Chapter 1


Raven DeLuca woke up feeling very sick.

He didn't have a fever or headache. He was sick because of what he saw outside his window that morning. Eating a pastry and looking around for something drink, he looked up and saw his school campus. No activity. No one was walking around. No one was reading or goofing off. It was just sad to look at the campus. For a moment, he couldn't remember why things were this way. Then it dawned on him. This week was finals week. Most of the students had gone home. That also explained why there was no roommate in his room.

"Damn war time." He muttered, finishing off his breakfast before heading into the shower. Once again, silence greeted him. Any other time, there would have been guys snapping towels at each other or laughing over something obscene. Today, there was nothing and it didn't bother him too much. The Rosa Cruz University had some notorious students and could get rowdy. That's why he was pleased with the silence. No one would steal his underwear and shampoo like they did in the past.

That was how his morning began. That was the first day his life changed. Of course he didn't know it then. He went about his routine as normal. He brushed his blond hair, keeping some loose strands from falling into his gray eyes. He changed into a T-shirt that read God's busy but Satan's available. Can he help you?, a pair of black jeans with a rip in both knees, a black belt studded with silver spikes, his favorite boots, and black trenchcoat. It was cold that morning but he wanted to go out. He had to check out his campus and see if there was any life at all.

He left after a few minutes, locking the door of his room, and started to go down the shortcut to the main campus. Although he didn't need to go far to see changes in the school. The trees were bear and the flowerbeds had been dug up. Above him, the sky wasn't looking too friendly. It had been gray and ugly for two weeks now. The sudden climate change didn't make anything better. Rosa Cruz was known for warm weathers and cool breezes. Now it was chilling. Even the ugly brick buildings looked terrible. Raven kept walking towards the shortcut, an underground tunnel which was now covered in grafiti and paint. A bunch of drunks students had run through the tunnel and tried to show off their 'artistic freedom'. They left some obscene drawnings and rather brash statements all over the tunnel. That freedom was soon lost when the faculty had spotted them and given them a month's worth of suspension.

Not that it matters anymore. Raven thought bitterly, ready to walk through the tunnel of shame and ugliness.Worse time to give anyone suspension.

"STOP!"Someone shouted from behind. Raven did exactly as he was told and turned around.

"Where are you going, Mr, DeLuca?" The familiar voice of his dark magic professor, Dr. Sondheim, demanded. The tone of his voice scared Raven. Dr. Sondheim had been very gentle and had a sense of humor with his students. His eyes were always bright and he was willing to help whoever needed his help. Right now, though, he didn't look that way. His eyes were glaring at Raven, accusing him of something. Because of this change, Raven had a hard time talking with him as before.

"Well, sir, I..." Raven began but he couldn't think of anything to finish his sentence with.

"Where are you going, Mr. DeLuca?" Dr. Sondheim asked once again.

"Oh, I was going to...the show. You know, it's today? And this is the easiest to get there." Raven lied. Actually, he wasn't lying about a show. He just didn't want to go to there. There would be rough-housing, too many drunken soldiers, and an overall fest of lame.

Dr.Sondheim's face soften. "My apologies, Mr. DeLuca. You shouldn't be going down this way though. We haven't told students yet but this path is going to be closed. You'll have to take the long route."

"Why?"

"Because at this point, we don't know when the enemy will attack. It seems quiet but you can never tell. Go the long way. It'll take you some more time but you'll feel safer. That's why I'm here, to make sure students don't wander off in unknown places. It's a little bit more active than the shortcut these days. Oh and another thing...I have no problems with your sense of fashion. But in war time, it's best not to dress so suggestive." Dr. Sondheim eyed Raven's all black attire and the words on his shirt. "Enjoy the parade and show!"

Raven nodded his thanks before heading down the long path. He had no plans of changing his clothes but he did understand Dr. Sondheim's concern. There was good reason for it. The parade and show were the last luxuries that Rosa Cruz students had before they went home for the holidays. They were all leaving early in the semester for one reason: war had broke out in the Southern parts of their planet. And now angry rebels were making their way up north. The university faculty made a choice to let the students take a final on what they already knew and leave for home. No one knew when the holiday was going to end.

