Chapter 36
Genevieve
As the sign that let us know that we’re now exiting Mermaid Lake comes into view, a new hope lights up inside me. A new flame starts burning at the thought of how close I am to finally get her back.
I can’t wait to fly into her arms and feel her warm scent of plum sweeping past my nostrils, to drag my fingers through her soft brown and purple hair, and to feel her heartbeat.
“What did you think of Mermaid Lake?” My new friend asks me.
“Oh, it was beautiful. Just like a fairytale.” I smile and my body spins around, dancing forward.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
As we exit the small town, a new path of seashells and pearls appears for us to follow, yet this time, there were glass beads too.
“Why are there glass beads?” The question comes out with curiosity.
“You’ll soon learn why.” She answers with a smirk as she keeps her secrets to herself.
Walking beside each other, now on our way to Mermaid City, she tells me more about her life and childhood, and I do the same. It felt good having someone safe walking with me, showing the way forward.
I was prepared to slaughter every little thing that came into my way after Ector died in my arms. I was at war, not only with myself, mentally, but also with everyone else. It was the first time I felt such deep hatred towards others, so deep that I felt ready to make their heart stop beating.
It felt good speaking the truth with her and not having to keep everything to myself.
Sometimes that’s all you need, to speak with someone.
And I’m so thankful that she’s not only a good listener but that she really takes in every single word I speak, and thinks about it before she answers.
She doesn’t minimize my feelings nor make me feel dumb for having them.
Her violet purple dress moved around her feet with every step forward and I couldn’t stop thinking of how well it fit her, hugging every curve of her beautiful body.
The sun is setting and has turned the sky into a lavender one with small tints of orange. My stomach is starting to hurt out of hunger after only eating berries throughout the day, and my legs feel weaker.
“We need to find somewhere to sleep, I don’t want to sleep in the middle of nowhere again.” I speak the truth as Ector’s face gets painted before my eyes with a smile on his lips that slowly turns into a laugh as his head falls back.
“Of course, Genevieve. Don’t worry about it, I know these places and I won’t put you in any danger.” Her voice comforts me.
“Thank you for doing this with me, I’m sure you have more important things to do than leading a random girl towards her odd destination.”
“Oh, don’t be silly! I’m more than happy to do this with you.”
I feel like a fool for doubting everything so suddenly when there is nothing to doubt. But it was hard not to after everything I’ve been through. I didn’t want to question my new friend, nor did I want to make a fool out of myself. So maybe it was best to keep those heavy doubts to myself.
As the sun set, two pillars came into view with a new sign.
The pillars are made out of clear blue glass, draped in small glass pearls that make it look like bubbles.
With eyes looking at the pillars in awe, the man stumbling before us doesn’t manage to steal my attention.
“What do you want?” Illysia speaks with a sharp tone, placing her arm over my chest and taking a step forward.
My head snapped in the same direction she spoke in and right before us stood an old man, trying to hide his face in his dark hood. He looked even more frightening by the way he walked, limping towards us. The sky was getting darker behind him, making me feel uneasy.
“You ugly girls!” He spits out.
“Please move and let us pass.” She tries to keep calm even though I see how uncomfortable she is.
“You don’t tell me what to do!” He screams in her face, his arm lunging forward and tries to grip her hair, but Illysia moves faster.
She bends down and reaches towards my thigh and takes a steady grip around the dagger’s handle, and rips it from my leg.
When had she noticed that I had it there?
“Step. Back.” She says, placing the sharp point to his throat.
He steps closer to the dagger until a prickle of blood runs down his Adam’s apple. “Or what?”
“Otherwise this won’t be pretty.” She says through her gritted teeth.
He grabs her arm and swings her to the side, leaving her body to fall to the ground. But before I can blink, she’s steady on her legs again and slams her front towards his back, one arm around his neck and the other holding the dagger close to his eye.
He tries to get her off of him but she refuses to let go. “I asked you nicely two times, I will not ask you a third one.” She says before biting into his ear, and a deep scream leaves his throat.
“Okay!” He shouts, but Illysia is determined to make him feel pain.
“So, what will you choose?” She puts the dagger to his throat once again.
“I’ll leave you alone, please don’t kill me!”
“Good.” She says before slicing up his cheek as a warning.
The old creepy man falls to the ground and Illysia puts her sharp heel on his weak hand. “Kiss my feet and thank me for not taking your life.” She demands.
And so he does, he pouts his lips and places a gentle kiss on her toes. “Thank you for not killing me.” He begs.
“Good boy. It wasn’t very hard, was it?” She lets out, taking my hand like nothing happened. And then we leave the man behind us.
“Where did you learn that?!” I whisper, looking at her like she’s the goddess of war.
“I had to learn it, I didn’t have any choice.” She speaks with her back straight.
“Could you teach me?”
“Of course!” She smiled at me.
And now, I could no longer see her as a sweet, kind, and innocent girl. She was tough and strong, she was a fighter. It was clear that I had a lot to learn from her, there was so much more to her persona than I could have ever imagined. There were hidden secrets that I had yet to discover.
“When can you teach me?”
