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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2022 13:07:10 GMT -5
Celeste was beginning to believe her soul was cursed.
The elevator would whir, with Celeste remaining silent as she would endure the lengthy ride down. Her arms crossed, her expression somber, she would stare at the floor whilst lost in thought. She envisioned a world of darkness, wrought with war, pointless bickering, feuds, and suffering everywhere. A land of no justice, no salvation, no heroes. Were these days the start of it? Would the world become a playground for evil? A plane of no repentance, home only to the damned? Her involvement with her former peers only felt like a drop in a bucket, but now the well of repercussions felt as though it overflowed with a deluge, no end in sight.
Celeste looked down at her hands, her eyes wavering between them both. How she hated herself now. Surely, events may have played out differently were she to have never walked this road. Her deeds - however miniscule or great in the eyes of the many, had done their part to guide what few who knew of the witch’s existence, to whatever crossroads they needed to reach. Much akin to a mile marker along a lone highway, she was hardly worth the bat of an eye now, if even then. Still, there was no denying the darkness in her actions, in herself, which would continue to eat at her remnants from the inside out.
Did Celeste feel regret? Perhaps, if there any to be found, it would be discovered in her inability to have found a better way to play the hands dealt to her. Though what was done was past, beyond her control and unable to go back to change it. She considered the notion that she was now left without a soul to call a friend, nor anything resembling the faintest inkling of such. To what humanity remained of the girl, it hurt to no end, to walk alone along a path only she could at this point. Though it was always meant to be this way, ever since she first left the village in pursuit of a way to change her fate. To recover what was lost, to see the light in their souls once more, meant to forever walk against the course of time, of the motion of history itself.
Though could she even still do this?
Was her pursuit of an answer still enough of a reason to go on?
Her eyes would shut with a frown, her hands made to ball into fists as they lowered to her sides. She could feel it again, that damned inertia before the change, and sure enough tears would start to well in her eyes. They would stream down her cheeks, and drip softly upon the elevator floor. Somehow it was starting to feel alive, like something else was trying to take hold. Was it really her, the ghost inside this shell? Was it just that other side of the coin that thirsted for vengeance so? It was too hard to tell at this point who she had become, or who she might eventually turn into. A slow breath and the feeling would begin to subside, eventually fade – yet the fear still remained as it ever would. Penances to pay for the sacrifice of a greater good or lesser evil. For in the end, Celeste knew it would all be worth it.
Sobbing to herself, Celeste would try to fight back the tears with hollow chuckle, raising her head just as a ding would chime from the lift. Her eyes opening to the doors as they parted to a lobby of black marble and gold, illuminated through the far glass by the bright, orange sky of a South City sunset. She gasped, startled by the sight at first. Had she really slept all day again? How long had she sat in the shower after that? Celeste would check the nearest clock, finding the time to be around five in the afternoon. She made and exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes as she stepped out of the lift.
”Nice to see you’re still among the living.”
Celeste would stop near the revolving door of the lobby; the voice having caught her off guard. The concierge eyed the girl with a smirk from across the front desk. Barely a word had been offered in question as to why she was here, or the lack of orders requested to the room. Celeste found herself a bit irritated by the man’s words, even finding herself a bit hesitant to answer them. She had spent the good part of the week isolating herself, it would take her a moment to readjust to being around city-dwellers.
”Well, I don’t believe many would agree to that sentiment,” she offered wryly, before bidding the young man adieu with wave. A wide stretch given after passing through the glass wheel, followed shortly by a weary sigh. Ah, Earth. Crown jewel of the galaxy, a land of ever perpetuating misery and grief. How I’ve missed you, so! Though, what was Celeste to do now that she had returned? An aimless saunter along a sidewalk bathed in a warm afterglow of a hot summer’s day, and soon the blond was again lost in an ever-winding rabbit hole of contemplation.
Would she pay a visit to the Snakes, or spy on their puppets? Seek to further pry into those ruins in the forest once more? Maybe seek out something ancient and dangerous for old time’s sake! They were all well and good notions for entertainment, but Celeste considered the worth to her time. As it stood now, she wasn’t likely to glean much from these endeavors without spilling a little blood. A necessary price to pay when called upon. To what ends would it serve to so nonchalantly run amok like some fool, killing and destroying whatsoever crossed her path? Lights in the city began to come alive for the night, testaments to how much time she had wasted in the pursuit of infatuations already faded. It might serve her some good to find something to kill the time, and so onward she would continue to meander through the city with no direction in mind. In time, would Celeste stumble upon a crowded sidewalk in her aimless travel of the metro - enough to warrant pause.
Oh? Now what might we have here?
The cooling air kissed her cheeks as she regarded a marquee, unfamiliar with the likes of what a popular film series might be to a city-dweller, the name of the premiere held little significance. A plethora of nerds in costume all congregated about a series of tents, sleeping bags, and portable cisterns being used to brew what distinctly smelled like coffee.
”Spectacular,” offered the witch in deadpan to no one.
”Three hours! Three hours!” screamed an enthusiastic group of teenagers who pushed their way through the crowd. ”Hey! Neat costume!” One of them would point at the witch – other hand on their gift bag, her eyes made to widen as she looked on the younger girl incredulously. The group laughed at her then ran off into the sea of people. Celeste swore she heard something about donuts before their chatter died among the abundance of ambient conversation. The sorceress tried a glance beyond the commotion, noting the crowd seemed to thicken to ridiculous proportions the closer one moved to the theatre. She would have to find a way around. Perhaps there was a quiet bistro somewhere on this street she could escape to, as unlikely as it might seem. Merely out of curiosity, mostly boredom, the sorceress would make to continue her aimless stroll through the crowd of cosplayers and film enthusiasts alike. Some idiot would nearly strike her in the start of a duel with his friend; Their glowing swords of steel and humming lights, playthings replicated with such intricacy, one could almost swear they were real.
”Oh, for the love of...”
The witch had half a mind to kill them all, simply save herself the trouble of the aggravation which usually came with such an oversized crowd. Bothersome as they were, she would let their fun in anticipation continue, offering nothing more than a frown in spite. Celeste did her best to avoid them before moving deeper into the crowd, only to no avail, as a circle would start to form around the duelists. Celeste would call out to them, tone rather jovial.
”Do make it believable!”PL: 46,000 | Antisense: ON
