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[Celeste Lachance]

Celeste could feel the moons beams beat down on her as she walked along the pool at the edge of the waterfall. Her feet were bare, her shoes in her hands as she closed her eyes, the water rushing over her feet as she walked. It was refreshing, a feeling she hadn't been able to feel since she was little. Now that she was presented with the opportunity, she took it.

Walking around town she had heard rumors of this place. The Celestial Falls. The name called her even more than the spot itself, drawing her closer and closer to it until she stood only feet away from it. Now she was holding herself back from walking right under the smooth-running water and letting it wash her away. Wash away her past, her sadness, the death she had witnessed. She felt like a wild animal, and that every death that happened came because of her.

Walking into the pool more, she lifted her skirt, rolling it at the top a bit so the bottom of it wouldn't get wet in the water. She threw her shoes onto the bank as she turned, looking over at the falls. As she did, she could hear her kid brother's voice. His laughter always brightened her smile, and it did so this time as well. She saw him walking out of the waterfall and stopping in the middle of the pond in front of her. He hend his hand up and outstretched to her, calling her name.

Celeste was about to step forward, her hand outstretched, before she hesitated and stopped, slowly bringing her hand in and putting it against her chest. It was an illusion, just like the townspeople had said. It wasn't real. Her brother was dead; she had watched him die. She couldn't be looking at him now. Her head lowered as she stepped back and out of the water, falling back and sitting on the ground before pulling her legs closer to her and wrapping her arms around her thighs, holding them close as she laid her forehead upon her knees.

[PhoenixSoul91]

He knew she wouldn't notice him as he stepped out of the forest beside the falls. She was obviously seeing what the waterfall's spell was casting. He couldn't exactly tell what she was seeing, but the look on her face was one of pained longing. He sat himself on a rock beside the waterfall and watched her as she sat back down on the bank.

"You know little one you should be very careful when looking into this waterfall," he said aloud though not looking at her. For he too was staring at what the waterfall showed him. A single tear fell from his left eye. A tear which he did not bother to try and wipe away. "If you're mind isn't strong enough. It will break you."

[Celeste Lachance]

The voice to the side of her made her jump a little, her head snapping in his direction as she looked over at him. Her hand raised to her bangs, running through the hair as she pressed it over her eye. Her eyes raised to his, watching as that one tear trailed down his cheeks. Her hand nearly reached out as a sort of comfort before she held it back. She didn't know him, why was she reaching out to comfort him?

Celeste turned her body until she was sitting on her legs slightly. She looked over at him, her head tilted to the side slightly and her hair falling off her shoulder. "Little one?" She put her hands in front of her on the ground as she looked over at him. "I may look small, but I am far from being little.

My mind can handle many things, I am very careful about everything." She then sighed and turned back to the waterfall, looking out at the clear waters. "Though... I guess my mind does seem fickle when it comes to some things." Her head tilted down as she looked at the ground in front of her.

[PhoenixSoul91]

He turned to face her a warm smile on his face. Then he laughed, not a harsh or emotional laugh, but one of warmth and friendlyness. "Sorry if I offended you, but when you get to my age everyone is like a," he pondered for a moment. "Well, a "Little One" I'm possitive that your transformed state is larger than your current form. Though I don't see a problem with your human form."

[Celeste Lachance]

Her head raised as she heard him speak again. She turned her head over to him as he spoke, her frown slightly turning to a smile. His last words were almost a compliment, at least that's how she took it. She looked down, a slight blush on her cheeks before she looked back up at him, taking in his looks. "You do not look too much older than myself. So the nickname does not need to be used. Call me Celeste instead."

She raised her hand to brush through her bangs again. "As for my transformed state, what makes you think it's larger? You have not seen it, and probably won't get to." She turned her body and began putting her shoes back on, her feet having dried off by now. She then put her hands behind her and leaned back, facing him now.

[PhoenixSoul91]

She had turned to face him, but he was no longer there. A large shadow passed over head blocking out part of the moon casting an unidentifiable shadow in the form of a large beast on the ground. A cloud of sand was kicked up, and as the cloud faded his form could be seen in the middle of it. His face looking slightly serious. "First, we make look close in age, but I many years far your senior. Second Celeste is a very pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty young lady. And Third I don't need to see your Transformed state to know that being a pure blood lycan your transfromed state would be large than most."

He slowly began walking away in the direciton of town. He stopped just before reaching the woods. Turning to face her a rather strange smile on his lips. "Besides, its a simple fact that members of the Lachance clan have very large powerful transformed states. So it would only be natural that you would have a a form like that. Seeing as how you are a Lachance." He turned away from her chuckling softly to himself at seeing her face when he had said her last name.

