Pain did not come first.
Confusion did.
Nyxara stared at herself
Or what remained of herself
Trying to understand what she was seeing.
Her arm floated inches away from where it should have been.
Not severed.
Not bleeding.
Just… separated.
Held in place by thin strands of faint, glowing light.
Her legs
Her torso
Even parts of her face
All of it existed in fragments.
Disconnected.
And yet
She felt everything.
Every piece.
Every inch.
As if her body still belonged to her
Even though it clearly didn't.
"…this doesn't make sense," she whispered.
Her voice came out whole.
Unaffected.
Which only made it worse.
"Yeah," Cassian said sharply.
"I'm gonna go ahead and say I hate this."
Nyxara forced herself to focus.
Panic wouldn't help.
Fear wouldn't help.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't punishment.
This was
A test.
"…identity," she said quietly.
Cassian's floating hand twitched slightly.
"…what?"
Nyxara looked at the faint threads connecting her pieces.
