Mermaid Heel's New Flare (Chapter 3)
Flare Corona was in her room nervous as hell, shaking like a leaf and sweating like a whore in church. A glance at the clock would reveal that it was 11:50, ten minutes before she met with Mermaid Heel's guild master with her admission into Mermaid Heel on the line. Flare was dressed in her usual outfit of a red dress with a deep v-neck and a spot of light blue on it, along with her matching high heels. Flare was putting the finishing brushstrokes on her hair before there was a knock on the door and Risley Law came through.
"Flare, are you ready?" Risley asked with her usual infectious positive energy and a big warm smile.
"I…don't know," Flare admitted, looking down on the ground while shuffling her feet. Risley laughed while patting Flare on the back, with Flare looking at Risley like she was crazy. "Why're you laughing?"
"Because…our guildmaster isn't scary at all. I've met her so many times, and she's easy to talk to and is always in the mood to help a woman out," Risley explained, rubbing Flare's back in an attempt to relax her. However, Flare started blushing as she felt Risley's hand sliding down her back and occasionally brushing up against her long crimson hair.
"So you're saying I'm worrying for no reason?" Flare said hopefully as her blush was continuing to grow the more she focused on Risley's hand up her back.
"Basically. She's not going to bite your head off, she just wants to make sure that you're Mermaid Heel material. Kagura's already vouched for you, so you have a good head start in that front," Risley explained as Flare smiled at her and did something truly unexpected; she hugged Risley with as much force as she could muster.
"Thank you, Risley," Flare mumbled as she thought of the pleasant feeling she had been getting whenever Risley was around her recently. Risley was about to return the hug, but then lightly pushed Flare off and grabbed her wrist before pulling her out of the room.
"Sorry to break up the moment Flare, but we only have a couple of minutes left until your meeting!" Risley exclaimed as she and Flare continued running their way throughout the guild until they reached the office of the guildmaster, with a minute to spare.
"Well…this is it," Flare stated, still trying to catch her breath from running as fast as she was capable of for a straight minute. Risley smiled and gave her a supportive pat on the back before walking away from the door. Flare took a deep breath before opening the door, noting that the temperature in the room was slightly colder. When Flare looked up, she saw a light blue-haired woman in a green sundress sitting on a purple couch. The woman's light blue eyes looked up at Flare with interest before motioning her to come forward.
"You must be Flare Corona. Please…come over here," the woman said gently before Flare walked up to another purple couch that was sitting across from this woman, presumably the guildmaster and sat down.
"So…you're the guildmaster of Mermaid Heel?" Flare asked, before mentally beating herself up for asking such a stupid question.
"Yes I am, my name is Iris Riverfall, but you can call me Iris. Now, Kagura has told me that you're interested in joining the Mermaid Heel guild," Iris responded as she poured water that magically appeared from her hand into a glass. Before Flare could answer, Iris, got up from her chair and gave the glass of water to Flare.
"Yes."
"And why did you want to join the Mermaid Hell guild? I was told from other people that you were very…devious during the Grand Magic Games, and I want to make sure that you're not here on a secret plan by Ivan to take us over or something," Iris said, her voice giving off that she was half-joking, but was still serious enough to make Flare feel nervous. Suddenly, the water in her glass turned light purple without Flare noticing. After what felt like an eternity, Flare took a couple of deep breaths and began speaking.
"Well…ever since I was a little girl growing up in the Sun Village, I wanted to meet and connect with humans like me and not the giants that live in the village even though I love the giants like family," Flare began as Iris nodded.
"Ah, the Sun Village. I've been there many times, and the giants there are very friendly," Iris commented before Flare grew a knowing smile on her face and nodded in response to Iris' comment before she continued her story.
"One day, I decided to leave the village and go meet humans like me. I had no idea how the world outside of the Sun Village was, so when I met Master Ivan from Raven Tail, I jumped at the opportunity for assistance in learning about the human world. But…I was unable to see at the time how evil he really was," Flare mumbled, taking off her long gloves to reveal scars and bruises, which shocked Iris as she started rubbing Flare's wounded right arm before Flare continued.
