Rheya Apostolous

Rheya Apostolous, a character in the Bloodbound series, was a priestess of the goddess Phampira, patron of blood and life, and the First Vampire. She is the main antagonist of Book 3. Although she is first seen in Book 2, Chapter 1, her name is not revealed until Chapter 2.

Appearance
Rheya has brown eyes, long brown hair, and tanned skin. She wears a white tunic, gold necklace, and gold armband.

When she transforms into a vampire, she gains blood-red eyes and sharpened canines.

Personality
According to Gaius in Book 2, Chapter 11, she was truly a force of nature and was the greatest vampire who ever lived, the greatest who will ever be. Bold, courageous, intelligent, assertive, she is and was truly one of a kind, peerless and uncompromising. She also knew exactly what she wanted and she vowed to move heaven and hell to achieve it. Her power was raw and infinite and her passion could level entire kingdoms. In the premium scene in Chapter 9, it was revealed that all she ever wanted was a world where vampires could live free. And in turn, her enemies, specifically Xenocrates, killed her for not wanting the same vision as her. As stated by Adrian in the same chapter, she became power-mad because of the pain and mistreatment humans caused her. Due to this, she didn't want others to experience the same thing so she made herself the new ruler of Mydiea after murdering King Kaelisus out of revenge.

In Book 3, Chapter 8, she mentions her disdain for other vampires and believes that they are pale shadows of what she represents.

The tapestry flashbacks in Book 3 reveal the evolution of her character, unlike the scenes in Book 2 that show her as villain from the moment she was Turned and killed the former king. In Book 3, it's a slow descent into darkness. As shown in the tapestry scene in Book 3, Chapter 2, in the early days of her rule, she was kind, pacifistic and driven by a sense of justice. She dismissed the idea that rebels and her enemies must be dealt with by force and instead opted to negotiate and propose deals with them to prove that she is not a threat despite her powers. She regretted violently overthrowing King Kaelisus. However, this changed when her kingdom was attacked and her family was murdered, as revealed in Book 3, Chapter 12. This made her kindness and empathy die with her being only left with fire, rage, and hate. At that moment, she swore to kill every last human crawling this earth, including man, woman and child. According to Xenocrates, grief drove her mad and awakened the darkness in her. This is when she began her murderous rampage in search for more blood in order to become a Goddess. In Book 3, Chapter 8, she reveals that she seeks to become a goddess in order to give her the power to bring back what was lost, i.e her family.

Background
In the 8th century, B.C., in the city-state of Mydiea, Priestess Rheya spurned the advances of King Kaelisus. When he became more aggressive, she defended herself and clawed his face. Because it was treason to attack the King (as well as for having his advances rejected), Kaelisus wanted to have her executed. However, Prince Xenocrates spoke up on her behalf, warning his father that he and their kingdom might incur the anger of the gods if they acted in haste. Hence, Kaelisus decided to exile her, telling her that her survival would depend on the will of the gods she served. Gaius was the soldier that escorted her to the caves beyond the city. She pleaded with him to unbind her and he complied, giving her the knife he had used to cut the ropes. According to the legend, she gained her powers by drinking from the Tree of Eternal Life. She later returns to Mydiea transformed into the First Vampire and kills Kaelisus. Xenocrates pleads with her to spare his life and he and Gaius ask to receive her power.

Book 1

 * Chapter 7: The Judgment (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 14: The Cabin (Mentioned)

Bloodbound: Dark Solstice

 * Chapter 4: And To All An Endless Night (Mentioned; Determinant)

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: The Calm
 * Chapter 2: The Bloodkeeper
 * Chapter 4: The Collected
 * Chapter 6: The Ambush (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 9: The Slaughter
 * Chapter 11: The Legend (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 13: The Compound
 * Chapter 14: The First (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 16: The End (Determinant)

Book 3

 * Chapter 2: The Unchained
 * Chapter 4: The Return
 * Chapter 5: The First
 * Chapter 6: The Legend
 * Chapter 7: The Bacchanalia
 * Chapter 8: The Truth
 * Chapter 9: The Five (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 10: The Test (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 11: The Mentor (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 12: The Nemesis
 * Chapter 13: The Ally

Gaius Augustine
Gaius knew Rheya in the past, as he was the soldier that carried out King Kaelisus' orders before she became the First. He calls her his Goddess in Book 2, Chapter 6. A premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 9, reveals that Serafine Dupont wrote in her notes that all the info about Rheya, the First Vampire, came from Gaius himself and that he never mentioned who killed her. A premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 9, reveals that, while Xenocrates started to have doubts about Rheya and her motives, Gaius didn't question her. In another premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 11, Gaius told Kamilah that Rheya is his everything because he loved her and still does. He even said he would love her until the day he dies, since she made him who and what he is. Adrian mentions in the same chapter that Gaius worshipped her. In Book 3, Chapter 5, she expresses her sadness at Gaius’ actions in Book 2 and says he became the thing he hated most; a monster.

