Book of Fate: Siren Stone (Book 1)

Chapter 10

When I got back home, I took a quick, cool shower because of the hot and humid weather.  No matter how long I’ve lived here, I could never get used to this humidity and heat.  After trying myself, I put on the dress left on my bed. It was a haltered, short-long, black dress with little sequins and purple whirls all over making it look like a starry night sky.

I took out the ribbons from the pouch and tied the ribbons to the flowers.  I carefully braided the ribbons into my hair and when I was done I looked in the mirror and saw that it was really pretty but it just didn’t go with the braid. I took the braid out and started all over again.  I put my hair up in a bun and let the ribbons flow behind me.  I thought it looked really nice. Simple but missing something.

I heard the door to my house open and footsteps coming up the stairs.  Eiress and Sirene burst into my room and they were all ready to go.  

“Wow you guys look amazing,” I said with awe. Eiress was wearing a scarlet red dress with patterns of fire swirling on her dress.  Her hair was flowing with pretty curls.  The dress made her look like she was born from the volcano. Sirene’s hair had blue highlights, matching her eyes.  Her dress was an aqua blue with patterns of swirls all over.  She almost looked like a mermaid.

“Aww, thanks Kresla,” they said simultaneously. “What are you going to wear?”

“I am still actually putting my hair up,” I said, a little embarrassed.  I’ve never taken this long to get ready for a party. I usually just go out with my hair down and if I don’t want it blown in my face, I would just tie it up in a bun or a ponytail. However, tonight, I want to do a special hairstyle.  “I don’t know what I am going to do.”

Eiress and Sirene exchanged looks and nodded.  Without me asking, Eiress took the hairbrush from my hand and Sirene gently took down my hair.  They started brushing my hair with gentle strokes.  “What idea do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking of the ribbon braided into my hair while it is tied to the moon flower, but it made it look like I had white hair coming from my head,” I replied.

They braided my hair with the end parts of the ribbon.  “Well, it does look like white hair, but it’s a really nice look.  And it doesn’t even look like its growing from your head, but from the flower,” said Sirene.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes,” replied Eiress.  “I would be so jealous of this idea.”

I smiled.  They slowly took the braid out and began to do a different hairstyle.  “What are you guys doing?”

“Trust us on this,” said Sirene.  I felt them tie a part of my hair into a bun, and then let the ends of my hair flow along with the rest. “You have long thick hair, you can do so many things with it.”

They clipped the flower into the bun and began to braid the lavender ribbon into my hair.  When they were done, they got a hand mirror and showed what the back looked like.  The work they just did was perfect for an occasion like this.  “This looks awesome!” I squealed, barely able to keep my excitement down.

“It’s simple, but as they always say ‘simple is best,’” said Sirene

“You guys are amazing, I don’t know what I would do without you guys,” I said and pulled them into a hug.

“Don’t thank us just yet,” said Eiress, walking over to my closet.   The sleeves were very loose,“ Your parents told us this will be your festival dress,” explained Eiress.

“When did they get this?” I asked.

“They didn’t tell us, you should ask them when you see them.”

I slipped on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. The sleeves were so loose, it felt like I could breathe.  And what’s more, the dress has pockets.  In the back, there was a little thin cape that flowed behind me.  I twirled and I smiled.  “You look like a fairy,” said Sirene.

“What kind of fairy?” I asked.

“The queen of the fairies.” I stopped and looked at myself.  I do look like a faerie, but not the queen of faeries.  All I am missing is the markings of one.  From what I learned, there are many different types of fairies and depending on which type, the markings on them will indicate that.  The queen of faeries, Lucinda, is one of the most beautiful and kindest fairies that existed. “Like Lucinda?” I asked.

“No, you’re a lot prettier than her.”

“It’s just missing one final touch,” said Eiress, Pulling out her makeup bag behind her.  I must have flashed her an expression of protest because she said with puppy eyes,“ Just a little bit.”

I sat back down and she started applying.  I am not really into makeup.  It feels like I am hiding my true self or a part of me from the world. I mean, I don’t think I am ugly, I just feel like I can’t fully express myself if I am wearing makeup.  When she was done, I looked in the mirror and she added mascara and some foundation.  “Now you’re the queen of fairies.”

