Moonshine

Chapter 21- Psyche

𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞
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[𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒌: Ψυχή}
(𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅: Psukhḗ)
𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥.
-

Rhiannon laughed, which was not at all a reaction Sanya wanted.
"I will not fight you." She glanced at Apollo, as though expecting him to share her amusement.
But his expression was intrigued, almost like he wished for the fight to happen.

"Why not?" Sanya challenged, righting her stance the best she could with a broken knee. Heavens, it had been so long since her last duel- the fights during her time in this forest, did not quite count. Or did they?
She didn't know anything anymore.

Rhiannon raised a dark eyebrow, "Do you truly think I am daft enough to put myself close to one with faerie blood- and, that too one who is a child of the Gods and is so gifted in swordspersonship?"

When she and the water-goddess had been indulging in sensual pleasure as one- she knew she would not be harmed.

The prisoner was too lonely, too weak, to ever go through with anything truly violent. The idea might have crossed her mind, more than once- but she would not do it. Especially not in the Faerie Court itself, where Rhiannon's power was nearly infinite.

Nearly.

But now, stood in the meadow of the forest she had been exiled from for decades- after everything that the water-goddess had done and endured- Rhiannon could not be certain anymore. She needed to be wary once more, as she always had been in regards to all else.

"Very well." It was her last stand. "You'll have to kill me, then."

"I am not going to let you die- no matter in which manner it comes." The Faerie Queen appeared to grow greener. "Why do you not just do as I ask? Is that not easier? Are you that desperate to remain moral in your path to prove your love?"

Her heart felt like someone had dug a crater in it.
Her mouth was dry, and she didn't know what to say. She hadn't known- not really- that part of the reason she was undergoing- had undergone- everything, was not just to get back to Edmund- but to show that she did love him, more than she could ever have imagined.
To attest that- that she loved him enough that she would doom herself, and break everything inside her- that she could carry out Psychean tasks, without any regard for anything else.
To prove that she was worthy of his love- to prove to herself and everyone else- not that she had anyone anymore- how much she loved him.
"I-" That crater grew deeper. Darker. "That- that-"

Her ivory eyes were almost luminous, "I believe I struck a nerve."

"Fuck off, Rhiannon."
Dimly, she realised that someone had said that before. But her mind was reeling too much to remember who- or when- or anything.
She pressed her hand to her face, her cheeks and palm equally hot- and then took a deep breath, and wiped the damp palm all over her face.

It did not have to affect her so much. Her intention, her purpose behind this quest- and the metamorphosis before it, and the imprisonment before that- it was not malevolent. It was furthest thing from evil.

It was for love.
That was everything now. Love.

She would have scoffed at herself, in her old life. She would've scorned herself, for thinking such a thing- for being motivated solely by, for giving up everything for one emotion.

She pulled her hand away, and raised it at Rhiannon.
Were her eyes still glowing blue? They should be.

"I've always wondered." She began, wishing she could move closer to her, so she could watch her face as she killed her. "Whether being able to control water, meant I could control all liquid. And if I could control all liquids- would I have powers over fluids, as well?"