gift her, which her brother had shattered in rage.

Then came the gunshot. Darkness swallowed everything. She could still feel her body somewhere, floating as if underwater, but she couldn't move; her limbs were stiff. Was she sleeping? Dead? Had she been shot in the heart, like them? Was this endless dark the afterlife? She felt no pain anymore - only her thoughts remained.

When she "opened her eyes" again, a red point glowed in the distance, calling her closer. Come here. Someone's waiting for you.

Her second awakening was inside a dark room, surrounded by figures. The underworld? When a knife drew near her calf, her instinct was to fight, to break the ropes that bound her - but what the blade cut wasn't flesh. Roots. Roots of a flower where her feet should've been. Her scream burst out, more from shock than pain, as the roots wept. Not blood, but a muted lavender, dripping down to stain the floor.

No one reacted to her pleas. Had she gone mute? Were her screams only in her head? Her vision blurred, and blackness came again.

The third time her lashes fluttered, she felt a hand. Fingers tangled in her hair, yanking her head upward. Her eyes cleared just enough to see horror - beings, almost human but wrong, chained to the walls. Some were dragged to makeshift beds and injected with substances she couldn't name. The shadow who had gripped her hair released her, leaving her slumped and alone.

"I hope you're protecting me now... wherever you are..." she whispered to the ceiling of this hell.

Turning her head, she saw another prisoner. Worse off than she was. She reached out with her free hand, only to recoil for a moment at the sight of her own nails - rose petals. She slapped her cheek softly, forcing herself back to reality, and stretched out to touch them.

"Hey... are you alive?" Her voice trembled, barely above a whisper, careful not to draw their captors' attention.