Chapter 63: THIRD POV.

Artria let out a weak sob, her eyes locked on Jacob. Persephone didn’t move. She stood there, like an ice queen in the center of the storm, holding her sister’s life in her hands.

"W-Why... you shouldn’t be here. You should be back at the nest. Why did you have to come here?" Persephone said through her anger.

Her voice was filled with emotion, sounding like she was right on the edge of breaking down.

This was the last thing she wanted.

She had worked so hard to show Jacob a different side of her.

She had cooked for him, laughed with him, and tried to be the woman he wanted her to be.

For him to see her like this, wild, violent, and filled with hate, tore at her heart.

She didn’t want him to think that she was back to her old ways.

The one thing she didn’t want, more than anything in the world, was for him to see her as a monster again.

She wanted to be his "dear Persephone," not the Mistress of the Reef who commanded sharks and killed without a second thought.

And yet, despite her fear of his judgment, the rage inside her was too hot to put out. It burned through her veins, demanding retribution.

"It’s all your fault!" Persephone screamed, turning her glare back to Artria. Her hand, which was already clamped tight, squeezed even harder.

"ARCK!" Artria cried out. Her hands clawed weakly at her sister’s wrist, but Persephone’s arm was like a band of iron.

Small, frantic bubbles leaked from Artria’s gasping mouth. Her face was turning a pale, sickly shade as she was slowly being suffocated.

Her tail gave a desperate flick, but the power was leaving her body. She was staring at Persephone, gradually , the look in her face turned into one of bitter resignation as if she had no regrets.

"Persephone!" Jacob yelled, his heart hammering against his ribs.

He was even more worried now, seeing Artria’s eyes start to roll back. The sight of her struggling for air made his blood run cold.

"Please, just swim towards me and let her go. You don’t want to do this. I know you don’t!" Jacob pleaded. He was trying to sound calm, but his voice was shaking.

"But I have to! She’s the one who started it!" Persephone said.

Her expression was a messy mixture of multiple emotions, hatred, sadness, even desperation.

She looked like someone who felt they had no other choice left.

"She’s only going to make things worse if I leave her alive," Persephone added, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Artria’s face.

’Make things worse, how?’ Jacob wanted to say. He wanted to scream at her that nothing could be worse than killing her own blood.

But he kept it to himself. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

He knew that one wrong word could make her snap and finish the job right then and there.

"Whatever Artria did, I’m sure it doesn’t mean you have to kill her. She’s your sister, Persephone. Your only sister," Jacob said, still trying to persuade her with everything he had.

At the same time, he began to move. He swam towards them at a very slow pace, keeping his hands open and visible.

He didn’t want to startle her, but he needed to be close enough to act.

"Please, just let her go and I’m sure we can talk all this out. We can go back home and figure everything out together," he said, reaching a hand towards them across the rushing water.

From this spot, the pull of the whirlpool was great.

The water was roaring like a thousand storms, and the current was trying to drag him into the dark center.

Jacob was having a lot of trouble remaining firm against its pull.

His tail was working overtime, and his muscles were starting to burn from the constant effort of staying in place.

"There’s nothing left to say! What she’s done, can’t be undone!" Persephone yelled, her voice getting louder and more agitated.

She was trembling now, her whole body shaking with the force of her feelings.

This only frightened Jacob even more. He could see her losing control.

"She knew about everything I went through! Everything she forced me to endure!" Persephone continued, her words coming out in a rush. "And yet, even after all those years when I came back, she still hated me! She still wanted me gone!"

"If that was all..." Persephone said, her voice suddenly turning very quiet and cold.

It was a change that was scarier than her shouting. "I could’ve simply ignored her. I could have lived my life and let her have her little village."

Her eyes seemed so cold they might as well spew a blizzard. She looked at Jacob, and for a second, he saw a deep, dark jealousy in her gaze.

"But this wench of a sister went and laid claim to something that wasn’t hers," she said, her grip tightening again. "Now there’s nothing I can do about it."

"Maybe once she’s dead, I’ll have a chance again," Persephone said, her signature, cruel smile emerging on her face.

A face that reminded him of his times trapped in her cave.

"I’ll wipe off her mark with her death. Then there will be nothing to stop me."

As the smile grew, Artria didn’t seem to respond, rather remaining silent through it all.

’Claim? Mark? W-What?’ Jacob’s mind was racing.

He had no idea what she was going on about.

He felt like he was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

Perhaps if he had read the novel more, or paid more attention to the lore of this world, he would’ve understood the words she was using.

But as of now, the only thing he could think of was that he was about to witness a murder.

The only thing that mattered was that if he did nothing, he’d end up losing the two people he cherished the most in this new world.