Daeva: Black Diamond Chrysalis - Danielle Bolger (essential reading txt) 📗

do were just covers of other songs but soon we gained experience and began creating our own music.

"We all collaborated to make the songs, though I wrote the basic skeleton and lyrics, by the time each of us had a play with it it transformed into an entirely new piece. Everyone was so talented that it made writing a breeze because each person had their own little interpretation they wanted to add. Lara was excellent as lead guitarist, you should have seen the way her long fingers controlled those strings, it was as if they were a part of her. And Dorothy's voice was so captivating that it could transform you into another reality. And then of course there were Shannon's percussions, her beat drummed right into your soul. In the end I was really the odd one out, the one who knew all the music theory, a little with each instrument but never truly great like any of the other three.

"Our band formed right at the start of high school after we first met each other in music class where we became fast friends. And we played day and night, whether it be sneaking into the studios at lunch or over to Dorothy's estate in the evenings, but we never stopped. Right up until year ten we never changed our routine. Except that year proved to be a very different one for us as that was the grade that all four of us were made into daevas. Still, we kept on doing our music concerts for the school and jamming at Dorothy's home when we could.

"We had always envied Dorothy for her wealth, her house being one of the largest on the mountain with a view of the Serene Coast comparable to the lookout. It was from her father that her wealth came as he was meant to come from some aristocratic northern European family and though he denied his place in his homeland, he still managed to take away a small portion of his inheritance, which is not small by any measure. And there Dorothy lived alone with father where he happily accommodated our rehearsals.

"One night we played a gig at one of the local restaurants where a group of, then year ten students sat at a table. There was one boy in particular who was very attractive and we were all eyeing him off, but it was Dorothy who claimed that prize. At the end of our show Jason Hunter took her hand for a dance to a pop-hit playing on the juke-box and before anyone could blink they were dating and in love. But that was where Dorothy's happiness ended.

"Her father died suddenly midway that year, a heart attack after his usual morning jog. Ironic, isn't it? Something that's meant to keep you healthy is the thing that kills you?

"Dorothy of course was devastated after losing her only known family member but soon discovered others as her aristocratic family came calling. They wanted her to relocate to Northern Europe, to her rightful place as heir to the family, but of course Dorothy knew nothing of her heritage until then and was frightened by the strangers. They promised wealth beyond her belief and fashion that was up there with the rich and famous but she turned them down, declared that she wanted to stay in Australia on her mountain near the boy she loves. The family were furious with this and pulled out all sorts of custody rights to demand her arrival into Europe. Fortunately however, Jason was the son of a very powerful solicitor who came to her salvation.

"At this time Dorothy had just turned sixteen and under certain circumstances could be considered an adult under law and so Jason's father arranged this and seeing how there were no next of kin in Australia it was a slam dunk for the lawyer. This freed Dorothy legally from having to abide her family's wishes in relocating to Europe and allowed her romance to blossom with her boyfriend, the last person she had left to love in this world. But of course, if you recall the song you heard last night then you can imagine how that part of the story unfolds.

"A couple of months later Jason had just received his motorbike licence and was enjoying almost nothing more than to ride on the back of his very pricy Harley-Davidson. The trouble was that Skyward Mountain's roads are perilous at the best of times, but during wet weather, they're murderous.

"And of course this was all amongst the drama of being a Daeva which, in case you haven't learnt by now, isn't kind to souls when their hearts are in pain. So, when Dorothy learnt of the news of Jason, she just couldn't handle it anymore, she lost her connection to this world and was consumed by darkness. Since then she has become a phantom, a daeva-nox, and became lost to us forever."

"A phantom... a ghost..." I whispered after hearing the story. "That's what you meant when you said she didn't exist anymore, because all her tragedy changed her. It..." I stated, not wanting to but realise it but knew it must have been the truth with every time I thought of the girl's crazed laughter. "It made her hollow."

"Yes, that massive void left by the love and sorrow that once lingered in her heart distorted her personality, made it crazed and irrational. So much so that even her own daeva-nox kind cannot handle her."

"Jason..." I murmured thoughtfully. "She's doing it all for Jason. She wants to bring him back to life, but then... that means that she's not hollow. If she misses him it must mean that she still loves him!"

Pearl's blue eyes glistened sadly, the black flower rocks by them seeming to darken. "I used to think so too and many times I tried to appeal to that but in every instance I failed. Even now I still try calling out to her even though I know that what she is is no more than a broken representation of what she was. She is a phantom, nothing but information within a form that appears human but without a soul to govern reason or compassion."

