***
"Why are you here? How are you here? You weren`t supposed to wake up for the next week after being marked, but you are here now on the battlefield just the day after being marked."
Claus was angry with her being here.
Celea, completely ignoring him, stopped walking, took a deep breath, then kicked into the ground hard. Thousands of tents made out of earth came up from the ground, which left everyone silent.
She then turned around to face all the allies.
"We are camping here!"
She walked in Dereus's direction.
"They are coming."
Judging by her expression, "they" could mean only one thing.
"How did they find out about the war?"
"It was the devil. He sent someone to tell them."
"Celea!"
Claus then took her hand. Dereus was just about to intervine but Celea stoped him.
Claus walked into the nearest tent.
"Don't ignore me!"
Celea was giving him cold eyes. Her bloody complexion and pale face made her look almost dead, which made Claus terrified.
"Please… Celea, talk to me… please."
Claus marking her amplified his emotions even more. Claus then hugged her, getting no reaction from her.
"Luna!… Oh, I'm sorry, I'll leave now."
A knight came into the tent to report something to Celea.
Celea broke free from his hug and shifted her attention to the knight
"Talk."
"Luna, there are three boys asking for you."
"Show me the way."
And they left Claus behind.
***
"What do you think you are doing here?"
"How could you just fight a war and not tell us? Is this why you left us?"
"Go home, now!"
"No."
This time Draco responded to Celea's demand, and he was just as serious as Celea.
"We are not going anywhere. We will fight alongside you."
"You will not."
Draco and Celea were staring at each other.
"Celea, if you think keeping us away from the battlefield is going to save us, you are wrong. We are already involved in this war. From the moment we were told about you being here."
He was right. If she sent them back now, the devil would use that to his advantage and attack them while she was away.
sigh *
"If you die, I'll never forgive you."
"I could say the same to you."
Draco then hugged her.
"I missed you, Cele,"
and she hugged him back.
"Hey! We also want a hug!" exclaimed the other two.
"Alright, come here."
Celea finally put a little smile on her face.
"Cele, why are you covered in blood?"
"It's not my blood. Don't worry about it."
At least not all of it. Her back was still bleeding, and her mark was also bleeding, but at least the mark was wrapped in bandages.
***
"Why were you hugging them?"
Celea was now in her tent, preparing to sleep after cleaning herself up and bandaging her back and neck when Claus came inside to interrogate her. She ignored him and lay on the bed made of earth and some covers the witches had brought with their teleportation.
Claus, not receiving an answer, jumped into bed with her, hugging her from behind after getting under the same blanket, but even now Celea gave no reaction.
"Celea… I'm sorry I marked you without your permission, but I just didn't want you to join this war. I was desperate to keep you away from it at any cost, fearing I may lose you."
That was also how she felt about her troublemakers joining the war. Does that mean he also cares about her? Celea was confused but too tired to stress about it, so she decided to give him a chance.
Celea turned around and hugged him back. Claus was taken by surprise but soon hugged her again, tighter this time, and kissed her head. He was overwhelmed with emotion. He had never been this happy in his entire life. She finally accepted him.
swing, swing *
They were on the battlefield. The sky was reddish; it was sunset. Celea was fighting alongside her father when it happened.
"Noooo!"
Celea's father was stabbed from behind after protecting her from being stabbed.
He fell to his knees, and Celea faced him, also on her knees.
"No, no, everything is going to be okay. You are going to survive. YOU HAVE TO SURVIVE. You can't leave me alone here!"
Celea said while crying and caressing his face.
Her father caught her cheeks between his palms and said,
"Celea… my last wish for you… find happiness."
Her father barely got the words out while coughing up blood between words. He fell right into Celea's arms and died.
Celea screamed, and everything around her was pushed aside by a very powerful wind that came from her. Celea had awakened her powers.
opens eyes *
Claus was breathing heavily after having this nightmare. Was that Celea? And the Dragon King? How was that possible? He looked toward Celea and saw she was sweating.
"It's her nightmare."
Claus finally realized the mark was able to connect their minds so he could read her thoughts, but Celea has a strong mind, so it is hard to read her mind unless she has her guard down, just like now.
Claus swept away her sweat and hugged her tightly, caressing the back of her head
"It's okay. It's okay, Celea. Everything is alright."