Aleysia feels it before anyone says a word, the feeling of something being ripped off her chest. The loss of her lover's warmth and presence suddenly disappears.
It doesn't come to her as a vision, like anything else. It just hits her directly in her chest; something that has always been there simply vanishes. The thread snaps so cleanly it almost feels unreal for a single heartbeat, as if the world has misfired.
Then the pain follows; it hits deep, far beyond her chest, deeper than grief, deeper than loss. It settles into her bones, into the marrow, into the very structure of her being, and it tells her something final.
Medusa is gone; her beloved has chosen her way to save humanity. their connection is gone. Aleysia's breath stutters, her body going still as if frozen in place, and then the sound comes.
