{something blue}

Aqua stared at Rosso blankly, the flowers she'd bought slipping from her fingers. She'd gotten changed hastily, and she hadn't bothered with the kerchief. She had no expression as the long-faced redhead twirled around, a cruel smile gracing her features.

"You like it?" she asked, the pale blue silk looking frighteningly out of place against her crimson hair.

"You went into my room." Aqua stepped forward, her boots squeaking. She hadn't bothered taking them off. She didn't care too much at the moment.

"Well you are not wearing it." Rosso smirked, her accent making her voice coo sharply. This tone made rage flare inside Aqua, the tip of the iceberg of hatred that was building inside her. That was her mother's dress! No one was allowed to touch it! Aqua felt like she could run her stepsister down right there with nothing more than a kitchen knife.

That thought went away quickly, but it didn't quench her wrath. Aqua clenched her hand into a fist. "Take it off," she hissed, her eyes glued to Rosso's face as she danced closer to Aqua, her face revealing her intentions to tease Aqua until she broke.

"What?" Rosso asked, her accent warping the word. "Does it not look good on me?"

"Take it off," Aqua repeated, her voice lower this time. She sounded like Calder.

Rosso simply scoffed and whirled away from the girl, as if she'd gotten bored. Aqua was trembling with fury, and she slid in front of Rosso before she could bat an eye. Her fist landed on Rosso's cheek with a tell-tale smack, and the redhead reeled in shock, stumbling away. She didn't bother to cup her cheek, to her credit. She simply stared at Aqua, dumbfounded, as a faint purple welt already began to swell on her skin.

Aqua's fist throbbed a little, but she ignored it. Rosso's eyes suddenly flared, and she let out a scream of frustration. She dove at Aqua, and the girl slid to the side, startled by the action. Rosso swung at her, and Aqua watched with mild awe as a fist came frighteningly close to her face. She reached up and snatched her stepsister's arm from the air, hooking her own arm around it, and twisting it around to her back.

"You little bitch!" Rosso cried, and Aqua scowled, pushing her hard against the floor.

"Takes one to know one," she murmured as Jihl came running into the room. Aqua stepped aside as the woman rushed to her daughter, asking if she was hurt and what not. Then the woman's eyes flashed to Aqua.

"What have you done?" Jihl gasped, helping her daughter to her feet. Aqua tilted her head, her anger not quite gone.

"Only what she deserves," Aqua spat, crossing the room in three long strides. She attempted to move past her stepmother, but the woman grabbed her arm. Aqua tried to yank it back, but Jihl's nails dug deep into her skin, and the girl met her cold gaze with a suddenly frightened one. "Let me go!"

"Did you have fun hurting my daughter?" Jihl asked as Aqua struggled, shrinking like a child under the woman's scrutiny. "Did you get a thrill, girl?"

"No, I—" Aqua squeezed her eyes shut, shame filling her. She was strong, yes, but she had no right to strike Rosso. She didn't deserve it, not really. Aqua had just been blinded by anger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

"You didn't?" Jihl laughed, and Aqua cringed. "Oh? Perhaps I should've left you to the faeries all those years ago, you're much too versatile."

"You were kind," Aqua croaked. Sometimes she thought perhaps she should have too. It wasn't like she was wanted anywhere, except maybe in the bookshop, or with Terra. But even then, no one would notice the absence of Calder, or at the least no one would care for more than a week or so. Aqua disappearing meant even less. No one even knew her name besides Terra and her stepfamily. She should've been taken by the faeries years ago, as a sacrifice, or a snack. She was a mistake.

"Too kind, it seems." Jihl sniffed, and Aqua stared up at her. She tore her arm from the woman's grasp and stomped off.

No one was going to make her feel like this. Aqua was strong, and she knew it, and she would not be treated as if she were less than nothing.

Ven ended up buying a fresh croissant with the coin Aqua had given him, and he kept it folded in the paper the baker had given him so it did not burn his fingers. His mouth watered by just staring at it, and he tried to remember the last time he'd had warm food. He found he couldn't, and with this thought, he went running down the street, turning fast and running some more. His violin bounced at his hip, as did his bow, which was clipped to his pants.

Ven had three pairs of clothes. The clothes he ran away in, which was what he was wearing now, the clothes that had been given to him by a kind imp years ago (and they were not fit for a normal human atmosphere), and the dress clothes that he'd gotten for when he had to look presentable. They were drying out in the sun right now, nearly ruined by the salt water from the previous night. Luckily it would be in descent condition by that night, so he would be fine.

