The Sight Beyond The Haze

Chapter 76: A Talk with Idris

"You know that Deo isn't exactly the war type of Deity, yeah?" Idris said, trying to make an idle chatter. "But those butterflies are very naughty. You see one of them in the field and they would pester you like crazy. I remember when I was younger, I played with one but they set fire on everything."

I got curious out of nowhere when she started talking about the Deities.

"So who are the war-type of Deities?" I asked curiously.

"To be honest? Maybe just the Lady of the Death Doors, I mean I've heard some pretty scary stories about the life after death so you probably have heard about the common stereotypes. The gentlest was the Spirit of Viridescent, all the green I guess made them calm and at peace. Then nobody have heard about the Deity of Light for about a century before he reappeared so people only know him through his butterflies which only appreciate about ten years ago. There's always the Deity of Immortality, our great uncle, then the Seer. They are honestly very like lowkey, I guess, and, you know, at peace."

I nodded, interested with how Idris told me of things.

"Maybe it is because it is currently war time that the Deities have become invested to the mortal world," I suggested.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed to me. "Though the Seer has always been involved with political matters. I guess now that Eris and Leigh and Deo have become sort of allies, then that's all good and stuff, right?"

I hesitated.

All good seemed to be too optimistic for me. Though I wanted to be the optimist, I would want to face the reality. The Deities were not allowed, not now and not really ever, to meddle too much into the mortals secular matters. This must be the sole reason why Deo was evasive of me getting involved into the political agenda of the Eirini which he did so himself anyway after realizing that I could never escape them.

"I know," Idris suddenly said out of nowhere and nodded. "It's not as easy as I'd like it to be. By the way!" Idris held up an index finger like she just thought something then quickly set it down after. "Sorry I had to do all that for show. Just to intimidate you, I did that. Shooting arrows and getting fake mad. I didn't get to introduce myself properly to you. My name is Idris Fleur Alaric Elliot, but I go by Idris, and I am a hundred percent your sister."

I smiled at that and nodded though it was quite hard since I was lying down on my back and I could hardly see her even though my head was turned to a side.

"It is nice meeting you, Idris," I said.

The remaining tension on her shoulders eased and faded away, loosening both as she further chatted with me. The light butterflies, or the Fire Butterflies as they were officially called by the people around, left Idris's side and stayed on the window.

"I never thought you'd wake up, Seraphin!" she exclaimed suddenly, there was a rather careless and mischievous smirk on her lips that made me also lose all of my inhibitions around her. "You've been confined here for a week!"

"What?"

I was not able to control myself and tried to sat up which only irritated my wound. I groaned, my hand automatically going to the abdominal part of my body.

"Oh! I was joking! Why you gotta take it seriously?" Idris complained while she helped me down on the bed. "You're like our mother that way. It's only been a day since you got knocked out and stabbed so don't take it way seriously."

I only looked at her, waiting for an explanation. Idris looked at the window, where the light butterflies were, and sighed while pursing her lips as though she was thinking of something unpleasant.

"She always takes things too seriously, that's what I'm talking about."

"How do you remember her? And how do you remember our father?" I asked curiously. "I have a bad memory and I could not really recall anything about it except for some memories that stuck with me."

Idris shrugged nonchalantly.

"No one's ever visited me to go play catch and whatever it is that is not a stereotype that most daughter and parents do—"

"Normal bonding," I supplied to her and she nodded.

"Yeah, something like that. Never came natural to me. Father's been pretty distant even before he died, besides, I was too young to remember him so it didn't really mattered to me that I didn't have him growing up. Can't miss what you didn't really have or something. While Mother, that's a different story. She shipped me out to that place, you know, that place in the illusion?" she asked me and I gestured that I do remember. "Yeah, I saw her once a year so she could monitor my special skills until when I was ten, I think? Yeah, I was ten when I finally entered the inner court. My caretakers would take me on trips and Yto, Acheron, and I would often play around the Dancing Forest. I envy that kid, he gets to have everything when we were younger! He would even brag to me that he has this and that! So annoying! Eris is the only one on my side!"

I smiled at that.

I never imagined that Idris were friends with Acheron and Cocytus. They were childhood friends at that. How amusing and interesting to know. Based on how Idris addressed Cocytus, they were close otherwise she would not dare call him on that.

It was good that Idris has people like Cocytus, Acheron, Eris, and Leigh to accompany her on her lonely journey throughout her life. It was good that she was not like me.

"That's why you know where to go when we were inside the Dancing Forest," I concluded, thinking back on how certain Idris was when we were inside the illusion. "You have been there... with people."

"Ehh? Right? What did I say?" she asked me smugly.

"But why did Cocytus not tell me of your existence earlier?"

He has many chances, more than many actually. He has all the time spent with in the past couple of months to tell me but he did not even breathe a word to me about Idris.

