In Litha's light (invite)

[Alexandrea]

Smiling brightly, Alexandrea returned Zodiac's hug and nodded in agreement that they didn't get to see each other often enough. After their hostess introduced everyone, Alex made eye contact with each woman one by one and stepped forward with a warm and genuine smile.

"Iris, Zaphyra... I am glad to meet you both. Please, just call me Alex. Elizabeth, it is so good to see you again."

*If you don't have any plans for afterwards, maybe we could walk together and catch up?* Alex sent into her friend's mind.

There was something very familiar about Zaphyra but Alexandrea couldn't place where she had seen the woman before and even now knowing her name didn't help Alex remember. Had she blood healed the woman perhaps? Alexandrea didn't keep track of those she had healed, there had been too many. Perhaps later she would ask, she hoped to get to know all these women better.

Iris, Alex knew for sure she hadn't seen before but she liked the woman right away, she seemed a lot like Zodiac and had a lovely voice. It was an excellent gathering of women. She briefly wondered what paths the two women walked. Zodiac, Alex knew was a Mystic. Elizabeth a Telepath. And Alex herself was an Allurist. it would be interesting if Iris and Zaphyra were each of different paths. She could tell right away with some vampires. But it wasn't really any of her business.

Her attention was drawn back to Zodiac as the Mystic asked if anyone had any questions. Alexandrea chuckled and resisted the urge to ask the woman what the meaning of life was, shaking her head no instead.

[Zodiac]

(one of two)

By accident, she heard a bit of Alexandrea's wondering. She whispered a reply for her mind alone. "It would have been interesting, would it not? Zaphyra is a Necromancer, but Iris is another Telepath. Perhaps in time, a Killer may grace our ranks."

She glanced to the sky and judged the time. Apparently this is all there would be tonight. But it was 5 of them like the points on the pentacle itself. Not the strongest number of power but one of sincerity and one always celebrates with those they find sincere.

"I guess this will be all of us then" she projected her voice for all to hear. "What we are doing here tonight is a simple celebration. It ties into the rites done at Beltane in a way," she looked directly at Elizabeth now since she had worked with her on the mentioned high day. "Litha is the solstice. After today, we begin to loose the daylight again. But now, nature is at its peak. The growing season is in full swing. Flowers and plants abound and the fields begin to yield the fruit to those who work them. Life abounds and we, who need the living to survive and endure, should celebrate that gift as well. Encourage it. Embrace it. Without it we too would fade to nothing. Some among our kind call the mortals food or cattle, but without them to replenish us, what fate would the vampire deal with if all things of blood and flesh were gone?"

She directed her 4 guests to stand at one of the points of the pentacle in the ground and then she took the fifth spot herself. The waiting woodpile sitting in the center of the arrangement. "As we finish with each part of the invocation, we shall dance to a different point of the pentacle in deiseil or clockwise and say the next part. Skyclad is optional if you feel comfortable enough, but not required. When we have finished, we shall cast our offerings into the pyre and reflect on what we hope to gain, learn and achieve from this point on."

Zodiac lifted her arms upwards as she called up the Burning Touch to her hands. "Let all repeat after me:

Today, to celebrate Midsummer,
I honor the Earth itself.
I am surrounded by tall trees.
There is a clear sky above me and cool dirt beneath me,
and I am connected to all three.
I also stand in the company of sisters of like mind.
I light this fire as the Ancients did so long ago."

She reached out and pressed her palms against the dried wood, causing it to smolder and finally burst to life in fire. Zodiac began to dance and lead the others around the circle. Laughing and smiling till she came to a stop at the next point clockwise from where she started. Again, she let her thoughts free for the others to hear and repeat aloud.

" The Wheel of the Year has turned once more
The light has grown for six long months
Until today.

Today is Litha, called Alban Heruin by my ancestors.
A time for celebration.
Tomorrow the light will begin to fade
As the Wheel of the Year
Turns on and ever on."

Again the dancing. The feeling of the earth against Zodiac's feet a soothing balm. Once more the dance stops with another point of the pattern occupied by all.

"Turn we now to East and we say," She turned herself in the direction she said, glancing to see if the others were following suit.
" From the east comes the wind,
Cool and clear.
It brings new seeds to the garden
Bees to the pollen
And birds to the trees."

Again, they danced. Her eyes watching the others to see if they were being embraced by the moment. Another point arrived upon.

"Turn we now to the South and we say,
The sun rises high in the summer sky
And lights our way even into the night
Today the sun casts three rays
The light of fire upon the land, the sea, and the heavens."



(to be continued)

[Zodiac]

(two of two)

Once more they danced. The pyre gaining strength and lighting the area around them in a warm glow as the flames licked upwards into the night.

