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Asher’s words make me wonder what could have encouraged his comments, but I feel no need to question him, for I know one very important quality of Asher’s.
If you threaten what’s his, he’ll ensure you reap the consequences.
***
“The choice is yours.”
Never has my heart hammered against my chest so violently.
The crippling fear and rooted déjà vu that’s been nagging me the moment I witnessed that red beam of light up close should have been the only warning sign I needed to back down.
Yet here I am, standing in the exact spot as my dear twin sister.
Facing the man I vowed would never betray me.
It all feels like words now, as the pool of tears that form in my exhausted eyes can no longer resist the urge to fall down my flushed cheeks.
Now I understand.
Grasp exactly why Odessa was put up against Alaric, and why he betrayed her for the sake of the presented ultimatum.
Odessa had forgotten to mention one thing to me in the depths of the white room.
Either you choose to kill the partner you entered with or offer a significant family member up for sacrifice.
Odessa didn’t go through with it because she loved Alaric.
She couldn’t go through with it because I’d be sacrificed in the process.
This is the challenge presented before us.
The exchange and sacrifice, if denied, would lead to our failure and encourage the downfall of the four hopeful comrades we left behind.
All the trials and deaths we witnessed seem to be all in vain.
For one of us is going to return… and the other… is all but a sacrifice.
The devastation in Asher’s eyes is enough for me to accept that this decision is too much to handle.
That there is someone else who holds equal or greater value than my existence in his life.
Oddly enough, I’m okay with that ending, despite being confident that in this lifetime, my destiny was meant to be entwined with Asher’s.
All I can wonder is whether he’s hoping to save his father. Or a younger sibling I don’t know about? Maybe he’s a twin and never got the chance to reveal that fine detail face-to-face.
Asher has always been one to speak about private and family matters to my face versus any other method of communication, so maybe he never had that opportunity to confront me about those hidden branches in his family tree.
Or I could be making excuses to ensure this betrayal isn’t as heartbreaking as it is.
He had mentioned there being two twins in tow. Maybe he was implying himself and Azrael. I wouldn’t necessarily count, seeing as Odessa wasn’t present.
So this is how she must have felt. Defeated. Heartbroken. All hope gone of a future at N.M.U. and unlocking the true secrets hidden behind those golden gates of ivory green and roses.
It’s a real shame, but I now finally grasp why twins are set up for failure.
One either dies during the trial, or if both survive the plague of challenges, they’re left with no choice but to either separate during this final stage or sacrifice one or the other to claim the offered bargain.
So, they’re really set up to perish at the hands of the person they cherish the most—their identical self.
