Beauty's Spell

Beauty’s Spell


There were a lot of things I never knew until now.
I've never really known what I looked like to others. I knew I was pretty but it seemed like there was something more others saw when they looked at me.
I never knew my mother, my father said I was her exact replica but I had his eyes. According to him, hers were purple, mine were a normal green. I never took him seriously on that, he's always been slightly eccentric. He said she was special, when he met her, there was nothing he could do except love her. He had no choice.
I never knew I was different, as my father would say I was "special."

Now, of course my life has been completely changed by what I know.

I am not human, well technically I am not fully human. But since my mother was not human, I am mostly not human. Apparently her genes are stronger than human genes so, hers win out. She really did have purple eyes. They were mesmerizing, enchanting. When I saw her, I couldn't help but stare. This woman who had basically given birth to me and split, was everything my crazy father had said she was. She was absolutely gorgeous and impossible to ignore. She drew you in with little more than a glace. When those strange purple eyes were focused on you, nothing but her occupied your mind. You fell under her spell, trapped by everything that was her. My first coherent thought was, did I have this power over people? But I wasn't under her spell long, she didn't affect me like she did others, probably because I was like her too.

It had always been very easy to get what I wanted. I thought it was because people just liked me. I was wrong.

It was a cool, dark night. The stars were like a million diamonds in a velvet sky. They glittered off the lake, mirroring it exactally. It was beautiful, a perfect night. Or so I thought.
I was on my way home from the park. I enjoyed walking in the cool of the evening, at twilight the trees and lake looked magical, like anything was possible. Then, she was there. I have no idea where she came from, one minute I was alone, the next, she was there.

"I"m your mother. " Standing right in front of me, she looked barely old enough to be considered my older sister, let alone my mother. I didn't believe her, and stepped to the side to walk away. She cut me off again, "I am your mother. Look at me." And I did, I looked into those strange purple eyes. That's when it hit me, the power she held. I believed her, completely. Not just because of the power, but she was my exact mirror, except her eyes, just like my father had said. Then, I blinked and my mind cleared, the spell broke.

"What do you want from me?" When I was finally able to think clearly again, I was pissed. I hadn't even known her, she left 17 years ago, immediately after I was born. What did she want with me now? How could she think she deserved anything from me? My father of course had always talked of her with the highest regaurd, he never even blamed her for leaving. He said he wasn't good enough for her, it was his fault. That was bullshit. He is the best man I have ever known, she didn't deserve him. I didn't want to help her in any way, even with her strange powerful allure. I had power too. I could resist her.

"There are things you don't know. About who you are. You need to know now."

"I've done just fine without you so far." I tried to walk away again, but she grabbed my arm.

"NO, you have to listen. Your life is in danger. So is your father." That struck the right cord. If I could do something to keep my father safe, whether it was from her, or something else, I would.

"What? What are you talking about? Why is my father in danger? And what do you care, he didn't matter when you left, and neiter did I. Why do you care now?"

"I don't have time to explain my actions now. What you need to know first is, you are a Siren. More specifically a Siren Princess. You will inherit my kingdom, but only if you live long enough to do so. Go home, get your father and meet me at the south edge of the lake, immediatly."

"What?!? That's just rediculous. There is no such thing as Sirens. This has to be a joke, who put you up to this, and who are you really?" Ok, maybe I was wrong, maybe she was just some weird girl who got kicks out of this type of thing. But, the eyes, and how closely we resembled each other? Maybe it was true? It was just too strange to believe. But my father had always taught me to believe in magic and mystery. Maybe she was why? Maybe she was telling the truth? She gave me no more time to contemplate.

"Do you want your father to live?"

"Of course." Seriously? Did she think I was as callous as she had been? I loved my father.

"Then believe me for now, I will explain later, when you are safe. GO GET YOUR FATHER!" She yelled the last bit, to express the urgency better. This time I did what she said. I went immediatly home, told my father to come, now. Of course his reaction was similar to mine.

"What? It's nine O'Clock at night, why do we need to go anywhere? What's gotten into you? Are you feeling ok?" I knew what would get him to come. I hated using it, but I knew if she was telling the truth, I had to. I hate to see him in pain but, I'd rather him live in pain then not live at all.

"It's my mother, she said you have to come now. She said we were in danger." I saw the flicker of pain in his eyes, but he immediately understood.

"You saw her? Wasn't she beautiful? Everything I told you, do you believe me now?" I didn't really know what to believe, but I'd give it to him for now.

"Yes, Daddy, now will you get moving? She said we had to get back immediately." And we left. Our home, our lives, were all a thing of the past. We took nothing with us, what would we? We didn't know what to expect.





When we arrived back at the lake she was waiting impatiently. She was clearly annoyed it had taken as long as it had to get back. What was her deal, she was really starting to annoy me, being so pushy when she cared so little for so long. Why did she care if we were in danger now anyway?

“Hurry we have to get you safe now. It’s very dangerous above.” Okay, seriously, she didn’t have one minute to explain what the danger was?

“No, first you tell us why we have to leave and so immediately? And what in the hell do you mean ‘above’?” Was she always this incessant or was it just my irritation that was making her seem so obnoxious? Either way, she needed to give us some answers before I was going anywhere with her.

“As I said before you are in danger. I will explain everything after you are safe.”

“NO! Tell me what is so dangerous, how do I know you’re not the one trying to harm us. We haven’t seen or heard from you since I was born. Why do you care now?” Answers, that’s all I wanted. She was wasting more time trying to convince me than it would take to give a simple answer.

“I have enemies here above, and by above I mean not below, in the water, in my Kingdom. Here it is an untamed land of many creatures. And many are the enemies of the Sirens, somehow they have learned of your existence and you are now in danger. Now please, come with me I will explain everything.” She seemed exasperated but I guess I’d have to live with the answers she gave for now. It did puzzle me that she expected us to be able to go underwater for a long period of time. Even if I was a Siren and able to do so, what about my father? He can’t breathe under water of that I was sure.

“How? Umm, how are we supposed to go ‘below’ and live? Humans can’t breathe under water in case you didn’t know. And even if I can what about dad?”

“You will be fine, though I am sure you have never tried you are perfectly able to breathe in water. As to your father that’s what this is for.” She held up a small metallic U-shaped device, it looked almost like a nose ring. “This is a ‘Refiner’ it will pull the air out of the water for him to breathe.”

“Okay, I guess but you’re sure I’ll be able to breathe? It would not be cool to get under and then have to come back up and be left behind.”

“You will be fine, trust me.” Trust her, hardly, but I guess I’d have to for now at least.

And just like that we were diving into the water following after my mother. Amazingly, she was right I felt fine even after fifteen plus minutes of swimming. It felt very strange but good too. I wondered, what else I could do? What exactly is a Siren? All I really knew was that the myth’s said they lured men away with their voices and beauty. Were there male Sirens? I guess I was about to find out.

The city was beautiful. My mother said it was one of the smallest in the kingdom, since the lake was rather small. But to see a city under water was crazy, it was hard to believe even though I could clearly see it and feel it for myself. It was all just too much to take in to believe, a world I was convinced was completely fiction, was now reality.