The Keepers' Evil: The Shattered Star

This wasn't your fault

The first day of being expected to do nothing for the first time in her life seemed calm and she enjoyed it for longer than she cared to admit.

Celeste found the library, and it was far grander, far larger, far more well-kept, than the one that had rested on the first floor of Malfoy Manor. That one had been dark and held very little literature that she was interested in. Celeste had liked the fact that it looked out onto the gardens, but the Selwyns' looked out over far more of the land beyond the house. She liked it much better.

She let her fingers graze every spine of the adventure that was held within the pages, her heart fluttering every time she saw something she liked. Celeste found herself almost overwhelmed with choice, and well after an hour of prioritising what she wanted to read first and skipping through the desolate rows of literary texts and novels, her grasp held a muddied red cover and her legs curled underneath her as she slumped to the black slates of wood on the floor in a quiet corner where she could not be disturbed.

Gabriel vowed that he would give Celeste the space he assumed she desired to settle in, to find the things she wanted to find for herself. He needed the time, truthfully, to plan what his next move would be to win the minds and souls of those he could sway to side with him rather than Antares, and he intended to take it.

But the door to the library had remained closed since his mother had been there, she had been the only one to truly care for it, yet the golden handle had been twisted to let the door rest gently ajar, and he couldn't help but peer inside as he passed.

His smile was unintentional, and he paid no attention to it, but he knew that it was caused by the humorous sight before him as he watched Celeste curled into herself on the cold floor, her back leant uncomfortably against the shelves of the bookcase, her eyes reading faster than he knew possible to even comprehend that many words. He leant against the doorframe as he watched her, becoming vaguely aware of Hemera tread down the stairs behind him to join him in his curious stare.

"Why is she sitting on the floor?" Gabriel almost whispered as to not alert Celeste and distract her from what she was entirely engrossed within. He chuckled as he spoke, Hemera gathering her small giggle beside him. She noticed the way his pupils dilated as he watched her too closely for someone that simply didn't dislike her, and paired with the peace she had woven into his mind, Hemera knew what she was seeing too well.

"I assume she opened the book too soon before she reached the couch, she got hooked too quickly. She'll fall asleep there too, guarantee it." Hemera watched for Gabriel's reaction before turning to leave him within his moment of her, and it was as satisfying as she imagined. The slight uncomfortableness in his eyes before turning to fill them again with the sight of the girl who smiled at books more than people, the quiver of decision-making in his lip that told her that he was never going to let her sleep on the floor, the huff of his shoulders as he struggled to turn away back to the study.

Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat- the final words Celeste remembered reading of the book. She awoke with the page folded into a small triangle in the corner and a thousand blankets tucked against her on the couch, where she hadn't fallen asleep.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The second day was as equally thrilling as it was the first, yet she found herself noticing how Gabriel avoided her. She assumed he was too busy, and she had told him that she wasn't to bother him, so she didn't, but that didn't mean letting herself remain with a lack of entertainment.