Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 349: The weak human

Third-person POV

Electra didn’t move at first. She just stared down at the girl who had somehow called her attention, her golden eyes steady and unreadable. Nothing in her face showed fear or panic, just confusion. Quiet, cold confusion.

The girl’s voice had tugged at something inside her, not a memory, because she had none, but something deeper than that. A pull, a connection, and the light pouring off the girl... that was her light. Phoenix light. Electra didn’t know how she knew that, but she did. It felt the same as what throbbed under her own skin, bright and hot and restless.

She stepped off the raised platform she’d been placed on, ignoring the shouts from the guards, ignoring the hundreds of phones aimed at her, and ignoring even the terrified gasps of the crowd. None of them mattered.

Her bare feet hit the stone ground, and she walked forward slowly, her eyes fixed only on the bleeding girl in front of her.

The girl swayed on her feet. Her knees looked like they could buckle any second, her face pale with pain, sweat, and exhaustion. Electra didn’t understand why someone who looked so close to collapsing was still standing at all, but she was, and she was glowing with Electra’s own fire.

That alone made Electra curious.

Seraphina tried to hold her ground, but her vision was swimming. Irina’s hand hovered near her back as if to steady her, but Seraphina shook her head. She wanted to face Electra on her own. She had to.

Electra stopped just a breath away from her, close enough to see the blood soaking through the girl’s shirt. Close enough to feel the warmth coming from the bleeding sigil on her back, and yes, close enough to confirm it.

Her light really was inside this girl.

Electra tilted her head slightly, studying her like one would study a strange object. Then her voice finally came out, soft but firm.

"What are you?"

Seraphina sucked in a shaky breath. "S-Seraphina," she managed. "My name is Seraphina."

Electra didn’t blink. She didn’t even look like the name meant anything to her. She just stared, the confusion still there in her golden eyes.

Seraphina wet her lips nervously. "Do you... do you not remember me?"

Electra frowned lightly, not in anger, but in thought. "Remember?" she echoed, her tone flat and cold. "I don’t remember anything."

Irina gasped, Penelope’s eyes widened, and Roxana muttered, "Oh, shit..."

Electra heard them and slowly turned her head toward them. Her gaze fell on Irina first. She examined her as blankly as she had examined Seraphina.

"Am I supposed to know you?" Electra asked calmly.

The way she said it, so detached and emotionless, made Irina freeze on the spot. She had known Electra for the better part of her life, long before they even met again in Elysium, and now Electra was looking at her like she was a stranger in a crowd.

Irina’s voice cracked. "Electra... it’s me. Irina. Your best friend. We’ve known each other since—"

Electra cut her off without raising her voice. "I don’t know you."

Penelope sucked in a breath, Roxana pressed her hand to her mouth, and Seraphina felt her heart drop.

Electra wasn’t lying. She had no memory, not of her name, and not of them. Nothing.

But what scared Seraphina wasn’t the memory loss, it was the emptiness in Electra’s voice and the lack of any emotion at all. Electra had always been intense, dramatic, loud, angry, stubborn... but never empty.

Something had changed her. Deeply.

The crowd, too shocked by what they were seeing, began to whisper even more loudly. People shuffled backward in fear, phones trembling in their hands as they recorded everything. No one dared come close, not after seeing her melt a gun without even touching it.

Still, Electra ignored the murmurs. She turned her attention back to Seraphina, her voice quiet but steady.

"You carry my fire," Electra said.

Seraphina’s breath hitched. "Yes," she whispered. "I know it’s going to sound crazy, but we’re connected."

Electra’s eyes narrowed slightly as though she was trying to understand something difficult. "Why?"

Seraphina swallowed hard, the pain on her back getting worse as she stood. "Because... you bonded with me. I’m your vessel. I saved my life, so we’re tied together. It’s too complicated."

Electra stared at her for a long second. "You’re weak," she said simply.

Seraphina almost laughed because yes, she was painfully aware of how weak she looked right now, but she nodded anyway. "I know."

"Then," Electra said, stepping even closer, "why do you hold my light? Why didn’t it burn you? It should burn you."

Seraphina didn’t know how to answer that. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. "I don’t know," Seraphina admitted softly.

Electra stared at her longer this time, almost too long. Long enough that Seraphina’s knees began to wobble again from the pain.

She watched Seraphina wobble on her feet, and even though her face didn’t show fear or any real emotion, she could tell the girl was seconds away from collapsing. Seraphina’s breathing was uneven, her body shaking from the effort of just standing, and the light pouring out of her back grew weaker by the second.

Electra didn’t understand why she cared, but she knew one thing, if this girl fell, something inside her would be affected too. She could feel it.

"Turn around," she said quietly.

Seraphina blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Your back," Electra said, her voice flat. "Show me your back."

Seraphina hesitated, looking both confused and slightly nervous, but she did as she was told. She turned slowly, her movements stiff from pain. Irina, Penelope, and Roxana huddled together behind her, watching with their hearts in their throats.

The moment Seraphina turned, Electra saw it, blood trailing down her spine, her shirt sticking to her skin, the fabric soaked through. She stepped closer without hesitation, crouching slightly so she could see better.

Then, without warning, she grabbed the back of Seraphina’s shirt and ripped it straight down, and the sound of the tear echoed through the space.

Seraphina gasped loudly. "W—Wait! What are you doing?!"

Irina jumped like she was about to run forward, Penelope grabbed her arm, and Roxana muttered something very inappropriate under her breath.

Seraphina reached back as if to stop her, about to twist around, but Electra’s voice cut through the air before she could move.

"Don’t turn around," she said sharply. "Stay still. If you move, you’ll seriously hurt yourself."