"And who might you be?" His dark eyes darted back and forth between her blue ones, unreadable yet searching and she barely suppressed a shiver. She knew the question was a formality, his tone indicated he knew who she was. At the very least, he knew...
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"Andromeda, come here!" Andy heard her mother calling for her, and left from her place in the music room.
"Where are you, mama?!" Her eleven year old self called out in confusion, not seeing her before hearing her voice sound out from upstairs. "I'm in the attic, darling!"
Andy followed the sound of her mother's voice upstairs, seeing the wooden ladder that led into the attic, she climbed up and found a heavily pregnant Phanessa going through boxes. "Be a dear, help me with this." Andromeda quickly moved to take the box away from her with a grunt, and set it on the floor before looking around.
There was an old rocking chair in a corner by the single window that let light in, old hat boxes, trunks, and antiques scattered about that Andy didn't have any sense of. "What is all this?"
"Oh, just things that I have gathered over the years." Phanessa explained, slowly sitting on the floor in front of a few boxes and patting the space besides her for Andy to join her. "I thought I'd show you this."
She reached into a box in front of her and pulled out old, crinkled pieces of parchment. Andromeda thought they were paper, but upon closer inspection, realized it was a much tougher material. "Mama, what-"
"It's pig skin." Phanessa stated plainly, and laughed as Andy made a face of disgust. Her look of disgust quickly turned to amazement as Andy noticed the images that were preserved, in large black strokes. There were faces, many, many faces and as Phanessa gently went through them, some struck a chord of familiarity in Andromeda.
"Who are they?"
"Our family." Phanessa murmured, a sad smile spread over her lips as one hand came to rest on her pregnant stomach. "Here. This is my eldest, your sister, Calanthe." She passed her a parchment with a drawing of a beautiful woman, with long plaited hair, large eyes, and lips spread into a mischievous smile. "She is beautiful." Andy breathed, and Phanessa hummed in agreement.
"She was."
Andy looked up at her in confusion, noticing the sadness in her mother's eyes. "Where is she?"
"Calanthe passed... a few centuries now." She murmured, and Andromeda frowned lightly before Phanessa cupped her face in her warm palms. "Whether they are here physically, or not, our family is always with us. We carry them, right here." Phanessa pressed her hand over Andy's heart, and her younger self nodded in understanding.
"Will you always be with me, mama?"
"Always, τα αστέρια μου."
"Are these the rest of my siblings?" Andy changed the subject, and Phanessa smiled warmly before looking back at the paintings.
"Yes. This is your brother, Draco, and your sister Tyra. Then there are the twins, Febe and Fane..."