The festival is taking place in the town plaza.  There were many tables filled with delicious food and barrels of wine behind them. There were many streamers hanging from the rooftops and lanterns hanging from the signs.  There were little kids running around everywhere and the boys were somewhat dressed up.  They wore tuxedo pants, but their shirts weren’t very formal at all.  They were basically trying to show off their brand new tattoos to their girls.

Eiress and Sirene were always into boys and when the boys started to show off their tattoos, they were blushing a little but they looked like they were ready to smack those boys.  I think they were trying to play the role of a girl who is not impressed at all or trying to play hard to get. Or maybe they were trying to prepare themselves when they see Jet.  And soon enough, he actually came to join his friends.  The first thing he did was show them his tattoos that covered his whole back.  I wasn’t very impressed since I already have my set of tattoos that no one can see.

They turned around and started walking to the food tables.  I went with them and saw Liera.  The dress she is wearing is showing off a lot of her skin.  Her hair was teased up into a bun and string on the sides of her black dress all the way down her waist.  The bottom part of the dress was split on one side, showing off her leg.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was almost like she was practically naked.  If my parents saw me in that kind of dress, they would definitely make me take it off and burn it.

“What is Liera wearing?” whispered Eiress. “She looks like she is ready to work in a stripper club.”

We started laughing and Liera looked over to where we were.  They looked like they were doing the same thing as we were. Staring each other down across the plaza and see who is the most intimidating or the better one.  Soon enough everyone in the plaza could feel the intensity between our gazes. Then when the boys cut in between, the tension in the atmosphere was gone.  Liera let her gaze down first and walked over to Jet and started doing her usual flirting with him.

We walked around for a little while and then Chief Sander finally showed up to do his formal speech. All the trial-goers gathered in the center of the plaza.  “Trial-goers, congratulations on passing your trial.  You are now full-fledged members of this tribe.”

Cheers from all of us and our parents went wild.  “Tomorrow, you will be joining your parents in serving our community and helping the island.  Tonight, we will celebrate your graduation into the community.”

The music started and all the trial-goers began to dance.  The dance consists of many twists and turns that represent the island.  The boys make a huge circle outside to represent the fog and rocks and the girls make an inner circle to represent the island and the town.  It lasts for at least five minutes.

When the dance was over, we were sweating a little and we went to get food.  Eiress and Sirene looked like they wanted to go talk to some boys and even take me with them, so that I would learn how to talk to a guy, at least.  Quite honestly, I have already learned enough that I basically know when to step in, so that things don’t get awkward between the future couple.  While we were eating our food, Jet sat next to me since all the seats were taken by everyone else.  I immediately scooted closer to Eiress and even asked her to switch seats with me.  When she looked over me and saw him, she immediately changed seats.

I continued to eat my food and pretend not to notice the gazes of her friends behind my back.  Then someone tapped on my shoulder.  Someone with very large fingers and good muscles, cause they tapped pretty hard.  I turned around to see no one other than Chief Sander. “May I please talk to you for a minute?” he asked in a really soft voice, I could barely hear him.

I nodded my head, not wanting to cause trouble during this festival, and followed him to a nearby alley. We walked halfway down the alley.  Chief Sander stopped so abruptly I actually bumped into him because it was so dark.  “I need you to give me the siren stone.”

Not this again.   “So you could keep your stupid lineage for town leader?” I asked in a cool tone.

The silence he left hanging in the air answered my question.  I thought he would’ve learned his lesson from the last time, but apparently, he just doesn’t get it.  “You don’t understand, I already have a bad reputation with the people here.  The siren stone is the last chance I have to prove to everyone that I still have the siren’s blessing to be Chief.”

His voice was very desperate, and I can feel he is lying to me.  He just wants it for Liera and he wants to show everyone that the lineage will continue.  “I can’t believe you haven’t learned anything in the past few days.  You don’t know when to quit, do you?” my voice filled with rage.

