CHAPTER LXVII
"The Year Without Her"
It had been a year since Cael left me.
A whole year… yet not a single day had gone by when her memory didn't cling to my soul like the last whisper of a dream I didn't want to wake from. Time may have moved on for the rest of the world—people carried on with their lives, found joy in simple things, smiled and laughed as if nothing had changed. But for me, the world had lost its color, its sound, its soul. Without her, it all felt hollow.
I stayed in the Green Forest Land most days—surrounded by its enchanted trees, its whispering leaves, and the plants Cael once made bloom with laughter in her eyes. I tried to distract my heart by playing among them, letting the flowers brush my fingertips and pretending they were her hands. But my eyes… my eyes were always searching. Always hoping for just one glimpse of her radiant smile. The one that used to light up every dark corner of my heart.
Today, for the first time in a long while, someone was coming to visit this sorrow-laden land. Ivory Olivia was returning after many moons. Chiko, Flash, and Rira were busy preparing for her welcome—trying to bring back some sense of normalcy. But I couldn't join them. I stood frozen before Cael's mirror, staring at the reflection of a girl I barely recognized anymore. A girl hollowed out by loss.
I whispered to the glass, as if she could still hear me through it.
"Cael… how do I look today? Would you still say I'm beautiful like you used to?"
Tears clouded my vision, but I didn't look away.
"Isn't there any way," I begged in a broken voice, "any way you can come back to me?"
There was a time when I used to see her… illusions maybe, or maybe her presence trying to reach me. I would feel her arms around me in dreams, hear her voice when the wind brushed my ear. But now… even that was gone. I couldn't sleep anymore. There were no dreams. No illusions. Just an endless, aching silence.
And in that silence, I began to understand something terrifying.
Cael hadn't slept for years.
Maybe she couldn't.
Maybe she was too afraid… afraid that if she ever closed her eyes for too long, someone would seize the opportunity to harm her. And they did. They found their chance. And they took her from me.
The grief that welled up inside me wasn't just for losing her. It was the guilt—because I was the only one who knew how powerful she truly was. I knew better than anyone that Cael couldn't be killed by ordinary force. No one could harm her unless they knew how to curse her. And I… I knew the secret. I knew how such a curse could be crafted.
And that secret—that sin—I confessed to Mother Fairy the day I broke completely.
The day I realized that the people who stole Cael from me might have used my own knowledge to destroy her.
I can never forgive them.
But more than that…
I don't think I'll ever forgive myself.
The Night of the Full Moon
The walls of Cael's room stood still—just like my heart had since the day she left me. The silence in the air was almost sacred, like this space still carried traces of her presence, of her laughter, her soft voice, the way she used to hum while brushing her hair, the sound of her footsteps echoing on the marble floor. Everything here belonged to her. Everything here reminded me of how painfully she didn't anymore.
I stood before her mirror, gazing at my own reflection, but truly… searching for her. I had whispered to the mirror just moments ago, "Cael… how do I look today?" hoping, foolishly, that her voice would echo back through time and memory, telling me again that I was beautiful. Telling me she loved me.
I wanted her arms around me again. Her warmth, her heartbeat behind my back. But all I felt was the cold ache of absence. It was unbearable.
That's when Flash entered, careful not to startle me.
His voice was soft, respectful of the silence I'd wrapped myself in.
"Celeste… Olivia and Ivory have arrived. And Ethan is with them. They said they need to speak with you. It's important."
I didn't look at him. My voice was distant, detached.
"I don't want to see anyone, Flash. Please."
He didn't argue. He just nodded and left.
But a few moments later, the door opened again—and this time, they all came in. Olivia, Ivory, Ethan, along with Chiko and Rira. Their faces were serious. Not mournful—no. Determined. Focused. And for the first time in a long while, I sensed something stirring in the room. A shift. A spark.
Ethan stepped forward first. There was a calm fire in his eyes, one I hadn't seen before.
"Celeste," he said with quiet urgency, "this isn't the time to break. This is the time to fight. Caelum… she's coming back."
My head snapped up. I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
"Tonight," he continued, "under the full moon in the human realm… her soul will return. She'll be reborn. We know where. We know when. And if we want to bring her back—truly bring her back—we need to be there when it happens."
I gasped, emotions crashing into me like a storm.
Olivia stepped beside me, placing a warm hand over mine.
"Yes, Cel. Come with us," she said, her voice gentle but firm. "Let's bring Cael home."
Ivory chimed in, her expression unreadable but her words edged with urgency.
"We might never get this chance again. The alignment of time, soul, and moon—it's rare. And right now, we know exactly where Cael's soul is meant to return. We can't miss this."
I stood frozen. Hope was dangerous. I had lived too long in its shadow, fearing the pain it always left behind when it failed. But this… this wasn't blind hope. This was something real. Something they had found. A path. A plan.
"How do we reach her?" I asked, my voice trembling. "How do we get to the human world?"
Ethan looked at me, steady and calm.
"There's only one way," he said. "Through the Witches' Land. My mother… she used to cross into the human world through the dark realm. There's a door—hidden, ancient—known only to a few. It's how she brought humans back for her twisted magic. I know where it is."
A surge of fire lit inside me.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go. I won't let her be alone when she returns. Not again."
Without delay, we stood before Cael's magical mirror. Its surface shimmered like starlight caught in silver water. I felt a strange pull—as if Cael herself was guiding us forward. Whispering come find me from across realms.
We stepped through.
And we were in the Witches' Land.
The air was thick—like smoke and shadow had been woven into the sky itself. The ground pulsed beneath our feet with a dark kind of magic, ancient and wild. We moved quickly, silently, avoiding the twisted paths and cursed eyes of those who dwelled there.
At last, we reached it.
The Door.
Old, enormous, covered in markings that seemed to move when no one was looking. It was beautiful in a haunting way, like it held the stories of a thousand forgotten souls.
My heart pounded. Not with fear—but with something even greater. Anticipation. Love. Desperation.
Because on the other side of that door…
My Cael was waiting.
Not a memory. Not an illusion.
But her.
Alive.
Newborn beneath a full moon sky.
And this time, I would cross worlds, face witches, even break the laws of fate—just to hold her again.
Because no curse, no realm, no death…
Could keep me away from the one I loved.
To be continue....