Note- This is an edited version.
I stared at my parents in disbelief. My mom's sea green eyes were filled with tears and my dad was looking everywhere in the room but not towards me.
I felt so upset and shocked. How could they have hid such a big thing from me? I didn't know what to say. I tried to find my voice and said, "Why didn't my... biological parents raise me." I was about to say 'real', but I thought it would sound mean, after all, I never actually felt that I wasn't their daughter.
"Your parents died about a year after you were born. You would be in danger if anyone found out that you were not our actual daughter. So only a few very trustworthy people know it." My dad said without meeting my eyes.
I had so many questions but I tried to think of what to say next. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We didn't want to raise questions about your parents' death and also we wanted you to have a normal life. Imagine knowing that we are not your parents but being forbidden to say anything to your best friends. We knew that we would have to tell you one day and you would have to make your choice but until then we wanted you to live a normal life." My dad answered me. Clearly, he thought the day had come too soon.
I looked at my best friends beside me and they had the same look of uncertainty.
I turned back to my parents and said, "How did my parents die?" Cleo, who was standing on the other side of the room answered my question, "We will tell you that later, but first, there is something else you need to know."
"A magical world exists around us." The stranger said. "We exist in every part of the world, every city, town, village has at least one family of our kind. But we need to also make sure no one hurts anyone with superpowers. So we have a secret society. It's like a government. It also has an elder council. The best wizard or witch of every country is part of the elder council. There are 195 people right now, excluding the head of the secret society, which is the most powerful wizard of the world. Your father, Daniel Hart, was the council head before he passed away."
"But as you know, good also comes with bad." My father continued. "The bad ones are known as hollows. The worst hollow is Andromeda. She wanted what every hollow wants, their rule over ours. Andromeda had some sense. She knew as long as Daniel led us it would be very hard for her to take over. He was the only wizard she ever feared. So she turned his own people against him by setting up fake evidence that he was a Hollow. Every wizard was intend to kill him. He had to go into hiding with all those who supported him, which was not a large number."
"But if he was so powerful, why did he go into hiding?" Hanna cut in.
"He couldn't harm them, or he would actually turn into a hollow." The stranger said. "He was caught and everyone who supported him was sent to the North Dungeons."
"What's that?" I was expecting the stranger to be frustrated with us cutting in every few minutes. But his voice was unchanged when he answered.
"A magical prison. There are four parts to the prison, North, South, East and West which together make the Spider's prison."
"And soon the secret society realized their mistake when Andromeda arrived with all her forces at the headquarters's door. We wouldn't be here if your mother hadn't cast that protective enchantment. She saw that we had no chance to defeat her, and she wanted you to grow up in a world not controlled by hollows. But to do so she had to cast a large amount of magic, much more than possible for a normal witch or wizard because magic causes stress. By the time the protective enchantment had died out, more than half of her army was dead and we had lost only a few people thanks to the protective enchantment."
'Andromeda challenged Daniel to a duel. Andromeda was badly injured by the end and so was your father. Andromeda fled with her remaining army. Your father too, had cast more magic then his body could tolerate. In the end, both of your parents couldn't make it so we raised you and your paternal aunt and uncle raised Scylla."
"Who is Scylla?" I asked. My parents looked at each other with uncertainty. A feeling of Deja Vu swept over me.
"Your twin sister."
"What?" Now I was definitely going to lose it. "Is there anything else you would like to shock me with?" But at this, I kind of felt excited. A twin sister sounded cool. I wondered if she was being told all this or she already knew.
"Yes, there is a lot you need to know so let's continue our story." The stranger continued. "The society searched every corner on Earth in within a week but couldn't find Andromeda. To calm people and to make them trust the society, they had to make a statement that Andromeda was gone for good."
"Everyone celebrated but the secret society and those who had supported your father knew it was only a matter of time before Andromeda returned. She was injured far worse than your parents but dark magic would have helped her survive."
"We knew that Andromeda would seek revenge so we hid their children away from the world. It is up to those who know about her survival to stop her. And you have to make a choice, whether you want to continue your normal life or join us in stopping Andromeda. Your friends can also come along if they want to, but they should know that once they do they would be in a lot of danger. But once you step in, there is no stepping out. And you will often have to make certain choices that are very difficult."
I looked at my friends. "What about our families?" asked Hanna.
"They too belong to our world. They wanted to tell you all this tonight but looks like they will settle for this."
"I think we should leave." Said Berry and they left. What would I do? I had to avenge my parents' death. But I wasn't sure if I could actually do something.
I returned to my bedroom. Dinner was mostly silent. The strange man left after dinner. When I went to bed that night, I told myself, "You wake up tomorrow, it was all a crazy dream." Turns out it wasn't.
Find out about Casandra's decision and meet Scylla in the next chapter.
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