The sunflowers Love picked today is sitting beautifully on a vase by Mark Antony's head. She always picks flowers every week as a way to show her appreciation for goddess Hekate. She kneels down in front of the vanity, cleansing a mason jar with an incense stick. She then adds a red salt, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, and a Malachite gemstone ontop.
"Dear Hekate, on this night, I call on to you," she closes the lid of the jar, and seals the lid with droplets of wax from a red candle. "To protect and give me strength, for I have a long, long journey ahead of me." She places the jar on the far right end of the desk where her journal is. "Also, to let me have a beauty sleep tonight. Even if it is only short term." Love sighs, placing the candle on a plate, "may peace be on to us."
That's been her wish since as long as she could remember. Nothing's ever worked, not even constant therapy. The cold feeling of her bed when she gets on to meditate and prepare for the day ahead, never fails to make her even more uncomfortable. She never knows why she becomes a thousand times more fearful whenever bedtime is near, whenever the clock strikes midnight, she would grow more energized.
But when the dawn comes? She becomes tired.
"Might as well turn into a vampire." Love grumbles to herself just as she sits on the bed. Her gaze finds the bright moon outside that doesn't look like a moon-it is more like a giant star passing by.
A few minutes of meditation alone only grows her exhausted. There is no such thing as peace when it comes to insomniac. Maybe for some, but for Love herself-the longer she wakes, the anxious she gets. A brochure is stuck on the board wall by the stack of books she hasn't gotten a chance to put up on the shelf yet.
It's a Masquerade Winter's Ball at the end of the year that she definitely doesn't give a crap about.
Her mind wanders to the school's castle only a few feet away from the dormitory building. She gets up from the bed to approach the big window facing the backyard of the school ground. The beach seems far away now, also a lot more odd to the naked of a human's eye; it feels as if something is waiting ahead. Could be a sea creature that nobody knows about? A group of Sirens that lure men in with their magical, alluring, singing voice and eat them all alive?
A shiver runs up Love's spine as she imagines the beautiful voices of Sirens alone could bring a male man to their death. She turns to grab a book of Four Lands history; where she finds plenty of interesting facts about Oceana; a city below the ocean. It is said to be where the Kraken lives, or importantly, the guard of Oceana.
The book mentions the size of Kraken itself could be as gigantic as the mountain.
Each lands have their own protectors. Gardenia has the Goddess Artemis herself with her long-term companion, Onyx, the wolf that its size alone is described as giant as a:
"Fenrir? The son of the Norse god and Giantess? Impressive." Love chuckles to herself, "not sure if they exist, but anything could at this point."
She closes the book gently before resting her back against the side of the bed. The dim lights of the floating stars on the ceiling somehow calms her down from the never ending nerve.
The same light figure appears by her vanity, this time they have a hint of dark mist all around them. Gentle whispers can be heard, Love turns her head slightly and wides her eyes in shock to see how close the figure is now. Her mind believes that it is Hekate herself, but somehow part of her is bewitched to believe she is somebody else.
The presence feels surreal and stronger than anything. Usually the figure appears at the far end of the room, by the crossroads, at the doorsteps, anywhere that seems as if It guards Its believer.
When the light slowly, slowly fades into thin air. Love takes a deep breath and looks around the room to make sure nobody's here with her. The whispers, they seem to be speaking in Latin or Greek, languages that Love has yet to master.
She quickly gets up to her feet, approaching the table to see nothing. Only that her switchblade given by her father is sitting ontop of her journal, folded. The fire of the candle is jutting up tall.
"Who-" Love looks up from the desk, only to see a dark mist floating right outside of her window. "You know what? We'll speak."
Love lights up a couple more candles to begin the process of astral projecting. It has been a long time since she has done it, considering how very little she needs to speak to Hekate.
Closing the curtain, she instantly hops on her bed next. The fire from the candles flicker like crazy. Love sits cross legged on the bed, keeping her mind focused on the exact movement of the candles while also letting go of the feeling of her physical body. Somehow her mind focuses on the moon and the stars outside.
