Chapter five, in which the plot plottens xD

[therealkaichan]

Chapter Five
The Rebel


Celine’s life was a mess, but it was a mess she liked.

It had been three days since she had her big chat with the Mother, and she was fine. No brainwashing or assassins sent, and she hadn’t been fired from her work. It did give the Mother’s discourse a certain credibility, and Celine liked that.

As she walked from classes to her work, in the more than familiar company of Nanael, she found that she liked this new life more than the old one, even if this one was full of risks and strange feelings. Her smile must have been too big, because Nanael felt the need to comment on it.
“You look pretty happy today.”
“I am. I’ve been feeling quite well lately.”
“And seeing that I’m still here, it’s not related to us catching your creepy black haired girl.”
“I’m pretty much over that thing, Nanael. I’m just happy because I like this strange turn my life took.”
“That’s really something. Most times humans are full of complaints every time something doesn’t go exactly as planned.”
“It’s true... But there are many different types of humans, right?”
“I guess. I’m not exactly an expert in human behavior. I can barely understand angels.”
“And there are plenty of different types of those as well, huh?”
“Yes, but we are easier to understand. Less... Contradictive.”
“So you like your people easy and your fights complicated, Nanael?”
“See? You are psychoanalyzing me already and I can't barely get why you would be happy for your life becoming a mess. Totally not my thing.”
“You give it far too much thought, you know.” Celine laughed at Nanael’s overreaction. “It’s okay, you are fine like you are. We can’t be good at everything.”
“That’s true. But I like being good at things. So this sucks.”
“Nothing I can do about that then. This is as far as my therapy gets.”
“Wow, you’d be the worst counselor ever.”
“Then I’m glad I was born a human.”
“Here we are. Go and have fun, Celine.”
“I’ll try.”

For a moment Nanael looked like she wanted to say something else, but she shook her head and said her goodbye, not leaving any time for Celine to see what it could be.


“Good morning!” She said as she got to her office. Her workmates said their greetings as well, before going back to their jobs. Well, the humans did, Cassiel took a paper and got closer to Celine.
“Celine?”
“Yes?”
“You got a memo from the Mother’s office. Imriel said you were expecting it.” Celine felt a cold shiver running down her back. It was a bit of a new feeling, and she couldn’t help but get distracted for a second. Fortunately her brain started working in time to take the paper from Cassiel's hand.
“Thank you, Cassiel. I was waiting, yes.”
“I hope you get good news.” She smiled, as she went back to her pile of paperwork.

Celine went to her desk and looked at the folded paper, a little worried. This was either great news or terrible ones. And she wasn’t exactly sure what it would mean for her future and Elena’s. But there was no point in sitting there panicking, was it? There was a chance that things could be good. And she wanted to believe it was actually that, so without further thought she opened the memo and read it.

Here eyes went trough the paper quickly, and her smile widened. It was a copy of a memorandum sent to the Investigation team. It was calling off the investigation, but it did mention it was only provisory and that further instructions would be sent in the future. Below, written in a very neat handwriting was a note from Imriel, mentioning that Celine should meet the Mother tomorrow at six.

She had never felt so relieved before, or if she had she didn’t remember it. It was the best feeling, knowing you had accomplished something almost impossible for the good of an innocent. Her first thought was that she had to tell Elena right now. She would be so happy, even if the stop was only temporary. Maybe that would help to get her to talk more about that angel of hers, and that would get them closer to the real culprit... But even then, that was secondary.

Celine smiled. She was definitely going to the Meeting Place today. Elena had to know as soon as possible.


Elimiel came by her office later in the afternoon. He was all smiles towards Cassiel, and the usually calm angel was almost hissing at him.
“What do you want.” It wasn’t really a question, and Elimiel chuckled, amused.
“Now, now. I came to look for miss Celine, not to play with you, Cassiel. So no need to worry.”
“Then talk to her and leave.”
“I will.” Elimiel walked up to Celine and smiled. “I heard the good news. I came to pick you up to take you home. I even let Nanael know so she can go home.”
“That’s good. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
“Of course. Are you ready to go?”
“Just five more minutes, I have a few things to finish.”
“I’ll wait outside.”

