by Queen of Sarab
Chapter 7
It was all so clear- Celeste couldn't let Trowa kill her father.
If anyone did it, it would be her. End of story.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion- Celeste almost could've
laughed at the absurd unreal aspect of it. She got to her father long before
Trowa's shot went off. As soon as she saw he was reaching for his gun,
she lunged, screaming with her mind as she'd never screamed before. She
saw people falling back, gasping for breath as her screams hit them and
thought for a moment she must be screaming aloud.
But she wasn't.
No time to comprehend that now- just knock him down, get him
out. Celeste saw her father, cold gray eyes wide, staring at her in unmasked
fear as she knocked him down and kicked him off the stage, throwing him
over her shoulders with inhuman strength. She was out the back entrance
before anyone even realized what was going on.
As soon as Aurora saw her sister's face, she knew Celeste was
going to do something dumb. But this? This exceeded dumb. It exceeded brainless.
What the hell had she been thinking?!
No, Aurora knew exactly what Celeste had been thinking. That
their "father" was a lying, murderous rat who deserved a slimy and excruciating
death. But Aurora- unlike her sister- thought things through. This was
unreasonable. It was INSANE.
Celeste's scream had surprised them all- Aurora knew not
even Celeste had known she could do that. But she had- although somehow
blocked it from her friends (Wufei, Heero and Trowa were not extremely
happy with her) and there would be a whole lotta Oz officials with headaches
tomorrow.
And one dead- if Aurora didn't get there first.
Celeste stared, breathing hard, at the man she had called father
for so many years, tied tightly to a wooden chair. Although it was probably
not the safest place, her dorm room was the only place Celeste had had
to take him- besides, the dorms were where she kept her weapons.
Much to her sister's chagrin, Celeste had entertained a morbid
passion for collecting weapons ever since she was young, and she had packed
the favorites from her her collection even before her clothes when she
and her sister were running away. She always knew she would find some use
for them.
The small, curved blade she drew from beneath her bed glittered
dangerously as she twirled it around her finger. Her father winced. He'd seen what she could do with her weapons.
"Now, FATHER," Celeste started coldly, "I want answers."
"I don't know what you're..."
A slash of red welled up on his cheek as Celeste's knife flashed.
"Why aren't you dead?"
The man looked up at her stubbornly. "Why would I be dead?"
"I saw you!" Celeste whimpered. "I SAW you die!"
"Looks can be deceiving," her father sneered.
A line of red appeared on the opposite cheek.
"Liar."
A dot of fear showed in the man's eyes this time as he realized
exactly how hopeless his situation was.
"Who are you? Really?" Letting out a shuddering breath, Celeste
realized she was close to sobbing and made a feeble attempt to pull herself
together. "I mean, you don't even look like me or Rory, and I...I mean,
what kind of monster would lie to his own freaking daughters? What kind
of bastard would turn his daughters over to someone he knew would hurt
them? To someone they feared, hated, didn't want to even be associated
with... I know you're not our father- and if you are, you're an even bigger
bastard than I thought."
The man stared at her in shock, then shook himself noticibly.
"Celeste, darling...."
"Don't call me darling," Celeste sneered. " I am not your darling.
You gave up the right to even look me in the face the first day you lied
to me. So tell me. Who are you?"
He didn't reply. Instead, he stubbornly refused to meet her eyes,
focusing instead on the pattern of the carpet on the floor. Celeste looked
resigned.
"Fine. Your choice." She drew the knife back menacingly, then
brought it forward with a quick practiced motion, blade glinting in the
light.
"I'll tell you! Stop! I'll tell you!"
The knife hung poised an inch from his throat.
Celeste looked at him expectantly.
"Well?"
Suddenly, the knife flew out of her hand, hitting the wall and
sticking with a dull thud.
"Celeste, stop it," Aurora shouted, running over to where
her sister stood. "You can't kill him."
Celeste looked at her angrily. "Right. Not until he tells us
who he is. Then I kill him."
"No no, no killing in the dorms," Duo slid through the door,
followed closely by Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei. "Only on Fridays and
occasionally Wednesdays."
"It is Friday," Celeste grinned slowly.
"Oh, well, go right ahead then," Duo shrugged.
"Duo!" Aurora scolded.
"Oh, right." Duo sighed. "Sorry, Flare, no killing today."
"Damn."
Aurora slowly looked at the bound man, then back at her sister.
"Don't worry, Celeste, we'll find out what's going on." Everyone's attention
had focused on Celeste and Aurora's "father", who was staring defiantly
at them.
"Well?" Aurora said expectantly."Talk."
The man glared. "I don't..."
"Ok, Celeste, I've changed my...."
"Waitwaitwait!" the man cringed. "Ok. I'll talk."