#original light novel | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

skyrocketeer · 2 months

Text

This is the first three chapters of an original fiction project I've been working on for a while. I'd really appreciate it if you would give it a read.

SHINE: Platinum Defender

The beam of light pierced the curtains, illuminating a soft white rug on a wood floor. The room was very still, the inhabitant not yet awoken. The walls painted a soft lavender, with posters taped up of pop stars and celebrities. At one end, a white desk stood next to a matching bookcase. On the other side, a simple bed made of white wood with lavender, floral-print sheets covering a sleeping teenager. On the nightstand, a small blue hologram projected up, displaying the time.

The time clicks over, and a jaunty tune began to play from the device. As it rang out, the arm of the room’s inhabitant reached out, flailed a bit, and finally pressed the button on top of the silver device and turned the alarm off.

She pushed herself up, staring at the projection of the time as it brightened. She then yawned, stretched, and sat upright. She pushed the purple blanket off herself and set her feet to the floor, toes gripping the white plush of the rug before she stood, crossing to the lightswitch on the wall and illuminating the room.

Clara blinked in the sudden light, clearing the remaining bleariness before slipping her feet into the lavender house-shoes and exiting the room, plodding to the bathroom down the hall. Downstairs, there was the usual morning sound of cooking.

Feeling a bit more awake, she washed her hands and face before returning to her bedroom and taking the school uniform from where it hung on her wall. A crisp white, short-sleeved shirt with blue collar and cuffs; a pleated, blue-check skirt falling just above her knees; a pale blue tie with a silver emblem stitched at the bottom; and white stockings. Clara dressed quickly, sitting at the desk and grabbing a hairbrush to start running through the auburn locks of her hair. She looked herself over in the small mirror on her desk, opting to pull her hair up into two long tails on either side of her head.

She smiled and nodded to herself, grabbing her grey bookbag from its place by the door and heading downstairs. “Good morning, Nona.” She took a seat at the table as her breakfast was placed in front of her by the housekeeper.

“Good morning, Clara dear. Did you sleep well?” Nona was a woman in her late fifties, with steel-grey hair pulled into a bun and a simple navy blue dress. “Oh, your mother called last night. She said she’ll be arriving tomorrow, probably late.”

“I’m surprised she’s coming at all. She usually just deposits my birthday gift and sends a card her secretary picked out.” Clara speared a bit of egg with a shrug.

“Well, it’s not every day your daughter turns sixteen, after all. Besides, you’ve got your ceremony on saturday.” Nona poured herself a mug of coffee and sat across from Clara. “Have you memorized your prayer?”

Clara nodded as she chewed, washing her bite down with the orange juice next to her plate. “I still don’t see why I have to do this whole thing. When Mona turned sixteen last month she didn’t have to do any sort of dedication ceremony. Neither did Denise when she turned sixteen either.”

“Well, I’m not sure on the specifics myself, dear. But your mother has been adamant that I make sure you’re prepared. Will you be home right after school today or are you going over to your friend’s house?”

“I’ll probably be going to Mona’s. We’ve got to study for the unit final for Geometry or else we’re in real hot water.” Clara smiled. “Don’t wait up for me, I’ll get something to eat on my way home.”

“Alright, just be careful taking the late train. There was another Aberrant attack last night, and your mother would have my head if you got hurt on my watch.”

“Yes Ma’am!” Clara finished her breakfast, getting up and putting the dishes in the kitchen quickly before heading to the door, slipping into her shoes. “Alright, I’m off! I’ll see you later, Nona!” She waved, opening the door and stepping out into the morning light.

The South Note District was mostly a residential area, home to primarily families with children. Clara had lived there her whole life- attending the nearby elementary school, shopping at the small commercial street on the weekends, playing with the other kids her age when she was younger. Nona had been hired by her mother to watch after her and the house since she was nine, and her mother had begun spending more time at her job downtown.

The streets at this time of morning were rarely busy, only other students on their way to their schools accompanied Clara as she headed for the train station. Most wore the green and grey blazer uniform for the District school- Clara had attended there for her middle school years before getting accepted into the illustrious Akira Academy.

The train station was filling up as the crowds waited for the next arrival. Clara scanned her passcard and pushed into the crowd just as the silver train arrived, propelled along a faintly glowing blue rail. The doors opened and people flooded the space- Clara pressed herself in just before the doors closed behind her, and grabbed one of the ring handles above her head as the train rose above the rail, and shot down to its next destination.

Platinum whipped by the windows- Silver skyscrapers toward the city center, all surrounding the crystalline tower that marked The Crystal Garden, where Clara’s mother worked nearly round-the-clock.

They pulled into another train station, and Clara gripped her handle tighter. The crowds surged past her, some departing as more packed into the space left behind. They were now in the South Rose commercial district- home of a large department store and several streets of boutiques and specialty stores. Filled to capacity, the train took off, lifting up along a ramp to shoot by the city along the elevated tracks.