However, in Book 3, Chapter 8, after her true intentions are exposed, she reveals that all her concern was false and that she never actually cared about Gaius, seeing him as a pathetic child who yearns to be loved by someone and “asking to be broken”. In the same Chapter, she somehow frees him from his tree-like state, restoring him, and sends him to kill the MC and her friends, but, when the MC peeks briefly into his mind, she feels that Gaius, beneath her apparent love for Rheya, apparently hates and fears her.

A premium scene of Book 3, Chapter 10, reveals that, in fact, Rheya herself is the one who turned Gaius into a monster; after Demetrius and Iola’s deaths, Rheya ordered Gaius to raze a fishing village that gave shelter to the rebels that murdered her family, claming they must make an example of them, as a necesary sacrifice to reach their goal to create a world where vampires could live in freedom, but Gaius refused, believing that the innocent villagers and their children doesn’t deserve to be punished by the sins of their elders. Rheya claims that no human is innocent and that soon they will begin to try to exterminate the vampires, but when Gaius still refuses to follow her order, Rheya uses her mind control over him, shutting down his empathy and decency and molding his thoughts and personality into the cruel and bloodthirsty killer that everyone knows, turning him into her personal enforcer and puppet. After the MC frees Gaius from Rheya’s control in Book 3, Chapter 12, and reveal to him the First's true self, Gaius realizes that Rheya never loved him and see him as disposable; he subsequently betrays Rheya and offers to tell the MC how to kill her for good.

Your Character
"Blood calls to blood. Flesh draws to flesh. Soon... all will burn."

- Rheya

In Book 2, Chapter 1, you have a dream of an ancient temple, a bleeding tree, and Rheya speaking. You are not sure what it means, but when Scholar Jameson leaves a tapestry fragment for you to find in his room, you have a vision of the past and watch her being exiled. In Chapter 4, if you decide to take the fragment (premium choice), you have a vision of her returning to the throne room of ancient Mydiea with her new powers. In Book 3, you have a choice to trust her or distrust her.

Xenocrates
Xenocrates was the first to pledge loyalty to her after Rheya became the First Vampire. As of the tapestry scene of Book 2, Chapter 9, Xenocrates started to doubt her but Rheya was able to ease his doubts. Like Gaius, Xenocrates also called her his Goddess. As shown in a premium scene in Chapter 13 of Book 2, she was killed by Xenocrates after she caught him approaching the Tree of Eternal Life. She initially thought Xenocrates was there to absorb power from the Tree as she did and become her equal. But Xenocrates revealed that he was there to end her as she had turned dark and strayed away from the gods. She attempts to comfort him, but he uses this as an opportunity to push her into a branch of the Tree, impaling her. She dies as she gets absorbed by the Tree, becoming part of the Tree itself.

Vlad Tepes
Vlad Tepes and Rheya never met in person since Rheya was already no more than a legend when Kamilah was Turned about 2000 years before the events of Book 1. In a premium scene with Adrian in Book 2, Chapter 11, it is mentioned that Vlad became obsessed with Rheya through the bond he shared with Gaius. Adrian reveals that in the 1500s, Vlad even started a faith around her. When Your Character asks Adrian if he means a vampire cult, he states "More or less, yes", and also confirms that Vlad refers to her as Goddess. Because of Vlad, Rheya is idolized by many vampires around the world.

Demetrius and Iola
Demetrius was Rheya's husband when she was a human. Together, they had one child, a daughter named Iola. She doted upon her family, and they deeply loved her. After Rheya became a vampire, Demetrius became one of her closest advisors along with Gaius and Xenocrates. He and Iola wasn't afraid of Rheya's new vampire nature. However, she adamantly refused to Turn them, despite her daughter's desire.

Demetrius and Iola were killed by the Sons of Ares: Demetrius was slain defending Iola, and Iola herself was burned in her mother's home. In grief, Rheya attempted to Turn him then. However, Demetrius had been dead too long, and when she revived him, he returned as a hollow, empty shell, that emanate a powerful and deadly negative energy which affected both humans and vampires alike, eventualy turning them into vicious, bestial and ravenous monsters if exposed long enough. Unknowingly, Rheya turned her husband into the very first Feral.

She kept him around because she loved him, but eventually, the negative energy associated with his physical form made Rheya ill, and she gave him a boat to depart.