Astral projection is all about letting go, but also still in control of what matters, which in this case is your soul. Being a trueborn itself makes astral projecting easier, but for mortals? Possible, and also needs a lot of patience and practice.
A few minutes pass by, all Love could hear are the crack of the fire and the wind outside of the window. Slowly, her reality blurs out, replacing them with silence. Complete and utter silence where all she could feel is her soul leaving her body peacefully, floating through the air. Silence filled with whispers, a light brush can be felt on her hand.
Until the sound of a soft voice wakes her up.
"Hello," Love opens her eyes slowly. Still feeling light on her feet. Her eyes met with green eyed ones, exactly a tall, beautiful woman with long, black hair and a golden hairpiece pulling the hair away from her forehead. "You appeared out of the blue. That startled me."
When Love looks down on her feet, instead of a pair of feet-she found out the woman before her is half serpent. "Hello." Love looks around the surrounding, "I haven't done this in a long time."
"Good for you."
"Oh, Lamia, no need to be so curt to a child." A soft voice that Love finds alluring suddenly appears. She turns to see Hekate herself, approaching with such grace. "It's nice to see you again, Love. I see you've arrived in Four Lands, easier for you to reach me."
Love smiles widely at the Goddess before her. Though she seems smaller, but her admiration and love for the Goddess is way bigger than the world itself. "Hello, Hekate." Love bows a little, "I definitely should do this more often. I forgot how fun astral projecting is."
"Have you eaten anything before?"
"Yes."
"Good, child." Hekate nods her head, "I'm sure you have plenty of questions about Nyx's appearance in your bedroom."
Love wides her eyes in surprise. Nyx... She vividly remembers how She is the oldest Goddess. "How- why?"
"Wouldn't want to get around that one if you haven't got thick skin." Lamia rolls her eyes before slithers forward.
"Don't mind Lamia's bitter soul." Hekate says softly.
Love shrugs, "I'd be bitter too if I was cursed to be half serpent for the rest of my life."
"She saw it coming." Hekate's tone is more impatient now, causing Love to look back up at her, "Nyx is a force to be reckoned with. I wouldn't warn you to speak to her, as you have your own right to speak to any entities." She continues, "come. Let's take a walk."
Love nods her head. They both begin to walk by the stream of a clear water with weird-looking fishes swim past. The forest seem to come to life as soon as Hekate's barefoot touches the ground of the surrounding area.
"You've finally met Pan as well," Hekate says, all of a sudden, "and his nymphs. I see you manage to find out who he really is behind that hideous creature he made up."
"He was kind. I wonder why he doesn't live... well, here." Love holds out her arms, gesturing toward the astral world.
Hekate smiles, her dark hair falls to her shoulders when she looks down at Love. "Oh, he is here." She says, "although, most Gods prefer to take on mortal forms and live the way they do."
"Makes sense! Gods do have a lot of responsibilities and ontop of that, unecessary drama."
"I..." Hekate raises her brows, "should have told you that we have our own share of complication as we are of higher powers. But I must agree."
Love chuckles softly. The more they walk, the darker it seems. "So, you're about to tell me about Nyx?"
"Yes. Nyx." She nods calmly. "Do you know why you have been having more energy at night? Your sleeplessness?"
It takes her a moment to realize the connection she has subconsciously made with the Goddess of the Night herself throughout the years. "Oh..." She rubs her hands together, "interesting."
"It seems that She needs a favor to ask of you," Hekate stops walking which causes Love to stop as well, "bring more night time related charms into your bedroom, and it shall make you easier to contact Her directly."
Curiosity peaks... Love turns to the Goddess. "Will I have to go to the Underworld?"
"Yes, you will." Hekate smiles, "I will take you to Nyx. But not tonight, you've had enough exploration as it is."
Giddy with excitement, Love doesn't realize that she's bouncing on her feet and clasping her hands together. "Underworld is going to be fun."
