Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]

Third-person POV

Electra wasn't exactly shocked when Seraphina said she was born to die. After all, that strange creature had called her an abomination and warned her that her life was slipping away, but what did surprise her was Seraphina's next statement—that she wasn't supposed to exist.

That part made her freeze. It wasn't that she doubted it, not after what the creature had told her. It was the way Seraphina said it, like she knew something Electra didn't. Like she had proof.

Electra frowned, staring at Seraphina intently. "What do you mean I'm supposed to exist? How exactly do you know that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Seraphina sighed, brushing a hand through her hair before looking Electra straight in the eye. "After we tried falling asleep again to return to the past, I actually managed to go back," she admitted. "You didn't come with me, but I made it back to the moment when our mothers were speaking."

Electra sat up straighter, her heart thudding in her chest. "You heard their conversation?" she asked, her voice more urgent than she intended.

Seraphina nodded. "Yeah, and, Electra… what I heard, although I'm still a little confused on what it entails, I can say for sure that it wasn't pleasant in the slightest."

Electra felt her stomach tighten. "Just tell me, Sera. I can take it," she demanded, feeling a surge of unease. "What exactly did you overhear?"

Seraphina hesitated for a second, as if trying to find the right words, but then she exhaled and just said it. "Your mother—Solara—was terrified, Electra. She came to my mother, begging for help because she believed her child—believed you—would mostly die the moment you were born, and she didn't want you to die."

Electra's breath caught in her throat. "She did?" she echoed, her mind racing. "But, did she mention why?"

Seraphina sighed, her fingers playing with the fabric of her pajama shirt as she prepared to explain. Electra was watching her intently, arms crossed over her chest, clearly trying to keep her frustration in check.

Seraphina understood—what she was about to say wasn't easy to digest.

"When Solara told my mother that she was pregnant," Seraphina began carefully, "my mother didn't react happily. In fact, it was the opposite. From the way she spoke, I got the impression that a half-human, half-Phoenix wasn't exactly… ideal."

Electra scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, no shit. You'd think people would be a little more open-minded, considering how many different species exist in this world. I mean, why's a half-snake like Yuna understandable, but a phoenix isn't?"

Seraphina gave a small shrug. "It's not about open-mindedness, Electra. From the way they talked, it was more like… something unnatural. Something that wasn't meant to happen. I'm guessing that since a phoenix is considered very sacred in all seven kingdoms, it's less acceptable than common snakes."

Electra's frown deepened, but she didn't interrupt, so Seraphina continued. "At one point, after my mother reluctantly agreed to help Solara, she made a comment about how she would only be able to do something if Solara was lucky enough to not have a stillborn baby."

Electra sat up straighter. "What?"

Seraphina nodded grimly. "Since a child like you wasn't supposed to exist, the chances of you even being born alive were pretty slim."

Electra let out a bitter laugh. "So, basically, I was supposed to be stillborn. Great. Love that for me."

"Pretty much," Seraphina admitted, though she winced at how bluntly Electra put it. "But your mother was determined. She kept insisting that she would make sure you were born and that all she needed was for my mother to help her once you were born alive."

Electra's brows furrowed in deeper confusion. "But help her how? Your mother was just a regular human, wasn't she? What could she have possibly done to stop me from dying?"

Seraphina bit her lip, hesitating. This was the part she didn't fully understand either, but unfortunately, she had no one to ask, and it didn't seem like she would be getting a chance to see her mother in her dreams again. "I also don't know the full details," she admitted. "But whatever my mother was supposed to do, it was something powerful enough to interfere with whatever force was trying to stop you from existing."

Electra looked at her skeptically. "Are you seriously telling me your human mother had the power to stop something that was basically the will of the universe?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes before responding, "I know it sounds weird, and trust me, I've been wondering what in the world my mother could have possibly done, but you saw it yourself in the part of the dream you were able to see. Solara came to ask for my mother's help. That means there had to have been something my mother could do to help the situation."

Electra opened her mouth to say something, but Seraphina quickly raised a hand to stop her. "Give me a minute to explain everything I heard," she said, her voice urgent. "It's like… the more I talk about it, the more the dream is slowly fading from my memory, and I can't risk forgetting any of it."

Electra, despite the visible confusion on her face, pressed her lips together and nodded, letting Seraphina continue.

Seraphina took a deep breath before going on. "In the dream, my mother had also told Solara that if she really wanted her help, she would have to bring the baby—you—to her immediately after giving birth. No delays."

Electra's brows furrowed, her confusion deepening. "But…" she started hesitantly. "According to my father, my mother died as soon as she gave birth to me. That means she couldn't have brought me to your mother. She would have never had the chance to."

Seraphina felt her stomach drop. That's right. She hadn't even thought about that before. If Solara died before she could take Electra to her mother… then what happened? Had someone else taken Electra to Aurora, or had her mother's help never come at all?

"I…" Seraphina struggled for words, her mind racing. "That doesn't make sense. Because from the way they spoke, it sounded like my mother knew exactly what she needed to do, and Solara seemed to have really trusted and depended on her, but if your mother never made it back to her with you, then…"

Electra's expression hardened. "Then whatever she was supposed to do, it never happened, and maybe that would explain why my life is supposedly slipping away from me at nineteen."