The Black Necromancer

“You know, you’re really lucky, getting attention from the Miss like that.” When Leon was putting on the jacket that went with the set of clothes that Bethany had given him, a blond man wearing a fancy suit walked up to him.

“Hmm?” Leon looked up at the man. He could tell that the man was jealous, but not spiteful.

“The name’s Barry. I’ve been working for Andrew and Rowan for almost a year now.” Barry stretched out his hand.

“I’m Leon.” Leon took his hand and shook it then gestured to Michael. “This is Michael, he doesn’t like to talk much.” Leon smiled as he saw that Michael simply nodded at Barry.

“Ah, I see.” Barry nodded. “Well, best of luck.” The man returned to his seat to prepare for the show.

Twenty minutes later, under the glow of the late afternoon sun, the show started.

“Wooo!”

“Jayce!”

“Barry!!!”

The fangirls and fanboys screamed their lungs out as the models showed off the clothes with their impeccable looks. They were already fired up, and were ready to stay through the entire show that lasted until late at night.

“Alright!” Hours into the show, the light in the open venue suddenly dimmed, and a spotlight appeared, turning everyone’s attention to the MC. “It’s time for the highlight of today’s show! We’ve got two hot models trying on the latest wears of RA Wears! And here they come!” The short man pointed, and the spotlight moved from him to the opening where the models came out onto the runway.

(A/N: RA Wears is Andrew’s brand name.)

A buzz took over the audience as Michael stepped out onto the runway, wearing the outfit that had been prepared for him. A hush fell over the audience as they were temporarily stunned by the manly beauty that had walked onto the stage.

“WOOOOO!!!!” As one, the entire crowd burst into cheers, shaking the walls of the venue! Michael had a stoic expression on his face as he did the poses that he needed to do, but deep down, he was enjoying the attention that he was getting.

As a Minor Fate God, Michael got very little attention. Most nations had already pledged to a God, and those that pledged to multiple had already taken care of their needs. As for all those wild tribe around the world, Baba Yaga had already taken control of them. The sly, ancient God had refused to sit in the Celestial Realm, and had chosen to wander through Datar like a human. Through that, he had gained many followers.

Because of all those, Michael was unable to get he attention he deserved from the mortals. Normally, an ascended mortal who became a God would have already built up a following, but for Michael, all traces of his existence had been wiped out after the Era of Gods, meaning no mortals knew of him. Those that knew of his existence possessed too little information to do anything with it.

So, now that all these people were cheering for him, he could not help but feel gratified. If he could, he would have spread his shoulders even wider, but he didn’t need to do that.

Whoosh!

In the eyes of the cheering audience, Michael’s figure seemed to become ten times more glamorous. Their eyes were round and wide as they cheered and screamed for him.𝑂𝑣xt.𝒞𝗈

Eventually, it was time for him to return and change his clothes for his next run. As he stepped off the stage, the crowd was in for another shock as Leon appeared.

‘Damn God is manipulating them.’ Leon thought to himself darkly. Of course, he had noticed what Michael did.

Unlike Michael’s getup that was glamorous and eye catching, Leon had been given a dark theme to embody. And he was very fine with that.

The light dimmed, as did the cheering of the people as they felt a darkness creep into their hearts. But even with that darkness, all they saw was Leon, under the spotlight, like a blotch of blackness on a white sheet.

“…He’s… gorgeous…” A young lady whispered with tears running down her face.

The crowd had been captivated by Leon’s display, which was the direct opposite of Michael’s. They appealed to different people, but still managed to capture everyone’s hearts all the same.

The show continued for hours more, running into the late hours of the night. By the time people were leaving, they were all floating on clouds, their minds on either Leon or Michael. The two handsome men had gotten thousands of fans in just one night, and more would surely come as time passed.

.

.

“Tonight was a success!” Andrew raised his glass and clinked it against the three glasses that were risen by the people around him. Rowan, Leon and Michael all smiled as they brought their glasses of wine to their lips.

Andrew and Rowan had decided to treat all the models to a night of food and drinks, but their main attention was on Leon and Michael, as they were the stars of the show tonight.

“Hehehe, we raked in a lot of profit tonight from the show. The aftereffects are only just beginning to show on my outfits. You guys were amazing.” Andrew tilted his head back and drank the whole glass in one go. He ran his hand through his hair that had been so fabulously done, pulling out a clip that had kept it done and letting it fall down to his shoulders. It turned out he was quite the handsome man himself.

“I agree. Just the views we got online during the show was more than what I had expected. Forget double, we got around five times more than what we expected. Haha!” Rowan cheered as he refilled his friend’s glass. “All thanks to you two.” He turned to Leon and Michael who were dressed in the clothes they had worn earlier.

“Ah, it was nice to try out modelling. Leon rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckle. His hair was tied up in a pony tail again, like before.

“Mhm.” Michael nodded, sipping his wine slowly.

Around them, the other models and crew were busy enjoying their time. The entire floor of restaurant had been reserved for this celebratory dinner.

As they were eating and making merry, the door to that floor of the restaurant opened and three people stepped into the large room.

“Ah, Megan, you made it!” At this point, Andrew was a bit tipsy and yelled across the room. The red haired lady smiled upon seeing her two close friends. A familiar face stepped up beside her and slid an arm around her waist, while the third person remained by the side, looking interested and excited at the festivities going on.

‘Megan? And… James?’ Leon was surprised at the closeness between the two. ‘They’re… together?’ Leon’s hand was frozen in the air as he saw that. He didn’t feel jealousy. No, what he felt was… relief?

‘She’s… happy.’ He let out a deep sigh and lifted his glass to his lips to hide his smile. A smile that Michael did not miss.

Megan walked over to the table with James and the other young man beside her. She sat down with James, while the brown haired young man sat closer to Leon.

“Hello. Nice to meet you again.” Megan smiled at Leon and Michael as she greeted them.

“Hey.” James nodded his head.

“Hello.” Leon gave them a reserved smile, even though he was very happy for them on the inside. He was glad that they were able to rely on each other when he was not there for them. It made him let go of a lot of his hung up feeling of being taken from Earth.

‘If I can talk to them…’ Leon’s heart suddenly thumped. It was a strange feeling, considering the fact that most of the time in Datar, he had no heart.

“Excuse me, Megan.” He looked at the person he wanted to talk to the most.

“Hmm?”

“Can I-“

Bang!

All of a sudden, an explosion shook the building as a cloud of flame rose up outside the building. The orange glare of the fire was very clear through the windows of the building. Screams erupted outside and within the building after the explosion. Even the models that usually kept their expressions schooled in public began to clamor.