" That's weird" Vynessa thought. But she immediately hid her expression as she wasn't sure about what she thought. She smiled as she shook his hand before retrieving hers back.
Stealthily, she took a look at her hand frowning. She couldn't describe what it was she felt when she shook his hand but it was certainly not normal.
Lyra noticed Vynessa's odd behavior but she didn't point it out. She instead asked, " Um...Vy....is it alright if we perform the ritual now?"
Vynessa was snapped out of her thoughts by Lyra's suggestion. Realizing Lyra was right, she quickly nodded, " Yes, yes, of course. I'll just prepare my things".
Lyra nodded. Luc was confused as he didn't know what exactly ritual they were talking about. And Lyra never said anything about a ritual. He felt nervous.
Lyra, seeing Luc's confused state, said, " Vynessa is a Faerie". Luc was utterly stumped. Faeries? They existed? Well, that shouldn't be a surprise by now. But did Lyra think just saying Vynnessa was a Faerie would solve all his confusions?
Lyra saw he became even more confused and she sighed. Hunter as well had a questioning gaze. " A Faerie?" He asked.
Lyra nodded. " Lyra is a Faerie. This means she's a fae. But there are various types of faes but she is a Faerie. A Faerie is a fae who has a deep connection to the earth and also magic in general. They are like witches except they use wands and have wings which appear whenever they want. Because of their deep connection to the earth, they usually have an earth element. They are delicate and act like angels. They are also very annoying but kind. But to be honest, I only find one thing about them true, they are very annoying ".
Vynnessa, who was arranging her things which were needed for the ritual chuckled at Lyra's comment, " And here I was thinking you actually missed me". Lyra smiled as she said, " I did. Just not as much as I should ".
Vynnessa took some time to glance at Lyra before shaking her head. This girl indeed hadn't changed. But she knew deep down, this wasn't the Lyra she knew when she was a kid. But she understood her. She understood why she needed to act heartless.
Vynnessa really wanted the kid Lyra back but there was nothing she could do. The girl had locked her heart totally away from the outside world. She refused to be vulnerable a second time. She refused to be deceived a second time. But what she didn't know was that she wasn't alone. But Lyra failed to understand that.
Vynnessa stopped her trail of thoughts as she focused on arranging the materials. When she was done, she informed the group of three.
Lyra, Hunter and Luc each took a seat round the magic circle. It was surrounded with various items like skulls, a black bowl, some bottles whose contents weren't visible, and some feathers, although he couldn't discern from what bird it came from.
Vynnessa sat at the head of the circle as she closed her eyes. She chanted some words which seemed like incantations which couldn't be heard by the others. She waved her hands in a magical manner over the skull which was placed in the middle. The magical circle glowed more than it did before as she kept on moving her hands.
After about a minute, she stopped waving her hands and she took the black bowl. She filled it with some water and dipped her hand in the bag on her waist. In the brown bag were flower petals. She took some dark blue petals from the bag and placed them into the water.
Putting the bowl in tge middle of the circle, she stretched forth her hand to Luc saying, " Give me your hand". Luc, though confused, gave her his hand like she asked.
Vynnessa took his hand and placed it on her right palm. Lyra brought out a small knife and handed it to her. Vynnessa took the knife and brought Luc's hand to the bowl.
Taking the knife, she immediately slit his wrist, letting the blood drip into the bowl. Luc was shocked by the action and the pain he felt, although it was mild. He looked confused at what was transpiring as he had never done such a ritual before.
He looked around at the people around him. They all seemed very focused on the bowl, waiting for something to happen. Luc became even more confused. He was a novice here. Couldn't they explain what exactly they were waiting for?
Grudgingly, Luc looked at the water. The water had turned red from Luc's blood. The petals that had been submerged in the water had turned red too. Luc looked closely at the water and realized the water had started to swirl. That was odd.
Vynnessa looked at the water focused. The red water swirled and swirled. After some seconds, it stopped. Nothing had happened. Vynnessa was confused. She frowned.
She looked at Lyra who also frowned and Hunter, whose face was full of rage. Just when she thought it didn't work and was about to do it again, the water shook and turned black with all the flowers withering and eventually turned to ash.
Her frown grew deeper and Lyra's face became grave. Vynnessa stood up. She looked at Lyra with a meaningful look and walked away. Lyra understood. She picked up the bowl and threw the water away.
