The Sight Beyond The Haze

Chapter 56: Weight on Seraphin's Shoulders

"Do not even think about it," I snapped as soon as Sir Apollyon Hart at Caspian whose mouth was already open, up for a discussion or a teasing. "He is from the Eirini, is he not?" I asked Caspian who I found looking innocently at Sir Apollyon's retreating back.

"Yes, his position was already quite high up there," Caspian responded.

It was actually a surprise to me that he answered so seriously since I thought he would like to tease me more than talking about serious matters with me. After all, I just did quite an embarrassing act. I let go of his arm and looked around, only seeing Hermes and Zachriel with Caspian.

"You guys are going to the prom together?" Hermes asked, his eyes looking at Caspian and me.

"No," I answered flatly, "I just did not like talking to that teacher." My eyes turned into slits, also gazing at Sir Apollyon's back. "So I said that." My eyes pointed at Caspian, eyes were wide, appalled with my statement. "Forget everything I said, I have no intentions of going to the prom with you."

"But you just said it!" Caspian complained and my head whipped to Anasthasia's low chuckle. It seemed she has been holding her laughter in but was unable to do so as the talk progressed.

I glared at Anasthasia but she just shrugged, continuously laughing at us so silently that one could forget she was here at all.

"Well, I do not care!" I yelled back at Caspian, turning a cold shoulder in front of him.

"Then maybe I shouldn't have just went along with it!" Caspian complained further. I closed my eyes, feeling a headache coming right at my hand that might hack ay my thoughts. "Maybe I just told Sir Apollo that I have no idea what you just did! And that I pretended and you were so ungrateful for it!"

Not helping myself to turning around to look at him, my whole body jerked to his direction. Pure magical energy poured from my hands, ready to strike him down with another word. It was a good thing that Zachriel was there to act as the referee and when he knew that I have a high amount of magical energy concentrated on my hands, he quickly went to the middle, in between Caspian and me who was staring down at each other. I was slightly taller than him, and, yes, it has only been a few months and I have grown so much.

By this rate, I would be a giant. Maybe reaching higher than six feet and that was already something for a girl.

"Ookay!" he mediated between Caspian and me. "That's enough, you two. Hermes!" he called to the other boy that was with them. "Help me," he hissed lowly, but I saw that Hermes just shrugged, not wanting to get involved.

"You'll be going to the prom with me," Caspian said, announced rather, and vile bile rose up to my throat.

"And what if I don't?" I dared him.

"I will—!"

Before Caspian could finish his sentence, Zachriel cut him off and talked to me.

"Maybe it would better if you actually come with us," Zachriel said, his voice was the epitome of politeness and genteel. "I think it would a great experience for us all. As you have already taken the position of the heir of the Eirini when you've recovered some of your memories, I think it prudent that we spend some time together."

"And that is actually not a bad idea."

I winced as soon as I have heard Cocytus' voice. He crept up behind me, blocking the concentrated magical energy on my hands and I felt the light butterflies that were hiding on my clothes flutter with the sudden obstruction. As I became comfortable just holding the energy within my hands, I finally let it be reabsorb back to my body. I glared at Cocytus who was pretending not to have noticed the sharp glint within my gaze.

"Soon, Lady Alaric Elliot will also be taking her position officially back in the Dalcanorian territories, why not start it by associating herself with the children of the Eirini members and also the Thirteen Noble Families? The Runella, Legrand, and Imbert families might not be officially part of the Eirini but they are allies, are they not? Besides, you're part of Eirini yourself, Lord Legrand."

"I think you're forgetting something else on that enumeration?" Caspian demanded at Cocytus.

He shrugged nonchalantly and even I found him insufferable and annoying. I know what they were all thinking. Who was this boy thought he was? Just another lackey sucking for false power. They did not that he has the favor of a Deity and that would inevitably make him arrogant of the others.

Cocytus did not realize that. He has always been Leigh's heir and, with Leigh around him all the time, he does not know how to be discriminated against.

"What?" Cocytus asked innocently.

Acid positively dripped out of Caspian's eyes as he sulked and turned to Zachriel for help but Zachriel did not minded him, smiling towards Cocytus who returned the smile with a fake one.

"That's settled then, I guess?" he even said which almost had me taking out magical energy again to use on him. "Okay, let's go, Anasthasia, Seraphin."

"What do you mean it's settled?" I asked but he was already dragging both Anasthasia and me away from the Eirini kids. "Hey!" I scolded him, Cocytus was not listening though.

I tried to smack him at the back of his head but he managed to evade my attack while Anasthasia waved happily to Zachriel, Caspian, and Hermes. Resignedly, I sighed and just let myself be dragged away from my original spot. Since it was already the dismissal period, the three of us went straight to the house. We all decided that it was safer for Anasthasia to still live with us and just make her dormitory room desolate.

