SylkWeaver

CW:

Spoiler

Blood

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At the feeling of a slight vibration in my pocket, I raise my hand gently and lift it over to the desk beside me. I drum my fingers across it gently, but still firm enough to make a couple thumping taps. I glance beside me and notice that Daniel is already looking at me as I do so. He nods gently, his breath slowing as I pull my hand back and pack my stuff. He starts slowly putting his stuff inside his backpack, shoulders tense as he does so. There are several long seconds of silence, about an entire minute of it, before it comes.

BRIIIIIIIING

To his credit, Daniel hardly flinches at it. He was ready for it. The loud bell that sits just above his desk was ear-piercingly loud, and from my desk next over even my ears were ringing. I give him a thumbs up after it’s over, but his gaze falls down quickly. His grip on his messenger bag loosens; he lets it drop to his side.

I had taken up the job of letting him know when class was almost up when we had started this class together. Most classes weren’t an issue, but his desk was directly under the bell in this class; Our dick of a teacher wouldn’t change his seat either. He didn’t seem to care that it made Daniel shake with anxiety if he wasn’t expecting it. And damn it if I wasn’t going to try my hardest to make my best friend at least somewhat comfortable.

I found my eyes again searching Daniel's face, but I have no idea what it is I was looking for. Things had been getting worse for a while now, in terms of his depression. I was getting worried for him. He’d been lucky lately too, that asshole of a father of his had been gone all of last month, and had estimated he’d be gone for the rest of this month and the next one. I don’t know what was eating at him so much, but it had made his mood tank in the last few weeks. He honestly looked more like a corpse than normal.

His eyes carefully lifted towards me after only a few seconds had passed from the bell ringing. He tried to give me a smile, his eyes quickly dropping away after locking with my own. His eyes had looked sad. Students around us were shuffling towards the front of the classroom where the door was. I always waited a bit for Daniel, so the two of us would be the last to leave. I stopped staring at Daniel, picking myself up out of the chair and shooting him a smile of my own. I hoped it was a smile that said ‘I’ll smile enough for you too’.

Whether or not he got the meaning of the smile, he seemed to get a little more life into himself when he saw it. It was hard to put a finger on, but warmth seemed to enter into his look. His cheeks looked a little more flush, and his eyes had a spark that seemed to reply to my smile. Though the look only flashed for a moment, it was reassuring as I turned back to the front of the classroom.

Glancing backwards occasionally to make sure that Daniel is still following, I lead the way to our next class. My mind was having difficulty thinking about my plans for tonight with all this worry about Daniel.

I’m supposed to be thinking of my request for tonight. Tonight is a Blood Moon, and I had planned to do a small blood ritual tonight to celebrate my recent success with Ritualcraft. The blood ritual was nothing scary and didn’t even seem to require that much blood. It was a simple request, essentially a wish, from the Fae-wild. If any Fae answer the call, you make a wish. They give you a price, and you’re free to accept or turn it down. With a Blood Moon scheduled for tonight, the ritual should be stronger than normal. A Fae will almost definitely answer, it’s just a question of what I want. Since it’s supposed to be a small ritual, I had originally only planned on asking for something small.

But all day my mind has been too distracted worrying about Daniel to take the time to focus on a wish. As much as I took my Wizard studies seriously, dammit I wanna help my friend. I stopped walking and turned around to look at Daniel. He kept walking, right until he almost ran into me. He startles when he realizes I stopped and takes a step back. His eyes are flicking around animatedly, trying to look anywhere but in my eyes.

“Hey, dude, Daniel, you okay?” I pull him to the side of the hallway, out of the way of the students heading to class.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a lot of people.” His hands fidget on the strap of his purple messenger bag before he finally shifts the bag and stuffs the hands in his hoodie.

