The Rise of Venus

Cracks in the Foundation

Song: PoV playlist by Ivoryyy

Leo not paying attention to me the next day hurt.

Sure, he still gave me my morning cup of jasmine tea with the right amount of milk and sugar. He never asked for his sweater back and never complained when I wore it throughout the day. Nor did he object to my keeping of his journal.

But to not have his eyes on me once all day hurt. To not have him acknowledge my presence but pay attention to everyone else hurt. And to not have his brief touches after having felt his whole body yesterday especially hurt.

By nightfall, my song of sadness had been singing louder than his and without pause.

That shit hurt too.

However, there was one thing that kept my mind off of the aching in my heart. It was the artifact the boys retrieved yesterday. The Dagger of the Mind. Mercury's chosen item to leave behind for us to find.

It was nothing special if I was being honest. The blade was fairly plain with its simple black hilt and silver tip. The symbol of Mercury was embedded on the hilt towards the bottom and that was it.

But none of that mattered to me. It's what the dagger could do that had me so interested in it.

By stabbing an individual in the head with the dagger, all valuable knowledge was drained. The dagger strengthened itself with the collection of information it contained. Whoever wielded the Dagger of the Mind possessed insurmountable knowledge.

It was an intellectual's biggest wet dream and I hungered for it.

With the dagger in my possession I would be unstoppable in terms of future battles. It seemed extremely wasteful to destroy such a valuable item when it could be put to better use. Like being my "right hand man" for when I became Luna of my Pack. I'd be a formidable leader; a real force to be reckoned with.

No one would dare attack us ever again.

Knowledge meant power. With the Dagger of the Mind under my belt, I'd never have to worry about being inferior again.

My fingers itched to walk towards the dresser and claim it for myself. The blade was perched between the apple and ring like a trophy just waiting to be taken. I wanted it and I wanted it badly.

"Maybe we should get The Chronicle last then," Reign said. His flat tone broke the spell lingering between the dagger and myself. Taking a deep breath, I sat up straighter and tried to focus on the task at hand.

"But if we do that, then they'll know it's the last thing on our list," Sky argued. I stiffened beside her. Suddenly wary of how this conversation would go. "We should get it now while we still can."

"And how are we supposed to do that with Pride's family going in and out of the Pridesong Library?" Reign set his book down, turning his full attention onto Sky. They weren't fighting. Not yet, at least. But if we let these two continue with their back and forth, there was bound to be another argument to be had. "We got lucky yesterday taking out those bands of Witches. Even if we all go backup Pride tomorrow, there's no way we stand a chance against Witches descended from the Oracle."

I wasn't about to admit it out loud, but I partly agreed with Reign. Pride did some digging into his family history and found out that the Pridesong's were a revered family.

When the girls and I took out his cousin yesterday, we'd done so by sheer dumb luck. She'd gotten too cocky and waltzed a little too close to the edge of the cliff. One well planned distraction by Sky plus Flora and I's combined strength led to her fall of death.