Chapter 5

Xithara's POV

My eyes forced open as a wet feeling engulfed me. I saw the guards standing in front of me, staring at me as if I was the most disgusting thing they had ever seen.

I instantly realized that I'm still alive. Why aren't I dead yet? Is Selene so cruel that she chose to keep me alive through all of this? While Xianna was cutting off my tongue, I surely thought that would be my last moment on Earth as the pain was like nothing I had felt before. Could it have been just a nightmare?

I tried to move my mouth and hissed in pain as I not only realized the absence of my tongue, the severed part still hurt like hell. So it really happened. Xianna had confessed her crimes to me and went ahead to cut off my tongue in order to silence me.

It really is over then. There's nothing I can do now even though I know the truth. Even if I could speak, there was a slim chance anyone would believe me but now, I can't even speak. And I'm just about to die a miserable death. At least I can finally find peace, I don't want to be a part of this cruel world anymore.

Two of the guards seized me and dragged my damaged body out of the dungeon. I was taken to the training grounds where every single member of the Pack was already gathered, eagerly waiting for my execution.

At this point, I'm half conscious, barely holding onto life but I could hear the people swearing at and hurling insults at me. Some even spat on me while the guards dragged me to the gallows that had been constructed at the center of the training grounds.

I could see my parents in the crowd. My mother was crying while my father tried to console her. He looked at me and I could see the sadness in his eyes, he probably couldn't afford to break down because of mum.

I finally saw Keith sitting on a throne they had prepared for him. Xianna was also sitting right next to him. She had washed off her makeup and ruffled her hair, she was dressed in all black and was wailing like there was no tomorrow. Pity.

Seeing her acting almost made me laugh but I couldn't, even breathing in my current condition is a struggle.

Keith stared at me coldly and when our eyes met, he looked away. There was no remorse in his eyes, no pity, nothing.

They forced me up the platform and held me up since I couldn't stand, while they wrapped the noose around my neck.

"Xithara Asteria Astaseul, you're being put to death today for all your evil actions towards the Pack. You misused your position as Luna and plotted treason. You cheated on me, killed our child, abused your sister and eventually tried to kill her after finding out about her pregnancy. You are a shame to this Pack and we'll pray that someone like you will never be born again." Keith declared and the crowd chanted in support.

All the while, I looked at each and everyone in the crowd who were supporting my death. I had gone out of my way to help most of them in any way I could. I took my position as Luna seriously and usually visited the Pack house to see if the Pack members needed anything. I always wanted to help, wanted to keep everyone happy, everyone except myself apparently. And now they had all turned their backs against me. How sad.

I'll capture each and every one of their faces and engrave it into my memory.

"Do you have any last words?" Keith suddenly asked again.

I have nothing to say to them and even if I did, I can't speak. Xianna had stripped me of that privilege.

"How can she have anything to say? An evil spawn like her is probably too ashamed to speak. Nothing good would be able to come out of her mouth anyway." A woman from the crowd spoke and the edges of my lips twisted in a small smile.

How ironic it is. The name of this woman is Maria, I remember her very well.

On one of my regular visits to the Pack house, I found out her child was very sick with a rare disease which could only be cured with medicine made from a rare plant which grew far from the borders of our Pack, close to the Lycan Kingdom's territory.

Most of the other Pack members said it wasn't worth the risk and told her to focus on having another child since that child would die soon but she was greatly distressed since she had been unable to have another child since she had him.

I felt her pain and took it upon myself to host an exploration party to go in search of the medicinal plant.

I went as well and we retrieved the plant. The doctor used it to make medicine and it was administered to the child. I went to see the boy everyday for two weeks until I was sure that he was fully restored back to health. Maria had thanked me at that time and swore she would always be loyal to me but here she was, hurling insults at me.

I finally understand how selfish the world is, people only appreciate you when they need you and toss you to the side when you become useless to you. 

If only I had devoted my time into making myself better, I might have caught up on the plots brewing all around me.

"Very well then. May Selene accept your soul." He said and the guard pushed the lever, opening the trapdoor beneath me and sweeping the ground off my feet as they finally let go of my body and I found myself hanging from a height, the noose instantly tightening painfully around my neck. 

I heard a sickening crack as my neck broke, severing my head from the rest of my body. My body seemed to go into shock as I became paralyzed, hanging low from the noose.

Tears poured down my cheeks and I gasped for breath as the lack of oxygen was making my lungs burn.

My vision was getting blurrier as I began to lose touch with reality. It was slow and agonizing. The faint sound of clapping and cheering was all I could hear as my life slowly slipped away from me.