"So, when you girls talk about killing, if it's a daeva-nox you think it's okay because you don't consider them human?" I said it as an accusation.

"It's..." Pearl responded reluctantly. "More complicated than that, but yes, killing her would not be the same as killing one of us or another human. Tell me, I have told you Dorothy's history but that took place almost two years ago, so I wonder, is there any discrepancies you find with my story?"

Looking down at the grey path I noticed it was darker than usual, like the world did not rise to its true aura glory in the presence of this conversation.

"Dorothy looks like she's still sixteen. Year ten or maybe eleven, but not year twelve, she seems too young for your year." I answered.

"Exactly. Dorothy has accepted the darkness into her fully, she has cut off her connection to our world which means that she no longer ages whilst she is in it. The same goes for all nox girls and you know why that is? Because they are nothing but mirages in our existence, a presence that cannot age because they no longer interact with the Earth's elements. They have the power to draw its aura, but it is against its will which is why they will never be able to command the power they seek. To be able to reshape the world, they need to form a new connection and that can only be done with the dark particles that they synergise with."

"Stop it." I whispered. "Stop saying people are so evil, they're not, they're just misunderstood."

"Is that what you really believe, Abigail? That people are innocent of their crimes regardless of their actions so long as they have reason?"  I head Pearl sigh. "Then tell me, what do you think of the shades, those beings that steal our world's aura? Do you also believe that they're innocent because they only do what their circumstances dictate? Do you also think that maybe our destroying them is just another act of evil?"

I gasped here and turned to her, confusion riddled across me. "But... but... they're not human, not even from this world so killing them isn't the same! It's not the same as hurting the daeva-noxes!"

"But it is, Abigail." Pearl stated sadly. "For the noxes and the shades are all one and the same, all fused entirely of dark particles and all are phantoms."

I started breathing heavily to which Pearl placed a hand on my head. From under a subtle golden light I reclaimed my composure.

"How do you do that?" I asked. "How are you able to calm me?"

Pearl smirked. "I never used to be able to, only in the last few months or so could I do this. You see our power continues to develop as these do..." Here she raised a hand and shifting a silver bangle unveiled yet another raised black crystal, only this was in the shape of a solitary tear-drop. "Killing the shades repels the darkness from this world and in a strange symbolic way, it repels the darkness from our very bodies, but it also suppresses our own power into coming into full fruition. Eventually though, we cannot escape our fate and the flower takes us over entirely and the chrysalis forms."

"What if..." I whispered, feeling less vindicated by the argument I was about to make. "What if you... repel all the shades, will that stop you from chrysalising?"

"Theoretically yes, but that can never be possible, not so long as Raziel lingers in our world creating tears for them to flood through from."

"Tears?" I repeated. "You mean like portals to another world?"

"That's right, rips to our world in which the darkness may travel through."

I fell silent for a couple of minutes as she guided me home. I wanted to learn more but at the same time it terrified me and worse, the more I learned the more I discovered Bethanie's cruel fate that laid ahead of her. Mine too, if I was not careful in resisting the call of my erosreaver. Eventually I did interrupt the silence, though this was of a more innocent enquiry.

"Your power, that's because you're a writer - you write music!"

Pearl shone me an impressed look. "And what led you to that conclusion?"

"The feathers, they're quills, like what they used to write with in the olden days! And you said yourself once, that the pen is mightier than the sword - I remember! Your power has to do with your ability to write!"

Pearl gave a soft giggle. "You're pretty switched on, I'll give you that! Yeah, I wrote the music but I don't know if I was really even necessary with the other girls being so talented. I did like to write poetry though so the lyrics were usually all of my own but every so often Dorothy would like to tweak them."

"And Rebecca, she played lead guitar so she's skilled with strings! That's why she can shoot strings from her fingertips!"

"You're catching on quickly!"

"Then Dorothy, her power has to do with her voice, you said it could transport you into another reality, well then that's what it does, doesn't it!? She can transport you into whatever world she creates!"

Pearl narrowed her eyes. "You're on the mark about our natural skills being linked to our powers but really it's more the other way around. Our innate powers are what give us our talents, it is only our personalities that govern their expressons. When it comes to Dorothy, her power doesn't show you a world that she sings like when she was human, but transforms you into another world that already exists. It could be one very similar to ours but a future form, or one that's very similar to ours past, or one that has diverged