image [https://i.imgur.com/6oOmmsk.png]
The time finally came for Carmen to leave for winter break. When she went outside of the girl's dormitory, she saw an all black carriage with the Belouis crest. Standing next to it was Zalthia and Felicity of Six, patiently waiting for her to come over. Carmen wasted no time as she happily rushed towards them, giving Zalthia a long overdue hug.
“Hey kiddo, how’ve you been? Long time no see.” Zalthia said warmly, patting Carmen on the head. Carmen accepted the greeting and smiled, feeling thrilled to see her sister after so long.
“I see you’re in good spirits. I was worried there for a second, especially after Tiaran briefed me on your time here so far.” Zalthia added with a sense of relief.
“Yeah, honestly, I’ve never been better.” Carmen replied as they separated, still smiling.
Felicity gave a humble bow of her head and quickly directed the guards to load Carmen’s things into the carriage. Once the last bag was secured, they set off, entering through another portal to return to Volaire.
As they crossed through the void and landed along the pathway towards Castle de Belouis, Zalthia turned to Carmen and sighed.
“Be prepared, Carmen. A lot has happened since you’ve been gone. Just wanted to give you a heads up.” She said with a cautious tone.
“Really? What’s changed?”
“You’ll see. Just wait.”
Zalthia turned her head towards the window and looked out at the castle. Carmen was confused by how vague Zalthia was being, slowly growing more concerned by the second.
The carriage arrived at the courtyard in front of Castle de Belouis and everyone stepped out. They entered through the massive doors of the castle and walked through the grand foyer. Nadine stopped their approach and respectfully bowed.
“Good to see you, Lady Carmen. How has the Young Miss been?” She asked with a warm smile as she raised her head.
Carmen gave her a hug and briefly updated Nadine on her time at LaVeda so far. After chatting for a bit, Nadine motioned for the group to follow her.
“Dinner is almost served, My Ladies. Everyone is currently gathered in the dining hall. I shall escort you all there.” Nadine said with another respectful bow.
Zalthia nodded and they followed after Nadine, quickly navigating the many hallways of Castle de Belouis.
As soon as they opened the doors, Solana leapt at Carmen and gave her a big hug. She pressed her face firmly against Carmen’s, rubbing their cheeks together as she smiled.
“Welcome home my darling Carmen! Mmmmmm!” Solana squealed with great excitement.
Carmen was shocked, confused, and fearful as this mysterious woman entered her life again. She pushed her off in a panic and backed away quickly, exerting her Core Energy as though ready for an altercation.
“Why is she here!? She shouldn’t be here!” Carmen exclaimed with a red eyed glare, remembering what happened during the midterm exam.
Azhane calmly stepped forward and shook her head.
“Calm down Carmen, it’s okay. She’s on our side, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Bullshit she is. This woman is dangerous!” Carmen argued, not believing Azhane for even a second.
“Hey, watch your mouth! And no, she isn’t dangerous. If you calm down for a second we can actually explain.” Zalthia chimed in, not pleased at all with Carmen’s choice of words and shift in demeanor.
Carmen looked over and noticed how everyone else was completely fine with Solana being around. She sighed and eventually relaxed.
“I’ll explain while we eat. Take a seat please.”
Azhane motioned for everyone to come to the dinner table. They did so and Azhane ordered for everyone else to leave the room, leaving only Zalthia, Carmen, Solana, and Graymoor at the table.
She proceeded to explain the whole situation to Carmen and answered any questions she had. Carmen couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but after seeing how everyone interacted with this stranger, she slowly warmed up to the idea.
“Woah, so you’re the Boundless Queen? I guess that explains why I felt so weird when you first showed up. The same thing happened when I crossed paths with Moku, Briddle, and Homura.” Carmen said, recalling past events.
“Yes, but unlike those idiots, I’m not hellbent on world domination and killing other races. ” Solana replied, taking a bite out of her sandwich.
“Hey! Homura wasn’t an idiot!”
