The silence lasted only three seconds.
Then the Doom began again.
Not with an attack.
With an offer.
The darkness surrounding Galathea opened into an infinite horizon of silver-black light. Every answer she had ever wanted appeared at once, arranged with impossible precision.
Knowledge.
Power.
Safety.
A future untouched by death.
A life where Cael remained beside her forever.
A child who would never know fear.
No betrayal.
No blood.
No succession.
No loss.
No uncertainty.
The Doom presented it all without force.
"You can have everything."
Galathea stared at the endless possibilities.
Once, she would have reached for them.
Once, certainty would have felt like salvation.
Now she simply shook her head.
"No."
The Core trembled.
For the first time, the Doom sounded almost confused.
"Why?"
Galathea looked at the visions.
Then at Cael.
Then down at her own hands.
She remembered who she had been before all of this.
The woman who survived by staying quiet.
