Enjoy! Please review, comment, and/or follow!
"Caius. Are you crazy?" I heard someone talking just outside my door. I'd bet it was Emma. I bet they didn't know this was my door.
"What do you mean, Emma?" He questioned, sounding annoyed.
"What I mean is that you invited a girl on this mission. A girl that has no experience with this stuff-"
"She has training. I've seen her. Celestine, she has skills that even her brother could never even start to figure out. Her aim is flawless."
"Jace is more experienced! He is older. He already battled Sebastian before."
"Yes. So I think she deserves a chance to get the attention she deserves."
"Oh really? C'mon. I know you have a crush on her, but this is not a time to play favourites!" I blushed at what Emma had said, and pulled my ear farther from the door.
"Emma! No, it's not that I'm playing favourites here! I really think that Celestine could be great for this. She is just as important as anyone else. And I think it's time people saw that. Just try to give her a chance. You don't know her."
"And like you know her any better. But fine, whatever." Emma heaved a sigh. I decided to casually walk out of the room, pretending not to have heard a thing. "Oh, hey, guys. What were you doing out here?" I said, yawning.
"Oh, we were just talking. Did you hear? I mean, did we wake you up with our talking?" Caius asked, which proved him a terrible actor. "No. I didn't even know you two were out here!" I lied. They both let out a breath that they were holding. Yep. Terrible actors.
"Celestine! Caius! Julian! Ready? We leave in...two hours. So pack up what you need, because we'll need to find shelter and everything. Come with me to the training room. I'll explain the plan." Emma instructed. We followed her to the training room, and I opened the door. It's door was a thick, old-looking wooden door, and considering what the room was used for, it was very beautiful, without a single scratch, except for the carvings I did on it when I was bored. I carved runes into it with a knife. And my name. But aside from that, it was like a thick wall of wood, only with a pattern carved into the side of the door. The handles were a beautiful metal, with an angelic power rune on each.
I felt the familiar, cold metal beneath my fingers as I picked up a seraph blade. I spun it in my fingers while I listened to what Emma had fo say. "Here's my plan," Emma started, "I put together the information that I have so far. I've talked to Magnus Bane and Tessa Gray. They said that once, back in the 18 hundreds, one of their enemies hid in Whales, in Cadair Idris. It was a good idea, because many thought it was Idris, Alicante. So tha's where Sebastian is hiding. I did some research as well, and I asked a few spirits, too. They all agree on one thing: that Sebastian is hiding in Cadair Idris. That's where we must go." She grabbed a seraph blade and shoved into her bag. I did the same, though I grabbed many, many, MANY arrows, and two bows (just in case), and three seraph blades. I also packed two daggers and four Steles. "Okay, I'm done." I said.
"Whoa. Your bag is packed. How much do you need?" Julian exclaimed.
"Just enough to keep all four of us alive. We'll need extras, just in case, Julian." I pointed out. He held his hands up, as if to say, "Okay...never mind I said anything then."
"Good lu-" my mother started.
"Mom. Remember, no good lucks! Shadowhunter rule. We have to believe that we will succeed. Okay?" I said, confidently, but we all know, this may just be a suicide mission.
My mother nodded as we walked out. We all decided to keep a lower profile, we would have to walk. In other circumstances, I'd say it was good exercise. "We should get going now. Gotta get as close as possible to Sebastian today. Then we have to find shelter." Caius whispered into my ear, as I slung my bag onto my shoulder and stared at the Institute, wondering if I will ever see it again. "I know. I suggest we each have a weapon in hand." I said, reaching for a seraph blade. I slung a quiver of arrows onto my back, and gripped onto the bow. Long-range combat. And my favourite, combat with seraph blades.
We trudged through the mud, all dirty and wet from the rain. "Let's find shelter now. It'll be dark in an hour." I said, marching in front of Caius's lead.
We finally walked up to a cave, and after we made sure nothing was already occupying it, each of us set up our place to sleep. I grabbed a change of clothing that I brought, and found a covered area to change.
I laid in my sleeping bag, staring at the top of the cave. I was awake for hours now, with so much in my mind. Then, another flashback played across my mind.
"Antonius. No, you cannot leave me here." Celestine, at age 15 stood next to her one happiness, the sunshine that has brightened her road for a while now. Antonius, or Anthony, as she normally called him, was lying on the dirt, dying. There was an attack on the Institute. And the one person she loved the most, had to be the one wounded. Celestine kneeled next to Anthony, helplessly crying out for help, though they all knew that he wouldn't ever make it. "Celestine...please do me one favour." He croaked. "Anything." She replied, clutching onto his hand. "Move on. I want you to live the life that you deserve. Without me, but with someone else that you will love, and someone else to protect you. And my main goal was always to protect you with my life. And I finally did. So in the future, cont think I died unhappily, feeling I didn't do my part on earth. Because I did, and my wish to you, is that you are always safe." His grip was weakening, but Celestine gripped tighter.
"You will not die. You will stay, Antonius. You will."
"Please. Don't let me die thinking that you will be unhappy in the future. Promise me that you will find happiness."
"Okay. I-I promise. Ave atque vale." She whispered. It meant "Hail and farewell forever." He pressed something into her palm. It was a necklace, shaped as a tear drop. "It's crystal. My mother once told me to give it to someone important to me. And that is you. I want to see you wear it, if it's not a problem." Celestine put the crystal necklace on, it's white-gold chain glimmering. "You are beautiful. I'm glad you are the last person I see before I...leave." He smiled weakly. She cried for minutes more, even when his grip released. She closed his eye lids, and sunk to the ground. "I'll never forget you, though, Antonius." She yelled out to the sky.
Though all Shadowhunters knew that anyone could die anytime, and that the life of a Shadowhunter is hard and dangerous, Celestine never knew this would be so hard. They say the first is the hardest, but she always held on to every single one. And now, no one living on earth had loved her as their first priority anymore. Everyday, she looked at the pendant around her neck, though after a month, she saw hope in it, instead of grief.
"Can't sleep?" Caius walked towards me. I nodded. It was still dark outside, though I hadn't gotten even a minute of sleep. "You?" I asked. "Can't at all. I saw you staring at the ceiling. Now, either the mossy rocks amuse you, or you had a flashback."
"How could you tell?" I asked, impressed. "I could see it in your eyes. You were in deep thought." He replied. Without noticing, I wrapped my hand around the pendant that still hung around my neck. "That's pretty. Where did you get that from?" Caius asked. "An old friend," I replied, and for once, I told him all about Antonius. I felt completely normal about it, too. For once, I didn't get a wave of grief. And I guess that's a step towards the favour that Antonius asked of me for.
I finally got some shut eye, but an hour later, I saw something lurk in the shadows. Then, someone with white-blond hair came up to me. Sebastian. I was I alarmed, I tried to scream. But, however, he pulled a bag on top of my head and dragged me out of the cave un noticed.
Enjoyed? Review! Cliffhanger! What do you think happens next?