"Turn we now to the West and we say,
From the west, the mist rolls in
Bringing rain and fog
The life-giving water without which
We would cease to be."

The dance, the pause.

"Turn we now to the North and we say,
Beneath my feet is the Earth,
Soil dark and fertile
The womb in which life begins
And will later die, then return anew."

A final round of dancing took place. Zodiac looked up into the darkness. "Now we cast our offerings into the fire." she whispered. The bundle she had brought with her was tossed into the depths of the flames. "Repeat after me, please." she once again projected loudly.

" Alban Heruin is a time of rededication
To the gods.
The triple goddess watches over me.
She is known by many names.
She is the Morrighan, Brighid, and Cerridwen.
She is the washer at the ford,
She is the guardian of the hearth,
She is the one who stirs the cauldron of inspiration.
I give honor to You, O mighty ones,
By all your names, known and unknown.
Bless me with Your wisdom
And give life and abundance to me
As the sun gives life and abundance to the Earth,"

She felt it now as she did when she was a child. A feeling within her that she was not alone with her four friends. Something moved among them now but she felt no fear or terror at the sensation, but a feeling of love and acceptance by something beyond this world.

" I make this offering to you
To show my allegiance
To show my honor
To show my dedication
To You."

She focused on her hopes now. A solitary thing. Silent prayer in the hopes all she hoped to be and acheive

" Today, at Litha, I celebrate the life
And love of the gods
And of the Earth and Sun.
Blessed be. It is finished."

She looked around at her four friends and nodded. Smiling brightly. "Thank you all for your presence this evening. In peace we have gathered, in peace we mingle, and in peace we depart our company. Blessings of the night to you all."

Zodiac then broke from her place in the circle and ran about them. She paused and pinched Iris, then Zaphyra, next was Elizabeth, then finally she jumped on Alexandrea's back and hung on. All the while laughing happily in their minds.

"Now we talk, discuss, laugh, have fun. Party time!"

[Elizabeth]

The petite blonde woman couldn't help but keep her gaze on Iris. It wasn't because the woman had said or done anything. The woman just had an uncanny resemblance to someone. The thought made her laugh quietly to herself, before people were talking again. A thought entered her mind, and Elizabeth's eyes shifted to Alex. "I would like that. Very much so." Elizabeth smiled warmly, before her attentioned returned to Zodiac. The words did not fall on deaf ears, the Telepath took in every word spoken, as if Zodiac held the secret to eternal life. Celebrations. Elizabeth, usually a recluse, had random celebrations from time to time, nit for her own personal well-being, but because the woman knew the importance of connecting with others.

When Zodiac began to move, Elizabeth remained where she was, until Zodiac came to her area, or close by. The woman laughed again, twirled and then mirrored what Zodiac did. Though the song was unfamiliar, it was not hard fire her to find the rhythm or beat to the song and soon she moved gracefully to it. Dance, was one of the vampiress' favourite past time. Or perhaps it was now a close second to hacking these nights.

Regardless, the woman danced, her spirits high as her dress twirled around her petite frame, before she spun into Alex's space, grabbed an arm and linked it with one of her own, a laugh errupting from her lips. It was strange to admit, but Zodiac had changed her perceptions on magic, or rituals completely. Though painful at moments, the woman knew how to bring out the positive, or fun side of things.

When the song came close to an end, Liz unlinked her arm from Alex's with an appreciative smile and a tip of her head. Elizabeth's ocean coloured hues fixated on the gypsy mystic, eager to follow suit with whatever was next, but still hesitant on her end. From what the woman gathered, it appeared most knew, or at least understood rituals far better than she.

[Alexandrea]

Returning the warm smile Elizabeth gave her, Alexandrea was only slightly nervous about speaking in private with the Elder later. The last time they had been alone together, Alex had tricked her friend with a decoy. She still felt terribly guilty about that and in retrospect, it had been a very bad idea. What was done, was done however. Alexandrea just hoped she hadn't harmed the friendship she shared with her one time teacher. Perhaps after tonight they could reconnect and be even closer than before.

Zodiac's reply to her unvoiced question gave Alex only a momentary pause. It wasn't as if she had intended the thought to be hidden, she only hadn't asked out loud out of concern for appearing rude or overly nosy. For a few moments Alexandrea gave some thought as to all the women she knew but couldn't think of any that were on the Killer path or that of the Shadows. The idea bothered her a bit, she would have to expand her acquaintances. It hadn't really occurred to her before that she had kept mostly to other Allurists and Telepaths. Well, except for males. Most of the men she knew were Killers.