Elimiel left the office, not before smiling to Cassiel, and waited outside. After finishing her pending duties and checking out with Cassiel, Celine left as well.
“It felt more like six minutes.” Elimiel complained, and Celine rolled her eyes.
“Hope you didn't get too old while waiting.”
“I will make it.” The angel chuckled. “So, are you glad?”
“Of course I am. Somehow I managed to get the Mother to understand my point of view. I can’t help but feel proud about that.”
“It makes sense. I would be proud in your place as well, even if the stop is temporary.”
“Well, I can't tell you right here, but I do have a plan in mind.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun, Celine. I look forward to seeing your plan in action.”
“Do you?” Celine laughed a bit, but voiced no complaints.


Before she realized it, the meeting place was visible and close enough. Celine didn’t really mind, even if that teleporting thing Elimiel did made her feel a little uneasy, she knew there were more important things than that. They walked a bit and got to the same door as always, where the large man asked again.
“Password?”
“Do you hate me or anything?” Elimiel’s tone was playfully self righteous and Celine chuckled.
“Maybe a little.” The man on the door moved to open for them, and closed as soon as they were in. “Are you working today, Eli?”
“Not yet. I’ll give you guys a few rounds as soon as I am done with miss Celine here.”
“Got it.”
“And here we are.” Elimiel smiled, looking at Celine. The girl sighed.
“Haziel is in the bar today, so you can go do your weirdass rounds if you want.”
“You still haven’t told me about your so called plan.”
“Oh that’s true... Well, it’s easy. If we get Elena to collaborate and we find the real culprit, then we’ll finally manage to free her from responsibility. Isn’t that good?”
“It sounds very dangerous. But I guess we can manage.”
“Wonderful.” Celine smiled. “Now go, no need to be here all the time.”
“I’m going, going.”

Celine walked to the bar and sat right on time to see Elimiel walk to a girl and carefully place his hand on her shoulder. The girl smiled and shook a little, and once again Celine wondered what exactly he dealt with.
“Good night, Celine.” Haziel was all smiles, as she dried a clean glass. “Do you want the usual?”
“Yes, please.” Celine smiled back. “I had a good week, Haziel. How about you?”
“It was fine. Nothing really new, no new faces... Just the same old.”
“I see... At least nothing bad happened. It’s not as fun as good things happening, but we have to count our blessings.”
“Haha, that much is true.” Haziel left Celine’s drink on the counter and turned to another customer. “That one is on us.”
“Thanks!” Celine grinned, turning her eyes back to where she had last seen Elimiel. He wasn’t there anymore and she sighed, her eyes looking around to see if he was still around.
“He went up.” A young man said. Celine hadn't really noticed him, so she jumped a little, but tried fast to recover her composure. “Did I startle you? I’m sorry.”
“N-no, it was nothing.” She looked at him for a moment, she didn’t know him at all, did she? His smile looked a little amused, he had long black hair, carelessly tied down. He was also wearing a lot of white, but somehow he didn’t really feel like angels usually did. No, she was certain she had never seen this man before. “How did you know...?” She trailed off.
“I saw you come in with him and look at him quite a bit. It was just a lucky guess.”
“I see. Thank you then.”
“You're very welcome. Though you don't look like the kind of girl he usually brings here. Is he trying for a new type of girlfriend?”
“We are not together.”
“Oh. Then are you one of his customers? Maybe one of his moon children he likes so much?”
“I haven’t met you before, have I?”
“No. We hadn’t spoken before.” The young man took a drink of his own glass, and didn't say anything else.
“That makes sense. You seem to be the kind of person that one easily grows to dislike, so forgetting you must be really difficult.”
“Wow, that stings!” He laughed, taking another drink. “But I suppose the truth can hurt quite a bit.”
“Are you willing to exchange introductions, or would you rather keep on being remembered as ‘mysterious jerk’?”
“I’m completely willing, miss. My name is Josiah. But mysterious jerk sounds really cute.”
“I’m Celine. I suppose I can call you like that if you like it so much.”
“A moon name. It’s a really nice one too. The Mother must’ve really liked you when she first saw you.”
“It’s just a name, a way to keep track. I don’t think she would really need to give it that much thought.”
“But she probably did.”
“Do you think so?”
“She always does.”
“You seem to know a lot about her.”
“My Counselor always spoke really fondly of her. I believe they were close at some point or another. And I’m certain that she wasn’t lying.”
“So you are human, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then why the white?”
“I’m special.” He smiled, and offered no other explanation.
“Special as in crazy, I bet.”
“Maybe. So, are you waiting for someone, miss Celine?”
“A friend.” Celine shrugged, finally taking a sip of her drink. “She shouldn’t take long.”
“She won’t take long I’m sure.” Josiah took one last drink from his glass, and got up from his chair. He smiled at Celine, a smile that was a mix of knowing and amused, and bowed his head. “But I’m busy and so are you, so if you excuse me...”
“No need to excuse yourself for leaving.” Celine shrugged.
“Have a good week, miss Celine”
“You too, mister misterious jerk.”