The loss of both Demetrius and Iola changed Rheya forever, the inmense suffering she experienced destroyed her humanity and empathy, causing her to became mad and unleashing the darkness inside her.

Powers and Abilities

 * Invulnerability: In Book 1, Chapter 14, Adrian explains that, unlike the vampires descended from her, the First did not have a "weakness to sunlight", and could survive the stake and the blade.
 * Immortality: In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian confirms that he does not age. Adrian states in Book 1, Chapter 14, that the First had the same powers as him, but none of his weaknesses. Thus it can be assumed that Rheya did not age as well.
 * Insomnia: A consequence of being a vampire is the immunity to drowsiness; as such, vampires are not hampered by fatigue caused by sleeplessness.
 * Superhuman Strength: Rheya was able to remove Kaelisus' lower jaw with two fingers, shortly after her transformation in Book 2, Chapter 4.
 * Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: As a vampire, she demonstrates superhuman speed when she crosses the throne room in one moment in Book 2, Chapter 4.
 * Healing Factor: Adrian's body can heal from physical injuries at supernatural speeds, ranging from closing open wounds to manually adjusting and healing dislocated bones. Vampires can heal the bite mark on their victims as well, using their own blood as a medium to accelerate the closing of the wounds. Despite this, Vampires are not averse to feeling pain. Adrian states that Rheya had all the powers all vampires have, so the same can be assumed for her. Additionally, she can heal others as demonstrated in Book 3, Chapter 5, when she quickly heals Your Character. Especially, she can even heal the damage caused by the sun in Book 3, Chapter 6, which, as Jax indicates, "the one thing a vampire can't recover from".
 * Telekinesis: In a premium flashback scene of Book 2, Chapter 4, it is noted that she made several guards fly backwards with a wave of her hand. She kills them violently without touching them.
 * Heightened Senses: In Book 1, Chapter 6, Lily mentions how she can feel the slightest air currents, how she can even see the tiniest pores in Your Character's skin and can hear the water running through the pipes three stories up... Thus we can assume the same can be said for Rheya.
 * Pyrokinesis: Rheya, like Gaius and Reinhardt III, is able to create and control fire. She was able to put out the fire of the torches illuminating the throne room of King Kaelisus without touching them, shown in the special scene shown in Book 2, Chapter 4.
 * Blood Link: Because Rheya's blood flows within Xenocrates' veins, she can sense his every desire and every movement and knows he will betray her. In Book 3, Chapter 5, she will say that this is how she learned to speak English. She shares memories with all vampires that are living - which also makes her psychic like Serafine and Scholar Jameson.
 * Flight: If you purchase a special scene to get to know her in Book 3, Chapter 5, she will show you her other power, namely her ability to fly.
 * Mind-Control: Because all vampires come from Rheya and share her bloodline, she can dominate their thoughts and actions. This is demonstrated in Book 3, Chapter 8, when she turns all four love interests against Your Character. They later remember everything after her control is broken.
 * Power Absorption: She reveals in Book 3, Chapter 8, that unlike other vampires who drink blood to maintain power, she drinks blood (no matter if human or vampire blood) to gain power. With every victim, her power grows and the closer she gets to becoming a real goddess.

Weaknesses

 * The Tree of Eternal Life: As the First Vampire, Rheya could only be killed with a stake made from the wood of the very same tree that gave her her powers, which is revealed by Adrian and Kamilah in Book 2, Chapter 6. A premium flashback scene of Book 2, Chapter 13, reveals that the Tree of Eternal Life absorbed her.
 * Demetrius: As the first Feral, Gaius explains that Rheya is weak to his negative energy, and that his blood would turn her Feral. Gaius explains that manipulation and higher-level thought processes are Rheya's strengths, and being unable to use them would allow her to be overpowered.

Trivia

 * She was referenced several times in Book 1 as the First Vampire, but not by her real name.
 * The name Rheya is of Old Greek and Latin origin, which means: To flow, river, stream (Old Greek); poppy flower (Latin).
 * Similar to Gaius in Book 1, it appears that the Bloodbound, Book 2 Portrait Fragments will each unlock more information about her backstory.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 4, in a premium scene, it is revealed that Rheya is the First Vampire.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 5, her surname is revealed to be Apostolous.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 7, it is revealed that she murders the humans whom she's feeding on. As such, her crimes include mass murder. Murdering King Kaelisus would also make her guilty of Regicide.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 13, it is revealed that not even she is immune to becoming Feral.
 * Her backstory involves a severe inconsistency: while a premium scene of Book 2, Chapter 4, establishes that Rheya became a villain right after her Turning and got to rule only after violently killing the former king, Book 3 depicts her as kind and searching for peaceful solutions in the beginning of her rule and states that she only became evil some time later.