[Celeste Lachance]

Her head tilted as she didn't see him, her eyes traveling then to the ground to look at the shadow that passed over her. She followed it and turned her head, raising her arm to cover her face as the sand kicked up. When it had settled, she slowly lowered her arm, listening to him as he spoke. A smile appeared on her face as he complimented her, her cheeks turning a soft pink, though hidden by the dark sky. He mentioned being a pure blood lycan and her eyebrow raised. How did he know she was such a woman?

She stood slowly as he began walking away. She wanted to talk to him more, figure out how he knew. She then stopped, mid-way between sitting and standing, and listened. As he mentioned her last name, her eyes grew wide, her hand unconsciously raising to her forehead as she lightly brushed the mark. As he turned away, she stood up straighter, holding her hand up slightly.

"Wait! How... how did you know my last name was Lachance? And first of all, how do you know about my family? We don't generally reveal that we are lycans to everyone. Especially not people we don't know." She took a couple of steps closer to him. "You must have known someone from the family really well to know that."

[PhoenixSoul91]

He stood at the edge of the forest listening to her questions. Now that he thought about it he shouldn’t have said any of that. He sighed heavily knowing that he should answer her questions, but at the same time he shouldn’t. Turning sideways he looked at her with his right eye, the moon light glinting off the golden iris. Then he looked up at the nearly full moon.

“I knew that you were a member of the Lachance clan because of your scent,” he said in a low voice. “Every lycan clan has its own unique scent about its members. I also know because of the mark you try to hide with your hair.” He pointed directly to where her scar was as he looked back at her.

“Second I did know members of the Lachance clan very well. Just so that you can begin to understand just how old I really am you should know that I was around when it was first formed. The one who started the clan was like a brother to me.” He inhaled slowly his eyes closed before opening again. “You’ve probably heard of him. After all, you are his descendant.”

Turning to now have his entire body face her he pushed his hat up to reveal his face including the scar on his left eye. His golden eyes took in all her reactions and emotions that were going though her. Then another tear rolled down the left side of his face. “I am sorry for you loss. They were good people, they shouldn’t have died they way they did.”

He turned once more, but did not move. “Oh and by the way,” his head turned so that the right side of his face was visible. “If you don’t believe me about being that old you should take a look at what you’re standing in.” Her foot was standing in one of four very large wolf paw prints in the sand.

[Celeste Lachance]

As he spoke about her scent and her scar, she raised her hand and brushed the hair away, revealing the crescent moon. Her fingers brushed over it lightly, her mind wandering. No one ever knew what was behind her bangs. She generally told a story to them of an accident she had gotten herself into. She said her eye was ruined forever and she has never been able to see through it since. But hearing that he knew...

She was surprised as he spoke about her family. She had never once heard someone talk about the beginnings. About the start of her clan. Sure she had heard stories, and had met the creator of the clan once when she was very little, but she did not remember all of her family all that well. They had barely started out in the clan when she was born. And knowing he was trusted in the clan, she must have met him once.

She saw the tear run down his face again and she lowered her head, closing her eyes as he spoke of the deaths. She nodded her head in agreement as he spoke. She opened them and was able to see the large paw print in the sand that one of her feet was in. She looked back up at him as he turned back and spoke of it.

"Florent... Was a wonderful man. I met him once. It is true, I was very little, but I still remember him." She looked back at the ground, putting her hands behind her back. "You must have been just as hurt..." She stopped and looked back up at him.

[PhoenixSoul91]

"I was," he said quietly, his voice flat and even with no trace of emotion in it at all. "But whats happened can not be changed so we must move on. No matter how painful an experience has been there is always something that can be learned from it."

He looked at her face now that she had pushed her hair from her eye and he watched her finger the moon shaped mark. His left arm absentmindedly moved and rubbed his right shoulder, the one that had the crescent moon tattoo. The tattoo that labeled him for what he was. But as he looked at her face he came to realize something and the more he stared at her the more she looked just like.... When his mind finally clicked and he looked upon her with a strange smile and walked up to her.

"Now that I think about it, you really have grown into a fine young woman, kiddo." He placed his hand on her shoulder smiled. "You look so much like your mother." He laughed when he saw the look she was giving him. "You really don't remember me do you? Well this should bring back some memories." He removed his hand from her shoulder and walking a few feet away to stand beside the water pulled out a small hand carved flute from within his jacket and began playing a soft tune. After a few minutes it can be understood as a lullaby.

