City of Fairtide in the Mortal Realm

As soon as the decision had been made to leave the Elemental Realm, Louise summoned a portal. Sophia glanced over her shoulder, looking at the semblance of a life she was leaving behind. Saeburg was the first place she’d felt like herself since becoming an Aquarid.

“Come on, Soph,” Cassandra urged, reaching out her hand. “We have to hurry.”

With one last look, Sophia followed through the portal.

“Goodbye,” she whispered. She had only just found Thomas again and now she had to leave him.

The portal dropped them in the mortal realm, and they landed on the grassy bank in the city of Fairtide. Funky music carried over the treetops from the city.

“Are we going to talk about what happened?” Lily asked. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Last time I checked, the crown wasn’t supposed to do that. As elemental wielders we should be able to touch it.”

“Will you keep your voice down?” Cassie hissed.

“Let’s not discuss this now,” Louise said. “We all need to get some sleep first and we’ll discuss where to go in the morning.”

They waited while Louise used her magic to alter the memories of the oblivious mortals who roamed the city streets. The house they always returned to no matter the location—with magic, anything was possible—welcomed them back as if nothing had changed.

Yet, everything had changed.

“We’ll figure out the powers,” Cassie tried to reassure Sophia. She reached out a hand to place it on Sophia’s shoulder but pulled back at the last second and walked up the stairs.

Even her own family was afraid of her.

Sophia climbed the stairs to her room, breathing in familiar scents of salty air. But the pollution of the city masked the normally calming scent in an odor of frustration and smoke. With a sigh from exhaustion, she fell into a deep slumber wishing to know why she had been chosen and what would be next.

It called to her.

In a dream, it called out to her, beckoning her forward. It radiated power, a force so strong, matching what was buried deep within her soul. It glowed bright blue. Then orange. Green. And finally, silver.

A stone to give her anything she desired.

She didn’t know why, but she had to have it.

Sophia followed the feeling out of the house half a mile from the beach. With barely noticeable steps, she glided forward, past closed businesses and sleeping homes. The waves of the ocean crashed against the rocks that dotted the edge of the water.

She stepped forward, one with the waves. Diving beneath, she swam to the deepest depths to follow the call. Waiting. Yearning. Desiring. Needing.

The stone winked at her as she drew closer. Sophia reached out a webbed hand. She was so close, she could almost taste it. Her conscience took over, pulling her back and away from the source of power.

Sophia, you don’t want to do this, the voice echoed in her head. But it was a lie.

The stone slipped from her view, but still Sophia swam forward. Deeper into the ocean than she’d ever traveled before. The light grew brighter still. The elemental magic that coursed through Sophia’s veins pulsated. Her body glowed. Reaching her fingers out, she clasped them around the stone.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

At last.

A flash of bright white light emanated from the sphere, enveloping Sophia in a blinding cloud. She held up a hand to shield her eyes. Energy surged through her body.

Not again, she groaned.

And then she heard the voice. The same voice. A second time.

Welcome, Sophia de la Reue. Aquarid, daughter of the sea. The voice slipped over her, slithering through her body like the flow of a stream. Won’t you follow me?

Then a face glimmered in the water, one that haunted Sophia since the night of the dance. The same striking blue eyes and mesmerizing smile.

Andromeda.

***

Sophia gasped, sitting straight up in the foreign four-poster bed engulfed in a block of water. This was her room. She belonged here, she was safe.

She clutched at the bedsheets with shaky fingers. Her clothes and skin were both drenched in sweat.

“Just a dream, just a dream,” she whispered to herself. Sophia got up from her bed and padded into the bathroom. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, wishing to forget the nightmare that plagued her.

When she looked again in the mirror, she stumbled backwards. Her eyes, normally amber, glowed. Her whole figure radiated pure energy before it fizzled out.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she mused out loud, her hand going to her mouth. “It was all real.”

Sophia took the stairs two at a time to the library where she and her sisters practiced their magic. Surely, there had to be a way for her to identify the source of this stone and the crown from Saeburg.

In the dream, she had traveled to the deepest depths of the ocean where no Aquarid had dared to venture before. Somehow, she survived. But still she wondered.

Was that place real? Part of her still wanted to know, wanted to venture back out there. The stone was still there…wasn’t it?

Sophia ran back to her bedroom, tossing her covers off of the bed and pressing her fingers into the mattress as she searched for the object. It wasn’t in her room, but it had to be real.

Sophia slipped out of the house under the cover of night this time very much awake and aware. Each step took her closer to her destination. As she approached the water, her hands began to glow. The stone was so close.

Her body broke the surface of the waves, following a path of light that shimmered below her in the water. Deeper and deeper she went just like in her dream.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grasped her wrist. Sophia twisted her head to the side, her eyes growing wide.

A woman appeared in the water before her. She had the same dark hair as Andromeda but with kind hazel eyes.

“Who are you?” Sophia asked. Even with this woman’s grip around her hand, Sophia felt safe in her presence.

“I am Aphrodite,” she replied. “You cannot venture any further. The depths are too dangerous for an Aquarid with such power as yourself.”

“And how would you know?”

Aphrodite smiled sadly. “Because I am the Mother of the Aquarids. You’ve been tainted by my sister, the Syfire. I am here to save you.”

Sister. Syfire. She must mean…

“Andromeda,” Sophia whispered.

“Indeed. But I can help you,” Aphrodite said. “I can give you your true love.”

Sophia yanked back her arm and frowned. “That’s what Andromeda said, and look where it got me. I’m sorry, I can’t trust anything you say.”

Aphrodite dipped her head. “That’s alright. I can show you instead.” With that, she held up two fingers and tapped them twice on Sophia’s forehead.

Sophia scrambled backwards in the water, lashing her tail to help lift her to the surface. Once topside, she breathed in the cool fresh air. She took in her surroundings: the lighthouse to her left; the pier to her right. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and yet that voice was not her own. Sophia looked down at her hands. The glow had dimmed significantly. She still wasn’t sure what would happen if she tried to use her newfound powers but she wondered if perhaps the stone beneath the waves would help her control it.

But there was something about the combined power that flowed through her veins that made her hesitate. She saw what the stone did in her dream. She knew how the crown had plagued her in Saeburg.

No. She couldn’t go through with that again. She would not take the stone.

With that, Sophia swam back to the shore, waited until her gills disappeared, and snuck back into the house unnoticed. A calm washed over her the further she got from the water. Peace settled her pounding heart to a light tap within her chest.

She fiddled with the locket that hung around her throat. It warmed in her hand, radiating that familiar sense of power. Looking down, her fingers no longer glowed a cosmos of energy. Her body felt normal once again, the power now contained in her necklace.

She was free of the burden.