Wish upon the Stars chapter 472

Once everyone had gone, I started talking first. I used Stealth just  in case, but we could see the rooms for quite a ways around, and I  didn't notice anyone. "So." I said casually. "I'm guessing do you know  who I am? Did you know right away or...?"

Chelsea sighed.  "Not right away. All the pictures mom has of you are old. You don't look  exactly like dad either. The resemblance is there, but the bones in  your face are softer, more like mom. I figured it out when you told me  your name." She swallowed hard. "It's nice to meet you, Shane."

"You  too." I said. My voice rough with emotion. "Are we twins? I didn't even  know you existed until recently, but we should be around the same age,  right?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. Reaching into a  pocket, she pulled out a word and beaten up picture. She passed it to  me, and I almost dropped it as a wave of...something, tore through me.  Frustration, sadness, rage, love, longing, and about a hundred other  things trampled each other for the honor of gut punching me as I looked  down at a picture of my family. My WHOLE family.

Dad stood  behind us, looking somber, while mom crouched down holding us both up.  We were too young to really stand on our own, so it was hard to clearly  identify us. Well, me anyway. I just looked like a blonde kid. Chelsea  was pretty noticeable, given her black and white hair color.

I  passed it back. "I guess so. You can keep it, I won't be able to take  it out of here anyway. Soul stuff. Do you mind if we sit down? This is  really a lot."

"Of course." She said quickly, seeming as  nervous as I did. She pulled out a pair of chairs, setting them down in a  corner, out of the way of all the doors. "So...how was it? Living with  dad? I never met him really. Not that I remember at least. He doesn't  come around. Grandpa doesn't like him."

"Shocker." I said  with a smirk. "He's a devil now, and I somehow doubt the Radiant Pope  approves of his daughter being married to a literal creature of  darkness. What's he like Anyway? I've heard some crazy things. Does he  treat you ok? You and mom?"

She snorted. "Mom has grandpa  wrapped around her little finger. She's his only daughter, and one of  his most impressive children. Not to mention all our uncles were from  his first marriage. Mom is his only kid with his current wife." She  trailed off at that, like there was something she wasn't saying. "The  point is, mom and I are treated very well. Some of the stories about  grandpa are blown out of proportion."

I didn't mention the  whole 'killing a planet' legend. I was sure she'd heard it, and she  knew the guy better than me. I had a million other questions, but in the  end, I was only able to come up with one. Everything I wanted to ask  just dissolved on my tongue, and I ended up blurting out. "Why did mom  leave?"

Chelsea looked away. "Because of me. I was born with two abilities. I'm sure you've heard of it happening?"

"Yeah,  Aidan, the current Wishmaster has two." I said with a nod. "Why is that  a reason to leave? I would think dad would have been thrilled, hell,  mom too. Having two abilities is pretty great."

She shook  her head. "There's something wrong with one of them. I can't really go  into it. But I shouldn't have one of the abilities I do, and if someone  found out they might come after me, and you. At least, if they knew who  my dad was. By taking me away and raising me on my own, they were able  to pretend it was some big secret. It was to protect me, and also to  protect you."

"I don't understand." I said in frustration.  "How does being born with an ability matter? How did they even know?  And what about dad?"

She looked away guiltily. "They knew  because of a wish. And the ability I was born with is a bloodline. I  wasn't supposed to have it, and its existence gave away some kind of  family secret. I can't say more, please don't ask. I'm begging. As for  dad. When he found out mom had to go, he was furious apparently. I was  too young to remember any of it, but from what mom said, he refused to  let her leave."

"That seems to have worked out well." I spat. "Seems like he really stood his ground there."

"She  made a wish." Said Chelsea sadly. "As a way to keep the secret. That's  how she got her second ability. She thought having it would make it  easier to explain mine. It wouldn't have worked, probably, but she paid  with the most valuable thing that she had. Your ability. Kept under lock  and key until your eighteenth birthday. Another layer of separation  between us."

My head was spinning. I'd always wondered  about the strange way I'd gotten my ability. Most people just developed  it, but mine came in a scroll on my birthday. Mom had done that? Dad had  helped? I could have been an early bloomer like Callie. I could have  been a fucking B-ranker like Zeke by now. Whose bloodline ability did  Chelsea have that prompted all this? I didn't know nearly enough about  bloodlines to figure it out.

Plus...she'd asked me not to  try. She wanted me to let it go. Despite how PISSED I was at mom and dad  (less so at mom than I had been, though that didn't let dad off the  hook for the way I grew up) I didn't blame Chelsea for any of it, and I  could tell from her face that she expected me to.