"I'll just go up my room," Anasthasia told us both, feeling the tension rose between Cocytus and me that ensured a battle would unfold.

"What did you do that for?"

"I saw and heard what happened on that day," Cocytus suddenly revealed which made my brows twitched in confusion.

Exactly what was he talking about again? We were talking about the prom, were we not? What day was he talking about?

"That day when you didn't attend your classes? The first day of the back to school, Seraphin," he then explained.

"What about it?" I asked him but could feel dread crept up to my chest.

"Before Deo brought you here, you were Serafin Collet first. Your mother was an heiress from Paris and your father owned a winery in Italy. Both came from old money and very lowkey."

Cocytus started walking and motioned to me with a nod of his head. Like the fool that I was, I followed the jerk who put me in a hotspot earlier. I was curious of what had happened in Paris since I could not remember any of it besides a few fragments of it. Meanwhile, we turned a corner and I knew that we were probably going up to where we usually sat while talking; the drawing room where Eris' collection of porcelain was located.

When we entered, Eris greeted us with a very bright smile. There was the knowledgeable hint on her blue eyes and, as usual, she was beautiful with her golden curls and her immaculate posture whilst wearing her pink Baroque dress.

"You're telling her?" Eris asked.

We don't even need to answer her question since she already knew.

"Does Deo or Leigh knew about this?"

I did not know how to answer to that so I relied on Cocytus to give a response.

"No," he then said without any hesitation, "but she already knew that something did happen, Eris, and I think she deserves to know at least the core of it."

Eris smiled again, her eyes were focused on the tea she was adding sugar and milk. The clear liquid of the tea turned slightly murky as she added more milk until it became brown. The sun glinted off a golden sheen on her hair that was loose on her back with curls slightly obstructing some surface of her face.

"Do you think her conscience would be able to take it?" she asked quietly. "If make her feel bad, don't you think you won't feel the same? Deo has been protecting her for a while now and you are undoing the innocence he put Seraphin under. The ones who cannot remember, it is indeed unfair to those who could, but they aren't even aware and recalling would just hurt them more. Ahh," she sighed, inhaling the steam from the tea, "then again, you can do what you want."

"I already know what happened," I told them both. "Lady Imbert's parents died and also some members of the Eirini."

"Then you might have also known that someone from the inside?"

"What do you mean?"

Cocytus looked at Eris, seemingly waiting for her to stop him but she did not. She even leaned forward despite already knowing what has happened.

"The Collet family was the perfect family for you," Cocytus then continued when he made sure that Eris was only there to listen, unlike what he thought he would do. I guess that was also the reason why we were here. Even if we do not tell Eris about this, she would know no matter what. "As I've said, they're very lowkey and private. You were with them for about a couple of years so everyone— and I mean your mom, Leigh, Deo, thought that you're safe."

"But then something happened."

Cocytus nodded at me.

"Someone betrayed the trust of Eirini and no one know who it was."

It was Eris who said that. In the atmosphere hung a heavy feeling, it was grim and dark. I dare not say anything else or demand anything more.

"You didn't grow up with your mother and father, nor did you grew up with the other children," she continued. The serene air about Eris disappeared just like that and I could not suddenly remember her smile from earlier. "You didn't create a bond with other people because you were always moving about, the detachment of being separated have etched a crook in your personality. It wasn't just about Zachriel taking away a piece of your humanity."

I remained quiet, uncertain if I was supposed to say any words against her. Should I tell her that I was whole as I was right now? How certain was I that I was whole? How can I ever be confident to ask her of that?

Eris looked at me, finally.

There was an expectation on her eyes. I was supposed to say something. She had seen something from her Sight, the absolute clairvoyance that the Seer have.

"You think someone is betraying me right now," I surmised and it was supposed to be so easy to believe that.

I just could not do it.

"They are angry at me, aren't they?" I asked but I knew what answer she has for me. "What exactly can you see, Eris?"

She shook her head, disappointment flashed across her face and I saw it. Cocytus and I saw it. The roundabout way of preventing to be seen by her Sight. In other words, she could only see fragments of the future and the present.

"Whether they are angry at me or whether they thought that my life is never worth anyone else's, I would carry the weight myself, Eris. Was it not worse if I do not even know their sacrifices for me?"

"Should I say I knew you'd say that?" Eris asked me with a smile. "Because that's definitely what I saw. Deo is only just protecting you by not telling you."

"Because, basically, he's not hiding anything from you," Cocytus interrupted and Eris nodded as an agreement.

"When I looked into your mind when Deo brought you to one of Leigh's properties, your mind has been a mess. You know that, I'm sure. I thought then that you will lose your mind, yet here you are. I was the first one who looked into your mind and see what a mess Zachriel left there. The Paris incident has truly scarred the Eirini, but don't think that it was just your fault. Not everything happened because of you."