There were more teenagers wearing the same uniform as Clara now- white and blue shirts with blue skirts or slacks for the boys. As the train approached the next station, these students all surged to the doors, pushing themselves out as soon as they’d opened. Clara let the crowd carry her through the station and down to the street, where the crowd had space to breathe. Along with the cerulean uniform, there were groups of girls wearing conservative black dresses heading the same way. Akira Academy was an elite private school focused on academics, and its sister school, The Daylight Conservatory, was another private school focused on the arts and music. The two establishments shared a common area, each one occupying half of a hilltop that overlooked part of the downtown area.

Clara passed under the archway and into the school property, looking around for her friends. She spotted them, and jogged over with a wave.

“Good morning!” She cheered. “Were you guys waiting too long?”

“Nah, you’re fine.” Mona was a short, heavyset girl with fluffy curls dyed a ruby red and a warm, dark skintone. “The teachers cleared off the notice board to post up something else. Wanna go scope it out?”

“Is that really the most interesting thing happening today?” Clara chuckled as she looked down at the notice board just inside the front door. There usually were so many notices and club advertisements it was impossible to see the cork underneath. All of that had been cleared away since the day before and now only one large poster was up.

“What were you expecting?” Denise’s whispery voice chimed in. She was much taller than either of her friends, with wispy blonde hair held back by an array of colorful clips. “It’s not like anything interesting ever happens around here anyways.”

The poster was an official announcement- the school was reminding students to not linger, and to go home immediately after they had finished for the day. Aberrant activity had spiked recently, and it was dangerous to be out too late.

Upstairs, Clara sat her bag down next to her desk, pulling her notebook and pen case out. “So… Mona, we still on for… Study night?” She grinned.

Mona returned the expression from her seat across the aisle. “Geometry is just… So, so hard, you know. Denise?”

“Oh yeah. Hardest subject by far. Whatever are we gonna do if we don’t study?” She rested her chin in her hands with equal mischief on her face. “Might just take us all night to be ready.”

The three of them burst into giggles as the teacher entered from the other side of the room. “Alright, class, get settled and we can start…” He was a tired-looking man with a propensity for sweater vests and thick glasses. “Good morning, class.”

“Good morning, Mr. Haulden!” The class chimed in sync as the class president stood up at the front of the room.

“Stand… Bow…” Tonya Lieding always wore her dark hair in twin braids, and led the class in the daily ritual. “Give your thanks to the Crystal for protecting us on another day.” The class all faced the window and bowed their heads for a minute before sitting back down.

“Okay, if everyone could pass their homework up, we’ll get right into it. Hope you’re prepared, because we will be having a pop quiz on last night’s chapter!” This elicited mostly groans from the class. “Not my fault if you didn’t actually do the reading and just looked up the answers, class!” Mr. Haulden barked as the first of the papers made it to his desk.

Clara sighed. She actually was a solid student, not needing to fight too hard for her grades. She pulled out her favorite mechanical pencil with the character eraser and readied herself for the quiz as it landed on her desk.

“That was so unfair!” Mona whined in between bites of her sandwich. “I did the homework, isn’t that what they want from us?”

“You just copied off Clara’s paper anyways…” Denise sighed, pouring some oil on her salad and mixing it into the greens. “It’s not like it was that hard, anyways.”

“That’s not the point! They already ride us hard enough for finals, do we really need the oppression of Pop Quizzes every week? Clara, please, back me up on this!”

Clara shrugged with a mouthful of chicken rice. She washed it down with her bottle of water before speaking. “You know, we could actually have a study night every once in a while if you’re actually worried. But you’re not really, right? Our grades are about the same, remember?”

“I’m just tired of damn pop quizzes every time I turn around. It’s not right.” Mona nodded with a smug look of satisfaction. “But enough of that! Let’s talk about something more fun. Like tonight. I found the next hotspot and we are gonna be seen there!”

“Hey, not so loud…” Denise cautioned, glancing across the grassy lawn that stretched between Akira and Daylight. They would usually sit out here, in one of the shady spots under the scattered trees for lunch. “So, where is it?”

“Just past Downtown, Seventeenth street, basement of one of the shops. It’s called Mist-tique.” Mona gave her friends a coy grin. “They pipe in this special vapor stuff that gives the whole place an absolutely magical feel. We still on?”

“Of course.” Clara leaned in. “You’re really not worried about another Aberrant, right? Not just saying that?”

“What would I have to gain just hiding in my room all night anyways? Besides…” Mona finished her lunch and cracked her drink can open. “It’s not like they can’t rip open houses just as easily as they can clubs. It won’t matter where we are. Sometimes your luck just runs out.”

“How much longer until they appoint a new Defender?” Denise mused, taking a bite of her salad. “Clara, your mom works for the Garden, right? Doesn’t she know?”

“If she does, she wouldn’t tell me. That stuff’s super ultra top-secret. Speaking of… Tonight’s the last night we can go out for a bit. Mom’s coming back home for my birthday. I don’t know how long she’s planning on staying, so let’s get as much fun out of tonight as we can. You know she’s gonna be a hardass about me being out late, no matter what I tell her.”

“Well that sucks.” Mona pouted. “Where does she get off, anyways? It’s not like she’s ever around. What’s so special about now?”

