Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XXXVI: Revelations

Luce hadn't been given the chance to talk much with Cessair due to all that had been happening. It was Thursday now, and since she wasn't due to hang out with the other girls until later on, she was going to pay Cessair a visit. Luce saw her every other day in history class, but that didn't really allow them to just chat casually. Luce really needed to talk to her just regularly now, especially since she was most likely to know something about the past that had been buried by Cryon so many years ago.

Luce knocked slowly against the doorframe of Severine and Cessair's shared classroom once classes had gotten out for the day. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Severine was not inside, and instead only Cessair was sitting on the table at the front center point of the room. She was reading a book when Luce walked in, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Hey, Cessair," Luce said to snap Cessair out of her trance.

"Luce!" Cessair exclaimed excitedly. "It's been way too long since I've seen you coming here after class. What brings you here? Is there anything that you need from me on this fine afternoon?"

"Yeah. I wanted to give you an update on everything that I've learned about my past. I figured out the name of my mother. At least, I have the name my father gave me along with a copy of a photo of the three of us shortly after I was born. It was back before she disappeared. Since you've been doing so much to help me up to this point, then I figured you should be the first one to hear everything now that I've put a lot more of the pieces together," Luce explained to her.

"I'm honored you'd find me a suitable person to tell about everything you have discovered, Luce. I'm happy to listen to anything you have to say on the matter," Cessair grinned. "Now, let's get right down to business. The truth is here, and I am so prepared to hear it!"

"For one, my mother's name is Tris Grath according to my father. Have you ever heard of somebody with a name like that? Anything you know about a person with that name?" Luce questioned, hopping onto the table to sit next to Cessair. "Anything at all will be helpful."

Cessair paused for a moment before shaking her head. "No... I'm afraid I don't know much of anything about a person with that name. I hadn't ever heard the name before you just mentioned it a second ago, actually, so I know the person has that name, but that's about it. Sorry to disappoint," she shrugged.

"I see... I figured that if anybody knew about it, you would, but I guess I was getting a bit too excited for imagining you'd have some information on a random priestess working with the Church of Starlight over seventeen years ago when I was just born," Luce sighed.

"Even if I don't know much of anything, perhaps I can help you with the picture. We could search up photos of a given person if we have an example to compare to. Does that sound like a good next step?" Cessair asked.

Luce nodded her agreement. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, starting to tap away at the screen. Soon enough, she had gotten far enough back in her photo gallery to seize the picture of the photo she had seen so many times. The motions of tracking the appearance of her mother were not at all unfamiliar to her. She clicked on the small icon, a smile appearing on her lips as she looked into the false gaze of the mother she had never known. A few seconds later, Luce gave the device to Cessair, allowing her to see the image she had been longing for all her years of being.

Cessair accepted the phone and looked at the picture silently. She tilted her head to one side, frowning to herself. "Hm... This picture looks awfully familiar to me, but I don't really think that this is the mother your father told you it was. I hope it doesn't cross a line or anything that I'm saying that, Luce. That's just the way I feel about it," she told Luce, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Luce, but I don't think that woman is the person you think she is, and it pains me to say such."