Chapter 508: Celestials in The Withered

As the carriage rolled into the Withered, Iris sat quietly inside, her hands in her lap, as she stared at the others arguing. Sharing the carriage with her were three boys and two girls, all Celestials, just lower-ranked; one only slightly able to call himself a Celestial.

They weren’t special; none of them were. If they were, they would have been in the expedition... yet, strangely enough, they had dressed... quite lavishly. The boys were all wearing suits with beautiful gold accessories, almost as if they were attending a ballroom.

The girls, too, were wearing some beautiful dresses, one that caught the eye of many, even hers. And the dresses were the only pretty things; they were too, but it is to be expected when you are the daughter of a Celestial to be appealing.

...

And then there she was, wearing a white top and a leather jacket over it, as well as a pair of black jeans... she already knew the King of the nation they were going to, so she didn’t think dressing nice was really that important, and why would it be?

She wasn’t going to a birthday; it was just to deliver some information.

She had not met any of the others before; it was the first time, and she could feel their gazes slipping onto her many times, especially the ones from the three boys, and she could tell there was nothing good inside their eyes.

The worst part was that the girl also stared at her with envy; she could feel it, how they cursed her in their minds. It was obvious that they didn’t like her, and probably because of her clothing, they thought she was looking down on them.

Which is stupid, since she doesn’t even know them and couldn’t have known they were coming or how they were dressing.

They weren’t the brightest, but that wasn’t important; what was... was their behaviour. From what she noticed when they first arrived at the carriage, which was driven by someone from the Withered, that way they could navigate through the Withered more easily, since it was a big part of their Kingdom and a place they had to cross to get to the other Kingdom.

They shouted at the man for nothing, just because his horse wasn’t the color they liked. ’Absurd... these are the parents I have to work with?’

It was clear just how entitled they were, which was a bit worrying, since what if this attitude came out with the King and they angered him? The relationship between the two Kingdoms might not be the same, and she was going to get caught in the middle, since she is the princess.

As the carriage rolled close to the border, it suddenly stopped as the man opened the door.

"We’re going to rest here for a while, so that I can get some supplies from the marketplace." Iris smiled, nodding her head, but as she did, one of the boys frowned, leaning forward. "Stop? How dare? Does it look like we care if you starve? Your job is to get us through the Withered, so you’re going to do that. Now get back and continue driving."

The man’s smile faded as his mouth stayed open. He knew he could never talk back to a Celestial, but he also didn’t have enough supplies for himself to survive. They had their food and drinks, but he could never touch them.

Iris glanced between the man and her ally, sighing, before getting down from the carriage.

"We will stop." She winked at the man as she turned to the Celestials. "I also need to get something from Marketplace if you all don’t mind." And now the tables had turned, while the man could never have argued back to the Celestials.

They have no right to talk back to her; the princess’s decision in this mission was final. After all, they were there more to protect her in case something happened. She was going to do the talking; after all, the others had no idea what was happening inside the Wonderland, only her.

If she wanted to stop, they were going to stop. The boy frowned, looking away, embarrassed. "Stay here; we won’t take long." But as she was about to close the door, one of the girls spoke up.

"But what if we get attacked?"

Iris tilted her head, confused. "There are five of you, plus most people from the Withered who don’t get to the Blue Rose, who are Readers. Even if you get attacked, it would be disgraceful if you couldn’t win." And with that, she closed the door.

She didn’t think she had said something that mean in a while. But they deserved it.

Turning to the man, she chuckled. "Let’s go, I’ll pay for your supplies." She said, starting to walk, but stopped as she remembered she was still not good enough to navigate the Withered. She knew about the marks, but she could never do what the man did.

So she let him take the lead.

...

"Why are you helping me... I would have survived... maybe, and even if I didn’t, they would have just called another to take my place. So why, princess?"

"Because why not?" She said, chuckling.

...

Getting the supplies was easy, and she had way more money than needed; even with paying extra, she hardly spent any, and even if she needed more, her anchor was always there for her to enter and get some more. And there were a lot more methods to get more, so she had no worry about the money.

The man had also been extremely grateful... which she was happy to see, how happy he was. It warmed her heart. But as they arrived back at the carriage, the others were arguing with a woman and a small child.

Seeing this, Iris rushed in before things could turn into a tragedy. Getting in the face of the woman, she looked back at the Celestials, who looked extremely mad. "Excuse me, but what’s happening here?"

The woman frowned, pointing towards the Celestials. "What’s happening here? Those people are being disrespectful; that’s what’s happening. My child was just minding his business, playing around, when one of them spat at him. As a mother, I could never take that! No matter who they are."

Iris’s face dropped to the ground.

She knew how entitled the Celestials were, and she expected them to hate the people of the Withered with all their heart, but at the same time, she did not expect them to go so far as to spit on a child... she understood what the woman was feeling... but it was very surprising to see how she was talking back, almost fighting with them, while only being a Reader.

Sighing, Iris took the woman to a place where they could talk. "I understand your anger, and I’m fully taking your side, but those are five Celestials, and even more, all Seekers; who knows what might have happened if things continued to heat up."

The woman tilted her head. "And what if they are Seekers? I am too."

Iris’s eyes went wide, almost instantly; this was probably the thing she expected least to hear from the woman, and there were many reasons. Not only was she someone from the Withered, she also wasn’t discriminating, It was just a known fact how hard it was to ascend, but she was also a mother, and one who clearly cared for her kid above all, so she had no idea how she managed to do that while ascending.

"You... are?"

The woman nodded. "I am. My name is Maeve." She smiled as she ruffled her child’s hair. "And this little guy is Rune. He’s also going to awaken next year. I plan on helping him get to Seeker, as best as I can, of course, only until Enlightenment, since before the Trial, I’ll have to help more people ascend with him; that way, he is also safe inside."

..."Huh?" Iris said, confused about what the woman was saying.

Maeve chuckled. "It’s something a very special person wanted from the Withered; he’s the one who helped me, and since he isn’t here right now, I’ll be the one taking his place. He’s busy with an expedition in the Wonderland, from what I heard from a friend inside the Blue Rose."

’Friend inside the Blue Rose, special person from inside the Wonderland... who is this woman?’

"Um, I know this might not be the nicest question, but do you mind if I ask who these two people are?" Iris said, a bit nervous.

The woman smiled. "It’s fine, princess; you are a kind soul. The friend I was talking about is a boy who works at a smithy; Atlas is his name, and the person behind everything, and the hope of the Withered, is someone my child and I hold really dear. His name is Aether; you probably haven’t heard of him."

...

...

Iris stared at the woman; she should have expected that answer.

’What has this guy been doing without people knowing? What’s his plan, and what does he want to achieve?

Aether...’