Maybe she wasn’t that bad after all. I looked out over the dark water, thoughtful. A part of me actually wanted the legend to be true. And it would also tell me who my parents were and who I was.
I wanted that more than anything. But if Thetis was really my mother, who was my father? And why would they abandon me? The more I thought about it the more I wanted to know for sure. Either way I would be a little closer to finding out who I was and where I came from. Carmen was right; I could do almost all of the things Thetis could. I knew I had foresight and could manipulate the ocean. I knew I could breathe underwater, but I still wasn’t sure about having an affinity for every single animal in the ocean. That seemed like a tall order. And manipulating the wind and the shore?
Seriously? Maybe the next day before we made it to the Isles I could test out some of the theories.
Could I really be destined to be the leader of the Tydes? And what about Keto? No wonder the Sirens didn’t like me. That would also explain Isadora and Priscilla’s aversion to me. As I felt the weight of the world fall on my shoulders, I walked back inside and decided to get some sleep.
The next day brought abundant sunshine and clear blue skies. We expected to make it to the Fortunate Isle by late afternoon. We had obviously been followed by one Siren, so it was entirely possible that there were more where she came from. We hadn’t seen any other visitors since. I had a feeling it had everything to do with the three great white sharks trailing the yacht. They kept a reasonable distance, but they were always there. Not having Finn here, three sharks the size of school buses was just as good.
We gathered on the third level to eat lunch and to dissect Nicolet’s poem for the hundredth time. We were trying to come up with a good plan, but we weren’t getting very far. Willow read the third stanza out loud one more time. hidden amongst the mangroves beyond the blue lagoon stands the house of thetis seen only by those deemed true
“So is Kira at Thetis’s house?” Phoebe’s brow furrowed in thought as she picked at the rest of her ham sandwich.
“That’s what we’re hoping, but I think we should just get on the island first and then go off of Stasia’s vision,” Willow suggested. She had way too much faith in me.
“But I don’t know exactly where I went into the woods. The beach is just one big circle; we could be wandering around for hours. Plus we don’t know for sure that she’ll be where she was in my vision by the time we get there.” I didn’t want to depend too much on my vision. There were too many unknowns. Willow nodded and read the last stanza, which was making me the most uneasy. she whispers to the creatures and answers to the blue the heart of the Isle rejoices its soul to be renewed.
“It’s definitely talking about Stasia,” Olivia said absently as she set up the cruise control from her seat at the controls. Her assumption was exactly why I didn’t like the last stanza. I just wanted to save Kira, not renew an entire island’s soul.
“I honestly think we should just concentrate on getting admittance to the island. Once we figure that out we can regroup and go from there.” I tried to convince them as much as myself.
“I don’t know if playing it by ear is really the best idea.” Carmen scrunched her nose. And I understood her opinion; I just didn’t think we had much of a choice.
“Stasia’s right,” I silently thanked Willow; always the voice of reason, “we don’t have enough information to make any hard fast plans once we’re on the island. We could sit around all day coming up with a million scenarios that may or may not happen. The best thing to do is jump in with both feet and hit the ground running.” Everyone reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement. None of us felt completely comfortable with what we were about to embark upon, but Kira was depending on us and I wasn’t going to let her down. I stood up.
“So….” I shrugged my shoulders innocently and smiled shyly, “I was thinking about going outside to figure out if I’m the direct descendent of the most powerful Sea Goddess to ever live.
Anybody wanna come?”
“Yes!” They all cheered and gave me warm smiles. Phoebe was so excited; she almost knocked over the coffee table trying to stand up. They followed me downstairs to the back deck, while Captain Olivia manned the controls.
I had to find out if I could manipulate sand and wind, but being nowhere near a shore, sand would have to wait. I had no idea how to manipulate wind, but I was going to give it a try. With the yacht moving at full speed, there was only one area on the deck that wasn’t windy.
“See if you can make the wind blow around Phoebe,” Carmen suggested.
“Why do I have to be the guinea pig?” Phoebe whined.
“Do I really have to answer that?” Carmen smirked at her.
“Nobody has to be the guinea pig,” I stood at the corner of the deck, where an extension from the body of the yacht stretched out, shielding me from the wind, “I’ll just see if I can make the wind blow around my body first.” I briefly took inventory of myself. My hair wasn’t blowing around, nor was my clothes. Taking a wild guess, I closed my eyes and put my hands up. I tried to channel my emotions like Finn had taught me in the ocean. I calmed myself and imagined the air compressing and swirling around me. After a couple of minutes, I didn’t feel a thing, so I hesitantly peeked out one eye. No wind. Not even a slight breeze around me.
“Try blowing air out of your mouth, maybe you have to give it a little motivational push.”
Phoebe suggested with an encouraging smile. Carmen snickered at her, but I closed my eyes again and forced air out of my lungs. I tried over and over to no avail. It only made me lightheaded.
“Maybe hold your arms out and move your hands around like you’re stirring it,” Willow shrugged her shoulders. We were starting to throw shots in the dark, but I figured it was worth a try. I held my arms out to the side and did small circles. Beginning to feel really stupid, I felt something shock my left forearm right before something landed on it. My eyes flew open and I looked directly at a curious seagull perched on my arm. It squawked at me and I heard Phoebe gasp and Carmen laugh.
If I couldn’t make wind blow, maybe I could test if I had an affinity for seagulls. I instantly wished I had questioned Kira more about her ability.
The spark it caused on my skin was a good sign, though. I blocked out everything except the bird and tried to ‘feel’ it. It cocked its head at me and squawked again as I brought my arm in front of me. Suddenly, anxiety hit me and a slight buzzing slid through my veins. I could tell immediately he was under a great deal of stress.
“Are you okay?” I whispered to him. He turned his head, looked at me through his other eye, and adjusted his feathers. He let out a heartbreaking soft squawk. It was almost a whine, but it was so sad it brought tears to my eyes. That’s when something slammed into the boat.
Chapter 32
All four of us were thrown forward violently, landing hard against the yacht’s exterior.
Carmen fell into the door of the cabin, breaking the hinges off, as she slid halfway down the hallway.
Phoebe ended up on top of me and Willow was crumbled in the same corner I had just been standing in.
“Are you okay?” I asked Phoebe, as she untangled herself from me.
“I think so,” she looked herself over and glanced at Willow, “Willow! Are you okay?”
“Yea, ow, my arm just hurts.” She attempted to sit up carefully.
“Carmen?” I looked down the hallway and saw her rubbing her head. Then my stomach dropped to the floor. Phoebe and I stared at each other in panic.
“Olivia.” We said at the same time. Running down the hall, we climbed the stairs to the third level in record time.
