Chapter 13: Requiem Of Souls

Rachael felt a wave of nausea wash over her, and she forced herself to keep from retching. He looked so peaceful as if he were just sleeping. It was hard to believe that he was really gone.

She stayed there, staring at him for a long time, tracing the lines of his face with her fingers. Her mind was reeling, memories of him flooding her thoughts. She remembered the way he smiled, the way he held her for the first time and savored her mouth. Rachael slowly traced her delicate fingers along the tips of her mouth, surprised at how the brief contact left a magical sensation deep within her.

The way he looked at her with those deep, dark eyes. She remembered the way his voice sounded when he said her name, the way his breath felt on her skin, the way his hands felt on hers.

She felt her senses begin to dull, her surroundings fading into the background. The only thing that mattered was him, and the pain that came with his loss. She had lost everything significant in her life, and losing him also was another pain she was not willing to bear.

Rachael felt as if she was finally crazy when she realized how his death had a sudden hold on her heart. This creature who she barely knows the name of or his true intentions towards her was dominating every thought in her.

She felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness as if part of her had been ripped away. She couldn't imagine a future without him in this world, only if she would be alive after the soul exchange.

"Why do you make me feel like you know him?" the merman who stood and watched her all this while asked. The host of merfolks who had also gathered was bewildered at her actions. The human girl had thrown them into a state of confusion as she wept over their prince.

The reality of her situation finally washed over her as the merman spoke. But she was so engaged with what she was doing that she failed to realize his question.

Even in his lifeless form, he still looked like an avenging angel.

Rachael simply sat there, staring at his inhuman beauty, trailing her fingers along his face. She felt as if she were in some kind of trance, detached from the world around her. Her thoughts were consumed by him, and the gut-wrenching sadness that came with his loss.

He was their prince, and she was his sacrifice. Soul sacrifice. Rachael felt a deep feeling of satisfaction that she was exchanging her living soul for his dead one. She lived up to this moment because of him. She would have died out of starvation and hunger, but he came through when she thought all hope was lost.

Now that his lifeless figure stared into space, the least she could do was to offer up her soul to him on a platter of gold. Her mother had taught her how to repay the kindness to people, and her current situation was nothing less.

But something felt amiss here, just that she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

A few minutes passed and the merman who was with Rachael on the ground floor of the open theater cleared his throat before yelling, "His Imperial Highness Nereus Morven!"

Following this announcement, a man whose age was a contradiction to the type of beauty he had, whose skin had a few covering of blue-green scales, wearing a crown made out of the most precious of sea stone and holding a golden scepter carved out of the costliest of sea coral, confidently strode to the front of an elevated platform in the theater.

After he stared at Rachael for a while, he banged his scepter to the floor. After the hushed voices quieted down, he began to speak.

"We have strived for this moment for years! Trying to find a way to revive the soul of my son who had died years ago to protect our kingdom. I'm standing here today because of his heroic effort. Tonight, our torments end. Tonight, we'll restore the balance in our world, and we only need the soul of this human! A small price to pay for his heroism! A truly glorious day for the entire Thebaria kingdom!

With his speech at an end, he spread his arms wide and twirled the scepter around once before slamming it into the floor, prompting the merfolks to begin their chant.

The merfolk began their harmonious chant, their voices rising to a fever pitch as if they were getting everything ready for what was to happen next. Once the atmosphere in the arena shifted, only then did the merman who stood beside her lift up a dagger and commanded her;

"Take the dagger and draw out your blood and fill this bowl with it; only then will we be able to create a link between your blood and your soul. And once the link is created, we'll draw out your soul and make it one with your blood, and when we feed your blood to him, your souls will be exchanged," he said.

Rachael shivered in anticipation as she lifted the dagger and slowly traced the edge of the blade with her finger, earning her a small cut. A small smile crept into her face as she looked at the little droplets of blood falling perfectly into the bowl.

After her blood had dropped to a reasonable amount, the merman carefully took the bowl with both arms and ordered her to kneel before the seashell in order for the last phase of the sacrifice to be completed. Rachael gently did as she was told, clutching her arm where she had made the cut to prevent herself from bleeding any further.

Just as the merman was about to offer her blood to him, a roar reverberated through the entire theater. The effect of the loud voice shook the foundations of the building, which made the audience jump in fright.

The force of the echoes threw Rachael meters away from the seashell where the body lay. The impact of the sound also made the merman lose his balance, sending him backward as he impaled his body to the furthest wall while he dropped the bowl of blood due to the force.

Silence bathed the whole place, as a figure emerged from the dark.

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