"It... will." Hekate's gaze darts toward someone behind Love. A huge smile spreads across her face, "oh, Eros. I thought you'd be gone for a long time."
Love turns around to see a muscular man standing before, only wearing a pair of white shorts with golden belt. His smile is charming, alluring... The only thing no man has on Earth.
"Mother asked me to come for a supper." Eros nods his head. He's holding a brown lute. "Who is this young, beautiful woman before me? Shall I take you to supper, m'lady?" He extends a hand.
Love can't feel her heart beating, but she knows back in her bedroom, it's beating out of her chest. She blushes before letting Eros take her hand as he presses a kiss on her knuckle. "It's nice to meet you. I am Love."
"Love..." He smiles.
"And yes, I would love to have a supper with you and your mo-"
"No, she shall not, Eros." Hekate aparts them from each other with a force, "I may have to talk to your mother and wife in person to discuss about your flirtatious tendency."
Still keeping his smile intact, Eros nods: "be my guest, Hekate. My wife knows I do flirt with beautiful women and men, but never with an intent to betray Her."
Love smiles, "I wish I had that kind of love."
"You will soon." Eros begins to strum his lute, as he starts to walk away, "Good day, ladies!"
The astral world is unpredictable. You may bump in to one God after another, and most importantly, they know you are no threat to their world. "Will I see you again?" Love asks Hekate.
"Yes. Two days from now during witching hour." Hekate nods her head, "you do know what to do, don't you, the rules to contact Nyx?"
Love grins happily, "I'll ask my sister what I need."
"Good, child."
Her vision starts to slowly blur. Hekate lifts her hand and waves. The pull Love could feel throughout her whole body immediately awaken her from the astral world. She gasps out a breath and coughs, doubling over on her bed in attempt to catch an oxygen back into her lungs.
Suddenly, she feels heavy. Back to her flesh and bones.
***
The castle grounds are filled with students. Love meets up with Levi as soon as the orientation begins. Gemstones are laid out around the water fountain bricks, re-charging the energy that was used before. Love brings out the moonstone necklace that she's been placing on Mark Antony's neck instead. Now, since it has a relation to Goddess Nyx, it seems to be a good day to show an appreciation toward Her.
Grabbing a bowl from the buffet area, Love decides to fill them with slices of melons. Oh, how she's missed the sweet taste of Fimbulwinter donuts back home. It aches her to snack on fruits instead of unhealthy sugar-coated pillow cake.
Levi sits on the stairs leading up the front door with Kali, her face fills with curiosity when she notices a distant look on her sister's face. "What's up with you? Still not being able to sleep?"
"Yes." Love answers, "I went astral projecting last night. It makes me restless."
Levi stands up, raising her brows, "how was it? Any interesting entities you met?"
"Well, Hekate took me for a walk. I also met Lamia and Eros."
"Eros?!" Kali jumps up from the stairs, suddenly standing up infront of Love, "you met Eros? How was it? Was He as how most arts depicted?"
"No." Love chuckles softly, placing a strawberry into her mouth. "He's actually really tall, muscular, has light brown hair, rosy cheeks, very flirty..." Love smirks, "and He also plays a lute. Sad that I didn't get a chance to have 'supper' with Him and Athena, though."
"He... Asked you to have a supper with him and Aphrodite?!" Kali shrieks.
"He did."
"Careful about that, even you can't trust anybody but your deities in astral." Levi says softly, "we don't know what they eat, how they live, and how their mind works."
Love raises her brows, before sighing. "Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't have- well, he was just so handsome and alluring."
"Also taken to a woman."
"I'm never taking you to astral with me." She glares at her twin, "anyways, I need to know the rituals for direct contact with Nyx."
"With all the things that's been happening to you during nighttime, it seems that She's already drawn to you."
"Right. Levi calls you the Nightingale." Kali chuckles, "why do you need to contact Her anyway? Isn't She suppose to come to you when She needs you?"
