Arwick (A Light Of Roria Sequel)

Chapter Thirty-One

Staci

I wanted to hurl. In fact, I had wanted to seconds after we'd arrived. This place just spewed Divinity out like a firehose. It wasn't just the fairies. It was in the trees, the ground, and even the wind. Everything was connected to divinity until I felt dizzy.

I was so out of place while everyone I knew had felt right at home. Not even the bath I'd been able to take seemed to help.

Wearing the dress Priscilla had given me, I looked in the mirror that sat against the tree's inner wall. It was a sapphire blue, and of course I looked great in it. But with my freaky gray eye and strange marks, I didn't feel as confident as before.

It wasn't just my new appearance that was throwing me, or the fact that my magic was spinning inside me with dread, but also the way all these fairies were looking at me. I might as well have been wearing a caution sign that read, "Beware of the dark fairy!"

After Addisyn's understandable breakdown, we'd all been waiting for the queen to reemerge, but despite all the chatter between the fairies and my friends, no one said a thing to me. Not one word. Not even my friends knew how to talk to me anymore. What was worse was how I'd normally be really bothered by this. I'd grown to love being the center of attention. But here and now, I craved alone time, and it was the only thing that seemed to satisfy my magic.

When I'd had enough of the strange looks and low murmurs, I'd asked Priscilla if there was a place I could be alone. She'd tried to convince me to spend more time with her, but I wasn't having it. Soon she was directing her fairies to retrieve clothes, grab tubs for baths, and begin preparing for some dinner I was sure I didn't want to attend.

Looking down at my hand, I realized it was shaking. My skin felt hot, and the room started to shrink. My magic needed a release, and the stress of this place was wearing down my choice to resist it. Giving in, I formed a dark blade in my hand. The magic immediately relaxed, and I let out a long sigh of relief. Smiling, I let the magic pulse through me. Without knowing why, Ahaz's face came to mind. I wondered where he was and how he was doing before Addisyn's voice startled me.

"Staci? Can I come in?"

Surprised and afraid she'd catch what I'd done, I stopped using my magic, trying to compose myself. "Yeah, I guess," I grumbled, not trying to hide how annoyed I was.

Stepping inside, she smiled. "Staci, you look amazing."

"Mmhm," I replied, inwardly wishing she'd leave so I could form something again.

"Staci, I just want you to know that I'm here. If you want to talk. If you want to hang out like we used to and just eat food and chat, I'm down." She smiled before continuing. "I doubt we can find any ice cream nearby, but I'd give it a try if you wanted some bad enough."

She was trying to make me smile, even bringing up fun memories of us pigging out in our living room, but I never did. In fact I could tell my silence had made her uncomfortable, and even though I had felt a little shameful for that, I was also happy she would likely get gone, and I could get to using again.

"Well, I hope I see you tonight for dinner," she added, heading for the exit.

"Yeah, maybe," I replied, watching her push aside the drapes.

When she was gone, I immediately made another sword and exhaled at the sudden ease.

Lying on the hammock, I held my dark blade, surprised at how comfortable it felt. As much as I was beginning to hate all this divinity around me, using dark magic made everything seem just a little bit easier.