Ch. 81 – What I’ve Been Missing

Upstairs, as they traversed the opulent, marble-lined hallway, Rhys had to desperately steel his remaining sanity. He had no clue what kind of cosmic trap was waiting for him behind those heavy mahogany doors.

Led by a beaming, triumphant Shula, he walked into one of the estate's massive primary bedrooms. But the moment he crossed the threshold, his footsteps faltered.

Standing near the far balcony was a tall, imposing woman. Even more striking than her dark, athletic physique were the massive, pitch-black wings spanning out behind her back, casting long shadows across the room.

Wait a minute... I know those wings! Rhys exclaimed mentally, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.

It was Seraphina—known in their prime hero days as Obsidian.

She was an Aasimar of dark, fallen angel descent, standing well over six-foot-two with a muscular, commanding presence. Stark snow-white hair framed a face set with pitch-black eyes, and a floating, dark obsidian halo hovered lazily above her head.

Years ago, long before Rhys had ever met Lira, he had fought side-by-side with Seraphina under his Omen persona. Back then, Rhys had carried a massive, ungodly crush on the dark angel. But Seraphina had cold-heartedly shot him down, dead-set on finding an ultra-tall, hyper-athletic, demonic powerhouse to match her imposing aesthetic.

She had eventually married a Tiefling hero who used to fight alongside them in a massive, fearsome demon form. But the moment the guy retired from active duty, he stopped maintaining the magical output and shrank back down to his natural state: a scrawny, five-foot-tall little guy who rarely, if ever, transformed anymore. Essentially, she had been cosmic-level catfished. Now, she stood in Shula’s guest room looking like a dark, terrifying goth goddess—carrying a mountain of quiet regret over how her marriage turned out, while watching from afar as the mortal guy she once rejected turned out to be an absolute catch.

Rhys couldn’t believe his eyes. After all these years, the sheer nostalgia overrode his tactical instincts. He stepped forward to give her an affectionate, old-comrade hug.

The second he wrapped his arms around her, however, Rhys could instantly tell Seraphina was not feeling particularly friendly. Her body was rigid, her massive black wings twitching with an intense, unreadable tension. They exchanged brief, awkward pleasantries and dry hero banter, but as the silence settled, the gravity of the situation slammed back into Rhys’s chest like a freight train.

A heavy, overwhelming wave of wild déjà vu washed over him. Surrounded in a private bedroom by two drop-dead gorgeous, ultra-powerful women—one of them an old flame who used to ignore him, and the other actively trying to strip him bare. Just another casual Tuesday in his absurd life.

Wait, hold on! Rhys shouted at himself internally, his pulse spiking. This can’t actually be happening right now, right?!

“It very well can,” the dark voice of Omen murmured, standing directly in front of him within his mind's eye. “And you had better prepare for what’s coming next.”

Shula gracefully glided toward the velvet sofa, pulling Rhys down beside her while inviting Seraphina to join them. Shula immediately launched into a detailed, completely unabashed explanation of Seraphina’s personal plight. She laid out the entire story of how Seraphina’s Tiefling husband had essentially catfished her with his temporary demon form, leaving her trapped with a tiny, unmotivated guy.

Seraphina’s pitch-black eyes flared with anger at the blunt summary, but she didn't deny a single word of it.

Yeah... that was right after you brutally shot me down, Rhys thought with a subtle, petty flash of smugness.

“Focus, Rhys!” the inner voice snapped sternly. “You’re completely missing the bigger picture here.”

Shula kept right on going, explaining with breezy excitement how she had recently called up Seraphina to catch up. They got to talking about starting families, and Shula had casually dropped that she was securing a elite genetic donor.

Yeah, I’m sure it 'just came up' in casual conversation, Rhys thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Shula gushed that she simply couldn't keep it a secret any longer, boasting to Seraphina that she had somehow secured the legendary Omen—who had mysteriously dropped off the galactic grid years ago.

I really don't like where this is going, Rhys thought, panic rising in his throat.

