Defenders of Destiny Book One: Conflux

Chapter 16: Waking Up

Celestia heard her mother's words and they felt like stones striking her body. She was being so hurtful and yet she was beginning to make sense. Celestia was beginning to hate herself. She was beginning to wonder why in all the worlds she would be chosen for anything of great responsibility. She should have never entered the Vander home. She should have listened to her mother and stayed with her. She'd live a normal life and live to be old and grey. Was that truly so bad?

Amidst the stream of curses and insults a whisper was heard. It was extremely silent at first but she was certain she had heard it. She blinked her eyes and wiped them of any tears and looked around, ignoring her shouting mother. The whisper was heard a second time and Celestia gasped when she heard it call her name.

"Look at me when I speak to you!" her mother cried out, her face red with fury. "Just another show of your utter lack of respect! I should have you—"

"Celestia!" the whisper called, louder this time.

The young woman heard it from all around her, as if the darkness itself was whispering her name. She stood up and heard it call another time. Her pain subsided slightly and she felt a strange rush of something warm crawl across her whole body. Was it hope?

"She isn't your mother, Celestia," the whisper said. This time her mother heard it too and glanced about, a strange look of uncertainty appeared on her face. "It's me, Casandra! This is a trick by the corruption on the anchor. It's trying to subdue you and kill you from the inside. Do not let it! Rise up and face your fears! See the truth!"

"Casandra!" Celestia called out, her body feeling lifted by her words and strength returning to her soul. Casandra would never lie to her. She had never met someone as honest as her before. She was a true mother. Not like this imposter.

Celestia frowned and set her eyes on the woman that called herself her mother. "You are not real! You are not my mother!"

The woman laughed, though with a slight hint of fear in her voice. "You are mistaken, Celestia. That voice you heard is the lie. I am the truth!" She stepped forward and slapped Celestia across the face. "How dare you doubt me!"

Celestia didn't wince from the slap despite the burning string she felt on her cheek. The woman pulled her arm back and went to slap again. Celestia snapped her hand up and grabbed her wrist before it hit her face. She squeezed tightly, finding power she had been unaware of and nearly cracking bone. She felt her nails begin to elongate and her eyes widened at the sight.

"Unhand me!" her mother shouted, her eyes frowning but her face beginning to pale. "I am your mother, Celestia! How can you treat your mother like this?"

That was too much for Celestia to handle.

"How can I treat you like this?" Celestia asked, her grip tightening and her long nails beginning to curve inward and dig into the woman's skin. "How can a mother treat her daughter the way you treated me? You have done nothing but hold me back and keep me away from the world around me! You never let me become the person I am meant to be! You never gave me any freedom! You never let me be me!

"You curse me and insult me and talk me down and make me hate myself and expect me to love you for it? What kind of mother do you think you are?! A mother's love should be the strongest bond of all and I want nothing more than to be rid of you! You should let me grow up and find out who I am! You are a mother, not a jailor! So how dare you to treat me like this!"

Celestia snapped her mother's wrist clear off her arm and with a cry of anguish the imposter began to fade and disappear as her severed hand fell. Before the dismembered appendage hit the black ground it had faded away, as did the rest of Celestia's mother. Celestia then watched the blackness lighten and take shape.