19. The Core

Prompt: Intend

Celia stood at the edge of a cliff at the deepest caverns of Mountain Celeste. Waves of lava clashed at the stones below her feet. Her shadow behind her quavered like a soft leaf.

It had been a little over two hours since she last saw Madeline. She had insisted to dive into the caverns that led directly to the heart of the mountain.

Any new visitor to the mountain would have advised doing such thing was not necessary, or even a resident that had not spent as much time at the mountain as Celia.

But she knew the mountain and she knew the red-spirit girl.

There was one thing they had in common, if anything else.

They were two forces of nature to be reckoned with, and as such, it was unwise for them to go against their flow, just like boats in the sea, or birds in the sky, they fly with the wind, not against it.

So what would happen when one clashes against the other?

Celia stared at the large rivers of lava, they flowed as fast as they were hot. Yet she saw with a disinterested amusement, like a kid in a classroom staring through the window.

Then, the rivers flew faster. The sound of lava flowing bounced on the rocks filling cavern after cavern, Celia's ears along with it. Her shadow still stood behind her, its silhouette vibrated stronger as the lava flew wilder.

In certain moments, the lava clashed with such fierceness it leaped countless meters into the air, almost touching the ceiling. Celia's shadow disappeared and returned just as quickly.

Did she react? Or even flinched so far? No.

That did not stop the mountain from creating even bigger waves of lava. They struck against the old rocks and the ground at Celia's feet shook.

Quickly again, lava splashes rose high in the air, Celia's shadow extended as well behind her. Tall, deformed, vastly unproportioned. Its silhouette covered almost the whole wall and entrance Celia came from.

As if such thing would have not been unsettling enough for anyone else, the shadow remained at its place after the lava fell. It moved on its own, even after the lava had calmed down It expanded larger, like vines and roots overtaking long-abandoned buildings.

Celia didn't pay that much attention to Necia. Not now, not like this. Necia came for Celia, not the other way around.

Before Necia could reach Celia, she stopped. Celia stopped her. As if an unbreachable wall had manifested between them.

Still, that did not mean she could leave Necia unattended.

She was a sister to her, in some way, a little one at that.

Funny enough, she could have stopped her from almost the very beginning. What was happening so far only happened because she allowed it.

When one lived in a mountain as a hermit, zealous-like, one had to use whatever was at their reach to not lose their mind. Keep it sharp.

This cave had been named "Heart of the mountain" for a good reason. Long ago before, before even Celia had put a foot into the mountain for the first time, decades ago.

As such, and as hearts were hot, fiery, zealous, so was this cave. A rocky embodiment of fire, whereas blood ran through a heart and its veins, lava did the same everywhere Celia could see.

For the great fire there was in the mountain, there had to be an equally great cold to temper it.

Tame it, yet let it roam free. Never lose it out of sight.

Too much cold, and there would be no effect.

Too much fire, too much short-sightedness and one could…

She just hoped Madeline did not forget that.

Having enough, Celia sauntered away from the edge into the soft shadow the entryway to the cavern. She sat down with a deep, tired sigh and waited for Madeline to return.

…

Madeline was far beyond anyone's reach. Almost, anyone's reach.

Like a drop of water falling into a well, Madeline dived deeper into the cave as fast as she could, past the gaps, past the fire, she burned brighter.

Too bright. Too hot.

But she was only human, ascending above lava quickly rising, but only human, while the mountain was beyond flesh.

Her determination may be comparable to steel, yet steel could bend, break as a leaf.

Despite she had returned to the mountain, despite she had adventured to find that part of herself again. She had not had such luck.

Edges to climb and move up grew thin and scarce the more she climbed. The lava rising ever so swiftly.

She remembered the times when she believed she didn't need Badeline.

When she believed everything wrong that had happened to her was her fault.

The truth was, some of it, had been her fault. The fault had been hers as much as had been her own.

Badeline only did it in order to help her, in the best—only—way she knew.

She screwed up. Badeline screwed up. There was no denying that.

"I hate you." Madeline one night threw into the air with a flat tone back at her apartment.

"A part of me will always hate you. It'll even wish you had never existed. It'll always wonder what could have been of me if you never existed. I know you did what you did seeking what was best for me, but you fucked me up. I don't know if I can forgive you. I don't know if I even want to. A part of me will always keep you tight and close to me, because you're the only one who knows what it feels like. The only one who will ever know, and I hate that of you. I can't get rid of you. I truly can't.

"But…"

Madeline leaped off the edge she was holding to. There was nowhere else to go.

"I'm tired of bearing this burning hate inside of me."

Her arms extended as far as they could. Her fingers numbed.

"If you once sought what was best of me…"

She began to fall down.

"Could you help me do it again?"

A pale cold hand reached hers at the last second.

I truly, TRULY didn't know what to make out of this chapter. It is a popular opinion among the game community that The Core is perhaps the least liked chapter in the game, competing very closely with Celestial Resort for that title.

Another popular opinion I've saw, and I share, is...what the fuck is the core about to begin with? Why does Madeline seeks the heart of the mountain? Or why Badeline only appears once in this chapter. Especifically near at the end of the level. I couldn't help but feel I was trying to achieve a task that was flawed at its core...no pun intended, but yeah, it felt like trying to do something a bit impossible, but I managed.

I had serious trouble to make justice for this chapter, so much, I decided to seek help by re-visiting the fanfic that inspired me to write this in the first place. Echoes of the fallen, a hollow knight fanfic. The most important thing I re-learned is that changing POVs is a powerful tool. At first, Madeline would have it fully, but uh, let me check again how that went out...

Anyways, giving the POV to Celia was a great choice. Writing her really makes me want to write even more. I see her as an extreme version of Madeline. Really makes me want to write a prequel to Celeste, but that'll take an awful amount of planning and forethought.

Another problem I had was, what I wanted to make out of this chapter, related to the next ones. I realized my biggest problem was the way I wanted this chapter to be connected to the future ones and with each other. I don't know exactly what to call it or how to word it.

Nearly all previous chapters are standalone chapters, gotta say, looking at that as a whole, it makes me realize it gave me quite some liberty.

There was, or there is this over all theme I want to carry across all chapters, and I think that is my problem?

Sigh, I will be able to talk more about it the more chapters I complete.

That's all for now. See ya.