WHITE DARKNESS - BLACK MAGIC SAGA - BOOK 1

GODDESS OF WAR

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to put this on,” Leevanna grimaced seeing the costume Freya had made for the girls for the party the Vasilka house would give in the dungeons.

The costume was gorgeous, there was no doubt in that, but it was… kind of revealing, or so it seemed to be. She didn’t use clothes like that at least she was in her room and knew she wouldn’t be harmed for of doing so.

And that was saying much, because she was afraid her father would enter and hit her for wearing such vulgarities inside his house. She could hear his voice: ‘I don’t want sluts in my house, I have enough with your mother.’

The four best friends were getting ready together. Leevanna had been the last one in taking a bath because she wanted to finish an essay, and when she went out the bathroom, she had found the dress over her bed. This rave would be held to celebrate the triumphs of each champion the last Wednesday with the Zephyrs.

“What are you talking about?” said Lhu approaching. She was going to dress up as Tihena, the goddess of nature. Golden leaves had been mixed with her defined brown curls giving her the appearance that the leaves were part of her. “It is gorgeous. It will fit you perfectly.”

Freya, who was helping Thea with her costume, turned around to see Leevanna, “You are not going to look like a prostitute, Leev,” she said laughing. “I made it knowing you wouldn’t like to wear such revealing clothes, calm down, witch.”

Leevanna eyed the dress on her bed again. “You are going to love it, Leev,” reassured Thea extending her arms so Freya could keep working with her costume. “Literally.”

“Fine,” she sighed giving up and starting to unwrap the towel she had around her body to then put on her white lingerie knickers and bralette, thinking it hadn’t been such a good idea letting Freya surprise her with her costume as she thought. But she didn’t want to ruin this for her, even if they didn’t get along much.

“Ah, ah,” interrupted Freya catching her attention. “It goes without a bra, I designed it to hold your t**s without it,” and Leevanna doubted a second before unclasping her bralette and putting on the, in some kind, negligée Freya had made for her.

The jade-eyed wasn’t saying that the raven-haired was a bad fashion designer or that she made things that will fit a ‘woman of bad living,’ but she was just afraid that the rumour of her wearing things like that at school, especially in a party she shouldn’t be in, would reach her father’s ears and a punishment would be placed upon her.

“I am going to look like a pigeon,” whined Thea when Freya continued to put on feathers on the wings under her arms.

“You decided you wanted to be Catnia, Thea, it’s not my fault goddess of secrecy is represented by an angel” growled Freya using her elemental magic to burn the last feathers so it would give it a unique style just like the other costumes she had made for her best friends. “And they are wings, they have to have feathers.”

“You’re saying that because you don’t have to bloody wear these things under your — woah…”

Leevanna smoothed the dress she had on as the other three girls approached her. Freya had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face — proud of what she had designed —, Thea had a hand covering her mouth and Lhu was smiling and clapping quickly and excited. “What?” the jade-eyed frowned at the reactions of her friends.

“You are literally glowing, woman,” said Thea using her finger to point her up and down twice. Leevanna tilted her head before straightening up and walking towards the full-length mirror her and Lhu had in their dorm.

The deep V-neck the dress had made part of Leevanna’s breasts to show, but it also highlighted the edges and pushed them up. The spaghetti straps were made of fine golden threads and had a gold-made decoration around them where they started. Around her waist was a wide gold-made belt, fine chains that were connected to it fell over her hips making them look wider.

The front part the dress was short, barely reaching her mid-thighs, but in the back part it reached her knees, and the borders were softly curled with golden appliques. The dress itself didn’t have an exact colour; it was made of a shiny golden material that seemed to be translucid but didn’t let private parts at sight.

She smiled.

She looked pretty.

And that wasn’t something she thought of herself very often.

“Now the shoes!” exclaimed Freya extending her a pair of golden heels that had laces which went around the leg reaching almost the knee.

Leevanna put them on while seeing the raven- and platinum-haired undress herself to put on a very deep V-neck silver dress that reached her knees with a wide slit on the right side. Freya was going to be Uttara that year.

