Hiya to all my wonderful readers! It's Lilliana here, hyped and ready to introduce the 5th episode of TDOD! However, before I start, I'd like to wish and congratulate you all on completing your first school term! But this is only relevant to those in Australia or with similar timetables, but even so! You'll get your well-deserved holiday soon enough, so just keep working hard and don't forget to take care of yourself! (That- I kind of need to focus on taking care of myself a little better too 😅) Anyways, if you thought that the last chapter of TDOD (Which was, like, months ago) was too fantasy-like, this one'll be a big surprise! But hopefully, a good surprise and one you enjoy! Now, without further ado, let's see what our Celestria Desdemona is up to now!
Chapter 5: Will I Flourish or Fall?
I was on my knees, crouching down again. All sound was silenced, colour muted and any source of life was non-existent. I rubbed my tired eyes, adjusting to this bright white light. I placed the heels of my hands on the floor and wobbled up until I stood on my own two feet. I looked down and the glorious gown that I wore just seconds ago had now disappeared. Instead, I wore a simple black dress and matching mary janes.
I shuddered, feeling cold. But . . . where am I?
I looked around and I finally saw something. There was a small, white lump of cloth not far from here.
I attempted to take a step but almost tripped. Just how tired have I become? But this can’t go on, I need to see what that is!
The closer I had gotten to the white lump, I realised that it wasn’t a mere chunk of cloth. It was a crying girl in a white evening gown. She had straight, silky black hair, fair white skin, and her hands covered her face. She was shuddering. Tears fell from her face but the second they made contact with the air, they started floating mid-air. They weren’t perfectly shaped circles but they moved around in starry globs around her. One of them moved towards me and I reached my hand out to touch it, curiosity getting the best of me.
But the blob had ideas of its own. It touched me on the finger first instead and disappeared with a satisfying pop.
The girl stopped sobbing. She looked up at me and I was shocked. Time stopped, the place where we stood flooded with water up to my ankles, a massive red sun and a blue moon appeared not too far next to me. At first, the two spheres stayed on equal ground but they started to rotate around each other. Whenever one would go down, it would cast a sunset of its own against the rippling waters. Day and night were going in a rapid cycle, slowly at first but it changed from darkness and daylight within seconds. Suddenly, there was a loud clock dong and the sun and moon stopped moving.
Time. This must be Time. I stared back down at the girl. Or should I say me? The same violet eyes and mole on the top left side of her cheek. She stared at me in wonder- and then in anguish.
She looked like she was about to tell me something before-
“Ah, Your Highness. I’m glad you could make it”, A rough and slow voice spoke.
I whipped my head to my side to face a woman dressed in a luxurious black cloak.
“Y-you are?”, I asked, worried.
“Of course, forgive me. How could I have forgotten to introduce myself? However, I’m quite sure you know of me. After all, it’d be a shame if all those museum excursions to study Greek Mythology were forgotten. I am Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and crossroads”, she spoke.
Torches were lit all around the three of us, surrounding us in a circle.
I gasped, immediately going down on my knees before her.
My other self gulped, looking at me with sheer terror.
I sweated, Did I make a mistake? “Dear child, no. I am in no place for you to express such respect, we are the same, you and I. You are now my equal. If not, you could be even more. But that’s up to you now, dear”.
I slowly raised my head, I am now equal to the goddess Hecate . . . ? It should be no surprise, after all, Nyx is my mother. But even so, it’s still so surprising, so shocking. It's so unfamiliar . . . The weight of being Nyx’s daughter . . .
It’s . . .
Heavy.
“Rise, Celestria. I am sure you have things you wish to ask me”.
I rose from my knees, facing the goddess before me. I need to know more about my position.
I know what I need to do.
“Hecate, goddess of crossroads, could you show me my destiny? What challenges will I have to face in the future?”, I asked, my violet eyes flashing under the moon’s blue hue.
The other me looked to be in pain for a few seconds before she smiled proudly. Her smile was small but it caused large tears to fall down her face.
Hecate looked at me with no emotion, instead, she smirked down at my other-self.
“Oh, so you’ve chosen this path”, She smiled at me, “Then . . . there’s no use for you then. Go on, fade off, I have matters with this new daughter of Nyx”.
I wondered what on earth she was on about before I saw the twinkling of stars clash together like soft wind chimes. I turned my head to see my other self glitching into small, fractured squares and fading off into nothingness.
“Hold on, what’s happening?! Hey, you-W-WAIT!”, I reached my hand out for what was left of the older girl . . . but all that was left was a single, solidified, transparent tear, the only tear which hadn’t crystallised into galaxy-like shapes.
I stood, shocked, my eye’s widened in fear and disbelief.
“W-what happened?! What happened to her?! To me?!”, I asked the woman before me.
She looked at me and shrugged as if the loss of a person was nothing.
“No, Celestria, I don’t believe that the loss of a person is nothing. While you may have guessed right, that girl is you. Or was. She was a possible future. A guess of what might’ve happened if you had made those choices”, Hecate explained.
Oh. But who would’ve thought? Who would’ve thought that our future could be changed so easily by our actions? Just what are we? And why do we have so much freedom but are bound to the chains of our own lives?
“. . . Why was she crying?”, I asked, my mind slowly catching up.
“Because, child, she was weak. As you are now. But maybe even weaker. The weak will break, and she broke”, Hecate sighed, taking off her hood.
“But, will I, perhaps, break?”, I gulped.
Hecate removed her hood to reveal locks of violet curls. She twisted something in her hand and it morphed into a blazing torch which she held before me. Her eye’s glowed blue where mandala-like circles with odd letters on them appeared and reflected into mine.
With the other hand, she let the palm of her hand face the direction of the red sun and blue moon. She whispered two words under her breath and this figment of her creation listened. The two spheres of light and night continued rotating around each other again, faster and faster, but closer to each other this time, until they finally connected into one blindingly white circle. That circle stayed like that for a few seconds before three other white rings escaped from it. There were three choices. Three cross-roads.
One of them had a portal to a sunny-looking camp. The distant sounds of laughter and screams were heard from my end. The second portal had one to a void of darkness, a palace of obsidian and stars glowing against the dim light of the galaxy. The third . . .
I-is that . . . Home?
There was no denying it, It is home.
The sunny Edgewater suburb. The lake, the hills, and the houses were all the same as before I left it. Children were chasing after a kite and an ice cream truck was followed by a group of hyper kids. And once that truck past . . .
My mother and father looked at me with smiling faces.
“Depends. Who am I to choose? This is all up to you, Celestria. Will you flourish or fall. It’s your choice. Now, it’s time for you to make that decision”.
Conclusion & Claimer
And there it is! The fifth chapter to Eckheart's Original Series: The Daughter of Darkness! All right, all right, I know I left you all on a cliff-hanger again but I'm curious to know what path you'd choose if you were Tria! What choice would you make? Camp Half-Blood, Nyx's Palace or Edgewater? As I first mentioned on this blog, your choices affect the course of this website and this is one of them! Let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to write up to your expectations! You have my word, <3
That aside, thank you call so much for reading and keeping up with TDOD! It means so much to me and knowing your support for this sequel is a constant source of energy to continue this series! Just another reminder: Everything mentioned in this fanfic is based on my imagination and any similar occurrence in real life is pure coincidence (You're all probably sick and tired of this now but, y'know, copyright and everything). Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
- Lot's of Love,
Lilliana <3
