A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Ninety–Three 

...What the hell is this? 

I should be dead. I know I should be. I‘d received a lethal blow to my shoulder with silver. No one could survive that. 

And yet... 

And yet I couldn‘t help but notice that, if I were dead, then the Abyss smelled oddly like a hospital room. A new renovation they must have added since the last time I visited. 

Everywhere in my body ached, everywhere felt... cold. Except for one place. My hand. My right hand felt warm compared to the rest of me. 

So, if I‘m not dead... then what sort of intervention had Selene done this time? Was this the same year or had she brought me back to an earlier time? 

Honestly, it wouldn‘t surprise me if she had just sent me on my way without even telling me. After all, I did try to kill her the last time we met face to face. That probably didn‘t instil a desire to catch up and chat. 

Though how many times could she do that without completely destroying herself? I‘d seen the way Selene looked after reviving me the first time... she‘d basically faded into nothing from exhaustion. Knowing what I knew now, I was pretty certain that she‘d already used up whatever she could spare. 

But if I was alive… didn‘t that mean I could warn the others? Tell them everything I‘d learnt? 

And with that thought, all the past events suddenly started to swarm at me inside. The things Thea had told me, the fighting, the pain... all of it. The weight of the memories finally hit me and I felt my face wincing under its brutal reminder. 

Cold. My hand abruptly felt colder now. As if whatever had been warming it just disappeared. 

“Aria. Are you awake?” 

It was a voice I was familiar with. 

And my breathing caught in my throat, relief instantly flooding me. 

So, I really was alive... and he was here. 

Despite all my failures, I‘d somehow been given my final wish after all. 

I slowly opened my eyes and turned to see Aleric by my bedside. 

I‘d never seen a sweeter sight. 

Only, he looked tired. His black, wavy hair out of place, appearing the same way as when he was woken u p too early. Though, all things considered, that didn‘t really surprise me. He‘d probably been out leading the search for Thea for however long I‘d been in here 

...But that would mean I was still in my own present time, lessening the chance of Selene being involved. 

Which then still begged the question... 

“...How am I alive...?” | asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper. 

He didn‘t look surprised or taken aback by my question. A reaction that told me he probably knew just as well as I did that my survival shouldn‘t have been possible. 

“I guess you could call it a medical miracle,” he answered. “One that you can thank your old silver collar for.” 

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Chapter Ninety Three 

“My... collar?” I asked, frowning. Maybe I really was dead as that would have made more sense than what he‘d just said. 

“The doctors are pretty confused too but everyone seems to agree that the collar is the most likely cause of your survival,” he said, “They think that, because you were exposed to silver all day, every day, for such an extended period of time, your body built up a sort of… natural resistance to the poisoning effects. Trace amounts must have been entering your system via the irritation it left on your skin.” 

When Elder Luke had once said that the effects of prolonged silver exposure were unknown, I don‘t think anyone would have predicted this. This was... completely unheard of. 

“I‘m immune… to silver?” 

“Silver ‘poisoning‘,” he corrected. “And, no, not entirely. Just a better resistance. I guess it‘s sort of like when people regularly subject themselves to low doses of poison if they deal with venomous animals. Makes the effects not as bad should they ever get bitten.” 

“I don‘t...,” | started but wasn‘t sure what to say. I was so confused… but at the same time, none of this seemed possible even if it were true. “I saw the blood… there was so much of it. Too much to survive.” 

“Don’t remind me,” he said, his eyes narrowing from the memory. “Honestly, I‘d never felt so sick in my entire life before when I saw you just lying there, lifeless as your blood embellished the walls and floor.” 

He then paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “…But, that being said, you managed to start healing before it became irreversible. In fact, by the time I arrived with the others, you‘d already stopped most of the worst bleeding on your own.” 

was lucky I’d managed to get the handcuffs off then. Resistance or not, I wouldn‘t have been able to use my natural accelerated healing had I not taken extreme

Aria...,” he said, a small crease forming between his brows.” Calling it a close call would be a gross understatement. Over the last few days, you‘ve undergone several

at the wall, completely in shock over everything he was telling me.

then.... 

alive because of Tytus and Elder

me in silver, forcing me to suffer through the humiliation and burning for over a year, had become the very thing that had allowed me to live. If I

Aleric then softly chuckle under his breath, catching my attention to see he held a small

little at seeing him do so; to

like

and I‘m not dead,” | reiterated.

“... Not dead.” 

were perhaps beyond even Selene‘s interference. The chances of this

then scrunched my right hand into a fist to test how much it‘d healed. Unlike the rest of my injuries, the dislocation was probably the easiest to mend given no silver was

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feel that it had

because there was a lot of work to

before I forgot. Especially when the information included

managed to figure out during our fight. It was the only reason I‘d been able to hide m y plan from her, the one to stall her for time. Otherwise I was

just within a ten minute encounter alone than out of the entire

easy. In fact, if my theories were correct, it might not be possible at all for a while; not whilst I was recovering anyway.

I mistook for my ‘past self‘. I might have let her in, allowing her to

would know I had survived... and she would be

impossible odds, despite even the outcome of our battle, somehow I‘d managed to dig my claws in enough to live... and that very fact alone

Aleric then asked, a little alarmed when I started to suddenly move.

hissed from the pain in my shoulder. I wanted to start work a s soon as possible. There

I huffed, grimacing from the effort.

probably assumed I was going to do it whether he helped me or not, and stood

I first thought of it; asking someone to help me sit up. Only I swiftly realised my mistake as the contact made me recall the revelation

just how close his body was as his arm wrapped

turned my head right now,

probably wouldn‘t have normally noticed. Things like his

I wondered if....

promptly finished helping me up and was about to pull away, but, before he could even take a step, 1 quickly pinched at

the comfort his presence gave me. Having almost lost it forever made me now critically aware of

to meet his eyes as I stared

to say before dying. So much

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Cluple Nuitty Ihree 

my life to him and more. A debt I was never

out if he hated me for what i‘d done to him. To hear from him that things hadn‘t been

I was the dangerous, unpredictable one

though it was probably wrong of me, I wanted to know I

I said, unsure how to say the words

into the cells, it was like all of my anger and frustration just immediately evaporated, **‘ was what he‘d said to me not

it was like to want to hate someone under its influence; to be trapped by the emotions the bond forces you to

be wrong of

disregard everything that had happened in the last few months. If I were him, I would want t o hate me... and it meant that, if I were to ask him for a straight answer

.Broken.‘ 

...Insane.’ 

... Monster. 

reared its ugly head inside

obviously not enough. I still had a long way

reason to avoid this topic for the time being. Something that would need to wait until ! could process all the information I‘d gathered and work on countering what I could. It would be safer

“Aria?” 

think the drugs are wearing

not to get up.

both

probably realising I was right. This information could b e time–sensitive and who knew how long medication

what happened but it wasn‘t all that helpful,” he said, giving in to my request “There is only so much he

known about my first life, or about the lineages, or even Thea‘s involvement with Selene. The only thing he knew was that I‘d made Thea a

than he was able to tell you,” said. “Much, much worse. Before now, Thea wasn‘t able to touch me; or any of us, for that matter, directly. It was caused by