"Midnight Chapter 3" by Victoria Lia Yu

“What is it? Make it quick, I’ve a guest.” Lester glanced up to see a girl with chocolate brown hair lying limp against the wall on Lugh’s sofa.

He knew at once that she must be Lugh’s prey of the night. Though knowing he shouldn’t have disturbed, he had to get the news out of himself.

“I think I found the halfling.”

Lugh’s once bored expression became alert and excited. “What? When?”

“Today, right after sunset, she was with a Dawn and the Dawn was already weak by the lack of light, while she was still fully alert with us around her. Also, she has black wings and grey eyes, a strange but lovely combination when it comes to Midnight.” Lester’s words were meant to hint the rarity of the girl. Lugh took it in fully.

“Splendid. We should have a welcoming party for the next time she gets near us. She is our guest after all.” Lugh’s eyes glowed a brilliant violet with the anticipation in his heart. Soon, he’ll be the one to catch the one halfling all Midnight around the world are trying to catch.

In the shadows, Mina sighed, shaking her auburn head, knowing that only disaster comes from Lugh’s whimsical ideas.

The next morning, I awoke to find Fraeya clinging onto my left arm tightly. A small smile spread on my lips. It was good to see Frae so peaceful. Looking up, the sun was just about to rise past the horizen. As I stood up, placing Frae arm gingerly on her chest, Sabir came out from behind her turquoise frame. She caught sight of me, and smiled, beckoning me to the balcony.

“Yes?” I stared at her waiting for her to speak.

“I heard you were late again.” Her face was completely indifferent.

“Mhm.”

“How’s Frae?”

“Improved.”

“Good.”

Our conversation was simple. We rarely speak much to each other. Most of the time, she prefers to give orders to Ophelia and have Ophelia tell me what to do.

“Jenna, I think today would be good for you to take a break along with Fraeya. Take her to see Eva, that should soothe her down. Afterall, Eva is our healer.” Sabir’s expression was still stoic, her voice indifferent, making it hard to tell what is on her mind.

“I will.”

A little yawn brought me back to the room. Fraeya was awaking. Sabir sensed my care for her and allowed me to go. Ophelia was just getting out of bed too. She looked at me and scowled. We really don’t get along well.

“Jen?” Fraeya looked at me through groggy eyes. “Is it time to get up?”

“Yes, it is. Now get up before I drag you up.”

Fraeya got up and in a few minutes we all had clean clothes on. For breakfast, there is a center ground for all the thirty divisions. That is, the garden that links the three temples.

“Jenna, move out of my way!” Agrabelle was screaching in my ears again with her sweet honey voice.

“Why should I? I sat here first.” I ignored her while munching through my bread and water.

“Move. Out. Of. My. Way.” Her eyes were deadly with her anger. Though, she couldn’t look the least intimidating in her present attire. She wore a purple sweat with a wide neckline that fell off one of her shoulders baring her silky white skin. On her skin, an inked silvery outline of a butterfly went from her shoulder blade to the sides of her neck. She was still outrageously beautiful no matter what she did. A white translucent skirt fell to her ankles, making her somewhat Grecian in style.

“I said I sat here first, so go sit somewhere else.” I remained indifferent to the girl as she is just so painfully annoying.

“JE--” Her face was red with her fury and I waited for her to explode. Except, she didn’t. Looking up from my food plate, I saw that Kail had come and was taking her away. He rolled his eyes at me then smiled, typical of him to take her away. At least she was happy. When done, I took Fraeya down to Eva for a little chat. Fraeya always loves Eva’s gardens, it soothes her a lot to be around nature.

“Frae, is that you?” Eva rose from her place at the lily pond to meet us.

“Eva, long time no see.” Frae ran right into Eva’s arms catching poor blind Eva off guard. If Frae didn’t hold her tightly, Eva would have fell backwards.

“What brings you to me today? Shouldn’t you be hunting right now?” By now, we were sitting in her little cabin seated on two rickety chairs having a cup of herbal tea.

“We’re having one of those free days, so we decided to come and see you. Frae hasn’t seen in you in almost two weeks, and we’re supposed to be a team; there’s nothing wrong with wanting to see your fellow sisters, right?” I asked with a hurt tone to get my message across.

Eva looked at me pinching her temple looking hopeless, probably thinking how to answer me. “Jenna, you know I don’t mind that, but Lord Gregor doesn’t like it.”

“Like I care what he wants.”

“Jenna!” Eva’s tone was shocked one.

“Really, he can kick me out if he dares. Who knows what I might spill out.”

“Jenna!!!” This time, both Frae and Eva were evil eyeing me.

“Jeez, I was only joking. First off, he won’t get rid of me. I’m too valuable to the organization. Secondly, even if he did get rid of me, I’d die before giving away information.”

