Nightspun (#ONC_2020)

Chapter 5 - Crush

Sybil shifted from foot to foot, staring up at the moon. She was wary of its power and ability to to drain so much Sunspell without really knowing why. It was strange, considering the stories of the Astral Three. Banishing the thoughts from her mind she clenched her fists, determined to keep her promise to Amira. To Dewdrop. No matter how much it hurt her to do so.

"It was an early Five Moon present that Siara said she hand painted herself. It had her signature and everything. I was happy, overwhelmed even that she remembered but I knew. I knew deep down that there was something wrong with this situation."

"Don't tell me…" Amira began, putting the pieces together far quicker than Sybil could tell them.

The Sunspell elf shook her head. Amira Lightbane was the smartest person Sybil knew but no amount of common sense could explain how and why this came to be. Every elf, be it Sunspell, Nightspell, Stormspell or any other Forecaster kept some false belief in their hearts that helped them to overlook the unfairness within their society. Order was key to success and within that order there was structure and stability in whatever they did in life. But this? This was order disguised as chaos.

"Siara wanted it to be a surprise but Garrett blabbed first. He used his position on behalf of my mother to move my Nightspun audition up to match with his Five Moon dance. He said it so humbly, like I should've been so thankful he changed it on my behalf. Even though I was never even consulted, never even asked." Sybil said, undone by such a notion.

"What? Why on Neridia would he do that? How?" Amira exclaimed, her Nightspell runes on her arm turning the peeling, white paint to burnt, ashen crisps.

Sybil pretended not to notice her barren right hand, the attempted runes that had been carved into it flared uselessly beside her. An angry Nightspell elf was worse than receiving a Sunspell to the face. With a laser, you could at least attempt to duck if you were quick enough but a Nightspell was an entirely different matter. Be it carved on wood, metal, skin or stone: runes were highly unpredictable and those who wielded them even more so. Never cross a Nightspell elf with a grudge.

"Since his mother is the High Suncaster of all people, they agreed to his change, thinking that was what I wanted with the backing of the royal Sunstress. It couldn't be rescheduled for another century." Sybil muttered quietly, trying to quell her best friends rage.

"It's your choice! Not his or Siara's or anyone else's! Why the hell did they...surely she'd have known how much of a slimeball he was? He's more of an attention seeking, drama queen than the High Nightcaster on a rune inspection!

Sybil laughed, her morose expression masking the stupidity of such a tactic. Garrett was once her most treasured friend but when he said he loved her at the tender age of nineteen, Sybil didn't know what to think. She was young and her grandmama had always warned her of the difficulties with their powers clashing. Sybil was honest with him about her feelings but that wasn't what he wanted to hear. He grabbed her, his runes flaring in the heat of the moment and that's when Dewdrop last appeared. No longer a helpless bunny but a proud jackalope and defender of the Sunspell elf who would do anything to protect him.

"My mother thought Garrett bloody Moondancer was my boyfriend and I wanted to celebrate with him. Apparently she thought I still had an elfling crush on him like I did when I was younger. Far younger than I was when she saw him last." Sybil reminded her, the cold, bracing chill of his hand making her shiver. 

Siara had seen nothing wrong with the boy next door, finding her daughter's crush nothing short of adorable. When in fact it was the other way around. She had never seen Garrett look at her like that, like she was some kind of endangered creature he was supposed to protect but when he helped her calm Dewdrop's ire by being near, Sybil couldn't help but rely on him. It was only after her Second Moon when he moved away that the Sunspell elf truly realised how wrong that was. When he finally returned she apologised profusely to him for her youth but by that point it was like talking to a wall. He didn't care. Or at least, he acted like he didn't.