Caelus sat with his older sister at the café with the fenced patio, the same one he stopped by every day after class. He never ordered anything after that first visit, when Kain paid for him. He simply didn't have the money.
And yet, somehow, a full platter of comfort food now sat before him. Strawberry tarts, buttery biscuits, golden pastries still warm from the oven. It looked like the entire menu had been laid out with not a single missing item.
"Mm, mm, mm!" Celine hummed cheerfully after taking a small bite of custard pudding. "It's been a while since I've had something like this. I always forget how good human food is."
"You're talking as if you're not human," Caelus scoffed.
"I mean, I might as well not be. You should know. Living amongst demons for five years tends to make you forget something so simple."
"Hah. Yeah, it does. How the hell did you acquire the funds to afford all of this anyway?"
"Fufu~ I have my ways."
"Care to share the secret with your broke little brother?"
"Absolutely not," she said, pointing her fork at him. "It's shady business, something you shouldn't— wait... Wait, wait, wait!"
She smacked her hands on the table, causing Caelus to flinch.
"W-what?" he asked.
"Caelus... Do you not have any money? Not even a silver coin?"
"I don't think so. Why do you ask?"
"Why? Why?! Because now I'm wondering how you even stayed afloat this past month! What have you been eating?!"
"Oh. Just a bit of scraps here and there. The college offers free food during lunch hours, so there's that."
"But you haven't been treating yourself at all? You know..."—she lifted a small bowl of—"ice cream?!"
"I... can't say that I have."
Celine gasped, then slouched back in her seat with that face she made whenever she's thinking about something.
Even before the Shaduwar, she was always like this. Her playfulness knew no bounds. Not even Lord Arkus himself was safe from her childish rambles. Despite that, she had shown time and time again that nothing in the world mattered to her more than her little brother. And Caelus couldn't be more grateful.
He just wished that she could focus on herself more often.
"It's fine, Celine," he said. "I'll live."
"No. You already lived once. If it ever comes to it, there won't be a second time. That's why just living isn't enough for you anymore. Not on my watch. I'll give you with some funds to last a good while, but there's something I need to know first."
Celine pulled her chair forward, leaning her arms on the table while staring at Caelus with a serious expression.
"The reason you're here... is it related to Mother?"
Caelus didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached for his teacup and took a small yet long sip. After a sigh, he placed it back down, refusing to make eye contact with her.
"It doesn't concern you, Celine."
"The hell it doesn't. She's my mother, too. Why are you even still searching for her? We've been over this many times. She's gone. She left. She made her decision, and it wasn't us. By all rights... she doesn't matter to us anymore. Not like we ever mattered to her anyway."
"I know. I know all of that, but there's something in my head that keeps telling me to find her no matter what. I guess I just... I want to know. I want to know why she never came back, not even before we were sent to the frontline. Not even... when Father died."
"And what good will that do you? What are you gonna say when you finally meet her? Talk to her? Scream at her? Make her ask you for forgiveness?"
Caelus stayed silent, so Celine continued.
"Nothing is gonna change the past. Nothing will bring Father back, and you'd be wrong to think that Mother, who had been absent our whole lives, can take his place."
"...I never once thought that."
"Then there's no other reason except for pettiness. What you want isn't closure. It's retribution. And if Lord Arkus taught us anything, it's to never allow vengeance to guide your path, for the moment you accomplish your goal... you'll feel nothing but emptiness."
"Hah. That's rich coming from him, considering he's the one who killed Father."
Celine didn't say anything after that. Nothing could refute the fact that Lord Arkus did, in fact, behead their father right in front of them, yet here they are, alive and well thanks to him.
For the past five years, they treaded a fine line between hatred and gratitude. But as they grew older, that line was beginning to snap.
At last, Caelus relented upon seeing his sister's downtrodden mood.
"I just want an answer to all the questions we keep asking. Where was she? Why didn't she come back? I know we have each other. We always did. But at the end of the day, we have to recognize that we are not demons. We are humans, and as humans, we have an insatiable desire to know the unknown. And right now, for me... that unknown is Mother."
He knew his efforts would be wasted. He knew his expectations were set far too high. He knew that he most likely would never find her.
He knew it all... but he couldn't stop.
His life hitherto had been nothing but a series of unfortunate events. What began as a loving family quickly fell apart when his mother decided to bury herself in research. His father grew colder with time. The only one he had to lean on was his older sister.
Then, the Shaduwar began. In a desperate attempt to push back the Archdemon, House Luvelaine was sent to the Pale Valley. Caelus fought hordes of Incarnations of Strife, never stopping once to rest. The only time he did was when he stood between his sister and the Ego of Strife.
This inexplicable drive to find the answer was all he had. Without it... he was just a wandering lost soul. Without aim, without purpose.
Celine stabbed a small biscuit piece and hovered it in front of her face.
"I hate it when you get all melodramatic like this," she mumbled. "Makes it hard for me to say no to you even though I really want to. But, fine. It looks like your mind is made up, so I won't try to stop you anymore. Just... be careful. Please."
"Don't worry, Celine," he replied. "I will."
Suddenly, a pair of familiar voices faded into range.
"...think I've got it down."
"Yeah, right. It took Professor Lynn years to create the technique and perfect it, and now you're claiming that you've got it down? Get real. I'd sooner believe— oh."
Caelus turned to see Kain and Rosalina on the other side of the fence.
"Whoa, hey!" Kain exclaimed with a massive grin. "It's Caelus! Dude, it feels like I haven't seen you in forever."
"We literally saw each other this morning for Liberal Arts," Caelus sighed, clearly unamused.
"Huh. We did, didn't we?"
Rosalina smacked her forehead before pushing Kain out of the way.
"Idiot. You'll have to excuse him, Caelus. I think his mind is slowly deteriorating from getting his head bashed in by Professor Lynn."
"Eh?!" Kain exclaimed. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"If you were any less dense, you'd know exactly what I mean," she snapped. "Oh wait..."
"Tch... You really are a witch. Anyway, Caelus, what have you been... b-been..."
He came to a full stop upon seeing the beautiful woman sitting at the same table. At some point, the gears in his head began turning on their own, forging the only possible conclusion.
"What the hell?!" he shouted. "Since when did you get a girlfriend— Ack?!"
A deafening crackle echoed across the sky when Rosalina smacked him in the back as hard as she could.
"Knock it off, you weirdo!" she scolded.
"D-did you hit me as hard as you could?! That hurt, you know!"
"Good!"
After a heavy breath, Rosalina looked at the woman, then back to Caelus.
"Sorry, Caelus. We'll leave you be."
With that, Rosalina pulled Kain by the collar of his shirt as they disappeared into the crowd, but not without drawing eyes from many onlookers.
"Pfft~ Your friends are so cute, Caelus," Celine snickered.
"No, they are most definitely not," he sighed. "Just annoying."
Celine watched him eat a spoonful of pudding, her gaze warm with quiet amusement. She covered her mouth as a soft giggle escaped.
"Something tells me that isn't at all what you really think."
"...You're mistaken," he replied.
"Hah. Yeah, sure."