“We know that, but the others don’t, especially those of the second and first temple. They don’t know you. Most of the third temple are tolerate of you after the eighteen years you’ve been with us,” Eva said offering us another cup of tea.

“I really don’t care. I’m just glad that at least in the first temple, Kail is on my side.”

Frae shot up. “Kail? You mean the second-in-command of the First Division? How come I didn’t know of that?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Why should I tell a little brat like you everything?”

“Because I’m your apprentice and you’re as close as a sister!” Her words were more of a growl then a statement. It was cute once you get past the sixteen year old face and into the ten year old heart.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“Jenna, I think I should warn you about Kail,” Eva said silently on the side.

“Warn me about Kail? What’s wrong with him?”

“No, it’s just not in his nature to truly care for someone. He only uses those around him to his advantage. I know someone who was used by him, then fatally handicapped for life. Please be careful around him. I worry for you.” Eva said this with such a gravity that made me wonder if it was really that bad.

“Eva, stop worrying so much. I’ll be fine. He’s a good guy and a good friend. I don’t know what I’ll do without his company sometimes. Seriously, there’s nothing to be worried about in him. I trust him, and I rarely trust people. You know that.”

She still had that expression on her face. Yet, something more was there. A sign of panic, of indecision was on her face. “Fine. I will not go against your judgement. Afterall, the purple orchid will judge for you and for me.”

We stayed for another hour before leaving. I didn’t want to stay with Eva and her withered down mood. Something is just wrong with her today. Frae didn’t say much on our way back. Inside our quarters again, Sabir was out to finish her monthly hunting and Ophelia was sitting drawing one of the many ideas she has. Though she has no actual talent in fighting, she has excellent artistic skills. She is excellent at weaving and drawing. I remember a tapestry she made when I was still fifteen. She weaved the whole three temples in a starry sky. It was so real, so ethereal. I felt as if I could touch it with my fingers and actually feel the cold stone of the temples, the brisk cool breeze blowing in the background.

Today, she seemed in a foul drawing mood. I leaned over to see what she was drawing that frusturated her so much. It was a picture of a dark haired angel with violet eyes. They gleamed menacingly at those outside the portrait. “Ophelia, who’s that?”

“Good gracious! When did you come in? Don’t you know to give me privacy when I draw?” Her eyes were wild with fear and panic. She quickly placed her coversheet over the portrait she was not done with and sat facing both Frae and me. “So, what brings you two back here? I thought you were visiting Eva.”

“Well, we were. We just got back from her cabin.” Sitting on my own bed, I took out one of my own sketches of the forest from the world down below us. It was decent in its own right, though nothing comparable to what Ophelia can do. “So, really, who was that?”

“None of your business isn’t it? So stop sticking your wings in places they shouldn’t be in.”

“Fine, be that way.” I lay on my bed drawing, continuing the unfinished cottage in the forest scenery. It was a simple white with a beige roof and small circular windows. With this, I imagined a woman with a light yellow dress on, her mousy hair flying across her face as she laughed cheerfully with her dog, a queer little black thing with round innocent pupils, spinning around infront of the cottage.

Strange of me to get such an image in my head. I rarely think of many happy things when I draw. It’s one of the few ways I can have myself relax and be calm. Fraeya had left the quarters wandering to one of the other divisions to find her various friends. Thus, the room was filled with serene silence with only Ophelia and me there. She quit her drawing after we came in, so instead, she was humming a little tune I hve never heard before. It was a strange,but catchy tune. Soon, even I have learned it within the hours we spent together doing nothing. The tune itself was a plain and simple one, however, it had a dark edge to it, making it filled with anger and regret, though it sounds light.

More images came into my head. But these, were like a dream, violent and jagged. A pair of wings, a black feather, a kiss, grey eyes, and the clash of swords spun through my head. When I came back to by senses, I was breathless, overwhelmed by what I just felt. “Ophelia, what tune is that?”

“That? It was something I picked up from a Midnight I killed a week ago. The mad man was singing and laughing at me like a lunatic. I killed him quickly to silence that hideous voice, but the song he sang had been stuck in my head since.” She said so in a light tone as if she herself didn’t catch the edge in it. How come it drives me insane but leaves her unharmed?

“Do you know the lyrics?”

“No. He sang it in some language I didn’t understand, it sounded like jibberish to me.”

With those words, I thought of the Midnight Fraeya and I encountered the other day. Would they know the tune? For some reason, it calls to me in a strange and soothing way. It almost makes me want to go down and find out the truth of that tune. It draws me in like a child to the mother. Yes, I will go down and find out the origins to the tune tomorrow.

Child, come to me