ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 2 - In the Silence

Olivia woke up the next morning to the gentle buzzing of her Liaiser on the bedside table.

She reached over and touched a finger to the screen to silence the alarm, stretching her arms above her head as she sat up. Viri was still curled beside her pillow, half-hidden by the shadow it cast, but she was awake and watching the world with those giant, violet eyes of hers.

"Morning, Viri," said Olivia with a smile, rubbing her face before she put on her glasses. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yup!" said Viri, circling through the air to lean against the edge of the pillow. "Did you?"

"Amazingly so," said Olivia, getting out of bed and making her way to the dresser. "Last night's little mission left me especially refreshed today."

"I think you're the only Luminary I've ever had who wakes up better after saving a Manifested," said Viri. She drifted onto Olivia's shoulder, watching as Olivia downed her medication with a few gulps of bottled water. "It's a nice change of pace."

"You've been with me for almost a year now," said Olivia. "Shouldn't this be your usual pace by now?"

"A year isn't that long for me," said Viri. "In five years, I might be almost used to it."

Olivia scratched Viri under her chin. "Well, I don't plan on ever going dark, so you'll have plenty of time to get used to this pace."

Humming to herself, Olivia went about her usual morning routine, pulling on her usual dress shirt, tights and skirt combo before brushing her hair back into its ponytail. About the time when Olivia was folding up her sleeves, Viri had caught onto her tune and added her own soft voice to the harmony, filling the room with their song.

"Olive!" called her mum from downstairs. "Breakfast is happening, are you coming down?"

"In a sec!" Olivia replied, then to Viri, said, "I'll be back up soon."

Grabbing her Liaiser, Olivia went downstairs to the kitchen, leaving Viri in her room. Her parents were there, and she gave them both a hug whether they were awake enough to appreciate it or not before grabbing her plate of pancakes.

"Thank you," she said, planting a kiss on her mum's cheek before going back to the table.

"What's on the agenda today?" asked her dad.

"School," said Olivia with a shrug. "About the usual."

"Anything else?" he said, giving her a questioning look. "Maybe anything to do with sponsorships, perhaps? I seem to recall Ericka talking about something in that regard this week."

Olivia swallowed her mouthful of pancakes, giving herself time to come up with a reply. "Not sure. Ericka always has a few million things going on. Even I can't keep up with her all the time."

"I still can't believe it," her mum said, joining them at the table. "Doesn't seem that long ago that you were just starting school, and now you're looking for a sponsorship and before I know it you'll be into your free learning years and..." She paused, hands resting flat on the table as her gaze wandered off into the distance. "My baby's growing up."

Olivia shook her head, laughing. "There's what, five, six weeks until the festival? Free learning doesn't even start until a few weeks after that. There's heaps of time!"

"Just remember to have fun," said her dad. "I remember my free learning years. Didn't get myself a sponsorship, so I signed up for just about everything I could fit, didn't turn up for most of it and spent my time running around the forests looking for new kinds of fruit. Didn't take long before I got bored and went back. Studied a business course, and that was the best damned decision I ever made. Led me straight into your mother!"