His shoes pounded on the wooden boards of the dock as he ran down it. There were some fishermen around, but all of them seemed to be boarding ship. That was fine by Ven, because he needed to be alone. He sat down carefully at the edge of the pier and set down his breakfast carefully. He reached down to his bow, his hand finding the grip of his sword, and he twisted it. It clicked and came loose from the scabbard.

He whistled to himself as he pulled the thin sword back. "It's the wind of the open sea that's singing, badaboom, baboom, baboom, boom…" he sang these words softly as he let the sharp tip of his sword puncture the skin of his thumb.

Ven sheathed the sword, gazing at the bead of blood that bubbled up after a short moment of the small wound breathing air. He leaned over the water, lowering his hand as far as he dared, and he squeezed his injured thumb. He chewed on his tongue, pain jolting his hand, and he saw three droplets of blood fall into the ocean. Ven pulled back and sucked at his thumb, wrinkling his nose as the thick, metallic taste filled his mouth.

"Kairi, daughter of the sea," Ven said to the wind. "Come find me."

And then he sat back and waited. He peered at his blood, which had made a strange red disturbance in the water. Certainly three drops of blood were not enough to stain three feet of water, but alas, there beneath his slowly swinging feet was a patch of murky scarlet.

She appeared from the blood within a few minutes, the patch dispersing the moment her face touched the surface. She stared up at him, her large blue eyes blinking at the brightness. "You called?" she asked, looking scarcely amused. Ven grinned at her until he noticed the angry red burn that ran across her neck.

"Gods!" he cried, pulling his legs up so he could lean over the edge. "Kai, your neck!"

"I know," she sighed, raising her hand to touch the burn. Her fingers were red and blistered as well.

"What happened last night?" Ven asked, grabbing the croissant and unwrapping it. He split it in two, steam raising to his nose, the fluffy inside of the pastry still hot from the oven. Ven handed the other half to her, and she stared at it for a moment before grabbing at it with eager hands.

"I took that pretty human boy to the beach," Kairi said nonchalantly, nibbling on the edge of the pastry. "And then I got attacked by some glamoured man. His sword was iron."

"You think Sora's pretty?" Ven asked curiously through a mouthful of croissant. "Aw, Kaaai!"

"No?" she asked, frowning up at him. "You're not going to hand over some of your wisdom about faeries? Tell me why a glamoured boy was protecting a human?"

"Uh." Ven chewed and swallowed. "You might be forgetting that if we're going to get into specifics, you're a faerie too."

"Yes, but mermaids are a different breed altogether from the landlings!" Kairi gobbled up the last of her half, and Ven watched her silently. "We're too far away from the courts to live under their jurisdiction. Merfolk own the sea as much as dragons once owned the sky, as dire wolves owned the forest, and as faeries own the humans."

Ven's eyes flashed to Kairi's face, and he sat up straight. "Faeries do not own humans," he said darkly, his expression hard. "Humans are not cattle, Kairi. The Fair Folk do not understand how powerful we can be."

"I didn't mean to insinuate that humans are weak," Kairi said, taken aback. "I love humans!"

"You say that," Ven said, standing slowly. "And I want to believe it, Kai, you know I do. But you know I can't."

"Why?" Kairi gasped, her eyes widening. Rivulets of water slid down her face, and for a second Ven thought they were tears. He knew better, though. "Because I'm not human? You can't trust me because I can't stand up, or even stay on land for longer than a few minutes? Ven, that's not fair!"

Ven shook his head. "Kai, you know that's not it!" Ven groaned and ruffled his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry! Look, you're a faerie. I've lived long enough to know that even faeries that are your friends can't help their nature. You're a mermaid, Kai, and mermaids are cold-blooded murderers more often than not!"

"Don't lump me in with the rest of them!" Kairi cried, her teeth baring in her wrath. They'd all become jagged and pointy, protruding from her gum in layers of tiny razors. "I've never killed anyone!"

"I know, I know!" Ven wondered if he'd be able to save this for him, but he knew he went too far by comparing her to the rest of the sirens. "I'm just saying that you… you can't feel like humans feel. We have free will, while faeries… you're bound by your wills."

"So what?" Kairi looked feral, though her beauty was still intact, it was warped. She looked like a deadly flower. "We can't help the way we were created. We were sired from magic and words, so of course we are bound to magic and words! We say an oath, and we never break it."

"That goes for what you are as well, Kai, and you know it." Ven looked uncomfortable, but he did not soften the truth for his friend. "You can't deny that some part of you has a hunger for human flesh, no matter how much you're attached to our kind. I've done my research, and mermaids were bred on the dark sorcery of old, and gods know that magic is all blood and night."

