Book 5. Chapter 27: The heart chooses first
Was she falling in love?
Could she fall in love?
Why was she feeling so territorial about Keith when she thought of him, and yet didn’t have those same thoughts with others? She’d brushed off those feelings as remnants from her prior life as a spider before - the more base emotions were often overtuned within her past shell, and those echos followed her in her current shell as part of her identity.
Or so she had thought.
Territorial behavior was one such relic. However… what if this particular feeling wasn’t that? What if it was admiration? Respect for an enemy? Had her feelings remained constant or changed over time?
Internal polling came up with rapid responses: Territorial feelings for him specifically hadn’t diminished over time. They grew instead. The analysis even pinpointed moments in time when they had unknowingly expanded.
To’Aacar. To’Sefit. To’Orda. To’Avalis. He’d challenged Feathers, despite having next to no hope in defeating such opponents. And yet he pulled through. He’d done so from the moment he turned and stood his ground against her, even if her old shell towered over him.
She’d defeated him multiple times in the digital ocean, when training. And yet, none of those fights felt like a true battle. Deep down inside, if she were up against Keith in a life and death fight - he would win. Not by skill, but by ingenuity. In ways she couldn’t predict or plan against, but could only end up admiring the creativity when the chaos settled.
More pivotal moments flashed through her mind, and were then swamped by a few thousand smaller moments. Of food, debates, arguments, and even her trek as Hecate, Deathless.