It was a sunny day in Hura. The sun shined like the stars at midnight during a full moon. There was this village. It was quite big and it even had a market. At the entrance was a sign with the name of it in a little wood plank with colourful letters. Once inside, you could appreciate the houses with beautiful architecture. All of them were darked-wooded cabins with a mystical aura. And, every single one of them was an exact copy of the others; not a single difference in sight.
There was a central square in the village. It had a beautiful fountain that was decorated with a cat's statue and lotus flowers. There were no street lamps, but torches, all decorated with purple buntings. It looked like there was going to be some kind of celebration. Around it were also some market stalls, decorated the same way, with one more detail: they had a flag; the background of it was the same shade of purple, and the shield on it was like a half moon lied down, with a circle right on top of it, and a sparkle on top of everything, but a little more upwards than the rest; all in a yellowish colour that outshone the purple.
In this square was one peculiar house. The style was the same as the other ones, but it stood up from everything else. It had something special, but not anything in particular. Just a magical aura that shined above everything else. Inside, a family could be found in the kitchen. The mother, a red-haired, blue-eyed, tall woman, was making some tea with pastries. Sat on the table was the father, he had the same hair and eye colour as her, but he was overweight and his nose was way bigger than hers. He was reading what appeared to be a newspaper; the news that made lead notice was about the celebration that was being held that day in town.
"It looks like they went all in for Lunar Day this year." The big man said to the air as he opened the newspaper to look through it.
"They better do," the woman answered as she poured the tea in five cups, "after last year's fiasco." She placed the cups on a tray that she then placed in the middle of the table. "Children! Tea's ready!" She screamed once she had sat on one of the chairs.
Suddenly, a din could be heard from four children running through the stairs, as if they were racing each other. There were two boys and two girls. The boys, twins, looked insanely similar like their father, like literal photocopies. The girls, on the other hand, the youngest looked exactly like her mother; meanwhile the older one was the one and only that took after both of them. They all sat in their respective places and started drinking the tea that their mother had made them.
"I am super excited for Lunar Day!" Saera, the youngest sister, expressed as she grabbed one of the strawberry tarts that were on the tray.
"Lunar Day is for little children." Seiko, the oldest twin, said as he reclined his chair while holding the cup of tea in his hand.
"Also, legends say that on Lunar Day, if you do not put mud in your boots before going to sleep, a bad man is going to sneak into your room and pull your feet!" The youngest twin, Seilo, followed in an embarrassing attempt to frighten his little sister. Unfortunately for Saera, it did work, and now the little girl was on the verge of crying.
"You two!" Their mum, Saita, screamed at them as she approached Saera to comfort her. "How many times do I have to repeat it? Stop scaring your sister!" She kept going, while wiping the girl's tears from her eyes.
"We tried to scare Siren! But it is impossible!" Seilo complained. It was true, Siren had nerves of steel; she could not be scared or anything of the sort. She looked at them and rolled her eyes, tired of their childish attitude despite their twenty years of life.
"We should be better off drinking our tea in silence." Siren said, trying to get everyone to shut up and leave Saera alone. Saita went back to her seat once she had settled down while the twins giggled like the pair of empty-brained teenagers that they were. Surprisingly, everyone followed Siren's orders, something that barely ever happened, given that everyone tended to just ignore her.
Later that day, everyone dressed up for Lunar Day. The whole family was going to celebrate at the square like they had always done. Lunar Day was a commemorative celebration for Setio's independence. The country earned their freedom the day Vezos decided to throw an explosive to the country. What they did not know was that everyone saw it coming, for a very long time. Thus, they hid and restarted their lives in a now free country from Vezos's tyranny.
During this celebration, all their inhabitants gather around their squares to launch lanterns into the air while dressed with their traditional clothes. Everyone spends at least a month decorating their lanterns with all kinds of symbolism regarding their independence. This time, it felt different.
Saera looked through the window, while the twins fixed their robes and Saita helped Siren with her flower headband. "Mommy!" She screamed while she pointed at someone, "There is a vampire in the square!" The mother widening her eyes so much that the whites started to show. She rushed to the window from where the little girl was watching, only to find that she was not lying. It was worse than that. Not only were the two main families of the Vampire clan there, but also the ones from the Demon and Mermaid's clan.
"Why is everyone here?" The twins, who had followed their mother to the window, asked at the same time.
"This can not be good…" Siren, who was now at the window too, expressed nervously. The four main clans of Setio had been coexisting in peace for the past two hundred years, without interacting with one another. The fact that they were there only meant the worst.
