Woven in Shadows (agatha x rio)

The Mirror Of Truth

Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Truth

Agatha and Rio stepped back into the dimly lit room where Nessa remained trapped within the salt circle. Her tear streaked face glistened in the faint light as she looked up at them, her confusion and fear still evident. Her fingers curled nervously at her sides, though the sparks of chaotic energy that had once crackled there seemed subdued now.

Rio was the first to speak. Her voice was steady but soft, as if trying not to scare Nessa further. "We're not here to hurt you," she said, glancing briefly at Agatha, who remained silent, her eyes locked on the girl. "But we need answers and you need them too."

Nessa swallowed hard, her gaze darting between the two women. "Answers to what?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I don't even know who you are or why I'm here!"

Agatha stepped forward then, her expression a mixture of urgency and something softer something that made Rio's heart ache to see. Agatha knelt just outside the circle, her gaze piercing but not unkind.

"You have something," Agatha said, her voice low and deliberate. "Something you shouldn't have unless you're connected to me."

"What are you talking about?" Nessa asked, backing away slightly, her hand unconsciously clutching the locket around her neck.

Agatha's sharp eyes caught the movement, and without hesitation, she reached into the folds of her robe, pulling out her own locket the identical twin to the one around Nessa's neck. She held it up, the metal catching the dim light, and Nessa's breath hitched.

"This," Agatha said firmly, her tone leaving no room for doubt. "Where did you get that locket?"

Nessa stared at her, her hand tightening around her own locket as though it might protect her from whatever this woman was implying. "I've always had it," she whispered. "Since I was a baby. The woman who raised me... she said it was mine, that it belonged to my family."

Agatha's lips parted slightly, her breath catching. She exchanged a quick glance with Rio whose jaw tightened at the revelation.

"Your family?" Agatha echoed, her voice softening as she leaned closer. "Tell me about this woman. Who was she? What did she tell you about your family?"

Nessa's hands began to shake, and she blinked rapidly, as if holding back tears. "She didn't know much," she admitted, her voice trembling. "She found me in the woods, abandoned. She said... she said she didn't know where I came from. But she kept this locket with me because she thought it might help me someday."

Agatha's breath hitched, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Her hands tightened around her locket as she whispered, "The woods..."

Rio stepped closer, her presence grounding. "Why did she think it would help you?" she asked, her tone gentler than Agatha's but no less probing.

Nessa shook her head. "I don't know. She said it was... a connection to the people who left me. But that's all she ever told me. She died before she could say more."

Agatha's hands trembled as she lowered her locket, her gaze fixed on the one around Nessa's neck. "Do you know what that locket means?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"No," Nessa said, her voice breaking. "I don't know anything! You're both just standing here asking me questions, and I don't even know who you are!" Her voice rose, edged with desperation. "Why does any of this matter? Why do you care so much about this stupid necklace?"

Agatha flinched at the girl's words, and for a moment the room fell silent. Then Rio stepped forward, her voice calm but firm.

"Because that locket," Rio said, pointing to the pendant around Nessa's neck, "is identical to the one Agatha has. It's a family heirloom. A very specific one."

Nessa's eyes widened as she looked down at her locket, then back at Agatha, whose expression was unreadable now a storm of emotions threatening to break through her carefully crafted mask.

"You think..." Nessa's voice faltered. "You think I'm... your family?"

Agatha opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She simply stared at the girl, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

Rio, sensing the tension, stepped in. "We don't know for sure," she said carefully. "But we need to find out and the only way to do that is if you tell us everything you know."

Nessa hesitated, her eyes flickering between the two women. She felt trapped not just by the salt circle but by the weight of the moment, the implications of their questions, and the realization that she might finally have answers to the questions that had haunted her all her life.

"I'll tell you what I know," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "But you have to tell me something too."

Agatha blinked, startled by the girl's boldness. "What do you want to know?"

Nessa's gaze hardened, tears glistening in her eyes as she asked, "Who are you? And why do I feel like I've known you my whole life?"

Agatha and Rio exchanging a look one filled with uncertainty, fear, and the dawning realization that her carefully hidden past was about to unravel completely.

Agatha exhaled shakily, her gaze flickering between Nessa and the locket in her hand. She clenched her jaw, as though forcing herself to speak. "I had a daughter once," she began, her voice trembling but steady enough to carry the weight of her confession. "She would be around your age now. Seventeen."

Nessa's breath caught in her throat, but she said nothing waiting for Agatha to continue.

"I... I already had a son before her," Agatha said, her voice thick with emotion. "But he was taken from me because of something no one could control... When I found out I was pregnant again, I panicked. I wasn't in a good place. I was broken, and I believed that being with me would only bring her pain. I thought... I thought I was sparing her by letting her go. By giving her a chance to grow up away from me. I was—" Her voice broke, and she inhaled sharply, willing herself to continue. "I was completely unfit to be a mother. If I'd kept her, I probably would've done a terrible job."

As Agatha spoke, Rio's gaze never left her. There was a rawness in Agatha's voice that Rio hadn't heard in years, and it made her heart ache. She wanted to speak up, to tell Agatha she wasn't as unfit or as evil as she believed, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she just watched, feeling the weight of Agatha's pain as though it were her own.

Nessa's brow furrowed as she processed what Agatha was saying. "But if you were the problem," she said slowly, her voice edged with confusion, "why didn't you keep her and try to fix it? Why give me...i mean her..up?"

Agatha's eyes filled with a mixture of guilt and defiance as she answered. "Because someone would've taken you from me anyways" she said bitterly, side eyeing Rio.. "At least this way, it was on my terms. It wasn't right, but... it was all I could do."

Nessa's lip quivered as she whispered, "Who are my parents? If you are my mother...who's my father? Do I have a father? I deserve to know...."

The room fell silent. Agatha turned her head slowly, her eyes meeting Rio's. For a moment, neither of them spoke their shared gaze heavy with years of pain, longing, and unspoken truths.

Rio opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. Agatha's lips pressed into a thin line as she looked away, unsure of how to answer. The truth hovered between them, unspoken but suffocating, as Nessa waited, her wide eyes filled with questions they weren't ready to answer.

"Rio..she is your other mother"

"but-but how?"