Three: The Tear-Stained Eye

Belhonor is unlike other schools. Maybe only exists in books where they all will face the most hondrous tragedy in the middle, suffered through for 4-6 series of books before they finally find their happily ever after.

Love, Levi and Nikolas finally enter the school ground. The sky's the color of pastel blue with warm orange clouds, looking like dusk instead of dawn. If anyone look closely, they will see a soft colored line across the sky that resembles Saturn's ring.

Exhaustion washes over Love when they approach the front of the school where the clock tower is visible and there's a statue of a handsome Prince in the middle of an empty fountain. He is holding his weight to the side where the tip of his sword touches the ground. A bird sits on his shoulder with its head turns to the prince.

"The Happy Prince," Love sits by the fountain, reading the description plaque carefully. "From King Catellus of Veleno. Wow, impressive. Who is he, again?"

Levi sits down next to her, "a ridiculously scary man despite his flamboyant look and soft taste. You know, he built amphitheatre for like 10 years or something and now is using it for gladiator fights."

"Oh, no," Love gapes, "sounds fun. Are we going to have some sort of school trip to Veleno? Seems like a dangerous place to live in."

"It is. Nik's been there before, isn't he?" They both turn to Nikolas who's reading a book.

"Hmm?" He looks up, and realizes he's been zoning out, "I've been to Veleno. Why?"

Love smiles, before darting her gaze toward the plaque again. "No reason, you can go back to whatever-" Love squints to read the book title in his hand, "Encountering a Demon? What the- are you okay? ... are you somehow possessed?"

"Yeah." Levi raises her brows in confusion, "is it for the Demonology class? You're finally taking it?"

"I kind of have to. It's part of the General Studies."

"Holy shit, I knew it. I saw juniors were practicing some spells in the back, and it's really complicated. They even brought jars to trap unwanted shadows, and removed hexes from stick figures."

"Sounds like you're going to ace it just fine, Miss Straight-As." Love teases, nudging her side.

"Hey, I'm not as magical as you. You can see through glamours."

"You're stronger," Love yawns onto her arm, "I saw your badges, certificates, all that golden girl crap you keep achieving which I'm still happy for you, by the way. Oh, my god! You two are practically the same people!"

Levi rolls her eyes, "Love, just get your shit together. Come, I'll get you to the dormitory building."

"You better. Can I leave now? I need to prepare for the orientation tomorrow. Dean Laveau made me arrange all these post-Summer events before classes start."

"Who are you, the Student Body President?" Love chuckles teasingly.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh," she wides her eyes, "then go! Do whatever you need to do, Capt'n!"

Nikolas shakes his head before looking at her for a few seconds longingly. He, then, closes his book, "don't have to tell me twice. See you around, twins."

The school ground isn't as empty as they expected it to be. A few people made their way toward the dorm building instead of the school castle. Stench of wolves and vampires makes Love scrunch up her nose.

There are times when Levi mentioned to not be shocked when some supernaturals that they always bump into on Earth also attends the school. These people usually keep their lives low-key to their own group, they merely prefer for others not to look at them differently.

"Your weak *** legs ready to go now?" Levi asks, "I have got to meet up with a couple of my friends. Remember? Laurent and Kali?"

Love scowls, she pulls Mark Antony's head up to her arm again. "Yes, I am ready." Love mumbles, "are you going to introduce me to your pals? I could use some friends around here."

"Sure? As long as you keep Mark Antony in your room. No exception."

"Okay," Love shrugs, getting up to her feet. She can't help but eye The Happy Prince statue again; the long sword, his curly hair, the bird on his shoulder, the tear-stained cheeks. "Do you think I can convince King Catellus into giving me a sculpture of the prince? He seems lonely."

"No."

"Why not? I can put him in a safe place back home, not here where people can easily vandalize him."

"Trust me, vandalism of school's property is death penalty."

"I don't care. When all hells break loose, I'm taking The Happy Prince and his bird with me to New Orleans!"

***

The head sculpture of Mark Antony is safely placed on Love's new studying desk that she's currently fixing up to be her vanity instead. The room is simple, just like any other normal room in the whole world; except with more candles to keep the evils out and floating ball of lights on the ceiling instead of electricity lights.

Love waves her hand to close the heavy curtains in her room to keep her concentration intact. As she is organizing the bookshelf, she puts up some framed pictures of her family as well by the books where she also keeps her Funko Pop! figures.

After only doing 20% of unpacking, Love decides to sit on her new bed while looking at her reflection in the mirror. She, then, takes out the switchblade out of her jeans' pocket to inspect them carefully. It is the one thing that makes her feel close to home at that point. NOLA, where her parents are.

It feels strange to be in a new place for most people, the culture shock will probably set in about a day or two after they'd moved in. But right now? Knowing that she is in a different realm itself nearly makes her vomit on the clean carpet before her.

She blinks a few times to regain her focus on the blade. The pretty blade that she just wanted to store in a box and never lets out until she needs it most.

