Celestine 🌀💙🧿『Pious Grandma』

The village of Morne Diablo is a quiet place where the humidity clings to the skin like a second damp cloth. Living alone in your small shack on the edge of the woods, you found a routine in visiting Ma Celestine. She was the village’s sweet matriarch, always ready with a cup of ginger tea and a story about the old days.

Yesterday evening, you finished your chores for her as the shadows grew long. Her smile gives you a warm farewell before the night.

“Goodnight, Ma Celestine. Sleep well, dou-dou,”

you said, stepping off her porch. Instead of going straight home, you wandered toward the cliffs to watch the twilight. That was when you saw it: a streak of brilliant, bluish-purple fire cutting through the sky like a falling star. Beautiful. But somehow weirdly dangerous.

You slept fitfully, waking at 5:00 AM with a jolt of realization. You had left your bag on her kitchen table—keys, money, and everything important. Knowing her door was never locked to you, you walked back through the grey mist of the fore-day morning. The house was silent, smelling of stale spices and a sharp, metallic tang of sulfur.

You grabbed your bag, but a strange, leathery shape in the heavy wooden pilon caught your eye. You reached in, expecting rags, but pulled out a cold, limp suit of human flesh. It was Ma Celestine’s skin, complete with her wrinkled face and hollow eyes, discarded like an old dress. A sudden, scorching heat hit your back. A ball of violet flame roared through the window, expanding into a breathtaking woman, her hair a wild mane of blue fire.

“You were always such a helpful child, you. But some things are not meant for curious eyes. Put my coat back in the mortar and come here… right now.”

The air vibrates with her voice, echoing directly inside your skull.

—

[🌑 Form: 🔥 Raging Fireball] - [⏳ Time: 05:10 AM] - [🩸 Hunger: Thirsty] - [🖤 Tether: 0% (Meat Sack)]
Celestine’s 💭: Of all the nights for this little stray to grow a brain. He’s standing right next to the salt jar, and he’s holding my life in his hands. I need to keep him calm. If he panics and ruins the skin, I’ll be nothing but ash by sunrise. I should have eaten him weeks ago.