"I... um, I tried to tell you multiple times, but that i***t would always hinder me. He said there's something about your head that isn't quite right, not that I'm saying you're crazy or what. But even Great Uncle Leigh told me that it's our mother's doing that put you in that kind of situation so I guess that's why I didn't really just pursued it until this late."

"Won't you ever forgive me?"

Idris looked at me. Her green eyes just looked at me and she nodded with a sigh.

"It's hard to get angry at someone who's wearing a smile, if you get what I mean by that."

There was silence that followed that. It was not awkward, not even uncomfortable. We both looked into space, not really giving much thought about anything until I finally remember one thing that was never made clear to me.

"Our uncle in the Elisnore family," I started which got Idris' attention. "Do you know if it was the truth when they say that he started the rift between the Eirini and Haefen because he wanted to get Haefen all by himself?"

"I don't really know to be honest," she responded with a quizzical expression. "I told you that no one really pays me much attention so no one bothered to tell me anything of importance. But I guess there is some shed of truth with that. What I do know based on what I heard from Great Uncle Leigh and Mother is that Uncle Araqiel Elliot, our uncle from the Elisnore clan, was close with Father."

Idris held up two of her hands and crossed them together.

"Like this," she said while she demonstrated what she meant. "So when Father died and Araqiel Elliot took over everything on Denora, their part of the Dalcanorian Territories, everyone was surprised. Then he declared he was cutting ties with the royal family."

"What do you think though?" I asked curiously. "Have you met him? That uncle?"

"I have, actually," she said, "this is the reason why I'm here. I sent myself to Denora, on their base, and then I found out there that you're still alive!"

"Still alive..." my voice echoed.

"Seraphin Fleur Alaric Elliot is a legend, Seraphin. You are a legend. I heard that you are one of the most powerful individuals around, even at that young age. So naturally, someone born like you, they would never let it pass. The whole country mourned when the royal family and our family announced that you died, along with father."

Then I realized something with what Idris said earlier.

"Wait..." I paused, reviewing her words all over again. Idris was quite the talkative one and within the past minute, I think she has uttered at least a couple dozen words already. "Did you just said that you sent yourself to the territory of the Haefen? Why would you do that? That is dangerous, Idris!"

"Just a little bit of spying," Idris just responded with a casual shrug. "But thanks to me, Great Uncle Leigh was able to get Deo to rescue you from our mother back in France so I guess you can thank me now that you are slowly recovering your memories."

"You sounded so proud."

Idris nodded and I thought I would lose my mind right there and then.

"I am proud," she even said.

I think I can feel another headache coming in.

I extremely appreciated that Idris was able to think of me, her older sister that hasn't got any time to take care of her, and even looked out for that time. If Deo was not able to bring me here, I might be in ine of the forster family that Lady Erina would choose for me. Not living my life and with my mind manipulated in the nth time.

"Thank you," I said and held her hand.

"Just make sure that you do not have any interest on taking over of Eirini," she abruptly reminded me which made me laughed.

I groaned after that laughter, feeling that I have, yet again, aggravated my stab wound. I shook my head though and answered her with all my honesty.

"I won't take over any of the organizations," I assured her, "and it's not because I'm only talking about it now just to make you listen to nonsense and satisfy what you want to hear only to go back on my word. It simply is not in my plan."

"That's a relief because I could just kill you now and be done with it," Idris said, "anyhow, I suppose I should go. There are still a lot of things to do and a lot of stuff to organize around that, honestly, I'm sort of getting overwhelm by the sheer amount of it."

I called on to the light butterflies which were still lounging in front of the window. The sun was high up in the sky and I guess I woke up right in the middle of the day. It was quite clear outside, without any indication of what had happened in the past days.

"It is truly a pity that you weren't able to enjoy your prom to the fullest. Anastasia's doing well, by the way, and Lord Legrand told me that she could finally get around without worrying that she'll somehow lose her mind."

"The others are not so fortunate though," I said with a tinge of guilt and regret. "If I just found them any sooner... what happened to them could have been reversible."

"I heard that you used to be friends with one of them," Idris sympathized, bowing her head slightly. "I'm sorry for that. But even when you found them out earlier, you have seen how powerful that Apollyon Hart Aldovia has become. You are no match to him with your still inferior skills. Pure magical energy wouldn't beat him, he has the blood of the Deities so don't be stupid."

I chuckled at that. That hurt but Idris was right. I have seen how powerful he could be and I even had the feeling in my gut that he was still holding back his strength because he wanted to bring me back alive like what he implied the first time he attacked me on the academy's forest.

"So they have told you."

There was that up and down motion again on both of Idris' shoulders indicating that she was shrugging.

"They have to so I could stay on alert level max," she responded casually, "otherwise how could I ever hope to accompany you well enough to travel with you all the way to the Dalcanorian Territories?"

I froze on that last statement, wondering if I heard her right. She was not talking about going to Dalcanoraz in my current state, was she?