𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 (𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

Normalcy

Holly walked back into the room later in the day looking angrier than her two friends previously though possible. Her eyes were glowing, her hair was burning red and the air around her tasted like sulfur. Even the crystal crown on her head looked like each stone was briming with power and growing into some kind of glittering horns. "What's got your ponytail in a twist?" Mal said barely looking up from her drawing of Holly's tiara. 

She hissed and turned to her sister, "Hayden couldn't find you, said he wanted to show you the alters, he said he would pay you to fix up. He found me and said I should see them to!" 

That made Mal looked up; they couldn't possibly be that bad right? "And?" She asked with a wince. 

Holly's hair exploded with her emotions, Evie yelped and hid under her sewing desk to escape the embers, Mal was hit by a few but the harmlessly bounced off of her. She was a child of the fire too after all. "They're not only in disrepair! They barely count as alters! They're just pictures with offering bowls in front of them and they are all empty! They even let the water bowls dry out. All that's left of Aphrodite's rose water are some decerped petals! Thanatos' table has a broken leg! And our father doesn't even have one!" 

The fey growled, she may not get along with her father, but these mortals had no right to disrespect him like this. She immediately flipped to a new page in her sketch book and started to come up with ideas for the new alters. It looked like she was going to have to build them from scratch. 

There was a knock on the door, Holly threw it open with a loud, "What!" hair bursting with red flames. The girl on the other side froze with fear, everything inside her told her to run but her legs wouldn't move. When Holly saw who it was, she took a deep breath, "Sorry Jane," her hair fizzled out and fell back into its natural blue color. "Just angry, I'm still learning to control my outbursts with my powers active, come on in." 

Jane shifted in nervously while Holly picked her dog sitting on her bed and cuddling into him. Seeing how badly affected her sister was, Mal decided she needed to see how inadequate these alters were for herself. "I need to find that prince," she grabbed her sketch book and made her way towards the door, "I'll be back in a bit, make yourself at home Jane." 

She walked to the boys' dorms with a purpose, everyone could see that she was angry and steered clear. She counted the doors from Carlos and Jays door, just like Hayden said so she knew where she was. She knocked on the correct door and waited outside tapping her foot impatiently. Luckily for her Hayden opened the door. She saw Ben behind him asleep at his desk with drawings on his face. "Oh, uh h-hi Mal!" he stuttered; his face bloomed bright red as he closed, the marker in his hand.

Mal failed to notice this as her anger was simmering just under her skin and she was pushing down her magic. She could feel all the jewels the students were wearing, and she could feel them tilting towards her. She could feel the gems buried underneath the school trying to rush up to the surface. No matter how much she tried to stifle it, she was still Holly's sister and Hades' daughter. "I need to see the alters." 

His shoulder slumped, "how mad is she?"

"Our ceiling is charred." 

He winced, "that's a fair reaction. I'll pay to have your ceiling repainted." He grabbed his boots from beside the door, and reached over to his desk and pulled a few bars of chocolate from his desk. 

Mal raised an eyebrow as she saw him stuff them in the pocket of his leather jacket he was trying to pass off as a blazer, "Chocolate?" 

"There's a lot of Alters and I do my best to offer something to at least one of the gods every time I go," he walked out of his room and pulled the door shut.