"I don't eat humans," she growled, sinking downwards and cover her mouth with water.

"No, but you might," Ven said quietly, not looking at her face. "If you got a taste for it, you'd like it. I know you, Kai, I know that you're kind, and sweet, but I also know that you've come close to killing before."

"That was…" But Kairi's voice grew faint as she stared up at him, and she knew he was correct. Once she had almost slain a fisherman, and afterwards she could not even recall why she had attempted it. Ven had pulled her off the man before she could sink her teeth into him, but that wasn't the point. She'd almost done it. She'd almost killed and eaten a man.

"One time, I know." Ven watched her curiously. "Kai, I love you. I really do, you're the coolest mermaid ever! But I know magical creatures like ya wouldn't believe, and I know that mermaids can't feel love. At least not like we do. Perhaps lust is a better word, or severe attachment, but…" He sighed, and he looked sad that he had to tell her this.

Ven was not the kind of person to sugarcoat the truth. He told people as it was, and he did not spare feelings. He always apologized after, but he never took it back. He would say, "The truth hurts, and sooner or later it's gonna sting, so might as well do it before the wound festers."

Kairi did not want to deal with this. She shook her head, her sadness turning her mind numb, and she turned, diving down. Her tailfin splashed water into Ven's face, but he said nothing. As much as he enjoyed Kairi's company, it seemed both of them seemed to forget sometimes what she was.

It pained him to see her hurting by his words, but they both had to face it sometime. Kairi came from a world were humans were snacks. She lived in a body that was too cold to feel real love, and she was only lying to herself when she spoke of these emotions.

Ven was not making a mistake. If she never talked to him again, he'd understand. But there were things that had to be said, especially in a world like theirs.

Aqua sat at the edge of her bed, not quite believing the circumstance. Her stepmother had let her run up to her room, and then she locked the door, causing Aqua to panic and scream for help. None came, and the sun dipped lower and lower into the sky, and Aqua felt utterly trapped. Rosso hadn't even been hurt badly! Aqua could've done worse, and yet…

She shook her head and flopped onto her back. Her bed was hard and uncomfortable, but it still felt homely. She stared at her ceiling, her long blue hair splaying outward, and she felt a horrid sinking feeling as she thought of Terra. He'd be waiting for her, and she was stuck here…

She had always thought she was stronger than this. But now she realized she was still just a girl, a child, helpless to the way the world worked. Servant girls didn't go to balls, and they certainly didn't join the army. Servant girls did what they were told, and held their tongue, and pretended like they were some part of the décor around them.

But then Aqua remembered something.

She wasn't just a servant girl. She was Aqua, and she could fight a knight and beat him if she tried hard enough, and she could read better than some noblemen, and she wasn't just some peasant serving girl. She told herself that she was strong, and that she could get out of this mess if she pleased.

She curled up into a ball on her bed, and she breathed deeply. She could get out of this mess, she told herself. But not today. Today she'd face the punishment. She should not have hit Rosso, no matter how angry the girl had made her. So Aqua was going to let this night pass by, and she's apologize to Terra later, and perhaps they could go dancing some other time.

Aqua bolted up straight as the dim room filled with a bright yellow light, a sporadic shower of sparks drowning her room and blinding Aqua momentarily. She covered her eyes and flung herself blindly from her bed, knocking into the trunk that had held her mother's dress. She felt her footing fail her, and she reached around to grapple at something, but she had already landed painfully in the puddle of silks and satins. Her head had hit the top of the trunk, and it took Aqua a few moments to see normally again.

"That was smooth!" shrieked a shrill feminine voice from across the room. Aqua pushed herself out of the trunk containing her mother's old clothes, and she blinked into the darkness. The sun was nearly gone in the sky, and the person before her was nothing but a shadow against the wall.

"Who are you?" Aqua asked warily, backing toward the oil lamp she'd left on a hatbox. She snatched it, listening to the oil swish inside it, and she pulled out her packet of matches from a box of dolls. She eyed the shadow, who seemed to be watching her in the darkness, and she struck the match.

Light spilled across the room, setting a flickering yellow hue across all the cluttered junk. Aqua squinted as the light hit a metal object to her right, and she saw a rusty fire poker Jihl had discarded years before. Aqua lit the wick carefully and blew out the match, holding up the lamp so she could see the stranger's face.

She nearly dropped the lamp in shock. "You're…" Aqua gasped as the woman neared her, her face long, and sharp, her eyes too large for her head, and her lips too full, and her nose too pointy. Against the light she looked vicious, like a snake had taken human form. Her hair was short, slicked back so her angular face could be more prominent. Two strands hovered above the norm, bouncing as the woman stood face to face with Aqua.

