CHAPTER LIV
"Where the Forest Whispers End"
Celeste's POV
Cael ran off into the open garden with the children, their laughter filling the warm afternoon air like chimes in the wind. The young princesses twirled in their petal-like dresses, and the soft golden glow of the fairy land made everything look like a dream suspended in time.
She was glowing — not just with light, but with life.
And yet… it all felt so fragile.
As I stood watching her from a distance, King Alder stepped beside me. His presence was calm, but there was a heaviness in his voice when he finally spoke.
> "Look at her, Celeste… Tell me, does it seem like she only has seven days left to live?"
I turned sharply to him, my heart suddenly aching at the weight of his words.
> "Why would you say something like that about Cael?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Before the king could answer, Queen Willow stepped forward, her eyes ancient with sorrow. She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and said with all the solemnity of truth:
> "Because it is the truth, Celeste. And no amount of love or denial can change what she is — or what's coming."
I felt my chest tighten.
Queen Willow continued, her voice now a soft murmur, almost like the rustling of dying leaves:
> "After Cael is gone, the trees and plants of our fairy land will begin to wither. Everything will begin to decay — except the few plants that were planted in memory of those who have passed. They alone will survive… but everything else will die."
She paused, then said the words that shook me deeper than I expected:
> "We, the people of Green Forest Land, are forgotten by the world. No one but the Three Sisters knows of our existence. And soon… no one will remember us at all."
I stared at her, unable to find the right words. The queen's voice trembled — but not with fear. With acceptance.
> "It's necessary, Celeste," she said. "For our own safety. If the world learns of us, they'll rip away the very magic that gives us life. They'll take our trees, our soil, our essence — all for their gain. And that will poison our skies."
> "But Cael—" I tried to speak, my throat thick with emotion. "There must be a way to save her. There has to be a way!"
King Alder turned to me, his gaze steady yet kind. A gaze of someone who had lived through centuries of loss.
> "There is no way," he said, with quiet finality.
"No matter how hard anyone tries… Cael cannot be saved."
The words struck me like ice to my spine.
> "She was born in darkness… and she must return to it. That is the cruel balance of this world."
And then the king told me the truth I never knew I needed to hear — and feared most of all.
> "Within Cael lies Vorgath — an ancient force born of black magic and evil energy. She carries that darkness in her very soul. She wasn't just touched by it… she was created from it."
My breath caught.
> "But…" the king said, his voice softening, "if there is even a sliver of light in her… it is because of her mother."
> "Mother Fairy Lumina carried Vorgath in her womb for seven months. And in that time… her love, her purity, her light — it seeped into the darkness. It changed Cael. Not completely… but enough."
I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.
> "So you're saying… if her heart had fully changed… she wouldn't have to die?"
King Alder nodded slowly.
> "Perhaps. If that light had completely consumed the darkness inside her, maybe she could have escaped her fate. Maybe she could've escaped the curse of Vorgath. But fate is never so forgiving, Celeste."
I looked back at Cael then — still laughing, still spinning, still so full of color.
But every heartbeat I heard felt like a countdown.
Seven days.
That's all we had left.
> And for the first time, I felt it — the terror of time slipping through fingers that only wanted to hold on.
To her.
To us.
To everything we hadn't even started yet.
"Where Colors Bloom"
Celeste's POV
I began walking toward Cael — slowly, quietly, almost as if afraid that this fragile moment between us might shatter with a single misstep. There she was, standing in the golden sunlight, the wind gently playing with the strands of her silver-blue hair. As I moved closer, she turned her head toward me, her eyes glowing with a softness that made my heart skip a beat.
She reached out and gently took my hand in hers.
There was something in her touch — something unspoken yet powerful. A quiet reassurance. A silent promise.
And then she smiled — that sweet, mischievous smile that always managed to disarm every wall I tried to build.
> "Celeste," she whispered, "in Fairy Land, you've only ever seen all the colors together during special occasions, haven't you? At the festivals, at the coronations, at the rare celebrations when the entire kingdom sparkles?"
I nodded slowly, a little surprised at where this was going.
She grinned wider, her grip on my hand tightening just enough to make me feel completely hers.
> "But today," she said, her voice a melody of excitement and wonder, "I'm going to show you something you've never seen before… not even in your dreams."
And with that, she pulled me forward — and suddenly, we were running, hand in hand.
Barefoot and breathless.
She led me out of the royal halls, past the marble balconies, down the vine-wrapped steps of the palace. We dashed through archways covered in moonflowers, through winding paths filled with singing leaves, past fountains that shimmered with rainbow mist.
I laughed — maybe for the first time in days.
And she laughed with me.
It was wild and free and so, so real.
Soon, we broke through the gates of the palace and arrived at a vast, open field — so grand and endless it felt like the very sky had melted into the earth.
And then I saw it.
Colors.
Not like paint on a canvas or petals in a garden. No — these were living, breathing souls of color. Every inch of that field was alive with shades I couldn't name, hues that had never touched the human world. Glowing violets with silvery edges, golden grass that whispered lullabies, bluebell trees that shimmered like starlight, pink leaves that floated in the air and giggled when they brushed against us.
The field pulsed with magic — not the heavy, overwhelming kind — but a tender, quiet one. Like a secret only the heart could hear.
Cael turned to me then, her cheeks flushed, her eyes reflecting the swirling skies above us.
> "Do you see it now?" she asked, breathless.
I couldn't speak. I could only nod, tears stinging my eyes.
> "These are the colors you only find when your heart is open," she said softly, "when you stop searching for light in the sky and find it… in someone standing beside you."
And I knew.
She wasn't just showing me a field.
She was showing me her world.
Her heart.
Her truth.
And for the first time in my life… I saw everything.
Not just the magic of Fairy Land — but the magic of Cael.
And I knew I'd never be the same again.
To be continued...