He left just like that, going upstairs, probably to one of the dealers. The humans here got more and more strange the more you knew them, and this one was probably no exception. Celine sighed. Where was Elena when she needed her? Elimiel was to blame, the asshole shouldn’t have left her sitting here with that jerk, it was terrible.

But probably more terrible was finding herself thinking in those terms. Had that been a surge of anger? Elimiel did tell her that there was a chance for those things to happen from time to time while she got used to her new, stronger emotions, but she hadn’t expected it to feel so strangely liberating. Anger was a bad thing, wasn’t it? One should never lose themselves to it...

“Celine!”

She blinked a few times, the sound of her name bringing her back from her strange thoughts.
“Elena, I didn't see you, I’m sorry...”
“It’s fine, fine...!” Elena smiled. “You look a little tired.” She added, bit of worry showing in her face.
“It’s nothing, it was just a really busy day at work.”
“Then you should be resting and not here, silly.”
“But I wanted to give you the news.” Celine shrugged, and Elena’s eyes widened.
“News? Did anything bad happen?”
“Quite the contrary.”
“Something good...?” The girl was probably not used to those because she looked totally lost.
“I spoke to the Mother the other day. She agreed to call off the investigation temporarily. So at least for the time being you should be safe.”
“R-really?”
“I promise. You can check with Elimiel too, if you wish.”
“No, no I believe you! I’m so happy...!” Before Celine could do anything, the black haired girl was all over her, hugging her and laughing, and she couldn’t help but hug her back.
“Now, it’s really important that you make sure to lay low, so you won’t get in any more trouble. Can you promise that?”
“Of course! Even if my angel told me... I wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore.”
“I’m glad...” Celine smiled once more, carefully patting the other girl’s hair. “You getting in problems would get me in trouble as well.”
“It’s fine... I... I've been thinking.”
“About what?”
“About my angel. I don’t understand why my angel would tell me to hurt someone. She always helped me, since I was a child, and she always gave me good advice... She taught me that I shouldn’t run from school, and that I should help others... Why would she tell me to do something bad?”
“I can't tell... If she was as nice as you say... Maybe something happened to her that made her change her mind?”
“Something like what?”
“I’m not certain. I have no way to know.”
“I understand... Do you think she became evil?”
“That’s too much to say... we can’t just say that about someone without knowing their story, right?”
“That’s right. It would be terrible.”
“So let’s wait a little. Until next time your angel visits you... Maybe you’ll find some clues.”
“I’ll do that. I’ll watch my angel very very closely, and I’ll see if anything is wrong. There must be an answer somewhere.”
“I’m sure there is.”
“I’ll keep a very close eye! But now I have to let everyone know. I’ll see you later!!”

