Myth Blessed

by Katie Dunn

  Marion had been at Myth Blessed Academy for four years already, so she was in the last year of her schooling. That meant she didn’t have any classes until eleven. Lucky.

  I left my room quietly so I would not disturb Marion and walked down the stairs into the quad and toward the school. Once I was inside, I noticed only a handful of students were going to class this early. Pulling my map out, I studied it as I walked down the halls looking for Professor Jamens’ class. I frowned, turning the map around to see if I was holding it correctly and turned down another hallway. My body hit something hard causing me to stumble back and drop the map.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, bending down to retrieve my map. When I stood back up, I looked into fiery copper eyes. “Oh, Elliot, um, hi.” Smooth Serena.

  He grunted and crossed his arms in acknowledgement of my greeting. He needed better conversation skills.

  “So, what are you doing here?” I asked, trying to get him to talk to me. I didn’t want the water-fire feud to involve me, so I was trying to go for polite and friendly.

  One dark eyebrow rose telling me it should be obvious. That, or he was trying to say it was none of my business. It’s not like I speak the language of Elliot’s eyebrows.

  “Right, it’s a school, and you’re a student so you’re probably trying to go to class. Or you are coming back from class. Either way it is school related. Unless you were just walking through the halls for non-school related reasons,” I babbled.

  Elliot’s other dark brow rose to meet his first one, and he gave me an amused look.

  “Um, anyway, I got to go. Bye!” I quickly walked around him.

  Halfway down the hall I found my classroom. I glanced behind me before going inside and saw Elliot standing in the same spot, staring at me curiously. I ducked into the class, finding a seat near the front, and shook my head to clear the memory of that embarrassing non-conversation. Next time I needed to be less awkward. A moment later, Professor Jamens called our attention and began our class. I fought to cool my heated cheeks and focus on my teacher.

  Classes at Myth Blessed Academy started on Monday, so I had missed two days. Thankfully, they were still beginning, so I had not missed much. Mr. Jamens was kind enough to recap what they went over the last couple of days by asking the students to explain the history.

  Mr. Jamens started the discussion, “What happened about seventy years ago?”

  A young boy, around thirteen, raised his hand from the second row. When Mr. Jamens nodded at him, the boy explained, “World War II, which threatened not only the human world but also the mythological world.”

  “Right. What was the effect?” Jamens asked, crossing his arms.

  A girl, also around thirteen, raised her hand but spoke before Jamens could call on her. “Mythological beings decided to add their own help to the war but coming out of hiding was not a good idea due to the history of being hunted, so the mythological beings decided to bless the humans with their gifts giving the allies an advantage in the war.”

  Jamens smiled proudly at the class. “Right again. Since then, the myths have been blessing children so they may grow up to help protect our world.”

  I had heard about the blessings originating around World War II, but I never heard about the mission Myth Blessed students had weighing on their shoulders. Protect the world? How were we supposed to do that?

  “Alright, now that we are all caught up,” Mr. Jamens glanced briefly at me, “we will continue our unit on water myths. We will talk about the myth, origin, and geography of selkies today.”

  A guy in the back of class clapped making me assume he was selkie blessed. I was intrigued by the topic and history. If every day was like that then myth history may become my favorite.

  Soon, Mr. Jamens was calling the end to class and wishing us a great day as we shuffled out. I looked at my schedule to see my next class then the map to see where I needed to go. It was not too hard to get to. I went back down the hall then up the stairs to the third floor. Thankfully, I would be up there most of the time so I would not have to trek back and forth to each floor.

  My next three classes were okay though they were nothing special. After my fourth class of the day, it was finally lunch. I made my way downstairs to the cafeteria, hoping I remembered where it was located. I felt confident enough that I didn’t use my map but soon, unfamiliar corridors began to surround me. I stopped after the third unfamiliar corridor and turned around in a slow circle. Where was I? If I got lost, then I would not be able to eat since I would have to go to class. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I pulled out my map and glanced down trying to figure out where I was.

