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Chapter 9 - Revelations[1]

I paid no attention to her. My thoughts were still processing the events that happened today.

Sensing my mood, she decided not to say anything else and instead sat down next to me, her gaze lingering towards the moon.

The two of us sat in silence. I had no idea what was going on in her mind or why she decided to appear.

Suddenly, she turned towards me, her black eyes now staring intently at me.

"How long are you gonna stay here sulking?" she asked. 

Hesitating a little bit, I replied

"As long as I need, Nyth. What do you want? I would rather be left alone."

"I am tired of this shitty life of mine. I held on for so long, Nyth. I waited till I was 12"

"I had hope that a miracle would have blessed me, that I would finally be able to turn my life around."

"But no, not only was I abandoned by my own family, but even the gods have forsaken me."

"And to top it off, I am haunted by hallucinations so real I call them my own family."

"Ah, truly, what a marvelous life, haha."

By now, tears were once again forming in my eyes.

"Tell me, Nyth, just what is my purpose? Why was I even born in the first place? Is fate simply pulling a cruel joke on me?"

"Or has fate abandoned me as well? Just like everyone else, "

Nyth moved her frail hands towards my chin and gently caressed it. Pity and guilt were apparent on her face.

"Don't give me that loo-"

Her finger was now placed over my lips, forcing me to stop whatever I was gonna.

"Aly, what if I told you that your family was alive? That you indeed have powers? And that they did not abandon you? What would you do?" she said, her voice filled with faint traces of sadness.

I thought carefully for a while. 

"Well, if my family is really out there, then I would do everything I could to find them. I don't care about what powers I have or even if I have any powers. I don't want to be alone anymore."

She looked at me curiously. Her lips gently curling upwards into a smile. 

"Aly, we are your real family. And we are not figments of your imagination, even if we can't stand beside you in flesh, our presence has never left you."

"We never abandoned you."

***

The once lively hall of the cathedral was now silent and dark. Two figures could be seen standing near the end of the hall: one was the slender figure of the saintess, and the other belonged to the cardinal.

They stood across from each other, their faces appeared fatigued.

"Such marvelous results," the cardinal was the first to break the silence.

"Indeed, the appearance of three divine blessing holders was certainly unexpected," she replied.

"And the one the prophecy mentioned finally agreed to join our church."

The cardinal stared at the figure of Idris.

"I wonder why she chose to go to the Academy of Kaelmoor. I feel like we can do a much better job at raising her." He said doubtfully.

The saintess was silent for a while before finally answering his question.

"Well, Stormveil Academy currently is ranked number one amongst all schools in the Kingdom of Thermora. The activities they hold at the school will help the child grow. Plus, she will meet numerous nobles; this is a good chance for her to expand her connections and influence."

However, she failed to continue her explanation as she noticed the astonished gaze of the cardinal. His gaze remained plastered on the all too familiar altar.

He had noticed that the altar was slowly decaying into silver ashes.

Slowly but surely, the altar had disappeared, replaced with nothing but silver dust.

The two of them stood still, stupefied by what they had just seen.

The altar, a relatively rare artifact, had suddenly been destroyed with no trace of the culprit in sight.

The Saintess walked over to where it had been and cautiously touched the silvery powder. Once her skin came into contact with the powder-like substance, she jolted her hand back as she could feel her strength slowly diminishing, and soon a slight burning sensation could be felt on the tips of her fingers.

"What in the world? How? There's not a single trace of mana here," she said, her voice filled with disbelief.

The cardinal slowly walked towards her, his face pale once more.

"S-saintess, what do we do?"

The destruction of the altar was a terrible incident and was a crime that had to be investigated. But with no traces of mana, how could they even find the culprit?

Realizing this, she turned her head towards the cardinal.

"Report this incident to the Inquisitors. They will have to deal with…whatever happened here."

***

Unaware of the storm brewing, Aly was still in the garden.

Nyth had long disappeared, without answering any questions, which irked me.

Why was each of them so troublesome to deal with?

Was what she said true? Were they really his family, and if so, where had they been all this time? Why could people not see them? Could he even trust them?

My head was filled with questions, and unfortunately, nobody was here to answer them.

I groaned in frustration.

Trying to distract myself, I turned my gaze back towards the cocoon and was quite surprised to see it move slowly. The cocoon trembled, shedding its silver shell like falling dust, and the crumbled figure of a silver butterfly soon emerged from it. 

The butterfly slowly unfurled its beautiful silver wings, basking them in the glow of the moonlight. 

It was a beautiful sight to see. And I certainly did not expect the silver monarch to look this ethereal. I sat there in awe, admiring its beauty, and soon found myself in a trance.

Maybe, just maybe, I could change into something as beautiful as this butterfly. The dreaded feeling of hope had once again clawed its way into my mind and heart.

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