They all appeared at the base of the large mountain they were to venture upon.
Alistair was still shaken by the fact that her magic was genuine; it had truly worked and landed them in the right place. He couldn't be more impressed, and intrigued, but his face remained blank.
His eyes stared at the large mountain towering above them, "Your magic is so weak. It couldn't get us on top of it" He remarked, with mockery lacing his tone.
He threw a glance at Celeste, "We have to climb all the way there, don't we?" He tilted his head to the side, his lips twisting as if not appreciating the fact that they would have to strain their legs because of this lady.
"Yeah," she replied, placing her hands on her hip.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. I guess, I'll need to work on my skills" She muttered under her breath. She glanced at her hands and let out a disappointed breath. She had hoped to catch his attention, but her efforts seemed futile.
She looked to the side, where Hermione was gazing around her with her hands entwined before her, her eyes came to land on Celeste and she softly smiled. "T...this is good" she commented.
"Yeah it is, we should hurry up now. Thirty minutes is all I give you and we shall return to the castle " Alistair's voice was sharp.
Hermione puffed her cheeks at his back, as she watched him making his way toward the stairs that led to the top and began to ascend it.
She still hadn't forgiven him for what he had done, first, he hadn't apologized, and secondly, she had yet to decipher why he wanted to ruin her friendship.
Celeste came to her side, "Let's go, Hermione" She intertwined their fingers like how best friends did, and they began to walk together.
As they climbed the mountain, they ensured to quicken their pace so that they could get done with it and return to the castle at once. Like Alistair had declared.
It felt good, Hermione thought inwardly, her innocent eyes wandering around carefully. To be out in the open was something she and her brother had never done before. Although they spent some time with their parents outside the palace occasionally, it was just for a few hours and they were back to the castle.
Today feels different, to be outdoor, unchaperoned.
Suddenly guilt began to embrace her, what would their parent think once they discovered they had gone missing? They would be worried, and furious that she and Alistair had disobeyed them.
They could have turned down Celeste's proposal to head outside, but being here right now, Hermione thought that sneaking out was better.
They climbed higher, watching their steps. The wind evolved more fiercely than before. She had to tuck her hair behind her ears plenty of times.
"You should try pulling it into a bun, It'll look lovely on you" Celeste's advice reached her ears and she turned to the side, with a questioning brow.
"Your hair" She pointed out.
"I...pr..efer it...this way," Hermione said. She always let her hair down because she looked more pretty that way.
"Okay," Celeste shrugged her shoulders, not having any intention of prolonging the matter.
"By... The way... W-why do you want to be my fr...iend?"
"Huh?"
"I...is it because my... Mom asked you to?" Her gray-green eyes carefully searched through the princess's violet eyes. Hermione was hoping for another response, different from what she thought in mind.
Having a friend had not crossed her mind because she believed, she was stupid, a slow-poke at conversing, and generally...not good enough.
But when she met Celeste, she was intrigued by the girl's vigor. Hermione hoped to be like her. A butterfly that hovers around, converses the way she wants to without hindrance, and is happy.
Hermione wanted them to be genuine friends. Not because she was asked to be friends with her by her mother.
Celeste gave her a long pause, and she could guess that her thoughts were right. She averted her gaze and continued to climb the mountain without holding Celeste's hand.
"Are you kidding me?" Celeste spoke as she hurriedly climbed towards Hermione.
"Who wouldn't want to be real friends with you? You're very much adorable!" She spoke with a smile.
Hermione sensed the genuineness and was overwhelmed by happiness, "I want us to be best of friends" She added.
"Me too" She shyly spoke, her cheeks flushing in contentment.
"Alright you two, you're being so loud" Complained Alistair as they eventually reached the top. His gray-green eyes took in their exhilarating appearance as they went ahead and gawked at the view before them.
Alistair noticed their entwined hands and couldn't help but feel jealously tugging at his chest.
Would things have been better if he was Hermione instead? He would have access to everyone's love and sympathy, he would have a friend like Celeste, he thought deeply.
Once again, he found it difficult to breathe, despite being in a chilly place like this.
He went over to join them, his face serene as he took in the view before him. The sound of the ocean waves thrashing against the shore brought him a sense of peace, there were villages nearby and tall lush trees. It was nice and beautiful.
"We have to go back. Thirty minutes is over" He spoke, killing the vibe.
The girls turned to him with a disappointed look revolving across their faces. Hermione specifically looked dismayed that they had to leave now, just when things were getting more interesting.
She caught sight of birds flocking in the sky and had called Celeste's attention to it. They marveled at the beautiful pattern the birds created in the air before their moment was disrupted by Alistair's brooding voice.
"C--could we stay for. ..Another ten minutes?"
" Ten minutes? " He scoffed, " Who are you to make me change my mind? " He bellowed, with eyes disgustingly pairing down at his sister like she had spoken the most absurd thing he could ever hear.
Hermione's eyes narrowed, "W. ..Why do you sound mad? T-ten minutes was all I asked for"
Alistair chuckled, inclining towards her with a deadly stare in his eyes, directed at his sister.
Celeste was wondering why he had suddenly changed.
"Who the hell is Father going to blame once he notices we are missing, huh?" He inquired.
As he stepped forward, Hermione went backward. She was frightened, as she had never seen her brother this mad before. He looked like a different person, someone she never knew.
But then, Alistair was never close to her like this, he always distanced himself from her, allowing her to believe that he was repulsed by her.
"Who is mom going to get mad, huh? " He continued to ask, his neck tilting.
Celeste watched, she didn't want to come in between the siblings because she didn't know how they worked.
"Definitely not you!" He shouted, shoving her to the back.
Celeste frowned. She attempted to separate them but got pushed away, roughly.
"I'll be the one to be blamed, because of you. But I can't find afford it." His eyes glowered.
Hermione was already hurt from his rough pushes.
She stood her ground, not wanting to be pushed again, "It's enough . ."
"What is enough?" He cast her a look of resentment, "I know you pretend to be weak, you pretend to stutter, all for affection, and I hate that they fell for your tricks"
" S..stop Alistair. Stop!" Hermione's eyes welled at the fallacy. " You .. liar!"
"That name suits you best, don't you think?"
Hermione didn't know where she got the gut from. She raised her hand to hit his face. He lied! She thought. He lied once again. Probably the slap will fix his loose brain. He needed to stop blurting nonsense.
Alistair's face shifted to the side due to the impact. He even saw stars. That was how hard she had hit him.
Wow. He never knew she was this capable, he thought with bloodshot eyes.
His jaw tightened and his fist clenched, as he concluded. She was a fake!
His eyes burned like an inferno, "I'll let everyone know what you truly are! You witch! " He cursed and then roughly pushed her once more, this time, she fell off the cliff.
Celeste's eyes widened in horror, her breath quickened and she felt an adrenaline.
She glimpsed at Alistair, whose expression was devoid of remorse. He had done it intentionally!
Celeste felt her heart beating in her chest loudly. This was all her fault, Hermione wouldn't have fallen if she hadn't brought them here.
Her brain was devoid at the moment, and she leaped off.