  A throat cleared behind me, drawing my attention. I turned around to find a guy with dark clothing and shoulder length hair of the darkest color I had ever seen. It was like onyx wrapped in shadows. I blinked realizing his whole body seemed to be cloaked in actual shadows.

  “You lost?” The stranger asked.

  “Uh, yeah.” I shook my head feeling rude for staring at his shadows and looked back at the map. “I am trying to find the cafeteria.”

  The guy chuckled. “You are going the wrong way.”

  “I figured that much out,” I joked.

  “I will take you there.” He stepped closer, peering at the map and pointed to a spot on it. “This is where we are now.”

  My eyes widened. “How did I get so far away!”

  A smile broke out on his face and I nearly gasped. I was not usually into goth looking guys but my goodness that smile could change my preferences quickly.

  “Follow me.” The stranger seemed to glide as he guided me along.

  I kept glancing at him, curious about what myth he was blessed by. I didn’t realize I was staring again until he cleared his throat. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh! Uh, nothing.” I decided to change the topic before I embarrassed myself more. “I’m Serena.”

  The shadow guy nodded but didn’t offer any comment or greeting.

  A few seconds of silence passed. If this guy was going for dark and mysterious, he was doing a good job. I broke the silence by asking, “So, what is your name?”

  Silence descended again. I wasn’t sure if he heard me, but I didn’t want to ask again in case he was not answering on purpose. Maybe his threshold for politeness ended at helping girls who were lost.

  Eventually we reached the cafeteria doors, which I knew because for one we stopped, and two the smells hit me causing my stomach to grumble. I really needed to get my stomach under control.

  “Well, thank you, um, stranger.” I waved, starting to walk toward the doors.

  His hand flashed out of his shadows and gripped my hand, pulling me back. Surprised, I let out a squeak and caught my balance just before I fell against him.

  He raised my hand to his lips and gave it a small kiss. “I’m Harvey.”

  I looked at him with wide eyes, too shocked to comment. A moment later, Harvey vanished with only a trace of shadows left behind leaving me speechless by the cafeteria doors. I blinked, trying to figure out what was more important to focus on. The kiss on my hand or the shadowy vanishing act.

  I walked into the cafeteria dazed, wanting to find Marion to ask her about the odd yet intriguing stranger. I found her at the table we were sitting at the day before, leaning close to Devon and giggling.

  I dropped down on the other side startling them both. “I just met the most…I don’t know person.”

  Gus flapped his wings to gain his balance from being startled at my sudden appearance then settled on Devon’s shoulder again calmly.

  “How very descriptive,” Marion joked giving me a curious look.

  “His name was Harvey. I got lost and he helped me find my way here. He disappeared like that.” I snapped my fingers to show how fast he disappeared.

  Marion nodded her head but frowned. “Harvey is a curious individual I will say that. He was the one to send Mr. Drakari to you that night. There are tons of rumors going around about that guy,
though.”

  He was the one who sent Drakari to the Karaoke place? I would ask about that later. I frowned, feeling defensive of a guy I barely met. “They’re just rumors though, right?”

  Devon tilted his head side to side, indicating I could be correct, but I could also be wrong. “I have heard he hides in the shadows and scares people.”

  “I heard he hides in the shadows of people’s rooms and gives them nightmares,” Marion added.

  “Someone said once that Harvey broke all the bones in a guy’s body in gym just by reaching out and crushing his shadow,” Devon whispered.

  I shook my head in disbelief. Even though I had only been around him for a brief time, that kiss on my hand made him seem gentle and his aloofness made me think he would rather stay out of people’s business.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know if I believe any of that.”

  Marion and Devon shrugged back. “You can believe whatever you want, we are only telling you what we heard,” Marion said.

  I nodded in understanding. The bell sounded overhead, and I groaned. I still hadn’t eaten. I looked at Marion and Devon’s tray. “You going to eat that?” I pointed to an apple on Marion’s tray.