A kind of halo-headdress with stars all over it with silver dangling by the sides. She had all kinds of necklaces with star charms.

None of the girls had any bashfulness in getting naked when they were doing sleepovers or things like this.

Thea and Freya knew each other before entering the institute, and Lhu had met them while shopping what would be her school stuff two months prior.

Leevanna was the only one who didn’t know any of them, but with time, and Lhu’s help, she was able to let go of that shame that overtook her every time she undressed herself. But her friends would never judge her body, or the way her appearance was, and even if it had been hard for her to understand that there was nothing to be ashamed of, achieving it was her ultimate goal.

Letting Lhu put a gold-made headdress with fine chains and pearls over her head, she put on the golden bracers that were her bracelets and the shoulder wear that had a necklace included. Thea was almost ready with her feathers and as the girl mentioned something about how the dress her best friend had tailored for her made her hip-dips disappear, Lhu was trying to find a base that matched her olive skin-tone, and Freya was just complaining how a pimple was in the middle of her forehead and now her mood was ruined.

The jade-eyed smiled. Even if many times her girlfriends complained about themselves, Leevanna found them all gorgeous and unique in looks.

Yes, they were all beautiful.

Once Leevanna finished helping Lhu with her makeup to finish her costume, she applied gloss over her own lips and saw herself in the mirror again as the other girls finished to accommodate the room so they would just come back from the party and sleep. Leevanna smiled, she would thank Freya with something later.

Even if there was more snarling and mocking than anything between them, Freya was her friend, and both had unique ways of saying that they were thankful for the other without uttering words or demonstrating affection. Just when it was needed though.

At the dungeons, Rhazel Cox was finishing his third shot of Dragon Tears while their friends cheered. Eisdrache laughed before making a high-five with his best friend as congratulation. While they were still underage, it was no secret alcohol wasn’t prohibited if no adult was near.

Their costumes were based on the tale of some gods from a book called What if There Were Even More? by Alistar Walsh, an astronomist who believed in the existence of other universes were more gods existed. This rave’s theme was about any god and goddess you could bring to life in a costume.

“Where are the girls?!” asked, shouting for the high music, Mason, before sipping on his Naullina Whiskey. His coiled black hair with grey ends was already liberating itself from the hairspray he had used two hours ago.

“You know how they are!” responded Rhaz. Today his wavy hair was straight — after losing a bet with Aidan —, making it reach chin-length. “Surely they are still convincing Leev to get out the room,” and Mason next to Aidan, who was dressed up as Exius, god of knowledge, laughed out loud, agreeing with their friend. It wasn’t a secret for any of them that the white-haired girl wasn’t a fan of big events and even to be surrounded by so many people, so if she didn’t end up coming to today’s party it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Many of them had started assisting gigs and small parties so young as in their first year, but most of the girls would wait until entering into season in their second year after their parents gave them permission.

Now for Leevanna, she didn’t have the permission, even though she was already into season, and she knew she would never get that. So she had taken a bit longer to set a foot on a party.

The good thing about House Vasilka organizing the party was that the distribution of the place was flawless.

There was a certain area for first years and second years if they wanted. Third year up to fifth year had another area, and sixth to eight year had another space. The first mentioned weren’t able to enter the other two zones, just as well as the older ones didn’t have permission to mingle with the children.

Those distributions and boundaries were set by Vasilka for whoever knew how long, and they had been respected since then. Although nobody wanted to distrust a friend or a housemate, it was better if the rules were followed rightly.

A few minutes passed between more chat, until the entrance of the dungeon after the stairs and cells respectively, was illuminated widely by three enchantresses dressed as Tihena, Uttara and Catnia. The boys left their drinks aside and stood up to start clapping while the girls walked and laughed. If royalty men were something, it was flirty and true gentlemen who knew the appreciation their women should have.

And even if the girls weren’t some possession, they were theirs to protect and cherish so they wouldn’t be harmed by an enemy. If nothing else, it was a big brother and little sister relationship.

“My goddesses, literally!” exclaimed Rhaz giving a spin to each of the girls while Mason and Aidan poured GreenGrape Stardust in the girls’ goblets. “The most beautiful birds of the world!”

