"They're your real parents," Lira said softly, her voice barely holding itself together.
The words hit Seven like a falling tree, sudden and crushing, almost irreversible.
She took a shaky breath, and everything inside her crumbled.
"No..." she whispered, voice cracking.
Her knees gave way, and she sank to the floor, almost dropping.
She wasn't crying at first, just gasping, feeling lost.
And then came the sobs, raw, loud, unstoppable sobs.
All the confusion, the questions, the fear, the pain she had buried for years, it surged out of her like a storm.
She had spent her life searching for a father who never truly existed and what she had never even fathomed in her darkest dreams was now her reality: harsh, bitter, and almost impossible to digest.
Her hands clutched at her chest as if her heart physically hurt.
Lira dropped beside her and pulled her into a tight, shaking hug.
Seven clung to her like a child, sobbing into her shoulder, barely able to breathe through the pain.
"I didn't know... why - why didn't you tell me? About them, did they abandoned me?" she cried, over and over.
Lira was crying too, "I'm sorry," she whispered into Seven's hair, her voice raw. "I didn't lie to hurt you. I lied to keep you. To shield you.
From your past, from the truth… from a world that takes too much from those it doesn't understand."
She paused, gathering the strength to speak the next words, the ones that would change everything.
"Your parents… they didn't abandon you, Seven. They died to keep you alive."
Seven froze.
The flicker of anger and suspicion that had crept into her heart at the thought, that her parents might've left her, now stumbled and broke apart.
This new truth cracked something open inside her, a hollow space aching in her chest.
"Seven... I know you deserved to know the truth. But I was a coward. A mother, and a coward.
I thought if I kept you safe, that would be enough.
I was terrified of losing you. Because what killed them… might've come for you next. Those greedy humans, power-hungry hearts, and those, chasing unholy wishes."
Seven looked at her, confused now. Why was she saying such things?
Lira met her gaze. And with careful words, she revealed the truth:
"Your mother wasn't human, Seven. She was a fae. A real fae. She could wield nature... she could create magic and even stop time. "
Seven blinked, stunned. Lira braced herself, half-expecting disbelief, denial, maybe even anger, some kind of rejection for what sounded like a made-up story.
But instead, Seven nodded in quiet acceptance.
More calm than Lira could've imagined.
Seeing her like that, Lira's voice softened.
"Seven, I know it sounds impossible. But it's true. Your mother was a fae."
Lira blinked, surprised. "You're not shocked?"
But instead, Seven looked her in the eyes. There was no panic. Just a deep, quiet breath.
"I believe you," she said. Her voice didn't shake.
"Some part of me always knew… something wasn't like everyone else."
Lira's eyes welled up. "You don't have to believe all of it at once. I know it sounds—"
"I do," Seven cut in gently. "It's not like I suddenly understand everything, but... I trust you. And maybe that's enough for now."
Lira's shoulders eased, her hands trembling slightly as she reached for Seven's.
Seven gave a faint squeeze to her hand. "I want to know about them, tell me everything. Please."
Lira's gaze dropped at their hands, as if picking through pieces of a memory too long left untouched.
"Your father… Samson… he was my cousin. But to me, he was more like a brother. After his parents my uncle and aunt died, he came to live with us.
Quiet, thoughtful, little awkward but so full of love. My parents raised him as their own."
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
"He grew up to be this gentle, thoughtful man.
When he met Eliot… I remember the shift in him. Like he suddenly lit up from the inside."
Lira's voice softened.
She gave a small, wistful laugh.
"She challenged him. She made him braver, bolder. And he adored her for it. I've never seen anyone look at someone the way he looked at her."
Lira took a small pause. And continued,
"They told us everything about Eliot, little by little about how she came from somewhere ancient, hidden. How she had powers tied to nature itself. But more than that, how deeply they loved each other."
Lira's eyes found Seven's again.
"Eliot trusted us. Shared the truth about her real identity and my parents promised to keep it all secret. And they did."
"Your parents married in the quiet, surrounded by love and only those who mattered. Everything was good for a while, your father's business flourished, they bought a small house of their own, and built a life full of care and love."
Lira's voice faltered just a little, the warmth thinning.
"Then you came along… and for a time, it truly was magic. The house felt alive and full. Like nothing could ever touch that happiness."
She paused, her voice now shifting—lower, heavier, like a storm cloud rolling in.
"But it didn't last."