Chapter 27

Celeste sits on a levitating cushion, absently tuning the strings of a floating silver harp that echoes in four-part harmony. Kalt XVIII steps in quietly, arms crossed, eyes curious.

Kalt XVIII
...You don’t act like the others.

Celeste Diminuendo
(grins, without looking up)
You're going to have to be more specific, Ice Prince.

Kalt XVIII
You're not as serious. Not like Captain Alto. Or Captain Asche.
And for someone who made Berwick fly ten meters with a tap... you don’t fight on the frontlines. Why?

Celeste
(flicks a string, letting it ring)
Is that what you’ve been wondering since I tapped his shoulder?

Kalt XVIII
(taken aback)
...No. Yes.
Maybe.

Celeste
(laughs softly)
Alright, I’ll indulge you.

(she floats to her feet, harp trailing behind her like a loyal ghost)

Celeste
You see, my variant of the sound affinity is a weird thing.
It’s bound by distance. Reverberation. Echo. Interference.
The closer I get to an enemy, the more I risk muddling my magic. I’m strongest when I’m heard... but not touched.

Kalt XVIII
Then why not adapt your magic for the frontline?

Celeste
(suddenly still)
Because I’m not interested in breaking myself to fit an image.
I have power. Plenty of it.
But I prefer my Guard—my orchestra—to fight in harmony.
From afar, I can see the whole stage. I conduct. I guide.
I save lives in the thousands while others count their kills.

Kalt XVIII
(silence)
And the... unseriousness?

Celeste
(smirking)
Let me guess. You’re comparing me to my cousin again?

Kalt XVIII
Alto is... collected. Focused.

Celeste
(stretches)
And that’s exactly why I don’t need to be.
Alto’s had enough weight on his shoulders to crush cities.
So I crack jokes. I cause chaos. I hum at awkward times.
Because someone has to let the silence breathe.
Besides... we’re at war with forces that bend space, time, and soul.
Might as well laugh before we shatter.

Kalt XVIII
...I didn’t expect that answer.

Celeste
(smiling, flicking the harp once again)
Most don’t. That’s why I’m dangerous.

The string’s echo forms a glowing sigil in the air before fading like breath on glass.