Like she had come, Elena disappeared further inside the meeting place, while Celine watched her retreating form. She had done the right thing, she was sure of that. She had also left Elena wondering why her angel, who was so good, had given her such ill advice. Maybe with that, at some point or another, Elena would realize something that Celine couldn’t see. Maybe then, somehow, they would find an answer to the whole angel story.

“Fancy seeing you here.” A familiar voice said, and Celine rolled her eyes.
“Well certainly, Nanael.”

There was a long pause.

“Nanael?!” Celine panicked. She hadn’t pushed the button had she? She was absolutely certain she hadn’t. It was in her pocket and she hadn’t even put her hands in the pockets in the last hour or so. Had she messed up so bad?
“Wow, way to panic there.” Nanael rolled her eyes. “It’s not as if I were the worst person to meet, okay?”
“B-but...”
“Hey Haziel. Fix me up with a drink, will you?”
“Sure.” Haziel smiled turning to prepare something. Celine's eyes went from her to Nanael and to the rest of the room quickly, and back to Nanael.
“What are you doing here?!”
“Taking a drink and hanging out with some friends, but shouldn’t the question be what you are doing here, miss absolutely correct human Celine?”
“I’m...” Celine made a pause and frowned. “I don't have to tell you!”
“No, but since you asked, I thought I had the right to ask back. Plus, you are the one acting all shifty.”
“Shifty? You are the one sitting in a place full of rebels!”
“Well, where do you want me to sit? Because I certainly don’t belong in the goody two shoes angel group!”
“But you---” Celine stopped cold. Did Nanael just (very blatantly) admit to being a rebel? “Did you just---?”
“Well, yes! Everyone knows I come here, so you shouldn’t act so surprised!”
“I’ve been coming here for weeks and I never saw you.” Celine frowned. “Were you hiding from me?”
“Well, duh. Showing myself would’ve made you all pissy and maybe even dangerous. I don’t need you telling everyone I’m a rebel, even if everyone kinda knows anyway.”
“That’s horribly pointless.”
“Look, being here is more difficult than you think, and being a rebel with an actual job is something worthy of envy okay? So you can’t just go an tell everyone, or it will end up getting to the Mother’s ears and she’ll be angry at me for my lack of subtlety. You can't ruin my life when I’m finally doing my dream job.”
“You could’ve explained! I’m not stupid you know!”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Nanael’s grin was bigger than any other grin Celine had ever seen.
“That’s rude.” She frowned. “And totally wrong. The only one who is horrible and an idiot around here is you.”
“But actually I was just waiting a little before telling you. It could’ve ended up in serious trouble, and we don’t want that, do we?”
“No, of course not. But it’s still a pretty horrible way to solve the issue.”
“I know, but there is nothing we can do about it. ‘Pretty horrible’ is totally my usual method anyway. It’s better than the ‘crap’ method that I used to have.”
“I don’t even want to know.” Celine rolled her eyes. “I still think you should’ve told me.”
“We’ll agree to disagree. And I’ll disagree pretty hard.”
“Fine.”
There was a pause.
“So, how do you like the place?” Nanael was back to smiling Nanael mode, and Celine though that she’d end up dizzy of rolling her eyes too much.
“It’s fine I guess. Big, and full of absolute weirdoes like you, however.”
“Your drink, Nanael.” Haziel interrupted the conversation as shamelessly as ever. “And you, Celine, just tell me if she gives you too much trouble, I’ll kick her butt to remind her of some rules.”
“There is no need...” Celine half smiled, half chuckled. “I can’t kick her butt, but I can snark at her very well.”
“That’s good, I’m glad to hear it.” Haziel grinned, going back to her duties as bartender.
“She totally can’t kick my butt in a fair fight.” Nanael smiled smugly. “I’m one of the best fighters in this side of the world.”
“Maybe, but I think she’ll manage if she has to.”
“But she doesn't have to. And you won't give her any reasons, riiiight?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Did you come here with sour face?”
“Sour face...? Is that Elimiel?”
“Well, of course.”
“I did. But that nickname...”
“He’s not a sour face anymore, but I’m still calling him that because he used to. I don’t talk to him enough now to find any other nickname.”
“So you knew him from before?”
“We worked together when we were younger. He was really weird back then, all antisocial and easy to get angry... I think that coming to this place calmed him down.”
“I can't really imagine him like that.” Though it did make easier to understand why nice and polite Cassiel disliked him so much. Was he that terrible back then?
“People change, and so do angels. But angels take a lot longer and the changes can get a little creepy.”
“That makes me feel so much better.” Celine chuckled. It kind of did, actually, or maybe it was just a placebo.
“He sure is taking long... Maybe he’s working?”
“He did go up. I don't see why he wouldn’t. What does he work on, anyway?”
“Oh he didn't tell you?”
“Not at all. He went all mysterious when I asked, so I didn’t ask anymore... And I kinda forgot with all the things I had to do.”
“You've been busy, haven’t you?”
“I did get a warning that it wouldn’t be easy. So I’m just working to do what I can.”
“It sounds like a good thing, Celine.” Nanael smiled, a kinder smile than her usual playful one. “When we try to do too much, we end up drowning in responsibilities we can’t shoulder.”
“I’ll try to avoid that. I’d rather not drown.”
“That’s a good answer. Try hard, you hear?”
“I do, I do.” Celine smiled. It was really strange how just a few minutes she was freaking out, but now she was getting advice from the same person who had caused the panic to begin with.

