Star-Crossed

Chapter Thirty: 'Cause in a sky full of stars, I think I saw you

RHEA IS ALREADY gone by the time Xerxion goes and tells the others what happened and that we need to find her. All I can do is sit in the room I've been given, staring out of the large window at the dunes of sand and the way they turn silver under the crescent moon. I try to distract myself from the odd pain I feel by imagining how cold it must be out there.

I try so hard to distract myself but in the end, my distraction fails...

Because I'm remembering the day those men attacked me. I'm remembering the shadowy figure of the woman who was holding me in place with only her mind. I'm remembering thinking of how familiar she looks to me.

Now, I cannot doubt that figure was Rhea. Her figure, her face almost as easily identifiable to me as Xerxion's is.

There is a hole deep inside of my heart and I do not know if it is my betrayal I'm feeling or Rania of the Cosmos' betrayal. Perhaps, it's both.

Like always, I feel Xerxion's presence before I hear the sound of the metal doors sliding apart and him entering the room, pausing at the doorway as light from the hall spills into the dark room. His presence is like a breath of fresh air. It feels so much like I was drowning-the weight of water flooding into my lungs, burning like fire down my throat. But all of a sudden, I'm pulled up, the water spilling from my lungs and the air returning to my throat. Like I just survived drowning, my throat is raw but now that Xerxion is here, at least I am alive.

As if he can sense my desire to have him closer, he moves forward. Despite myself, I smile as I watch his shadow come closer until it merges with my own. He's far too graceful than a man his size should have a right to be. In any other moment, I would be green with jealousy.

He sits beside me on the bed, removing the strap that attaches his swords to his back and sitting them softly on the floor, somehow not managing to make a single sound as he does so.

He looks at the scenery that is just beyond the window for a moment, then he glances at me before looking at the scenery again.

"I'm sorry."

That's all he says and I know exactly what he means. He's sorry for the obvious pain that I'm in. He's sorry for letting Rhea be with me all this time. He's sorry for so many things that aren't his fault.

"I just...can't believe it," I reply, speaking my feelings for the first time since hearing the news from Aida. "I can't believe that Rhea would killer her own sister." My mind goes back to when I talked to Rhea when In Tempestate attacked. "She loved Rania of the Cosmos. There has to be some mistake."

"I don't believe that Rhea killed Rania either. Not directly. Now that I think about it, the way that Rania of the Cosmos was stabbed looked a lot like a ritual a Soul Collector would perform."

"A ritual?" I ask. I had only just found out that Soul Collectors-Reapers, as they're known on Earth-existed.

"Yes. There's a ritual performed by many Soul Collectors that can drain the complete essence of a person's soul. With that essence, they obtain a person's power, their memories. They would even be able to imitate that person perfectly. The only one who would be able to tell the difference would be a Consort. But Soul Collectors are crafty, I've heard of some of them being so powerful, they were able to convince the deceased being's Consort that they were truly the person they were imitating."

"So, someone wanted to drain Rania and pretend to be her?"

Xerxion nods once, his lips pursed and his eyes tightening.

"At least, that's what I think," he mutters, sighing a little. "I can't be absolutely sure. But, if that's what they wanted, they must have failed. You sit here in front of me, the harborer of Rania's soul."