“You’ve just been really out of it today is all.” I lay a hand on his shoulder and he looks at it, before looking back up to me. I look with concern at my incredibly anxious friend, but his head whips the other way quickly. It must be a pretty bad day for eye contact if he’s turning his whole head. I sigh a bit, rubbing his shoulder as his breathing calms. He turns his head and eyes back downwards before looking back at me. “I’m here if you need Danny.” I say. He nods, not answering or even looking at me. I grab him by the sleeve and start pulling him towards our next class.

He doesn’t say anything as we get settled into our seats, but he does pull his hands out of his pockets to sign his thanks at me just before class starts. I sign “no problem” at him and he smiles. Class is silent for the two of us. The teacher lectures at the front for a bit before handing out some worksheets. Slowly the noise in the classroom falls to the scratching of pencils and the quiet whispered gossip of high schoolers.

I get to work on the worksheet, losing myself in the numbers and equations. Math isn’t too hard for me anymore, so thankfully I finish it up with plenty of time in class to spare. I get up and sidle my way up to the front of the classroom to turn the worksheet in. There are a couple hushed whispers and stares in my direction as I do so. I try to tune them out as I lay the sheet into the tray. The teacher shoots me a smile as she looks up from her book she’s reading.

“That was quick, Miss Kane. Did you make sure to go over your answers?” The teacher, Mrs. Hart, chuckles gently to herself.

“Do I really need to?” I ask, knowing full well that she didn’t expect me to. I never have, and I think she understood that I wouldn’t start now.

“Of course, Petunia.” She rolls her eyes gently, turning back to her book. “There’s still a couple of minutes before the end of class, so try not to disturb your peers.” That was all the permission I needed to head back to my seat. I nodded, but I was certain Mrs. Hart was already too enveloped in her book again to see it. My eyes rove over the class and a few lingering gazes turn back to their sheets. I smile and make my way back to my seat next to Daniel.

Daniel is staring intently at his worksheet, pencil occasionally scratching something down. His deadened attitude wasn’t enough to stop him from doing the homework at least. Contently, I turned back to my seat, pulling a leather-bound journal from my bag. The front is covered in an array of mystical symbols including stars, pentacles, and a moon in one corner. It was on the nose, but I didn’t mind if people thought I was weird. They were all stereotypically “Witch” symbols, even though I’m technically a wizard. Opening the journal to one of the last filled pages in the middle, I went over some of my notes for the ritual tonight. Several practiced runes and circles align the opposite page, while the focus of my attention is notations that I made regarding the effects of the spell.

