CHAPTER XIX
"Reunions in the Snowlight"
Just when the air around us had begun to calm, the sky shimmered again — a soft, silver glint that cut through the dark winds.
And from that glow… they arrived.
Olivia, Flash, Chiko, and Rira stepped out from the light — and with them came someone I'd never seen before.
She was breathtaking.
Like snow fallen on moonlight — delicate, serene, and glowing with a grace that didn't seem earthly. Her wings were crystal-like, shimmering with flecks of frost. Her presence brought a strange stillness — as if the very forest was holding its breath in reverence.
And the moment her eyes fell on Cael… she didn't hesitate.
"Cael!" she gasped with pure emotion — joy, pain, relief all tangled into one.
She rushed forward and threw her arms around him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. The way she held him… as if letting go might shatter her again.
"I missed you so much," she whispered, her voice soft and trembling. "Do you even remember when we last saw each other?"
Cael stood still for a moment, but then his hand slowly came up, resting gently on her back. His voice, though as cool and controlled as ever, had a strange softness beneath it.
"Fourteen years," he replied. "What's the big deal? We've been apart from Olivia even longer."
His words were teasing, but the way he looked at her — a rare warmth in his gaze — told a different story.
Olivia stepped forward, a playful smirk on her face. "Oh, so that's it? The two of you just going to hug and ignore the rest of us? Do I not exist anymore?"
The girl — the snow-fairy — turned and laughed gently, and Olivia walked over to embrace them both. It was so natural. So effortless.
"Of course you exist," the fairy said. "How could I forget my storm sister?"
Cael chuckled softly and pulled both of them close — one arm around each. "You'll always have your place, Olivia."
He paused, looking at her with something deeper — a bond older than words.
"You have your place in my heart, Sister."
That word — sister — echoed between them like magic.
And in that moment, I saw something I hadn't seen in Cael before.
Not rage.
Not revenge.
Not control.
But family.
Pure, unguarded family.
The kind that gets torn apart by time and war and fate… only to somehow find its way back together again.
The three of them — Cael, Olivia, and the snow-fairy — stood there with a light in their eyes that no prophecy, no curse, no darkness could dim.
Chiko and Rira watched quietly from the side, smiling like they had seen this moment written in the stars all along. Flash's eyes softened, his usual alertness giving way to calm.
It didn't matter what battles were ahead.
Or what darkness still whispered in the shadows.
Because for a fleeting moment…
Cael wasn't a storm.
He wasn't a weapon.
He wasn't the boy fated to break the world.
He was just a brother.
A boy reunited with the only pieces of his past that had ever truly mattered.
And in the silence that followed — with snow falling gently from the trees and magic humming softly in the air — I realized something…
Not every storm begins with thunder.
Some begin with a reunion.
And some…
With a memory that refuses to fade.
"The Keys, The Offerings, and the Path to the Mother Fairy"
The sky had gone still, but the tension between us all felt electric.
Cael stepped forward, his gaze locked on the snow-fairy with a calm intensity that only he could carry.
"Ivory," he said, voice low and firm, "you once told me… that you held the key to the First House."
The moment her name passed his lips like that — not as a whisper of reunion, but as a statement of purpose — Ivory's eyes shimmered with a mix of mischief and nostalgia.
"So… you figured it out," she said with a soft smile. "You finally realized it was me."
Cael gave a faint smirk. "Who else could it have been? Only someone as dramatic as you would try to scare me with such flair. I've known you too long not to recognize your style."
Ivory let out a breathy laugh — amused, not offended. Slowly, she raised a hand to her head, brushing her fingers through her silky white hair. With a gentle flick, she pulled out a tiny pin, barely noticeable to the ordinary eye — yet pulsing with quiet power.
She held it out.
"This," she said, placing it in Cael's palm, "is the key."
He accepted it without a word, closing his fingers around it like it was something sacred.
But before he could even turn away, Olivia stepped forward.
"Guess it's my turn now," she said softly.
From beneath her cloak, she retrieved a delicate pendant glowing with a faint blue light. She pressed it into Cael's other hand and met his eyes.
"We've come far, brother. Let's finish this."
Now, with two keys resting in his palms, Cael stood silent for a beat — shoulders rising and falling in thought.
Behind him, all of us watched — me, Carmine, Aurelia, and even Caeli, who now stood among us again, no longer the captive but part of this storm we were all caught in.