But she didn't really mind. This was fine, right?

Elimiel came back really late and by then Nanael was gone. This was weird. Didn’t Elimiel know that Nanael was one of the meeting place’s habituals? If so, why was he so insistant on keeping Celine’s visit to the place a secret from her? It didn't quite make sense... But she realized that angels rarely did. Whenever she thought she was understanding one, they would pull the rug from under her feet like Nanael had done today. It wasn’t right, but Celine could understand why beings with such long lifespans could be so weird and hard to figure for a normal human like herself.

She sighed. On top of this, tomorrow there was the meeting with the Mother. She closed her eyes to sleep, and with a little horror she realized that she was really excited.



Celine went to class and to work.

If it weren’t for the constant reminder of her afternoon appointment, the day would have been the most normal day in her life lately. It was a little sad that the panic for the impending end of the world didn’t quite let her relax and enjoy the normality.

She said hello to Cassiel, and walked to her desk. Time went very slowly when you were panicking a little, but somehow she managed to survive until the time of her meeting. Five minutes before the arranged time, she excused herself, and made her way to the Mother’s office.

Imriel was sitting in his desk, reading some papers. Celine really wondered what kind of duties a person like him would have. Being the Mother’s assistant was most likely a very very busy job, and he probably got to see a lot of terrible things.

“Miss Celine.” He greeted her with a smile, and Celine felt a little terrible about being there staring. “The Mother is available now.”
“Oh thank you... Do I go in?”
“Yes. Do you want anything to drink? Coffee, tea...?”
“No, this is fine, thanks.”

Celine went in without further words. She was as nervous as the first time when she crossed the door, and she completely forgot about that when she saw the Mother with her cup of coffee reading some paperwork. She seemed to have changed her white suit for a different white suit, but other than that it was the same as the last time.
“Hello, miss Celine.” She smiled. “Please, do take a seat.”
“Thank you...” Celine smiled, doing as asked. “First of all I want to thank you for stopping the investigation... It was truly kind of you to reconsider.”
“There is no need to thank me. That is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Tell me, I’m listening.” Celine nodded.
“After talking to the Investigator, I realized that us catching that girl of yours would cut us off from the true culprit. If that angel truly is in contact with that girl, then there must be something we are missing.”
“And the girl is the only answer, right? I thought the same. That maybe if the girl gave that angel away, we could prove she’s innocent.”
“And tell me, miss Celine. Are you planning on doing this yourself?”
“I’ve been trying, but even when she mentioned some things, they are still no hint to the angel's identity.”
“Individual investigation... I see. Let us make an agreement.”
“I’m listening...”
“I will give you two months to investigate as you see fit and find this angel. If after that time you haven’t found out who it is, we will have to intercede and restart the search.”
“And if I do find the culprit?”
“Then your black haired girl will get a clean expedient, as she will be considered a victim of manipulation.”
“I understand.”
“Is this a good deal for you, miss Celine?” The Mother took a sip of coffee from her cup as she waited for Celine to consider the pros and cons.
“It is. I will do my best to help you find that angel.”
“That is good. A person like that is far too dangerous to have loose.”
“I will do my best, then.” Celine nodded. She liked having a clear goal, even if she had no idea of how to achieve it.
“I will need you to report any findings directly to me. Whenever you find something, you let Imriel know and we will arrange a meeting. Is that good?”
“Understood. Should I treat it as secret information?”
“Only if you want. I just want to make sure the information reaches me firsthand, other than that it’s up to your judgement.”
“I will do that then. I’ll try to apply mt best judgement.”
“There is nothing else I need to ask you, miss Celine. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Then you can go. Thank you for your time.”
“Thank you as well.”


