Delia, or at least she thought it was Delia, was yelling. Leo's scared voice cut in and Liri panicked, What if Delia hurt him? She was about to jump up and defend her brother when she heard; "I wanted to thank you, you saved me, Delia."
It occurred to her that Delia probably mistook her brothers brave attitude as an offensive act. But as the sobs refilled the cabin, she felt there was something more. Liri felt compelled to comfort Delia, but she barley new this girl, so she didn't.
Liri lay silent and still under her blanket. Delia's cries rang through the cabin, and Liri's heart reached out to the sobbing girl. She, too, knew how it felt to be a half-breed. And she also knew how it felt to lose a mother, just because she had abilities none could imagine.
Finally, her motherly side took over. Liri sprung from her bed and rushed over to comfort Delia. She laid one arm around the girl's shoulder, just as she would to comfort Chera, and used the other to wipe tears from Delia's face.
"A ship's always sailin' without me," Liri sang. The words came so easily to her, and the tune was always in her head. It was more or less a lullaby that she remembered her mother singing.
Delia stopped crying. She stared into Liri's face. She knew the tune, too. Somewhere in the back of her mind, lost memories stirred. Before she could stop them, the words spilled from her lips. "And it seems far away: out at sea."
Liri smiled. At once, she knew Delia was no stranger. Perhaps Delia felt it too, else she would have pushed Liri away.
The two girls sang the lullaby in turns, each singing a new verse -as if connected at once after years of separation, as if they had been sisters all along.
* * *
The girls woke to loud yelling, and rushed up on deck to sea a huge sea monster rising from the water and towering above the ship.
The huge green beast looked almost as if it was teasing the crew. Then Liri saw Chera rush past the monster's nose and watched in awe as her little sister screamed at the beast.
Stepping forward, Liri screamed at the beast. "Hey!" she shouted. "You leave my sister alone!"
The green monster turned to look at her, stunned.
Then quite unexpectedly he said; "I merely wish to play with the faerie child, but if you wish for me to leave, I will. "
At this, Liri realized it wasn't a man-eater, but a wise creature of the waves.
"I do not wish for you to leave," she reasoned, stepping forward to shield her sister, "if you mean no harm. But you are spooking the sailors, and I must ask you to stop. Great wise one," she added, "I must ask your name?"
"Ah, young one,' the beast sighed. "My name is Gerad."
"Gerad," Liri mused, studying the monster's appearance. It's face seemed old and frail, as if it had lived for many years. it's scales gleamed in the morning sun, and an aura of amazement shone around it.
On deck, nobody spoke. All eyes were either on Liri, or suspiciously watching the sea monster to judge it's every mood.
"You must be Liri," the monster guessed.
Liri nodded. "I am," she said. "May I ask how you know?"
The monster shook it's giant head. "It is an ancient promise, and if you do not know it already, I am not the one to tell you." it lifted a scaly, green tentacle from the water and moved it towards where Liri stood on the deck. "Where is Delia?" it asked.
"I'm here," Delia spoke up from her place next to her father. He stood at the helm, one hand firmly grasping the wheel and the other on his daughter's shoulder.
"Come here," Gerad urged.
Delia stood perfectly still. Her eyes never left the monster as she took a tiny step forward.
Her father's hand slipped below her shoulder blades, and her gently pushed her forward. "Go," he said, a smile spreading slowly across his face.
Delia moved forward, nervously joining her friend Liri on the deck closest to the monster. The two girls, standing side by side, reached for each other's hands.
"And the handsome Leo?" Gerad ushered them all forward and his tail flicked into the water bring up 3 chests, each engraved with a name.
"And this" Gerad said as brought up a smaller chest, "is for the faerie child."
Leo stepped forward to collect the chests but Delia grabbed his arm and the chests floated towards them. Chera ran towards the Wise One, for her chest, which was smaller than the others, was to big for her to carry.
Liri than thanked Gerad and offered him to accompany them on their journey.
* * *
Back in Liri and Delia's cabin, the 4 opened their chests. Liri's contained a silver flute, a medicine kit, a silver headband, an apple completely made of ruby and a red hover-board.
Delia's chest contained a mage's wand, an emerald encrusted bow and several arrows, a green headband, an emerald ring and a green hover-board.
Leo's contained a double-ended sword, a golden ball, a gold bracelet and a matching hover-board.
But most interesting of all Chera's contained a tiny silver crown and a letter.
The letter said:
Chera,
On your third birthday, you were so happy.
Dressed in a pink faerie gown, and holding that plastic wand of yours,
you looked like a real princess. I longed to hand this to you then.
I longed to hand you your crown, and tell you this secret, but you were too young to bear such a burden.
Now you are older, dearest child, I may crown you our queen.
With Liri to guide you, together you will find our land, and together you will rule it.
My dearest Daughters, queens of Majix all over!
And to think I'm not around to see this moment, it rips my heart to shreds.
Liri, daughter of ruby
Delia, daughter of emerald
Leo, son of gold
Farrah, daughter of amber
go fourth children! Bring ahead the future.
Bring fourth the change we so desire...
I love you, dearest ones. But listen closely:
By now you have found the chests. And you have discovered everything that lay inside them.
Daughters: this is your reality. You are royalty, and you were born to lead. Lead you shall!
The Majix have been torn apart. For years, every Majix mother that has born more than one child has disappeared.
And where have we gone? We are held captive. And it is you, daughters, who must save us.
You and the other three.
Unite all the half-breeds. Rise up, and defeat the land! Win back what is rightfully yours!
Unite, and bring peace!
With love,
Mother. xxx
Liri and Chera stared at the tattered paper in disbelief.
"This says there's another girl," Liri whispered.
Leo nodded. "Farrah," he mused.
Delia scratched her chin. "Come to think about it," she started, "my aunt did mention I was to embark on a great journey with 'four of Majix blood'. There's five of us, including Chera and Farrah."
Liri shook her head. "This is impossible!" she protested. ''I knew all along about you two," she pointed to Leo and Delia. "But, mum never mentioned a fourth..."
"Wait!" Delia shouted, jumping from her seat. "What did the letter say about disappearing mothers?"
The children re-read the letter three times before jumping to any further conclusions.
"Well our mum had two kids," Chera piped up, "so that explains her disappearance."
Leo nodded. "And I had a younger brother before the war claimed him," he added.
Delia stopped pacing and froze.
"That leaves you, Delia," Chera said. "Maybe you had a sister?"
It's impossible, Delia thought. She looked out of the porthole at Gerad's gleaming green scales. Nothing was impossible. Was it?
