"So you're saying you know that the person inside me wasn't me?" Althea asked, just to be sure.

"Exactly! It started when we took you to hospital. Everyone knew, for a fact, that you could no longer be saved. But, just as the doctor was starting to operate on you, you suddenly awoke. Regained consciousness. As if someone else had inhabited your body."

"What happened afterwards? There were external injuries right?"

"They weren't the big deal as you said, you didn't feel anything. The doctors, everyone was shocked. Then, they used medications to help you remain unconscious for the time being and performed surgery to help with your external injuries. When you awoke, Adrian was the very first person, you saw and, you didn't recognize him." Liz said remembering those times.

"I don't think Adrian is still over that... He could never forget that time when you refused to recognize any of your family. The loss was heartbreaking. And it didn't get easier each time you couldn't remember your name or was convinced you’re not his sister. That's when Adrian called me for help. At first, I thought 'if not them, how could it be me'? But, the most unexpected thing happened when I reached there..." Liz trailed off, as if reliving those moments.

"Did Al... I mean, Ad... I mean, I recognize you?" Althea almost took her own name wrong. Who would even blame her?

She lived her whole life, thinking, she was Adriana and then, the Almighty himself, said she's no Adriana. Instead, she had always been Althea. And when she had adjusted herself as Althea Dalisay, some other person, claiming to be a God, Lilith, came and robbed her chances of being Althea. Before she realized, she had become Adriana and that too, not the old one, but, she was expected to live the life abandoned by original Althea, once again. Who was she? What was her original identity? Will her life always be remains and leftovers or original Althea'? Will she never lead a life, with her own mind? Her mind was a complete mess.

"At first it was tough... To face you. I thought I will feel hurt and at times, I might struggle to be around someone who is there but in the same sense not there. Someone who looks like you but doesn’t act like you. It was hard to imagine a more terrible loss than to watch someone I love slip away right in front of my eyes. Twice... But, you recognized me. Not as Liz, though. You called me Analyn... For a second, I thought that this is happening because you felt way too connected to Althea, just before your accident. But, over the time, my thinking changed."

"Please don't create unnecessary suspense..." Just what happened? Althea was curious, will be an understatement.

"Thinking of it as some sort of mental illness, I let it pass. While it seemed like I was doing what’s best for my loved one, my best friend, ignoring feelings of sadness and grief instead of coping with an ambiguous loss started doing more harm to our relationship, and Althea, than good. You... You tried self harm... The doctor suggested to take time to make you realize the grieve of the relationship you once had. So we did it. We took time, time to process your feelings and emotions. Allowing yourself to feel the loss and grief promoted healing, and allowed you to find healthy coping mechanisms that allowed you to spend quality time with your parents, regardless of the lasting effects. Then, one day, you called for me..."

"And..." Althea needed to know the details but, it wasn't going good. As far as she knew, she transmigrated into Althea' body when she was normal then, did the same not happen here? Her trying self harm was prove enough of something being wrong.

"You asked if I believed in you and of course, I did. You said, you'd say this again. That girl, staying in hospital, wasn't Adriana, but, Althea. Yours, no, Althea's memories... They were real. More real than anything I knew of. As she narrated everything that happened to her. Her going to the construction site, meeting that horse monster, everything. All her story was going as you told me. The story of 'Love Is...' isn't what we always knew of. And that's when it started to make some sense. You, most probably, had become Althea by then, and she? She was here after waking up from the long sleep before Trisha."

"Wait... So, you remember everything? That happened between us, before my accident?" Shocked, Althea asked.

"I do. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I remember everything. How our stories didn't match. And, because I know of these things, I'd like to know where she's right now? Original Althea, I mean. And, what about you? What happened with you and how did you get back?"

"One question at a time..." Althea breathed and started telling her version of story.
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"Lilith? You say, her name was Lilith? As in, a 'night monster or storm goddess', in literal terms. In Jewish folklore, Lilith was a female demon and first wife of Adam."

"So? I don't see how it has anything to do here?" Althea was confused as to why her friend was talking about name meanings.

"The story of the webnovel 'Love Is...', do you know who the author is?" Liz asked with a knowing look.

"Don't tell me..." And, then, it clicked.

"Lilith..." Both of them said at the same time, looking at each other's faces with a horrified reaction.
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