Meeting Aggie

33.

As much as I admired Celeste's beauty, her current state as a deceased being affected her agility and speed. Her physical form was slowly deteriorating, and I worried that her condition might impede our training progress, despite her genuine desire to assist us.

I walked over to Apollo and whispered in his ear, "Is there any way to fix that?"

Apollo raised his eyebrows. "You've got to be specific, doll. Fix what?"

"You know. Celeste's undead look, her slow movements, and the broken-up speech. Do I need to go on?"

I made gestures of her movements until he understood.

Apollo nodded in agreement. "Honestly, I should've questioned you when she looked like that. Fairies don't start rotting away until a hundred years pass, since their cemeteries are enchanted. She's technically supposed to look like how she did when she died, since it hasn't been that long."

At that moment, Celeste ran a hand through her hair and a clump fell out. She held it in her hand and sighed while Iris looked upset for her. I facepalmed and crossed over to her. I gently took the clump of hair from her hand and dropped it.

"I'm sorry I envisioned you like that, Celeste. I promise you I can fix this. Just trust me one last time."

Celeste's smile brightened, but a tooth unexpectedly came loose, tumbling to the ground. We both glanced downward, momentarily taken aback, before locking eyes once more.

With a gesture, I silently asked her to offer me her hands. She complied, and as I held them, the crunch of brittle bones and the dry, slippery texture of her skin sent a shiver down my spine.

I shut my eyes and envisioned her exactly as I saw her in Iris' mind. This time, I wouldn't keep the bias of her looking the way the undead did on television.

I opened my eyes again and looked at Celeste. She was back to normal fairy beauty. She looked at her hands and touched her face. She smiled at everyone, and we all smiled back at her.

Iris burst into a boisterous laughter, unable to contain herself. "Oh my, no wonder things felt weird! My brain was like, 'Hello? Something's wrong here!' but couldn't quite figure it out!"

Celeste nodded in agreement, a wry smile forming on her lips. "Absolutely! I mean, seriously, who talks like that? It was like my speech was on its own rollercoaster ride!"

All of us laughed at Celeste's joke, but then she became serious. She directed her question toward me.

"How long will the magic that brought me back last?"

I widened my eyes and looked over at Apollo.

Apollo cleared his throat. "That's a question for me. The magic used is the light version of necromancy. It's not permanent since she didn't make a sacrifice in exchange for your soul. You're technically running on borrowed time. Once Aggie takes the supernatural realm throne, you go back to being dead. Except this time, you can't ever come back."

Iris' eyes turned dark blue. "So how long does that give us?"

Apollo pondered on the thought. "Not sure. It depends on how fast she gets crowned after defeating Sven."

"Come on, that's not fair! I barely had enough time to explore this place. Maybe a little sacrifice wouldn't be the end of the world. I mean, how bad can necromancy really be, right?" Celeste pouted.

We all gave her a shocked look. Necromancy was dark magic. Only the night gods, witches, and sirens could use it. Dark magic changed a supernatural genetically and modified all their abilities.

While witches were inherently neutral, they could tip the scales for either light or dark. One always had the choice to go from good to evil, but it was even harder to reverse it. Why else did sirens exist in vast numbers?

Apollo fumed at her, softly pushing me back. "You're really asking the future empress to sacrifice an innocent so you can live a meager life with a peasant? We don't even know who killed you, so the sacrifice might not be worth it. Did Aggie forget to envision you with brain cells, or were you already lacking some?"

I opened my mouth to try to reason with him, but I didn't see a point. As much as I would have liked her to live longer since she died unfairly, I couldn't.

Celeste grew angry and was about to speak, but Iris cut her off. "Forgive my sister. It's not that she's lacking any brain cells, but she's ignorant. She doesn't understand much about necromancy."

I slowly nodded. "I understand, but her request is something I can't do anyway. All I want to know is if this decision affects you guys helping me."

Apollo looked at both of them.

Iris shrugged. "It doesn't affect my decision. You didn't have to bring her back for me, and you did it with time working against you. I don't think I can decline a request from the future empress either way. We will need to work together in the future to ensure the safety of our kingdoms."

I smiled. "I agree. What about you, Celeste?"

She exhaled heavily. "Fine. I'll help. Only because my sister sucks at light, shadow, and water magic."

"Because those are your elemental gifts. I'm better at air, earth, and fire," Iris scoffed.

I looked between them, confused. "How do I find out what my gifts are?"

Iris and Celeste exchanged a mischievous glance.

Celeste spoke first. "It's a stupid but necessary test, but it's late. Iris will take you to your rooms for the night to retire."

Apollo grabbed her hand when she tried to walk off. "Where do you think you're going? Are you sure it's not risky to reveal yourself to the others?"

Celeste shook her head. "I need to see Riven. I also happen to be good at illusion magic. I'll be fine."

Apollo looked over at me. "Can I accompany her to make sure she gets to him safely? I don't want her to get killed off again before you can get trained, but you can say no."

I nodded, and he kissed my cheek. Deep down, it bothered me. I know he meant nothing by wanting to follow her, but I was so used to him prioritizing me instead. I watched as the two disappeared into the shadows.

Iris grabbed my hand.

"They'll be fine. Come with me," she whispered.