Calming Down

It took a while for Sophia to calm down. When she was able to revert back to her usual self, Murphy thanked Belinda and her daughter. Arcturus knew Murphy worried about her the most. The doctors left after giving some advice to Sophia on how to maintain her composure and to see them again if she has another panic attack.

The room became quiet once they left. It was awkward sparking up a conversation after what had happened that caused the issue. Arcturus was sitting on a chair as Sophia sat on the sofa–the bed had changed back to a sofa just for her comfort. He glanced over at Souhait who still had Nova's appearance. Souhait looked as if he wanted to say something to her, so he gestured for him to go for it.

This led Souhait to muster up the courage to apologize to Sophia. "I am truly sorry for what had transpired." He bowed so low that his body made a ninety-degree angle.

Sophia was confused. "There's no need to apologize. I know you didn't change into a Trifecta intentionally to make me panic."

Arcturus chimed in. "Then, could we ask why you reacted poorly to seeing a Trifecta?"

Sophia glanced over at Murphy who seemed to be okay with it. She then took a look at Constance and Souhait before focusing back on Arcturus. "Will you listen to my story?"

"Sure."

Constance handed her a glass of water, which she drank first before starting. "Forty years ago, I met my husband Murphy in Ilacier. We were college classmates that went to a big university in Ilacier because we were so tired of the Laminan way of life. We got married after we graduated and managed to find jobs. We both had worked as data analysts for the Ilacian branch of Galaxia Data Bank."

Souhait tilted his head. "Galaxia Data Bank?"

Arcturus explained, "Galaxia Data is the biggest data broker company in the world. They collect and protect information about people on this planet. They're very secure with their information handling, but how they function is a bit different from the usual data brokers. Like the name, they function more of a bank for data. They store information and if someone other than the owner wants to get ahold of it, they have to pay a very hefty fee."

"Data breaking that functions like a bank. How interesting." Souhait looked rather intrigued.

Sophia continued, "Three years after our marriage, I gave birth to our first and only child, Virgo. Virgo wasn't born in Lamina, so she didn't have to be subjected to discrimination for not being pure Laminan. Since Murphy is a quarter Plasmian, that would make her an eighth Plasmian. We raised Virgo happily. She loved us and loved people around her."

Arcturus took the chance to scan his surroundings. Sophia had talked about her rather lovingly yet there wasn't any picture of Virgo crawling around. He focused back on her.

"When Virgo was five years old, Murphy and I got an offer to move to Sirius as the mayor at the time, Mebsuta Leonis, wanted to hire talented data analysts to work under her. Since Sirius was a secret city that only Ilacians knew of, we felt that it would be a good opportunity to see what it was like. That was when we came to this isolated city."

Arcturus hummed in surprise. "You two must've been really great at your jobs. I heard Galaxia Data Bank is really competitive and strict."

Murphy looked rather embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, we weren't the only ones that got an offer; there were a few others as well."

"Still. You wouldn't have been scouted if you weren't good at your jobs."

"True."

Sophia resumed her story. "Life in Sirius had turned out better than we expected. The mayor was kind to us. Virgo even became friends with the mayor's daughters and nephew. As she became a teenager, she grew to have feelings for the nephew, a boy with a rather unique name. They eventually started dating when their feelings became mutual."

The serene face she had when telling her story slowly became sullen. "When she was sixteen years old, we were given some rather shocking news–she became pregnant. She didn't want to get rid of it as it was the product of the love between her and her boyfriend."

Arcturus slowly pieced together the story. He pursed his lips as he didn't want to point it out; he just hoped his theory was incorrect.

Sophia held her head with her hand. "This was a huge source of conflict back in the day. We wanted Virgo to get rid of the baby because we thought she was too young to be a mother. She was too stubborn to obey us. Eventually, we gave in and let her have the baby. When her daughter was born, the child had snow white hair."

Souahit, who was immersed in her story, asked, "Your granddaughter is a Trifecta. Virgo has both Laminan and Plasmian blood from both of you and then her boyfriend must've been pure Ilacian."

Murphy nodded. "You are correct."

"How did you feel when she was born?"

"Conflicted."

Sophia continued her story, "When Celestina was born, Nova came to this city. He stayed here for a few months before he complied with granting Mebsuta's wish, which then spiraled into her ultimate demise and the chaos that ensued twenty years ago."

Arcturus glanced over at Souhait who looked guilty at first but quickly concealed it when he locked eyes with him. He was glad Souhait was trying his best to not beat himself over this as well.

"When Mebsuta died, Bellatrix immediately took over as mayor despite being too young at the time. Her first action was to kill Nova, but he had escaped before it could happen. Her second order was to gather the entire city and find people who opposed her to become mayor. When the opposers were gathered, they were taken to the farthest corner of the city and were barricaded from the rest of the city."

"Seeing how both of you are here and your daughter is not, I'm guessing there was conflict between you three?"

Sophia hung her head low. She was unable to continue her story. Murphy wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned her close to him. He took over the story. "You see…when we wanted to move back to the mainland after the whole ordeal, Bellatrix couldn't accept that fact. She took Celestina as a bargaining chip and tried to coerce us into staying on Sirius. When we berated Bellatrix's actions, that was when we were deemed as opposers and that was how we got sent to the Outskirts. Virgo, on the other hand, decided to accept her offer only on the condition that Celestina remains safe."

"And that is how you got separated and remained so for the past two decades." Souhait remarked.

"Yes."

Arcturus inquired, "Come to think of it, this does not explain why Sophia started panicking at the sight of Kori."

Murphy chimed in, "The trauma is due to the day before we got sent over to the Outskirts. When Celestina was still held hostage, we…told Virgo to abandon her and for her to come with us. When she heard this request, Virgo held a grudge; she loved her daughter very much and wanted to protect her. The last words she said to us were very hurtful and it still lingers in our minds to this day–it affected Sophia a lot more than me."

Sophia whispered, "She said, 'I'm not going to abandon my baby like you're abandoning me.' And that is why she left us to be with Celestina."

Arcturus could tell they had their regrets even after two decades. Teenagers were harsh with their words, but, knowing that he was once a teen himself, hurtful words were forgiven within time. What about them? Had Sophia and Murphy forgiven Virgo? Had Virgo forgiven them? Seeing them so sad made him want to find their daughter and bring her back to them just so they could have closure. The major issue standing between him and that desire was the large metallic wall. If only there was some way to cross over it.

No, I need to research how that wall came to be.

"I don't understand Virgo." Constance blurted this out abruptly, causing Arcturus to have his current thoughts be put on hold as new, puzzling thoughts slid in. He noticed the genuine disdain on her face.

"Why do you not understand Virgo?" Souhait inquired.

"She could've gotten another baby. She was young, so she was still fertile. She could've had another baby. Why did she have to cause tension with her parents? Shouldn't children stick with their parents? Besides, babies can be replaced but not parents."

 The atmosphere became tense. Nobody could utter a word after her blunt statement. Arcturus peered over and every person in the room save for Constance had an exasperated expression.