NOVPUBThe next few days went by fairly quickly. Sera, along with her fellow leaders, spent their time planning in the operations room. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
During these days, two other city-states came back to their alliance. Edinburg, who lost their president in the attack, sent an envoy/ambassador to join the planning. While Kiev asked the leader of Odesz, Pavlo, to represent them as well.
As it turned out, Pavlo's wife politicallynquered Kiev after the Dictator's death. Sheerced them into a-leadership, like the arrangement between Krak and Warsaw. They were quick to accept, since otherwise they had no one to lead them.
Sadly, Stuttgart, the third city-state, which lost its leader, hadn'tntacted them. They either chose neutrality or switched sides.
From the Angelic Order presence within Stuttgart, they learned the city was still standing, so something else must've happened. The public is, ofurse,ncerned, but their leadinguncil had made no public appearance yet.
Wien, and more importantly, Jonas, wasn't as silent. He tookntrol of the entire city and made his allegiance public. There was even footage of Amygdala appearing within the city, and Jonas kneeling before her.
He made up a bunch of fake reasons why he joined the Federal Alliance, but everyone saw through the facade of lies. Jonas wanted nothing else but fullntrol over Wien, which Harold gladly gave provided.
The spies within the Federal Allianceuldn't report much. Behind the fog of war, the enemy moved, preparing for the uming battles, but nobody had a clear idea about their plans.
Napoleon was similar, but even more ambiguous. He still did little since takingntrol of New Paris. The spies speculate hisntrol was lacking, and he wanted an absolute force before making any large-scale movements. But Elizabeth and Otto didn't believe that.
They both knew him before the war. He was always an introverted, rational person. He hated making mistakes, since he was a perfectionist. Whatever he's planning, it won't be easy to handle.
On their front, they made lots of plans, then dropped most as time passed. Right now, they felt pretty good about their state, but in war, certainty was a luxury, and they were piss poor, so they made plans, then fail-safes for the plans, then fail-safes for the fail-safes.
But at some point, planning needed to stop, and the worst part of every war began, waiting. Their plans needed time, and so they waited.
Another week passed with nothing important happening. As everything calmed down before the storm, Sera and Bea found time for their much needednversation regarding Vicky's and their futures.
They met up alone at Sera's apartment. Bran took Vicky to the other children, giving them ample time for the discussion. Unlike two weeks ago, they both went into thenversation with calm and clear minds, ready to make all the decisions related to their future.
Following ardial hug, they settled on opposite ends of the sofa, ready for a lengthy discussion. The issue began with uncertainty regarding the start of thenversation.
Beforehand, both spent a long time gathering their thoughts, but upon facing each other, nothing remained from their preparations. Several endless minutes later, Sera initiated, since she was the primary culprit in the events leading here.
Sera looked into Bea's beautiful green eyes, and she spoke with as much sincerity as possible.
"First, I again apologize for my behavior… As you know, my emotionless state causes me to not see patterns within interactions. I never imagined everything to snowball so quickly, into this intricate mess… This, naturally, isn't justification; I now understand my actions' impact…"
Bea didn't cut into her words like last time. She just nodded with sadness, rgnizing Sera's apology. She felt no hypocrisy this time, making acceptance easier. But Bea was stillnfused.
"Why did you do it? Is it only your emotionless state, or was there something else?" asked Bea with curiosity, and after a long, umfortable silence, Sera answered shamefully.
"It played a part, but no… After all of you came back, everyonenstantly pushed me towards you. None of you ever acknowledged what I wanted, and that brought dimfort every time we were close… I also realized how much Bran had done for me, and how much he meant to me…"
Sera avoided Bea's gaze, even though her eyes held no judgement, only regret. A deep breath, then a long, weary sigh—months of pent-up emotion released at once.
She wasn't stupid, or emotionally inept. Bea noticed how umfortable Sera would get anytime someone mentioned their past relationship, but she never knew the reason.
This truth felt liberating, like a heavy pressure finally lifting from her shoulders. With a calm smile, she turned towards Sera. "Do you love him?"
The question wasn't surprising, unlike Bea's smile. With embarrassment, Sera blushed and averted her gaze. "I'm not sure… Emotionless, remember?… But I imagine, when I get my emotions back, I will finally feel it!"
She sounded so excited that Beauldn't keep a straight face. Sera's flushed face and hopeful eyes made her look especially cute.
