Sides of a Mirror

40- Bittersweet

Hyacinth- Forgive Me.
Asphodel- I'm sorry!
Daffodil- I forgive you.
White Hyacinth- I pray for you.

Celeste looked down at the blooming purple flowers underneath her nose. The slim, elegant petals curled gracefully from their base, creating a shape akin to a six pointed star. Her hands shook and tears trickled down her face. Hyacinth. Why would he send me hyacinth? Celeste stood up and walked out the door, knees buckling as she rounded the corner. A shadow bloomed in front of her. Coal bright eyes stared at her, and a cruel grin spread across the shadow's face. The figure leaped at Celeste, barely letting her scream before-

Celeste shot up, eyes wide in terror and her piercing screams filling the air. The door burst open with a loud bang, startling Celeste more than she already was.
To Celeste's surprise, it wasn't Ophi at the door but Scorpio instead. The corners of his mouth were turned down in a small frown, and he had a concerned look on his face. Celeste gave him a weak smile as he peeked his head through the doorway.
"You can come in." Scorpio nodded, left corner of his mouth turning up in a sort of half smile. He padded quietly over to Celeste, sitting himself at the chair placed near her desk. There was a long silence, neither of them able to fabricate words.
Finally, Scorpio spoke up, "Were you having nightmares?" Celeste's head raised up. She gave Scorpio a look, confused for a moment, before smiling and remembering his abilities.
Celeste gave a long sigh, taking a few deep breaths before she replied, "Y-yes, I was. I thought they'd be gone by now, but I guess seeing him again reawakened them..." Scorpio nodded. Celeste looked up, and was surprised at the years pooling in the child's eyes. A lock of hair draped over the right side of his face, and when he looked up, Celeste saw his eyes were giving off a soft light, making the tears in his eyes seem crystalline.
"Oh." He muttered softly. Celeste had never seen Scorpio this emotional. After a moment of silence, his gaze turned determined, though still had a note of sadness in them, "I want to see." Celeste raised an eyebrow.
"See? See what?" Scorpio chuckled softly.
"The nightmares. And the memories. If I can see them, I'll understand what's going on better. Because right now, I don't."
Celeste took a moment to digest this. She thought, mind churning as Scorpio patiently waited in silence.
"Alright. Go ahead, do what you need to do." Scorpio nodded again. He walked over to her and sat beside her, hand hovering over hers. His eyes held an unspoken question, unsure if his actions were appropriate. Celeste smiled at him and nodded, giving her full consent to whatever he was doing.
Scorpio took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he knew was coming, and placed his hand over hers.

