CHAPTER 46: UNSEEN DARKNESS OF LIGHT

[Continuation—]

It was too late...

A sound ripped through the air, it was low and vibrating like a storm inside a throat.

Valkyrie raised her hand in fury.

Dark light began to coil around her fingers— raw and violent. It flickered like unstable lightning, mixed with ink. A dark sphere began forming in her palm— magic most people in Euphoria didn’t know existed.

Stephanie took a step back. "What the hell is that?"

She didn’t get an answer... immediately Valkyrie threw it at her.

The dark energy tore through the air like a black comet. Stephanie flew up immediately with her wings and dodged it, barely, rolling into the dirt.

The energy sphere exploded against a slab of rock behind her— shattering it into dust with a violent scream of force.

Gasps erupted from nearby students. People turned in. And heads snapped in their direction.

Soda’s wings flared wide in shock. "VAL—STOP!"

But Valkyrie wasn’t listening.

She lifted both hands— dark energy forming again, but this time, it was bigger. More drawn. Something was wrong. This wasn’t light. It wasn’t celestial magic. And it wasn’t pure.

It was corrupted.

Stephanie scrambled to her feet, fury twisting her face. She tried to use Emotion Magic, throwing psychic force toward Valkyrie to trigger guilt, hesitation and weakness...something of similar likes.

But another thing terrifying happened.

The magic didn’t work on Valkyrie at the moment...

Valkyrie didn’t feel the emotional force. She didn’t feel anything but burning purpose. Darkness rippled through her veins like liquid fire.

Behind her, the shadows moved. Her hair blew wildly on a wind that wasn’t there. And her eyes shifted... no longer just red— but molten.

She looked up toward the sky. And immediately sighted something. She saw the sun.

Her fingers lifted, as if controlled by something else. Something calling unto her.

And then— She pulled energy using the sun as a source of power, something she didn’t know she could do, perhaps she just unlocked a new ability, unknowingly.

Light bent to her will. The air trembled. A thread of sunlight twisted downward, answering her call like it knew her or belonged to her.

The energy reached her hands and fused with the dark energy— becoming something impossible. Something that should not exist.

A burning sphere of dark-light energy formed between her palms— it was unstable, lethal and alive.

Stephanie froze mid air. She had never seen magic like this.

Valkyrie didn’t shout. Didn’t warn. Or speak. She launched the attack. And the energy roared toward Stephanie. She dove aside, but not fast enough...

A streak of blazing light ripped across her shoulder.

BURN.

Stephanie screamed— an animal type of scream, falling to the dirt as her skin scorched, smoke billowing from her jacket. As she clawed at her shoulder in agony.

"STEPH!" Mona and Rosé cried out as they rushed toward her. Moments ago, they had been standing back, enjoying every second of the chaos Stephanie was stirring— laughing, entertained and feeding off the drama.

But now that the tables had turned, now that their little tyrant was bleeding and screaming on the ground— suddenly they remembered to act like loyal friends. Suddenly they wanted to get their shit together?

They dropped to her side, shielding her, helping her roll as she writhed in pain.

Students began rushing over.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED??"

"IS THAT FIRE?!"

"NO...IT’S LIGHT...SHE BURNED HER WITH LIGHT..."

"BUT THAT WASN’T ANGEL LIGHT—WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Soda stared at Valkyrie like she didn’t recognize her anymore.

And Valkyrie... just stood there. Breathing hard, Expression hollow. Her magic still flickering off her hands like blue-black lightning.

Because something inside her had awakened. And it was only just the beginning.

******************

"Stephanie?" Mona and Rosé finally snapped out of their shock as they ran to Stephanie’s side.

"You’re okay?...Are you okay?" Rosé said, her hands shaking as she hovered near Stephanie but not knowing where to touch. "Stay with me girl..."

"I...I’m fine," Stephanie hissed through clenched teeth, but her voice trembled with pain and humiliation.

