🌑 ARC18: The Light Was in the Way

Rion collapsed.

That’s what it looked like.

That’s what it felt like it looked like.

There was no next moment.

The sound—vanished.

Not ringing.

Nothing.

My throat moved.

I don’t know if I tried to speak.

Something fell near my feet.

A dry sound.

No—maybe not even sound.

Something shattered across the ground.

Fragments that should have been carrying light.

...Huh?

My fingers wouldn’t move.

No strength.

My vision was white.

Not white.

Not bright.

Just—obstructed.

Something was blocking my view.

Light.

—The light was in the way.

I couldn’t see what I needed to see.

Even though it was right there.

My foot moved forward.

Or maybe it didn’t.

Distance didn’t make sense.

Someone fell.

Who?

I don’t know.

The name wouldn’t come.

Something snapped inside my head.

—Stop.

No voice.

No words.

Only something tearing from the inside.

White.

White again.

My thoughts cut off midstream.

When awareness returned.

Lumia was on her knees.

Cold.

My palms were shaking.

A shadow in front of me.

...A shadow?

No.

It wasn’t there.

What should have been there—wasn’t.

Understanding arrived late.

Rion—was gone.

I inhale.

My lungs hurt.

I exhale.

The sound is wrong.

I don’t even know if I’m crying.

The light is still there.

Like debris.

A fading light with no heat.

...Is this the answer?

The world is too quiet.

No enemy presence.

No voices.

Instead, my chest is unbearably loud.

Something broke.

Something.

I thought light was meant to protect people.

That’s what I believed.

...It wasn’t.

The light—

took.

What should have been protected.

Lumia couldn’t stand.

Because the reason to stand was gone.

The next time I moved.

Whose will it was—

I no longer knew.

— Lumi🪄💕