Icy Pov
"You better be glad your essential to our plans. Otherwise, I wouldn't have broken you out." I told Stormy as we returned to our base, but she still didn't speak.
She was curled up in a ball. She had only been in that nightmare veil for a single second, but that was all the spell took to practically destroy someones spirit. I guess she realizes just how Darcy felt, but sshe had recovered. Stormy wasn't as stable as Darcy, so she just might stay like this forever. I wondered what her nightmare had been, then quickly thought against finding out.
I brought her to her room in the base and layed her out on the bed. She merely grabbed her blanket, curled up tighter, and fell asleep still shaking violently.
"What happened to Stormy?" Darkar asked as he walked in. I hadn't expected to see him so soon, but better now than later.
"She went to try and finish off Darcy, and maybe some of those fairies." I told him.
"Well how did it go?" He asked.
"That fairy boy fought her, and he put her in a nightmare veil." I told him.
"How could he even cast such a spell. Hell how did he get the chance to with the power I gave you two?" he asked me.
"I don't know. All I know is that he is very powerful, and we may have lost Stormy. She wasn't as strong as Darcy, so she may not recover at all." I told him.
"How is Darcy? I would imagine her in a hospital bed at this point at some mental institution." He asked.
"She is attending Alfea, fully recovered and healthy. She is still a bit shaken, but for the most part fully recovered from the events. I told you, she was always the most stable of us. If any of us could have survived what we did, it would have been her. Stormy will likely be lik this forever, since what he did is about the same in the damage it does." I told him. He seemed to get the point, and left us alone.
Flora Pov
Tonight is my first official date with Darkness. I need to consult Stella on what to wear. We have been together for a week, but technically we haven't actually gone out yet.
Considering there are no guys on campus, well other than Darkness himself, he can only get advice on how to act by girls, which is much better than from guys. Most guys would tell him to be something along the lines of being a pig. A girl would tell him to be sensitive, caring, and gentle to us.
Bloom and Musa, specifically, were the ones I heard he kept going to advice for. They were better than Stella because she would just try to adress fashion, and Tecna because well... she isn't the best when it comes to relationships. I mean no offense, but she can relate better to technology than people.
I rushed to find Stella in her room waiting for me.
"Stella can you-"
"Help you get ready for your first date? Of course! Isn't that what gal pals are for?" Stella interrupted. She was always good when it came to helping the others with there dates. I guess she saw this coming.
She dragged me into her closet, stripping me down to just my undergarments, which was quite embarassing. Noone had ever seen me in anythin less than full clothes before, and now Stella was ripping of my clothes like it was nothing. She took a step back, taking in my figure I guess. She pulled out a tape measure, and started taking all my measurement. I didn't here what she said they were, but she seemed satisfied. She dove into her pile of clothes and pulled out three separate outfits, and placed them on the bed.
"Alright, these three are the best for your size, and coloring. We need to pick one. Outfit one, two or three?" Stella told me. Lying there in one set was a simple skirt, blouse and heels. Not very different from my normal clothes, but the coloring, pale white, was quite nice, but it wouldn't seem right with Darkness's all dark clothing.
The second outfit was a full body dress dress. It was pure black and looked like something you would wear to a black tie event. Definitely not. This was a big deal, but that was too much.
Finally, there was a long sundress with matching pumps and belt. The whole thing was also white, but it seemed to fit better. I remembered that he only wore dark colors because most dyes decay quickly from contact. All the fabrics that he needs are dark colored so he didn't have much of a choice. I decided since we were going for a star night picnic, this would be perfect.
"Number three." I told her. She seemed to agree, grabbed the clothes and told me to quick put them on. The date was still an hour off, but I guess she wanted to be sure they fit. I put them on, did a quick twirl, and was quite satisfied. the dress was pure silk from the feel. The straps and chest weren't too tight, and the hem fell just at my knee. It fit perfectly, but the belt didn't feel right. We agreed on that and tossed it aside. The shoes felt ver nice, not too tight either, and brought me a good two inches higher.
It felt so different from my usual dressing, but it also felt nicer. I was nevver one for fashion, but I figured every single detail counted. I wanted to impress Darkness on our first official date, and I would take even the extra mile of good fashion to do it. I did another twirl, and Stella jumped up excitedly.
"You look fabulous. Your date is going to go great." She told me.
"Are you sure Stella?" I asked, worried about my first date. I never had a relationship, and therefore had never been on a date before, so I had no idea what to expect.
"Of course. He really likes you, and even if it fails horribly, he will still like you." she told me. I began to panic. "I mean to say, is that no matter what happens, you will still end the night with a loving man." that calmed me down alot. She was right. He would like me no matter what.
