CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73

Darkness swallowed her whole. And Somewhere, in the silence between her last heartbeat and nothingness, Rhea could feel her blood rush out of her. With every sound of her breath, her body grew weaker, so did her consciousness.

Athaliah yanked Rhea backward by her hair, a low growl rumbling in her throat as she removed her teeth from Rhea’s neck, then groaned satisfactoryly."You’re not even anything special," she said, disgust lacing her tone. "You reek of nothing but mundanity." Rhea twitched faintly, her body jerking like a slaughtered chicken in Athaliah’s hand.

"I’m so scared... I don’t want to die," Rhea cried within, tears streaming down her face, hot and painful.

’Don’t let Athaliah get near you!’ Zeenare’s voice broke in Rhea’s mind.

"S-s-somebody please h-h-help," she whispered, choking on her own blood.

"Aww. What a hopeful character." Athaliah chuckled, her voice a chilling hum. "But no one is coming for you. Even if they were, you’d be dead before they got here." She laughed in Rhea’s face as she morphed back into a Kegi, then sank her entire teeth between Rhea’s neck and her shoulder.

A sharp gasp ripped out of Rhea’s throat, as she felt a line snapped within her consciousness, hot blood flowing down her torso, mixing with her tears.

Her lashes fluttered shut her last breath leaked from her. While her final thought echoed: Why do I have to die? Why does it has to be me?

The world dimmed. Her heartbeat stuttered and fell silent, and in that silence deeper than death itself, a starry void unfolded.

"Yes, why do you have to die?" a familiar voice spoke.

With a shuddered breath, Rhea’s eyes flicked open. Tracks of tears lined the side of her face as she found herself laid flat and facing up, in another space—a of galaxies.

The voice continued, "That is the question you are supposed to be asking."

Rhea turned to the voice and her own face stared right back at herself, but different. This Rhea had sharper features, her entire body was a void of pitch black with golden galaxy runes all over her skin. Her ears were pointy and adorned with gold. Her eyes were mismatched: one was glittery silver like the sea at night, and the other was golden like flames. Her hair colour was the utter definition of divine, it was a colour Rhea had never seen. She was the definition of an ocean under moonlight and a burning flame on sacred water.

"Where am I?" Rhea asked, her voice raspy.

"And you kept asking for help like you kept someone somewhere to come save you." The other Rhea answered instead.

"It’s you again!" Rhea said, pushing herself up to a seated position. "I recognize your voice!"

"I told you, denial won’t save you," she replied softly, a faint smile on her lips.

"You told me to die! To give up my body to you!" Rhea fired back, a mix of fear and defiance in her tone.

"And if you had, you wouldn’t be dying miserably right now at the hand of a pest." The being spat.

Rhea fell silent, watching the being before her. "You know what that is?"

"I know what everything is. For one, I’m you." The being muttered.

The begin’s expression grew serious.

"I believe you were told something peculiar would happen to you." She said reminding Rhea of Sisi words.

"Yes," Rhea replied, her guard still up.

"And you were not prepared." She added.

"I didn’t know it would be This!" Rhea responded frustrated, feeling a hint of accusations in her tone.

"Did you think this was one of your classes? Or that you were going on a date?" The being uestioned.

"It’s not like I was told what I’d be coming up against!" Rhea protested, a flicker of outrage in her eyes.

The other Rhea simply remained silent, looking away. "That was why I said, ’give me your body.’ Because I knew what was coming."

"You said I should die," Rhea sneered, "And if you were not one of all those demons in my visions. Why act as one?" Then Rhea bellowed.

"I was just joking." The other Rhea chuckled, the sound echoing in the galactic void. "I’ve just been worrying about who my vessel was, since I woke up." She scanned Rhea from head to toe. "I am your Alpha female."

"Vessel?" Rhea repeated looking over her body, then scoffed, realising she was the vessel here.

"Anyway," she brushed Rhea off. "I have been laying dormant in you for far too long. And thanks to Zee essence, I was revised." She elevated towards Rhea. "I’m your Alpha female."

"What is that?" Rhea asked, confused.

"You’ll come to know in time. For now, I can’t watch my body be turned into meatballs," she added, lazily batting her eyes at Rhea "or watch you die."

"That’s my body you’re talking about, right." Rhea said. Then suddenly stepped backward as the Alpha female approached, with her arm outstretched.

"What are you doing?" Rhea asked, her voice laced with panic.

"Take my hand if you don’t want to bleed to death while you are being munched on by that Kegi like breakfast." Alpha female said, her hand still extended.