Celine left the Mother’s office, slightly satisfied and slightly conflicted at the same time. She finished her workday with the same strange mixture of feelings. And as if things weren’t confusing enough, for some reason Nanael had decided to be really really chatty on her way back home.
“And that’s when I tell him--- You're not even paying any attention, are you, Celine?”
“Mhm...”
“Wow you really aren’t. That’s pretty horrible from you.”
“Can I ask you something?” Celine frowned and Nanael rolled her eyes.
“Sure why not, this relationship is not one sided at all.”
“Do you really trust her? The Mother I mean.”
“I do. I disagree with her, and that is why I am a rebel, but I know that her word can be trusted.”
“I see...” Celine’s frown turned into a more thoughtful one, and Nanael chuckled.
“You disagree too, don't you?”
“I... I’m not sure. I don't really like it... The treatments, the numbing of the feelings... Do you think that’s fine?”
“No. I don’t like it at all. She doesn’t want you fighting, so she had the treatments made, but the truth is that it is not an actual peace if everyone is doing it because they can’t choose anything else.”
“But the people are still happy...”
“They are.”
“But it’s an artificial happiness.” Celine remembered Elimiel’s words quite clearly. Did he think the same as her?
“True. But nobody dares to truly free them.”
“But how can someone even do that? If they are bound by their hearts, they won’t get it.”
“Well, they can't even start like this, since any need for change is dampened by the treatments. So I suppose a revolution would start by stopping the machines in the chambers.”
“There are too many of them, Nanael. Lots of people would have to act at the same time, and that won't happen..”
“But there is an off switch. A button that would get rid of every machine in the chambers. A way to show everyone that they are living a lie.”
“You... You shouldn’t be telling me this.” Celine stopped walking, and looked at her guardian. “I’m not a leader, Nanael. And definitely not a revolutionary.”
“That’s a lie. You are a fighter, you just don’t know it because those treatments ate your need to fight.”
“Don’t. This is wrong.”
“And isn’t living a world full of lies even worse?”
“Then why don’t you do it?”
There was a moment of silence between them. Celine wasn’t feeling too comfortable with this conversation, but it angered her even more to think that Nanael could have been leading her on to do something stupid. That after all this time the angel...
“I need something. Something from outside, okay? And I can't get it because I can’t cross the gate.”
“The... Gate?”
“It doesn’t matter. You said this was wrong, so just leave it.”

Celine had never seen Nanael like this. Her smile was gone, replaced by a frown, and her body language had closed off completely.

“Nanael... Tell me about it.”
“It’s dangerous Celine. Too dangerous. So just forget it okay? Leave it.”

They walked the rest of the way to Celine’s home in an awkward silence. There was something wrong with all of this, Celine was absolutely sure of it... But at the same time she couldn’t stop thinking.
Was there truly a way to stop this? To bring people to realize that a true life was infintely more fulfilling than a false happiness?

The more she thought, the more dangerous her thoughts grew, but of course, after so many years of living her sheltered life, Celine never realized exactly how dangerous.


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Notas:

Ahahaha.

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