SORA

The three of us returned to Akari and Isabella's room after getting out of the storm and making sure everyone else was okay. Akari asked Isabella if she could go spend time with Gambit for a few minutes because she wanted to talk to me privately and Isabella gladly obliged with a sly grin, most likely thinking other things. Either way, that left the three of us with the room for the time being.

"Clea, could you bring out the records for us?" Akari asks as we sit in a circle on her floor.

"Sure," Clea nods before she holds her hands out and a book appears with a flash of golden light and particles.

The book looks somewhat similar to Isabella's, however, this one has golden designs and a symbol for the Oracle on the cover, along with a latch and a golden chain that keeps the book closed. Additionally, multiple white feathers are sticking out from different spots in the book.

"I've bookmarked some of my favorite stories," Clea smiles sheepishly as she opens the book before she looks up at Akari. "Was there anything specific you wanted to see?"

"Could you show me the record on Gluttony?" I ask and Clea nods before she flips to the section on Gluttony.

"What about Gluttony would you like to know?" Clea asks.

"The original weapons of Gluttony are missing from Aria, meaning that either somebody stole them or the previous Gluttony still has them," Akari starts and my breath hitches when I think of Merrick. "However, the previous Gluttony was pronounced dead years ago, meaning the weapons should have been returned to Aria. The next Gluttony could only summon them after accepting them, which would mean they would have to have been in the room where the weapons were held to do so."

"Not necessarily," Clea frowns. "A sin or a virtue may summon their chosen weapons once they unleash their true forms. However, since many newer sins and virtues do not have their strongest and truest forms whenever they start off, they must choose their weapons through the ceremony of the Oracle so that they may summon them, even though they already have the rights to them."

"So, you're saying that either Reverence is still alive, somebody stole them, or somebody unleashed their true form?" I ask, my eyes flickering between Akari and Clea.

"I'm willing to bet that it's the foremost," Akari says after a few moments. "Something about the situation with Carmin sending us here even though he forbade everyone from entering seems strange. Additionally, he never told us the area was originally off limits."

"So, you think that Reverence is alive?" I raise my eyebrows. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Akari frowns. "But I have a bad feeling about it."

"Well," Clea frowns slightly as she goes back to reading her book and skimming through the pages, "it says here that Gluttony is deceased, which is odd because there should always be one alive."

"Troubling indeed..." Akari trails off in thought before another thought seems to flash through her. "Clea, what about Patience?"

"Patience?" Clea furrows her eyebrows and glances between the two of us. "I'm sorry, but the page on Patience has been ripped from the book. It's been missing even before I was born, according to my mom."

"The book of the Oracle is missing a page?" Akari says, her eyebrows raised.

"It's missing a few pages, actually..." Clea trails off sheepishly.

"What kind of Oracle are you?" Akari sighs and lies down on the floor in exasperation.

"Hey!" Clea frowns. "It's not my fault! I haven't lost a page since I got it."

"Hey, Clea," I start and she glances over to me, her frown dispersing as her eyebrows raise slightly with interest, "could you show me some of the stories about my dad? The ones that you liked, anyway. If you don't mind."

"Of course," Clea smiles. "You have every right to know, anyway. He's your father, after all. Hang on a moment."

Akari sits back up as Clea flips through the pages to one of her feather bookmarks and she places her right hand on the page. The page beneath her hand glows golden before golden dust flies about the room and the area around us changes to that of Aria Academy from years ago. Students are walking up and down the stairwells and talking to each other excitedly as they clutch their books to their chests or tease their friends in the hallways.

"That's him..." I breathe out whenever I spot my dad walking down the stairs, who's about twenty years younger in the story Clea's showing us.

"Mikai!" A young woman with long and straight mint green hair runs up to my dad, her brown eyes energetic.

"Careful, Asuna, you might trip and fall," my dad chides somewhat teasingly, his blue eyes full of mirth, and she pouts at him in return.

"I'll be fine," she sighs once she reaches him and she attempts to ruffle his brown hair in retaliation but he's standing a stair above her and so she's too short to reach. "I signed us up for a mission. Come on, let's go!"

"Alright, alright," my dad sighs as he lets Asuna drag him down the stairs and he smiles secretly.

"Your father loved Asuna with all his heart," Clea says as the scene around us changes to a battlefield with another flash of gold. "At the time of these showings, your father was eighteen and Asuna was seventeen. The two had been attending the academy since they were both children and they've been the best of friends ever since."

"She looks...familiar..." I trail off as I furrow my eyebrows and watch Asuna as she runs through the forest grounds in black, silver, and green armor, a grin on her face as she swings around the Staff of Envy and the emeralds on her headpiece dangle brilliantly as she moves elegantly.

