Stuck With You

Part 18

Chapter 18

As his face lifted to look above, Celeste threw herself at him.  When she had told him not to look up, she had meant it.  Seeing an angel, fallen or not, in their natural form could blind another.  Whether Aidirian was too strong to be affected, she did not know, but she was unwilling to put him at risk.  Her wings wrapped around him, softening their fall. 

“What was that for?” he asked.  A large smile was on his face, but she could see him wince under the smile.

She shifted slightly, trying to relieve him of her body weight while keeping his view complete obscured.  “They are in their true forms.”

“Something I have seen many of times,” he said with a chuckle before turning serious.  “You were worried for me?”

Her wings snapped back into her back as she jumped to her feet.  Without looking into a mirror, she knew her face was flushed.  “I did not say that,” she stuttered, feeling idiotic for denying it in the first place.  The fact was that she did care, maybe a little too much.  Nothing could come of it though, and she knew that once he learned more about her family, he would not want anything to come of it.

“Deny it as much as you want,” he said while rising to his feet, “but do not forget what you wear on your finger.  It’s a sign.”

“A sign for what?”                                             

He smiled at her as he glanced up at her mother and uncle.  “That I feel the same towards you.”

His words warmed her, made her feel as if someone threw her next to a heater, but as the chandelier from above came crashing down, the warm feeling disappeared, being replaced with pure irritation.  Seething, she glanced above at her two family members.  While Uncle Luc stood there, looking bored, her mother’s chest heaved with lack of endurance, and her wings were flapping slower than usual.  Her mother was about to crash land in the middle of their now broken home.

Celeste would not give her the time though.  Glaring at the two of them from below, she yelled, “Get down here now, or so help me, I will not speak to either of you for the rest of eternity.”

Both of their bodies froze, and Celeste knew that they were trying to figure if she was bluffing or if she truly felt that way.  “I mean it, Uncle Luc, Mother.  If you two do not stop this instant, I will shun you.”

Uncle Luc was the first to drop to the ground; the graceful motion putting her mother’s landing to shame.  “I am sorry, Celeste,” her Uncle mumbled, looking as if he had just swallowed a hand full of needles. 

Knowing how hard it was for him to admit defeat, for him to apologize, she stepped towards him with a smile.  “It’s okay,” she mumbled, taking another step before engulfing him into her arms.  “You were just trying to protect me, but she’s my mom, Uncle Luc.  No matter how much the two of you despise one another, you have to accept that fact.”

“I accepted it long ago,” her Uncle mumbled, his arms wrapping around her for a second before falling back to his sides.  The poor man had probably not been hugged by a person he cared about for quite some time.  “It is your mother that cannot follow command,” he finished while taking a step from her embrace.

Turning eyes towards her mother, Celeste let out a sigh.  “You are a fallen, Mother.  You must follow by their rules, which means you must listen to your leader.”

“By the end of the day,” her mother spat, “I will no longer be one of the fallen.”

“Always going to my brother to solve your problems.  Why am I not surprised?”

“Uncle Luc,” Celeste snapped. 

The man raised his hands in surrender before taking a step away from her and her mother.  He didn’t make apologies, but Celeste knew that if he did, it would be a lie.  The man would never feel apologetic for anything dealing with neither her mother nor her father.  He had made it quite clear that the only one from his past family that he cared for was her. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled, before turning towards her mother.  “Until you are no longer a fallen, you a part of us, Mother.”

“Us?” her mother asked, her face turning to disbelief.  “You just said us.”

Celeste stopped; staring at her mom as understanding dawned.  She shrugged.  “Growing up, Uncle Luc was always there for me.  As I got older, who were the first people to help me when I needed it?  It wasn’t you or your people.” She motioned behind her where she knew Antonio and Daryn stood.  “It was them.  They helped me, without asking for anything in return.”

“You consider yourself part of them?” her mother asked with a harsh laugh.

Celeste knew her answer would change the course of her life, but she answered honestly despite that fact.  “Yes.”

Her mother’s wings snapped back into her back as she let out a sad sigh.  “When they told me you have turned your back on us, I thought they were lying.  I thought that it couldn’t be true, my youngest couldn’t be a sympathizer.”

A hand curled around hers, and she knew that Aidirian was holding her hand for support.  “I don’t just sympathize with them,” she admitted.  “I relate to them.  They are my family, more than you, father, or my sister has ever been.”

“You would put your life on the line for them?”

“Yes, just as they have for me.”

“You would love one of them?”

She didn’t need to think about her answer, just let it flow from her mouth.  “Yes.”

“One last question, would you turn your back on your own kind for one of them.”

“Yes,” she answered, her eyes no longer on her mother, but connected with Aidirian’s.

Her mother let out a loud sigh before taking a step towards her.  “Would you like to know the real reason your father allowed me to fall?”  Celeste nodded, waiting for her mother to continue.  “Because he thought you were on the wrong path.  We needed someone to find that out for sure.  These people would not speak about you.  They would not tell us if the rumors of you saving their lives were true, or if you helped them when you were not ordered to.”

“She was not ordered to watch while they die,” Uncle Luc said in a deadly voice as he walked past her mother and stood by her side.  “She is what a true angel should be, merciful towards all God’s creatures.”

“You call yourself God’s creatures,” her mother spat, “but you are nothing but trash.”   Her mother snapped her mouth shut before turning towards Celeste.  Taking a step forward, she held her hand out.  Before Celeste could do anything, the white feathers began molting; falling off so quickly that there was nothing she could do to stop them.  Taking their place, black formed, coating her wings. 

Celeste let out a gasp as she saw them.  Her wings were black, she was a fallen, all because she admitted her true feelings, admitted that the people around her were those she cared for.  She flicked her wings, noting the gold around the tips was still there.  Smiling at her mother, she shrugged.  “You can take my wings, but you cannot take my power.”

Her mother’s mouth opened, ready to say something back, but Uncle Luc didn’t allow her too.  He stepped forward, his hand wrapped around her throat.  “The only reason why I never killed you was because of Celeste.  You have five seconds to leave from my sight before I destroy you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, her mother disappeared.  Celeste stood there filled with shock, but also a sense of freedom.  She no longer had to follow the rules of her father; she no longer had to listen to another’s orders.  The sense of loss was still prevalent, but a little bit of liberty filled her too.

“Welcome to the dark side, chère,” Daryn said from behind her.

Antonio stepped forward with a smile on his face.  “How does it feel?”

“Good,” she whispered.  “It feels good.”

***Thanks to Platypus1987 for the cover on the side!  I really love it.  It's the ring Aidirian gave to Celeste :)***