Cam sat cross-legged on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. "Seraphina… can I ask something personal?"
Seraphina stood near the window, arms folded tightly. "Sure."
"Your parents. Do you… know much about them?"
A long silence stretched between them. Seraphina stared outside at the moonlight washing over the courtyard. Then she spoke—quietly.
"I never knew my father. My mom never talked about him. Not once. Like he didn't exist."
Cam blinked. "And your mom?"
"She died when I was ten. Car accident, they said. But I never saw her body. No funeral. Just… a phone call. An aunt who showed up the next day, saying it was over."
Her voice cracked slightly. Cam sat up straighter.
"That's strange."
Seraphina nodded. "I thought so too. And lately I've been thinking about something else."
She turned toward Cam and pulled back her hoodie sleeve.
A faint, crescent-shaped birthmark rested just below her wrist.
"My mom had the exact same one. Same place, same curve. I remember tracing it when I was little."
Cam leaned forward, studying it. "That's not a normal birthmark. It almost looks like…"
"A symbol," Seraphina finished. "I know."
Cam sat back slowly, absorbing everything. "Maybe… this is part of who you are. Maybe the fight today—how you moved, how you won—it's connected to all of this."
Seraphina sat beside her, her face troubled.
"I don't want magic or fate or bloodlines," she whispered. "I just want to understand why I feel like I'm living someone else's life."
Cam looked at her and said gently, "Then let's figure it out. Together."
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