Athena lay on her bed, her mind restless despite her exhaustion.
The image of the sword lingered behind her closed eyes, its dark aura, the pulsing energy, the feeling that it belonged to her.
She tried to recall the exact moment it had appeared, the cold, suffocating air in the forest, the creatures closing in, and then the warmth that had filled her veins.
The words she spoke, the light that engulfed her, the way her hand instinctively reached for the sword... none of it felt unfamiliar.
It was as if the memory of that power had been buried deep inside her, waiting to surface at the right moment.
Her teammates had witnessed what happened, but their accounts didn't match her experience.
Darren swore he only saw a swirling mass of purple energy, shifting and twisting like smoke. Lisa had described the shape of a sword made of shadows.