She happily took her place at one of the points of the pentacle and paid close attention as Zodiac led them all in the melodious words of the ritual, a feeling of belonging to something greater than herself as she spoke the words back to the Gypsy when the women were prompted to do so. In between there was dancing, which Alexandrea enjoyed very much and then there was the offering. The main reason why Nox had made sure Alexandrea had been invited along, Alex was certain of it. And when it was her turn, she gently placed her two bundles into the fire with a short prayer for strength and softly spoken words of thanks. She felt better straight away, confident that leaving her conflicts in the hands of the Goddess was the right thing to do and that she would do what was best.

Then more dancing was had, and as Elizabeth and Alexandrea linked arms to spin around both bubbled with laughter. It was all in all a very freeing experience andd Alex's face shone with an inner joy. Her eyes sparkled as she watched Zodiac pinch the others but then widened in surprise when the Mystic jumped onto Alex's back. Alex wasn't any bigger than the other woman but she was somewhat stronger, having trained long and hard in Martial Arts over the past year. Chuckling in good humor, she bounced around the circle, giving the Gypsy a piggy back ride as a small black cat looked on in what seemed to be great amusement.

[Zodiac]

"OH HEY NOW!"

She grabbed on tightly as the woman took her for a ride. She simply meant to glomp the woman, not go for a spin around the circle. She could not let go. Alex had a grip on her legs and if she did her head would be banging on the ground in the process.

She debated her options. She could always stab the woman, unless she actually enjoyed that sort of thing of course. The others were finding her predicament amusing. Hell, even Ginny was smirking. "What are you looking at, fuzz ball?"

"Okay, stop now or all the bunnies get it!" she threatened. "I will dump a bucket full of their empty heads on you! Oh c'mon, woah!" Alex wasn't listening.

"BLONDES!" She growled. Zodiac tangled her hands in Alexandria's flowing yellow locks and yanked- hard.

"When I say woah, I mean WOAH!" she did her best Yosemite Sam voice in the woman's mind.

[Alexandrea]

Bouncing around the bonfire and weaving in between the other women, Alexandrea started singing the theme from 'Rawhide' as she raced around giving Zodiac a ride. At one point as they passed Ginny, it looked like the cat was making ready to jump on board and go for a ride as well but she seemed to think better of it and started grooming herself instead.

Zodiac's threat about rabbit heads only made Alex laugh, and she bounced harder and sang louder rather than slow down or stop. But when the Gypsy started to pull Alexandrea's hair? Playtime was over. Coming to an abrupt stop, Alex shook the other woman off of her back and spun around, eyes on fire. At first she was ready to fight. The only one allowed to pull her hair was Odin. But she calmed down in an instant and busted out laughing.

"Okay, I had that coming. But to be fair, you did start it." With a wink, Alex stuck her tongue out at the Mystic.

[Zodiac]

She landed hard. Not expecting such a reaction from the woman. Most of the mystic's friends would have made some vague sexual-submissive joke about it all, but Alexandrea was ready to fight judging by the look in her eyes. Zodiac had hit a nerve with that trick, and as tempting as it was to sneak a peak into her friend's thoughts at that moment, she resisted. Some things were meant to be private, but...

What was it? A over enthusiastic lover? A bad scene from her early years of life? Some family member got a bit too froggy with her or was that how mom brought her to heel when she was running around the house like a loon as a kid? The counselor in her was totally curious now, but this was not the night for such questions.

She returned the tongue gesture while standing up and brushing herself off. "No, I just pounced. You were the one who literally ran with it all." she laughed. Zodiac looked around at her other guests and nodded.

"I hope you all found what you were hoping for." she began.

[Alexandrea]

While Alexandrea was relieved to have her unplanned passenger off of her back, she felt slightly bad as Zodiac stood up and brushed herself off. Alex hadn't meant to dump the woman on the ground. No injury seemed to have been done in the process and her friend didn't seem upset. The Mystic even playfully stuck her own tongue out back at Alex. Alex gave a nod and grinned at the darker haired woman, agreeing with the assessment that Alexandrea herself was the one that had quite literally ran away with things.

Her gaze followed the Gypsy's as it went to the rest of the circle of females and Alexandrea had to wonder what the other women might have thought about her playful roughhousing with Zodiac. No one had ever accused the Allurist of being overly mature. However Zodiac seemed unharmed and unfazed by her unexpected ride so given the festive mood of the gathering, Alex was pretty confident that no harm had been done. She went to stand with the others as Zodiac's voice came into all of their minds, asking if everyone had found what they had been seeking.

She had to grin as she nodded to the Mystic, Alexandrea did indeed feel much better. rue, she hadn't had any answers magically come to her. But she felt as though a burden she had been carrying for far too long had been lifted and she was free to leave matters in the hands of the Goddess so she could move on with her life, taking it one night at a time while letting her life just unfold as it was meant to. She didn't speak out loud just yet, though. She waited for someone else to speak up and looked around at the small group in anticipation.