Chapter 655: The Sky That Stayed

The words had taken something out of Sophia, leaving her quieter than before, like whatever strength she had used to bring them out had finally run dry. Her hands rested loosely in her lap, her shoulders slightly slumped, her gaze unfocused as if she was still somewhere between the past she had just described and the present she was standing in.

The snow continued to fall around them, soft and steady, settling over the ground, over the headstones, over the two of them where they sat.

Orion didn’t respond immediately.

He didn’t rush to speak.

He didn’t interrupt the silence that followed her words, or rather her story.

Instead, he lifted his gaze slowly, until it settled on the sky above them.

He stayed like that for a while, and Sophia noticed.

Her brows pulled together faintly as she watched him, waiting for something, anything, but when nothing came, confusion crept in quietly.

"...Orion?" she called softly.

He didn’t answer her question.

"Look up," he said instead.

Sophia blinked, caught off guard.

"What?"

"Look up," he repeated, his voice calm but firm enough that it made her pause.

She frowned slightly, wiping at the tears still clinging to her lashes.

"...why?" she asked.

Orion didn’t look at her.

"Just do it."

There was something in his tone that made her hesitate for only a moment before she finally gave in.

Slowly, she lifted her head.

The sky stretched wide above them, dark but not empty, the moon hanging high, pale and steady, casting its light over everything below. The stars were scattered around it, countless and quiet, their glow faint but present against the night.

Sophia stared at it for a moment.

"Do you see the moon?" he asked her.

Sophia was quiet for a while, and then she nodded. "Yes," she said softly.

Orion nodded slightly.

"And the stars?" he asked.

"I can see them too," she said.

A small pause followed before she lowered her gaze slightly, confusion returning.

"I don’t understand where you’re going with this."

Orion exhaled slowly then.

"The day the Enclave attacked," he began, his voice quieter now, "the day Victoria destroyed our pack... I didn’t look at the sky."

Sophia stilled.

"I didn’t care what it looked like," he continued. "I didn’t care if it was clear or storming or beautiful or not. None of that mattered because all I could feel was pain."

His jaw tightened slightly.

"And for years, that’s all I carried," he added. "Pain and guilt."

The words settled between them.

Then he turned to look at her.

"But now I can see it again."

Sophia blinked.

"What?"

Orion held her gaze, steady and certain.

"I can see the sky again," he repeated. "I can look at it and actually notice it. The moon, the stars... even this snow."

His expression softened slightly.

"And it’s because of you."

"You," he said. "You’re the reason I stopped looking at everything like it was just... something I had to survive. You’re the reason I took part in the festival. The reason I stopped avoiding this place. The reason I can even sit here right now."

Sophia stared at him, her eyes beginning to fill again, though the tears this time came slower.

"You gave me that," he continued. "You made me see that there’s more than just what we lost. That there’s still something worth looking at."

Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.

Orion didn’t stop.

"And from everything you just told me," he said, his voice growing firmer now, more grounded, "the only person at fault for what happened is Victoria."

Sophia shook her head immediately.

"No—"

"Yes," Orion cut in, not harshly but with enough certainty to make her pause. "You were a child, shorty. You saw something you didn’t want to happen, and you tried to stop it."

Her breath faltered.

"That doesn’t make you guilty," he continued. "That makes you someone who tried."

Sophia’s fingers curled slightly against her lap.

"She wanted to break you," Orion added, his gaze hardening faintly. "That’s what all of this was. She wanted control. She wanted you to become whatever she needed you to be. And I know it was also more than that... she wanted to be you, the one the goddess blessed. The one with the gift instead."

Sophia looked away, her chest tightening.

"And your brain couldn’t accept the fact that someone you trusted could betray you so. And so you made yourself forget as a means of protection."

Her throat tightened.

"I’m going to tell you the same thing you told me when you saw me on that tree during the festival," he said, his voice steady again. "The same thing my father told you... at least similar."

Sophia swallowed.

"It’s not your fault," he told her softly but firmly.

"Everything that happened... it’s not your fault," he continued. "It’s the Enclave. It’s those people who thought using a child was acceptable. It’s Victoria, who saw an opportunity and took it without caring what it would do to you."

Sophia’s eyes blurred again.

"You are not the one to blame," he said. "And you’re not going to carry something that was never yours to begin with."

Her lips trembled.

Orion’s expression softened once more.

"And you’re not alone, shorty," he added quietly. "You’re loved."

Sophia’s breath hitched.

"And not just by me, but by your friends too... the family you created."

Her hands trembled slightly.

The tears came again.

"...will that still be the same?" she asked, her voice breaking as the fear she had been holding back finally surfaced. "When they find out who I really am?"

Orion stilled.

"That my mother is the one who did all of this?" she continued, her words unsteady. "That I’m connected to her... to everything she’s done?"

Her gaze dropped.

"You know how people are," she said quietly. "They look for something to hold onto. Something close enough to blame when they can’t reach the real source."

Her voice wavered.

"And I’m close enough. Perhaps they only love me now because they don’t know who my mother is. But they will hate..."

She swallowed, her chest tightening painfully as she shook her head. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I don’t want that," she admitted, her voice smaller now. "I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want them to look at me differently... like I’m something they need to stay away from."

Her breath hitched.

"I don’t want them to hate me," she cried. "I don’t want the people I call family, people I’ve come to love, to hate me for something my mother did, Orion. I don’t want to lose friends and family again because of her."