The Secret Realm

Chapter Three

The next day before school Celeste noticed her Mom was awake, staring into a crystal different shades of purple she had sitting by the front door of the house.
"Mom, I have a question," Celeste said a little nervously. She had asked about her father before but her Mom always said the same things that didn't add up.
"What's your question?" Her Mom said, continuing to stare into the crystal, looking as if she was in deep thought.
"Who, or where is my father?" She asked almost bluntly.
"I've told you before, he left when you were just a baby and we weren't together long so I don't know much or where he is right now. I don't even know his last name!" Her Mom replied, with the same answer she had given many times before.
"I know that I'm different, look at my ears! I just want to know who he is or was. Is that too much to ask?!" She shouted back at her Mom. She started to get tears in her eyes and before her mother could answer her, she ran out the door. She decided to walk to school that day.
When she got to school she instantly started to look around for either Blaze or Claire. She couldn't seem to find either of them so she decided to walk to her locker and try to calm down herself. Just before she could open her locker, she was shoved up against it with someone's full force. She slammed into the lockers and turned around quickly.
"You're so disgusting why even show your ugly face around here. No one will ever truly like you because you're deformed and repulsive," Julie almost whispered in Celeste's ear as she held her against a locker. Julie shoved her again, turned around and left before being seen by a teacher.
Celeste slid down the lockers and curled up right there with a stream of tears coming down her cheeks. She felt worthless and like she didn't even want to exist anymore. Her mother was cold and wouldn't let her know about anything she ever asked. She barely had any friends, and she got bullied just for looking slightly different. She just wanted to disappear right at that moment.
Finally, after a few minutes she stood up and gathered her things. The bell had rung a few minutes ago and some stragglers were still running into classrooms quickly. Celeste decided she just couldn't take school today with all this bullshit going on and the overwhelming thoughts in her head. She started walking towards the front doors that led out front of the school.
"Wait!" someone familiar called from behind. She barely heard the voice but turned around to see what it could be. When she looked she saw Blaze quickly walking over to her.
"I'll come with you," he said, grinning in a way that was comforting for Celeste. They both walked out of the front together, walking in the direction of Blaze's house. Celeste wiped the tears away and looked at Blaze for a second before he noticed. She blushed when she turned away, realizing for the first time how attractive he is. His golden eyes shimmered in the sunlight, and his hair was as white as a cloud. He also had a sharp jawline which Celeste liked.
"Are we going to your house?" she asked, after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes, I'm going to bring you to the Fae Realm, remember?"
"Yes, I remember. I'm kind of nervous, I don't even know what to expect," she admitted to him.
"It's almost like being in a forest around here, but maybe a bit different," Blaze went into thought, remembering the world he had come from originally and not long ago. He looked like he wanted to say something more but he stayed silent. Celeste let her curiosity get the better of her.
"Why did you leave and come here to the human realm?"
"Well, that's a complicated question. I'll be completely honest with you. Right now we are threatened by war in my kingdom and the King is preparing all the faeries old enough and strong enough to fight in the battle. I just couldn't get it around my head why we had to fight in the first place. The King hadn't even tried talking to the other kingdom about peace, he just responded with preparing for battle. I just don't know why there has to be so much fighting over land or over who's in charge of what or even just for what each kingdom's specialty trade items are," he responded, sounding almost ashamed.
"I didn't try to just abandon my people by coming here. That's the only thing I regret is leaving everyone behind but I've lost 3 siblings to war and my mother didn't want her last living child taken how the others were and so she told me to disappear and not even tell her where I was going," Blaze continued, starting to look pained.
"Will you see her again?" Celeste let that question slip before she could stop herself.
"I really hope someday I'll be able to fully return to my kingdom. I was the only one of my siblings who didn't directly protect and work for the King. But if he had never sent my siblings into battle, and tried making peace instead, there wouldn't be so much loss and sadness in my home."
"Why doesn't the king try to make peace instead of just fighting?" she asked, trying to think about the situation.
"There's been a long battle off and on with the nearby kingdom that his older brother rules over. When Orion was made king, his eldest brother Atla was disregarded for the role because he had no family and no wife which proves they're able to carry on the royal line. Atlas wants revenge on my kingdom and won't back down. King Orion doesn't see a point in trying to talk to his elder brother and that's what I don't understand," Blaze explained.
Just then, after the explanation, Celeste started to feel an awful pressure in her head and she felt like she was going to pass out, it was so painful. She grabbed her head and stopped walking for a minute. She crouched to the ground and waited for the sharp ache in her head to go away. She started to see flashes of what reminded her of her dream the other night, about the forest that had glowing plants and the butterflies. She felt warm tears go down her face but she wasn't crying on purpose and she wasn't sad. She had a feeling of loss, almost like something was trying to return to her.
All while this was going on in her head, Blaze was down by her side helping to hold her up from falling completely. He was saying things but she couldn't hear him. Suddenly everything went black.