The Rise of Venus

The Calm

Song: Falling in love lofi playlist by Tunable Music

Moonlight peered into my room, shining through the sheer curtains. Careful not to wake Leo, I untangled myself from him, joining my ancestor's symbol of power under the guise of night. Scintillating silver seeped from the bleeding sky and into my messy room. I pulled the curtains back and let the light in. The bright color played on the windowsill before spilling into the rest of the small room.

I knew very little about fabrics and sewing. Even less so about how to crochet or make clothes. Unlike Mother who found joy in knowing those little things, I preferred other ways to pass the time. Like hunting with Father or spending the day improving my Pack.

Nonetheless, like all of the things Mother taught me, her instruction on types of fabric stuck. Those tidbits of knowledge I was certain I'd never use lived rent free in the back of my mind. Which was probably why my mind connected the shade of silver as an organza veil. Like the fabric that was silky and transparent, the moonlight covered everything lightly.

As if, for a moment of pure ludicrously, it wasn't even there. Or, perhaps it was.

I rubbed my eyes, sighing at the stupidity of my own train of thought. With today being the Autumnal Equinox, I was anxious for what was to come. According to Pride, the influence of the magickal holiday meant we only had one day in Thunder Forest. Only one day to get Fergus to leave his home and trust us, complete strangers, to unite him with his Mate.

I wasn't too happy regarding that requirement. Getting things done without facing any bumps in the road wasn't something our group was good with. We planned, we got there, and sometimes things didn't go right at all. Sure, we pushed on throughout the upcoming days until we found a way to overcome our obstacles. But, unlike those other moments, we wouldn't have the luxury of time on our side. We wouldn't be able to leave and come back at a later date with more resources or a better plan. Today, we either succeeded or we didn't.

The next magickal holiday wasn't until Samhain. Samhain didn't come until the last day of October. So we couldn't afford to screw this up.

Everything had to be perfect.

Which, unfortunately for me, I didn't believe in. Perfection was a fallacy. A pure fantasy, a trickery of the mind. I prided myself in being a realist. In seeing things for what they were and not what fairytales wanted them to be.

And perfection, well, was one of those things of impossibility.

There were flaws in every system, plan, and person. Nothing was without a pockmarked blemish or two. Everything had a balance of imperfection and quintessential quality. I knew that. Never before had I been opposed to such ideology.

But now I was worried.

I was worried for the imperfections that today would bring.

Today was Mabon. A holiday celebrated by all Witches and Warlocks for honoring the harvest cycle. Now the days and nights were to be of equal length. They would be out and about, enjoying the day set aside to reap what you sow. Giving thanks to their personal Gods and resting after their heavy toiling. The crops would be praised and bountiful requests made silently.

Today was a day for Dark and White magickal followers to set aside their differences. There would be no talk of war or Werewolves. No mention of stars and prophecies. Pride made it very clear that his mother's people took their traditions seriously.

Which meant that today, there would be Witches and Warlocks everywhere. All over Salem. Making everything ten times harder than it needed to be.

At 12 a.m. on the dot Thunder Forest was open for business. We hoped that by leaving while everyone still slept at three in the morning, we'd get there safely. Preparations for the feast wouldn't begin until later so Pride was certain we'd be fine.