The tear in space finally sealed shut, and with it, the chaotic winds and warped spatial currents vanished.
The water around me stilled, the violent vortexes and surging pressure fading like they had never existed.
I pushed myself upward, feeling the strange density of the water pressing against me but after everything I'd just endured, it barely registered.
My body was already numb, still echoing with the aftershocks of pain that had wracked it moments ago.
So I kept swimming.
When I finally broke the surface, I gasped and dragged myself up the rocky edge of the crater.
My limbs shook as I climbed out, but I managed to flop onto my back, soaking wet, eyes staring blankly at the massive dome overhead.
I exhaled.
Then I closed my eyes, just for a moment.
And for the first time in what felt like hours, I felt… at peace. Not good. Not whole. But quiet.
My body didn't scream anymore. My mind wasn't clawing at the edges.
