DeeDee was not one to mince her words. When she was angry, she'd say so, if she were hurt, she'd show it. If, like this morning, she was in a petulant and short-tempered mood, she would give her dorm mates fair warning.
'If my effing notebook won't effing, fit in my god damn rucksack I am going to effing scream!' she moaned.
Evangeline's musical laugh met her complaints as she flung said notebook across the bedroom.
'Batten down the hatches, DeeDee has PMS.' Evangeline chuckled.
'Shut your face.' DeeDee retorted.
Evangeline scooped up the notebook, only to put it back on the desk instead of into DeeDee's waiting hand.
'FYI, it's Wednesday now sweet pea, we have Rit class first, then our weekly trip to Divinus Falls.'
DeeDee groaned, flopping back onto the bed. She really hated how badly she retained day-to-day routine. She flopped, dramatically, onto her bed.
'That's it, I'm going back to bed and trying again tomorrow!' she decided.
'Get your butt up, grouch.' Evangeline chided.
Quick movement preceded Evangeline chucking DeeDee her robes and a towel. DeeDee groaned but rose from the bed, kicking off her current shoe choice and shoving her feet into her hiking trainers.
She stomped through the door Evangeline held open and marched towards the entrance to their home. Zeru and Brianna were waiting for them on the couch, but DeeDee held up her hand before either could speak.
'Bad night's sleep, slow brain functions. No talking!' she informed them. Evangeline smiled at her, the sparkle in her eyes knowing. See, fair warning is always given.
As the four of them reached First Hall for breakfast, DeeDee had relented a little and joined the morning's conversation.
'Tien actually forgot to prep for a class? This is progress.' DeeDee offered and the other three laughed, even Brianna.
'Orion is gonna be so mad at missing full English breakfast day.' Evangeline added, taking a wolfish bite of her Cumberland.
'It's partly his fault, Tien stayed up late a few days ago helping with his History thesis.' Zeru grinned.
Evangeline groaned, glancing at DeeDee.
'Let's not discuss that thesis for a while; my brain is still part mush from all the textbooks I had to devour writing it.' Evangeline sighed.
DeeDee patted her hand in agreement. They had spent more time than she cared to remember in the library going over this exact topic. Granted, Evangeline hadn't grown up being told the ancient stories. DeeDee did, however, enjoy in a slightly twisted way, Evangeline's love and then despair at the depth of knowledge she needed to sink into, to progress in this new world she belonged within.
Moreover, with nearly three thousand years of their History to learn, not to mention the intricate connections between their truth and the wider world's beliefs, Evangeline knew she had a lot to absorb. DeeDee was happy to help, especially as it breathed new life into their history.
The essay itself had been looking at the origins of their civilization. DeeDee was learning to appreciate the culture she was born into through Evangeline, who was for the most part, coming to this rich history fresh faced with 'new kid' like wonderment. She even marvelled at the intricate playnes that made up Heh-el.
'It still sends me into an information meltdown knowing Norse gods and Greek gods and ArcAngyali and all those ancient religions are part of life. Alive and real, I just--' Evangeline petered out and DeeDee grinned at her friend.
'Just wait until we start covering the more recent history.'
'Like the 80s?' Evangeline joked.
DeeDee rolled her eyes at Zeru and Brianna. Evangeline was obsessed with 80s music and especially rat pack movies.
'Like the middle ages and early fifteenth and fourteenth centuries.' DeeDee clarified.
Evangeline groaned again throwing up her arms in defeat.
'This is like a real degree, with added hiking and magic classes thrown in. I feel like Harry Potter.'
'You're way to un-cool to be Harry Potter. Neville Longbottom maybe?' DeeDee teased.
'Hey now, he turned out to be quite the hottie at the end of it all.' Zeru pointed out, waving his spoon threateningly at the pair of them.
DeeDee and Evangeline crashed their gaze together, then turned to survey Zeru. He seemed to fluster under their scrutiny and covering himself continued,
'now play nice, Rit class starts in ten minutes and we need to be level headed and--'
'--In control of our base emotions.' DeeDee and Evangeline mimicked as Zeru finished.
'Exactly.' he laughed to himself, 'the pair of you are impossible.'
DeeDee glanced at Evangeline, she shrugged and they continued to eat. Clearly, Zeru wasn't ready to address that part himself yet.
'At least now DeeDee isn't feeling bad anymore.' Brianna said in her soft voice.
DeeDee shot a surprised glance at the shy redhead. The two of them didn't talk much as DeeDee was not great at being patient with people shyer than herself; mainly because she wasn't all that able to understand why someone would be shy. A flaw in her development as a human, she knew, but it did not mean she was cruel to shy people; just always terrified of saying something to upset them - especially Brianna - so she chose not to say much. But as a small smile broke over Brianna's face, clearly a smile that was mean to make DeeDee feel better and not for Brianna herself, DeeDee felt she owed it to the girl to make more of an effort.
'That's true, but in my defence, Evangeline's confused face could cheer up anyone, and as she gets confused a lot over simple stuff it's hard to remain grumpy for long.' DeeDee teased her roommate again and earned herself a swift bash on the arm. 'Thanks for the concern though Bri.' she added, and their quietest friend beamed.
