Rhea bit her lip, still keeping her eyes locked on the little Shadow that had left her arm feeling more like it had suffered a second-degree burn than a little scratch. She swallowed the pain momentarily and attempted to use her gradually worsening anger to sharpen her focus. Her sole goal was to finish it off as quickly as possible.

Then, the Shadow did something that Rhea had been too busy to notice the other Shadows were doing. Out of nowhere, the Shadow’s body became two-dimensional as its entire body melted into the earth. Rhea gasped and instinctively threw the blunt end of her chain out toward the living shadow, but it uselessly clanged against the ground, leaving the Shadow unscathed. The Shadow sensed this moment of vulnerability and rushed forward her, still flat. With a grunt, Rhea tried to bring her chain back as fast as she could, but by the time it was back in her grasp, the sneaky Heartless had slipped underneath her feet and behind her.

Rhea had only the time to turn ninety degrees before the Shadow sprung forward and latched itself onto her bare calf. It didn’t scratch her, but just the monster’s touch burnt with malevolence, even coming from such a small creature. Rhea stared down at it for a fleeting moment, and it looked back up at her, without any expression whatsoever. Inside those glowing yellow eyes, Rhea saw beyond just the manifestation of darkness… She saw another incomplete being, just like her. They had that in common… though this Heartless was incomplete in a way that was different from how she was.

She smirked at the irony. Heartless was a misnomer. In reality, she was the one who lacked a heart.

With her free leg, she kicked at the Shadow’s fingers so its grip loosened. She then kicked her leg forward, sending the Shadow sprawling into the air. Instead of using her typical mid-range attacks, Rhea gripped her sickle at its handle and jumped up into the air as well, right in front of the Heartless, and sliced straight through it using the sharp end. Instead of reforming, the Shadow burst into a puff of glittering purple and black smoke before eventually fading away.

Good thing, too. Rhea would’ve thrown a tantrum if that hadn’t finished it off.

She landed gracefully on her sandaled feet and let out a small sigh, fixing some loose locks of hair.

“Pity. I was hoping for a little more entertainment.” Saucy as always, despite the pain in her arm that was beginning to rear its ugly head again. She grit her teeth and dropped the chain from her right hand to place it over the wound.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the group running away. She didn’t even know them, but she couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed as well as bitter. Just then, another group of Shadows came from a nearby alley to reinforce their comrades.

Rhea shut her eyes and forced a smile.

“Y’all are really testing me today.”