Legacies

Chapter X

Always and Forever

Page 231
The Birth of a Siren
A siren is typically created through the transformation process initiated by Demeter's Curse.
Only on a full moon, using the golden fishing shawl bestowed upon the first sirens by Demeter, can the transformation occur.
Sirens are typically depicted as females but can also be males, depending on the circumstances.

The transformation process is initiated by holding the intended down under water, (must be in the ocean as salt water is essential to the process) until they stop breathing.
For this to work, the siren initiating the process must first feed the intended the heart of a teenage boy or girl (depending on the sexuality of the siren as sirens powers stem from carnal desires).
If a siren is attracted to females, they are fed a teenage girls heart and vice versa, in order to complete the initiation process.

After the feeding process is completed, the intended is then wrapped in the golden fishing shawl and held forcefully underwater until they are no longer breathing and then the sirens are left to wait patiently until the next morning.

If the intended washes up on shore with the golden shawl still wrapped around their body, then the transformation into a siren was successful and the ocean has accepted the transformation. If the golden shawl washes up on shore without the intended inside, then the transformation process was unsuccessful and the intended was rejected by the ocean.

Slamming the book shut, I stared at nothing for what seemed like years.
"Landon's mother really went through all of that?" I whispered to myself in disbelief, a shudder of discomfort running through my body causing every nerve cell to ripple in unison. My thoughts began to wander as I contemplated if my feelings were actual genuine feelings towards Landon...
Have my thoughts and feelings been manipulated by him? He is part siren...

"Hope?! Where are you?! It's 1pm" Rang a familiar voice from the staircase. My late night reading must've caused me to sleep in. Thankfully it was a Saturday and so school was a little more relaxed. On Saturdays, for witches, was potion brewing which was so calming (when you knew what ingredients to put in) but otherwise, it was very stressful. Trying not to blow up the lab room was surprisingly very difficult, one small error and bang! Mrs Jofers would have you in detention. Detentions at boarding schools are the worst. We don't have after school detentions, we have Sunday detentions that last the whole day, so basically the one day we get to relax is taken away from us.

"Up here!!!" I shouted back in reply, suddenly aware of my severely delayed response. Footsteps began to ascend the staircase up to my room, the footsteps getting louder and louder like a musical crescendo. Slowly the door creaked open and Landon pokes his head through.
"Why aren't you dressed yet?" He asked, bewildered at my lack of appropriate clothing as I lay in my bed, still clutching onto the book I had been so engrossed in the night before and what was responsible for my late morning.

"I lost track of time last night whilst writing Aunt Freya a letter." I lied as I slowly slid the book beneath my duvet. I didn't want Landon to know that I had been reading about his mother due to how personal it was to him. I didn't want him to think I was prying, even if I was.
"What was that?" He asked with curiosity as he watched my sudden hand movement as I hid the book beneath my covers.
"What was what?" His eyes then directed to the book under the cover. "Oh that, just some book I was reading." I replied trying to maintain a steady voice.

"Cmon let me see." Landon presses as he drew closer to my bed. Jumping onto the bed, Landon lifted up the cover to reveal the book I had so very much been trying to hide but failed to do so. He picked the book up. I watched his face fall from a boyish grin into a look of a solemn and mournful young boy who'd just lost his mother. His eyes locked onto mine.
"Hope where did you get this." He asked with sadness and anger in his voice.
"I-I-I'm sorry Landon, it was my grandmothers, she passed it down through the family. When you told me you were part-siren I was intrigued and curious to learn more about you. I didn't realise what your mother went through-" I began my apology, being cut off by the sight of tears pooling in his eyes at the mention of his mother.

"If you wanted to know more, I would have told you Hope, you owe me no apologies. You didn't harm my mother. I just wish you would have asked me instead of sneaking behind my back and trying to find out information about my life and trying to hide it from me. I thought we weren't going to lie to each other Hope?" Landon stayed with melancholy brimming in his eyes as he choked on his words slightly.
"Oh god I'm so sorry Landon I should've told you. I just didn't think it was right for me to ask. I never would have pried. I just felt so distant from you. You seem so closed off and struggle to let anyone in. Let me in Landon." I struggled with my words as a single tear left my cheek.
"It wasn't my story to tell, Hope. I think I ought to go." With that, Landon got up from my bed and headed to the door with heavy footsteps of grief and sadness. As he reached the door, he looked back and glanced up at me. "I thought we were closer than this. I thought I could trust you." And with that, he closed the door gently as he left the room, his footsteps cascading down the stairs in disappointment.

"Fuck, what have I done?" I whispered out loud to myself. I quickly headed to my wardrobe and put on some light wash denim wide leg jeans and a warm navy jumper with the addition of some white platform trainers. After brushing my teeth, I ran down the stairs to see if lunch was still being served. Guilt still plaguing my mind, I headed outside with my lunch tray. I sat down by my tree that I sit by almost every lunchtime. After eating my food, I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh floral smells of the flower garden, roses decorated my senses with the fresh sweet smell infiltrating my nose.

With my eyes closed, my thoughts escaped me as I they wandered freely onto my previous conversation with Landon. I knew I had to give him time and space. I had betrayed his trust in a way. I needed to earn it back at whatever cost, he was one of my closest friends or whatever it was we had between us. My mind kept running back and forth: Josie or Landon, Josie it Landon, Josie it Landon. I needed to make my decision and fast. In the end it would have to stem down to who I trusted the most, who I'd rather die than lose them in my life and someone who I could spend eternity with as, after all, I was a tribrid. I'd need them to be by my side throughout the whole of eternity together, always and forever. I couldn't stomach someone else dying on me.

~ Authors Notes ~
Hi guys sorry I've been severely inactive but due to covid-19, I have much more time on my hands. This book was originally relatively following the plot of each episode more or less but I've decided that I'm going to branch off from the episodes and so everything so far all correlates with my story and I'm making no changes. So before anyone says "that's not what the teachers called???" I'm trying my best but I haven't been able to keep up with the Legacies tv show.
Thank you for being so understanding and sticking with it!

Who should Hope end up with: Landon or Josie??? Drop a comment below!

Also thank you so much for 10k views!!!! Wow!!! I can't thank you guys enough. You make it happen!!!