  She shook her head and chuckled, handing me the fruit. I took it, eating it as I walked out to my next class. This time I had to go outside, off to the side of the school, for gym class.

  My classmates were standing in a circle, so I pushed through to stand next to a couple of people, facing the coach. The coach saw me and marked something on his clipboard then looked at his watch. No one said anything for a couple of minutes. I looked around, trying to see if I was missing something. Were they waiting on me? My question was answered when somebody pushed into the circle to stand by my side.

  “Finally, everyone is here,” coach said annoyed and marked his clipboard again.

  I looked to my side to see Elliot. I was both surprised and intrigued that he was in my class. He was avoiding my gaze, but I knew he saw my curious stare. I looked around us but didn’t see Moto. Where was his giant lizard?

  “Line up!” Coach called, waving his hand in the air.

  I moved with everyone else to stand in a straight line facing the coach. My neck tingled when hot breath blew onto it as the person beside me spoke near my ear.

  “Make sure not to bump into anyone,” Elliot whispered.

  I turned to glare at Elliot for bringing up our interaction earlier that day. His face was blank so I couldn’t tell if he was joking with me or making fun of me. I faced forward, deciding to ignore him but I was still highly aware of his presence. I never realized it before, but he had a strong heat, like fire, coming from him and he smelled like a campfire.

  “I want you all to run to that fence and back. Before we do any self-defense or combat training, you need to build up cardio!” The coach shouted at us.

  I never understood why coaches felt the need to shout all the time. The coach blew his whistle, and everyone sprinted toward the fence. I was okay with running. In fact, I liked running when I wanted to get away and clear my head, however I was probably the least fit person there.

  I made it to the fence alright but on the way back I started wheezing and slowing down. Everyone darted passed me until I was the only one still running. Finally, I crossed the line and stopped, putting my hands behind my head to breathe better. I looked up to see Elliot smirking at me with his arms crossed. I scowled at him and walked to the other side of the class, separating his smirking face from my lack of athletic skill.

  For the rest of class, the coach had us doing cardio workouts until most of us were collapsed and sweating buckets. I was annoyed to see Elliot standing, looking calm and energized after all that. When the coach called the end of class everyone dispersed. Elliot was gone in a flash, apparently not wanting to be there a second longer than necessary. I took my time to get up and walk to the lake for my tutoring session. I wanted to look like I wasn’t dying by the time I got there.

  I saw Laneli kneeling by the water with her eyes closed looking at peace. I knelt beside her making sure to make a noise as I sat down, so she knew I was there, but Laneli didn’t stir.

  “Hi, Laneli, I don’t know if you remember me, but-” I started.

  “Shh,” Laneli interrupted.

  I closed my mouth. How long would we have to be quiet? This seemed more like meditation than tutoring. I looked out over the glittering lake. It was truly beautiful, especially with the red mountains and trees around it. A movement in the water caught my attention. For a second, I thought I saw eyes and long hair, but it was gone in an instant.

  “Do you feel the connection to the water?” Laneli asked, drawing my attention to her.

  I looked at the lake again, waiting to feel something within me, but like yesterday I felt nothing. “No.”

  Laneli finally opened her eyes to look at me with her crystal blue eyes. “A siren is connected to the water and draws their power from it. Try to open your mind and feelings to the lake.”

  Open my feelings to a lake? I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. My mind went blank and my heart seemed to slow. It felt like an eternity went by, waiting for something to happen. I was about to give up when a slight heaviness in my chest made me still. It was a different feeling of when I am in the water. Instead of panic I felt peace and familiarity. My arms felt like they were underwater, and my heart seemed to beat along with the water washing on to the shore.

  “I can tell you feel it now. You will have to get used to calling that feeling in order to summon your gifts,” Laneli explained.