Lorrai Mallgame, a seventh year and the Capitan of the Vasilka team of Aircross, gave a spin to Thea and Lhu, “I can definitely agree on that…” and his lascivious eyes went up and down Freya, who just permitted him a kiss on her cheek, before walking towards Aidan and pouring herself more of her drink.

“Mm,” Freya raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms before sipping on her crystal goblet. “Can’t say the same for you.” Her comment, even though not malicious, it was mocking referring to the big nose the Captain of the team had.

Lorrai grinned and placed his hands in surrender over his head. “Someone isn’t in the best of humours today, huh?” However, before Freya or anyone could answer him, a girl from Faris passed behind him and grinned with a wink, catching his attention. “See you later, my lads and ladies.”

Freya rolled her eyes, “Don’t know what they see in him I swear.” She wondered, for the hundredth time, how was it possible for him to be so popular among the female population, specially Faris girls. Lorrai wasn’t attractive — at least not what was conventional or to what she was accustomed. He was enormous, somehow chubby and with a lot of acne scarred over his face. His nose, as she had thought about earlier, was large and almost pointy… And now that she’d had him close to her, his head was kind of big too…

“He got one thing right though,” said Eisdrache pouring himself more Dragon Tears, “you all look beautiful tonight.”

Thea and Freya gave themselves a quick glance that ended with a smirk. “Wait until you see Leevanna.” The boys frowned, and at the same time, the doors glistered again to let in the woman for whom the greatest of the wars had been provoked.

Nymeria.

The most beautiful and intelligent goddess of all, daughter of Freya and Exius, the goddess of war and strategy, walking among the mortals when she belonged to the heavens. The persons who saw her walk by their side, stopped dancing and opened their eyes widely before saying how beautiful she was.

The diamonds levitating in the air next to the neon light reflecting on them made her glittery dress give her a shiny aura.

Eisdrache, who was about to sip on his goblet of Naullina Whiskey, looked up finding the woman that had been blessed by the gods. He looked away quickly when she arrived with them.

“Holy s**t,” murmured Mason. “Sorry — meaning you’re no s**t — but holy s**t…”

Aidan was still with a gap between his lips, a smile appeared on his face. “Finally being the promised by the gods.”

“Girl I swear if you do not move from in front of any of us, we all are going to have an erection, and that would stain our reputation,” said Rhaz with a hand on his hip. Thea chocked on her drink from laughing and Leevanna snorted and moved aside with her hands raised in the air as a way of giving up.

“Well babies, now that we are all here,” started Lhu, “I declare that is shot round!”

The rest of the group cheered and Leevanna just laughed, knowing that would be the first time she actually had an alcoholic drink in a party with her friends. Rhaz was the once in charge of pouring the alcohol, and she made sure to stay focused on how much he was giving her so as not to have a bad experience.

Freya had told her a few tricks to achieve not having a hangover, such as drinking water between each sip of alcohol and not drinking big amounts all at once, just to be sure the drink didn’t have any secondary effects apart from making her drunk.

“Bottoms up, bitches!” exclaimed Mason as everyone drained their small glass of Dragon Tears mixed with Naullina.

Rhaz made a celebration shout and proceeded to roar, “Let’s party until we die!” and all of them applauded and cheered before their favourite song started playing, making them feel in ecstasy.

Hours later, almost by two in the early morning Leevanna was dancing alongside Esmeray Atkison, who had dressed up as goddess Thalassa, while Freya, Thea and Lhu jumped from excitement next to Lhea, dressed as Taris, goddess of wind, and Isobel and Jia Xieren, who were dressed as Nithya, goddess of destruction. They had been singing along each one of the songs the DJ was playing, and Leevanna was sure that her second truly party hadn’t been a deception at all.

She felt all the lights over her, just like the diamonds floating on the ceiling made her forget about her world with each flash of light and a little more of alcohol every time. She had never felt this euphoria inside her. It was like stumbling but being steady and so weightless when she jumped at the beat of each song. Esmeray joined her singing in the chorus of the song playing while the rest of the girls joined them.