Standing outside the vision, Scorpio watched as a young Celeste bounced along a sidewalk with her mother, a lovely woman in her late thirties. She had long, rich brown hair and eyes the color of the sky at sunrise, a pale coral blue. He smiled as happiness radiated off the mother's face, her smile warm and eyes shining.
Someone, a young girl with golden hair and eyes the color of stars, pale gold and almost like silver, poked her head from around the corner, mouth curled into a close lipped smile. She stepped out from behind the wall and into full view, which revealed her lithe figure and scarlet dress. A golden crown sparkling with rubies sat on her head, the delicate designs depicting suns and stars, flames and frost.
The girl spoke, a tone of laughter in her voice, "Mother, Father says you need to come to the throne room for some kind of board meeting. Now." The woman sighed, patting Celeste's head lovingly.
"Sorry sweetie," she said to her daughter, "I have to go. But Umbra will take care of you, right?" She glanced over at a figure that had been hidden away in the shadows the past few minutes.
The figure stepped into view and chuckled, "Of course, Queen Aurora. Your child will be very safe with me." He leaned down to Celeste's level, "Come on, Celeste. I think Virgo has another book for you." Celeste nodded, waving goodbye to her mother before they both walked away in separate directions.
Scorpio was surprised, he hadn't known that Umbra was Celeste's guardian before he... Well... Went kinda psycho. As he was seeing him now, Umbra seemed like someone very kind and easy to get along with. What had happened to make him like he was now? Scorpio closed his eyes, letting the emotions of those in the vision flood around him. He meandered about until he found what he'd been looking for. Scorpio tapped into the strand of thoughts coming from Umbra, trying to figure out what he'd been feeling at the moment. Instantly, a spiny wall blocked him, and a feeling of danger filled his mind. Scorpio backed out of trying to interpret his feelings, and interpreting that instead.
The shield had felt strong, like it'd been built up over several years. Also, the exterior was prickly, giving Scorpio the sense that Umbra was trying to keep something out, not in. After a little more assessment, it finally hit him. Pushing the realization aside for now, Scorpio continued to push through Celeste's memories. They were relatively pleasant, always filled with joy and pride. Still, a prickle crawled up Scorpio's spine as he neared what he knew to be a tragic event. Premonition slammed into him like a ton of bricks, and he shivered at the dread that tickled his skin.
When the moment came, Scorpio turned away from the gruesome scene, clutching his head in agony as the terror pierced his composure and pain laced through his limbs. When he steeled himself enough to turn around, agony struck again as he witnessed the deaths of each of the first Zodiacs, feeling each blow as if he'd taken it himself.
Finally, it was over. Scorpio leaned against the invisible wall between him and the vision, and sobbed. He couldn't stop the hot tears that poured down his face and stung his eyes, he couldn't hold back the misery that poured off thirteen year old Celeste after she'd witness almost all her loved ones die in front of her.
Then, it was the nightmares. The same pain and sadness from the day her parents and friends had died shook Scorpio once again. When Celeste screamed, he screamed, when the shadow's class reached out to scratch her, he felt their tips graze his face too. This went on and on until the visions finally stopped and Scorpio's sight began to revert to reality.

Scorpio pulled his hand away, shaking. Never in his life had he felt so much pain and aguish from one person, not even Sagittarius had gotten this close. He felt exhausted, the experience having taken a physical toll on his body. Still, he felt the unbearable urge to go tell the others what he'd found out. He stood up, head spinning when he did, and ran out the door quickly as possible.

Taurus turned in surprise as the door swung open abruptly. Scorpio stood there, eyes wide and cheeks stained with tears. He was shaking, chest heaving as he took shuddering breaths.
Scorpio stepped forward, Taurus running over to him as he stumbled. His voice came out unusually clear, filled with a note of desperation and urgency, "Umbra- he-" Scorpio coughed, "I know why he snapped, I-" his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fainted in Taurus' arms.
Taurus turned to her older cousin, a look of concern crossing her face, "What was that?" Capricorn swallowed hard, eyes wide as he looked at Scorpio.
"He figured out Umbra's weakness."

Okay- quick note here.
1. We reached 1k views! Woohoo!
2. I've started figuring out the characters for the next book in the series, cause I have a feeling this one will be ending in the near future. Here are the names;

Aries (female)- Aria
Aries (male)- Alexander (Alex for short)
Taurus (female)- Tatiana
Taurus (male)- Tery
Gemini (female)- Giselle
Gemini (male) Giovanni (Giovan for short, pronounced Jo-van)
Cancer (female)- Celene
Cancer (male)- Carmrick
Leo (female)- Leila
Leo (male)- Levi
Virgo (female)- Vivian
Virgo (male) Virtus
Libra (male)- Lyrican
Libra (female)- Lillith
Scorpio (male)- Sebastian
Scorpio (female)- Scarlett
Sagittarius (male)- Salaster
Sagittarius (female)- Sarina
Capricorn (male)- Cameron
Capricorn (female)- Cerise
Aquarius (male)- Alabaster
Aquarius (female)- Adeline
Pisces (male)- Piccolo
Pisces (female)- Priscilla

Sorry if some of the names are strange! I tried to come up with more unique ones. Though I did use the name of Musiccakez RP character, lol. I won't say the ships yet, but they're pretty cute in my opinion! Love you all, darlings! Adieu!