[Celeste Lachance]

Something was different, and right as he started talking, Celeste could tell he was trying to hide his feelings, trying to keep them away from her so she wouldn't know what he was thinking. Smart tactic, really. It was working. Celeste tried to scan his face in hopes that she could figure something out, some small detail. She got nothing, which was to be expected, trying to read an old lycan such as himself. His advice was true, and though she knew it, it was hard to live by, hard to follow. There are times when it seemed like it couldn't be farther from true.

Out of the corner of her eye, Celeste watched him as he raised his hand to his shoulder. She wondered what was there, what he was rubbing, but she quickly dismissed it from her mind. He might not have wanted to talk about it, so she left it alone. She felt his eyes on her, piercing into her skin. She turned her head to the side, looking away and putting her hand on her other arm and across her front. As he walked up to her, she looked back at him and raised her eyebrow. She wasn't liking the smile on his face. But before she could step back, he spoke.

"My mother... How do you know my mother?" Her head tilted to the side as she looked up at him, mind wandering. So she had met him. There couldn't have been another time they had met; it was so long ago and she had stuck next to her mother so closely. She watched him as he walked to the lake, her eyes watching his hand as he pulled out something small. From where she was, it was difficult to tell exactly what it was. But moments later, when that soft melody drifted to her, she closed her eyes.

She had heard it, many times before, though not enough that she would have remembered it if named. Her mind wandered back to her childhood, back to those times when she would be out with her mother and father, her little brother and other family members and friends. They had sat beside a lake much like this one when she was young. There was a tall, flowery tree above them that dropped its white flowers onto her face as she and her brother lie under the tree. She fell asleep there, listening to that soft tune. It was the first place she had heard it, and she remembered exactly who it was that played it.

Celeste's eyes opened as she looked over at him. She knew him, she had been right. She knew him better than she thought she did. But even now, Celeste couldn't do anything. She stood there, staring at him, watching him. The lullaby drifted through the air and to her, covering her in familiar sounds that nearly brought a tear to her eye.

[PhoenixSoul91]

As he played memories of the past flooded his mind. Images of a lake, a tree, people he once knew. He turend to face her still playing the lullaby, and when he saw her he knew that she finally remembered him. Then something truely strange began to happen. A strong light began to radiate from the waterfall and soon the small area around them was transformed into the image that was in their past. Everything was being relived infront of there very eyes and for some unknown reason James couldn't stop playing. Though the tune was now slightly further away than it should have been the same tune was being played to his left, but it was being played by a younger looking version of himself. True the body only looked to be about 2 or 3 years younger than how he looked now, but he still looked much younger when compared to the current day one.

-The Manifested FlashBack-

The younger James finished playing recieving a small applause from the crowd of people around. He bowed politely and proceeded to walk over to the tree where a group was seated around a small fire. Putting away the small wooden flute as he sat down he was greeted warmly by the group and turned to face a man and woman he knew very well. The woman was holding a baby no older than a few months while the man was stroking the hair of a young girl who lay asleep in his lap.

"You played beautifully as always, James," Celestes' mother said smiling.

"Yes masterful performance," Celestes' father chimed in. "All though it did seem different tonight. A bit sad I think. Is there something troubling you old friend?"

"Aye, that there is, that there is," James answered looking deeply into the fire. "I'm sorry to say that I cannot stay much longer my friends. The Lycan council has called for a summoning of the "Lords." I must be there as quickly as possible. The problem of keeping our kind safe is growing worse."

"I"m sorry to hear that, James," Celestes' mother whispered looking down at her daughter. "Celeste was so looking forward to having her favorite uncle being at her birthday party tomorrow."

"Yes I am also sorry about that," he responded while looking down at the sleeping child. He pulled out a small box with a ribbon on it and handed it to her father. "Give this to her tomorrow, tell her I'm sorry for not being able to stay and when I return I will have another present for her, plus I'll even give her a ride." He laughed softly at those last words.

"James, you spoil her too much you know that." Celestes' mother said also laughing softly.

"I have a right to. After all, the four of you are like family to me," he single tear rolled down his left eye as he looked back into the fire his own remark making him remember his long gone family.

"Well, James, God speed, and good luck," Celestes' father said extending his hand to his old friend.

"The same to you old friend," James shook his hand and stood in the blink of an eye he was gone.
-The Manifested FlashBack ends-

James finally finished playing the lullaby and looked at Celeste. The look on in his was one of shock for a mere second as he waited for her to respond to what happened. Because he knew she had seen it all to.