“Homura? Pfft, she was the worst of them all. Don’t tell me you fell for her facade?”
“No she wasn’t and what facade are you talking about?”
Carmen grew curious about Solana’s statement, wondering why she would say such a thing about someone that was so nice to her.
“That woman is an absolute snake. The amount of lies coming from her mouth could put an entire prison's worth of criminals to shame. Whatever she told you, I guarantee you it was just to get you on her side…” Solana replied, staring back into Carmen’s red eyes.
Carmen flinched at the thought, gripping the pendant that Homura gave her tightly.
Sensing the tension in the room, Zalthia shifted the conversation. They began to talk about Carmen’s time at LaVeda and how things were going. As they talked, Carmen looked over and realized something strange. Graymoor was sitting at the table with casual clothes, enjoying the meal with them.
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“Um… Graymoor, why are you eating with us?” She asked, now noticing his presence in the dining hall.
He cleared his throat, preparing to speak, but Azhane reached over and held his hand with a smile.
“Because Graymoor is going to be my husband in a couple months.” She replied with absolute glee.
Carmen spit out her drink with great surprise.
“What!? You?? And Graymoor!?”
“Yes, I chose him on my birthday. I’ve quite admired him for some time now, but I needed to confirm some things before making my choice. Had I known how he felt earlier, it would’ve made things easier. Right honey?” Azhane said as she sent a smiley glare at Graymoor. He nodded and nervously laughed at the look.
“Right! But, I mean, you’re the Queen and I was a mere subordinate. How could I possibly tell you how I felt?” Graymoor replied with a cautious tone.
“I don’t know, it’s not like I would’ve kicked you out of the kingdom or anything.”
Azhane lightly pouted at the idea until Graymoor lifted her hand up to his face and kissed it.
“I’ll be more direct and open from now on.” He said with an incredibly charming smile.
Azhane chuckled at her adorable fiance and they shared a brief, loving moment. Carmen was floored by the idea of Azhane marrying one of the Six, but seeing her sister so happy made Carmen feel better about it.
“Geez, I never would’ve guessed. So are you no longer a member of Six, Graymoor?” Carmen asked.
“No, since I’ll soon be considered the acting King of Volaire, my position in the Six will end. We’ll need to fill the spot fairly soon.”
“Makes sense. I'm guessing Priscilla will take the spot?"
"Not quite. She might be incredibly powerful, but that child still needs many years of training before she'd be a good fit." Graymoor replied with a matter of fact tone.
"Oh, I see. Do you all have someone else in mind then?”
Carmen tried to think of someone that could fill the role, but she couldn't imagine anyone replacing a Vesta as great as Graymoor Penult.
“Yes, I have someone in mind. It just depends on if they would be interested or not.”
Graymoor reached over and took a sip from his cup as Carmen nodded, interested to see who they would pick. They eventually finished up their food and Azhane’s demeanor suddenly changed considerably.
“Carmen, we’re going to need to talk tomorrow once Tiaran and Nyanza arrive.” She said with a concerned expression.
“Oh, o-okay..” Carmen nervously replied, wondering if she did something wrong.
They all got up from the table and in that moment, Zalthia sensed something weird about Carmen. As Carmen stepped away from her chair, Zalthia picked up a fork and flung it at her with great speed.
The fork got within a foot of Carmen before flying off in another direction, deflected by an invisible barrier. Carmen turned around with a confused expression and looked at Zalthia.
“Why did you throw a fork at me??” She asked with absolute bewilderment.
“Since when could you auto cast? That’s way too advanced for a 1st year student. How did you learn that and who taught it?” Zalthia asked with an impressed look on her face.
“Oh, uhh, a teacher taught me. Nobody special.”
“I see… I’m surprised they would teach that so soon. Most Vesta’s can’t auto cast for at least three to four years after they get their Manifest. Hell, some Vesta’s never learn how to do it.” Zalthia added, trying to think of who at LaVeda would teach such an infamous skill.
“Yeah, it’s crazy right?”
