ANEW ||

Moons

Clair dashed down the beach, holding her boobs up as she ran. Alaric was supposed to be following her, but he had collapsed a ways back in a fit of laughter at her expense. He would beat her there anyway, no matter how fast she could run.

He always thought the idea of a woman's breasts, her breasts, bouncing around so much that it hurt like a son of a bitch was absolutely hilarious. It was his own fault really that she spent most of her days in sports bras or the island's version of them. She didn't need him laughing at her every time she jumped and gripped the poor melons in pain.

He even laughed at Mari and April when they decided it was time to hold on tight as they climbed stairs or did anything that required a lot of jostling.

One day, in his sleep, she was going to super glue two watermelons to his chest and kick his ass around the island until he cried.

There was a squawk up ahead, and she couldn't tell if it was from Alaric's mouth or Rayne's.

She curved around the last fern to see Alaric's fingers jammed into his eye sockets. And then it was her turn to laugh. That's what he got for jumping through the air as he did.

"You fucking twat," Rayne snarled pulling a shirt over her head. "That's the second time this month."

Her and Mari had been sunbathing on the beach, and even though Rayne never changed a shade darker, she hated the lines she got when she inevitably sunburnt. And while Rayne fussed over clothes, Mari still laid there face down in the sand naked, her bronzed moon of a rear end uncovered for all to see.

"Why must you people be naked all the fucking time, huh?" Alaric snarled in a rather high pitched tone. "This is technically the 'public' part of the island! What if somebody else we're to walk by?"

Rayne pointed a finger at him he couldn't see behind his palms still shoved into his eyeballs. "Nobody else is that stupid! If you didn't jump around all the time like a fucking crazy person, then we wouldn't have this problem."

Alaric scoffed, "oh yeah, because I'm the only one on this stupid island who jumps around all the time."

Rayne caught the point of his jab. "How many times do you think Elijah has jumped in on me naked huh?"

"At least nineteen," Alaric answered honestly.

Rayne pressed her lips into a thin line. "Zero, you half-wit."

Alaric pulled his hands away from his eyes to express just how unlikely he was to believe that, but the sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks.

"Mari! Put some fucking clothes on!" He shoved his fingers back over his eyes. "It's like looking at my fucking sister naked."

For all intents and purposes, Mari was his sister in more ways then either of them cared to admit.

Clair tried not to start giggling. "Alaric," Mari drawled in a bored tone, eyes still closed. "Piss off."

He scoffed again, "Mari, your full moon isn't something I want to see right now!"

"Alaric," Mari said again. "Piss. Off."

"You guys are touchy today," Alaric snapped. And then in the next second, he was gone.

Rayne flopped onto her back in the sand and let out a sigh. "If I ever get grey hair it's because of him."

Mari rolled and sat up in the sand. There was a smile on her face for once. "What is it, Clair?"

Clair released her boobs she was apparently still holding up. "Lexi and April are calling into the tower."

Mari stood then, pulling her sister up along with her. She pulled the little sundress over her head before looking back at Clair.

"Guess we better get up there then."

"You know," Alaric said from somewhere in the bushes, "I think Elijah is just a fucking kiss ass."

Mari flipped a middle finger into the air, directing it to Alaric's direction within the trees.

And then a coconut cracked Alaric over the head from behind him as Elijah stepped out and onto the sand. "Kiss my ass, brother."

He looped an arm over Mari's shoulders after giving Rayne a quick kiss on her hair.

"That fucking hurt."

Alaric whipped a coconut at the back of Elijah's head. It never hit its target because Elijah spun, catching it and hucking it back even harder. Alaric ducked just in time to have it fly over his head.

It was Alaric's turn to flip the middle finger up at them.

The monitor was already on by the time they all reached the top of the tower. A few of the big panels of glass were open, letting a mountain breeze in and blow against the others. From the top of the tower, you could see the Den - the massive circular building near the center of the island. It was a gathering place for the island, a place for people to train and for celebrations to commence. Mari's own celebration had been there when she became of age, and later on Clair and Rayne as well.

There had been a hole blown into the center of it when Hades had attacked the island - or tried to. He couldn't step foot onto the island, not with Rose pushing them back. But he had still managed to create havoc.

The walls underneath had collapsed in the days after, but they used that space to sculpt a statue into the center. A young woman, beautiful and brave. And every year the Islanders recovered it in metallic red paint. The Rose of the Island.

Lexi's face was displayed on the single piece of space-age glass. You could see right through it if it wasn't in use. Lexi didn't waste any time. "They're all there, fire, earth, wind, and water."

Mari huffed and shoved her hair out of her face. She had cut it short yesterday, all the way up to her shoulders. Elijah told her it was sexy, which wasn't saying much because he thought she was sexy even when she was snoring.

"Did you see anything else?" Rayne asked leaning into the table.

"No," Lexi replied shaking her head. "But I'm hoping April will be able to see more tomorrow."

Mari pressed her palms into her eyes. "Alright well-"

"Mare," Lexi cut it, "there is one more thing. I smelt the island today."

Mari dropped her hands to her sides.

"It was faint, but it was definitely Olympian."

"So one of us is there?" Clair asked looking back at Alaric as if one of his slippery little spies was missing.

"No," she replied. "Well, I don't know. It wasn't exactly right."

Elijah stepped in. "Was there any shifting?"

Lexi thought for a moment. "No." There hadn't been. Not a shimmer of scales green or otherwise. No bulging of shoulders or white feathers. Not even a hint of a finger blending into the background. Nothing.

Alaric looked away out the window. "Watch for the fates."

"And tear them down as we go," Lexi replied.

And then the monitor went blank.