Chapter 14

"I still don't understand why you wanted us to bring him with us. After all he did to you..."

Zerro stirred in his sleep as his ears detected a familiar voice, his eyes opening slowly to adjust to the light in the room. He made an attempt to sit up but winced as his large wound pained him and prevented him from moving further.

"Lie back down." Han poked Zerro's forehead causing him to fall back, his stitches stretching for a second and making him hiss out.

"Han." Celestia warned and the blue haired boy rolled his eyes before walking over to the sofa on the other side of the small apartment.

"Where are we?" He asked as he turned his head in Celestia's direction.

"In Han's apartment." She revealed, her eyes trailing onto his bandaged covered abdomen to check for any sight of blood but she couldn't see any.

"No wonder it stinks in here." Zerro crinkled his nose while Han glared at the demon with an irritated look.

"Well, if you don't like it here then you're more than welcome to leave. I don't mind kicking you out...literally." Han grumbled.

Celestia's expression remained cold as she observed Zerro who wore his usual grumpy look.

He was the maker of her misery and she still saved him.

She could have left him for dead.

"Zerro. You need to tell us everything," she said, her voice firm.

He raised a brow, confused by her words.

"You're brother told me what he did and how you were put to blame for your father's murder," she added as she watched his reaction.

Zerro grew tense at her words, his mind reeling at the betrayal while Han's eyes widened, showing disbelief.

"Wait, I thought it was the other way round," Han interjected, his voice tinged with shock, having heard the opposite from his parents.

Zerro turned his body away from them, unable to bear the weight of their gazes, before closing his eyes.

"Zerro-"

"I'm not telling, and I don't want to," Zerro stubbornly interrupted, his tone firm.

Han huffed in annoyance, shooting a frustrated glance at Zerro, while Celestia remained unruffled.

"That's fine, but you're going to have to tell us eventually," Celestia replied calmly.

She rose from her chair and gestured for Han to follow her into the kitchen, where they would prepare food.

"What are we going to do with him?" Han whispered to Celestia, his voice tinged with frustration.

Celestia focused on chopping onions, her movements precise as she prepared them for grilling before she spoke up once more.

"Nothing. He'll spill everything soon, don't worry," she reassured Han, her eyes flicking briefly towards Zerro's figure in the living room.

It wasn't long before the food was ready, and Celestia placed her plate on the table, followed by Han's. She then went over to Zerro and set his plate down next to him.

"Eat up if you feel hungry," she said, before returning to the dining table and taking a seat across from Han.

"So, any update on your mother? She has to be a tiny bit worried that you haven't come home. What about the oldest maid, Ms. Astonia? She must be really worried," Han asked, concern evident in his voice.

Celestia paused mid-bite, her fork hovering over her plate, as she recalled the fact that she hadn't told anyone about the incident that occurred before she went to the demon realm.

"She isn't my mother, and I'm not associating myself with them any longer," Celestia stated firmly, her gaze unwavering.

Han stared at her in disbelief, his expression a mixture of shock and confusion.

"What? W-Wait, what do you mean? Where are you going to live, and what about your clothes and other stuff?" Han stumbled over his words, firing off questions in rapid succession.

"Turns out, I was adopted. As for where I'm going to live... I'll stay here with you," Celestia concluded casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"W-W-With me? But a man and a woman live together unless they are married and-"

"Calm down, Han," Celestia interjected.

Han fell silent, his protests halted by her straightforward response.

"...Okay," he finally conceded, albeit reluctantly.

Once they were finished with their dinner, Celestia let out a soft sigh, her gaze lingering on Han as he began clearing the table and washing the dishes. She knew he didn't particularly enjoy the chore, but he did it without complaint, and she appreciated that about him.

Leaving Han to his task, Celestia made her way back to the living room. As she approached, she could already sense something amiss.

Pushing the door open gently, she found Zerro sitting up on the sofa, his expression dark and brooding.

His untouched food sat on the small table beside him, a stark contrast to the warmth of the kitchen just moments before.

Celestia's expression remained the same as she watched him, knowing there was more to his reluctance to eat than simple hunger.

"Zerro, you need to eat," she said, stepping closer to him.

But before she could offer him a bite, he recoiled, slapping her hand away with unexpected force.

The plate clattered to the ground, the contents spilling across the carpet in a mess of sauce and vegetables.

Celestia observed the mess on the floor before focusing back on the demon. Looking at Zerro, she met his furious gaze with a calm resolve.

"Why are you suddenly being so nice when I treated you like shit for these past ten years?" Zerro's voice was thick with anger, his words biting and raw.