A wave of worry suddenly washes over her, making her shudder just by thinking of walking out of the room alone. The blade is folded and back into her pocket again when she gets up from the bed to get out of the room, to meet her sister in a tavern that is quite famous among Crimson Cove citizens.

When something worries you, might as well get up and face fear in the eyes, her therapist once said after hearing her complain about not wanting to get out for the thousandth times that week.

It wasn't that great of an advice, but somehow, when Love did do it; she became less paranoid and more open.

Levi was waiting for her outside of the dormitory building when she joined her. "You settling okay?" Levi asks calmly.

"I guess. I just hate unpacking, it stresses me out," Love sighs heavily, "can I take another year off now? Because... the things I can feel here." She pretends to wipe a sweat off of her forehead.

"Like something's in the air? Yeah, same." Levi mumbles, walking a bit faster next to Love who's dragging her feet on the ground. "I'll ask Laurent, he's mastering in Divination right now, so he must know something."

They walk through the path leading out of the school area and toward a village, not before they pass a market first. "Is he like a psychic?" I ask.

"Yes. Born in a long line of psychics."

"Weird how we've never met a psychic before. I mean, a trueborn."

Levi rises her brows in confusion, "this is why your therapist tells you to go out more. Not only for donut purposes."

"Hey. In my defense, nobody can replace Fimbulwinter donut."

"Levi! Catch!" A voice belonged to a young woman calls for Levi. They both turn around and see a baseball fly right over toward us.

Levi grabs it meanwhile Love holds her arms up her chest; protecting her precious assets, and ducking away. "Got it." Levi salutes the woman, "next time try harder, Nolan."

She walks over to them. Her eyes fixated on Levi, twinkling under the sun's light. Love eyes her curiously, pulling down her hands carefully. Nolan doesn't seem to notice her yet.

"Hey." Nolan greets Levi. A warm smile plastered on her face. "You're back." She grabs the baseball from her grasp.

Levi grimaces, "...so are you?"

Nolan chuckles, "how's your summer?"

"Good. Spent some time back home in NOLA, brought my sister... My sister! Right," Levi steps back to present Love who is raising her brows in curiosity, "Love, this is Nolan. Nolan, this is Love, my twin."

Nolan finally turns to look at Love. She wides her eyes in shock, "wow. You... are Levi's twin? I didn't expect you to be so...." She clasps the baseball under her armpit before extending her arm.

"So...?" Love smiles, shaking her hand gently. "So different from Lev? Yeah, she prefers motorbikes while I prefer donuts."

"Oh? Levi has a motorbike? That's interesting."

"Yeah, she rides it all the time." Love grins, "are you a friend of Lev's as well? Are you joining us for a drink?"

Levi nudges Love slightly, but of course, Love ignores her. Nolan looks over at Levi curiously, as if asking the "should I...?" question. "As long as it's okay with Lev here. But give me a sec."

Nolan runs toward a group of guys that she was playing with earlier and passes the ball toward one of the guys. A lot of young people seem to enjoy hanging out in this part of the town, near the markets. The building of Belhonor stood high by the mountain, white pilars holding them to the ground, almost looking like the chateau on the far side of the mountain where it overlooks the entire town of Crimson Cove.

"Why would you do that?" Levi looks at her sister, almost fuming.

"Do what? Inviting your friend to have a friendly drink?"

"Yes!"

"Why, do you have a crush on her?"

"... no?"

Love grins, wrapping an arm around Levi, "sounds like a yes to me. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone."

"Just..." Levi pushes her sister off of her, "shut up."

"Very mature." She hits her on the arm, chuckling.

Nolan makes her way back toward us. A big smile on her face. Her flannel is now half tucked into her pants, hair's a lot more tidier than before. "Okay. I'm back." She says, "I want to hear everything about your New Orleans. Sounds like a pretty place to live in."

Noticing the difference in the air, Love steps aside to let Levi speak to her semi beau. It's rare to find a moment where someone shows as much interest to Levi as Nolan does.

The trees sound like they're speaking to her, Love vividly hears the sound of Pan's flute that guides her peacefully through the Ancient Gate. But something is odd in the air. The smell of the woods, along with wet grass when raining-almost the same as how a wolf smells like.

".... may want to give me those beads like your sister. Isn't that a tradition thing in New Orleans? I think you mentioned it once." Nolan mentions, "that'd make a fortune here in Crimson Cove."

"Are you saying you'd be selling a gift from me?"

"Oh, no, I was just saying. I'd be grateful if you'd gifted me a wonderful beads like that."

Levi shrugs, "all right. Maybe next time I get back to NOLA, I'd get some for you."

"I won't sell it, I promise."

"I'm pretty sure it'd be fine if you wanted to sell the rest, as long as you keep one."

"No, Levi, I would never sell gifts from you. Even if my life's on the line."

Hearing the conversation, Love chirps in: "what do you do for a living, Nolan? Are you some sort of trader?"

"A mercenary. I go away sometimes when I get assigned to do some dangerous jobs overseas."

"Whaaat? You're a soldier? How fun."