Carmen laughed it off and quickly left the room, not wanting to answer any more questions.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
The next evening came as Tiaran and Nyanza arrived at the castle. Carmen greeted them once they exited the foyer and approached the steps.
“Nyanza! Tiaran!” She yelled out, giving them both hugs.
“Heya, how’s it going Carmen?” Nyanza said with her typical chipper and high pitched voice, smiling from ear to ear.
Tiaran's face remained expressionless as she gave a quick nod, looking around for everyone else.
“So why did Azhane want us to come here? She sounded pretty troubled in her message.” Tiaran asked with a worried tone.
“I dunno, but she made me leave my invigoration potions behind. Ughhhh, I was just about to make a breakthrough too!” Nyanza loudly pouted, wanting to be back at her alchemy lab in Olun.
Carmen wondered as well what the meeting could be about, causing her to feel a little uneasy. After a few moments, Zalthia came down the steps and saw everyone standing there.
“Hey, you made it. Ready to come up?” She said, motioning for them to follow her.
Everyone nodded and quickly ascended the steps, heading towards Azhane’s room. Once all five sisters assembled inside, Solana stood up and left the room. She knew that this wasn’t something she had any business being a part of.
“Who was that?” Tiaran asked as Solana closed the door, not recognizing such a pale skinned figure hanging around Azhane.
“Just a friend of mine, now please, take a seat.” Azhane quickly replied, not wanting to waste anymore time.
Everyone found a spot to sit as Azhane remained at her desk. Zalthia leaned against the wall next to her and crossed her arms, patiently waiting for this conversation to get underway. The room was eerily quiet and tensions were high while they anticipated Azhane’s words.
“I don’t know how to say this without just coming out and saying it.” She softly said, her hands slightly shaking.
“What is it? You’re scaring me.” Carmen replied with great concern.
The room went quiet again as Azhane tried to gather her thoughts.
“Well.. We came into some.. Information… Information about you, Carmen.”
“O-kay?”
Carmen looked around the room with confusion. Azhane cleared her throat and the next words that came out of her mouth changed Carmen’s sense of reality completely.
“Carmen… We don’t share the same mother… You’re our half-sister.”
Nyanza and Tiaran were shocked to hear this and reconfirmed what Azhane said, trying to make sure they heard correctly. Carmen sat there with a stunned, yet blank expression on her face. The air in her chest felt heavy as Azhane’s words suffocated her.
“W-what?” She softly asked.
Zalthia noticed that Azhane was having a tough time gathering her thoughts, so she swiftly chimed in.
“You weren’t born from our mother, Janelle Belouis, but by a Boundless woman named Cecilia Rhodes. Our family covered everything up to prevent this information from coming out.”
“Wait, a Boundless woman?? What are you even saying!?” Carmen asked, looking up with absolute bewilderment. None of this made any sense.
“Yes… You’re half Boundless…”
Zalthia proceeded to explain everything to her, not missing a single detail. Carmen couldn’t believe it.
“But.. That can’t be true. We all saw mother when she was pregnant with Carmen.” Tiaran said with a confused cadence, trying to make sense of everything.
Azhane shook her head and mentioned the use of an illusory charm, saying that they were all deceived.
Tears began streaming down Carmen’s face as Azhane added more to the story. The room went quiet and Carmen began processing everything in her head. After an exhaustingly long moment, she finally spoke up.
“W-well… If this is all true… I want to meet her. I want to hear this from my real mother… Where is she?”
“You can’t meet her, because, well… She’s no longer living. She died when you were born.” Zalthia softly added, trying her best to not add fuel to the fire.
Carmen immediately looked down at the floor, her face filled with great anguish and shock.
She started to sob uncontrollably as the news and reality all flooded into her. Nyanza, Tiaran, and Zalthia quickly walked over and tried to console their saddened sister. Her loud cries could be heard all throughout the third floor of the castle, the pained wails barrelling down the hall. Azhane sighed and felt frustrated by the situation, wishing she didn’t have to talk about such a shocking and painful matter.