AN: Have no fear, Chapter XXVI is here! I apologize to those who were offended, hurt or angered by the previous chapter. I hope this new chapter makes up for the previous one. Now, this chapter spells out some good news for Celeste. Thanks to those who reviewed to the previous chapters and I hope you guys enjoy this! Now let's begin.

CHAPTER XXVI:

INVITATION

Celeste was dreaming of what she saw the previous night while she slept. When it got to the point of Petra's death once again, she bolted out of bed, screaming. Erasmus woke up, left the room via the doggie door made for him and went to the guest room next door and started scratching on it. The door opened, revealing Petra on the other side. She woke up when she heard the screaming and was about to leave the room when Erasmus scratched on the door.

"Erasmus? How did you get here?" She asked but he barked in reply and went back to Celeste's room. Wondering what was wrong, she followed him. When she entered, she saw Celeste sitting on the bed, sweating bullets and taking deep breaths while clutching her chest.

"Celeste? Are you alright?" She asked. Celeste jerked her head up to look at her and nodded in reply. Petra immediately moved to sit beside the girl and patted her head.

"What's wrong?" She asked again.

"I-I-I-I dreamt about what I saw in-in the Red Anomaly." She admitted as she rubbed her eyes.

"Celeste, tell me what you saw." Petra demanded. Celeste hesitated but told her everything nonetheless. By the end of it, she was crying in Petra's arms.

"Oh, Celeste, don't let it get to you. It's not real. See? I'm here." Petra tried to comfort her. Eventually, she stopped crying and when her breaths evened, Petra realized that she has fallen asleep. Tucking her in once more, Petra kissed her forehead and stood up.

"Take care of her, Erasmus." She said as she patted the dog, who in turn, simply jumped back on the bed and settled beside the slumbering 19 year old. Smiling softly at the sight, Petra left the room and headed back to her own to get more sleep.

When Celeste opened her eyes, she immediately got up and took a shower. After putting some clothes in, she lazily walked to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. She loved her mother's coffee and when Petra had amnesia, she taught her how to make it. Not a lot of sugar, some milk and add some cinnamon. When she was done, she immediately sat in the dining table with some potato chips.

'Brauss is going to flip when she sees this.' She thought as she shoved a chip down her mouth. She's heard so much about the potato loving Sasha Brauss thanks to Eren, Mikasa and Armin. She drank more coffee as Petra and Uncle Damon, both looking like they just came from the shower, came down. They seemed to be chatting about something.

"Celeste, I see you're up and about. I was just telling your mother about your usual breakfast habits, which you're doing now." He said through gritted teeth. Celeste knew that Uncle Damon despised it when she has potato chips for breakfast so to spite him; she grabbed a handful and shoved them all down her mouth. She would've given him the finger too but that would've been plain disrespectful.

"Really, Celeste, you want to play this game again?" Uncle Damon said as he walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. While Celeste was eating, someone shoved a DVD box in her face. It said Corpse Party.

"Rex, if you don't get that DVD box of Corpse Party out of my face, I will Corpse Party your ass, Yuuki Kanno style (1)." She threatened. When she played it, for the first time in her life, she was traumatized by a horror game. She swore that she would never go anywhere near that series again.

"Come on, let's watch it when the others get up." Rex begged her. Before she left, Corpse Party was the last anime they watched together.

"You know what that game did to me. I slept in Duncan's room for weeks." She reminded him. In response, he just kept tapping at her shoulder silently while she examined the box and drank her coffee.

"Not happening, bro." She replied as she shoved another potato chip in her mouth. Just then, Duncan came down and started tapping her as well upon seeing the box.

"Not happening, bros." Celeste said. Petra and Uncle Damon was chuckling at the scene. When she didn't reply, they started pounding at her shoulders.

"You guys should know I'm resilient to pain thanks to my training so…not happening, bros." She answered while she finished her coffee.

"Come on, we're begging you!" Duncan pleaded. Celeste hesitated before finishing up her potato chips.