"Don’t waste my time," Rhea said, a flicker of desperation replacing her fear. "What is it can you do in a situation like this?"

A dark, amused smirk touched the Alpha female’s lips. "I can kill it."

"And if you can, how would that happen? My body is already at its limit and I was being torn to shreds when I loose consciousness."

"You would be fine if I take control and you body will be healed immediately." Alpha female informed.

Rhea’s head shot up at the reply. "Why didn’t you say that sooner?" Rhea dashed for her hand.

"What a loser," the Alpha female replied, her smirk widening.

Rhea and Alpha female clasped hands. A jolt of electricity ran through Rhea’s veins immediately their hands touched, her heartbeat grew louder, her eyes became sharper, and her hearing moved with incredible intensity. She felt her body become ten times lighter, and every bit of pain was erased.

Rhea’s hand shot up, grabbing Athaliah by the neck. With a flick of her wrist,she tossed her across the room with her flesh ripping along Athaliah’s teeth, at the same moment, Rhea’s eyes fluttered open.

Rhea rose to her feet, her gashed shoulders, regenerating before Athaliah’s eyes. While her own eyes were mismatch, one red flames the other ice blue.

In a flash Rhea stood before Athaliah, and slammed her against the hard floor, before she could even process what had threw her across the room, another blow came crashing Athaliah’s head against the marble table.

Athaliah pushed back, pulling away from her strong hold, standing on the wall like a bat. Her eye wide in confusion, breathing heavily.

Her gaze locked on Rhea and the air shifted, as a prime cold of fear washed over her, something has changed and whatever it was wasn’t for her betterment. Because it was strong and it was stronger than her.

Rhea leaped towards Athaliah, Rhea’s palm crashed into Athaliah’s face, slamming her skull into the wall across the entire room, with a roar that rattled the room,m. Not giving her a breathing space, Rhea held her by the foot, whooping her against the floor side to side like a rug.

With each impact Athaliah’s skull split, her bones ruptured within her skin in into unrecognizable pieces.

Suddenly the door to Rhea’s apartment shoved open as Zeenare marched inside, Dreycen right behind him. The air was thick with the scent of unmistakable, metallic tang of blood. The apartment had become a warzone.

Blood splattered everywhere as tables were broken and chairs were turned over. Everything in the apartment was either shifted, halfway shattered, or totally broken. The walls were scarred with deep gouges, and a horrifying trail of black blood streaked across the floor, leading to a motionless figure standing in the center of the room.

Athaliah was clinging to the ceiling near a shattered window, her body bruised, broken, and dripping with blood. The creature’s terror-stricken eyes locked on Zeenare. In that moment, she was no longer a predator; she was prey. With a desperate snarl, Athaliah scrambled through the broken glass and vanished into the night.

Zeenare’s gaze never followed her. Instead his eyes were fixed on the figure standing in the wreckage.

Rhea was still, her back to him. As the air around her hummed with a low, primal energy. He saw the faint steam rising from her back as her flesh knit itself back together.

"Rhea?" he called out, his voice hoarse.

She didn’t move. She was utterly motionless, her body a rigid line of exhaustion. He saw it then—the faint, golden light that radiated from her exposed skin. Her body, her entire being, had been remade.

Zeenare froze, his chest tight, unable to draw breath. For centuries he had hunted, commanded, and yet nothing had ever looked so divine and untouchable.

Just as Zeenare took a step toward her, her legs gave out. "Rhea!" Zeenare shouted as the blood drained from his face. His arms quickly wrapped around Rhea who was falling down. Tears welled in the bottomless pools of her eyes.

Rhea’s felt the pain sweeping inside her, her eyes fluttered but she didn’t want them to close. She just wanted to be in his arms for the last time.

"Rhea!" Zeenare yelled, panic and fear evident in his voice. Tears fell from his eyes and Rhea frowned. She didn’t want him to cry.

He was at her side in an instant, catching her before her head could strike the broken objects. He pulled her against his chest.

Her skin, once pale and soft, was now a deep, pitch-black hue. He could see faint, glimmering golden galaxy runes etched across her collarbone, her neck, and her hands, radiating a soft, steady glow. Her eyes, half-lidded, were slanted like a siren’s, one a swirling, glittery silver, the other a burning, golden flame. Her fingernails had been replaced by medium, sharp claws. The wounds on her body were gone, replaced by the perfect, flawless skin of a true Siren.

With a final, weary exhale, she went limp in his arms, her head falling back as she fainted.