A Special Chapter, with no number of its own.
Well, just in case you weren't too pleased with the numerous strings that were left dangling from my previous, rumoured-to-be-final chapter, I will add another to fill you in about what happened between Ariyah and Celestine.
The rest, as I have said, is up to you to decide.
*
Ariyah beckons Celestine in a kindly manner.
She was still bedridden… had been so for the past three days after realising the truth about her past.
Three days… that's right. That was how long the time had lapsed ever since Ariyah had returned to her former status as an Angel. But how were they to know that badly as she wanted to resume to her long-abandoned dream of protecting the mortals, she could not? All because of the weakness she had been experiencing ever since she had fainted at the Shrine of the Great Mother. The Great Lord tried to heal her with various methods, but none seemed to be working very well.
"Come here, my precious daughter. Let me take a good look at you."
Celestine goes up to her and kneels beside her bed.
Ariyah started stroking her hair lovingly.
Suddenly, a crazed look glazes Ariyah's eyes over and she grips the hair forcefully.
"OUCH! What's wrong with you?" Celestine wanted to slip out of her tight grip, but before she could make another move, the hands loosened, and she found her face gently pulled down to her mother's bosom. Ariyah's lips were kissing the very hair that was smarting from her previous act.
"Hahaha! I had you scared over there, hadn't I? I'm sorry, my sweet…"
"Yeah, Mother. Don't do it again. It hurts." Celestine continued lying on her Mother's chest. It felt so good to be pampered like a child for the first time in many years.
"Do you know why I left you? It tore me up to do that… but…" Ariyah sighed heavily, tears streaming from her eyes.
Celestine lifted her head and turned to look at her.
She seemed… almost old! She realised with a start. Angels aren't supposed to age! What's happening to my Mother?
"You remind me so much of your Father, Nicholas… my dear. You have his well-defined nose, queer-coloured hair... and most importantly, his sunny disposition. That grin especially, is an exact replica of his. It killed me to look at you, after his 'confession' that he no longer loved me…"
She turned the other way, letting her tears flow onto the pillow instead.
"Doesn't he realise that it would hurt me more if I were to find out he had lied to me? We were both too foolish…
And I should have trusted his love for me, not his words!"
Celestine bit on her lip uneasily. She didn't know what to do to comfort her Mother… not a single idea could come to her mind…
Damn it, Celestine! You were always so full of useless ideas, but when it comes to the important time, your mind is blank! Do something about this…or don't you dare proclaim that you're carrying the Angelwing name!
Just when she was busy scolding herself, Ariyah spoke out again.
"I'm sorry, my dear. I got too caught up with my past, and neglected you in a way no mother should. How hurt and lost you must have been, living alone in this cruel world without someone to care for you. How can I ever make it up to you?"
"But we have lots of time to catch up with each other, now that we're reunited." Celestine said with a smile that was distinctively hers.
Ariyah shook her head mournfully.
"Time I do not have in abundance."
"What?"
"Give me your hand, Celestine."
"Mother?"
"Listen to me just this once?"
"Alright, if you wish." Celestine put her hand out, and Ariyah grasped it with both her hands.
Struggling to get up, she could only remain in a half-sitting, half-lying position, leaning against a bedpost for support.
"What are you trying to do, Mother? Let me help you!" Celestine was worried that she might exert herself too much, what with an ailing body like such.
"No, it will only be for a second. Now take a chair over and sit facing me." Ariyah instructed with a breathless voice.
Regardless of her worry over Ariyah, Celestine did as she asked.
"Hold out your hands. Both of them."
Ariyah places both her palms on Celestine's outstretched ones.
A buzzing heat began to transfer from Ariyah to Celestine through their touching palms.
Celestine wanted to pull away, but they were stuck together by an invisible suctioning force of some sort.
The transfer stops.
Ariyah falls onto her bed, white-faced and drenched with cold sweat.
"That is my parting gift to you. The rest is up to you; whichever road you take, always follow your heart."
Her eyes closed.
Celestine screams a never-ending no at her.
The Great Lord rushing in, trying to revive Ariyah.
Ariyah slowly turned to dust, leaving nothing behind. Nothing. Not even a precious stone, a crystal, anything that might indicate that she had existed before.
She needn't leave anything… for there was no one there to protect any longer, Celestine having someone to take care of her.
Like a movie, it ended.
**************************
They say that a person's worth in life isn't truly measured until he or she is dead, and you count the numbers who cried at her funeral.
That goes the same anywhere, even for Angels as well.
My Mother led a priceless one, if that was the case.
Millions turned up to offer their condolences; all of them crying their eyes out. Maybe some were merely putting up an act, but it doesn't matter.
I stand dry-eyed at my Mother's grave, bowing quietly but gratefully as each of them placed a wreath on her tombstone. It was already covered all over with white flowers and such, almost stretching for a mile.
She was buried next to my Father, Nicholas Angelwing's grave. There was nothing to bury her with, of course, but I suppose her spirit will always linger in this place, even though her shell is no longer here. I hope that she can meet the one she loved… after having been estranged from him for so long.
I think she was glad to have gone in such a way… without worries in the world, all the poison purged from her soul.
The shock hasn't hit me fully yet.
It escapes me how could so many have known her? And even if they had, it was still pretty strange to me… I had thought that the Angel Community was disgraced by my Mother's abandoning of Angel Land, from the way they whispered about her, and the blatant cover-up of the authorities about her past. But guess that's just what it was… the past. No one wants to remember it, especially if it's a bad one. I suppose I should be thankful, then.
I am glad that many missed her and mourned for her passing. It showed that her life wasn't as meaningless as she had believed.
I think that when I die, I would like it to be this way too.
Damien stands beside me, offering invaluable support.
Why isn't Zell here?
For one thing, he isn't allowed to enter Angel Land.
But more importantly, I do not want him to worry unnecessarily.
And I just didn't have the mood to answer useless, insecure questions like "Why didn't she come to me for help?"
I know it's a harsh thing to say about the one I love. But what about me? What about my feelings? Don't they count as something?
Sure, we should share the pain.
But only when all this is over, when I feel the full impact of my loss.
Then I will go running into his arms, trust me. I will.
As for my choice of the next step?
That isn't so easy to decide.
But it will definitely evolve around protecting Zell.
So there.