The black sword in her hand sparkled faintly. It seemed inconspicuous, almost meaningless - like a relic of times gone by that the world had long forgotten. And yet there was a quiet heaviness in its presence that intensified the moment. With a flowing, almost ceremonial movement, she plunged the blade into the ground. The steel penetrated the earth effortlessly, as if it belonged there. For a blink of an eye, the world seemed to hold its breath. Then the ground shook beneath her feet, barely noticeable but unmistakable.
A pungent whiff of lavender permeated the air, strange and yet familiar, like the memory of something she had once experienced herself.
She slowly straightened up. Not hesitantly - rather with a sluggish determination, like someone who had long known what to do. Above her, there was no sky as we knew it. No clouds, no blue, no stars. Instead, a luminous nothingness spread out, an iridescent sea of light that bathed her face in colors that fluctuated between reality and dream.
And then he stood there.
Not with the din of a divine appearance. As she always perceived it, as her counterpart. She said nothing, as did the person in front of her. The moment didn't feel new, it seemed frighteningly familiar. As if she had lived through it a hundred times before. In dreams that have now become reality.
"So be it, but know that I will never forget you."