And that wasn't all. The students with the highest grades would be asked to join the main front in fighting. While Raven was willing to end the war, he wasn't willing to fight it. He tried to slack off on exams but realized that it wouldn't look good for him. So he did well, pleasing his professors and the school. It meant a lot glory and pride. It also meant he would roped into battle any second. He was completely immersed with his own thoughts he didn't notice the girl walking towards him in the opposite direction. He bumped into her hard enough to knock her down.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you coming!" He exclaimed, kneeling down. "Are you okay?"

"Ow!" The young girl cried out, rubbing her backside. That was when Raven recognized her.

"Sorry, Krystale." He apologized to the blonde girl who had fallen. He helped her up. "I didn't expect to see you hanging around here any longer. You're through with exams."

"Yes, well, I'm not going home until the final day of exams." Krystale spoke up. Raven could barely hear her because she talked so softly. She stood up and brushed off the dirt from her purple dress. "I need time to think. You know, it's been hard these past few weeks. Especially dark magic lectures..."

She trailed off but Raven didn't need her to say anymore. He knew everything.

Krystale Rose was the girl who sat next to him in all three magic classes and he liked her. They also had the same advisor, Professor Locknestra, who taught defense and weaponry. She was pretty, hardworking, and always smelled like vanilla and honey. She wore strawberry flavored lipstick, which he could smell from a mile, and had the prettiest blue eyes in all of Rosa Cruz. They never did talk a lot throughout the semester, other than to exchange notes, but Raven trusted her. There was something about her that made him feel comfortable. He did a few things about her though. She came from a family of six children, all dark magicians currently fighting the war. She made it to the school on a scholarship but preferred the more simple subjects, like languages and history, to the difficult subjects that involved a lot of participation. And she liked to make fun of Dr. Sondheim. What he liked the most about her was that she wasn't one of those giggling, gossipy twits that went to their school. She didn't try to win his attention like a lot of other girls. Raven had been tempted to ask whether she had a boyfriend but decided it really wasn't his business.

“So how have you been? How was your dark magic final?” He asked. Krystale lowered her eyes and Raven felt terrible. She wasn’t doing well and he knew why.

For three days a week, Raven watched as Krystale slowly fell apart in dark magic. She wasn’t doing poorly in the lab sections. The lectures were her weakness. Krystale did well when the classes were easy and enthusiastic. Dr. Sondheim was neither and as a result, her grade in that class was suffering. Raven helped her as much as he could. Krystale understood the material but when it came time for exams, she froze over. She couldn’t cheat off him since it was against the rules and failing due to cheating was far worse. So every exam, she froze up and she failed.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine next time. It’s just one class.” Raven tried to comfort her. “And you’ve done well in all the others. You outshone everyone in healing magic.”

Krystale gave him a small smile. “Healing magic is easy. And it’s not useful. Especially not during war time. Dark magic is in greater demand.”

She was right of course. Healers were important but those who could perform dark magic were the heroes. Healers just stood in the background while dark magicians took pride and glory in defeating the enemy. Krystale wanted that same pride. She came from a large family that made themselves known for impressive and affective dark magic. For her to fail was a travesty.

“You passed, didn’t you?” She asked him.

“Hmm? Yes. Hey, turn around, they're not going to let you walk through the shortcut anymore. Sondheim's blocking that area.” Raven replied. He was actually trying to get out of this conversation because not only did he pass dark magic, he made the Dean’s list. He had been asked to join the main front as a dark magician. Revealing that to Krystale would be break her and he no intention of doing that. In fact, she shuddered when he said Sondheim's name and he thought she'd break out into a rant.

To his relief, she didn’t press on. “Okay. I'm not really going anywhere, just walking around. I guess I'll come with you. I have nothing better to do.”

They walked in silence for a while, both thinking about how to face their families. Raven was sure his mother would be thrilled. Nataly DeLuca was a strong supporter of General Lausier and would have been honored to know her only child had been accepted. He didn't tell about Dr. Locknestra's decision however.

"I'm very pleased with your grades." Locknestra had said. "I see no problems with your pursuing this career. You'll do fine."

