CHAPTER L
"Old Bonds and Unspoken Truths"
Caelum's POV
The breeze was warm — familiar — brushing against my face like a half-forgotten memory. But it couldn't distract me from what stood before me now.
Flash. Chiko. And… Rira.
Three souls from my past, from the days when I still knew how to laugh without looking over my shoulder.
> "Cael," Flash said, stepping forward, his gaze sharp but curious. "Tell me honestly… do you love Celeste?"
His question cut through the air like a blade — not harsh, but piercing in its truth.
I blinked.
> "What?" I scoffed, folding my arms. "You three really have gone insane, haven't you? Spending too much time with that crazy girl — she's clearly infected you all."
I tried to laugh it off, tried to sound cold… distant… unaffected.
But my voice cracked — just slightly — and I knew they heard it.
> Because even my lies were tired.
Before anyone could respond, Rira lifted herself into the air — her wings fluttering with urgency — and flew straight toward me.
> But I turned away.
I remembered.
I remembered how Rira had chosen Celeste over me when I was the one who had disappeared. I remembered how she found comfort in Cel's presence while I bled in silence.
And no matter how much time had passed… I still wasn't sure if I had truly forgiven her.
> But then… I felt her.
She clung to my back — tiny arms wrapping around my shoulders — trembling as she whispered her apology. No words, just a thousand emotions packed into a desperate embrace.
> And just like that… the cold inside me cracked a little.
Because no matter how stubborn I pretended to be…
> I could never stay mad at them for long.
I exhaled sharply, trying to mask the tightness in my throat.
> "Alright," I muttered, almost grumbling. "Fine. I forgive you, Rira."
She squeaked in relief and fluttered around me, her glow brightening with joy.
Flash grinned, stepping closer.
> "Honestly," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I'm glad you married Cel. Because if you hadn't, and someone else tried to… I would've been furious."
My eyes narrowed.
> "What?"
He shrugged, not even trying to hide his smirk.
> "What? I mean it. I would've never let anyone else marry her. If not you… then no one."
> "Cel is my wife," I snapped, heat rising in my chest. "If you're going to talk about her, don't say it like that. Especially not to me."
Chiko immediately stepped in with a nervous laugh, raising his hands as if to calm a storm.
> "Whoa, whoa! Cael, don't get mad. You know how Flash is — he says stupid things sometimes. You don't have to take it seriously."
I huffed, crossing my arms tighter, but deep down… I knew Chiko was right.
Flash didn't mean harm. Not really.
> He was just protective — the same way I was.
And… maybe I needed to hear that. To remember that I wasn't the only one who wanted to shield her.
> Even if it made my heart ache a little.
A silence fell between us — the comfortable kind, the one built over years of battles and laughter, of scars and trust.
> And I looked at them — really looked.
Flash, loud and loyal.
Chiko, calm and clever.
Rira, sweet and fierce in her own way.
> My people. My found family.
> "Whatever," I muttered, voice softer now. "All that aside… I'm glad you're here. All three of you."
> "And I want you to stay by my side. Always."
Rira cheered softly, zipping around my head in circles, while Chiko smiled that quiet smile of his. And Flash? He gave me a look that said we were never going anywhere.
> And I believed them.
Because even when everything else had changed — when fate had torn me apart and cursed me into silence — they were still here.
> And in that moment… I wasn't just Caelum, the cursed heir or the shadow bride.
I was just me.
> And I wasn't alone anymore.
"The Door to the Past"
Caelum's POV
I should have known something was off the moment they arrived — Olivia with that barely-hidden smirk and Ivory with her suspiciously tight grip on my wrist.
> "Cael," Olivia said breathlessly, "you're here? With them?" "I've been searching the whole palace for you."
I raised an eyebrow, glancing at Flash, Chiko, and Rira.
> "What for?" I asked, tone guarded. "The rituals are done. Everything's been completed… hasn't it?"
Ivory stepped forward before Olivia could reply.
She took my hand — firm and warm, like an older sister refusing to be argued with — and shook her head slowly.
> "No," she said quietly. "There's still one last ritual left." "The most important one."
I frowned. Something inside me tensed.
> "You've got to be joking," I muttered. "You two practically tied me to a ceremonial pillar earlier. What could possibly be left?"
But Olivia just gave me that knowing look — the kind she used to give me when I was a child and refused to eat my magical greens.
> "This one," she said softly, "you have to do alone. And we can't help you."
My stomach tightened.
> "Alone?"
They didn't answer.
Instead, they each grabbed one of my arms — and before I could stop them, I was being dragged through the corridor like some rebellious teen. I could feel Flash and Chiko watching, confused. Rira called after me, but Olivia just waved her off with a cheerful,
> "Family business. We'll return her in one piece!"
I didn't like this. Not one bit.
> And then I saw the hallway.
That hallway.
The one I hadn't walked down in what felt like an entire lifetime.
The walls were familiar — faded carvings of old fairytales etched into the stone, the scent of ancient magic still lingering in the air. But it wasn't nostalgic. It was haunting.
> Because I knew where it led.
To that room.
> The one I used to sleep in as a child. The one I abandoned the night my world fell apart.
I dug my heels into the ground.
> "No. I'm not going in there."
Ivory didn't let go.
> "Yes, you are."
> "You can't make me—"
> "Too late."
With a sudden shove — gentle but firm — Olivia opened the door, and before I could react, they both pushed me inside.
> "Wait—!" I turned back, stunned.
> The door slammed shut.
> And then… click.
Locked.
From the outside.
> "You're kidding me," I breathed, storming to the door. I banged my fist against the wood. "Olivia?! Ivory?! What the hell is this?!"
From the other side, I heard the unmistakable sound of laughter.
> "Have a nice night, Cael!" Olivia called cheerfully.
> "Sweet dreams!" Ivory added, her voice fading as their footsteps echoed down the stairs.
> And just like that… they were gone.
I stared at the door for a long moment, utterly stunned.
> Did they really just lock me in?
I turned slowly, facing the room I had avoided for most of my life.
It hadn't changed.
The furniture was smaller, carved of moonlight wood. The walls were still painted in the soft stormy blue I used to love. A few of my childhood drawings still clung to the stone — faded but untouched.
> Everything in here… knew me. But I no longer knew it.
The bed — the one I used to crawl into after a nightmare — looked too small now. Too soft. Too distant from the person I had become.
But there it was. Waiting.
> Like it always had.
And that's when I realized — this was no joke.
> This was the final ritual.
Not one of spells or chants or ceremonial bowls.
> But of facing the pieces of myself I had left behind.
The scared little girl who cried into her pillows.
The angry teen who slammed the door and swore she'd never need anyone.
The broken warrior who convinced herself that love was a luxury she couldn't afford.
> All of them were in here. Waiting for me.
This was my mirror. My reckoning. My final rite.
> And Olivia and Ivory… had known exactly what they were doing.
I sank slowly onto the edge of the bed.
The silence was deafening — not empty, but full of everything unsaid. Every whisper. Every scream. Every tear I had swallowed because I thought it made me stronger.
> But tonight… there was nowhere left to run.
And maybe… that was the point.
Maybe the only way forward — the only way to truly be free — was to return to the place where I had first begun to break.
> And let myself remember.
> And forgive.
The lock stayed shut.
But for the first time in a long time…
> I didn't feel trapped.
I felt… seen.
To be continued…