Born of starlight and shadows

~Part twenty eight: Celestina~

The woman was perched on the edge of the building. Her long blonde hair streamed out behind her, carried by the cool breeze.

She fingered the points of the crystal she wore.

Why, oh why, did carrying it have to be such a huge burden?

A solitary tear traced its way down her face.

Mother, she thought. I cannot do this anymore.

A crushing weight sat on her soul, dragging her downwards.

I did everything that was asked of me, she thought. All of it. I knew it was wrong. You knew it was wrong. But you asked me to play his puppet a while longer. So I did. I did.

She stared up at the sky, pleading for a sign, anything. A way out of this mess that she'd been living in from the very start.

There was nothing.

The woman wiped her eyes and tried not to think of what she had just done.

She tried to ignore the call she hears. It's her father's voice, twisting her mind to hurt, to kill...

And she would obey it, as always. 

She had no choice.

So she sent a silent apology to the ones whose lives she was about to ruin even further.

Her father had a plan. She was sure of it. And she may not have known the ends to which his plans stretched, but she would carry them out, regardless.

It was what she had been born to do, after all. 

So she takes a breath, thinking carefully.

Twice born, once of light, once of darkness.

The gentle fingers brush across her skin, invigorating her with such power, protection.

She inhales, soaking in the rays of light.

A ritual never performed before, not yet.

But one that's wholly necessary.

Harsh darkness, trying to consume her soul entirely.

Laughter that comes after every scream, every struggle.

It's trying to rip her apart.

It almost does.

But then-no.

Light and dark.

Dark and light.

If not in balance, than existing together without overtaking the other.

Not yet.

Not yet.

Her violet eyes glow.

Not yet.

And then there is darkness, and then she is gone, leaving no trace that she was ever here at all.