I met Olivia in the library that morning like I normally did to do schoolwork together. I wasn't really sure how to ask about what I needed and where to go. I figured the most direct way to ask was probably the best but suddenly as I was about to speak I started feeling nervous, anxious about asking her for a favor and I wasn't sure why. It took me another 10 minutes before I was finally able to speak.
"Hey Olivia?" I asked, my mouth dry.
"Yes Valens," she asked looking up from her ligature book. Her voice a pleasant ringing in my ears.
Unconsciously I studied her face. Her black hair was short with a pixie-cut. Her skin was pale and without blemish, eyes were large with a hypnotic shade of deep blue. She had a small nose, ears and mouth and her description reminded me of the drawing style off some cartoon tv shows called Anime. It was strange seeing a real world personification of a cartoon style character but Olivia was quite real. She was rather cute too and I felt heat on my cheeks as she stared at me.
"Um... Could you do me a favor?" I asked, she nodded without taking her eyes off me and I felt myself losing focus the longer she stared at me.
"Depends on the favor," She replied, I was pretty sure she was unaware the effect her attention had on me and I blinked a few times and tried to avoid her eyes while still looking at her.
This was not the first time I had a conversation with Olivia and not the first time I had had these things happen while around or talking to her but the feelings seemed to have grown stronger by the day. I had been here less than a week, spending time regularly with Olivia for just a couple days but this effect she had on me was potent but it was also possible I was just weak.
"Well... I have been having visions as I slept the last couple nights. They detail the rituals I need to complete in order to start along a path. Every morning I ask Walter if we have the ritual material that I learned about the previous night in stock, so I have all the paths available to me," I started explaining, and she was silent as she listened to me.
"So I asked about a ritual material last night, Bloody Orchid... And Walter gave me the same face your giving me," I said as I notice her look darken at me, shifting when I mentioned the ritual material's name.
"I know of the Bloody Orchid. Walter must have directed you to me since I'm guessing you have a deadline," she said, her mood seemed to darken, her natural enthusiasm dying down a bit at our discussion.
"Yes, but he did not tell me why to come to you," I told her.
"That is because I didn't want people to know something about me," she explained and didn't elaborate and I wasn't about to ask.
Olivia was quiet for a minute in thought.
"Valens... Do you know what kind of ritual the Bloody Orchid is used in?" Olivia asked still staring at me.
"By the name, the unpleasant kind," I offered with a hint of humor. Still, I was surprised when she laughed a little.
"That is putting it mildly," she started.
"Bloody Orchid... It is a common ritual material for any ritual for summoning Daemons. That is basically its only function as a ritual item," she explained to me. I was shocked, speechless for a while. After some time I was able to say.
"So... For the Warlock's Path ritual, a Daemon needs to be summoned," I said surprised.
"You... Did not know did you?" Olivia said looking inquisitively at me.
"I had no idea," I answered her. She nodded her head.
"Do you still want to retrieve the Bloody Orchid?" She asked the obvious follow-up question. I was quiet for a while.
I should have just left it at that and explored by other options. I had next to no knowledge of Daemons but everything I had heard pointed at them being bad news. I should have left well enough alone but something in me wanted to know... Wanted the knowledge, the experience. The appeal of the road less traveled was strong despite the dangers and obstacles that would bar my way I was sure would be there. From what I had gathered from the others Warlocks were very rare, close to one in a billion... unique... There was an undeniable appeal about being one in a kind, or even being given the opportunity to be. Could I squander this opportunity for a 'safer' option?
"Yes... I still want to retrieve the Bloody Orchid," I told Olivia who just stared at me for a long time, an uncomfortably long time in silence. I could see she was thinking hard about whether to help me and to be honest... I don't know if I would help me if I was in her situation. After about 5 minutes she sighed and stood up and said.
"Very well. Stay here. I'm going to go tell Alex to call us off from school, time in Arcadia is... strange and this may take all day," she explained before leaving the room.
I was left to my thoughts and many questions swirled in my head but first and foremost among them was why Warlock had not told me I would be summoning a Daemon as part of the ritual. Unfortunately I had yet to do any research on Daemons but from my general understanding from what I've heard from the others was that Daemons were manifested evil or at least malevolent spirits of darker, primal or base emotions, most prevalent among these were the seven deadly sins of the Roman Catholic Church. Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Wrath and Pride. That was about all I knew though and I doubted I would get time to do any research before time came to choose.
It was not long before Olivia came back.
"Ok. Alex is going to make sure we are good with the school," I nodded, and she took a breath before continuing.
"First thing is first. We are going to Arcadia, the Fae Wilds. It is a land where the natural laws of time, physics and a l9t of your other sciences you take for granted here... 'usually' work, 'most' of the time. Usually changing for no reason you can tell at the moment," she started and my eyes started to grow wider as she spoke.
"The reason it typically takes about a week to secure passage through Arcadia is to ensure the appropriate permissions are acquired so something unfortunate like for example... all the oxygen is sucked out of an area at any given time with no warning," My jaw slackened and I started to regret my decision.
Olivia must have noticed my expression finally because she flashed a brilliant smile at me.
"Lucky for you... You will be traveling with a Arcadian native, so I should either be able to avoid anything like that, or if its unavoidable. Protect you from that sort of stuff. We will still have to be careful though. Arcadia is a land divided into territories ruled by whomever can defend their sovereignty from their neighbors. I should be able to direct us to a territory that is both friendly to the Arcane and has Bloody Orchids," she finished and I felt just a little better and I nodded.
"So I'm still a normal human and I don't have any way to defend myself..." I trailed, she sighed.
"I know... we should be ok though and I can protect you if it comes to that," she told me.
"I'm putting my life in your hands then," I told her looking her in the eye.
Bad idea as it felt like I was falling into her hypnotic blue eyes until she blinked and I regained a small measure if control over myself. She took my hands with hers and looked at me and I felt heat rise against my cheeks.
"I understand and I promise to protect you," she promised me. I wanted to look away from her eyes, or at least stare at her nose but that was impossible. We just sat there facing each other, her gaze was focused, intense and it felt... strange...
It felt nice to be the center of someone's attention so utterly, it was a new feeling for me. It felt awkward at least for me to be staring into her eyes. It also felt unnerving, she didn't display any comfortableness at our situation, it only highlighted that while she might try to follow social convention, she was not human. Despite her not quite right appearance.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I stared into her eyes. They say the 'Eyes are the window to the Soul' whoever said that was right because for just an instant I "saw" Olivia, truly. I saw pure white porcine skin. I saw a flash of semi-translucent butterfly like wings but what dominated my vision in that instant were her eyes... They were a bright ocean blur, solid blue with no pupil, no iris. It wasn't a flat blue orb though, it had the look of crystal, like her eyes were one whole blue crystal.
I blinked and the instant was gone. Olivia's mouth was open, her now normal pale skin was ashen slightly, her large eyes were wide open, she looked... shaken. She looked down and saw we were holding hands, and she immediately let go and stood up abruptly and started to leave.
"Meet me back here in 20 minutes," she said quickly before leaving. I was confused at her sudden shift in behavior and at my own experience. What was that moment?/pre