Hunter stood up full of rage. He was about to scold Lyra again when the girl silenced him with two words, " Not now". She then walked away to the direction of Vynnessa.
....
Vynnessa stood near the cracked window, running her hand on the window sill. She raised her fingers and saw black dust along with sime faint traces of blood. These were evidences of the violence that had occured here. The dark witches. Evil as they were. She hated them, she hated them to the core.
But then again, who ever liked them?
Footsteps drew Vynnessa out of her own thoughts. She could tell who it was and there was the voice of confirmation, " Vynnie".
Vynnessa smiled. Vinnie. It's been so long, hasn't it? It's been long since she heard that voice calling her that way. It gave her a sense of nostalgia. She stopped her trip down the memory lane as she turned around to meet Lyra's eyes.
Lyra did the same. She walked further inside the room as she used her magic to lock the door. Vynnessa didn't look the least but worried as she brought out a white cloth from her knee length flower gown's pocket.
She then used the cloth to wipe the windowsill. When she was done, the rag had become slightly dirty, but she didn't throw it away. She instead put it back in her pocket as she sat down, revealing a smile. She gestured for Lyra to do the same.
Lyra walked towards her. And when she was a few meters away, she waved her hand and a chair moved itself to position itself behind Lyra. She sat on it as her eyes stared at Vynnessa.
Vynnessa did the same. They stared at each other for a minute or twk befire Lyra finally spoke, " What happened back there?"
Vynnessa finally let her eyes stray away from Lyra as she recalled what had happened in the living room, particularly the water turning black. She smiled as she spoke, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
" That was a ritual that was supposed to reveal Luc's elements or even his abilities" She spoke slowly, letting Lyra hear all her words. She didn't rush but instead took her time.
Lyra nodded in response, " That I know seeing that I'm a witch". But Lyra knew that wasn't all as she looked at Vynnessa's face.
Vynnessa's smile fell as she recalled everything bit by bit.
Her smile finally fell and was replaced with a serious expression, " As a witch, you should know what black symbolizes in the world of elements, right?"
Lyra nodded in affirmation. " The shadow element". She had her suspicions but she wanted to hear it from Vynnessa first, just to be sure.
Vynnessa nodded as if saying she was correct. " Seeing as black symbolizes the shadow element and the water turned black when his blood dropped in, I would say his ability is-—"
" Shadow manipulation" Lyra finished her words for her. Vynnessa smiled. She missed this. She missed it a lot. Even if what they were talking about was something that didn't require smiling, she couldn't help it. She had missed her best friend.
Vynnessa nodded again. But the smile she held in her face then fell. Frowning, she looked at Lyra. " But there is something rather strange about him". By the 'him', she meant Luc.
Lyra furrowed her brows, " Strange? In what way?" Vynnessa's frown deepened as she thought hard. She tried to recall the exact details of her encounter with Luc so far.
After a moment of gathering her thoughts, she spoke, " When his blood dropped in the water, I sensed something. Something that I can't explain".
Lyra became even more curious. With a curious look, she asked, " What was it?" Vynnessa looked at her warily as she layed emphasis on both words, " Demon's blood".
Lyra was genuinely shocked but she didn't let it show. She simply questioned, " Demon's blood". Vynnessa nodded. Vynnessa was also shocked as well as puzzled as to why she had sensed such.
She seemed to recall something as she added, " Earlier, when I shook his hand, I also felt something. It was like a spark. And I am certain I would only feel that from a demon".
Lyra was utterly confused. How could this be? Was it possible that Luc was a demon? But he showed no signs of being one. Plus she should have sensed it when she first met him.
Was Vynnessa perhaps wrong? But she has never been in any of these cases. That was why she had asked her to come. But then, if she wasn't wrong, could it be true? Had Luc been deceiving her?
Was Luc perhaps really a demon?
.....
Luc was confused. Wasn't this ritual supposed to show him his element and powers? And prove if he was indeed a necromancer? Wasn't that what they came for?
But the two women who could answer him had walked away without a word to him, absolutely disregarding his existence. Lyra had even thrown the bowl away.
Though he didn't understand the ritual, he could tell that black was definitely a bad sign. Did it work? Or did it not and was this all for nothing?
.....