CHAPTER THIRTY:
BANNED

ALTHOUGH SHE WENT THROUGH A lot of struggle to get there, Celeste finally made it to the edge of the forest. She collapsed to her knees, closing her eyes and looking up to the sky, closing her eyes as the sun warmed her face. Her body ached and she was sure that she was never going to be able to move another muscle ever again. She sat there in the grass not moving. She was ready for it to be over, for all of the pain to wash away. She was ready for her body to be healed and for her powers to come back so that she could feel whole again. Most importantly she was ready to take a shower and wipe all of the grime and dirt from her body. She was sure she smelled horrendous.

There was nothing but her for a moment, and then there was approaching footsteps and Celeste really hoped that whoever it was wasn't trying to kill her because quite frankly she would simply let them kill her because she had no more strength to go on. A strong arm wrapped itself around her shoulders making her open her eyes slightly. Ariel looked at her, saying words that Celeste couldn't hear before the world faded away and there was absolutely nothing.

It was like that for only a second before her eyes were opening again and she was in a bright yellow room, a soft mattress beneath her body. She frowned for a moment, confused. She carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position and was surprised to find that her body no longer ached like it had just moments before. She looked down at her hands to see that there was no more dirt covering them and there wasn't anything underneath her fingernails either. She turned her head to see a mirror on the right wall and she made herself stand up and look at herself. Her hair was as blonde as it could be and her eyes were a bright blue. She was home.

She glanced down at her clothes and scrunched her nose in disgust when she was in purely white clothes. She knew she was in her room, she was the only one that had bright yellow walls because yellow was better than white and when she asked to have green walls she got denied and she was very upset about it. She pushed open the closet and pulled on a pair of pants and a blue long-sleeved shirt. She didn't bother putting shoes on her feet as she made her way out of her room. She looked down the halls before taking a left and making her way towards the main room.

When she saw her brothers and sisters around the room chatting away, she couldn't help the smallest of smiles that pulled on her lips. Even though she would never admit it out loud, she did miss them, even if they didn't miss her. Footsteps came up beside her and she turned her head to see Ariel standing there, the brunette angel sending her a gentle smile as she wrapped an arm around her. Celeste couldn't help herself as she leaned into Ariel's embrace.

     "Someone's waiting for you," Ariel said.

     Celeste looked at Ariel before nodding, not even bothering to ask who it was. She walked away and made her way towards her Father's whereabouts. He sat at the table, writing something she couldn't see. "Father?"

     The man looked up and smiled wide when he saw Celeste. "Celestial, my child." He made his way over to her and hugged her tight and Celeste couldn't help but hug him back. He took a step back and looked at her. "How are you feeling?"

     "Good as new." Celeste admitted. "Almost like I never left."

     "I never should have let you."

     "I'm glad I did." Celeste said with a smile. "Otherwise I never would have met. . ."

     "The human."

     "He's not just a human." Celeste whispered.

     "Are you telling me you fell in love with your assignment?" He asked.

      Celeste frowned. "He's not just an assignment. He's a person."

     "I know." He shook his head. "I guess I'll get right to it then. You are not allowed to leave home until I say so. Your powers have been restricted so that you can't just leave whenever you want and you'll be taking a break from anything regarding humans."

     Celeste looked at him in disbelief. He was never going to let her back on earth ever again. "Father, you can't be serious!"

     "I am very serious, Celestial."

     "But―︎"

     "Do not argue with me." His voice was stern. "You almost died. I will not have you get yourself killed for some mundane. That's final." Celeste scoffed in disbelief as he walked back over to his desk. He sat down and before he went back to work he looked up at her. "It's good to have you home."

     "Yeah, good to be home." Celeste replied, failing to hide her bitterness. She walked out and saw Ariel standing there waiting for her. "He banned me from leaving."

    Ariel's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" Celeste nodded. "Celeste, I'm so sorry."

     "He's never going to let me leave again." Celeste leaned against the wall.

     "I'm sure he'll let you leave eventually. Right now you need time to heal. Maybe this is for the best." Celeste glared at her. "I'm just saying. . . there's an opportunity that won't be coming for another half decade or so. Stay up here and heal, don't rebel. And when the time comes, I'll make sure it gets thrown your way."

     "You know something. . ." Celeste said with narrowed eyes.

     Ariel shrugged, smirking. "Maybe."

     "Can I get a hint?"

     "Remember your friend Steve?"

     "Of course."

     "Let's just say he forms a little band of misfits on his own and an opportunity will arise where a certain someone makes an appearance and he may need your help saving him." Ariel shrugged. "But what do I know?" She gave Celeste a pat on the shoulder before walking away. Celeste just stood there with a small smile on her lips.