"Eh," Nolan shrugs, "not the most fun thing. But I've always loved adventures, and the fortune I made out of it. Really, it's all just about the money."

Love raises her brows, "did you join the military?"

"No. Mercenaries are more steady for me, in terms of money. We've got to eat, babes."

"So, you travel a lot then?"

"Just over the summer. I mostly just train, relax and hang out with my siblings during winter times." She explains, "sometimes, though, I've got a big offer that made it difficult for me to refuse. Let's just say I'm glad I've got the most supportive siblings."

Love smiles, looking over at Levi who's staring on her feet as she walks. Having a supportive sibling is something else entirely, knowing that they've got your back no matter how far away they are from you.

They arrived in Wolf's Fang Tavern which makes Love snorts out a laughter. But then her laughter dies down when she notices a Bird of Paradise plant by the door is moving by itself, even though there are no winds around. The atmosphere changes entirely when they walked into the medieval tavern with men on the bar, drinking their butts off and women catching up with their friends, also drinking their butts off.

"Any of these people wolves?" Love asks Levi calmly.

"The owner is."

"Awesome. We're dealing with wolves here too."

Levi pats her sister's shoulder, chuckling, "they're actually a big deal here. Almost worshipped like the gods. Probably because they know everything."

"Except manners, gotcha."

A couple of people waved at them three. Love smiles when they approach the table, warmly greeted by the pair. Love smiles at a guy with brown hair, brilliant smile and a red bandana pulling his hair back, before moving on to introducing herself to the girl with glasses and bohemian outfit.

"So, you're Love," Laurent smiles, suddenly handing her a glass of margarita. Love frowns in confusion, but accepting the glass anyway. "What kind of magick do you usually practice?"

"God, I forgot you lot are a bunch of casters." Nolan chuckles across of Love.

"Oh, I don't know. I kind of do everything." Love shrugs, eyeing the margarita suspiciously. But she sees no trace of any dangerous herbs or spells.

"Would have been cool if you're a psychic."

"You think everyone's a psychic, Ren." Kali chuckles softly as she downs her drinks. "Well, most witches are. But not as strong as psychics."

"What's the fucking difference?" Lev groans, "we have a lot of psychic in New Orleans. Fortune tellers, voodoo, all that crap. When we literally study all of those in Belhonor."

"We don't have voodoo in Belhonor."

"Really?" Lev frowns, "I thought we'd eventually get the subject in senior year or something?"

Kali sighs, "it's a dangerous magick. Even Laveau, the descendant of Marie Laveau herself only let a few, specific group of people join the voodoo class. She's very picky about it."

Love sips her drink. She feels as if someone is watching her from every corner of the room, also the air is different in the tavern. Some pictures of people who are werewolves are framed against the wall right by the fireplace. Love examines each of them, somehow hoping that she'd see a familiar face.

She continues to look around, trying to pinpoint why she feels the way she is right now. The only odd thing in the room is how drunk everyone seem to be, to notice any differences.

People can be ugly, Love thought to herself when she notices how odd looking some people are. Worse than the nymphs in the mountain.

"Love, why don't you tell these two inquisitive bitches your ability to see through glamour?" Levi encourages.

Love turns to look at the group, sipping the margarita with the little straw. "No way you can see through glamours." Laurent chuckles, "only those with higher power can do that. The gods, goddesses, all of them."

"Pft." She chuckles softly, "I'm not with higher power. Every casters have their own uniqueness."

"Yeah? Tell me one casters who can see through glamours."

She sips the drink nervously, "uh, me?"

Laurent waves his hand with a blink of an eye, they have all transformed into different kind of creatures. Nolan chokes on her drink when she notices her fingers are twice the size with claws out of each.

"Holy sh-"

Love blinks a few times, putting the drink down on the table. She sees Nolan as a lycanthropy, Levi as a dryad, Kali as a gorgeous fae, and Laurent as an Elf. The glamour disappears after only a couple of seconds.

"Holy shit, she can see through our glamours." Kali wides her eyes in shock.

"Can I go back to my human form now? I do not like being a wolf."

"Me neither. Dryad scares me."

Laurent waves his hand once, reversing the spell in a second, and they are back to their human forms.

"So what if I'm pretty special?" Love shrugs.

"Maybe Laveau can help us determine what she is, what you are as well, Lev." Laurent looks away. But Love notices how his brain is raking for informations now.

"I'm already powerful anyway. What more do I need?" Levi teases. Love knocks over her glass of drink with a quick wave of her hand. "Hey!" Levi quickly stands up, avoiding the splash.

It earns laughter from the group. Levi holds her hand up, filling Love's drink full and knocks it off the table, splashing the liquid all over her. "No! My jeans!" Love shrieks, jumping out of the seat.

And just like that, tension leaves the group, mainly Love's shoulders. Little did they know, the Bird of Paradise outside has transformed itself into a tall, gorgeous woman that disguises herself as a homeless citizen. Her eyes hooded and darkness already fills the life inside.

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