13. The Pregames Eve Party
THE PREGAMES EVE PARTY
Seraphina
Six days.
Six long, miserable days, peeling apart the pages of the journal whenever the dorms are empty and Diana is sleeping, hanging it open beneath my bed, praying the magic will work again once it’s fully dry.
Six days of being cut off from my father, unable to tell him where I am, unable to report anything about the academy or Vulcaris, the Sisters or the games.
Six days of Makina. Scared to breathe the wrong way lest she appear out of nowhere and demand I drop and give her another hundred dragon squats, on top of the five hundred she forced upon us all in the training halls.
Though I haven’t admitted it out loud like the rest of Ferrum, she’s awful enough to make you want to beg for Silver to come back.
In six long days, I’ve had all of one, very brief, training session with Khali, Az and Reiva. Nowhere near enough time to gather solid information on the Sisters or games to give to my father once the journal is dry.
It was on the afternoon of our first day with Makina, and it had started well. My new ‘allies’ had been in the dorms waiting for me, talking about someone called Tiriel, their voices hushed.
I’d asked who they were talking about, managing to sound really casual and like I was just trying to get to know my allies better, showing interest in them.
Khali had given me a long look, like she was searching my soul and deciding if she could trust me enough to answer. “Tiriel of Indolence,” she’d eventually said.
“Or as I prefer to call her, the Dream-Watcher,” Az added.
Her?
“One of the—” Sisters, I was going to ask, but before I could finish, Makina had barged into the dorms and demanded the four of us get to the library for R&R with the rest of our Company.
That’s when they’d decided it was best to wait until Silver was back before we started training properly. Had I known that six days later he would still not be here, I’d have tried to push for us to carry on anyway.
Khali, Az and Reiva might be new cadets, but they know Vulcaris. They must have overheard countless conversations between cadets that came and went before us while they’d worked in The Rec.
Besides, the library and records rooms are stacked so high and wide with unmarked scrolls and books, it could take reading a thousand of them before I’m even close to finding information my father would find useful.
I was becoming desperate to gain their trust so they’d become loose lipped around me, especially on the topics they whisper about. Like Tiriel.
There was some good news from that brief session. They’d agreed for Diana to join us next time.
The bad news… Diana was on track to be the first to die tomorrow. Makina’s words, not mine.
Since that first day Silver said he might not make it to training, he’d been absent. Every morning, Ferrum had showed up to the training halls at six sharp and been met by Makina instead.
She’s unbearable.
It’s not just that she’s cold, rude and unforgiving, but the way she breathes down our necks is suffocating. It’s bad enough being aware we are not allowed to leave Vulcaris’ grounds, but even inside, at every turn, she’s there.
The demanding demoness keeps us late in the sparring yard, chastising us for losing every round of the Triad like we have since that first day with Overlord Silver.
Perhaps if not for her insistence on putting the weakest in first, we might have a chance at winning again.
The bruising on Diana’s face and body is only just starting to turn from purple to brown.
She checks up on us in the Mess, during R&R, and according to the others, even in The Rec during downtime too. Not that I’ve been there and seen it for myself.
Of course, after two days of Silver’s absence, rumors began circulating about his whereabouts.
Some say he’s dead, others swearing he’s on a secret mission for the Sisters. Though I’m pretty sure he’s secretly concerned for the Overlord, Az has many theories, each one becoming more ridiculous by the day.
Like now, as I stand in the dorms, waiting for everyone to head to The Rec to attend what Lilliana’s been calling her ‘Pre-games Eve’ party.
Az stands shirtless, his t-shirt hooked halfway up his arms, the head hole stretched, threatening to pull it over his head but too busy telling the room full of eager ears about the latest rumor he supposedly heard.
“A credible source tells me that our Overlord’s rounding up a pack of two thousand hellhounds in the mountains of Acedia somewhere.”
Sure.
Acedia is Scelus’ most Southern kingdom, and this island couldn’t be further North. Silver had made it sound like he’d only miss a day, and that trip would be a month at best.
Then again, if he can open hellgates to wherever he pleases in Scelus… it’s possible.
“For what purpose?” I ask, deciding to finally give in and humor him, though it’s more because I want him to hurry up and finish getting dressed so they can all leave the dorms.
The journal was almost fully dry last time I checked, and the fire has been blazing in here all day.
He shrugs, like it’s obvious. “Why, because he can, my sweet innocent Angel girl.”