They became silent for a moment. Bea never took her gaze off of Sera's face. In her mind's eye, she recalled the ups and downs they experienced, leading to a sudden realization… Their relationship was doomed from the start…
When they met, they were both broken. Their cities destroyed, their families dead. They neededmpanionship, someone to rely on, but theirnnection was never healthy.
The two year long separation also proved enlightening for them both. They realized one was or another that staying together wasn't the best option.
This knowledge simplified everything, since holding onto false hope wouldn't have solved anything, anyway. Instead of reminiscing about the past, she decided to work on her future. For this, she needed to let go.
For this reason, instead of feeling sad, an enormous smile spread across her face. She moved closer and gave Sera a warm embrace, shocking her in the process. It lasted for a few long snds, but its meaning was obvious.
Bea pulled away, and whilentinuing to smile said, "I forgive you, and wish for both you and Bran a happy life together."
The surprise quickly worn off, and soon Sera's face reflected Bea's smiling expression. "Thank you! I wish the same for you and Otto!"
These words felt wonderful for both, like an inexplicably heavy weight lifting off of their heart. A few minutes passed in silence. They just enjoyed the calm moment while it lasted.
Eventually, thenversation had tontinue, since there was still a lot they needed to discuss. Most important out of all, their daughter.
"Have you talked to her yet about what she wants to do?" asked Bea, breaking themfortable, quiet atmosphere.
Sera just shrugged and giggled. "Somewhat… I asked about her future plans after the war, and she was really excited to tell me…"
She stayed silent for a moment, making Bea annoyed with the wait. After a few snds, and lost of grumpy looks, Serantinued with a wide grin. "She wants to stay here, in London, and start school with her new friends."
Bea's eyes widened from shock, then she burst out laughing with Sera. She should've already guessed something like this would happen, but it still caught her off guard.
Their chucklingntinued, lasted a few snds, then eventually both calmed down and resumed thenversation.
"That's great. I'm really happy she managed to make such good friends so quickly, but we must extensively discuss this new arrangement with her before agreeing." Bea declared firmly, allowing no argument—not like Sera had any.
"Ofurse! We haven't talked about anything extensively, since I wanted to include you in those discussions!"
Sera grinned while Bea blushed, looking away. She felt a warm, fuzzy feeling inside her heart, which she had been missing for a long time… Someone actually cared about her opinion…
It wasn't exactly love she felt, but more like overwhelming joymbined with a significant amount of gratification. The feeling was similar to the love one feels towards their friends and family after they receive ampliment.
She quicklymposed herself, or at least tried to, but before sheuld've said anything, Sera blurted out something ridiculous. "I think the first should teach Vicky about sex education!"
Bea's eyes widened for the thousandth time during theirnversation. She intently watched Sera, inhaled deeply, then spoke as calmly as she managed.
"WHAT?!" shouted Bea. "What do you mean?! She is way too young for sex education! She is only eleven for fuck's sake!… Is she getting that close to Henry?"
Sera just giggled and shrugged. "Not really. I just wanted to tease you… By the way, your reaction was priceless! They are very close, but arding to Bran, they mostly just hold hands and cuddle. It's more cute than inappropriate…"
This didn't seem tonvince Bea, instead she became much more anxious. "What do you mean, cute?! There is nothing cute about this!… That little prince is seducing my daughter! We need to do something, before it's too late and we lose her to this charlatan!"
Sera laughed throughout Bea's long monologue. After a while, Bea herself realized how stupid she sounded.
It wasn't like she hated Henry, but she wasn't ready for her daughter to begin dating. But she also knew how important this relationship was for Vicky, so eventually she dropped the subject.
Theirnversation changed a few times, and they ended it when Sera sent a message to all of their friends, detailing all her past feelings, insecurities, and grievances.
She also asked everyone to apologize to Bea for their past behavior. She didn't really need to, since even before sending her message, the apologies began rolling in on Bea's watch.
Bea read all the texts from her friends. She cried a lot as everyone acknowledged their horrid behavior, and thank her for all the sacrifices she had made.
By the end, Sera hugged and caressed her head. This moment differed from their past shared as lovers. Now, they were just two close friends, and-parents, nothing else.
It took Bea half an hour to calm down and leave Sera's apartment. Just as they walked towards the door, it opened wide and Bran came inside. They chatted a while longer, then Bea went on her way.
Since night has fallen, Sera decided it was time to close the bany window, which stayed open during their entire discussion. As she closed it, a lone raven flew away from his nearby perch.
