The device powered up.
A low hum spread through the cave—
deeper than before.
Hungry.
Razilia didn't turn.
"…I said don't."
Too late.
The device pulsed.
And something answered.
Outside—
the distortion snapped into focus for a fraction of a second.
Two blue lights—
clearer now—
locked onto her.
The cave reacted instantly.
The spring surged.
The walls trembled.
The moss curtain at the entrance snapped shut—
then split apart again as pressure forced its way through.
The distortion pushed forward—
not attacking—
forcing itself into existence.
Reaching.
For her.
R2 stepped forward.
"Stand down! Device off—"
The soldier holding it hesitated—
just long enough.
The device discharged.
Not outward.
Through everything.
A ripple tore across the cave—
silent—
invisible—
until it wasn't.
Stone along the walls peeled.
Not cracked.
Not shattered.
Stripped.
Layers dissolved into fine particulate—
then into something even smaller—
before vanishing.
But where it cut deeper—
where the cave resisted—
It bled.
Silver.
Liquid.
Alive.
It ran down the walls in thin streams—
pulsing faintly like veins exposed to air.
Silence.
Then—
the cave moved.
Not violently.
Protectively.
The ground beneath Razilia split open—
not breaking—
opening—
and something rose around her.
Crystal.
Smooth.
Forming faster than thought—
An encasement.
A shell.
She didn't resist.
Didn't speak.
Didn't move.
Because the moment the discharge touched her—
Everything shattered.
—Memory—
Light.
Too bright.
Hands—
smaller—
reaching upward.
"Daddy, look at me!"
Laughter.
Warm.
Then—
pain.
Something tearing—
not flesh—
something deeper.
Fragments.
Breaking.
Scattering.
A voice—
distant—
desperate—
"Don't interfere with the process—!"
Another—
closer—
sharper—
"It's too dangerous!"
Impact.
Everything reversing—
forward—
backward—
collapsing—
expanding—
A system splitting.
Not breaking—
multiplying.
Something inside her—
eating—
absorbing—
holding—
too much—
A roar.
Not hers.
Not human.
Ancient.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
Blue.
Eyes.
Familiar.
Close.
Reaching for her.
—Present—
Her body convulsed inside the crystal shell.
Outside—
the distortion surged forward.
This time—
it stabilized.
Not fully.
But enough.
A shape—
barely humanoid—
barely real—
And those same blue eyes—
locked onto her.
The cave roared.
The silver "blood" along the walls surged upward—
like a defensive system activating.
The soldiers staggered back.
"…What did we just do…?" one whispered.
R2 didn't answer.
Because he knew.
They had misjudged everything.
The device.
The cave.
Her.
The distortion moved again—
closer—
drawn to the crystal encasing her.
Not attacking.
Not hostile.
Desperate.
Reaching.
R2 stepped forward—
instinct overriding protocol.
"…Ma'am."
No response.
Inside the crystal—
her eyes snapped open.
Not hazel.
Not fully.
Something else bled through.
Gold.
Blue.
White.
Layered.
Unstable.
She looked straight at it.
And for the first time—
She recognized something.
"…you…"
The distortion surged—
like it had been waiting for that.
The cave reacted violently.
The silver veins pulsed—
then snapped inward—
reinforcing the crystal shell.
Separating them.
The connection broke.
The distortion flickered—
destabilizing again—
as if something had been interrupted.
R2 turned sharply.
"Shut. It. Down."
The soldier fumbled—
hands shaking—
and powered the device off completely.
Silence slammed into the cave.
Heavy.
Final.
The silver stopped flowing.
The walls sealed.
The distortion faded—
but didn't disappear.
It lingered—
just beyond the entrance—
watching.
Waiting.
Inside the crystal—
Razilia went still.
Too still.
R2 stepped closer.
"…Ma'am…?"
No response.
Only the faint glow beneath the crystal surface.
And the echo of something—
that had finally found her.