A trade was made.
A fair exchange.
Belladonna in place of what Alaris desired the most, his freedom.
After all the time they had spent together, his desires never changed, no compassion ever made its way to his determined heart, he never swayed.
Belladonna had watched chains snap to the ground, heavy metals clanking against the red glowing floor. She still couldn't see him, which meant that whatever freedom he had received from Thanatou wasn't complete.
There was only so much that Thanatou could do then, after all, he wasn't the one that caged him here in the first place. This meant that Alaris had been a spirit all along, his body must be somewhere else, and the strength of her mind had never been the problem.
Also, this had better be a plan to get the sunflower!
Alaris would never leave her here? There was a Bloodoath between them, she was his true freedom and that was why he always came back for her.
She held onto that though and spoke.
"You made to me a Bloodoath."
If this was an act, she would like to sell it well.
"There are no consequences for that on this realm."
Something in his voice made this sound real and in that moment, in Belladonna's mind, it felt like the whole hall had disappeared and it was only them.
"You won't leave me." It was more of an affirmation than a question as she hung on to the flimsy strings of trust she had foolishly allowed to grow.
"You are stupid to think that. You have always made me know that setting me free was an option for you---"
"This is not total freedom!" She blurted out, her heart racing, the truth of this hitting her. "You'll never have back your own body."
Hardly had she completed saying that when she was left shocked by Alaris taking her own form right in front of her. It was uncanny to stare right at herself and know that wasn't her.
The reptilian eyes stood out and she felt the betrayal wrench her heart at his cunny smirk.
By Ignas, she had been so stupid.
"Well, Thanatou gave me this gift, I'll do well with it."
By now, somehow inbetween their conversation, Alaris had already pulled far away from her.
"Shed. My. Skin." Belladonna gritted, embers of rage fanning in her veins.
This was outrageous!
"Why? You won't be needing it anymore. Also, I'll let your King know you loved him."
"Loved?" She questioned, begging to have misunderstood the buried implication.
Alaris had told her they sacrificed the brides they get, and it wasn't until now that she remembered that.
"Loved," he confirmed.
Thanatou had decided he was tired of their exchange after that, and before she knew it, those skeletal hands that had brought her here, had held her again, forcing her out of the hall, as Alaris, gave her a sick smile, while he moved upwards to the red river above them.
It felt terrible to be betrayed by one's own image.
___
___
Belladonna had been led into what she could best describe as a small dark room with no furniture, the walls were made of something that looked like ice, but without the cold ice would always provide.
The ladies in the room looked nothing she had ever seen before, their skin didn't hug their bones as much as the males that had dragged her out of the hall. They had more skin, and weird scales around their necks. The only thing was that their skin looked like it was made out of water.
It was good that it wasn't transparent.
Also, they didn't have flames for hair, they had hair instead, only that their hair floated in space, like it was in the water. Belladonna wouldn't know if the males shared the same attribute, the ones she had seen so far, asides from Thanatou, had black hoods over their heads, covering their faces entirely away. Their ragged black cloaks left nothing in view besides from the tip of their fingers to a little past their wrists.
The females' dressings were more exposing. They had their breasts painted with different colours, while a piece of clothing, similar to fish skin, was wrapped around their waists.
Under different circumstances, Belladonna would have been intrigued by their culture.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, as she replayed in her head, every move she had made that lead her up to this point, wondering where she had gone wrong.
She thought about Eli and felt worse. The fear of him being dead crippled her being. Alaris had assured her that he would be fine, but he was obviously lying. Now, she could see that.
By Ignas, she had hit him when he was in his weak state.
That must be capable of killing him.
Was he... dead?
Her hand reached up for her chest, where she could feel the pain the most, but one of the females took it, wiping her fingers with liquid Belladonna was certain she had never seen in her life.
Thankfully, it was odourless.
Belladonna retrained herself from looking up, she knew if she did, she would be staring at one too many naked chests.
It felt suffocating.
Another tear rolled down her cheeks and she chastised herself for entertaining this pity party for way too long.
What has happened has happened. She should find a way to get out of here, claim her body back before Alaris would gain full control and kill Kestra. If she wakes up, probably her aura would clash with his own, and he would have to leave her body.
He had never taken possession of her body before, and now, she would like to think that it was because he had tried at a point but failed.
Good, she had to get out of here and maybe one of these women could help her.
"She smells like betrayed." One of them said in a low voice, as if that would help with her not hearing them.
"Will she still be able to do the dance?"
"I pity her." Another said, maybe the youngest.
Good, pity. That might help her. She really hoped this bride sacrifice thing wasn't going to happen anytime soon, so she would have time to escape from this hell.
"Stupid. We have had no peace since your brother took the throne. He will never be a Thanatou without this."
They hummed in agreement and Belladonna's escape plan took a stabbing at that.
"Pity her not. To die for this is honour."
They hummed in agreement again.
Convincing these ones would lead to nothing but a dead end.
Honour?
Honour?!
What kind of ridiculous tradition was this?!
This was insanity!
How was her life supposed to bring peace to them?
Suddenly, the women's hands stopped assaulting her and she sighed in relief for a moment before she had another cause to panic.
"Thanatou is here."
What?!
It was happening already?