"Oh, you've got it already, don't you?" Her eyes were green, and they glittered like emerald jewels against the firelight. Aqua stood still, her legs not bidding her to move. She felt her heart pounding, and she realized she was scared to death. "You know what I am, right, blue-babe?"

"I've heard stories, but…" Aqua's voice was faint. She'd always thought herself brave, but now she felt like a child again. It was almost like she could remember that day years ago.

"But you never thought a faerie'd come for you?" The woman sighed loudly, and dramatically. "Oh, I know, I know, all faeries are so cruel to humans. That's what you think, right?"

Aqua watched as the woman plopped down on her bed, crossing her legs, and grinned wickedly. She was wearing something akin to a tunic, but it was tight around the bodice. Long leggings made of what appeared to be deep crimson leaves made it down to her ankles, where a pair of curled silken slippers kept her feet comfortable.

"That's what I've always been told," Aqua said finally, when she was done trying to figure out the woman's appearance. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but her gaze made Aqua's skin crawl.

"And who told you that all faeries are bad?"

"My father was killed by a faerie," Aqua said icily, and she snatched the fire poker up into her left hand, brandishing it out like a sword as the woman jumped to her feet.

She stared at the iron thing, and she gave a drawn out laugh, the faux sweetness of it settling oddly in Aqua's stomach. "Oh, you're a smart one!" she cried, her eyes blazing brighter than the fire. "I like you, Aqua."

"Who are you?" Aqua asked again, this time with courage keeping her voice from trembling. "Why are you here?"

"I won't tell you my name," the woman said with a poisonous smile. "If you know as much about faeries as you appear to, you should know why. But I'm here for the simple purpose of making your dream come true."

"I don't believe you." Aqua had lived her life with the understanding that faeries were bad, the worst of the worst, and they could not be trusted. "I don't need a faerie to make my dreams come true. I can make my own dreams come true."

"And you've been doing a marvelous job so far, blue-babe," the woman commented dryly, eyeing the poker with a frown.

"I don't need a faerie to tell me my life sucks," Aqua said with narrowed eyes. "I know, and if I wanted to leave, I could."

"You want to leave, and you don't." The woman clicked her tongue, and tilted her head. "Why?"

"Why do you care?" Aqua hissed, her arm cramping. She wasn't used to using her left hand. "Why should a faerie care about me? I'm grown now, I'm no use to you."

The woman rolled her eyes, and she gave another laugh, this one short and scoffing. "You humans and your superstitions. Oooh, faeries only go after the small ones!" She let out a peal of laughter, and her words made Aqua shrink a little. She felt stupid.

"So, what then?" Aqua asked furiously, setting the lamp back on the hatbox and flipping the poker to her right hand. Her left arm ached a little. "What do you want with me? You can't sacrifice me, I'm too old."

"That, I must admit, is correct," she sighed loudly and placed a hand on her hip. "You're much too old. Anyway, I'm not here to hurt you, and I don't intend on harming you. Put that thing down."

Aqua knew that faeries couldn't lie, but she was still wary of the woman. She gave her a nagging feeling of dread and loss. But Aqua felt she had no choice but to let the poker slide from her fingers. It clattered onto the floor.

"Good. Now, do you want to go to the ball?"

"Why do you care?" Aqua repeated, this time her voice was hollow.

The woman sighed in exasperation. "I'm only doing this for your wellbeing!" the woman cried. "You'll be better off going to this ball, trust me, you're life will change in a way that will awe you."

"I don't trust faeries," Aqua said quietly. "Simple as that. Please leave."

"Wow," the woman said snidely, looking Aqua up and down. The girl was wearing nothing but the rag dress she always wore when she did housework, and her boy-boots. "That's it, huh? You're just gonna be some bitch's servant girl for the rest of your life?"

"That's up to me." Aqua folded her arms across her chest, feeling self-conscious. "Please leave."

"It's not up to you, stupid!" Aqua cried out as the woman moved swiftly toward her, faster than humanly possible, and grabbed her by the arm. "Look at you! You think you're as tough as they come, don't you? Just because you can use a sword descent enough, and you dress like a man on occasion? You wouldn't know tough if it struck you down with a lance. All you do is follow stepmother's orders, and you never try to get away. You're pathetic!"