"Goddess Selene please hear my prayer. Give me a second chance at life to make my enemies pay, to get that which is rightfully mine but this time, please make me the Villainess......." I prayed internally as everything suddenly faded to black.

*****

"Xithara! Xithara! Xithara!"

I gasped as I rose up swiftly, my vision blurring due to the force and the tears in my eyes. I'm crying? Am I dead?

I touched my neck severally, trying to figure out if the noose was still around it.

"What is wrong with you? First you were crying in your sleep and now you're acting funny." 

I know that voice. It's the voice of my twin sister, no, my mortal enemy. I turned to face her and instinctively moved backwards in fear. She looked at me strangely, her hands akimbo as she stood beside my bed.

Wait. My bed? This looks like my room at my parents' house. Where am I? What am I doing here? Wasn't I being hanged a moment ago?

"Sweetie, are you alright? Do you want me to call the doctor?" My mother asked and I turned my attention to her. She was sitting beside me on the bed and she had a worried expression on her face. What the hell is going on here?

"It's probably the ton of sugar she ate before going to training. It must be messing with her brain." Xianna said with a chuckle and my mother glared at her.

"Do you think now is the time for jokes, young lady?" My mother berated her.

"Sorry, I was just kidding." She said and I started getting deja vu.

Why do I feel like I've experienced this before?

"Mum, what's going on?" I turned to her for answers.

"You don't have to stress dear, everything will be fine. You went to training with the others and you accidentally got hurt and passed out but you're fine now. The doctor says it was just a small fall and you mainly passed out due to malnutrition. 

Working hard is good but you have to eat well too. You shouldn't only think about impressing others, try to take care of yourself as well." My mother said and I instantly realized what was going on.

This particular scene had happened before when I was 17. I had been training with some other warriors and got a little distracted so my sparring partner took advantage and threw me to the floor.

Mum was so worried and Xianna was acting nonchalant as usual. Everything has happened before.

It all happened five years ago, precisely five years before my……..death.

If I remember vividly, Dad will walk in any second now.

As if on cue, my father walked into the room with a worried expression.

"I see you're awake. Are you OK?" He asked and I simply nodded, my brain going hard at work to figure what the hell could be going on.

I'm supposed to be dead so how am I here, five years in the past, reliving the same moment? Could this be a dream? Perhaps this is due to my transition to the afterlife.

I pinched myself hard, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It hurt but I realized that I'm still in my room, my family staring at me like I had gone nuts. I might have, none of this is making any sense.

"It seems you're not well, just to be sure, I'll call the doctor to come check up on you." My father said and left the room.

"Calm down Xithara, it's alright." Flare, my wolf said and I stilled, surprised but excited to hear her voice. They had taken her away from me, I thought I had lost her.

"Flare! I'm so happy you're still here with me. What would I do without you?" I asked, trying hard to hold back the tears that were gathering in my eyes.

"You'd probably be a weak and insignificant human but the feeling is mutual. You must calm down Xithara, everything is fine, at least for now. Thanks to the goddess that my memories were restored.

What's happening is simple. While dying, you made a last wish to the goddess which was sincere and thus, she granted it. She saw the great injustice that had been done against us so she gave us a second chance to fix everything. She rewrote time for us and brought the both of us back five years earlier but was merciful enough to keep our memories." Flare explained.

"So what you're saying is….."

"Yes, we only have five years before our death, that is, if we still make the same foolish mistakes as last time." She answered the question on my mind.

"So you mean this isn't a dream, I am alive and I'm 17 again. History is going to repeat itself if I don't do something about it." I repeated, still unable to believe it.

"Exactly."

"With the knowledge I have of the future, it should be easy to avoid my death. I know every move that Xianna will make even before she makes them so it'll be easy to counter them. She made a huge mistake by telling me my errors and now I'll learn from my past mistakes." I spoke confidently and took a deep breath.

"It's not going to be as easy as it seems. There's a flip side to this. In case you might not realize, messing with time has serious consequences so we'll have to be careful as everything in this present might not play out as it did in our last life. One silly mistake could be the end of us.

Selene gave me a warning, to make sure that we're very careful because if we die in this life in five years time, she will consider us as ungrateful and our soul will be made to wander around in agony for eternity." She revealed and a chill ran down my spine. This is more serious than I could have expected.

I must be scrupulous and make sure to avoid my doom flags at all costs.

I have to be very careful about the changes that may be made to this reality and act cautiously.

I have five years to figure out how to avoid my gruesome end and get the happy ending that I deserve!