Fates Intertwined

42. | Past Tense

"You said you knew my mother?" Was the first thing she asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Yeah. I made the wise decision of breaking into a banquet and found Esme and Octavia sitting out in a garden." She explained.

"My mom never told me about Octavia." She admitted.

"They fell apart. Kind of set the kingdoms against each other. Esme and Angel stuck together and then there was me and Octavia." Aurora shrugged simply.

"You knew Angel?" She asked, brows furrowed.

"Yeah. She was Esme's best friend. Kind of standard." She replied as they made it to an overpass. The sun was beginning to set. "I wasn't there when the city fell, but I was worried for Esme. It's good you're bringing it back."

"And did you live here? In Solaris?"

She shook her head. "Octavia practically forced me to move to Veritas. Only problem was I wasn't allowed to live in the castle or even step foot in it, so I lived on the streets."

"Well, what happened? Did you ever find home?" She raised her brows in curiosity.

"I..." She paused, slowing to a halt in the overpass. "I don't know... I don't— I can't remember much."

"What do you mean you can't remember?" Her brows furrowed.

"I think something happened... back before the cities fell. I never realized it, but, the longer I'm with Zyran and the others, the more I realize there's a bigger piece of the puzzle I'm missing. A piece of who I am that I never realized was missing." She explained.

"Like someone took your memories?"

"Maybe." She sighed. They continued walking. "You didn't ask me on this walk just to talk about your mother, did you?"

She smiled. "Not entirely, no."

"Then what is this about?"

She stopped and turned to Aurora, facing her fully. "You told me about Van Helsing. Why?"

"Because if he wants me, he's going to take a shot at you." Aurora answered.

Evelyn smiled then. "He has no power over me. He cannot hurt me, not while I have the Queen of Hell as my daughter, my children Legacies, and my husband a demigod, son of a goddess."

"But you should be prepared." She suggested.

She stepped forward, grabbing Aurora's hands. "It is not me they are to fear. If you are anything like Maddi, you hold extraordinary power. Ancient power. If there is anyone to fear, it is you."

Aurora was shaking her head. "I don't even understand my power. I-I don't know the limits, I don't know the strength. I don't—"

"That's okay. No one ever does." She replied with a soft look in her eye. "I want you to stay here as long as you'd like. I want to help you with this Van Helsing character, and that alone makes you a hell of a lot stronger."

"You'd really do that?" Her brows furrowed.

"You're a friend of my mother's. My godmother's. It'd be nice to spice things up a bit." She smiled. "So whatever happened between you and my mother? Why'd you stop talking?"

"Well, I was locked up." She stated, Evelyn interlinking their arms and dragging them down the hall.

"Ah, right."

"It's sad what happened to her." Aurora frowned at the ground.

"Yeah." She sighed. "But thank God for Angel and my father."

"You all seem to be doing well. I wish Esme was here to see it." Aurora blew out a breath. "And those family paintings in the hall? They were beautiful."

"Thank you. They're new." She smiled.

"New?" Aurora stopped, and Evelyn turned to her. "Like, newly restored?"

"No... We had them done just a month ago." Evelyn's brows furrowed as she slowly shook her head. She licked her lips and raised her chin. "This entire time, you've been speaking of my mother in past tense. Why?"

"Well— Because she's dead." She said, but she sounded confused.

"I assure you, my mother is quite alive." She replied.

"Wh— How?"

"My daughter opened her crypt. Years ago." She explained. "You believed she was dead?"

"It's what my friend Seanna had led us to believe." She admitted. "But she's really alive?"

She nodded. "Mhm. I'm sure you two will see each other eventually. In all honesty, I shouldn't be surprised she believed my mother to still be dead. We don't exactly broadcast our information."

"And Angel is still alive and well?"

"Oh, quite very. Her intention is to give me as much torment as she possibly can while spoiling my children and forcing my husband, her son, to keep up on his paperwork so his company doesn't fail and we don't run out of money." She sighed.

"Angel is Oliver's mom?" Her brows furrowed. Evelyn nodded. "So your godmother is, like, your mother-in-law?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Oh, don't even get me started on that." The two of them continued on, laughing with each other.