Rosalia stared at her hands, unsure of what Rayan had said. “Why is he back then?” she finally asked, looking up at Rayan. “Didn’t she die?” Theia nodded, the same question running through her mind.

Before Rayan could respond, a female voice answered her question from another room. “Meritamun is a variant of Kiya, but not the original one.” The voice was getting closer, revealing Chan-mi’s face behind it.

Theia and Rosalia exchanged a concerned look. The grim reaper across from them had a dark halo. Whispers encircle her. Cupids and Grim Reapers never share a room.

“Mariat was deeply affected by Osir’s action, when he arrived, he was holding all the Divines within his soul including Osir. Azazel indeed affected every one of them, but Osir's repeated actions loosened Azazel's control to the point where it reflected to another Mariat, the one I know. Which is why he recognizes the shadows.” Rayan said. “I sent Liam back to his realm, I needed him to keep all of those Divines in the dome.”

“What happened is way beyond our control,” Chan-mi said, “The ancient ones were able to divide our universe into seven kingdoms right after Meritamun’s death, as she killed herself by bennu itself, it put the world into a small pause giving access to the Amazigh to reshape realities to separate us from the mundane humans and from each other as well.”

“What the ancients ones hid behind every Grotto,” Rayan agreed, “is Osir’s repeated attempt to regain his love.”

Chan-mi began to tell them about Osir’s repeated visits to his realm in search of Kiya’s vital essence. Finding every variant of Kiya that has ever existed. But each time he found her, she was a different variant that was entirely distinct from his true lover, but they were all reincarnations of her. He did this over and over again, possessing many human bodies.

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“Osir discovered that for every variant of her killed, the sacred heart regained one thread. And once again, with the help of Azazel, he was able to determine that the sword she used was Bennu that every variant dies, releasing a portion of the Bennu essence and that if he were lucky enough, he would be able to reclaim his lover, Meritamun.” Chan-mi said, her gaze drawn to theirs. “It got out of hand because the last one who existed was Nadine.”

“Wait!” exclaimed Theia. “Are you saying he’d resurrect Meritamun if he got his hands on Nadine?” Rayan confirmed her claim.

“Our realm is beyond all that, but every kill of Kiya’s variant kills a tremendous number of souls. Osir wasn’t just trying to resurrect her; he was destroying the universe itself. It wasn’t just upsetting the balance of death; it went far beyond that.” She seemed hesitant to proceed, sharing the same expression as Rayan, who nodded. “It actually affected the real Bennu.”

“What?” Rosalia and Theia said at once.

“This universe has a parallel one, a mirrored copy,” Chan-mi sighed. “With a few exceptions, the timeline, creatures, and humans are all the same. The Bennu is an ethereal soul in both universes, but in order to maintain balance, the mighty power of reincarnation was embodied in its bird form, and other powerful powers were embedded in her human body; she is not a variant, she is the real Bennu.”

“Our realm among few is beyond one universe, we saw huge changes taking place in the other one. We never expected it to go so far, but it did.” Rayan came to a halt and looked at Chan-mi.

“We have her name on our system, Bennu’s human name; she is not destined to die, at least not for the time being, and even if she died, her name would not be on our list. Osir was gathering the human shadow, the shuut, not the bennu bird essence,” said Chan-mi. “Her death will destroy both universes, annihilating them.”

The only sound in the room was their loud breathing. “My shadow will bring Camellia, it tried to bring Eleni, but she was too stubborn to get the hint,” Rayan cleared his throat.

“I can get her back,” Chan-mi said. Rosalia looked at her.

“I’ll accompany you; she won’t trust you,” Rosalia stated as she rose to her feet.