Bloom Pov
This was going to take some work, but if we could do it just right, their date would be perfect. I had been giving Darkness advice on how to talk to Flora, and now I was helping him, along with Musa and Darcy, to prepare their picnic. We had finished making the side dishes, some potato salad, starfruit salad, and coconut juice. We just had to finish the meal.
Beef stew had been our first thought, but Flora was a strongly held veggitarian. I thought we should do clam chowder, but was informed clams count as meat. Musa thought maybe some veggetable soup, so we started making that. Unfortunetly we had to start again since Darkness had cut the veggies and they began dissolving in the pot.
I didn't blame him, but that rotting touch was getting kind of irritating. It didn't work on things like people, but anything that would die or decay with time outside of humanoids would begin to rot away with his touch. Plants actually began to wither and die just with his presence. Made me wonder how Flora fell for him, until she told me he loved plants, but he could care for them. That rose in his window was the first plant he ever got to stay alive. It was doing quite well.
I had also noticed something about him recently the others hadn't. He had glowed with a very familiar power when he had fought Stormy. It was just like my Dragonfire, but in the reverse fashion. Mine spread energy, life and joy to those I used it on for things other than attacks. His, on the other hand, eminated death, decay and fear. I had learned recently that most things tended to flourish when I was near them. It was odd, but maybe he was my opposite in the universe like our one teacher had told us we all have.
I left the thought alone, and went on to continue making the rest of the soup. When we finally finished, it was still a half hour before their date, so we had time to make desert. Dragon fire cookies. See, you make the batter the same way as normal, but then let me super fast cook them. you would think the high speed would ruin the flavor, but they came out just like they had been baked slowly. The smelled just as perfect as they tasted.
We placed everything in Tecna's gyro pivcnic basket she had leant us for the occasion. It was designed to keep everything still no matter how much you swung the basket. It was really cool, but I would have to admire it later since the date was in ten minutes. We gave the basket to Darkness, covered in a none decay coating of course, and shooed him to go to Flora to get her for their date. I prayed this went well.
Flora Pov
Two minutes till our date. I was waiting outside in the courtyard for him. We were going to head for a large hill in the middle of the forest so we could watch the stars while we ate. It was going to be like eight when we left so the stars would be shining brightly.
I wasn't told what we were going to be eating since Bloom and Musa had made a last minute decision on the meal, so I would have to hope they remembered I was veggitarian. I hoped something like veggie soup and cookies, but Darkness can''t exactly cook. It's not because he has no talent, but because every time he tries, the food dissolves in his hands. That's why either doesn't eat much or not at all. Food spoils quickly with him. It was part of his curse. He told me it became much stronger when his eyes were revealed, to the point where it could ffect even humanoids, which is why he woure the blindfold.
He was a multimancer, but was most talented with manipulating darkness and shadows. He was able to do pretty much anything with them. I had seen some shadow puppets from him that noone else could have done which was a constant source of laughter for both of us. He could also travel using shadows. As long as it was caused by a natural flame like the sun, or a torch, or even a candle, he could use it to move between places with remarkable speed. He was the only person I ever heard of though with his talent in the powers of darkness who wasn't evil or even conceded. He was actually quite humble. It was so odd.
It's time. Just as my watch said it, he appeared before me holding a basket. i could smell soup, cookies, and a few types of salad coming from inside.
"Are you ready Flora?" He asked.
"Of course honey." I told him. He took my hand, and flew me to our destination. He didn't need to use his wings at night to fly. Ass long as he was in at least semi-darkness, he could fly with ease. It was a full moon tonight too, so the sky would be beautiful.
He placed me on the ground gently when we got to the hill. The smell of the magic pines, moonlace that covered the sides of the hill, and our meal filled the air. It mixed quite well. He spread out a large blanker, placed down the basket and offered me a seat. I sat down, sitting legs to the side, and waiteed for him to pull out the food.
He removed a large thermos and a few plastic containers as well as two plats, forks and spoons. He also handed me a cup, which he poured warm soup into. I took a small sip, and found it to be my favorite. Veggie. He layed out evverything, and let me take my pick first. I took some potato salad, a cookie and some coconut juice in a coconut. I watched as he grabbed a single cup of soup, and nothing else. It hurt to know that he couldn't eat much, or even sit near any of the food. I knew it hurt him alot more. I moved over to sit near him, and began enjoying the niice meal. I watched the stars to find several constellations, which we took turns pointing out.
After we finished with the food, hee placed it all abck in the baset and set in to the side. He then did something very beautiful. He pulled out a pure black ocarina, and played a long, beautiful song on it that seemed to switch between long slow passes, and quick powerful ones. I leaned on his shoulder as I listened to the beautiful tune. I watched as the sky began to react to the song, and the stars actually moved with the rhythm of the melody. It was so enchanting. I looked to see as the very trees seemed to dance to the notes. He was manipulating the whole environment purely with this melody. I would have to tell Musa about this tomorrow, but tonight I just watched in awe at the wonderful scene of nature mixing perfectly with music.
