[Trigger warning: Mention of suicide]
~
She didn't know for long she laid on the floor sobbing.
Her body was weak, exhausted from the weeping and hunger, and her mind—her mind was slipping away from her, descending into a maze of delusions.
She was starting to see things, feel things that weren't there. She could hear whispers, indistinct voices calling her name from the edges of the cell. Her own breath, quick and broken, echoed through the cold stone walls, reminding her of how alone she truly was.
But then, suddenly, there was a light—a soft, warm glow from the far corner of the cell. Elara blinked, her heart pounding as the shadows parted to reveal the figure of a woman, her form bathed in a soft white light. She wore a flowing gown, almost translucent, and her face was gentle and kind, filled with an otherworldly serenity. Her mother.