In all honesty, the ritual was already as prepared as I could make it and I’d re-read the specifics about 20 times at this point just so I had it in my head. Regardless, I kept reading so I could embed the information deep into my mind. As I focused on the spell, I tried once more to think about my wish. Every time I did so, though, my mind would drift to my best friend sitting beside me. I bit my lip gently as I did so, thinking the idea through. I shook my head gently and turned back to the spell matrices on the page previously. A heavy weight sunk into my gut as unease settled itself into my mind. I almost groaned audibly at the thought, but I kept my mouth shut.

~~~~~~~

I’m poring over my notes while my journal lies on the windowsill to my bedroom. It’s almost time for the ritual, and I’m studying out of nervousness at this point. I know exactly what to do, I just don’t know how else to fill the time until midnight.

I glance behind me at the cleared wood platform behind me. I had pulled it out from underneath my bed earlier to set up the ritual circle. There are several candles surrounding the chalk spell circle on the platform. The center of the spell circle has my athame, an ornate ritual dagger that my mentor gave me. I recently sharpened it to prepare for today. A sharper knife is always safer, especially if you want a clean cut.

I snap my journal shut upon looking at the clock on the wall. It’s soon enough that I can get started. I open the window, allowing the light of the blood moon to trickle into my room. The dim red glow of the night slowly crawls over the spell circle as I walk away from the window. A gentle breeze blows through the window and flips the edge of my cloak up. I was wearing my nicer clothes with my cloak I used when I went out for foraging.

I plop myself down into the center of the circle, slowing my breathing down and taking practiced breaths. I feel my heart-rate slowing down as my mind calms itself. Feeling more centered, I focus my mind on everything involving performing the ritual. I chant the focus words gently, gaining intensity as they help control the mental image of the spell matrix in my mind. My hands maneuver their way into the air in front of me, Magic seeping from where I sit into the chalk circle I’m sitting on.

Spell matrices dance their concepts and formulas across my vision behind my eyelids. I open my eyes, tracing their shapes in the air with my hands, magic hanging where my fingers used to be. Arcane geometric shapes hang in the air, outlines of inlaid runes stick out in my mind as I scan the matrix over. I drop the focus words, dragging the runes I pick out into place, muttering the ancient language subconsciously under my breath. As I drag the last rune into place, the circular matrix hangs in the air, like a puzzle mostly solved. Dropping my arms, the magic reaches to the glowing ritual circle I’m sitting on. I grab the athame by the handle and close my other hand around the blade. I drag the knife across my palm, the sharp blade leaving a neat cut down the center of my palm.

I bite my lip and let the blood travel down my fingers and pooling onto the glowing ritual circle below me. The ritual circle sucks the blood, and the magic contained within it, up greedily. The magic from the matrix hanging in front of me responds to the powered up ritual circle as it stops sucking up the blood. The spell matrix collapses on itself and the glow from the ritual circle leaps into it and together they become a glowing ball of pure magical intent hanging in front of me. It only hangs for a moment as I stare into it. For some reason it almost seems like it stares back in the few seconds it stays there.

The next instant, the ball of pure intent flies out the window and leaves. The ritual is complete; all I can do is wait.

The stinging pain of my still bleeding palm pulls my attention back to the material quickly and I get up from the ritual circle quickly. A few stray drops of blood make their way to my carpet as I squeeze my hand closed, hoping to slow the bleeding. I reach for the gauze I had placed nearby and wrap the wound. The blood on my hand and the blood still making its way out of my hand quickly soaks the gauze through. I continue wrapping my hand for as long as it takes for the blood to stop dripping and pooling onto the wooden platform below me.

With my wound more or less taken care of for now, I find the paper towels and set to cleaning up the wooden platform. The chalk I’d channeled magic through is dried to the wood with blood, despite the fact that most of the other blood is nowhere near dry. It takes a good amount of paper towels and water to properly clean up all the blood. I’ll have to disinfect it later, just in case.

I’ll also have to throw away these pants, I forgot to think about all that blood pooling below me seeping into them. I pick up the used and bloody paper towels and drop them into the waste bin next to my computer. Looking back at the ritual platform, it looks relatively clean. There’s some melted wax dripping onto the edges with the candles, and I could be wrong with the dim blood colored light shining through the window from the moon, but it seems like I got all the blood on the platform cleaned up.

“Are you the one who called upon me?” I startle out of my thoughts, my head whipping to the window. There’s a beautiful woman sitting on my open windowsill, and she’s staring at me. Her voice had an otherworldly echo to it, as if she existed in two places at once and talked from both. Her brilliant green eyes have a slight shimmer to them as they pierce their way into the center of my soul. She’s also damn near half naked and really fucking hot.