After a time passed that I mlong since lost track of, he finally finished with a slow melody and placed the ocarina down on the ground.
"That was beautiful Darkness." I told him as I looked at him.
"Nothing less is deservving of you, Flora, my love." He told me. Those last two words cemented in my mind forever. I leaned up, and we shared a long deep kiss. We must ahve been there for hours afterward because the sky was starting to brighten, the stars disappearing. I layed there, head on his lap, as he stoocked my hair with one hand, and rubbed my back with the other. This felt so right, it almost seemed to good to be true. Luckily, this wasn;t a moment when one who says that is proven right, so we went undisturbed.
I finally motioned for us to return home, and he took me in his arms, and we became surrounded by darkness. We reappeared in my room. I looked at my clock, seeing it was four o'clock. I looked back at him, realizing he had just used darkness to take us home, and leaned back into his arms. He carried me back to my bed, tucked me in and kissed me on the forehead before retreating to his room. I don't think that could have gone any better.
Musa Pov
I had to ask Flora how the date went, but she didn't wake up till practically noon. They hadn't gotten back till like four, so i figured she would be tired. I knew they hadn't gone to any drastics on the date, but I also knew it had gone really well by the look on her face when she woke up.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty." I said as she stepped into the lounge. All of us, excluding her and Darkness, had been waiting anxiously for her to wake up and give us the details.
"Morning girls." She answered dreamily. She sat down on the far couch with blissful look on her face.
"Sooo, how did it go?" Stella askked first. Of course she would be the first to ask, since she had been the one to prepare her.
"It went beautifully. I ate, we watched the stars, and he played this incredible song on this black ocarina." She told us. Black ocarina? Why did that sound familiar?
"He played music for you?" Tecna asked.
"For hours. It was so powerful. It actually made the forest and stars dance to the melody the whole time. It was truly incredible." she told us.
"He made nature dance to the beat? He has got to teach me that tune!" I exclaimed. That was so cool.
"It was a soft, peaceful song that made nature sway more than dance to the notes. It wasn't likee they were jamming, more like they were enjoying it like I was. It was so romantic." She told us.
"That is so cool. He has got to show us that." Bloom said. She was right. I think we all wanted to see this. The man in question ws hard not a moment later.
"Girls, may I enter? I don't want to intrude." He asked through the door.
"Sure honey you can come in." Flora answered. It still amazed me thatnhe actually never tried to peep, or even accidentally walk in on us. He always asked if anyoone was in when in the dorm, and asked permission to enter the room. He took the answer no perfectly well, asking for us to call him when he could come in, and he never leaned on the door to try and listen in on conversations.
He stepped in, wearing his usual atiire of cloak and shorts with t-shirt, and walked over to where Flora sat. He motioned to se if he could sit, and when she nodded he lightly sat down next to her. I still couldn't believe this was the same guy who put Stormy in a Nightmare Veil. He seemed to nice to ever do something that... cruel, evcen with what they did.
Don't get me wrong, she deserved it, but I just couldn't imagine him capable of doing such a painful thing to someone. I heard of Nghtmare veils before, and most people who are put in them are often either scarred for life, or permanetly driven insane by their own mind. The curse only lasted one second, but to the person affected it felt like several years. Time slowed down for them, making each second appear to them as several years.
He started answering questions from us about the date.
"Come on, show us how you made the trees and stars move." several of us asked.
"I'm sorry, but it only works on the full moon. It also is very draining. I used almost all my power doing that. I only had enough to bring us back afterwards, and I couldn't do it again anyway. I don't have enouggh strength." he told us. I remembered some old text about such melodies that required the full moon. I had read about it when I was younger, remembering such songs were very long, and often required years of practice to learn just half the whole melody.
"Could you at least play us part of the song? Please?" I asked him. He sighed in defeat, bringing out a pitch black ocarina from under his cloak. It seemed so familiar, but I couldn't remember from where. I brushed the thought aside as the air filled with the sound of the instrument. It was so beautiful and so loud. Yet it didn't hurt to hear. Suddenly the whole school went silent as the melody filled the hallways. I figured evveryone had heeard, and were stopping to listen. He played for about a half hour before setting it down. That one song had silenced the entire school building, staff and student alike.
"Wow. That was beautiful. You played that for hours last night?" Darcy asked.
"For six straight hours yes. That's not even the full first section either. I'm sorry, it's jsut to much strain to play anymore." He answered. I could sense the weariness that short period had caused him, yet he had played a song with that kind of power for six hours last night. Incredible. I doubt even if I knew the whole song if I could have pulled that off.
"What's it called?" I asked.
"The Serenade of Eternity."