I felt the air freeze around my hands and climb up my arms.  “I found this siren stone fair and square.  You’re only trying to cover up the shame that Liera has brought onto your family for not finding it before me,” I said with a deadly icy tone.  “There is no way that I would give it to you in a million years, even if you paid me or my family with something worth more than a life.”

The marks on my arms glowed so bright, it showed beneath my dress and I was able to see the frightening look on his face.  I was really satisfied with his expression.  I was ready to freeze his body into an ice coffin that would melt when morning comes.  But because I am a nice person, I decided to let him off with the final warning. “Mark my words, if you ever ask me to give the siren stone back to you for the sake of your reputation or ever again, I swear I will freeze your body into a crystal coffin and put it out for everyone to see.”

The freezing air diminished and the warm air surrounded us very quickly.  The marks on my arms dimmed as  I left the alley and went to go find my friends.  And I saw that they were talking and flirting with three boys near the dimmest lit lanterns.  Two of them were brunettes and their hair was parted in a weird way,  I believe they are actually twins.  Then there was one more guy that didn’t look like he wanted to be here and was just leaning against the wall behind them.  He had fair skin, midnight hair and eyes, and was very tall and lean.  I am pretty sure I had never seen him on this island, but then again, I hardly pay attention to the boys, so I can’t really say. 

I walked up to my friends and they immediately introduced me to the group. While introducing, I felt a boy’s gaze on me, looking up to see who had joined the group.  “Kresla, this is Helia and Skye.  And their friend over there is Alaric,” said Eiress.

As we shook hands, I took in all the details of them.  Skye had a faint mark on his neck.  It was black and looked like a diamond with wings.  Helia, on the other hand, had tattoos all over his arms.  They looked like the tendrils of blue fire were crawling on his arms.  When I looked at the tattoos, I thought I saw it moving, but when I blinked it looked the same.

“Hi, as you know from Eiress, I’m Kresla,” I said shyly.  I got a closer look at them, and Helia had longer hair, tied back and Skye had his hair dyed blonde.  And they looked like they were wearing nice clothes made of stronger material.  It looked like leather but different.  One thing for sure was that they were definitely not from the island. 

“Nice to meet you, too,” said Helia.  “How is the party going for you?”

“I’m not really a party person,” I said.  I feel like I’m having the same conversation again.

“Yeah, we usually have to drag her there in order to get her out of the house,” Sirene jumped in.

“Except this time,” I added,” I willingly came.”

“Yeah, because it’s required, so we didn’t need to drag you here,” continued Sirene.

“Yeah, so I willingly came.  Plus, I only get to celebrate this once in a lifetime, of course I would come.”

Sirene looked at me incredulously, I looked at her with a little confusion in my eyes.  I mean I’ve never talked to her like that before.  Things were getting a little awkward so Skye jumped in with a cheery voice,” Well at least you have something in common with Alaric.  He isn’t really a party person either, and he is actually pretty good at unintentionally embarrassing us.”

I looked at Alaric and saw that he looked like he really didn’t want to be here.  His distant eyes looked up into mine.  He came over and he was actually a lot taller than I am, maybe by a couple of inches.  His skin was very fair, and on his back there were tattoos, it looked like a raven.  And unlike all the other boys on this island, he was very muscular.  He also looked a bit older and for some reason, he seemed to be very familiar.  He walked up to his friends and said,” Why are you talking about me when I’m literally standing right there?”

“We just wanted to make sure that you would actually join in and not look so gloomy in your little corner,” said Skye slyly.

“I can’t believe you two,” he said.  Putting a hand over his face and shaking his head.  He looked at me and I noticed his eyes, as he looked at me.  His eyes were like midnight.  By the gods, where have I seen those eyes? I didn’t realize I was staring at Alaric, I think, until my friends tapped me on the shoulders.  “And you are…?” he hesitantly asked me.

“Dude, you stood there the whole time, listening to the conversation and you didn’t even bother to remember their names?” Helia incredulously asked.

Alaric sighed,” I’m sorry.  I haven’t been sleeping well these days.  How about I ask one of you girls for a dance? As an apology.” He was looking at me in particular.  But before I could say anything, Eiress and Sirene both jumped at the opportunity. He ignored them, but what he did next was so unexpected. He reaches his hand out to me.