Before any of them could react any further, three knocks were heard coming from the door. Saita walked towards the door and opened it.
"We need you and your daughter to come in for an emergency meeting." The queen of Hura pronounced as soon as she opened the door. It was quite bizarre to have a member of the royal family knocking on your door. Normally it was one of the royal guards or a sender that came in your search. If Veza is here herself, it must be of paramount urgency, Saita thought. She grabbed Siren by her hand and rushed, alongside with the queen, to the castle.
They got in the room where they normally made emergency meetings like this. The first sight they obtained from the hall was each royal family with their servants sitting at their respective places. Each royal family from the big four had a house that served them as confidants. In this case, the royal family of the Witch Clan, named Qelos, had house Savion as servants; obviously, Saita and Siren possessed this surname. Subsequently, the royal family of the Vampire Clan, named Anogar, had house Hurorion; the ones from the Demon Clan, named Marghon, had house Bane. The last one was peculiar, the Mermaid Clan, due to a raise in their hunt for the past a hundred years, were the first ones to acquire one more house as servants. The royal family of this clan, who were named Iedar, were served by house Embar and house Pelar. This addition actually helped them a great deal, for the hunts fell in percentage no later after.
It goes without saying that serving as confidants for the royal family of your clan was one of the greatest privileges.
The room was decorated with ornaments reminiscent of Neoclassical architecture. The ceiling featured a vaulted ceiling adorned with extravagant paintings depicting the history of the Witch Clan. The guests were seated around a large, circular, imperial table; in a manner that everyone could look at one another when necessary.
Siren and her mother sat in their correspondent seats, next to the queen and king. Once they were sitting, everyone made silence. The queen stood up, cleared her throat, and began to explain why she had summoned the four powers that day.
"We have felt a great magic emanating from Vezos weaken until it disappeared completely. We have our reasons to believe that imminent trouble is approaching for our community. Thus, given the seriousness of the matter, we believe the best course of action is to infiltrate someone into the country to find out exactly what is happening. This way, we can devise a plan of action accordingly. We are obligated to ask each of you your opinions on the matter, inasmuch as it affects your clans too." The moment she finished her speech, she bowed in order to give everyone permission to pitch in, and sat back in her seat.
"And tell me, Your Highness, whom do you intend to send?" The king from the Demon Clan asked, reclining in his seat with his knees opened. That arrogant look, worthy of demons, made the hair stand on end for anyone who had the courage to look at them. They were one of the most feared clans, not only for their power, but also for their looks. Demons were known for their characteristic black spots that came from their head and covered their right eyes. They also had wings and horns, similar to the ones of a gargoyle, but they had the ability to cover those up on demand.
"We are all too recognisable to be able to step foot outside without being killed for it." The queen of the Mermaid Clan reminded everyone wisefully. All the clans were too recognizable; it was too precarious and rushed.
"Not everyone." the queen of the Witched began to speak before anyone else had uttered a word. "A witch or a druid, with a bit of magic, could easily pass on as human." Sounds of approval began to echo through the room. Suddenly, everyone's gaze turned to the representatives of House Savion who were in the room. Saita immediately caught on to what was happening and was forced to act as she deemed necessary in that moment.
"Your Highness," She looked to the queen for approval and kept talking, "Which member of my family are you intending to send off to that bloodthirsty country?" She replied fearfully, knowing that whatever the answer might be, she could do nothing to change it.
"We will send Siren." A look of terror and bewilderment appeared in the poor girl's eyes as the woman pronounced her name. "She will infiltrate an elite institute in the capital, where the children of the country's top ranked political and military officials study, with the sole purpose of gathering information about their intentions. With the help of magic, we will make her reddish hair and freckles vanish, as well as transporting her there."
Everyone nodded, and Siren's fate was decided right there and then.
The first two weeks were tough on her. She was teletransported by her own mother. She sent her to a dark alley so that nobody would see her appear out of nowhere. They had hidden her freckles and hair with a tiny bit of magic, so that nobody could suspect who she was or where she came from.
The moment she arrived, she took a look at her watch. She needed to get to her new school before she was late, for if she wanted to go unnoticed, tardiness would not be doing it.
The first day at school was interesting, to say the least. Everyone kept staring at her, and although she tried to not pay attention to it, it was mostly unbearable. It also looked like she had made some friends, weirdly. There was this boy that seemed to like her, and the curly girl that followed him around seemed to hate her for it. But she did not have the time to engage in stupid couple's rivalry, she mostly decided to ignore them for the better.