“That thing I have to do saturday. Apparently it’s a real big deal. I had to memorize this prayer and I’ll have to wear some kind of special robe for the whole thing. It sounds super boring.” Clara looked up at the blue sky, slightly tinged with the iridescent filter of the Barrier. “Hopefully this will all be over with and Mom’ll go back to her office by sunday.”

The girls walked as a group out of the school at the end of the day. They passed one of the P.E. coaches by the gate, who reminded them to hurry straight home and not dawdle. The girls all smiled, nodded, and promised they would. Then, they headed straight for Mona’s house.

Mona lived in an apartment complex nearer to one of the downtown shopping districts. The girls climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor, entering the apartment and beelining for Mona’s room to change. Since they’d started ‘Study Night’, they’d been stashing a few extra changes of clothing in the back of her closet.

Denise changed into a red minidress with a chunky white belt and matching ankle boots. Mona was now wearing an emerald jumpsuit with a decorative hood, styling her hair to cover her right eye for extra mystery. And Clara now had a pink-and-purple ombre tank top with white shorts and matching vest.

They hurried back downstairs, laughing as they headed for Mist-tique, arm in arm. The sun was going down, and the night crowds were already emerging to dance and revel as they did every evening.

A line was already formed heading down to the basement club. The girls were sandwiched between other parties, giggling and gossiping as they slowly made their way down the stairs, towards the growing thrums of music. Whenever the door would open, puffs of multicolored mists would escape, shimmering faintly before dissolving into the night air.

“Mona, Clara, look…” Denise whispered, quickly looking up ahead of them. “The guy at the door… He’s a Daemon…”

Sure enough, the man at the door had the telltale pointed ears and cat-slit eyes of a Daemon. He was probably hiding the bony horns coming out of his head with a slouched beanie. He was keeping his eyes down, avoiding the stares as he let people in.

“What’s one doing so far out? I thought they stuck pretty close to the east districts?” Mona kept her voice down, glancing over her shoulder.

“I guess he managed to get a job here?” Clara looked away. She’d grown up hearing the stories- Daemon’s inherent magical nature meant they shunned Human’s technology, until they began to grow jealous of Platinum’s accomplishments. Then the Diamond Sacred Maiden betrayed her human counterpart, and nearly brought both cities down together. It was only the graciousness of Humanity that allowed some refugees to enter, provided they didn’t use magic outside their specified districts, closer to the barrier.

The girls were at the front of the line now, and the Daemon man scanned their cards, waiting until the device flashed green, and let them in. As soon as the door had opened, all thoughts of Daemons and their strangeness were pushed out, replaced with flashing lights, sparkling mists, and bright neon drinks.

Mona squealed and grabbed both of her friend’s arms, hauling them to the dancefloor. It was already starting to fill up, the vapor creating strange illusions as laser lights pulsated on beat. The girls danced, laughing together as the clouds trailed their limbs like in a dream.

Clara had lost track of time already, escaping the pull of the misty dance floor to go find an empty space to sit. She snagged one of the jewel-toned couches up near the wall, collapsing against it with a smile and heavy breaths.

The club was getting more packed now, bodies cramming together making the mist effect less magical. Mona followed Clara up to the couch, holding out a water bottle with a grin.

“Denise found a cute boy that goes to St. Alexander’s to dance with.” She cackled. “I gotta get me a prep school pretty too.”

“You’re too boy-crazy, both of you.” Clara smiled, taking a swig of the water. “There’s more important things than going all heart-eyes on any guy our age.”

“Well your standards are way too high! You’ve shot down every single guy who's tried to ask you out! Loosen up and live a little!”

“Pffft, nah, all the boys I’ve ever met are gross and smelly. Why would I want to be with someone who picks their nose in public? Or only showers once a month?”

Mona glared at her with a pout. “I swear you’re going to end up all alone because nobody could ever match your fantasy. Besides, we’re in high school! Nobody stays with the boy they dated in high school unless they’re Super Extra Lame! Just get out there and find somebody, anybody!” She pushed at Clara’s shoulder. “Come on, get up!”

“Mona, stop it!” Clara laughed, looking for something, anything to get her friend off this… Awkward subject. She hated when Mona got like this- she wouldn’t let it go until she was satisfied. And Mona was never satisfied until she got her way. “Seriously, I’m not gonna go kissing the first guy you push me at.”

“Well maybe you should try sometime! It’s fun, it doesn’t have to mean anything!” Mona hopped up, grabbing Clara by the arm and dragging her along.

“Seriously, Mona stop it!” Clara was still laughing, even though it was becoming more annoying at this rate. “I’m not gonna do it and that’s final!”

Her statement ended up being punctuated by the power failing. There was a beat of silence, and Clara felt a shiver go up her spine. Then, a creaking noise echoed around as people began to push for the exits. Then the lights came back on, blinding everyone for a moment.

Someone screamed. Clara blinked, eyes adjusting just in time for her to see the inky black shape of the Aberration taking form in the middle of the dance floor.

#my writing #original fiction #original light novel #writing #fiction #light novel

2 notes · View notes