Darkness and a chill wind came from it, hitting Eleni’s body, shivering every cell in her. A small dot of light at the very end of the long-looking road. She shifted her head and looked again at the absolute opposite side of the road and sighed.
She strolled into the darkness. A strong aromatic smell penetrated her nostrils, almost ripping all clear air from her lungs, forcing her to shut her eyes. A smell she recognizes within her soul.
All her senses roused, feeling weightless and timeless. The smell slowly faded into a stable, more relaxing one. Eleni. Rosalia’s voice called to her.
She slowly opened her eyes and locked eyes with her. Darkness fades slowly, revealing the surrounding place. They were standing in a small forest with tens of Kanzan cherry trees with white, gold, and red petals.
A striking feeling of homesickness hit her in her throbbing heart. Eleni. Rosalia said without opening her mouth. Her voice echoed in her head, disturbing her loud thoughts. We need you back.
A bright light came from her forearm tattoo directly from the white petals running through her arm till it reached her fingertips. She reached Eleni’s right wrist with the feather rose-golden bracelet. The bracelet slowly changed when the light touched it.
The bracelet silently vibrated and turned into floating golden dust. Forming a quill sort of shape, resting under Eleni’s skin, settling into its final shape.
A tattoo of a white dove feathered quill and a swirl of golden Kazan cherry blossom petals resting on her right forearm. Eleni’s pupils dilated as her body was adjusting. A small gasp escaped her lips as the pain of the tattoo batted her flesh.
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It took a minute for the pain to stop. Eleni caressed her forearm. “I forgot how painful this thing is,” she whispered. Rosalia put her hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
Don’t use your voice. He will listen. Rosalia moved her hand and tapped Eleni’s forehead twice. The mark of her fingerprint stayed on her forehead, glowing in white color. “We need to go back! He lied to us! We must end this.”
“What do you mean? Rosalia, I have done nothing yet! And Theia is still —"
“This is not our Theia! He was lying!”
“What?! Who is lying?”
“Osir is playing everyone! We can’t get Meritamun’s memories back! we need to go now!”
“Wait! I don’t understand! I thought we should get her memories back to save the universe!”
“Doomed either way! Chan-mi will get us all back.” Rosalia pointed at the far-right tree where the dark shadow walked from behind, still in the female figure. It revealed Chan-mi's standing body. She slightly bowed to them with a smile that seemed forced yet polite. Eleni bowed back and eyed Rosalia. “Don’t ask.”
“I don’t know… having the Heka sword made me feel a little of the pain she went through in every reality,” Camellia said, looking again at her watch. “I hope she can survive… she must survive, or it will be the end of the entire universe.”
Rayan had vanished when she looked up. His shadow was fading away. She followed the shadow behind the building. When the shadows stopped it merged with Rayan’s standing body. “Wait, what happened?! Why did you leave so abruptly?”
Rayan just stared at her before stabbing her in the neck with a black ironed jambiya. She clutched his arm in pain as a dark black wisp swirled out of her throat and merged with his own shadows.
He held her while removing the dagger. She clenched her fist on his forearm, catching her breath as the wound healed on its own. That means you were right! Her voice echoed in his head.
Yes, it’s even more messed up than we thought. Her breath returned to normal after the cut had healed completely. Sekhmet was attempting to awaken you, but my shadow stopped it several times. Ready to go back?
Please take me out of this dreadful pocket reality. Rayan’s shadow engulfed them as they vanished, transporting them back.