When I don’t bristle, it occurs to me that the scariest part of what Az said is not that Silver might actually be able to control two thousand hellhounds, but that I don’t even flinch when he calls me his ‘sweet innocent Angel girl’.
I just roll my eyes right alongside Khali.
Raphaella forgive me, I’m becoming far too complacent about the company I keep.
An ear-splitting whistle rings out, shattering my thoughts.
“Who’s ready for Pre-games Eve then?” Lilliana calls from the doorway, like she doesn’t have a game tomorrow to worry about like the rest of us.
“I’d rather be skewered by a training dagger,” I mumble to Diana.
Not a lie.
“What was that, Halo-rat? Are you going to grace us with your holiness too?” Lilliana asks, looking around to make sure everyone is listening to her being her usual mean girl self. It’s exhausting. “Dana is, aren’t you?”
“Diana,” I correct, but then her words sink in. “You are?” I ask, turning to the only other nephilim in the room.
The guilty look on her face says it all.
She swallows. “Micah, Jack and Gabe are going. And well, I’m probably going to die tomorrow, we weak ones all are…”
I ignore the uncomfortable twist in my gut when she includes me among the weak. The one that’s making me want to scoff and tell her I’m not. That I’ve been faking it all week.
“Exactly,” Lilliana says, smiling. “And as I explained to the Halo-boys in the Mess and to Dana here in the bathhouse earlier—you know, while you were busy being a prude changing in the latrine’s again like you’re hiding a third nipple.”
If only that were all I’m hiding. Still, her entire posse of Ferrum followers laugh at that and she pauses to soak it in before carrying on.
“—It would be a shame to die having never tried one of my cocktails. They are legendary. Tell me I’m wrong.”
No one tells her she’s wrong.
I want to argue, to scream at her, not just Lilliana, but Diana. To tell her that it’s a bad idea, that she’s being naive and making a mistake. That she can’t trust Lilliana or any drink she puts in her hand.
That drinking and gambling and everything I’ve heard goes on in The Rec is a sin.
But…
The journal should be dry now, and without Diana as my shadow, I can actually test it.
Then, if it works and I manage to send word of my whereabouts to my father, I can go to the records room alone for the first time, and look up the Sisters.
I can look up Tiriel the dream-watcher, too. The one who I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since Khali and Az mentioned the name that first day Silver had been absent.
“I can stay…” Diana offers, but her face is saying something different.
She wants to go.
“No, it’s fine.”
I will likely go to Hell for thinking it, but I’ve already asked her all the questions and learned everything there is to know about the academy.
Plenty enough to know something has gone terribly wrong and corruption has leaked into its marble walls.
And certainly enough to share with my father and get the place investigated.
The truth is, I don’t have a reason to want her to stay back in the dorms with me anymore, other than to save her from Lilliana. But she made her choice when she agreed to go while I wasn’t around at the bathhouse.
She’d made another choice by not telling me.
Why didn’t she, despite having plenty of chances?
How many conversations has Diana had with Lilliana in the days since she started going to the bathhouse with them all, while I still make excuses to hide my scars?
When everyone starts to head for the doorway, Lilliana waving them through, Diana whispers, “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.” I whisper back. “You’re an adult Diana. I can hardly stop you. But don’t go mad, okay? Keep your wits about you. You might be okay with you dying tomorrow, but I’m not. Maybe don’t drink anything that witch puts in your hand.”
“I won’t,” she promises.
But for the first time, the only time I actually want to believe what she’s saying, I don’t.
Alone at last, I sit on the edge of my bed, back to the door, shielding the journal in my lap.
I let out a long sigh. The pages are bone dry. But I’m too nervous to touch the tip of the quill to the page.
What if the magic doesn’t work now?
The thought makes me claustrophobic, like Vulcaris’ walls are suddenly closing in.
Only one way to find out.
What to tell him. Everything?
No.
I’ll test it first, tell him I’m alive and then go to the records room in search of some really good information to share about the Sisters too.
When I come back, if he’s replied, then I will tell him everything.
Angels, please let this work.
Father,
I am alive and have much to tell you, but the journal was damaged.
If you receive this, please reply.
I don’t need to sign my name, no one else communicates with him this way.
Taking a deep breath in, I gently exhale, blowing softly against the wet ink.
Does the ink look or act any different to normal?
I don’t think so.
That must be a good sign, right?
My heart races as seconds feel like minutes, but eventually, the ink starts to disappear, sinking into the page.
When the parchment is completely blank, I close the book and stuff it under my pillow.
I’ll be back soon enough and can hide it properly later.