My heart skips a couple beats as I look away quickly and try my hardest not to stare at her. I have to steady my breathing before I answer her verbally, so without looking at her I just nod. After a second or two, I steel my nerves and look back. The look she gives me appears to be one of amusement, and I can’t help the fierce blush that floods into my face. She chuckles lightly, and it’s a bright and airy sound. It’s like wind chimes jingling against each other gently, and it does not help me collect myself. As she laughs, I suddenly notice that she’s completely clothed.

It was weird because it didn’t fade into view, it just felt like… she had always been wearing it? It was a chaste earthy brown sweater dress that matches her fair skin and light brown hair. As my brain catches up with my eyes, I’m able to take in several more features that send of signals in the back of my head.

“You’re a greater spirit.” I freeze in my spot, nervousness breaking away into anxiety at the realization. Why would a greater spirit answer my request?

“I am. Your request sought me out, young wizard.” She seems to look me up and down, no doubt inspecting me. I straighten my posture and curtsy as she does so. Greater spirits are powerful spirits that you should never disrespect, because curses from them can be devastating. As I lift myself from the curtsy, I find her eyes staring me down once more. I look back, not daring to break eye contact anymore out of intimidation. “What is your name, young wizard?”

I gulp gently before answering meekly, “P-petunia Kane, your grace.” She seems to quirk her eyebrow at the honorific before nodding approvingly. Her intense stare cools to a calmer and more steady gaze. She still doesn’t break eye contact and neither do I. Hell, I can’t even remember if I’m breathing. I can’t focus straight.

“Your request was earnest, Wizard Petunia. As you’ve already gathered, I’m a greater spirit. I am Lady Brylla Greystorm of The Moon Throne Court. What request do you ask of me?” She says with an air of grace and elegance. I couldn’t be sure, but the room almost seems to shake under her power and influence. Or maybe that’s just me shaking. I can’t tear my attention away long enough to check.

My brain catches as I think of the request she had asked me to supply. Especially under the intense gaze of Lady Greystorm, I can’t think of my previous wish options. A sad face flashes across my mind as I think, the idea pulling me out of my shock and fear. My brain keeps pulling me back to Daniel and the ground underneath me seems to steady as my mind pulls itself together. I stop subconsciously wringing my hands and realize I’m staring at the floor now. I drag my gaze up and look up at Lady Greystorm and take one more deep breath. As I let the breath out slowly, I look her directly in the eyes.

“I… I would like you to help my friend Lady Greystorm. My friend Daniel Sangrey, I’d like it if you could help fix whatever he’s struggling with. Uh, please and thank you.” The request starts out confidently, but becomes meek as she continues to stare at me.

She seems to consider the request intently. Or maybe she’s considering me, because she doesn’t seem to tear her gaze away from me. The next few moments are filled with a tense silence as neither of us speaks. I fidget nervously, worried that I offended her with the request. I let my mind wander and worry about anything and everything. The silence breaks suddenly by Lady Greystorm, turning her gaze away from me and flicking her hands quickly in several familiar gestures. A spell matrix quickly appears in front of her as her eyes flash a brilliant white. She seems to digest whatever the spell just told her with interest, nodding gently and folding her arms. I grab at the edges of my cloak nervously.

“Two weeks.” She says turning to me, her gaze and tone even and portraying no emotion.

“Two weeks?” I ask tentatively, not sure of her meaning.

“My price.” She states, my eyes widening in shock as she elaborates. “Two weeks’ worth of your magic and energy. You’ll sign a contract with me and I’ll drain you of your magic for the duration of two weeks. As for your energy, I’ll take that gradually. You may be out for a day or two, and you’ll feel weak for the next couple of weeks as the contract gradually fulfills itself.”

“That’s so much!” I exclaim. Two weeks unable to do magic? And I’ll have my energy drained too.

“This is a… discount, as you’d call it. As you called upon me on a night I happen to favour, I’m being lenient with the price.” I stutter backwards a step at the revelation.

“It’s… that bad?” I ask softly, looking down at my feet. Lady Greystorm doesn’t answer, maintaining her regal composure. I take a deep breath and steel myself. If it really is that bad, then I need to do it. I need to help Daniel. I look back up and meet her eyes with determination. I can almost see a playfulness glint across her visage as she continues to stare at me. “I agree, Lady Greystorm. Please, let me sign the contract.” She nods once, a quick and professional nod.

“Very well, Petunia. Give me your hand. This may sting a bit.”

I reach my bandaged hand out to her, forgetting the bloody gauze. I go to put the hand down and use the other, but she clutches it tightly in her own hand before I can. I see a warm light spreading from my hand as she does, the light slowly spreads across my vision before I feel the sensation of falling.

“Sleep well, Wizard Petunia.” I can barely hear the echo-like voice of Lady Greystorm as my vision goes white.