'Shall we go to class?' Zeru suggested.
'If we must.' Evangeline and DeeDee replied together.
*
Ritual Class was always intense. DeeDee found it hard to get her mind around the intrinsic elements of a ritual. Beside her Evangeline, as always, was having no such trouble. Despite the constant doubt that still lingered with all her unanswered questions, the girl took to angelus training like a bird took to the sky; effortless, instinctual.
DeeDee was burning to know which bloodline Evangeline was descendent. DeeDee herself was from a highly regarded family so was always frustrated when she could not swiftly grasp a new topic. Today the ritual they were attempting was simple runes decoding.
'Remember everyone, this form of ritual is rooted in the thirst for new knowledge. You're not going to decipher the runes if you are not truly looking for their hidden message.' Angelus Isabel mentored over the general noise of action in the room. DeeDee sighed and tried again. She glanced over her textbook, ensured her hand pattern; an arcing weave past each other, a circular sweep then resting pinky and fourth finger on the edges of her piece of ancient script, she tried again.
Her script, an ancient wall hanging segment from; at her best guess, the Aztec or Mesozoic archives, lay limply in front of her. DeeDee screwed up her face, not something she did often. For fear of wrinkles. This ritual was vital, a tool for her future and in that moment, DeeDee knew she had to succeed.
'Come on,' she muttered, 'please reveal your secrets unto me,' she did the hand gestures again, 'I open my mind to your teachings. Reveal.'
The candle beside her flickered, and the symbols she had etched onto the back of her hands warmed. She sucked in a breath and her head snapped up, looking into the far distance.
In her mind's eye, an image played over her vision like a film picture. With it came not just the meaning of her scripture, but the moment it was created. DeeDee gasped, the plague of locust made the air smoggy, heavy with dirt, darkness and a terrible humming buzz as the sheer number of bugs darkened the sky. Children ran screaming from the creatures as, in their confidence, the disgusting things latched onto the arms, feet, hair of anyone in the ancient streets.
A woman and man were beside where DeeDee stood as she gazed in horror at the chaos outside. She alone seemed to see that within the locust and smoke was the presence of Horde, agents of hatred and mayhem that did His bidding. They were gluttonous, relishing in the mayhem and confusion.
The strangers with DeeDee however, were busy etching symbols into the wall tapestry draped over the table. The lower half of the symbols matched the ones DeeDee had been trying to garner the meaning of only moments ago. But this time when she looked at them, as the two people wrote, the lettering shimmered for just a moment then DeeDee found she was reading the English translation.
A pair of hands shook her and DeeDee spluttered, realising her voice was chanting the words on the script. She sucked in a deep gasp and felt close to the sensation of a rollercoaster jolt deep in her chest, as the scene ripped away from her eyes and the classroom came back into focus.
'Miss DeeDee, congratulations.' Angelus Isabel beamed.
She handed DeeDee a glass of cool water. 'Excellent job, you not only got the text translation, you were able to bind with the ritual to the point in which the text was written. Really great work.'
DeeDee grinned, adrenaline rushing her system. It had been incredible. She never knew how absorbing decoding rituals could be. In their two previous classes, no one had been so consumed by a ritual. It was almost addictive. As Evangeline squeezed her arm and congratulated her though, DeeDee couldn't help but dwell on what the text revealed.
The man and woman had been frantic, to the point where DeeDee had felt the need to panic a little. The text, a broken scripture of awaiting a Legacy, of the fated ones to one-day come, had piqued her interest. DeeDee couldn't remember where exactly she had heard the term 'fated ones' before but it stuck in her mind and she had a gut feeling it was a topic she should look into. As Evangeline looked at her and clearly awaited a response, DeeDee shook herself.
'Sorry, what?'
'What did you mean "await the fated ones, for once they rise, legacy comes" sounded important.' Evangeline muttered, Brianna and Zeru closing in on their table as well.
'It also sounds on a need to know basis.' Orion chipped in.
DeeDee hadn't even seen him come into the room. Even Tien pushed in next to him, all eyes on her. DeeDee suddenly felt a concern pool in her stomach.
'What're you suggesting?' DeeDee asked slowly.
She glanced at their teacher again, who was clearly trying to appear relaxed, her hand came up to tuck a flyaway hair strand behind her ear. DeeDee wasn't certain but it looked as though the angelus tutors' hand was shaking. She glanced down, wanting to look at her script again, but the tapestry fragment she now noticed, had been whipped off the desk. With an almost sluggish grind back to her senses, DeeDee noticed that the Angelus tutor was casting her a worrying look.
'When you started chanting, Angelus Isabel got all agitated and told me to snap you out of the ritual.' Evangeline admitted.
'Really?' DeeDee whispered.
'I mean before you spoke the words, she was proud and told us to take note of how you held yourself and stuff.' Evangeline explained.
DeeDee shrugged her shoulders, the pride in completing her first ritual successfully, she would probably award herself an A* if she was grading, had faded fast. Now, the moment was overshadowed by the fact, she had clearly stumbled over something she shouldn't have.
~