Krystale’s family, on the other hand, would be distraught. Her mother would berate her and her father would kick her out of the house. As for her siblings, they would all look down on her in shame. Still, that wasn't the worst part. Dr. Locknestra had told her to go ahead and change majors.

"To continue as a magician, you need to take a good dose of dark magic classes." He had told her. "You do very well with healing magic and you're all right in acquired magic. Dr. Sol is quite pleased with your work there. As for weaponry, you're doing fine. But dark magic is your weakness. Looking at your last few grades, I'm appalled that you want to continue in this direction. Nothing below a C is accepted in this field.

Krystale murmured something about 'family' and continued to look at her feet. Dr. Locknestra sighed.

"My dear, I know about the family issues. There are other students who are in majors solely because of their family. But they're not happy. They're getting good grades yet they're not happy at all. You're different. You're not happy and you're doing poorly. I would rather see you further your education in healing magic than stay with dark magic. You'll be happy and you'll do well, I'm sure. Healing magic requires just one dark magic course and it's a basic course. It's not overfilled with experiments and reading. In addition, you'd take your major healing courses, an acquired magic course, two weaponry courses, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and several non-science oriented courses. These could be history, literature, or social sciences. Think about it. Do you really want to suffer through classes you won't like?"

She didn't. But the last time she bought up the idea of changing majors, her parents threw a fit. Her mother, already a large woman with a booming voice and pug features, exploded in swears and shouts. Her father, a more calm figure, gave her the silent treatment for a day. He didn't start talking to her until she agreed to stick with her major. Of course, she didn't tell anyone about failing the class. Even with Raven's help, it was hopeless. That was why she was avoiding them. The next few days would be calm because she was nowhere near home. So she never told Dr. Locknestra what happened and he assumed that she wasn't taking his offer.

"Don't worry about your folks, Krys." Raven finally broke the icy silence between them. "You're not a horrible student. You just ran into a bump. I'm sure you'll do fine if you ever had to use dark magic."

Krystale shook her head. "I'm not worried about that. My practical dark magic is fine. It's not strong but it's good enough. It's that behemouth of a mother and icicle of a father that I have. Not to mention my siblings are exact replicas of my parents. But you couldn't understand."
She finished off. No need to spill her sob story to Raven. All in all, she felt glad to be in his presence. Raven was one of the best students in magic and weaponry. He could kill those disgusting creatures that her professor would throw out with one blow, then wipe his sword on his shirt, and not have a single hair on his head messed up. Not like Krystale, who sometimes forgot what to do in the middle of battles and ultimately had to have her teacher come to the rescue. A lot of students laughed when that happened but Raven looked worried. A couple of times, he offered to help her with weaponry but she declined. Dark magic was a bigger problem.

As soon as she stopped talking, someone ran into both of them. Neither Raven nor Krystale saw him coming. The young man was a few years older but still had a boyish face. He was dirty, his reddish-brown hair was in the form of clumps than strands, and there was a tear in his right sleeve. Above all, he looked terrified.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He bowed, his green eyes begging for help. "But you have to get away. Those...those..."

"Those what?" Raven asked, confused. Krystale turned around and let out a small cry.

"Sewer slugs!" She exclaimed. "Those are the ones I can never defeat!"

Sewer slugs were nasty creatures that the enemies were now using in battle. They were nasty creatures with no face. Rather, their front consisted of nothing but a mouth full of sharp teeth. They dripped of sewage, hence their name, and were quiet violent when provoked. The two sewer slugs that faced them were maroon and making disgusting gargling noises. The blood and foam around their mouths wasn't much of a comfort to Krystale. She remembered the first time she had to fight a sewer slug. It almost killed her partner because her magic was coming out wrong. She received an 'F' for that assignment and her partner never spoke to her after that incident.

"We're going to have to fight them off with magic, Krys. I don't have anything else on me." Raven said, facing one of the slugs. It lashed out a fat tongue and made a sound like it was throwing up. Krystale turned pale but she nodded. Weakness or not, the only way they could get out of this was with dark magic. The young man just sat in the background, watching the whole scene in disbelief.

"Be careful!" He warned.

No sooner did he say that, the sewer slugs charged towards Raven and Krystale with full force, teeth snapping and all.


TBC...
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