  I opened my eyes and smiled at my tutor, pleased that I was able to connect to the lake in such a short amount of time. “What kind of gifts do sirens have?”

  “Their power is mainly in their songs, but siren blessed can slightly control the water as well. We can put just about anyone into a trance by enchanting them. However, we cannot do it to another siren, it doesn’t work.” She sounded disappointed, as if she had tried it. She studied me for a moment then slowly smiled, having come to a decision. “Let me show you the power of a song.” Laneli smiled wickedly and crooked a finger over her shoulder.

  Three people I hadn’t noticed before walked out from a set of trees. Two of them were the blonde girls hanging around Laneli at lunch yesterday and the other was a Japanese guy who seemed dazed and unfocused. The girls stopped near Laneli and handed her the guy.

  “Snap him out of it,” Laneli ordered.

  One of the girls, with blonde hair in a braid and blue eyes, sang a small song. The guy that stood in the middle of our circle shook his head, aware of his surroundings again and growled at the girls. A small fire burst out onto the guy’s hands but Laneli sang a haunting melody and the fire died out. The blank look returned to his face.

  I looked at the guy horrified. “What did you do?” I asked incredulously.

  “What we are meant to do. Sirens draw people in by their song, although there are some myth blessed people it does not work on and that gets really annoying.” She turned to the fire guy under her spell. “This guy is kitsune blessed, not very strong, so he was easy. Now we can do whatever we want.” Laneli looked into the Kitsune blessed eyes. “Walk into the water and don’t stop.”

  “What?” Was she for real?

  The guy walked forward with a blank stare. He reached the water and kept walking. He was up to his waist before I finally snapped out of my horror-stricken state and rushed toward him. He was up to his stomach now.

  “Make him stop!” I yelled.

  Laneli crossed her arms and watched the kitsune blessed walk further. “I am showing you what sirens can do. You are one of us now.” He was almost up to his shoulders and would be submerged completely soon.

  “I said stop!” I screamed, and a sorrowful melody flew from my lips. I didn’t know where it came from, but I dared not stop. The guy froze, in the water up to his neck, and I turned to the girls who did it to him.

  They stared at me with blank looks,
their smiles completely gone. I waved my hand in front of their faces but got no reaction. Did I just enchant them? I decided to use it to my advantage while I still could.

  “Walk away. Go all the way to the third floor of the school and stay there for an hour,” I told the other siren blessed girls.

  They turned in unison and began the walk to the school. That was strange, especially since I shouldn’t be able to enchant the other siren blessed. I decided to come back to that weird moment later.

  I turned to the kitsune blessed. “Um, come out of the water!” I shouted to him.

  The guy turned and walked slowly out of the water. Once he was out, he stood in front of me, dripping water and waiting for further instructions. I didn’t know what to do. Well, I did know what I needed to do but didn’t know the song to do it.

  “Um, snap out of it.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face hoping that would do the trick. “La, la, la, la?” I tried but continued looking into an expressionless face.

  The only thing left was to take him to Mr. Drakari and hope he could help me get this guy un-enchanted. However, that meant trekking across the quad in full view of the dorms. If anyone saw us, they would think I enchanted this guy for fun. I didn’t want that kind of reputation.

  “Sit down,” I ordered. We were going to sit by the lake until I connected with my inner power and released him from enchantment.

  I sat down next to him and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply, bringing in the lake smell then letting the breath out. Over and over I did it until finally I felt a connection to the water. I kept my eyes shut, letting the light flowy feeling go through my body. My mouth opened of its own accord and let out a beautiful song, this time of happiness and peace. I felt that everything would be right in the world if I sang that song.

  A few seconds later, I was knocked backwards, and heat beat against the side of my face. I flung my eyes open to see the drenched kitsune blessed hovering over me angrily with a flame in his hand.

  “Where are the others?” He asked, with barely contained rage and a bit of fear. Water droplets fell from his shirt to drip on my face, but I didn’t dare move to wipe them away.