Eisdrache, who was trying not to let his eyes divagate among the party to find a certain white-haired enchantress who was dressed as Nymeria, found himself feeling something he had experienced back in the party for Freya’s birthday. And oh, he remembers very well how that had ended up.

Not great.

Certainly.

Heavens’ sake, he was going to f*****g kill her one of these days. He swears to bloody Uttara.

Fucking hell.

He’s clenching his jaw yet again before drinking his glass of Flower Shot in one. He has discovered it tastes better that way. When he’s irritated and infuriated. The emerald and dark blue strobe lights reflect on him, and the music resonates in his ears like drums inside him that make his brain throb at the pain.

The air is filled with hints of weed and other substances he doesn’t want to know the name of — alcohol’s aroma is also fluttering.

Sweaty figures are jumping and dancing every single place his eyes see. Crowding and knocking into another. Voracious fits of euphoric and erotic outbursts. Short gowns and loose shirts. Heads bobbing among the multitude feeling the music. There are also people like him, talking quietly standing in a corner or seated on a couch. People doing drugs. Some others are shagging or snogging.

It’s a euphoric catastrophe.

As always.

The size of the dungeons is fortunately enormous enough to host almost all Gleaxsiara and Stouvania too as it seems.

It would have been a good idea to stay in his dorm tonight. The pain is killing him, and his internal rage isn’t helping him at all.

Another goblet of Fire Wine. The fifth, maybe.

When his hand enters the pocket of his trousers and touches a little plastic bag, through his mind’s eye passes the recent memory of Flynn Haxel giving him weed with a dose of Amstrel, a drug used by Nonchanters to cure different kinds of pain, of course prohibited to enchanters and enchantresses due to their effect on their magic. However, it doesn’t have the effect on him — but it does something at least. Soothes his brain. Stops the intrusive thoughts. Tranquillises his anxiety and panic. Relieves the exhaustion.

An abandoned table behind him is empty and has been left in oblivion, the lights barely reach it. He leaves his glass there. His hand takes out the bag and he opens it. Place it on a tray isn’t the objective tonight. If he can relieve the headache now, he’s not going to waste time. He takes his index finger to his mouth to lick it before entering it into the plastic bag and let the pulverised drugs stick to his wet skin. Once that’s done, he takes his finger to his mouth one more time. The powder making contact with his tongue makes it tingle and prickle. As if little fireworks were exploding against the moisture of his tongue. The soothing quickly reaches his brain, and he feels relaxed finally.

He repeats the procedure a few times more to end with all the powder inside the bag. It only takes minutes. His hand makes contact with the now cold glass, and he takes it to his mouth to drink it. He goes up, knows the effect would be worse if he keeps being seated. He doesn’t want a hungover tomorrow.

Suddenly the place goes dark.

Red and dark blue lines of light. Bright. So f*****g bright and strong. Neon. Strobing. Pretty. It reflects every now and then on the jumping silhouettes. They let see the faces of the people, parts of their bodies. Green fine lines traverse, appear and disappear, go down, go up, shake.

He sees her.

Jumping. Throwing her head backwards and moving her hips. Her hands going up her thighs. Her curls lifting in slow motion.

He sees her in slow motion.

How the strobe lights illuminate and withdraw her body. The way her eyes are closed, and lips semi parted. The edges of her gown lifting. How she brushes her skin. With his hands in his pockets and head leaned on the column behind him, he stares at her. How she moves and the lights reflect.

And she’s like his f*****g own personal Amstrel. Her image repeats on his brain. It numbs him.

When her eyes open, she stops jumping.

She is seeing him.

Her hair is messy, tangled by the sides of her face and all her forehead has bubbles of sweat.

She stays in her place and her hands twitch by the sides of her hips.

He leans against the column behind him, one ankle over the other, arms crossed over his chest.

Jades fixed on thunderstorms. It sends lightings throughout his body. Flames of rage he can’t control and practically can feel how they emanate from his body like an aura.

Her eyes look away, and then his gaze loses her.

He can’t see her anymore.