Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

The midnight-blue tips of Darcy’s hair symbolize her promise not to trust others. The importance of that promise is evidenced at the beginning of the novel when Seth offers her a choice: jump from the House Aer balcony and hope her power manifests soon enough to catch her or cut off her hair. Darcy chooses a potentially fatal jump. She has an “intense emotional reaction” to her hair and regards it as “[her] own twisted […] reminder of one of the darkest and most pivotal moments in [her] life which [she] [i]s determined never to forget” (95). In Professor Orion’s Cardinal Magic class, Darcy is prepared to argue that life experiences can affect Fae nature just as much as genetics and their Order. Her hair is an example of how life experiences shape people. While others might view the blue as cold or sad or associate it with the sea or sky, to Darcy, it’s something else entirely—a reminder.

The specific color was born from the night she was hurt by an ex-boyfriend. After having sex with him for the first time, he cruelly broke her heart. The blue-black bruise she got after tripping over a sidewalk on the walk home served as her