“There’s actually a really good place here in Mermaid City where we can learn.”
“Okay!” I say with an eager tone.
Maybe I didn’t have to be strong all on my own.
Maybe it was okay to have someone by my side who could be strong, not for me, but with me.
I had to learn to be stronger and trust myself, and if I had Illysia by my side, I could only imagine it being easier.
There were so many things to learn from her, her movements and quick thinking.
And where did she get her whimsical dresses?
Walking together, she suddenly stops outside a huge beautiful chalk cave. It held crystal clear blue water and the moonlight made it glitter.
“Hi, Astra.” Illysia greeted the beautiful witch with snow-white hair.
“Illysia!” Astra ran forward and hugged her.
“This is Genevieve.” She points towards me.
“Hi!” We speak at the same time.
I look around, mesmerized by the beautiful place. The roof of the cave is being held up by pillars and within there is a small waterfall, spreading its water in the middle of the small lobby.
“Do you have any free beds tonight?” Illysia asks her politely.
“For you? Always.” She answers, her light blue eyes holding that magnificent spark.
She motions for us to follow, so that’s what we do. She leads us towards a small corridor that has the same texture as the roof, and the small hall is only being lit up by blue crystals that are placed on the walls.
Astra’s hair falls beautifully around her shoulders and her dark blue dress drags behind her as she walks. The sleeves are longer than her arms, leaving the fabric falling at her sides.
“Do you mind sharing a bed?” She asks us, her voice sounding calmer than a wood’s whisper.
Illysia looks over at me to see how I feel and my shoulders shrug, my head shaking. “No, we don’t mind.” She responds.
“Perfect.” She turns her face towards us. “You’ll get our biggest room.” She blinks with one eye.
We stop before a door which is one big seashell and she opens it for us. “Thank you so much, Astra.” Illysia speaks.
“Oh, don’t worry.” She says, flipping her hand. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes!” I let out, and the two of them looked at me with a shocked expression. “Sorry, I mean, yes.” My cheeks turn into pink flames, my hands hugging my upper arms.
“Get comfortable and I’ll bring something for the two of you. And what would you like?” She asks, bending her body to pet Daffodil. “You know what, follow me and you’ll get whatever you want in the kitchen.”
Daffodil makes a little jump and takes a step forward before looking back at me, making sure that it’s okay. “Go!” I smile at her, waving with my hand in approval.
“This will be like a true sleepover.” I say, excited since I've never had one before.
Illysia giggles and pulls me into a tight hug.
A few moments later, Astra and Daffodil come knocking at the door and we let them in. In her pale hands she holds a brick full of food. She places the brick on the king-sized bed and leaves us once again.
As we finish the food, I look outside the window and it’s pitch black, the only visible light coming from the moon.
The stars are plastered over the sky and I could easily see the constellation of a tulip.
My fingers brushed over my golden necklace as I remember the last time I talked about it with Ector.
“Are you okay?” Illysia’s voice echoes from behind as Daffodil strokes her fur against my leg.
“Yes. I just got lost in some thoughts and daydreaming.” I said, and it couldn’t count as a lie because all I wanted was to hear his laugh again.
I needed to feel him by my side again, feel the warmth of his soul. I wanted to wrap my arms around his waist and hold him tight, close to me. I wanted to feel the way his cologne would follow him every time he moved.
“We should get some sleep.” Illysia suggests, and I agree.
My dreams have only held memories of my past loved ones. And even though it’s hard waking up after such dreams, having to face reality, it’s worth it if I get to spend a few moments with them.
With a heavy heart, I let my feet take steps towards the green puffy bed that my auburn-haired new best friend is sitting on, legs crossed and putting up her full hair into a bun, the blanket covering her bare chest.
“Can I tell you something?”
“Mhm!” The sound leaves her mouth as she holds the hair tie between her teeth.
“The blood on my dress, it’s from a guy I really liked.” I pause, and she looks at me with worry in her eyes.
“I’m not the one who killed him!” I reassured her as a scared expression appeared on her now pale face. “His father did. He stabbed him with this dagger and he died in my arms. I was supposed to go on this journey with him.” I continue as a tear falls from the corner of my eye.
“Oh.”
“I wasn’t ready to tell you before.”
“When did it happen?”
“Just a few hours, or maybe days before you found me. I’m not entirely sure, I kind of blacked out. I remember that I slept beside his dead body.” My mouth wobbles.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Hearing her calling me the same nickname that Ector called me made me break. My hands fly to my face as I hysterically begin crying, not being able to breathe properly. “I miss him so much.” I manage to say between my deep sobs.
“It’s okay. Shhh.” She comforts me as I lie in her lap and cry my eyes out, just as my mother used to let me do. She would stroke my shoulder, drag her fingers through my hair and hug me for hours and hours until I felt better.
Illysia brings me back to those moments, those moments where I felt the most comfortable to let out my feelings. And this time, I do not only cry because of Ector, but because of my sister too.
I haven’t been able to process her death, I’ve shut it out in hope that she would come back home one day, even though she never did. But in this moment, it was okay to feel, so I let it all out.