61: The truth

We sat in my room, silent and waiting patiently for Sebastian, who fiddled uncomfortably, to finally speak. It took a moment more, before I raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave out a sigh.
“I never thought I’d have the opportunity to dread this day. And yet here we are. I suppose the story begins the moment you died. Believe it or not, my mother tried to kill me-“
“-You can’t be serious?” I uttered out in disbelief.
Sebastian chuckled and then said, “You of all people should know that my mother’s cruelty has no bounds. She saw me as a threat to her plan to execute every single one of the hybrids. And so, I was naturally her next target.”
“How did you survive then?” It seemed Liam had been reading my thoughts, as I was curious to this as well.
Surprisingly, however, Demetri answered. “I helped.” It was evident by our shocked expressions that Liam, Xavier and I hadn’t expected such a noble act. Then again, this was Demetri we were talking about. “The moment Diana had died, the entire room erupted into chaos. By then, the wolfsbane had worn off as well. And so, I took it as an opportunity to prevent the potentially lethal blow his mother was about to inflict upon him.”
“It was… unexpected, to say the least.” Sebastian uttered. But it was clear that although he was unsettled by the idea, he was grateful that Demetri had saved him.
“Thereafter Sebastian and I fled with Diana’s body. There was no way we were going to let that bitch keep her.” Demetri’s tone was sour, and I sensed a certain vengefulness behind it. It was again, refreshing to see his calm and kind expression fall. Soon, he fell into a dark, deep silence which seemed to fill the entire room, almost suffocating us all in his potent anger. I decided to lift this angered atmosphere by asking, “How did you manage to get my soul into the necklace?”
Sebastian decided to take over from Demetri, saying, “Well we didn’t have to do anything. When you died, the necklace turned from red to a brilliant blue colour. Lucretia said that the necklace would change colour once the gem had a soul occupying it. And so, before burying you, we removed the necklace from your neck.”
“Buried me?”
“Yes. You and your mother are buried not too far from Demetri’s birthplace. It’s a place deserted and forgotten. Anyway, back to our escape from the palace. Once we’d left the palace, we met your parents who came looking for you…” And then I saw it, the flash of hurt all over Sebastian’s face. It was mirrored on Demetri’s as well. I was never there to fully experience the problem I’d created. I’d died and left a hole in the hearts of those who’d loved me. My father, my mother, Demetri and Sebastian. In fact, I’d left my entire family, and now that I’d returned, they’d all left me.
I reached out my hands and placed either on Demetri’s hand and, on Sebastian’s. Both looked up at me, and then their eyes softened.
“…They were just as upset about it as we were, and your father, well, he acted on his feelings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just my mother he was facing, but her band of brainwashed followers as well. He never even stood a chance.”
The moment he said this, I felt a lump form in my throat. I loved my father dearly, and although I knew we would never meet again in this lifetime, I was sad that his life had to end so abruptly. But more than that, I feared what the impact was on my dear mother.
“And what about my mother… she didn’t-“
“-No. She wanted to though. She wanted nothing more than to avenge the deaths of her beloved husband and her beautiful daughter. But we knew she’d meet the same fate. And so, we fled with her. It took many days to outrun my mother, and it wasn’t until the war began, that she abandoned her search for us. By then we’d found Demetri’s birthplace- Luna, a quiet and hidden little village occupied by peaceful, soft spoken werewolves who were wholeheartedly devoted to the Moon Goddess and her wish for peace. As such, they welcomed us with open arms… though Demetri’s status as the bridge between wolves and the Moon Goddess did make it much easier for us to gain their trust at a time when trusting outsiders- especially vampires- was more than difficult. Eventually we settled in the village of Luna.”
“Many of my fondest memories were made there.” Demetri said, thinking back in reminiscence. But I couldn’t quite get past the idea of Demetri and Sebastian living in the same place.
“How were you both able to stay in the same place without ripping each other to shreds.”
Sebastian chuckled at this, and so did Demetri, before saying, “It wasn’t easy. In fact, the first night ended with a fight between the both of us. But your mother began teaching us to at least tolerate each other. In fact, she treated the both of us as her sons and… eventually, we started becoming friends.”
“Don’t tell me the reason this all changed was because of me.” I uttered.
Sebastian looked at me and held my gaze for a moment before saying, “I don’t like the idea of sharing you.”
“I figured as much… but still, it’s not a good enough reason to start hating him. And I’m not an object to be “shared”, Sebastian. I choose who I want to be intimately involved with, and unfortunately, this time around, you have no say in it.”
Sebastian bit at his lip. I could tell he wasn’t pleased with my answer. Demetri however seemed to feel the opposite, judging by the small smile he was failing to hide. And Xavier and Liam… well they were clearly just trying to keep up with the story.
“We’ll discuss what you have just said later. For now, I’d like to get through the rest of what I have planned on telling you.” Sebastian said rather irritated.
I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine.”
It was silent a moment, and I appreciated it. It gave both Sebastian and I time to cool off from the heated discussion we’d have to at some point continue.
“Now where was I?” Sebastian uttered out to himself, shattering the silence. “Right, as the war brewed on, we stayed hidden, and eventually, your mother grew old and passed by peacefully to her eternal sleep. It was not long until the population of the untainted village of Luna began to dwindle and deplete. It was then that thoughts of avenging your death and the deaths of all those innocent people, began to plague our minds as they did once before, and now, because of the absence of your mother’s disapproval of such a suicidal quest, we began trying to act on it. But we’d been so hidden and out of touch with what was happening that by the time we decided to reunite with our old lives, the war was over and my mother, and all the hybrids were all dead. Despite my lack of participation in the war, I was asked to help the remaining vampires raise the next generation of vampire children. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t return to the people who’d killed you. But now that I think about it… perhaps things would have changed if I had stayed. Nonetheless, I left, and they branded me a coward and stripped me of my title as a noble.”
“We were always told you retired from that position.” Liam said.
Sebastian chuckled bitterly. “Of course, they’d lie.”
“Where did you go after that?” Liam asked.
“I returned to Luna. Unfortunately, Demetri was also left disappointed with the remaining werewolf survivors. But he had no choice but to join them and took with him the remaining werewolves from the village of Luna and so I spent my days there alone. Demetri, however, began establishing the Forbes family. He did so by taking in one of the orphaned children of the Luna village. Someone who knew of his immortality. His name was Antonio, and he was the young man who started the tradition of keeping Demetri’s true identity a secret from the rest of the wolves.”
“So, Demetri’s father…”
“He’s not my father. Just a relative of Antonio’s.”
“Then what about Athena. How did she become involved in this, especially if she isn’t the vessel?” I asked impatiently. It was great that Sebastian and Demetri had survived Queen Katherine, but I was now more anxious to find out how exactly I ended up here, in this body… and who this body belonged to.
“The body you are in…” Sebastian began, “it once belonged to Athena and Denzell’s child. Their *real* child.”
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Hello everyone! Has it been years, because it sure does feel like it! Sorry for taking so long with my chapters and thank you so much for your patience!
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!