Forever Destined To The Silver Shadow

Celestia's POV:

I was petrified when Theo stepped closer towards Darius. This is like my worst nightmare come true. Ever since Theo and Darius engaged in deadly combat in the Southern Lord's castle, I prayed to the almighty that it should never happen again!

Lately, the almighty is refusing to listen to me. That is why my worst nightmares are occurring repeatedly. Theo grabbed the box from his hand and opened it. 

The box was empty! The crown was not there anymore. How did this happen? He must have put an illusion spell on the box. If that spell is applied to anything, it will reflect the viewer whatever they actually want to see for a short time. That spell must have worn off now. That is why I am not able to see the crown anymore. 

Theo then gave me a smug smile and said, "My sweetness, did you actually think that I will hide the crown in a lame box like this and bury it deep in a tunnel?"

He then dropped the box down on the floor and came in front of me. "And you think that I can't sense your presence when you are close to me?"

I knew it! I knew that Theo had sensed my presence while I was in the cavern. But why did he just walk away from the cavern without confronting me? 

"I have captured all of your little warrior friends who were lurking in the emerald palace," Theo declared. 

"Please don't hurt them," I cried out immediately. 

He smirked at me again. "I am not going to hurt them, Celestia. But the Mage Warriors have imprisoned your little friends in the dungeon below."

He then turned his back to me and glanced at the palace guards, who were standing five feet away from us. They seemed to be high on firewater, but still, they were standing on their feet. 

Theo waved his hand, and the guards immediately moved closer to Darius and tied him up with an iron chain. "Take him to the dungeon and put him along with the other lame warriors," he instructed them. 

"But you promised me that you would not hurt my friends," I argued with Theo. But he didn't reply to me. 

Darius glimpsed at me for one last time before the guards took him away from my eyesight. 

"You can't do this, Theo," I yelled at him. "You can't imprison my friends in the dungeon. You promised me that you would never hurt my friends!"

"Celestia, I made that promise to you. These Mages didn't promise you anything. If I persuade the Mages not to lock up your friends, then I would come out as a partial King like your father," he said. 

I wasn't able to argue with him on that as he seemed to have a logical point. Theo just now promised his subjects that he would be a fair ruler. 

"But you don't have to imprison my friends. You could give them a warning and let them free," I suggested to him. 

"And why would I have to do that?" Theo chuckled. 

"Because you have sneaked into the Highlands a lot of times, and my father forgave you for that," I snapped at him. 

Theo stopped chucking, and he frowned at me. "Get your facts straight, Celestia. Oberon has never once forgiven me! He even locked me up once in an iron cage right in front of you," he said and held my hand. 

Even before I could protest, I found myself disintegrating in the thin air of white fumes. The next second, Theo and I were in my room.

"Don't ever teleport me again somewhere without informing me," I yelled out. 

Theo was giving me an angry glare. "Did you inform me and leave the banquet hall? Did you tell me before going out to the garden to have a secret meeting with Darius?"

I was horrified by his words. He was aware of everything that I did! 

"Celestia," he breathed out. "You forget that everyone in this palace works for me. If you try to do anything here, I will get to know about it instantly. I got to know that you were trying to steal the crown through one of my aids. That is why I hid the treasure box in the tunnel even before you could get there."

I recalled what the green Orc said in the cavern. 'A while ago, master Silver Shadow came here, and he gave us a treasure box. He instructed us to bury the treasure box deep under the surface.' Darius and I were in a hurry to think through what the Orc said. 

"Fine," I sighed and looked up at him. "If you were aware of everything that I was doing, why did you place the treasure box in there? What do you get by playing sick games like this?"

Theo laughed at my questions. He gripped the table that was beside him and laughed out even more. I have never hated him more than I did right at this moment!

"Celestia, if I had caught you right away, then your other little friends would have gotten alert and run away from the palace." His manner got serious after that. 

"I did not want any of the Fathomless warriors to escape! So I let you both have your way for a while," he explained to me. 

"I think that your silver blood is actually venom. That is why you are so wicked," I snarled at him. 

Theo stopped smiling after that. "I am done justifying myself to you, Celestia. You are so gullible, and you believe everything others say to you."

"Exactly," I blurted out. "I was so gullible, and I believed every one of your lies."

Theo held my hand and dragged me to the four-poster bed. "Leave my hand, you wicked Demon," I squealed out. "Let go of me!"

I didn't know where Tangerine was, and I was glad that she wasn't here. If she were here, she would be fighting with Theo now and get hurt again. 

He pushed me to the bed and took the chains that were attached to the bed frame. What is he doing? 

Theo held the chains in his hands and scanned me for a minute. "I can't do this," he shouted and dropped the chains back on the bed. 

"No matter how much I try to hate you, I am unable to do it," he said in a slight calming tone. 

"I know that you don't love and trust me anymore. I know that you despise me! But still, I am not able to do the same to you."

Theo held my chin and stared down at me. "What have you done to me, Celestia?"

I wanted to push his hand away from my face. But if I do that, it will infuriate him even more. Never instigate your opponent! I stared back at him vaguely. 

He took away his hand from my face and moved back a little. "I had never pleaded with anyone in my life before, even when I had nothing. But now I am pleading with you, Celestia. Please stop hating me! I am not your enemy here."

"It's not that I hate you, Theo," I blurted out to him. "But I have lost faith in you! I am sorry, but you have deceived me so much that I will never be able to trust you again."

His expression was unreadable after that. He then clenched his fist together, and he went out of the room.