Beware of the Water Lilies ~ trixya

The Creature's True Name

It was nearly midday by the time Katya left the bookstore, her mind consumed by the need to speak to Ron's grandmother as she desperately held onto the hope that the old woman would be able to help her. She stormed into the bakery and walked straight into the back room, knowing her friend would be on break at that time. 

"Katya! Where have you been? Your mother has been running around all morning looking for you." Ron said.

"And she'll have to wait longer, I'm staying out of the house for as long as I can." Katya replied bitterly.

"What happened?" Ron asked, his eyes filled with care and concern. 

Ron had always cared more for her than anyone else. He was a friend to her when no one else was. He had listened to her deepest wishes without any judgment. He had spent hours by her side with no expectations. Ron was in so many ways completely different from her, but yet he never tried to force change upon her. He had always aimed to protect her, guide her to safety, but he had never denied her to seek out adventures such as her mother had done. 

"She's forcing me to marry Mr. Moore... I can't do that, you know I can't." Katya said, her voice shaking as she spoke the words. 

"I'm sorry... Still, you can not hide forever, she is your mother after all."

"And she barely acts like it... If papa were still here then he'd never agree to marry me off to someone like him." She told him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Katya..."

"Nevermind, I have more important problems to solve." Katya said, not wanting to discuss the subject any further. "I need to speak with your grandmother urgently, it's about Trixie. Do you know where I can find her?"

"Trixie again? Katya, I know how you feel about her, but reality is what reality is. You can not run away from your real problems by focusing on solving hers." Ron told her. 

"Her problems are my problems. She is everything to me, Ron. I would rather die than loose her. Now, do you know where your grandmother is or don't you?" Katya replied, her determination burning like fire in her eyes as she spoke. 

"She's at the house, most likely alone." He said, giving in under her intense stare. 

"Thank you." Katya said simply, turning around to walk out the door. 

"You're welcome. And Katya?" 

"Yes?" She replied, turning back slightly to face him. 

"Please, be careful. I do not wish to loose you, I could not take it." Ron said truthfully. 

"I will be, I promise. I'm sorry worrying you." Katya told him, a pang of guilt hitting her as she noticed the fear in his eyes. 

She had never meant to worry him, it was the last thing she wanted. But she needed to do whatever she could to save Trixie, to find Trixie... 

"It's alright, love can bring out the madness in anyone." He said kindly.

"Thank you, for everything. I'm not sure I deserve a friend like you." 

"I know, I am incredible and quite honestly you are lucky that I'm insane enough to stick around." Ron joked before giving her another understanding smile, nodding his head towards the door. "Go, it seems you have no time to waste."

"Thank you again, bye for now." Katya replied before hurrying out, running madly through the streets until she reached Ron's house. 

It was a humble home, a small grey brick house with a red door, but it was homey and always warmed up by the fireplace. Katya had often envied how they managed to keep it warm at all times, as she herself often came home to a freezing house seeing as there was no one there to tend to the fireplace in the midday hours. 

"Mrs. Hill!" Katya greeted once she saw the woman she was looking for on the front porch.

"Ah Katya dear! What brings you here?" She asked. 

"Well.. I need your help. I need the name of the child that disappeared by the lake in the woods years ago, back when I was a child myself. The girl who's father was a traveling entertainer. Do you remember her?" 

"Ah yes, she was a beautiful little girl, a little angel... She must have been only a year or two at the time? I knew what she had become the moment men started disappearing... There's no hiding a nixie, you see. Even if you cannot see them, you always know when there is one nearby."

"You know what she is?" Katya asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Yes Katya, I know. And by the look in your eyes you have already fallen under her spell." The old woman replied.

"It's true... I love her, I can't help it. I cannot change who I am, what I am... who I love." 

"You do not have to, child. But you must be careful, for there is grave danger in tricking the lake. The lake always claims it's price somehow in the end, remember that." Mrs. Hill warned her.

"So I hear, but I will take whatever fate awaits me as long as I can see her again." Katya said.

"Alright, then I will tell you her name. Her name, her true name, is Beatrice Elizabeth Mattel."