"I really don't like where this is going," Rhys said out loud, forcing a smooth, composed tone as he attempted to extract himself from between the two towering women, who were subtly inching closer from both sides.

Rhys stood up abruptly and made a break for the exit, stepping briskly out the open doorway.

The very instant his foot crossed the threshold, the world violently tilted and blurred. A weightless, nauseating sensation flipped his stomach upside down, and with a sharp magical snap, Rhys popped right back onto the plush couch—sinking even deeper between Shula and Seraphina than he had been before.

Holy shit! Rhys gasped mentally, staring at the doorway in utter horror.

“You didn’t focus,” the dark voice echoed from where it still stood near the doorframe, looking back at him with cold disappointment. “Now you pay the price.”

With that, the dark presence dissolved, leaving Rhys with a strange, hollow void in his chest.

He glanced sideways at Seraphina. She hadn't uttered more than a few words since he arrived. She looked utterly fuming—her dark halo pulsing with erratic magical static, her massive black wings tightly coiled behind her back. But as Rhys watched her, he noticed something far more concerning.

Her pitch-black eyes kept darting downward... repeatedly staring straight at his groin.

The dots finally connected in Rhys’s head, forming a terrifying, crystal-clear picture.

She wants to connect my dots! Rhys realized in absolute, stunned panic.

“YESSS! FINALLY!” an obnoxious voice screamed as the long-lost tiny devil suddenly popped back onto Rhys’s left shoulder, wearing a tiny pair of 3D glasses and clutching a massive bucket of buttered popcorn. “I came back just in time for the main event! I’ve been an Obsidian fan-boy since day one!”

Surprisingly, the tiny angel on his right shoulder didn't even argue. It just sat there in dead silence, staring at the dark Aasimar goddess with an awkward, oddly unreadable expression.

Rhys was so utterly lost in his internal panic, staring wide-eyed at Seraphina, that he almost completely missed the last sentence Shula purred into his ear.

"Wait—what was that?" Rhys asked, snapping his head around to face Shula.

Shula was sitting an absolute inch from his face. As Rhys turned, he accidentally slipped, his lips brushing frame-imperfectly against hers.

Shula let out a soft, ecstatic gasp at the near-miss kiss, her golden eyes flashing with a desperate hunger to taste him. That was the exact reason she was hovering so ridiculously close—just waiting for him to make a single careless slip.

Refusing to grant her the satisfaction of a full kiss, Rhys pulled his chin back slightly. "What did you just say, Shula?"

Shula offered him a triumphant, matter-of-fact smile. "I said... I am going to show Seraphina what it’s really like to have a true donor."

A freezing, icy chill ran straight down Rhys’s spine.

He slowly turned his head back to Seraphina, who was—most uncharacteristically—sporting a deep, dark flush across her cheeks. Deciding she was the easier target to break, Rhys addressed her directly. "Seraphina... what does she mean by that?"

Seraphina swallowed hard, her dark halo flickering. "I’ve grown completely disgusted with my husband over the years," she admitted, her voice a low, husky rumble. "His true self... it's a lie."

She looked up at Rhys, her pitch-black eyes filled with a sudden, raw longing that sent a shockwave through his system. "And... I need to say I'm sorry, Rhys."

Rhys blinked. "Sorry? For what?"

"For all those years ago," Seraphina murmured, leaning in until her tall, muscular frame was pressing right up against his side, trapping him against the couch cushions. "I treated you so cruelly. I dismissed you. And before I even realized what I lost... you were gone. Retired. And I couldn't ever take it back."

Her dark wings unfurled slightly, wrapping around the back of the couch like a velvet cage as her determination reached a fever pitch.

"That’s why I came here today," Seraphina confessed, her breath heavy, her eyes ablaze with pure, unadulterated lust. "I’m going to watch the two of you during the entire act... so I can finally see what I’ve been missing all these years. And hopefully... once you're done, you’ll accept my proposal to give me a child of my own, too."

The sheer, overwhelming weight of her words landed like an anvil, sending Rhys’s mind into an absolute, uncontrollable tailspin.