"She did come to me, but Hekate told me Nyx wanted to meet me in freaking Tartarus instead."
"That's sudden and dangerous. Why?"
"I'm not sure. She wants me to do Her a favor."
"Wow." Kali raises her brows, before looking over at Levi. "Why specifically you?"
Love shrugs and immediately jumps back in shock when she notices a golden cat suddenly strides in all high and mighty on her four feet. "Oh my god!" She gasps, "get it away from me, please!"
The cat purrs. Levi rolls her eyes and picks the cat up from the ground. "This is Sushi." Levi approaches Love, showing off her golden cat proudly, "she is my greatest companion."
Love grimaces, forcing herself to smile, "cute. What can she do?"
"She mostly helps me casting any kind of magicks," She says, gently petting her head, "just how most practitioners do with crystals and elements. But I am stronger with Sushi by my side."
Love nods, holding out a slice of melon infront of the cat, "nice to meet you, Sushi."
"Maybe you should get a cat yourself." Kali suggests, "to help you contact Nyx, of course, she's a hell of a work. I tried to contact her once, but I ended up contacting Lord Lucifer instead."
"No, thank you. How was He, by the way? Was he nice?"
"Very. You know how people always make Him out to be the worst kind of entity? He's the exact opposite of the worst."
"Oooh, maybe I should try-"
"Did I hear a ritual for my Goddess Nyx?" Laurent suddenly approaches the three girls with a purplish drink in hand.
"Yes, you did." Levi says before pressing soft smooches on her cat's cheek, Love grimaces in disgust and takes another step back. "She came to Love, actually."
Laurent looks over at Love, noticing the moonstone necklace among her other necklaces and beads. "For how long?" He asks.
"Just yesterday." Love answers, "I think awhile, I just never noticed it before? I mean, I never really felt Her as strong as last night."
"That's fair." Laurent nods his head, "maybe all you need is a Tarot reading? It could usually determine whether a deity needs you for a specific purposes; Tarot mostly tells you the possible outcomes and which process for you to take."
"I haven't gotten a chance to learn Tarot yet."
"All right. That's okay too. Nyx appreciates scented incense and you calling for Her in the dead of night, usually around 10-11 pm." Laurent explains, "it's really important to build a friendship and connection to Her, just like with other deities. Your commitment to genuinely want to contact Her is already seen as a determination to Her. So, strengten that by meditating and calling for Her personally."
Love nods, trying to process all the information at once, "do we have to chant a special incantation or something?"
"No. Nyx is difficult to reach, but She doesn't expect anything given to Her. If She needs you, She'll welcome you."
"Don't forget to get a new candle for Her." Levi wraps an arm around Love's shoulder. Love steps away from it when she realizes the cat is curiously staring up at her. "I'll bring some sea salt to your room tonight. You know, for stronger protection, you know damn well it has protected me against all kinds of dark, unknown entities."
"Thanks." Love grins at her friends, "I'll definitely try connecting with her tonight."
"Don't worry too much about Underworld." Kali reassures, "with Hekate by your side, you'd be just fine. Still though, strengthen your ward just incase."
"Agree. A lot of people have been to Tartarus, but only just for a second or two. You don't know what's lingering in there."
"Do tell us if you met unknown creatures." Laurent smiles widely, "I would like to add them to my Book of The Unknowns."
"Oooh, can I see it?" Kali asks.
"It's not finished yet. But no, thank you. It's sacred."
"You're so boring."
"So are the rest of you if we don't keep moving and enjoy the event."
Love groans, already exhausted enough to stand for Gods know how long. "You guys go ahead, I'm going to finish my berries and join all of you later."
"Okay. I knew your weak ass legs couldn't keep u-"
Love throws a slice of melon her way, which Sushi bites gracefully by her pair of long fangs. She, then, hisses at Love causing her to step further away. "BYE!" She quickly exits the area, already expecting to get killed by the harmless, protective cat.