you're incredibly wicked

23: new moon in libra

Just like that, the moon soon turned back to darkness. When the moon phases change, the entire atmosphere of the academy changes. Many believe the supersitions that have been passed down for generations and through different cultures, and they all come together at the academy.

Nikolai walked down the hall, afraid that his raven form was going to come out any second, despite the fact that his curse is only apparent at night. A letter was in his hands, and a locker he was looking for.

Swiftly, he placed the letter in the locker and dissapeared before anybody could notice.

2 lectures later, Serena opened her locker. The letter that Nikolai dropped in there flew down gracefully. She recongized his label and opened it.

Serena,

I have managed to cancel one of your lectures for the day, your 7th lecture. Do not go to the class. Meet me at observatory near the southeast side of the campus. There is something I would like to tell you about.

- Nikolai Reve

Serena couldn't help but hold a huge smile on her face. She always dreamed of going to the observatory, but something about the place seemed odd, almost offputting to say the least.

Her day went smoothly and soon enough when it was time for her 7th lecture, she went outside to where the observatory was.

While most of the academy grounds were well kept and tidy, there was a thicket of weeds and thorns surrounding the enterance of the observatory. Just as she was about to go in, she heard a familar voice.

"Don't go there."

Nikolai flew from above and dropped down to her view.

"You could have gotten hurt if you did that."

"You told me to meet you here."

"It's not safe to go through like this. Here, stand back and I'll take care of this."

Nikolai took out his wand and Serena went back to where he was. 

"Aflaria Pedamis!"

A huge swirl of flames came through his wand and burned through all of the weeds and thorns, within seconds, everything was gone.

"That must be an impossible spell."

"Nope, it's taught in Basics 101. It's mainly used for starting fires when your house is cold in the winter."

"Really? This world is full of a lot of interesting things. It's always the same climate, same weather, same everything up in heaven."

"You still have so much to learn, now let's go in before somebody catches us skipping class."

He held out his hand and him and Serena dashed into the observatory and locked the door tight. Once they were sure, they went up a few flights of stairs before reaching the top.

"I always used to think that this place was scary and yet, I wanted to come here."

"It's been abandoned for years, they used to hold astronomy meetings here, but less people cared about the latest stars and focused more on trying to combat the forces of dark magic. Not that dark magic isn't horrible, it's just..."

He paused.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

Nikolai sighed and took a deep breath.

"Dark magic can't be combated by just anybody. Somebody who is powerful and can weild multiple forms of magic for good. People have been killed by dark magic, and in certain cases, it can corrupt people, such as Jade of Envy."

"Oh no..."

"Heaven might be the only place that dark magic is nonexistant. Everywhere has some bits of dark magic, even here. Since you managed to defeat Maestro, people have become jelaous and hateful over you, because they believe that you can destroy dark magic."

"But, I don't even know what season it is here! How am I supposed to know how to destroy something so powerful such as dark magic?"

"I've been in that position too. I don't remember if I told you, but since I am the student with the most advanced and strongest magic, I am considered the "Perfect" of my class for males. The person they look up to. People think that I could defeat them as well."

"Maybe we could do it together then."

Nikolai raised his eyebrow.

"No, not yet."

"Why not?"

"If either of us gets killed or severely injured, I don't know how I would live with that. We might not have the best.... relationship, but I wouldn't want to live with the pain knowing that you suffered because of myself."

"Nikolai, I wouldn't let anybody or anything get in between us. I still have a lot to learn, but I would do anything for you. I must prove myself, in any way."

"You have potential, yes. But, the world is a scary place. And, I'm most likely one of your greatest fears."

"How so? I could never be afraid of you."

Nikolai took a step back and suddenly changed into his half raven form.

"You know I have a curse. But, do you know the reason why I'm cursed like this?"

Serena shook her head.

"Let me tell you, but maybe we should sit. I don't want to keep you standing for so long."

There was a bench that was leaning on a wall. They sat down and Nikolai let Serena sit on his lap, with his winged hand on her shoulder.

"I was always different growing up. My magic exceled all of the kids that lived in my village. Neither of my parents had skills like mine, and neither did the generations before them. The curse that I was given, I first felt when I turned 13. I turned into a raven without knowing, and my parents thought that I died. When I spoke, they freaked out and called me all sorts of names. This made me do research and I found out that I was a naturally gifted child, and that with every great wizard with lots of power, comes a curse that affects their life. Just like you."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"It's in the past. I've been on my own since then. I had nobody for a while, and I wasn't planning on meeting anybody special, until I met you."

Serena and Nikolai had a moment of speechlessness until Serena kissed him and he accepted her lips. The two of them embraced each other and held the other tight.

"You're special to me, as well. I wouldn't know how to live in a new world if it wasn't for you." Serena said.