Chapter 30 – CELESTE'S STORY (PART 2)
968 Words
The Mystic of the Dreamscape had always been a mystery. Everyone was terrified of her and the grim visions of the future she prophecized. There was also the simple fact that she was the only fairy capable of handling dark magic at its fullest potential. The Mystic was chaos and horror and who could be blamed for avoiding that?
Celeste, however, had always been strangely fascinated by the Mystic. And dark magic. No matter how much Siren insisted that it was evil and should only be used as a last resort, Celeste couldn’t help trying to understand it. She was sure it was not just evil. It was power. How evil it was depended on the person who yielded it.
“You may come in.” The rich deep voice sounded like something from a dream. Celeste came out of her thoughts and marveled at the fact that she was actually outside the cave. It was at the edge of Dreamscape and Fairies rarely ventured there. The Mystic passed her messages through either magic or charges who went to the cave daily to collect messages. No one except the Siren saw her unless it was necessary.
“Should I enter?” Celeste asked nervously. It was a ridiculous question, of course, but she wasn’t about to waltz into the most revered part of Dreamscape without explicit permission. Siren had punished people for far less.
“Fairy of Blood, Child of Flames, you may enter. It is for you that the future speaks today.”
Celeste felt a knot in her stomach. Suddenly, she didn’t want to go in. She wanted to run far away and hide from the gaze of the dark mouth of the cave. She laughed shakily to herself at how absurd the idea was. She had wanted this for a long time and she was going to walk away? Why? Just because she was scared of a grim little prediction? However horrific the prophecy the Mystic had to say was, she would handle it. She was not the type to run away.
The inside of the cave was lit up by a bright green bonfire in the middle. It radiated power. No other light entered the cave. It was as if some barrier stopped light in the entrance. Celeste looked around, waiting for Mystic to emerge. Makeshift wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with huge leatherbound volumes. Celeste longed to touch them, to leaf through those pages. It was as if a strange force was calling to her.
A very old-looking wooden bed lined the back of the cave. A lumpy mattress lay on top of it, unadorned by any beautiful sheets. The table and chair in the corner were nothing grand either. It looked, Celeste realized, more like a prison than a home.
“A golden cage is still a cage.” A shape stepped out from the shadows. There was no other way to describe her other than hauntingly beautiful. Her long black hair flowed around her face although there was no wind. Her huge eyes glowed a bright purple. The Mystic’s pale skin seemed to be something straight out of human tales. To Celeste, she was the ghost waiting for lonely travelers on abandoned lanes. The helpless human whose life was cut short and whose spirit yearned for revenge.
“Why do you not ask me what I want with you? Are you as scared as you look?” The Mystic’s black dress swished, as she stepped up to the green flames. There was a sadness in her that suffocated Celeste like a thick blanket. Celeste didn’t even know if she was scared anymore. All she could feel was the pain and suffering that seemed to be the source of all the magic inside the cave.
“It’s been an honor,” Celeste muttered, finally. “I didn’t think I would ever get to see you in person.”
The Mystic’s deep red lips parted and she let out booming laughter that echoed in the cave. Genuinely surprised, Celeste started to ask why but the Mystic stopped her with a wave of her hand.
“It’s very odd, isn’t it, the power stories have.” The Mystic said. “A couple of stories and the prisoner becomes the gifted recluse who dedicated her life to protecting Dreamscape.”
“You are not a prisoner!”
The Mystic laughed again. “How little you know of me, child. Do you think I chose to spend my days in this cursed place? You think I love trying to learn and control the magic of the darkness and shadows?”
There were so many things she could have asked the Mystic but what came out was the first question that popped into her head.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Suddenly, golden smoke emerged from the green flames and enveloped the Mystic. Her eyes glowed so brightly that they nearly blinded Celeste.
“One will be the flame. One will be the sacrifice. Darkness will rise from the innocent and take over the unlikely.” The Mystic’s voice was hoarse. Each word seemed to cost her a great deal of effort.
“What?” Celeste managed to ask despite her rapidly beating heart.
“What will you be? The flame of the sacrifice? The end is near for you anyway.”
Without even thinking, Celeste ran. She ran until her shaking legs carried her as far away from the cave as possible. Before she left, she thought she heard the Mystic say, “Beware the full moon night.”
“Tonight is a full moon,” Celeste murmured, panting.
- Writer
