NOVEL NEXT Chapter 179 – Goddess
[2009 – October]
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
I knocked on the wooden door that led into Emma's little hut and it only took a few moments until someone opened the door and invited the four of us in, which included Jean, Arya, Laura, and myself.
It wasn't Emma though that opened the door, instead, it was Celeste. Wearing a comfortable-looking white hoodie, some loose light-grey sweatpants, and a fluffy pair of pink socks, her thin figure was covered up as she opened the door and greeted us.
I wasn't sure where Emma found those clothes as I couldn't really see the cold and regal beauty wearing anything like this, flowing silk and lace, as well as high-quality wools and cotton being more her style.
“Hey, Elijah.”, Celeste invited with a soft gesture and a somewhat insecure smile, her gaze turning to the tiny owlet sitting by my neck, causing her smile to widen a bit before she looked at the two girls that I brought with me.
Considering that Celeste had only been saved last night and that she had been asleep when I had visited her together with Jean, she had naturally not yet met her, or Laura for that matter.
“Hey. I am Jean, Elijah's lover.”, my lovely redhead introduced herself with a gentle smile, the fingers of her right hand holding onto my sweater as she did so.
"H-Hello, nice to meet you. I am Celeste.", the thin blonde responded in kind, a mixture of recognition, gratitude, and hope in her gaze while her smile became a bit more natural.
I knew that part of that was just her reacting to Jean's warm presence while it was also easy to guess that Emma might have told her about my love's role in her future recovery.
Celeste's gaze finally shifted to Laura, her eyes widening a fraction, though a moment later she seemed to get a bit flustered under the latter's intense and piercing gaze, unable to greet Laura or introduce herself.
I could see that she tried hard to not avert her eyes, which was admirable considering that even most adults couldn't withstand Laura's 'killer gaze'. Though I could also see something else in Celeste's eyes, something that I couldn't quite identify.
“Laura.”, the gorgeous black-haired she-wolf stated, her brows furrowing minutely, before just slipping out of her shoes and passing by the stunned blonde, not waiting for an answer.
I couldn't quite help the slight smile that drew up the corners of my lips as I saw this.
Laura was still Laura after all. Even if she had become much more approachable when around those that she was familiar with, especially myself as our bond was somewhat unique, she wasn't, and would probably never be, a gregarious person.
Lightly shaking my head, I followed behind Laura with the bags of food in my arms.
…
“Don't mind her.”, Jean stated with a small sigh, a helpless smile on her lips as she stayed behind for a moment and looked at the thin but still beautiful blonde girl, “It's nothing personal, Laura is always like this.”
“I-I's okay.”, Emma's daughter replied with a tiny, shy smile, seemingly awakening from her short daze, lowering her head a bit as she held onto her left forearm with her right hand, “I'm not upset.”
Smiling kindly, Jean carefully reached out to take Celeste's hand as she said: “You never had Vietnamese take-out, did you?”
“No.”, the young blonde answered with a shake of her head, somewhat surprised at her actions but not guarded.
“Well, I am sure you will love it.”, Jean stated with conviction, smiling even more brightly as she pulled the younger girl with her into the living room.
She knew that Celeste probably had very few people with whom she had shared memories that weren't absolutely traumatic, much less a friend. And being as compassionate as she was, Jean naturally couldn't do nothing while knowing that and had already decided to be a friend to the thin blonde.
…
Knowing that the mutant girl that was supposed to heal her completely was called Jean and was the lover of her uncle, Celeste had asked her mother about her, wanting to know more about the girl that was in a relationship with her rather monstrous uncle.
Emma had told her about the girl's powers and potential according to the rough ranking of mutant abilities, which were without a doubt mind-numbingly impressive.
What Celeste didn't expect though was that Jean was nothing as she had imagined. She wasn't as unfathomable and intimidating as her uncle, instead, the young redhead was simply a geyser of bright compassion and gentle strength.
Even if she had just met Jean for the first time and spent less than a few short minutes with her, Celeste trusted what her psychic senses told her.
And while she did want to get to know the girl who was supposed to be her saviour, most of her attention was captured by the way the redhead interacted with her Elijah while she sat on the floor directly between his legs, resting against his chest as his back leaned against the leather armchair.
The way that they just fed each other as if it was the most natural thing in the world, the harmony and love between them something entirely foreign to her.
Celeste couldn't really understand what kind of bond that they had to share with each to be so in tune with each other. She just knew that it was there.
Though these thoughts inevitably caused her to sneak glances at the quiet, black-haired teenage girl that sat on the leather armchair behind her uncle while silently eating her meal, her fork sometimes taking a detour to pass by Elijah's plate and stealing pieces of marinated chicken from him and Jean.
Emma had told her that there was another girl with similar experiences to hers named Laura, one with a rather brusque character, a hard-to-crack shell as they say.
What her mother hadn't told her was that the girl was basically a dark-haired goddess with wild and lively eyes, her gaze filled with quiet defiance and provocation.
Celeste couldn't really concentrate on the conversation going on between Emman and Jean as her mind couldn't help but wander to the promise that she and her other sisters had given Sophie – to experience how it felt to fall in love.