CHAPTER LXII
Celeste Point Of View:
The chamber was cloaked in absolute darkness — the kind that seemed to stretch endlessly, swallowing every whisper of light and sound. Not even the moon's glow could find its way in. My breath echoed softly against the cold air, and each step I took felt like it stirred ghosts long forgotten. The silence wasn't peaceful… it was eerie, like the calm before a storm that only I could feel approaching.
At the center of this void stood a single object — a mirror.
But not an ordinary one.
It pulsed gently, glowing faintly from within, like it held an entire sky folded behind its glass. And yet, that light… it didn't spread. It refused to touch the room, as if the mirror itself guarded its magic from the world. The air around it shimmered faintly, charged with an energy that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
I stepped toward it slowly, drawn by something I couldn't explain. My heartbeat quickened, not out of fear, but something else — something sacred. As I got closer, I realized there was no reflection. I couldn't see myself, or the room behind me. No markings. No dust. No age.
Just stillness.
Just mystery.
Just… possibility.
I whispered to myself, "Is this really what the King meant?" My fingers trembled as I lifted my hand toward the glass. I wasn't even sure what I was hoping would happen — maybe nothing. Maybe everything.
But the moment my skin touched its surface, the world shattered.
A silent force gripped me. I gasped as a pull — like wind beneath invisible wings — dragged me forward. I didn't resist. I didn't have the chance to. In the blink of an eye, the mirror swallowed me whole, and I was weightless — falling, floating, flying — I couldn't tell.
Colors rushed past me like whispers of memories. I felt time folding, bending, melting.
And then…
I landed.
Softly.
On a floor that shimmered like morning dew under golden light.
Warmth enveloped me like a mother's embrace. The chamber I found myself in was breathtaking — high ceilings woven with ivy that sparkled like stardust, glowing lanterns floating like fireflies, and walls that breathed with ancient magic. The scent of blooming orchids and old paper danced in the air.
I knew where I was before I even saw her.
Mother Fairy's chamber.
My heart thundered. My legs trembled. Not from fear — from what I saw just ahead.
She was there. Mother Fairy. Standing tall, powerful, yet somehow worried. She didn't turn when I arrived. She didn't need to. Her focus was entirely on the hovering screen before her.
And on that screen…
My breath caught in my throat.
Cael.
Her face. Her body. Her presence.
After days of silence, of fear, of aching loneliness — there she was. The woman who held my heart, my past, my future. My Cael.
I couldn't look away.
She seemed… okay. Alive. Unharmed. But not at peace. Her expression was distant, shadowed with something I didn't understand. She looked as though she was carrying the weight of entire worlds — all alone.
And I hated it.
I wanted to reach out, to call her name, to run into her arms. But my feet wouldn't move. My voice had vanished. All I could do was stare, frozen in time, as my heart cracked and healed at once.
She was alive.
But something was wrong.
And I needed to know what.
Because I wasn't leaving her behind again — not now, not ever.
Mother Fairy turned to me, her ancient eyes heavy with a pain she could no longer carry alone. The moment her gaze met mine, I felt the full weight of what she had been holding inside.
"Come, Celeste," she said softly, her voice both welcoming and burdened. "I've been waiting for you… for days, for lifetimes, perhaps. Time is slipping away faster than I expected. Only two days remain now… and then, you and Cael will be separated — forever."
Her words shattered something inside me. Two days? Just two days left with Cael? No. That couldn't be.
My lips parted to speak, but before I could ask anything, she continued. Her tone shifted — not into anger, but into something deeper. Something filled with regret, disappointment… and despair.
"I don't even understand why I brought such a child into this world," she whispered bitterly, as though her heart was tearing from the inside. "Sometimes I wonder… why didn't I just end her life the moment she was born?"
I froze. My blood ran cold.
"Why didn't I silence the curse before it took root in her soul? Why did I let her live… and worse, why did I leave her in Luna's care?"
The mention of Luna made her voice tremble.
"A mother like Luna… she loves with her entire heart. She feels every bruise her child hides. Every silent cry. She raised Cael with tenderness, with hope — even when that hope meant her own destruction. And now… Luna is nothing but a breathing corpse. A shadow. A mother whose heart has already died."
Tears burned my eyes.
I had never heard Mother Fairy speak like this — not with so much pain, not with so much bitterness and confusion mixed into her voice like poison and ash.
I stepped forward and asked, my voice barely audible, "Where is Cael? Why did she leave?"
Mother Fairy turned her face away from me for a moment, as if the answer itself was too painful to give. Then she looked back and said in a hollow voice:
"She's headed to Frosthevan."
My heart skipped. "Frosthevan? Why would she go there?"
"I don't know," she admitted, her voice cracking. "All I know is… if we don't follow her soon, we may lose our last chance to change what's coming."
There was a pause between us — filled with a thousand emotions left unspoken.
Then I nodded. My hands clenched into fists by my sides. "Then let's go. I'm not wasting another second."
Without another word, she turned and led me to her winged transport — a sleek, silvery vehicle shaped like the petals of a lotus, suspended in air, glowing faintly with ancient magic. The moment we stepped inside, the door closed like a breath being held, and the vehicle began to hum — rising into the sky like a bird awakened from a long slumber.
As we lifted off the ground, I glanced out the window, my eyes scanning the skies ahead.
Somewhere beyond the horizon… was Cael.
And no matter what it took, I was going to reach her — even if I had to face death itself.
To be continue....