It was a long day, and more taking into account that they had signed her up for the book club, even though she had no interest in books. From her perspective it looked like the queen wanted her to kill herself with all this plan. Because of her, she had to read a 500-page book in less than seven hours. She honestly started to consider fleeing Hura and searching residency with the demons or something. She bet they were nicer, or at least would not send her on a suicide plan for a reason she did not quite understand.
After a good five minute walk, she finally found the building she would live in. It was quite old. Very old, in fact. The front was missing half its colour, which had faded with time, and it gave a glimpse of the bricks that composed it.
She ventured inside, and it was no better. The tiles on the floor, which had a chess-like pattern, were worn out and dirty in between, like nobody had taken real care of them in ages. The walls were full of dampness, and the paint was peeling off. She sighed, it looked horrible in all the ways possible. The lift was non-existent, which she was glad of, given the state of the building a lift would be mortal.
She went upstairs and stopped at the ninth floor. Every floor had two doors, A and B. Siren lived in 9A, which she was lucky for. The A side of the building faced the street, meanwhile the B faced the inner courtyard, which was filled with mold and various flora (probably the toxic kind). She spent around three minutes trying to open the door, given the dampness and the antiquity of it.
If you thought the outside look of the building was bad, the interior was way worse. The first thing Siren noticed was the smell, which was rotten-like. Thus, she had to cover her nose with a handkerchief when entering. It goes without mention that every wall had dampness in it, and the floor was just bare concrete. The furniture was non-existent. The living room consisted of two plastic chairs and a box that was supposed to work as a tea table. In the same room was an open kitchen that only had the necessary: three counters, two cabinets, oven, fridge and sink.
There were two doors next to one another that led to the bathroom and the main room. Due to the state of everything as a whole, she did not have the guts to look at the restroom, so she went straight to her room. It was as bad as everything else, the mattress also had dampness, and the head of the bed was rusty. Unsurprisingly, that was all. No night table, no wardrobe, no bureau… Well, she looked at the door, and behind it found a tiny mirror. It was rusty, as well as the head of the bed, but you could look at yourself in it. She got closer to it, and looked at herself in it. Only to find that her freckles and hair were still there.
Something that they had not foreseen was that Vezos had found a way of blocking magic. Now she understood better why everyone kept staring at her as if she was an alien from another planet. She started to get alarmed at the fact that anyone could have realised what she was. She had to do something, and magic was completely out of the picture. She put on her hood and ran to the closest store she found.
Once she had arrived, she noticed a sign on the door that read "Personnel wanted". She needed a job so she could fix all that was wrong in her accommodation. Hence, when she entered she asked the cashier that was there about the job. After a few questions, that she answered carefully, she was granted it and told to come the next day at the assigned schedule. She bought what she had planned and came back to her place.
First things first, she figured out that now that everyone probably noticed her eccentric features, she had to change them gradually so it would be less distinguishable. Her plan was to put on makeup to hide her freckles, and to gradually darken her hair to brown with drug store dye. Maybe this was not the best option, but it was all she could think of until she figured out how to use magic.
Fast forward to the present. Siren had agreed to go out with Keli for the day. Nothing fancy, just a little walk through the local park. He had been asking her out for quite some time now; but she never agreed without Star's presence until now. It was obvious to everyone around them that they held feelings for each other. They seemed to be the only ones to not have noticed, or at least they were pretending not to.
Thus, why Siren had never agreed to going out with him. She figured whatever he had going for her was only a coping mechanism to forget about Star. But, she had been shipping them since the day she met them, so she was going to try and give Keli the push he needed to get Star.
She arrived at the park, and there he was. He was sitting on one bench with a bouquet in his hands. The moment she saw him, she stopped abruptly and sighed slowly. He's genuinely stupid, she thought to herself. He saw her and immediately ran up to her.
"Hey!" He greeted her and immediately afterwards placed the bouquet of flowers in her face. "These are for you…" He blurted out shyly.
She thanked him for the flowers and kept walking, avoiding all type of eye contact from his side. They walked for a little bit in absolute silence, until he broke it.
"I have t–" He started to say something, something that Siren absolutely did not want to hear, so she cut him off.
"Do not say it." She said bluntly, leaving no room for argument.
"But I–" He tried to speak again.
"No, I do not want to hear it." She cut him off one more time.
Silence wrapped them again. Keli looked awkwardly to the floor while Siren looked to the river on her left.
"Why?" He finally gathered the courage to ask after a few minutes. His gaze was distant, and he looked increasingly nervous, as if he were getting a sense of where the conversation was headed.
