Once upon a Midnight | BOOK I

Twenty-four

The wisp in my hand was soft on touch, it was warm too and it felt almost lifelike. I traced the bright yellow light over the surface of the book on my lap. The book of drowned sorrows. I began to hum a tone and tried to match it with the note and pitch that was described in the book.

Meow!

"I know. But our trial is coming up, I need to study. I'll try to rest after the trial," I told my familiar without taking my gaze off the book. We were in the Blackstone library. We'd came here after the trial and decided to study before our duel with Tiakken in less than twenty four hours. But Midnight was starting to get paranoid. We were alone in the library with the dull glows of the wisps as our only company. I continued learning the spell and wrote down a few key points in my notepad.

I dropped the book and walked to another shelf to get another book for reference. I traced my fingers over the books on the shelf as I scanned for a book on spirit summoning. I suddenly wished there was a knowledge keeper in sight. As I was about to pick a book that seemed useful, all the wisps around me shone so bright, I had to shut my eyes. I subconsciously reached into the shadows and was immediately covered by the inky darkness of the shadows. When I dismissed the shadows around me, I saw that all the wisps in the library had exploded into tiny light particles, leaving me in a semi-darkness.

"Anabeth," a voice hummed. "I've been waiting for you."

My wand was already in my hand and I used it to draw a protection rune in the air before me. Midnight was also beside me in his goblin form. Then, from the corner of the shelf, a figure walked out. My tensed breathing relaxed when I realised it was none other than the diabolic witch witch; Sofie.

"What the bloody hell? You can't just pop out of nowhere and scare me like that," I growled. My protection rune had dispelled on its own, making me wonder if the wand was faulty.

"Actually, I can," Sofie said lazily, moving around and shinning her white glow everywhere. "And I do have a knack for dramatic entrances."

"And part of your dramatic entrance is blowing up wisps?" my sarcastic voice said.

"Well. Not exactly. That's just an unavoidable effect," she answered absentmindedly. She placed her focus on the spine of a book and traced her fingers over it.

"You might have to explain that," I said.

Sofie sighed. "Well, you know the wisps are just solidified magick residues. The magick field around me dispels magick of that sort. My presence can scrub off runes and some other stuffs."

That explained why my protection rune disappeared. But how was this possible. I decided to read her magickal current. I didn't know how to explain what I saw. It was as if she was made of magickal current but wasn't giving out any magick. "Are you some sort of goddess?" I asked. Midnight finally transformed back to its false face and sat at my feet.

Sofie laughed hysterically. "A goddess?" She laughed harder and glowed a little brighter. "Okay, I admit, that's a good one, Anabeth."

"Okay...?"

"I am not a goddess," she told me. "But I was once called Angitia by the Marsi people, and there was a time I was confused with Freyja. That was a total misunderstanding. Who would want to be that cranky old bitch?" A thoughtful look played on her face, almost as if she was remembering something and the shadow of a smile caressed her lips.

I wasn't new to the concept of deities. It was the general belief that majority of deities from all beliefs existed, but most of them aren't what people perceive them to be. They are mostly great and powerful spirits that roam the realms. They could be beckoned to aid with a spell and lend their strength. This was common before the mordern age when priest-sorcerers were much. There has been stories of deities taking human form or possessing humans. I don't know how possible that is. The only deity I'd ever given time into studying was Zeus. I planned to be able to summon the lightning of Zeus someday.