25 Age Ten – Celeste Varethe part 3

Dancing in a carefree manner, Celeste flushed at her appearance in the mirror.

“What's the use of clothes when I can't even use it to go outside!?” she had once yelled out in frustration towards her mother, inquiring on what she would like for a present.

Celeste had always acted calm and understanding but for a child her age, the isolation she was in had taken a toll on her emotional state. More so with the continuing absence of her father and uncle.

—Although I yelled at mama, she still got one for me. I'm happy.

A simple white dress, paired with an adorned blue cardigan; they matched well with the flowing crimson locks and Celeste's pale skin. At this time in the evening when the vermillion moon had dimmed, instead of being in bed, Celeste kept herself awake with excitement.

She whispered overhead, “Fire spirit, does it look nice?” Questioning a spot of glowing red in the room; a minor spirit of fire tasked to protect the house and provide illumination.

“It does, doesn't it?” she smiled, asking while knowing that the spirit had no way to answer.

She splayed herself on the bed with a bright expression, “Today, I ate a lot of bread. I played a lot with mother. I...” Recounting each and every joy of the day, but ending with a sad sigh over an unfulfilled yearning.

—In the end, they didn't come...

Celeste suddenly felt a sense of loneliness overcoming her and jumped off the bed.

“I want to sleep with mama.” She decided to go downstairs to ask her mother to accompany her for the night, but arriving at the head of the staircase, she heard a commotion at the front door.

In quiet steps she descended, and took a shy peek. Her mother was speaking with someone in a worrying tone—shortly after, leaving with the people outside.

“P-Papa???” For a moment, Celeste thought she saw a glimpse of her father's red hair, and ran towards the slowly closing door.

There was no sign of anyone in the vicinity outside her home. But at the far end of the road leading up to Erden's Tower, straining her eyes to see in the darkness, she could make out a hue of bright crimson outlining the shape of a person.

—That's Papa!

Celeste felt great familiarity from its glow, but as she was about to take a step forward in pursuit, a stern warning echoed in her head—never go outside on your own.

“Remember, Celeste. You musn't, for any reason, go out, alright? Or else, naughty children who leave the house get taken away by a Nifyr!”

—Mama's fairytale story...

This was the first time Celeste had wanted to disregard her mother's warning. With every step she took away from the house the crimson glow from afar grew closer. Her anxious heart warmed with anticipation, and her stride widened with confidence.

—Papa will protect me from the Nifyr!

“Papa!” seeing her father's shade of hair matching hers, Celeste called out in elation. Her enthusiasm, however, returned to her in sharp contrast.

“C-Celeste!? Why !? Get away from here, quickly!” her father yelled. The unexpected tone of his voice caused her to stumble in fright. In an abrupt fashion, her father pulled her forward, then threw to the side.

—Huh? Why? He doesn't want to see me? I... I don't understand?

She suddenly found her father's countenance unfamiliar and unwelcoming. The next thing she knew, her body was in a mad dash; her eyes were on nothing other than the pavement in front of her shoes. When her feet began to throb with pain and her lungs begged for air, she stopped.

—Why? Was it my fault? What did I do?

As unseemly thoughts gnawed at her emotional state, she found herself gazing at a statue with an appearance she deemed quite ugly. More precisely, her focus was not on the fountain statue itself, but on the stream running down from its mouth, disturbing the water's tranquility below.

With every ripple formed, the sound of the water's trickle gradually soothed her agitation, and it was then that she'd noticed a peculiarity. She could make out the silhouette of Erden' Tower reflecting off the water's surface like a mirror but curiously, her own she could not.

—A boy?

Celeste looked around to see if anyone else was in the area, and seeing that noone else was there, it suddenly occurred to her that what was supposed to be her reflection was showing somebody else.

Ashen grey hair, a trait that was common among the elderly, yet a face with not a stubble in sight. It was the image of a young boy, looking about the same age as her. As their line of sight aligned, her pair of crimson met with his of icy blue; at the same time, both felt a resonance of emotions.

“Ah,” A tear unknowingly rolled down Celeste's cheek and more soon followed. Some wetted the cold ground while some moistened her sleeves.

—I, I should have listened to mama... If I had just stayed in the house—if I had gone to bed instead!

Nevertheless, each of Celeste's passing regret was released, slowly alleviating the sadness that weighed heavy on the young girl's heart. She raised her sleeves to wipe her damp face as her crying had eventually stopped.

Then her gaze fell once more at the water's surface—the boy was now doing a curious gesture.

—Ah? Why? What should I do?

A hand stretched out from the boy on her opposite—flustered as she was, Celeste could think nothing else to do but the same. Her heart began to pound at the anticipation of the unknown, but as she touched the water's surface, she felt sudden movement behind her.

“P-Papa?” she asked in reflex but heard noone's approach. Before she could turn around, an unexpected rush of warmth—from her hand dipped in the fountain—had come over her body and quickly forced her out of consciousness.

And by the time she had woken up, her vision was blinded by an unfamiliar brightness.

—A streetlamp? Why is it so bright? How big a streetlamp would it be to make everything this bright?

Celeste's hands went up to cover her face and as she adjusted to the light, surprise colored her face. The film of black which described the sky was now a lovely shade of blue? The plants as well, littering her surroundings, were so vividly defined in verdant lush.

“Where am I?”A crease formed between her eyebrows her gaze caught sight of a massive wall spanning from both corners of her vision. The Erden Wall being present meant that at least she was still in Daerin. Although,

—I'm outside!?

Careful scrutiny caused her squinted eyes to open wide once more. The sudden realization that she wasn't in the city caused her a bout of anxiety. An awful discomfort began to churn in her stomach, and from her chest, an undulation of cool turquoise light.

“Mama! Papa!” Celeste cried out, and a sharp drop in temperature mysteriously occurred in her surroundings. She noticed belatedly that she had been half-immersed in a pool of water, which was now rapidly freezing over.

Her panic—oddly—was quickly subsiding. A calming sensation that seemed to originate from her chest was calming her down.

There was a splash in the pool of cold water, and Celeste noticed a tall-looking adult approaching her. With eyes that shined a color of gold and an austere countenance— the first thing that Celeste had noticed, was the man's ashen-grey hair.

He spoke with a troubled tone, “Hah... Undine, is this what you called me here for?”