And then, slowly, Cael turned to face us.
His hands rose — open, steady, commanding.
And just as his palms faced us, a strange pull stirred in the air.
I felt it first — a tug, not on my body, but on the objects I carried.
My necklace.
Carmine's hairpin.
Aurelia's embroidered belt.
Even the flowers braided in Caeli's hair — all of it began to glow faintly… and then, before we could react, each item was pulled from us like a whisper being called home.
Everything we held — all the ornaments, accessories, magical trinkets — floated toward Cael.
Except our clothing. That… stayed.
The items hovered in the air for a moment, glowing softly like stars that had forgotten they belonged to the sky.
Cael studied them — his gaze scanning through each one, as if listening to them.
Then, his hand moved.
From the cluster of floating relics, he carefully picked out four:
— A delicate flower, still fresh despite the wind.
— A single earring, etched with ancient runes.
— A bracelet made of silver threads and skyglass beads.
— And a simple, shimmering hand ring, warm with residual magic.
He closed his fingers around them like they were the final pieces of a puzzle — or a promise.
And then, without turning back to us, he looked toward Olivia and Ivory.
"I'm going," he said.
"To the Mother Fairy."
His voice didn't tremble. Not even once.
He didn't ask permission.
He didn't offer excuses.
He simply… decided.
Because this wasn't a request. It was fate unfolding.
The air shifted as he stepped forward — his boots quiet against the soft ground. The keys safely tucked away. The offerings carefully held. His cloak caught the breeze as if the world itself was trying to hold him back for just one more second.
But he didn't stop.
Cael was no longer just one of us.
He was the bearer of two sacred keys.
The holder of ancient offerings.
The storm that knew its destination.
And he was on his way to stand before the only being who could give him what he had long been destined to receive.
A boon.
A blessing.
Or maybe… a curse in disguise.
As he disappeared into the path that led to the Mother Fairy's hidden realm, silence fell among us again.
Heavy. Holy. Unspoken.
We watched.
We waited.
And somewhere deep in my chest…
…I feared what he might return as.
Because once someone steps into destiny — they rarely come back the same.
"The Silent Escape and the Path Beyond"
( Hidden Footsteps)
I couldn't stay tied there.
Not when I could feel the pull of something far more powerful than chains — intuition.
Something deep inside me whispered that Cael's journey wasn't just his anymore.
It was ours.
And I needed to be a part of it — before it was too late.
The magic that bound us to that cursed tree may have been strong… but my will?
It was stronger.
I turned to Flash, who stood a few steps away, trying to keep watch while hiding the storm of emotions swirling in his eyes.
I didn't call out. I didn't need to.
Our eyes met — and in that one glance, he understood.
I needed to go.
And he was the only one I could trust to help me.
He hesitated, just for a breath. Not out of fear. But out of loyalty.
He had sworn to protect me… but breaking the rules was never easy for someone like him.
Still, he moved.
Without a word, without drawing attention, Flash stepped closer. His movements were quick and silent, like wind brushing through leaves. With one swift gesture, he loosened the magical restraints around me. The vines of enchanted light faded softly — unseen, unnoticed.
And just like that… I was free.
Not even Aurelia or Carmine noticed.
They were too distracted by everything Cael had left behind — by the weight of what was unfolding.
I turned toward the path Cael had vanished down.
I couldn't explain it, but every beat of my heart screamed the same thing:
Go after him.
Now.
And I did.
Without a second thought, I slipped into the shadows and began to follow the trail of flickering magic he had left behind — a quiet echo in the wind, a faint warmth in the air.
But I wasn't alone.
Rira and Chiko appeared beside me — their expressions unreadable but their presence unwavering.
"We're with you," Rira said softly, her hand brushing against her blade. "Wherever this leads."
"And besides," Chiko added with a hint of a grin, "you'd get lost without us."
I smiled faintly, thankful… but focused.
And then, Flash appeared behind me.
No words. No explanations. Just silent agreement.
He was coming too.
Together — the four of us — slipped away from the cursed tree, from the others, from the world that still didn't know what storm was about to break.
We didn't know what we'd find.
We didn't know what Cael was going to face — or become.
But I knew one thing for certain:
I couldn't let him face it alone.
Not because I didn't trust him.
But because… I still believed.
Believed that no matter how deep the darkness became…
…there was still a piece of light left in him.
And if I had to walk through the edge of fate itself to reach it —
I would.
To be continued…