"But one day, after Raven Tail was disbanded by the Magic Council, I had nowhere to go. I was scared that the giants in the Sun Village would hate me for leaving the way I did, so…I was just crying my eyes out while sitting in front of a wall. But then Risley Law came by and comforted me, telling me that I still had a chance to make it into another guild, even dancing with me during the Great Banquet," Flare continued to explain, blushing at the memory of Risley dancing with her in the corner of the mansion at Flare's request, not wanting to deal with other people because she was afraid they would hate her for what she did at the Grand Magic Games.
"I'm not surprised, Risley is always someone to help someone in need, especially when they're a crying woman," Iris explained, taking a glance at Flare's glass of water, which had gone back to being clear.
"But I always wondered why Risley would just…help someone she just met, especially someone who did all the awful things I did," Flare mumbled as Iris walked up from her couch, and sat next to Flare, putting an arm around the back of her neck.
"Risley is someone who has suffered a lot in life. Don't tell her I told you all of this, but Risley never really had a stable home life," Iris explained, shocking Flare.
"Really?"
"Yeah…her biological family died in a house fire when she was only five years old, and she bounced around through various abusive homes before I met her. Risley was also bullied a lot because of her weight so she apparently used to spend her time in front of strangers in her skinner form to make some of the pain go away," Iris continued to explain, shocking Flare more and more, but Iris wasn't done yet.
"Risley, despite everything she went through, tried to make everyone's lives around her easier, stranger, or not. When I met her at the age of 17, Risley had gotten into a bad fight with her adoptive mother, so I decided to take her in as a member of Mermaid Heel. After that, she and Kagura became really good friends, with Kagura even teaching her more Gravity Magic and how to fight," Iris explained before Flare decided to ask another question.
"That was really sad Iris, but what does that have anything to do with my last question?" Flare asked.
"Risley is someone who never wanted people to live the life she did. That's why she always acts motherly to everyone. Risley likes to comfort people in pain, perform small tasks to make things easier for other people, and just in general always kept up a positive attitude. Risley helped you because she may have seen her old self in you, and wanted you to have what she found in Mermaid Heel; a stable life," Iris explained, leaving Flare speechless as she got up from the couch and brought out a stamp with the Mermaid Heel insignia on it.
"Well, I think I've heard enough. Welcome to Mermaid Heel, Flare!" Iris exclaimed, shocking Flare.
"Wait…that's it…but…didn't you want to make sure I wasn't lying or ask me more questions or-?" Flare started asking and ranting before Iris laughed at her confusion.
"Flare, do you see the glass of water I gave you?" Iris asked. Flare's eyes widened as she looked in her hand, noticing the glass of water that she had forgotten about while both telling her story to Iris and listening to Iris talk about Risley.
"The water I made with my magic turns black when you lie, and the glass is made with a special type of lacrima that can measure and detect a person's emotions when they hold it. And throughout your story, the water stayed clear, and that shows me you're telling the truth," Iris explained while Flare looked amazed at Iris' power.
"So…I'm a member of the guild?"
"Yes you are, just give this stamp to Beth and she'll stamp the logo wherever you want it," Iris instructed as Flare put her long red gloves back on.
"Why can't you just do it?"
"You didn't hear this from me, but Beth really likes to use the stamp, and when she was a kid here, she used to play with it all the time," Iris whispered in her ears, causing Flare to chuckle before she turned to leave Iris' office, excited about being a member of an official guild before Iris put a hand on her shoulder.
"Flare, I also want to tell you something; if you have a thing for Risley, you might want to tell her as soon as possible. Risley is someone that prefers the direct approach," Iris whispered into Flare's ears, chuckling as she saw Flare's face explode into a blush the same shade as red as her hair.
"W…W…WHAT!? I…don't…know what you're…talking about. I don't l..l…love Risley like that!" Flare stammered, but Iris simply responded by looking down at her hand and smirking. When Flare followed Iris' eyes, she realized that she was looking at the glass of water given to her, and also realized why she was looking at it.
The water turned black.