[Celeste Lachance]

As the memory played out in front of them, Celeste held her ground. She was standing behind the two figures, watching them and watching James. As she heard their voices again, a tear rolled down her cheek. It had been too long since she had seen them, heard them, anything. And now she was finally getting to be there with them. In a sense.

She hadn't remembered any of that. No surprise, as she was asleep when it happened. She watched them, her eyes traveling to the small box James had given to her father. She remembered opening it the day after, on her birthday, before anyone else's. The small box had held a bracelet, which she had worn from that day on. Celeste looked up and watched James leave. It was the last time she had seen him in a while.

She recalled hearing her mother tell her that James would be back and promised not only another present, but a ride. She always fancied those rides. She always fancied having James around. He was the one she had the most fun with, the most adventures with. That day on her birthday she had gotten a variety of presents, but the only one that she truly treasured was the one from James. The one from the man she called "uncle."

The flashback ended and Celeste stood there, looking at the ground. Her hand had wrapped around her wrist and that bracelet from so long ago. She had nearly forgotten who had given it to her. Her eyes closed, Celeste took a deep breath before lifting her head and looking up at him.

"You never... came back after that." She looked up at him, still standing in the same spot she had been. "Mother and Father... They thought you dead after you didn't return for a while. Then the.." She stopped, closing her eyes and looking down. "Then it all happened, and Marcel and I ran away." Her hand gripped around her wrist. "We thought.. We hoped... you would find us eventually. I went out looking for you sometimes."

Celeste stopped talking after that, her voice seeming to leave her. She took a couple of breaths before looking up at him. He still had the same face, the same expressions as she remembered. He looked almost the same, and yet she hadn't recognized him before.

[PhoenixSoul91]

"Celeste I'm sorry," he said looking away from her. "But you don't understand. I wanted to come back. I wanted to see you and your family again. I wanted to watch you and your brother grow up, but I couldn't. I was forbidden by the both the Lycan Council, and the "Lords." No matter how much I fought, no matter how much I bled...." he looked up at her tears flowing from his left eye though not his right. "No matter how much I begged them to let me leave I couldn't"

He walked to the waters edge and took off his coat and let it drop into the sand. "I had lost my family years ago. It was because of losing them that I first turned. After years of being alone I had thought that I had found a new family in your clan. Your grandfather saved my life once, and I devoted mine to him and his family. With my help they were able to organize the entire family into the clan it was. When your father was born his father was already sick and dieing his mother died in child birth. You should know all of this from what your parents had told you. I had raised your father and in turn was made a member of your families clan. When you were born your parents made me your god father even though it was against the wishes of the Council and the "Lords" I didn't know it at the time, it wasn't until I was summoned that I found it. It was also then that they arrested me and locked me away."

He took off his shirt his back facing her so that she could see the crescent moon mark on his back. It seemed to glow in the moon light. "I'm sorry I couldn't save them. I'm sorry I couldn't help you or your brother. I truely am sorry."

[Celeste Lachance]

As he spoke, Celeste kept her head down. She was listening to everything he had to say, taking it all in. But even still, she couldn’t force herself to look up at him. ”No matter how much I bled...” Her eyes closed as he said that sentence. Even more pain she had caused, her family had caused. She couldn’t take it all. It was too much. She had been through too much, caused too much. She wanted to end it.

Her mind drifted back to her past as he spoke of his. She remembered everything they did together, all of the stories her parents had told her. They were generally used as she was going to bed, giving her hope that she would see him the next day, or the day after that. And yet, the times she heard them, he didn’t show up. And now she knew why. He had been locked away, for what? For her family? Her family, who was killed in the end anyway?

“They couldn’t have been saved... No one could have been saved.” She lifted her head and looked at the mark on his back. Her own mark started to buzz slightly until she moved her eyes from it, looking up at the back of his head. She didn’t dare move forward, or away. What reason was there to do either? She was perfectly fine where she stood.

“Marcel kept telling me, that when I was gone he saw you. Heard you playing the lullaby. He always wished you would come and save him, save us. I told him they were foolish dreams.” Her eyes dropped to look at the ground at his feet. “I told him that if you were to come and save us, you would have done it when our parents were still alive. But he kept the hope. Right until he died.” She bit her lip as she held back tears that screamed to fall.

“Godfather or not...” Celeste took another deep breath, letting it out slowly before looking back up at him. “I always did love you as more.” She turned her head and faced the forest, to which he would have disappeared had she not delayed him. She took a step towards it, her feet leaving the paw print she had previously been standing in.