Book Three: The Children of Fate

XVI - {EDITED}

It had been so long since Sera had been in this library. She felt the need to read her book, that is, until a black and gold book had fallen off the bookshelf. Sera walked over to it, picked it up and opened its leather bound, yellowed pages. Her necklace glowed a little as she looked at the first page; it was her father's journal! The first page was the day Noctis was born... and the day Aulea had died due to complications during the birth of her brother. She continued to read through the pages until she found a page dated October 31, M.E. 736, her birthday. Her eyes widened to find that her father had an affair with Lunafreya's aunt and Sylva's sister, leading to the birth of the first Oracle of Lucis.

"All this time, my father has been lying to me?" she asked out loud, not expecting any responses. Although, as if awaiting her, Regis revealed himself, his silhouette glowing the usual blue hue that emanated from Sera's necklace.

"I always meant to tell you, my dearest daughter," Regis said with an apologetic look. "I wanted to tell you when I knew you were ready and before the Niflheim empire had proposed the signing of the peace treaty."

"But you knew that the treaty was going to end in your death, days prior to it even happening. Because I came to you after Ardyn had made himself known as part of the envoy, telling you that the Six foretold the day you would lose your life and Noctis would begin his ascension. Why didn't you tell me then? Why did you wait until now to even show me this?"

"Because you're not alone in this world. Your twin brother, Sebastian, resides where the ancient blue flowers still grow to this day." Sera looked at her father with a bit of an angered expression on her face.

"You mean to tell me that I have a twin brother that I spent ten years of my life with and never once told Noctis nor myself that he was of the same blood as ours? What else have you been keeping from me? It's very clear that you chose to tell Sylva, as well as Ravus and Lunafreya, but never told us."

"I've only kept that from you and your brothers. Your mother made it clear that if there was ever anything that happened to her while she was giving birth to you and Sebastian, you were to be raised as the daughter of Lucis while Sebastian was to be raised as the son of Tenebrae."

"But why wait until now to tell me this?" As she spoke, Sera held the journal up, wanting nothing more than to throw it at her father for hiding something so important, but she still held great respect for her father.

"Regrettably, I hesitated when I first saw you, the day you came back from Tenebrae as Chancellor Izunia's bodyguard. I couldn't believe how much you had grown in a matter of three years since I had last seen you. At that time, a part of me wanted you to see me as the king I was rather than the father I couldn't be."

Sera's gaze shifted to the floor as she lowered her head. She couldn't believe this news. It was like she had been living a false life, as if hiding behind a mask. It was like she didn't know the man that stood before her, like he was an imposter acting like her father.

"I need some time to myself, Father. I need to rediscover just who I am." And with that, she turned and headed to hers and Prompto's room, preparing to take a trip for the next two weeks, packing two weeks worth of clothing and funds.

"Where are you going?" Prompto asked, after seeing her suitcase on the foot of their bed.

"I'm going to Tenebrae. There is an ancient temple I trained in for a good portion of my childhood known as Ralmuell. It's the one place I'll know exactly who I am," she responded, stopping for a moment, unable to look at her husband. "My entire life, I've been lied to about my entire bloodline. Essentially, I've been living as a fake."

Prompto couldn't help but have a curious expression as he asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Noctis was my half brother, which means I don't share the same mother, but I share the same father." She put her last set of clothes in her suitcase before looking back at Prompto. "I'm born to both House Caelum and House Fleuret. Not long before my brother was born, my father had an affair with the Oracle, Rena Via Fleuret, Lunafreya's aunt. I grew up believing that I was the daughter of Regis and Aulea Lucis Caelum." Prompto found it shocking to hear her news. His cobalt eyes were wide as he looked at her, his mouth slightly agape. "By going to Ralmuell, I should be able to rediscover who I am." Sera soon closed her suitcase and lifted it, about to walk out of their room to head for the Regalia that was waiting for her outside the Citadel.

"I'm coming with you," Prompto said suddenly, his slightly aged face showing his worry.

"Absolutely not." Her eyes showed seriousness as she rejected his offer to go along with her. "I'll only be gone for two weeks."

"Do I have to remind you? You are pregnant with our baby." As he spoke, he moved to her, taking her suitcase and placing it on the floor before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "So I'm going with you, one way or another." Sera couldn't help but find herself smiling. Prompto always knew how to cheer her up in the most heartbreaking situations.

"Fine. I suppose," she teased before kissing him softly. "If you want to go that badly, I can't keep you here all the time."

Prompto smiled more before he went to pack for their trip. The sable haired Oracle didn't plan just to go to the sacred temple where all Oracles before her trained, the very same temple that she and Lunafreya underwent vigorous training. She also planned to go to the Niflheim empire to sign a peace treaty so another war wouldn't break out between the two nations.

Sera could never forget about Ralmuell, especially with the painful fasting periods to ready her for long trips with little rations, the very reason behind such a small figure, or the many sleepless nights that she had to deal with, sparring with Lunafreya as they prepared their bodies to work on little to no sleep. If she hadn't spent the 12 years in Tenebrae, she wouldn't have become the disciplined woman she was.

"These next two weeks, I plan to go to Ralmuell and visit Solara in Niflheim. I want to sign the peace treaty that my father and brother failed to do these past 20 years," Sera explained, picking up her suitcase when she saw that Prompto was ready to go. She then headed for the car, putting her things in the trunk before sliding into the backseat with Prompto, Gladiolus in the driver's seat, Ignis in the front passenger seat.

"Are you guys going too?" Prompto asked from the backseat with Sera.

"You might need your Crownsguard in case there are any MTs that may still be active after all these years," Ignis stated, turning his head enough to look at the ravenette queen. Sera cleared her throat, needing to remind the behemoth of a bodyguard that his king would still be a Magitek troop if not for the Kingsglaive coming to rescue him and the other children like him.

"You really must be careful with the words that slip past your lips. You have to remember that night at Zegnautus Keep. It wasn't easy for Prompto to tell us about that." As she spoke, she gently placed her hand in his, her pinky grazing the inside of his wrist, where black inked lines permanently marked his skin, a constant reminder that her wasn't a full blooded Lucian, just like her; that he was a clone of Verstael Besithia. She had known from the very beginning, by the way he always wore a bracelet or a sweatband. Her knowledge was only confirmed the night her brother vanished and was in need of a key to get into Aldercapt's throne room.

"Where to, Your Majesty?" Ignis asked, looking at Sera through the rear view mirror.

"Port Caem. From there, we'll take the boat to Altissia, hop on the train and take it to the outskirts of Tenebrae. From there we'll head to the sacred temple of Ralmuell."

"Why the sacred temple?" Ignis's jade eyes glanced up at her through the mirror.

"I will explain later, for now, just drive to Caem." In the hour that Sera had learned of her biological mother, the sable haired Oracle had grown distant. She leaned against the door, staring out at the scenery outside, remaining quiet, not wanting to vent about how her father lied to her for her entire life. In her hands, she held onto the books left to her that had survived the Fall of Insomnia.