Revenge of the Alastair Family

This day: Part 2

Caelum POV:

"I will protect you this time around." Caelum started. "I won't let any harm come to our family, I promise."

Tears wet his big round eyes as he thought of all his family endured. Between the two, Caelum took after his mother more, besides the color of his hair. His facial features were softer than his sister and father's. If I wasn't for the Alastair red hair, people would think he was an illegitimate child.

"Caelum, we will protect this family together," Celestia said, her sharp eyes fierce as ever. "Trying to do everything on our own is what led to our downfall in the first place." She was right. We were so divided at that time that we couldn't help but be an easy target.

"Son," my father started. "It is not just you who wishes for revenge. We were all wrong in our previous lives. Please do not take away our opportunity to get even."

My father could even make revenge sound elegant with how he spoke. Even with his fierce look, his speech was so defined that he could win any argument.

Mother took my hands in hers. "I am just thankful I didn't have to watch my child be murdered. I can't imagine what you must have gone through being the last one left." Mother always knew how to make my feelings be heard even when I couldn't understand myself.

I could see Celestia's face tense at mother's words. I'm sure she was reliving seeing our parents' deaths. I brought her in for a hug, knowing if I didn't, she would face this pain on her own. My sister was always too strong for her own good. She would suffer in silence instead of letting us worry for her. She was the eldest and so believed she must be a pillar in our family. That is why we had no idea how bad things were until it was too late. My poor sister had been through hell the last years of her life, and all she did was try to be a better queen to her people.

My parents joined the hug, needing it just as much as we did. How dare that stupid man hurt my family. We will definitely make him regret it.

We break from our hug again, and before we can even compose ourselves, my sister blurts, "We need to see the Demon king."

An unease spreads on my parents' faces, not knowing where she is going with this.

"Melanie is one of theirs, and her goal is to stop any negotiations between our kinds. I don't know what her end goal is, but she wants the wars to continue."

"After you died," I start. "Wars broke out all over the country. The humans and demons fought until there was hardly anyone left. It was hell. I witnessed the end results of her plan, and I still can't understand what her end goal was."

No one was spared from the wars. Orphans were sent to war, and the homeless population was at an all-time high. If you weren't killed in war, chances are you would starve on the streets. The nobles began indulging in every debauchery they could like the world was ending. Human trafficking and slavery were the new norm. The king had lost all favor and was nothing but a figurehead to blame. Rumors of his mistress leaving him after her miscarriage, got through, even to me, in my cell. Now I know why.

The war lasted a year and a half before both sides ran out of resources. No one knows how it all went so horribly wrong so fast. The last I heard was that both sides were begging for a cease fire, but it never happened.

As I explain all of this to my family, shock and worry paint their faces.

"All the more reason to see the Demon King." My sister begins. "He doesn't want the wars just as much as we don't.Though we can't let anyone know what we are up to. Melanie's goal is obviously to stop peace from happening. If it becomes known that we are in contact with the demons, she will make it that much harder for us. We have to be one step ahead of her in this life." Celestia has always been level-headed and quick with a plan. She was the perfect queen. If only those pests didn't get in her way, I'm sure our country would have prospered.

She looked at me. "I know you can teleport objects, but have you even tried if on yourself or any living being?"

I knew where she was going with this, but unfortunately, the few times I had tried with plants or animals had ended in failure. To have time magic was already a huge strain. If I was able to teleport, I'm sure my magic would become unstable.

"I'm sorry, Celly," I start. "It's not within my abilities.But I think I know how to get into contact with the Demon King secretly. "

I remember hearing at the beginning of the war, it had been discovered that the Demon King had sent spies to infiltrate the palace, and that is what started the war.

I would have been much easier if I hadn't been locked up during that time, I would have some idea of who the spies were.

Just then, a small voice from the corner of the room spoke up.

"If I may, Your highness," Marsha spoke up, her eyes as black as the night.

"Marsha! I thought you were the daughter of a baron from the countryside." Celestia exclaimed in surprise.

"I am, just not your country's side," Marsha retorted. "Please understand, Your Highness, I was only supposed to observe and report. I never meant you no harm. You still have my undying loyalty, especially after today. We just needed to make sure we wouldn't get the short stick when it came down to negotiations."

Celestia's face went from slightly angry to pensive as she thought.

"Had this been revealed before, I don't think I could have let you off. However, this works in our favor, so I am willing to overlook it." She was decisive as ever.

"I must ask how it is that you report?" she asked Marsha.

"We are each given a sheet of paper. It looks ordinary, but when you write on it, the words appear on a piece of paper in the demon world and disappear from this one."

"Clever demon magic," I think out loud. Had we come to some agreement earlier, we could have shared our magical advances. Now, it seems to be a likely possibility.

As we begin to brainstorm our words to tell the demon king, there is a knock at the door.

"Your Highness, the King is arriving soon." Grant informs us as I bring down the sound barrier.

"Ah, yes." Celestia says as she's broken from thought. Her face exudes utter dread. "I will be down soon," she says.

In the past, I'm sure she was already patiently waiting for her husband's return. Although he didn't deserve it, Celestia loved King Aaron with all her heart. Once she was selected to be the crowned princess, she did everything in her power to make his life easier. He assumed Celestia was chosen with the help of our father in order to gain more power for the Alastair family, but honestly, none of us cared for that except a few greedy men from the clan. Celestia had earned her position on her own merit and worked hard ever since. She took after our father in that way, which is why the king never trusted her.

"We will meet again," she told us, already planning for our next meeting. "Come by my chambers tonight, Marsha. I will need you," she said as she left the room on her way to meet the enemy.