Not when his chosen path, though noble in intent, inevitably led towards ruin and desolation.
Not when the formidable Heavenly Dao itself turned its colossal might against him, unleashing its wrath.
Not even when the grand design, the very cosmos they knew, began to spectacularly fall apart around them, piece by agonizing piece.
She had simply remained, steadfast and immutable, a silent witness, an unyielding instrument.
Because that, in the deepest core of her being, was her purpose.
And because that, in the boundless expanse of her ageless memory, was truly all she had ever known.
Her gaze now dropped further still, her eyes tracing an invisible line towards the ground beneath them.
And after he was gone…
The profound silence that followed the formation of that thought, unvoiced but deafening in her mind, was an oppressive weight heavier than any she had experienced before.
After he was gone… even then, there had been no respite.
