The Siren of the Titanic

Chapter 10: New Look

A knock on my door woke me the next morning. I groaned, my arms and core were extremely sore, so even sitting up was a chore. The knock sounded through the room again, louder this time.

"Coming! I'm coming! Damn." I groaned wiping the sleep from my eyes. Talon's amused face greeted me once I finally opened the door.

"Didn't realize I was such an annoyance. What time did Adhira let you out?" He chuckled, his smile was contagious, for I found myself smiling with him.

"I don't quite know, to be honest, the street lights were on, if that gives you any indication. I smiled rubbing my back, shoulders.

"Damn, no wonder you're so groggy. Those lights come on about 11:30 and it's 8:00 now. Not only that but she beat you up pretty badly." He pointed to some of the purple bruises that littered my sides and arms. I waved him off with assurances that it didn't hurt that badly.

We entered the dining room and were met with the whole family. Lady Silinia sat at the head of the table, Sai in the same spot that he was in yesterday, Mimi sat beside him, and the two of us sat in the same seats as yesterday.

"Good morning, Frost. I see Adhira gave you quite the thrashing?" Silinia smiled at me. "Today's breakfast is eggs, beans, toast, and sausage. Cook thought you would like a British styled breakfast." It all looked amazing, the beans sat in the middle covering the thickly cut toast. The eggs were fried, the yolks still liquid, and the sausage smelled divine.

"Well compliments to the chef. It reminds me of home, there is nothing better than beans for breakfast." I said putting a large spoonful of them in my mouth. "May I ask a question m'lady?" Silinia nodded, her mouth full of bean-sodden toast. "How is it that we are underwater yet the food acts as if we were on land?"

"That's easy. Cook uses her magic to put a thin layer of air over the food. It's small enough to not be noticeable but thick enough to protect every bite. Smart huh?" She smiled giving me a small wink. "By the way, you can call me Silinia or just Nia? You are my Talon's Partner, so you don't need to call me 'My Lady' or anything. Just think of me like an adoptive mother." She chuckled.

"Yes, m'la- Nia." It felt strange calling her that. We all ate, the three siblings talking about something, but I ate quietly thinking about what Ashleigh had told me yesterday.

"Frost!" Mimi yelled at me snapping me out of my thoughts. "Finally! Hey, after we eat, I'm going to have someone come to take your measurements." She pointed her fork at me, her face serious.

"Measurements? Whatever for?" I looked between the four of them.

"Do you really think that we are going to allow you to continue to go around without anything on?" Now that she mentioned it both Talon and Siamak were wearing a skin-tight shirt. Talon's was black with golden flames decorating the neckline and short sleeves that ended at his shoulders. Siamak's was white with silver moons and stars decorating it. Unlike Talon's short sleeves which showed off his muscular arms, Siamak's shirt had long sleeves which flared out at the bottom, like a trumpet, and almost touched the floor. After further examination, I was indeed the only one without a covering of some sort. I laughed, scratching my head in embarrassment, with an 'I see' leaving my lips.

After our breakfast was eaten I followed Mimi into a room covered in mirrors. A man waited in front of a round step stool, his hands grasping a clipboard, pen and a measuring tape. His face was covered in makeup and he reminded me of a red macaw. His long tail started off in a bright red, but faded into a yellow than into a green and finally ended in a blue. His fins were long and showy, much like a betta fish, and were blue and faded into red. He wore bright green lipstick which seemed to glow against his dark cocoa skin. He wore his long hair in dreadlocks which was tied into a ponytail. His hair was mostly blonde but had streaks of red and blue in it. His eyes were white but were accentuated by the colorful eye makeup he wore. A white mask-like marking was seen under his red colored eyelids with golden sparkles, like a firework, covering the other colors. He wore a long sleeved button up shirt that was the same shade of green as his lipstick.

"Ahh so dis him? So much cooter than ya explained. I'm goin ta have foon with him!" His accent was heavy, and especially since he spoke so quickly, it was hard to understand.

Mimi laughed at my obvious surprise. "This is Talika, and to answer your obvious future question he's from the shores of Jamaica. Anyway, he's our personal stylist. He does everything from clothes to our hair. He's the ONLY one we trust with our precious locks." She said running her fingers through her hair.

"Shall we git started man?" I nodded and swam onto his stool.

I was finally free after an hour of staying as still as possible. My long hair had been giving a trim, no longer was it long and unruly, now it was trimmed so it looked much like a longer version of Talon's. My bangs were longer than the back of my head but still far shorter than they used to be. They had been styled so that they framed my face when down but as I swam it pushed back onto the top of my head. The back was about an inch and a half long, allowing my neck to be covered. To be honest, it suited me, Mimi wasn't kidding when she said Talika was good.

He also made me go through the very painful process of piercing both of my ears. One side had a simple silver snowflake that dangled from my ear. The left side had that and several other attachments. A cuff sat at the top of the curve of my ear while a second piercing attached a small silver cross in between the two.

He gave me a 'see ya later' and a promise of a new wardrobe as I left. Truthfully I was looking forward to seeing what he would make for me. I was able to sit in my room for a whole ten minutes before Ashleigh came in.

"Sorry for the intrusion Frost, but it's time for you to go to training." She smiled innocently, but I only groaned. I sat up off of the bed and heard my back pop, but I followed her anyway.

Once again, I spent the first thirty minutes completing warm-ups and swimming the track. I was rewarded with a 'Good job, Frost' after my laps.

"Today will be a little different. Instead of using the staves, I want you to work on your stamina." Master Adhira's voice was slightly gruff making her sound more demanding. "For now, you are going to sit." I looked at her quizzingly but obeyed sitting, my tail curled around like a cat's. "Close your eyes, and feel the water around. Breathe in for five counts, hold for one, breathe out for ten and repeat." I did what she asked, breathing in while she counted to five, and breathing out for ten. Eventually, Adhira's counting began to fade out. All I could hear were the sounds of the waters, and, 'Humming, strange'. The humming came from above but didn't sound like a living creature, almost like, well I didn't know how to explain it. Then I felt rough hands shaking me.

"FROST!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Adhira's cat-like orbs burning with worry. She sighed when I blinked locking our gazes. "Are you all right? You blacked out for a bit there." She sat back, relief relaxing her features.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think. I passed out?" I ran my hand through my hair, enjoying the feeling of freshly cut hair, before feeling a slight stinging on my cheeks.

"Not only did you pass out you stopped breathing. I had to use my lightning to resuscitate you. So yes I shocked you, no you are not hurt, but I had to slap you a couple of times afterward to wake you up." 'Well, that explains the stinging cheeks.' "What happened?"

"After a minute of listening to your count, your voice faded out and I heard humming." She scratched her face in thought.

"What kind of humming?" So I explained to her what it sounded like, that it was more ethereal, then something from our world. I watched her as she thought to herself for a moment. After a minute or two, she looked into my eyes, pure seriousness burning in them. "Are you absolutely sure you are a siren?"

"Yes, why?" She only shook her head and told me I was dismissed.