Crescents: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I laid wide awake. The sea was pitch black now, excluding the dome of fire the Pyros cast out of their fingertips, they were skilled enough that they literally did this in their sleep. It was a giant web of fire that kept the ocean warm and also kept us from freezing to our beds. My makeshift ice bed was cold as usual. I was a Paggos, an ice former, so I helped make beds for my school each night. We didn’t shift into animals or sea creatures at night because they were too vulnerable. I unwillingly drifted into a restless sleep after my mother started snoring.

My eyes refused to pry open when sun beams started lighting up the ocean. I looked at my body, nothing had changed. Everything seemed the same as before. The crescent was still there. I traced the mark softly. Most of the school was up already. My mother smiled weakly and embraced me tightly; she was a bit groggy in the morning.

“Happy birthday,” my mother whispered into my ear softly.

“Thank you,” I replied sleepily. My eyes still burned from my lack of sleep.

“What do you want to do today on your special day? You know the whole school is going to want to celebrate.” It was a joke we had. No one ever wanted to celebrate my birthday.

“Visit the Dasyatis,” I said as if it was something we did often.

My mother turned tense, her hug became more of a grip. “Why in the world would you want to do that?” she asked, her voice cut like a knife.

“I was just was curious about them. I was wondering if I could possibly be a Nymph.”

“Who gave you that idea?” she demanded, letting go of me.

I didn’t want to tell her about Nyle, afraid that my mother would try to kill him as silly an idea as it was.

“I just thought because my hair color is different from all the other mer…” I whispered.

It was silent.

“You were born prematurely,” my mom said finally, “Your proper hair color just never came in. We can dye it if you want.”

“No, its fine,” I replied. I looked at her suspiciously. “Where’s my dad then?” It was something I had never asked her before. I didn’t spend much time with her because she seemed to explode on me every time I tried to bond with her. It was better just to leave her alone most of the time.

“Your father died,” my mom replied, “He was killed by a Nymph.”

“Oh,” I paused, “What was my dad?”

“The love of my life,” my mother spoke confidently.

“What was my dad?” I asked again.

My mother sighed. “It’s best just left as it is, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Tears fell from my eyes like a downpour of rain. I knew that this would happen but everything, yesterday, had seemed too dream-like. The reality had hit me hard and not in a good way. I was sobbing now. My mother didn’t even try to comfort me.

“Hush,” she commanded, “You’re making it extremely dangerous for all of us.”

“NO” I screamed, “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!” The whole school was awake now. Zinc ran to my rescue even though he had just woken up. He was not a morning person.

He hugged me, even though it burned. “It’s going to be okay.” It was nice to know at least someone cared about me. I didn’t care if all the other merpeople were staring with their criticizing eyes. Their eyes turned away after they were certain I’d stop screaming, my mother was along them. Some of them took the chance to get a quick catnap while others started smashing the ice into piles of rubble for the Pyros to melt.

My hand touched Zinc’s skin, that’s when I saw it the silver ring on my index finger. It had a crescent on it, identical to the one that now marked my wrist. The crescent was a midnight blue though. There was some sort of writing inscripted onto it, but the print was small. I brought it closer to my blurry tear filled eyes, but the ring immediately disappeared when it left Zinc’s skin.

“Look,” I mumbled, forcing back the sobs. I placed my hand on his hand.

“Where?” Zinc asked, he was so absentminded sometimes.

“Don’t you see the ring?” I asked.

“Athemest, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Look at my index finger.” I was still sniffling

“There’s a ring.”

“There’s writing on it but I can’t read it.” I told him.

“Just take it off and read it.”

“Can’t”

“Why not?” Zinc asked.

“It disappears when it leaves your skin.”

Zinc elevated our hands to his face. “For both can not exist, so together they must unite.”

“What do you think it means,” I asked. Zinc was pretty good with riddles.

“Let me think for a moment.” He left go of my hand. I traced my finger where the ring had been. The ring reappeared when I touched my index finger.

“The ring appears at touch” I said, but Zinc didn’t hear me.

“There can’t be two moons at the same time. You have to place the crescents together. Then you’ll officially join them.” I was about to place my index finger on my wrist when Zinc grabbed both of my wrists. “Are you stupid? They’ll kill you if you suddenly change. You have no idea what will happen!”

“Thanks,” was all I could manage to say.

“Maybe you should tell your mother,” Zinc said, “After all, your father must have been one. You know we can’t just ditch the school. You have to explain to her about the crescent, everyone thinks its just paint.”

“Why would I tell her? You know we don’t get along well.”

“Because she’s your mother, parents generally love their children and care about them. Besides, there’s no other way if you want to live.”

“Fine,” I had to agree with Zinc.

“Go tell her now;” Zinc said softly, “I’ll wait for you here.”

I scanned the school of merpeople. Then I spotted her smashing beds. She did this every morning. I walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She turned around.

“I have to leave,” I said.

“What are you talking about?” my mother asked.

“You can’t hide it from me anymore. I am what I am.”

My mother ran her fingers through her hair, pacing back and forth. She picked up a piece of ice and squeezed it with her hand.

“You have to go to the sunken ship. It’s the one we passed by to get here. Run as fast as you possibly can when I give you the signal.”

I stared at the ice in her hand. “No,” I said. I couldn’t let her do this.

“It’s too late,” my mother said, “nOW!” my mother whimpered in pain. It was the most selfless thing she had ever done for me in my whole life. I ran as fast as I could. No one really paid attention to me. Zinc didn’t even see me when I waved good bye. He had ran to my mother along with all the other Pyros. My mother was in a critical condition. When Paggos’ ice melts with our body, it joins it. The only way to get rid of it was through fire given by a Pyro, their fire was the only thing that could melt and evaporate ice besides our bodies. However, there were side effects too, it oven evaporated parts of our bodies.

When I was sure no one would be able to see me anymore, I shifted into a sailfish, the fastest creature in the sea. I could swim up to 68 mph as a sailfish. It took me only two hours to reach the sunken ship. I thought about Zinc and how he’d probably make new friends soon. He was one of those people that everyone liked being around. I never really understood why he’d chosen to be my friend. I also thought about Nyle and how he’d told me I was beautiful. Perhaps Nyle even had feelings for me. The thought of that possibility made me blush. I knew I wouldn’t be stared at strangely anymore. I wouldn’t be the social outcast. I’d fit in for once.