The silence hung thick, a palpable force that pressed against the walls of the cavern as if the very stones bore witness to the fate Ava was about to confront. The Watcher stood before them, a figure carved from the shadows themselves, his presence both commanding and unsettling. His eyes, dark and gleaming with ancient knowledge, seemed to see through Ava—beyond her strength, beyond her doubts—down into the core of her very being, where the Abyss had begun its slow, insidious corruption.
"The Abyss isn't just power, Ava," the Watcher's voice was low, reverberating in the cave. "It is a living thing—a dark consciousness that consumes. And you, you are its chosen vessel."
