An Archer's Promise

Chapter 32: Interlude

Beta read by Shigiya, Fluffy Slayer and DOOMRAIDER

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It was an otherworldly feeling, wandering around the same house the boy lived in. It was getting to the point that Celestine started viewing it as her own home. For even if she was only present here as nothing but a ghost, a copy of sorts while her physical body rested in the material world.

The layout of each and every room, to the very last nook and cranny was perfectly memorized by the goddess, who frolicked around the place like a curious small child. Laying by the porch with the full moon illuminating her skin, promenading around the garden, taking a peek inside the shed, and much more.

Her presence inside the reality grew stronger each day. At first she could only pass through walls like a mere spectre, gazing into a household that originated from  a memory of someone she never met, yet she felt more familiar with him than even her own Princess Knights. Nowadays she could feel the gentle warmth from the sun, the cold wind blowing through the halls as she walked through the modest home. Even her nose started to pick up scents that were familiar and unfamiliar.

Celestine had no answers as to why this phenomenon continued to occur, nor did she wish to know in the first place.

Contentment.

That was how she felt these last few days.

One thing that flabbergasted her in the beginning, was how alien everything was. It held a resemblance to Kaguya's culture but even that couldn't explain some of the more… weird contraptions. It took her a few seconds to realize just how advanced this place was. Self-heating baths that weren’t powered by crystals, light coming from a small glassware attached to the ceiling, and boxes with moving images and sounds that don’t require a magic mirror or crystal globe. The technology alone gave her the impression of being thousands of years in the future. 

Though was this the future or a land beyond the continent of Eostia? It couldn't be Igg, for her people preferred to live with nature itself, so such creations would have been torn apart years ago. 

She tried to venture beyond the gates once, but she would always find herself back in that desolated land filled with swords and ash. Skies filled with giant gears that choked her with despair and sadness if she remained too long. Her fear of the corrupted voice was another reason did not want to leave.

This home acted as her shield in a way. 

"He's late." Celestine noted as she comfortably slept on the tatami mat in the living room, absentmindedly looking at the pictures in front of her. 

It was the boy whose name she learned to be Shirou Emiya, or Emiya Shirou in Kaguya’s culture. 

To her embarrassment, Celestine found herself quite attached to him. But he still couldn't see her despite her best efforts… which was probably for the best given some of the things she had done in  the last few days. Actions that were unbefitting that of a Goddess Reborn, something that would have made Claudia question whether she was right in the head or not.

Cuddling him.

That was her pastime.

Her repeated presence into his reality had gradually given her a more materialized form, granting Celestine multiple occasions to cuddle with  the boy. He never reacted once to her touch, fortunately. At one point, she even joined Shirou in the bath, washing his hair, body and soaking in the hot water together for a long time.