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“What are you waiting for?”
The voice in my mind forces me to acknowledge the shadows that give me the strength to survive this cruel university for so long.
“You’ll let the woman you love die? You feel it. Her warmth is slipping away. Getting colder and colder.”
Ash…
“She’s the one who named me. The side of you that you once despised until she entered our lives and loved us. Cradled our flaws and imperfections. How long have we been but a weapon for our father to use and abuse? Are you going to let our savior perish because of the stupid wall?”
I… I’m not…
“Strength doesn’t hold you back, Asher. You fear those you deem as friends, believing you’re all but a monster. For those manipulated features and tainted scars to come to the surface and show how damaged we are, thanks to our Sweet Father. You’re scared of seeing the real you. The demon beneath our flesh.”
His chuckles make my ears ring, and my heart beats madly against my chest.
“You fear Ophelia won’t love us any more when she sees the damage the Heathcliffs have done to their own prodigy.”
The truth grips me to the core, but the pain of rejection from those I deem friends is nothing in comparison to the constant cycle of death my Sweet Cruella would experience if I don’t get her out of there.
Unclenching my shaking fists, I center my gaze on the very depths of the waters that spiral with death and blood. My eyes sting as I feel the flow of essence pool into my pupils, and I begin to see what others can’t.
The details of the floating bodies.
The limbs and helpless weapons that float with no purpose.
The golden scales of Ophira’s wrapped body.
My hearing heightens at my internal command, delving through the sound barrier of the magic wall to invite the lingering screams of students who’ve not yet perished from the destructive waves and spiraling whirlpools. They mute one by one as I center my focus on finding one thing.
Ophelia’s heartbeat.
I barely hear it.
The sluggish drum feels weaker and weaker with every beat, but it’s enough to kindle the surge of urgency within me.
We have a chance.
A single shot in getting her out of this dancing madness.
“Asher?”
I hear Hades’ warning voice, but I don’t let him steal my attention from the newfound determination blossoming through me. Electric shocks pulse off my flesh, spiking with intensity and making my friends and professors gasp in warning.
“Get back,” Professor Blackbird warns. “Asher?”
“I think that’s Ash.” Hades whispers, “Asher? What are you…” He trails off as I look over my shoulder to meet his surprised eyes. It’s an expression I’ve rarely seen upon his face, but it only grows as his eyes widen at my shift in appearance.
The scars. The markings. The disgusting remains of what this temple of flesh has survived.
“She’s the only one who ever loved me,” I whisper and hear the odd sound of my own voice. It’s unrecognizable now, and that’s okay.
It won’t matter when all of this is over. I may lose everyone at my side, but at least the true reflection of myself would be the epitome of my lover’s survival.
“I’d rather be a monster the world hates than let her die, Hades.”
Slowly, I look away before I see the lines of fear and disgust. I center my essence on my fingertips as I begin to lift them toward the wall. The movement makes the wall pulse with instability, and that’s exactly the push I need to know that I’m stronger than this force before me.
“I’m coming, Sweet Cruella.”