Blood dripped from her lip where she had bitten it. Her eyes glared murder— but even she couldn’t ignore the truth. She’d been overpowered. Outmatched and burned. Not by just anyone.

But By Valkyrie...

Mona rouse, and tried to round on Valkyrie like a storm breaking loose.

"You crazy...psycho...BITCH!"

Her voice ripped through the gathering crowd, drawing gasps. Stephanie winced in pain beside her, clutching her scorched shoulder, but Mona didn’t care— her fury was fixed on one target. Valkyrie.

"What the hell is WRONG with you?!" she shrieked at Valkyrie. "What were you thinking? you almost KILLED her, you freak!"

Her words were venom, sharp and loud enough for the entire camp to hear. Rosé crouched beside Stephanie who was trembling in pain,

"You think this is a game?!" Mona spat, jabbing a finger at Valkyrie. "You think you can just throw around whatever freak shit you got going on? Then walk away like you did nothing? Look at her...LOOK!" She pointed down at Stephanie’s burned shoulder. "You did that! You!"

Valkyrie didn’t say a word. Her fingers twitched at her sides, jaw tight, her breathing uneven.

She looked like she wasn’t fully there— like she was trying to understand herself as badly as everyone else was trying to understand her.

"Oh, don’t play dumb now," Mona sneered. "Don’t stand there acting all quiet and tragic like you’re the victim. You’re not. You’re a walking disaster waiting to happen. That wasn’t angel magic...everybody saw it. That was dark. That was evil."

She took another step closer, her eyes narrowing.

"You’ve been pretending, haven’t you? Acting all shy and silent...’poor misunderstood Valkyrie’. But now we see you for what you are. You’re dangerous. You don’t belong here. Something is WRONG with you."

"Enough..." Soda called out. "...Evil? Coming from you is diabolical..." Soda said sharply, stepping in front of Valkyrie.

Mona ignored her completely. Her voice dropped into an ugly whisper.

"You’re not normal, Valkyrie. You’re a monster pretending to be one of us."

Valkyrie flinched— but still said nothing. She just stood there. Frozen. And terrified of herself.

Soda’s shoulder was tense as she held her ground in front of Valkyrie, but Mona wasn’t backing down either. She finally decides to address Soda.

"Well, well..." Mona scoffed, folding her arms. "The loyal do anything lapdog steps in. How cute. You really think you can protect her from this? Wait until I tell Principal Darren...i wonder what Camila will think of this..."

Soda’s jaw tightened. "I’m not protecting her..." she said coldly. "I’m standing with her because she didn’t do anything wrong, Stephanie was the one picking on her... You don’t tell people how to react when you’ve pushed them to the wall"

Mona laughed in her face. "She didn’t do anything wrong?" Mona snapped. "Stephanie is bleeding on the ground, you idiot! Or do you not see anymore?"

Valkyrie stood there like a statue, staring at her own hands as if she didn’t recognize them. What had she done? What had she unlocked? That power— whatever it was, wasn’t supposed to exist inside her.

She could still feel it burning under her skin like something alive. Watching her, you wouldn’t have needed to hear a single word to know the truth: Valkyrie was terrified.

Rosé stood now too, fury shaking through her voice. "You went too far," she said. "You could’ve killed her! Over what...a stupid bracelet?"

That made Valkyrie’s head snap up— finally, emotion flashing in her eyes. Pain. Something broken. Something that had been held together too long.

She knelt and reached for what was left of the bracelet, scooping the broken beads from the floor with a hopeless kind of determination, as though love alone could rebuild it. Immediately Soda joined her in picking up the beads.

Rosé smirked rudely "Exactly, pick it up, that’s where y’all belong, in the dirt. Pathetic losers."

Soda stood up with slight annoyance, took a step forward with a fierce look on her face "Watch your mouth."

Rosé scoffed. "Or what?"

"Or I’ll put you through this same dirt, that’s what," Soda hissed... But before Mona and Rosé could reply, the other group arrived...