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What this proves when it comes to my sister’s fate.
“You were connected to Professor North, and I was connected to Professor Blackbird,” I say in submission as my shoulders sink. “Odessa… Orpheus is your Shadow? You’re connected to him. You’re destined to be with him.”
I’m not sure if I can say I’m disappointed. In fact, I’m happy that this new revelation means we’re both connected to someone.
“I know where your thoughts are going,” she admits. “But that’s not the case, sis.”
“What do you mean? Orpheus is your Shadow, and Daemon is mine. Isn’t that how it was meant to be?”
“It was,” she says, as if she needs to remind me of her predicament. “But destiny changed when Alaric stabbed me.”
“Because… you’re…” I don’t want to say it. “How are you talking to me if… you’re not supposed to be here?”
“Well, one, my essence still runs through you and grows stronger with how you’ve grown during the trials and first class. I’m not sure whether I’ll disappear along the path, but I’m here, aiding you the only way I can,” she admits. “But my body hasn’t been discarded yet.”
“Wait…” I’m trying to understand why that is. “When he stabbed you, they didn’t tend to you? Or…”
“Remember how we’ve been told that when you die on the battlefield in either realm, your spirit is rooted there versus when we perish anywhere else or in N.M.U., we still have the chance to ascend to the afterlife?” she brings up.
“Yes.”
“The N.M.U. part is a lie,” she admits. “If you die during a trial, your body remains stuck in that section of death for as long as it needs to.”
“What do you mean, ‘as long as it needs to?’ Our bodies shouldn’t belong anywhere but six feet under. That’s if there’s a body left.”
“Our bodies are just catalysts for fae and other fantasy beings. It’s our essence that they thrive on, and for rare cases like us, our blood,” she explains. “Our bodies remain in the place we perished, so if you drowned during the fountain challenge, your body remains there. If you died smelling the roses, you’re stuck there.”
“Stuck and repeat?” I whisper as I click back onto how we realized the cycle going on during the entry trial and the roses. “So… in your case, are you just being stabbed again and again?”
“I’m a special case,” she admits. “My body is somewhere in N.M.U. I don’t know where, but I’m sure since it’s been two years, it has to be in a place where certain beings are preserved. I was a part of a bargain, and Alaric didn’t finish it. Even if he doesn’t, seeing as he may have perished, your importance still stands because you still carry my essence.”
“So, this council will want me dead?”
“That’s where I’m not sure,” she admits. “They may want your blood like they do any potential Viper. Our blood can be used for certain rituals, which include reviving the dead. It must go at a hefty price in Nephilim and Malevolence. It’s exactly why there aren’t as many Gilded Mergers as of late. By the time these Vipers find their Shadows and grow together into a powerful duo, the Viper is probably killed trying to survive N.M.U.”
“And they use their blood for potions or rituals that benefit the fae who will pay the hefty price to obtain such remedies,” I summarize.
“Not to say N.M.U. is bad,” Odessa presses. “I think there are multiple layers, and the council who gets special privileges to pick and choose is there to benefit in their own way. Just like we’re attending this university to find ourselves and potentially the Shadows we’re connected to.”
“But not everyone understands the Viper Shadow situation,” I note.
“That’s because most don’t survive to reach that lesson,” Odessa admits. “Gilded Mergers aren’t as rare as they make it seem. Everyone has the opportunity to become one when you meet someone magically compatible with you. The problem is, most don’t survive the trials and tribulations that steal their lives away before that can be initiated.”
“But with Orpheus, Daemon, and me…” I whisper and watch her slowly nod.
“The signs are showing and prove the council picked up that this may happen because we’re twins. The only difference is they didn’t think my essence was in you, something most twins are able to do but aren’t sure how to.”
“Is that why you left your essence in me? So, if you died?”
“You’d at least always have a piece of me,” she smiles almost shyly as her eyes briefly look away. “And that piece of me would be able to protect you until your time on this world was up. My only sadness is your destiny isn’t supposed to end here.”
“Neither is yours,” I emphasize and grip her shoulders, drawing her attention back to me. “Your body. If it’s preserved, doesn’t that mean I can find you?”
She stares back at me in confusion.
“Why would you find me?”
“What do you mean, why wouldn’t I find you? You’re my twin sister!”