You'd  think that would have made it harder, in some ways. To just...drop it.  But it didn't. The realizations from the forest came back to me. Mom and  dad weren't here, but that didn't change the impact they had on me.  Neither would finding out the truth. It might hurt my sister though, and  she didn't deserve it. This wasn't her fault. I leaned forward  awkwardly in my chair and hugged her.

Chelsea stiffened at  the contact, clearly expecting me to be upset and lashing out, but once  she realized what was happening she hugged me back. "Family secret  bullshit or not, you got something wrong. This didn't happen because of  you. It happened TO you. None of this was your fault." I pulled away.  "Now, tell me a bit more about your life. I want to know what growing up  as the Radiant Princess is like."

I still had so many  emotions tangled up inside. I was still reeling. And honestly, I should  have been angry. That she got the childhood I didn't, that she was with  mom being adored and fussed over while I was stuck on some backwater  nowhere hellhole. But...I wasn't. Any of those things. Forget dad. I'd  had Zeke growing up. And Benny. I loved my life, and I didn't need to  fantasize about growing up being pampered by strangers.

She  groaned at the nickname, chuckling wetly as she wiped her eyes. "Please  don't call me that. it's so lame. But really, it's not as crazy as you  might be thinking. Mom keeps me out of the limelight when possible.  Which can be hard. It's why I had to come to the trial to begin with.  She didn't want me using the Church's heritage in case something about  my second power leaked."

"How is she?" I finally asked.  I'd been avoiding it, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't seen my  mother for so long that my only memory of her was a single glimpse of  her face.

"Quiet." She said sadly. "She misses you. A lot.  Part of the contract she signed with dad is that she can't seek you  out. She did it that way on purpose, so that she wouldn't be tempted and  put both of us in danger. She hates herself for it though. I still  catch her crying sometimes."

Contract. She'd said wish  before, which made me think it was both. My dad was a wish devil, after  all, he granted wishes through contracts now. That was basically ALL I  knew about him these days. "Does that mean I can't see her?"

"Nope."  She beamed at me. "Contract says she can't seek you out, doesn't say  anything about the other way around. I think she'd love to see you. We'd  have to be a bit creative about it, and it would have to be after the  trials. If you want to see her, I mean." Her smile wilted. "I'd  understand if you didn't."

"I do." I stated firmly. "I  still have questions, but even if she can't or won't answer them...she's  still my mom. Knowing she did all this to keep us safe makes it a lot  easier to deal with."

Her smile this time was enough to  light up the room. "Well, what about you? I noticed you came here with  friends." Her tone took on a teasing lilt. "And a girl. It must be  serious if you're traveling together. You going to bring her with you to  meet mom?"

"Probably." I said without flinching. "I've  met hers. And yeah, it's pretty serious. My friends are all from my home  planet. Mom ever tell you anything about Callus?" I wasn't actually  sure mom had BEEN to Callus, actually. My memory of her didn't come with  context or location details. It was possible it had been before I'd  moved to the psuedo-D ranked planet.

Chelsea shook her head. "Not that I remember. I's love to hear about it though. Mom said you were raised by dad's best friend?"

I  couldn't help the laugh that bubbled forth as I tried to think of how  to describe Zeke. "Yeah. He's...he's a hard guy to explain. But he's  taken care of me my whole life, and always been there when I needed him.  I think you'd like the old drunk. What about your protector? I heard  he's a big shot for his level, but he's been keeping his rank down so he  can stick around and protect you."

"Callen has his own  reasons for remaining at F-rank." She giggled. "But he's definitely kept  me safe for most of my life. He's my guard for places higher ranking  Ascendants can't go. You'd be surprised how often that comes up." She  gestured off into the temple. "He's around somewhere. We got separated  in the second trial, of course. I'm sure he's looking for me everywhere,  but it's a big place and there are a lot of people."

I  shrugged. "Not a huge issue though, right? If you die in here you just  get kicked out. It's a safe place for you to do some exploring on your  own. What's the power you can use, by the way, since the other one is a  secret."

She held up a hand, and an ivory, crystalline  flame flickered into existence. It looked weird, like an animated opal  statue of fire. "Purifying flame." She said proudly. "It's grandpa's  bloodline, though he uses it a bit weird, so most people don't know  that." I was kind of curious what that even meant, but I decided there'd  be time for that later.

I changed the subject, asking her  more about her childhood, and she asked about mine again. I shared  stories, embarrassing incidents, and just stupid things I'd done, and  she did the same. We got to know each other, sitting there in that stone  room and catching up with our lives. The rest of them got further ahead  in the next trial, but I didn't care. i was finally getting to know my  sister, learning more about my family, and that was plenty for me.