Aqua gasped as she was flung across the room, and she landed rather painfully on a ironing board and a box of old silverware. She hadn't been expecting that. She thought she'd be ready for it, but she wasn't, and now she was laying sprawled on her floor, her head ringing, and she realized there was no fighting the faerie. She was stronger than Aqua, faster than Aqua…

And she made Aqua feel miserable. All the girl wanted was for the blonde faerie to leave, and for peace and quiet to come at last. She had no urge to fight now. But there was only one sure way to get rid of the pest, and Aqua didn't like it, not in the slightest. Still, as the ringing stopped, and Aqua sat up, she felt nothing but an aching that reached deep into her bones.

"Fine," she said in a hoarse voice. "Fine, I'll do it… on one condition."

The faerie was over Aqua in a moment, her large green eyes gleaming in the darkness. She grinned and nodded. "Name it," she said, her expression filled with glee.

Aqua rose to her feet, her face going blank. She watched the faerie with a silent contempt. "Your name," Aqua said crisply. "Tell me your name, faerie. Not all of it, of course, but let me know enough of it so I know what to call you by."

The faerie's face fell fast, and Aqua felt a certain pride in her choice. Faeries were so protective of their names, it seemed fitting. The blonde gave a snort, and the air about her turned grim. She hadn't been friendly before, but now she was terrifying. She looked at Aqua with a gaze of hatred that made the blue haired girl shudder with fear.

"Larxene," the faerie spat, as if her name were nothing but a piece of something foul that had gotten caught in her mouth. "Wise little human. You're the worst off."

"What does that mean?" Aqua asked glumly as the woman placed two fingers beneath the girl's chin and lifted her head up, examining her face. "What are you doing?"

"First rule of the world," Larxene hissed, stepping back. She lifted a blue rose that seemed to have just materialized, and held it out between her forefinger and thumb. "Those who ask less live longer."

Aqua felt herself take the rose without any objection, and this shocked her. She was not this compliant, not with strangers. Jihl, maybe, but a faerie she'd just met? She stared at the blue thing, realizing that roses did not come in this color, at least none that she'd ever seen, and she cried out as the rose bloomed before her eyes. "What is—!" Her voice was drowned by an outpour of blue petals that erupted from the stem and enveloped her.

When the flower petals fell, dropping around Aqua and shriveling at her feet, the girl stood dumbly for a moment. Then she looked down. She swallowed a gasp, and she ran her fingers over the satiny fabric of the deep blue dress that had appeared from nowhere. She felt beads across the skirt, and the bodice was tight, woven in a twisting blend of the midnight to midday sky. Her sleeves were tight, laced up with some kind of translucent string, and the swirling bodice crawled over her shoulder, wrapping around her right arm.

"What did you do?" Aqua croaked, feeling idiotic asking all these questions. But she simply didn't know.

"I made you look presentable to go to a ball," Larxene said in a bored tone. "You like it?"

Aqua rose her hands and felt her hair. It was curled around her face, but most of it seemed to be half loose, and half in a twisting braid. She felt her face, and her fingers twitched against the cold mask that was stuck onto her skin, Aqua panicked for a moment, and she tried to pry it off.

"Hey, hey!" Larxene cried. "Don't break that! It's glass!"

That made Aqua stop trying to get it off. She ran her hand of the bumps and crevices in her glass mask, realizing it must be an intricate thing. She let her hand fall. "Thank you…" Aqua said, her voice failing her. "I…" But Aqua couldn't say anything more. She stepped forward, and paused at the clinking noise. Carefully, she pulled up the hem of her dress and stared.

"You gave me glass shoes too?" Aqua asked, her voice nothing but a thin monotone. "You're trying to permanently disfigure me, aren't you?"

"Be still my heart!" Larxene shrieked, her hand clapping over her breast. "The clever girl strikes again! Yes, those slippers would undoubtedly break beneath any normal girl… but, Aqua, you're not a normal girl, are you?"

Aqua felt dumb, and frightened, and she stared at the faerie with cautious eyes. "I don't know…" she murmured. Her door unlocked, and Aqua gazed at it with growing unease. "I don't think so."

Bless, I just can't get enough of this story. I'll tell you why. It's all medieval, but not COMPLETELY medieval, so since my writing is influenced by what I watch and read, EVERYTHING is ASoIaF/GoT. Adding that to the list of reasons why White Knight isn't being written. It doesn't give me GoT feels. And I can't write GoT fanfiction until I read A Dance with Dragons, because I'M REALLY WEIRD LIKE THAT OKAY?

This chapter was fun. This whole story is fun. The main plot should be starting soon, and I'll try not to give you any fillers. I'd rather just move right into the plot, and see how much of this story I can get done in the summer.

VALAR MORGHULIS ON SUNDAY.

ha ha oh my gosh all men must die on sunday that's just

I wish I could say Valar Morghulis, how do you even pronounce that?

-Dani