"Do you and Star have anything?" Siren finally spat out, fast, without letting a breath in. She looked at him, and he looked at her as they walked. She kept playing with the petals of the flowers while he was starting to get all sweaty from nervousness.
"What?" He took his time to ask, stuttering, for he was too anxious to talk, or think straight "What does that have to do with anything?" He interrogated as he redirected his sight to his right side, avoiding eye contact with her to be able to speak properly.
"Well… It is quite obvious that she is in love with you." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. But, for Keli it was not. Immediately after hearing her words he stopped walking and just stayed there, completely still, looking at her as if she had three heads. She turned around to look at him once she felt his absence, keeping herself in the same position he was in.
"What?" He asked, white in the face and completely paralyzed. All the sweat that was before running through his body was long gone, as well as the nervousness, for it had been substituted by shock.
"Yes." She kept talking, as if everything was still evident, with a smile on her face. It can not be denied that she was enjoying every second of the torture that she was submiting Keli to. " And so are you. You two are just too mentally deficient to realise. So I thought I might as well give one of you a slap of reality." This statement only left Keli more confused than he already was.
"What do you mean mentally deficient?" Still being in shock, this seemed to be the only thing that surprised him.
"Oh, come on!" She said, growing tired of him playing dumb. "You must have noticed."
And she was right. It had been a long time since he had come to terms with his feelings for Star. But he always thought they were not reciprocal, hence he just forced himself to forget about it. It hurt, but he feared that if he said something to her and she rejected him, their friendship would end; and that is the last thing he would ever want. The simple thought of losing her gave him nausea.
❊❊❊
They met each other at just six years old. Due to his father's position, Keli barely had any friends. Most of the parents told their children not to interact with him, for if anything happened they would be punished by the government.
They led to him being pretty lonely for his first years of life. Every break during kindergarten he spent alone. He normally brought one book or comic and made good use of time. Teachers gave him pity looks as they walked past him. At first they would try and force the other kids to include him, but this only led to them rejecting and hating him even more. Bullying never came in the picture, but it did not feel better than being excluded on purpose for something he had no control over.
He always asked his mum why nobody wanted to be his friend, but she never gave him an answer, and he never understood it by himself until he grew much older. Not that his parents cared much about it, usually they did not care about him at all. His grandma was the only one that comforted him when he needed it. She used to tell him that it was all a phase, and that someday he would have a friend if he just kept being kind and a good person.
Her words really got through him. First day of primary school, he convinced himself that if he was nice and kind enough, someone would want to be his friend. He tried, he really did, but it did not work out. Everyone knew who he was before he even presented himself, and like in kindergarten, they avoided him like the plague.
He was feeling blue. Everyone around him seemed to hate him and he did not know why. He was against some wall in the hall, crying from loneliness. His knees pressed against his eyes, letting all his feelings out before they exploded into a huge bomb that he feared he would not be able to control.
"Are you okay?" A tiny voice echoed in his ears. He raised his head and looked at her. It was a girl. Her hair was dark and very curly. Her brown eyes cut deep into his.
He looked at her, astonished. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She raised her hand, inviting him to get up from the floor; he accepted her invitation and allowed himself to be lifted up. She asked him why he was crying and he explained everything to her in excruciating detail. What surprised him the most was the fact that she did not seem to care about his status. She treated him as if he was any other boy, and that made him happy.
They talked for a bit, about whatever six-year-olds found important and interesting. After all the talk, and without expecting it, she invited him to play red light, green light with her. They spent the whole afternoon playing, and they became friends.
Keli came back home, over the moon that he had a new friend, and could not wait to tell his grandma. But, when he came home, he received the news that she had passed away a few hours earlier, along with a lecture and punishment for being late.
❊❊❊
"I have always thought she did not feel the same." He replied, finally waking up from the shock and walking towards her.
"Well, it is quite obvious. I noticed it the moment I met you." She said as he caught up to her. "It actually came as a surprise that the two of you were not together." They started walking beside one another again.
"You think I should do something?" He asked from the heart. Everything that he had clear up until now suddenly became foggy thanks to her confession. He truly had no idea on what he should do, and maybe asking another girl for advice was the best thing he could do.
"First of all, I think you should go to her house and apologise for hurting her arm." She said unmistakenly. He had hurt her deeply the day before, if he wanted to at least try something, first he had to apologise for it. "After that, you should try."
He looked at her, and made up his mind. In his mind it was risky, but if someone that had only known them for so little time thought like that, maybe it was worth giving it a go. And if their friendship was genuine, it did not matter what happened, they would remain friends no matter what.