"If I watch it with you guys once the kids wake up, will you both cut the tapping out?" She asked and they both nodded.

"Fine. We'll watch it when the kids wake up." She answered.

"YES! WOOHOO!" They both yelled.

"You both just love seeing me squirm, don't you?"

"Sorta." Duncan answered.

"You sadistic fuckers." She told them just as everyone came downstairs, freshly showered and ate breakfast.

"Ooh, are we watching Corpse Party?" Janine said with a sadistic smile in her face. The reason for Celeste's sadism was Corpse Party. While the game scared the crap out of her, she did enjoy it quite a bit. She grabbed Duncan's shirt and brought him closer to her.

"What the fuck did you guys do to her?"

"We let her watch it." He answered.

"God damn it." She muttered as she stood up. Celeste plopped on the couch and watched a baseball game. When they were done eating, Rex put the movie in and they kept watching. Aunt Natalie puked her guts out by the second episode. Petra and Levi were used to the gore, however. Just then, the doorbell rang but the kids ignored it in favour of watching the movie.

"Is anyone going to get that?" Aunt Natalie asked them. Celeste snapped out of watching it and walked to the door. The sight that greeted her was a man in a suit with a badge say R.O. in it.

"You're a racing official." She stated.

"Yes, I am. I'm here looking for Damon Knight." He said.

"Oh, he's here. Please come in." She said as they walked in.

"Uncle Damon! Racing Official!" She yelled as she plopped on the couch. Damon, meanwhile, stood up and they shook hands.

"You're new, aren't you?" He asked.

"How did-"

"Know? You just talked to THE Cassandra Knight and you didn't even notice."

"It's true." Natalie quipped in.

"Oh, well, I hope she doesn't take offense then. I'm here on business." The Official answered.

"What is it, then?" Levi asked him. The official pulled out an envelope and set it on the table. Celeste grabbed it and opened it. She pulled out an invitation.

"It's an invitation to the Elimination Rounds." She announced.

"There's one problem. Rex won that fair and square in his last race but the next race is Brawl Racing and his level isn't enough to qualify for it. However, the higher ups sent me here in hopes of finding Cassandra Knight. Your level (2) is enough to qualify for a race like this." He explained.

"So, wha-what are you trying to say? I'd have to compete?" Celeste asked him.

"If you will." He answered. Celeste looked at Petra and Levi.

"How-how long exactly would these races take?" Celeste asked the official.

"The Elimination Round starts 5 days from now in Santa Monica, California. The Semi-finals is in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Grand Circuit this year takes place in Texas." He explained.

"I'll join the Eliminations but I'm not sure if I'll make the Semis or the Grand Circuit." Celeste answered.

"Another problem; they've changed the rules of racing for the past 3 years you were gone."

"Changed? How?" Petra asked worriedly.

"They've changed the rules of Death Racing and Brawl Racing. Maiming, Injuring as well as killing are now allowed." The Official answered.

"That's good then. It makes if more fun." She said with a sadistic glint in her eyes.

"Well, then sir. Tell the higher ups that Cassandra Knight will be joining the Eliminations." Celeste said with a smile as she escorted the official to the door.

"Yes, we're honoured. Just a question, though; who are the two other people?" He asked.

"The whole world knows I'm adopted, sir. Figure it out." She answered as she opened the door. The official nodded and walked out of the house. When Celeste turned around, Petra had a disapproving look on her face. A look that told Celeste that she's going to get chewed out.

AN: I know it's short but I'm not feeling well today. I have a massive headache for no fucking reason. Why is the world so cruel to me? Now here's what the numbers mean:

1 – Okay, when Celeste said that, she meant that she'll tie Rex up then stab him in the eye again and again with a pair of scissors until it's souped up.

2 – Levels in racing during Celeste's future are what tells a racer if they're qualified to join a certain race. For example, if you're a beginner you can only join normal racing. The more races you win, the more types of racing you can join.

And that's Chapter XXVI! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review. Thanks to those who will!