The Girl of Shadows [COMPLETE]

Three

["Broken girls become warriors."]

The air was warmer than it normally was. It was calming and tranquil. I took many meticulous breaths, inhaling the freshness of its demeanor. My legs were smooth and crossed, with my foot bouncing in intervals. I was anxious about something, but I didn't know what that was. It was blocked continuously after several attempts to worry me.

My balcony door flew open to reveal an out of breath Rayne placing her hands on her knees. Great, my silence is no more. She took approximately thirty seconds to compose herself, then handed me a yellow package addressed to me. I didn't remember ordering anything, let alone something that size.

"Yeah, there's no return address." She panted, still exhausted from the climb up the curvy marble stairs. And I'm sure she's being dramatic. She can fly for shit's sake.

"Weird." I murmured, hands clung onto the sides of the yellow mystery. My eyes squinted to the scribble present in the middle of it. It wasn't any handwriting I've ever seen, and I know all of our family's handwriting by heart. My mind raced to a million different possibilities. The good, the bad, the ugly - or in this case death - and everything in between. Why today of all days, and right now of all times? I didn't understand. Why me?

Rayne rushed out of the room to most likely challenge Savannah to a ping pong match, as that's what they were frequently found occupying themselves. Savannah always won, but Rayne was determined to conquer the most prestigious of challenges - defeating someone at ping pong.

I could've glared at the package for hours - at least that's what it felt like - wondering what the purpose of this arrival was. Here, in this specific area, at this exact time, chaos could unfold as we knew it. Or the sender had the address wrong. All of this I paced back and forth to, separating the irrational from the logical. Now that was what took so long.

After many minutes of anxiety, my hands tore the strip of paper that was on the top of the package. It ripped easier than expected, revealing a very carefully placed bubble wrap housing a small black crystal. It hung on a necklace chain, swinging side to side in my shaky hands. What was this thing? Was it cursed? Was it an ordinary necklace? That I had no clue of, but I was sure of one thing - I felt connected to it in a way. Like it was an old friend who moved away in grade school only to reappear in adulthood. Something familiar in an unfamiliar way.

My first instinct was to ask Cedric and Gianna. Gia had a vast knowledge of stones, whether ancient or still present, and Cedric had all the books. I held it in my hands, as if it were a small baby or a fragile egg. I made my way down the stairs to see three of my siblings squabbling over something completely ridiculous.

"It's my turn, Riley!" Maddie whined. Her body was positioned in a way that she was ready to run at any given moment.

"You had it all day yesterday, though." Riley argued back. He had a tight grip on the Nintendo Switch that we shared. That's what they're fighting about?

Thorne had his stance as the eldest brother and tried to break up the squabbling to no avail. I rolled my eyes at their shenanigans and focused on the crystal. Then I could feel six eyes watching my stiff hands carry such a thing. They were nosy as siblings tend to be.

Cedric's study was wide open. He was lecturing a bored Elle, a semi-alert Niko, and an annoyed Cohen and Khai. Gia was glaring at Elle to pay attention, avoiding being seen by Cedric's scholarly persona. Elle stopped tapping her peach colored fingernails on the desk when she eventually noticed Gianna's warning. She sat up when the wheels clicked.

Gianna turned around to grab a book on ethics when she noticed me standing in the doorway. Her face went from slightly annoyed to pleased, then questioning within seconds.

"Cedric, Hannah needs us." She whispered as he leaned down to her level. Elle glanced at me as if she thought I had saved her. I internally chuckled.

"Well this concludes our ethics lesson." Cedric announced, having Cohen run out of the study if his life depended on it. I froze when all ten eyes noticed my presence. I felt so guilty for interrupting the lesson, but at the same time, I had saved everyone a bunch of controversy.

"What's this?" Cedric queried. I shrugged, slowly handing him the one thing I was confused about. He examined the angles, the hue, and the shapes. His eyes stayed unchanged asking the same question repeatedly - What is this?

"I don't know. It was sent in a package that Rayne delivered to me. I'm still wondering that myself, actually. Oh - and before you ask, there's no return address."

He didn't reply, but made a sound of recognition. "Hmm." Was all I heard for many forthcoming minutes. "If I had known you were to receive a crystal, I would have seen it by now. I'm sure of it."

"Is it bad?" I stupidly asked. I should have worded that differently, but instead I went with the illiterate way.

"Not bad nor good. Neutral. I'm still trying to recall any kind of mysterious crystal that appears out of nowhere."

"Maybe I can help." Gianna interrupted. Both Cedric and I averted our eyes to her direction. She tilted her head a few degrees to recollect any gem information.

"It's definitely supernatural. I know that for a fact. But it's purpose, no idea."
"Two minds think alike." Cedric chuckled. He and Gia spent ten seconds laughing, while I stood and positioned my head to face my socks. If you think anything else is awkward, boy do I have a better circumstance.

"Wait." Gianna stopped laughing. I raised my head to see her thinking expression - which was quite amusing to say the least - and patiently awaited her response. She shuffled her feet to turn to the old bookshelf that held more books than it could carry. Her finger traced the outline of many exposed spines, then took one out of it's cozy nook. I bet it was nice and warm there.

"The Legend of the Talisman Crystals," Cedric read aloud, "What an odd theory, my love."

"It's a possibility. When in a stalemate, ruling out all feasible options is a priority."

I furrowed my brow at the desaturated shine from centuries of no use. The cover was in Latin, reading as 'Ad Talismans Fabulae,' which translates to 'Tales of the Talismans.' Latin was a language I knew more than Greek or French. It was easy.

Gianna flipped the dusty pages nearly towards the end. There was a drawing of the crystal in my hands, copied to the exact measurements.

"It says that it is only given to gods and goddesses, and rarely to demi's. Black represents death, the underworld, mortality, and the resurrection of life. First recorded in 648 B.C.E, many around the globe reported strange appearances of the crystal and no recollection of how it got there. It has soon been passed down from generation to generation for a new era of rule."

I was so shocked that I couldn't move. I was a goddess? I was this Type C human who had nothing special coming. Why would the universe choose me for this task?

"I guess that makes sense. Your power is necromancy. And you spend the majority of your time in local graveyards." Niko butted in. I completely forgot he was even there, as well as Elle and Khai. Khai was just as confused as I was, and well, Elle, she was a little dumbfounded. Her eyes sparked jealousy. I knew it.

"Wha-what does that... mean?" I asked. The expressions present on both Cedric and Gianna's faces were more melancholy than anything. "I don't know." One managed to say, the other nodding as well.

"Shit." Khai whispered to Niko, receiving a motherly glare from Gianna. Her face fumes from the use of foul language.

I fell to the floor, crouching. I wanted to scream my lungs out, maybe even to the extent of removing my vocal chords. But I stayed quiet, feeling the gaze of five. I was not okay. This was overwhelming to comprehend. When the first teardrop fell, wings appeared spread on my back,

The crystal was not the only thing that changed me. I had dark grey wings.