Mercy
The tall, willowy girl recoiled a half-step, spilling the ambitious number of sith scrolls she'd clutched all over the floor from the impact, less from pain than from pure surprise. The collision had felt less like walking into another person and more like striking a stone pillar that had simply appeared. One hand instinctively rose to the center of her chest, fingertips resting there as though to steady a heartbeat she no longer possessed. Her dark green eyes lifted.
There was no presence. Not an absence in the ordinary sense, nor someone well-practiced at concealing themselves. It was simply...nothing. Like looking into a room where one expected a candle to burn and finding only darkness where the flame should have been.
The sensation unsettled her far more than the collision itself.
"No," Nysa answered quietly after a thoughtful pause, smoothing a stray lock of midnight hair behind the shell of one ear. "They have taught me to listen." Her eyes searched the Empress' face with open curiosity rather than offense. Though Nysa had never met her, she'd heard stories of what she looked like.
"But there was nothing to hear."
Dark brows furrowed as she canted her head softly to the side, a glance over her eyes over Mercy's shoulder as if she saw something. Or rather
someone. But just as quickly it was gone. She could feel the countless lives surrounding them within the temple—embers of emotion, restless thoughts, the ever-present current of spirits that clung to places steeped in death and devotion. This woman alone stood apart from it all, as though reality itself neglected to acknowledge her existence.
Nysa frowned ever so slightly.
"I do not believe I have ever encountered someone like you." Which was
saying something. Considering how often the spirits of the dead came for a visit. Her words held no accusation, only quiet wonder. After a moment she inclined her head in apology.
"I should have been watching where I was going. I am sorry."
It was then her attention shifted to the dropped scrolls.
"Though I admit," she said softly, "I think I would have walked into you regardless."