Forever Destined To The Silver Shadow

Celestia's POV: 

I was dazed for a brief period when Father Oberon was gazing at me compassionately. This is how he looked at me in the past. The feeling of nostalgia is always overwhelming to bear. 

I clutched the cape and covered myself with it. This is a miracle! Holy Aiden has performed a miracle here. My father never let others even touch his cape. He gets offended whenever someone accidentally touches it. 

When I was a child, I sneaked into my father's room and took out his cape from his closet. I put the long cape around my neck and pretended to act like my father in front of Darius. 

It was all for an act. But still, when my father found out about it after some time, he chastised me for it. 

He told me how disrespectful it is to touch the cape of a King. After that, I never dared to repeat my actions again. But now, he voluntarily removed his cape and gave it to me! 

"Celestia, are you alright now?" Oberon questioned me. 

I nodded at him. The whole room was silently watching my father and me. 

"Why did you have to step in front of me and take the flames? You could have gotten hurt!"

I expected this question from him. "You might have renounced me, but I still see you as my father, and you will always be!"

He was so melted by my reply. He moved even closer to me and placed his hands on my shoulder. "Listen to me, Celestia! Regardless of your actions, you are still my daughter too. So I have decided to forgive you for everything that you have done so far, and I am giving you a second chance. Please come back to me, my child. The mountains miss you so much!"

This is unbelievable! Did he just say that he forgave me? I glanced at Theo and expected him to be frantic. But he was normal! Why is he not screaming in my head and giving out any instructions to me? Does he not care anymore? 

'I don't have a say in this, Celestia. It is your choice. If you want to go back to your father, then you can go. I love you so much, and I don't want to be the reason for your unhappiness,' I heard his voice in my head. 

This is all so confusing to me. I want my father's forgiveness, but also, I don't want to go back with him to the mountains.

"Thank you so much for forgiving me, father. I never meant to offend or disrespect you anyway," I responded after a while. 

"I know about that, Celestia. I know that it was all him! You don't have to keep sinning anymore. So please come back with me! The Highlanders need you."

I shook my head slowly. He was taken aback by my response.

"Father, I don't want to belong to the Highlanders alone anymore. They alone don't make the Celestial realm. If you exclude the demands of the Mages, Sirens, and the wizards, then you can never bring peace in the realm."

Father Oberon seemed to be overthrown after that. "Silver Shadow has succeeded in turning you against me! You are entirely overpowered by him now. No matter what I say, you are not going to believe me." 

He turned away from me and glimpsed at Theo. "Don't rejoice in your victory already! I will very soon find a way to eradicate you, and I will retrieve my daughter back from your clutches." 

After that, he turned away from us, and he was about to leave. But Theo stopped him. "You forgot something, Oberon," Theo announced. 

Father Oberon stopped right on his tracks. A Mage guard ran to him and gave him a wooden box. It must be the crown! He opened the box immediately and took the Ivory pearl crown from it. 

He was scanning the crown quietly for a while. It looked to the rest of us like he was assessing the crown as if it was real or not. Then he placed the crown on his head and walked towards the exit of the courtroom. 

All the Fathomless warriors who just got released followed Oberon to the exit. Darius glanced at me and mouthed something for a second before he left the room. 

He had mouthed something like,' You made a mistake, Celestia.' 

After that, I was on the brink of going insane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I came back to my room after that tragic event. I got changed into a new sleeveless short gown, and I sat down on my bed. I held my father's cape in my hands and kept staring at it for hours. I rarely even blinked my eyes. 

What can I do when the people I consider my family and my lover say two different things to me? Whose side has the truth?

But I already know the answer to that! Theo is the more righteous man here than my father. When I confronted my father today about how unfair he is to the Lowlanders, he never gave me a solid answer. 

Nor did he try to defend himself! He just pinned the blame on Theo and accused him of manipulating me. My father is clearly wrong here. 

I didn't expect this from him. Why doesn't he step up and acknowledge his mistakes instead of accusing Theo? Is he that power-thirsty to protect his throne? This fact is hard for me to believe and also to take in. 

I hoped that Theo would arrive at my room to see me. But he didn't! What is he doing now? He better not be mad at me for appearing in the courtroom against his will!

Perhaps I should not have gone there at all. Even my father warned me not to appear in front of him. But I didn't listen. 

After an hour, I got restless. I went out of my room to find Theo. And surprisingly, he was standing right out of my room, and he was talking to Ivory. 

Why is she always clinging to my man? When Ivory saw me, she pouted at me and walked away from us. She must have heard my thoughts! That is why she is extra mean to me today. 

"Theo, what happened? Why did you not come to me? Are you mad at me for disobeying you?" I asked him so many questions at once. 

He smiled a little and said, "No, my love. It is not you. But I am mad at my former lady lover Lilin. She had sent shadow creatures into the barrier and injured six of the Southern Mage warriors."

Now she attacked the barrier?!! I thought she was targeting the Highlands. 

"No, Celestia.. The whole Celestial realm is her target," Theo clarified to me.