"Well, Asuna Guilbert was Envy, and she was also your mother..." Clea says and my breath hitches while Akari's eyes widen.

"Wait a minute, but Sora's father was Wrath? Are you trying to tell me that Wrath and Envy had a child together?" Akari asks.

"Mhm," Clea hums. "The current Envy is Kaito because whenever Sora was born, he inherited the abilities of Wrath. Asuna and Mikai couldn't have another child after that, so her abilities were gifted to somebody who was born after she died, which would be Kaito."

"My...mother..." I breathe out, images of seeing a locket on my father's bed stand with a picture of a young woman when I was a child flashing through my mind.

Mom died whenever I was only three and I didn't really have any memories of her. Dad didn't really talk about her often, but when he did he always said kind things about her. I knew that he really loved her a lot and I missed her even though I never got to know her.

"That's why the Staff of Envy took to Sora so well," Akari breathes out and my eyes continue to stare at the scene ahead of me.

I watch as Asuna runs towards my dad, who flies up into the air in his brown, red, and gold armor after unfurling his white angel wings, his longsword bursting with red energy at his side. Asuna slashes through enemies effortlessly with bursts of green as my father flies towards her and whirls once he hits the ground, sending out a slash of red energy that cuts down multiple trees and disperses all the nightmare wolves around them.

"That's also why Sora's flames are the color they are," Clea says. "Some sort of reaction with their abilities occurred and the flames turned a similar color to Envy but not quite Envy. Most of the information regarding the child of Wrath has been kept hidden, so that's not exactly common knowledge, especially the part about Envy being the mother. The only public information is the color of the flames, not why.

Mikai was a wonderful warrior who had no qualms about sacrificing himself for others. He only wanted to fight for the common good and to protect those that he loved. Him and Asuna constantly looked out for each other and they were the best of partners. Asuna was loving, beautiful, intelligent, humorous, and a woman that many people admired. He ran off with Asuna once he unleashed his true abilities in a battle that almost cost Asuna her life. Without meaning to, he unleashed the spiritual gates that held the creatures of nightmares mostly back, creating a flood of monsters that wreaked havoc on the world. Aria blamed Mikai and exiled him, so he left with Asuna. After that, he wasn't the same. He wanted to fix things, but Arias hunted him down and he decided he wasn't going to let them ruin his life or hurt Asuna.

It was believed by the Arias that Asuna was killed by Mikai after running after him, but in all actuality she was in hiding with him. Mikai fought to survive and he did some terrible things in the process, but all he wanted to do was protect his family. I don't agree with what he did, but I can't blame him for it. Asuna and Mikai had Sora whenever Asuna was twenty-two and Mikai was twenty-three. They lived in a small cottage hidden in the forest and they found peace there for a few years before Asuna was spotted by Arias. After realizing she betrayed them, she was forced to fight for her life. However, she didn't make it. Mikai found her as she was dying and he vowed to destroy Aria and everything inside it. However, he spent most of his time tending to Sora after that."

Clea takes her hand off of the page once the scenes are finished and she gently closes the book while I still continue to stare ahead with baited breath before I swallow thickly.

"Why wouldn't they have suspected that the child of Wrath was Envy's if they found out she betrayed them?" I ask, my eyes flickering over to Clea.

"I don't know," Clea frowns. "It was as if the whole thing revolving Asuna's death was some sort of scandal that they wanted to cover up. So, they simply never mentioned it. It was just assumed by the public and most of Aria that Asuna was killed years ago. The only ones who knew the truth were the Oracle, Mikai, and the ones who killed Asuna. Wrath sought out the ones who killed Asuna and he got justice for her. They claimed the order was given by the parents of Carmin and Reverence, but he didn't care because they weren't the ones who did it. Carmin and Reverence's parents died a few years later and whenever Carmin was old enough he took over the academy. It was a few years after that that Reverence was killed by Wrath and Carmin ordered the death of any Wrath child."

Knowing that I have flames a similar color to my mom's abilities brings me comfort in the sense that I feel like she's with me, as well as now having her hair color from whenever my abilities were awakened, and I'm glad that I also have my father's powers and his eyes because I feel like he's with me as well. My parents may have been robbed from me, but I'll always carry them with me. I can't say I don't dislike the mistakes my father made, but I still loved him. I always will.

"I'm really sorry, Sora," Akari frowns and I smile sadly at her.

"It's alright," I say. "I can't change what happened, but I can make sure that something like that never happens again. I know that we can achieve that as long as we're all together. We'll make the world a better place, I promise."

"Yeah," Akari nods with a small smile and Clea nods as well. "I promise too."

"For justice, for all those who have been wronged," Clea says.

"For our loved ones, for those who have no voice, and for all," Akari adds.

"And for the ones we've already lost," I say, my eyes firmly flickering between the two of them. "We will prevail."