The Mermaid That's Sweetest

[Part2] ⤀ 26] The Red Eye of the Dead

[Part2] ⤀ 26] The Red Eye of the Dead

I go for a walk, on my own – because I'm anticipating a night alone with Eros, and I'm preparing for that with meditation; while alone.

My thoughts are not, however, about myself. Rather; I contemplate the bigger picture.

Belle Island was so fragile and small. We could not afford to go to war with the Erebos. We could only forgive them. It's what I know in my blood, in my gut and in my fresh unexpected tears as I kneel in the shallows of the low tide of the beach, without my tail.

Above me, I see the moon start to glow red.

The Red Eye.

A rare eclipse begins and I am bathed in the intermittent blood red glow.

This event, was a gate way to death.

Souls would seep very briefly from the Island – safely dead but wandering around, able to communicate clearly.

This kind of thing was rare and could never be predicted.

But I feel an entity approach, and I wait respectfully for them to come near.

I was not scared, if anything, rather curious.

I call out for my mother – but instead I see a different ghost walking towards me from my left.

"Signet?" I whisper, watching the Overseer clearly step through the shallows and stand far away from me, watching me with a slight smile.

"I didn't die for you to succumb, Lily," Signet whispers her voice on the wind.

"Succumb to what?" with my answer, we begin our exchange.

"To the law of the Island – the Clans need a Queen," Signet seems to be... pleading with me.

"Signet," I whisper back, trying to be truthful, "I am not interested in ruling – but I am interested in being a warrior, a Sentinel."

"No, Lily. Fantasia, your mother, was a Sentinel in a time that the Island was under attack by outsiders, humans – now the enemy lies within. Aegir rises with a rebellion. The Clans plan their own coups separately for the Crown. The Council of Elders holds peace for one further week at best. The rest will be blood and turmoil until real destined leadership takes a hold to restore ecological equilibrium, it is your Way. It is in your blood. And Eros. To achieve this."

"I hear you, but no one respects the Servants of the Water's Will enough, Signet – and they all distrust the Erebos. They watch them close. We're the enemy. We don't have allies here."

"You belong here – as they all do," Signet is solemn as she says this, as if she wishes I would take that more seriously. I don't know why I haven't sooner. I guess I had been rather distracted.

So, I ask, "What can I possibly do?"

"Eros must rise to the throne, as you must by his side," Signet nods, meaning this.

"But how?"

"How? You must believe you're already there; next in line. You are Fantasia's Kin through sheer power – you inherited the Rough, Lily. You have no choice but to rise."

"I always have a choice –" I sound a little bit petty, but it's already out there now.

"You choose solitude – fine – even a Queen can rule whilst in solitude. Your sisters have the power of Overseers – they can rule a Clan each. You were all born to defend, fight for and command the Island –" Signet's tone echoes as she disappears with the waning red, as the light favours back to blue and then white.