Thetis, was destined to bear only one son. That son would be stronger and more gifted then the father. Neither Zeus nor Poseidon wanted a son that would eventually overpower them, so they forced Thetis to marry a mortal. They had a baby boy, Achilles, and in an effort to make him immortal, she dipped him in the River Styx by his heel. Then he was killed in the Trojan War when an arrow pierced his heel, the only unprotected part of his body. Thetis was so distraught; she vowed never to have another child. This is where the legend comes in. Thetis had the ability of foresight just like her father Nereus. It is said that when she foresaw her own death, she knew she would give birth to a baby girl who would take her place as the leader of the Nerieds. The girl would grow to be stronger than her father like Achilles, but also stronger than her mother, Thetis. Her name was destined to be Anastasia.”
Chapter 31
At least that explains the weird looks when I introduced myself at school. A smile crept across my face and I chuckled with relief. “Well I can clear everything up real quick. I chose Anastasia when I came to Lorelei because of a dream I had and I thought it was a pretty name. The state of Georgia gave me my previous name, Hannah. I never knew my true name given to me by my parents. So the chances of me being The Anastasia are pretty slim. Problem solved.” I left out the part about the woman I saw crying in my dreams who called out to an Anastasia. I pushed that from my mind.
“There’s more,” Willow gave me a harsh look and continued. “When you told us you could breathe underwater, I started to do more research, so we could be sure that you were the one. I found other things associated with the Legend that I’d never heard before. Like, Thetis’s daughter would have the same abilities as her mother and more – foresight, an affinity for all sea creatures – which goes along with breathing underwater - and manipulating not just the ocean, but also the shore and wind.”
Phoebe looked at me, hopeful, “So… from what we know so far you definitely have foresight, an affinity for sea turtles and it sounds like sharks? Have you ‘felt’ any other animals?”
“Maybe sea horses…and the dolphins,” I said and shrugged, running my hand over my trace.
“Sea horses?” Carmen said in disbelief, “Okay, so that means the ones we can check off are foresight, an affinity for all sea animals-“
“Not necessarily – I mean four isn’t really a good judge of the hundreds of animals and fish out there.” I tried to convince her, but it didn’t work.
“Anyway,” She raised an eyebrow at me, “you’ve got foresight, an affinity for all animals, we know you can breathe underwater and manipulate the ocean. Have you ever tried to manipulate sand or wind?”
“Of course not. Look, you guys are on crack. This Legend or whatever could just be some story somebody made up. It doesn’t mean anything.” Deep down I didn’t really believe what I was saying, but I wanted to think about this on my own. I didn’t want anyone else dissecting me and telling me who I was. I got up and went to find Olivia while they kept picking me apart. I found her outside on the back deck.
“What do you want?” She didn’t look up from the magazine she was reading.
“I want to apologize,” I said and sat down beside her, “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“I’m touched, really, but I’m not taking back the things I said. I meant every word.” She kept reading. She was the most stubborn person I’d ever met.
“I’m not taking back what I said either, I’m just saying I shouldn’t have yelled them at you.”
“Maybe next time you could try hand signals.” I saw a ghost of a smile on her face. “I’m really good at those.” She flipped me off and kept reading.
“I’m better at smoke signals, but I know a few hand signals too. Apparently I need to work on the whole punching one.” This got me a full grin. She didn’t have a bruise or scratch on her. I was a miserable fighter. She set her magazine down and looked at me.
“Fine. You’re forgiven. Happy now?”
“Almost.”
“What else do you want?” She sighed and turned towards me.
“Willow explained the Legend you were talking about, but it can’t mean I’m that Anastasia. I chose my name when I came to Lorelei-“ I stopped abruptly as a memory surfaced and something in my mind clicked. I scratched my head, “I met your mom when I was still going by Hannah. Why would she have thought I was part of the Legend before I chose the name Anastasia?”
“She didn’t care about your name. Even though she thought it was pretty ironic you chose Anastasia when you got to school. But what proved it to her was your trace.” She pointed down at my wrist and raised her eyebrows at me.
“But no one knows what my trace means.”
“My mom does.”
“How would your mom know?”
“She was part of Thetis’s personal council,” she said proudly, then looked me up and down and smirked, “She said you’re the spitting image of her. I find that hard to believe too.”
I gave her a look and continued, “Willow also said if I was her daughter, I’d have all of her abilities. Is that true?”
“All her abilities and more. The Legend says you would be more powerful than her once all of your abilities surface. But, that’s honestly all I know.”
“Did she tell you what my trace means?” I asked, hopeful.
“Nope, she wouldn’t tell me. She said there were some things you would have to find out on your own. Whatever that means,” she shrugged.
“Have you really been following me around?”
“Somebody had to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid,” She rolled her eyes at me.
“I always felt like somebody was watching me, but I never saw you…” I narrowed my eyes at her accusingly. I still didn’t like the fact that she was following me around.
“I’m a concealer. It’s what I do.” She said nonchalantly.
“A what?”
“A concealer. I’m descended from Calypso. I can match myself to whatever environment I happen to be in at the time.”
“Sort of like camouflage?” I guessed.
“Exactly like camouflage,” she grinned wickedly at me. Suddenly she disappeared. I looked closer and could actually see the outline of her body, but she took on the colors of the seat she was in.
Then she moved and I could really see her.
“You’re like a chameleon!” I said, completely fascinated. She reappeared, narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms.
“I am not a cold-blooded scaly, slimy lizard.” She hissed at me sounding exactly like a lizard. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she was cold blooded. I giggled at my own thoughts, which only made her madder. “What are you laughing at?”
“I was wondering if you had a forked tongue.” I smirked at her, still laughing. The corners of her mouth were twitching and I could tell she was trying not to laugh too. She stuck her tongue out at me which only made me laugh harder.
“Whatever. You’re just jealous.” She flipped her dark hair and stood up.
“You’re right, being a lizard has been a dream of mine for years,” I said sarcastically, trying to make her laugh. It almost worked.
“Keep dreaming blondie, you’ll never be this awesome.” She actually smiled at me this time, “I’m going to bed.” She started to walk back inside.
“Wait!” Something had dawned on me. She turned around, “Did you help get the Siren off of me? Were you concealing yourself?”
“I jump at any chance to kick a Siren’s ass.” She winked at me and closed the door.