"Why did you bring me back here when you should have left me for dead?!"

Celestia was no longer afraid and she stepped closer, ignoring the fact that she had just stepped on some food.

"Because you knew my real parents," she whispered, her voice barely audible in the tense silence that followed.

Zerro froze, his eyes widening in disbelief as her words sank in.

"You're parents? I never..." He trailed off as he tried to recall anyone that resembled the girl in front of him.

"They told me that you were close." She told, her voice holding no lie.

Zerro's confusion deepened, his brows furrowing as he sent Celestia a perplexed look. Meanwhile, Han, who had finally finished cleaning up, returned just in time to hear Celestia's revelation.

He stood in the doorway, a curious expression on his face as he waited for an explanation.

"Did you meet them in a dream or something?" Han ventured, his voice tinged with skepticism.

Celestia nodded, her gaze drifting away as she recalled the vivid memories of her dream.

A small, wistful smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she recounted the details to Han and Zerro, describing the fleeting moments she had spent with her birth parents in the realm of dreams.

After the three had escaped from the portal, Celestia had fallen into unconsciousness and put herself in a dream that she had remembered clearly.

As Celestia recounted the dream, Han and Zerro listened intently, their skepticism giving way to a sense of wonder as she described the ethereal encounter with her birth parents.

The room was filled with a quiet reverence, the weight of Celestia's words hanging in the air like a delicate melody.

Just then, a memory from her dream surfaced vividly in Celestia's mind, prompting her to share it with Han and Zerro.

In the dream, she had appeared inside a home and seated on a sofa was a couple who held the same shade of black hair as her.

"Celestia?"

It was her mother.

The woman turned to face her, her eyes widening with recognition as she saw the resemblance between Celestia and herself.

"M-Mother?" Celestia called out uncertainly, her voice trembling with emotion.

But when her mother responded with a warm smile, Celestia's tense form relaxed, a flood of relief washing over her.

"I finally get to see my daughter after all these years," her mother said softly, her voice thick with emotion as she stood and approached Celestia, tears glistening in her eyes.

Unable to contain her emotions any longer, Celestia's lower lip quivered as she tried to hold back her tears.

But as soon as her mother enveloped her in a warm embrace, Celestia's resolve crumbled, and she sobbed uncontrollably, clinging onto her mother tightly.

"My baby has been through a lot. I'm so sorry we couldn't be there for you," her mother whispered, her voice filled with sorrow as she comforted Celestia, stroking the back of her head soothingly.

"Honey, aren't you going to say hi?" Celestia sniffed, wiping away her tears as she turned her attention to the man who remained seated on the sofa, her father.

"I wanted to look cool when meeting you, Celestia, but I failed," her father said with a self-deprecating chuckle as he stood up and turned towards her.

Celestia grew startled as she saw how his lower eyelids were puffy, his eyes trying to hold back an ocean of unshed tears.

"My pumpkin!" he wailed, his voice cracking with emotion as he enveloped Celestia in a tight hug, squeezing her tightly to his chest.

Beside them, Celestia's mother laughed softly at the heartwarming scene unfolding before her.

Celestia struggled to breathe in the tight embrace, tapping her father's back gently to get him to ease up.

"F-Father, please stop," she managed to gasp out, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

The older man pulled back, a sheepish smile spreading across his face as he released Celestia from his grasp, his eyes still shimmering with unshed tears.

Celestia was gently led into the living room by her parents, where she took a seat between them on the cozy sofa, feeling a sense of warmth and belonging envelop her.

"If it wasn't for the higher-ups in heaven, we would have been meeting you often in your dreams. We only have this one time to meet you, and then after this, we won't see each other until you pass on from the human world," her father mentioned with a furrowed brow, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness.

Celestia placed her hand over his, giving it a light squeeze to show that she understood the gravity of their fleeting reunion.

"The reason we chose now is because we thought it was best to help you resolve your issue with Zerro," her mother informed, her voice gentle yet firm.

Celestia's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation.

"You know about Zerro?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity and a hint of apprehension.

The thought that her parents were aware of her complicated relationship with Zerro both comforted and unnerved her.

"Oh, honey...we've always known him even before he met you." She revealed and her daughter went into further shock.

"That demon certainly has changed. He was much nicer before." Her father said as he shook his head with disappointment.

"I don't see him as someone nice and I never will." Celestia refused to believe their words like how she didn't listen to Xander who claimed it was the truth.

"That's because you didn't know who he was before that incident occurred." Her mother explained and Celestia looked up in wonder.

"I think it's time we tell you about Zerro's past."