Siren's Kiss

Chapter 1.5

"Nia! Hey, there you are," Venus smiled up at me from the stairwell, a shell of pink foam in her other hand. She was adorned with beads and gold tied around her arms, fingers and woven in her thick braided hair. Her pearl was colored a deep scarlet for a reason; just her calming voice and deep brown eyes stopped me in my tracks. I stumbled down from the steps and stood level with her, Venus towering over me and stooping down to meet my eyes closely.

"I was afraid you would not show. How are you feeling?" she said, grasping my hand tight.

"I..." I was desperate to break eye contact with her, but it was impossible. Her eyes were like the deepest depths of the sea, pulling you in. "I went for a swim. I'm sorry"

Venus tilted her head at me with a concerned smile, the beading in her braid dangling down with her shift. "You don't need to apologize to me, but you shouldn't. You know we aren't to go out without permission," she said "Especially tonight"

"Venus!" A pair of students hurried over, both with light blue tinted pearls. They had shells of blue liquid that was spilling all over. Must have been spiked with jellyfish venom. They both stopped when they saw who she was talking to.

"Just a moment," Venus said, smiling over her shoulder. The distaste on their faces melted away when she turned her smile on them, and they quickly sauntered away back to the party. Before she could pierce me with her eyes again, I quickly rattled off an excuse.

"The pools were not enough, I really just needed to swim in the open ocean. I used to do laps with Penelope around the pillars. It just reminded me of her. I didn't go far, Venus." I said.

I could feel Venus looking me over but I kept my eyes cast down at her feet, her toes adorned with orange and green gems from the ocean. After a pause, she sighed.

"I understand, Nia. I won't inform Headmistress," she said

My heart caught in my throat at the mention of Mother Avelna. How could she cause almost as much fear as the Queen? The thought made me want to chuckle.

"Why don't you head up to your rooms and get some sleep?" she said. At her dismissal, I chanced a look at her face to smile thanks. There was never malicious intent in her eyes, only kindness. And now, worry. I turned from her and ran up the steps to the long corridor before me.

These were the common rooms, with the more prestigious families and talents being housed in the private sectors. The Chosen Five also had their own exclusive quarters they could use, but Penelope decided to remain with me until the end, even when she could have roomed in the private sector for the singing talents before she was chosen. Her pearl was dyed such a deep violet it was almost black, with a voice that could bewitch even fellow Maji.

There was no need to sneak around the barren hallways, so I walked along slowly catching my breath for the first time that night. Digging my toes into the soft velvet of the carpeting was always soothing, feeling like soft moss amongst the otherwise hard grounds. Tonight I not only lost my best friend, but I almost revealed a secret that would doom any future I have left. I frowned and clenched my bag, now wrapped over my shoulder underneath the cloak. There was no time tonight to make it to market, but hopefully I could make time tomorrow after the Queen's announcement. With the end of the final ceremony, campus activity would be canceled tomorrow, leaving most students time to get leave to visit their families, hang out together on campus or venture out into the human town beyond the bridge. Though we are permitted to practice our abilities and tactics on the humans, anyone who makes a kill outside of the Chosen Five is liable to be dishonored, forbidden from taking part in the ceremony with any earned blood and banished from our community. The only exception I know of is if a human is threatening the life of you, a fellow Maji or Wing, or even an innocent human, but even then you must face judgement.

In my case, I have no family to visit, no friends to spend time with and no desire to practice deceiving humans. Pretending I was would be enough pretense to go out into town without my authorized moonstone, though once I got there I would need to change my clothes. The townsfolk could not know the truth of my background and no Maji could see me trading human goods for human coin.

I got to my room and used the moonstone to unlock the door. When I reached for the handle though, I saw only my nameplate. They had removed Penelope's in the time I was gone, leaving an empty space lighter than the rest of the wall. I touched the place where her plaque used to be, sighed, and opened up the door. The setup of the room was still the same inside, but all of Penelope's belongings were gone. Anything she could not use anymore would have been packed away and shipped to her family back in the city, and anything that could not survive underwater was burned. At least they would have been, if Penelope did not pack them up ahead of time and set them aside for me in my chest.

I sat myself down in front of the chest now and pulled out her things, buried under mine in case they came snooping for them. I found her favorite knit sweater that was made for her out of shells, feathers and human fabrics by her Hewa aunt, who should be with Penelope now and introducing her to other family she never met or long forgot. A gentle twist of the moonstone disintegrated my uniform, allowing me to pull her sweater on over my head. It was soft and warm, and the small shells lining the sleeves were the kind that were hard to find unless you ventured up the beach a way. Humans often collected them.

Along with the sweater I pulled out her blanket, the giant conch shell we would rest against our ears pressed together to hear the deep ocean, and the collection of pearls and shells we'd gathered together since we were young. Then there were the stories we'd gathered, a collection of books and scrolls we'd unearthed and found, all a mix of Maji and human history and folklore and the ways they intertwine. Danish fairytales, Nigerian goddesses, Greek legends, American histories; stories we would stay up all night reading and debating over. No one else had a mind as sharp and inquisitive as Penelope. She would challenge me on a level no one else would and spoke on topics no one else dared to even whisper.

A teardrop splattered on the face of an Orisha goddess on one of the Nigerian scrolls, snapping me back to reality. I folded them back up and placed them back in the chest amongst the other things. I ruffled through the chest until I pulled out Penelope's old pillow and the crudely sewn stuffed pearl she made me when her pearl was dyed violet and we had our first big fight. The material was a little faded with age, but the violet color was still vibrant.

I climbed into my shell and pulled all of Penelope I had left tight, trying to absorb them into my body. At some point, my body stopped shaking from sobs and calmed enough to fall into a deep sleep.

Surprisingly, I did not dream that night. But I could have sworn the wind sounded like great wings flapping outside my window.