Mystia

Chapter 7: True Friends and Family

Chapter 7: True Friends and Family
The next day Wraith and Nerine planned on hanging out with Milo and Lau. The two boys made their way through the forest to Wraith and Nerine's spot. "Hi everyone, haven't seen you guys in a while! I'm glad to see you doing much better!" Said Milo as he gave Wraith and Nerune hugs. Lau said hi to everyone and also gave them hugs even though he didn't really like hugs except if they were from Milo. He was the exception because they had known each other for ages but Lau was warming up to the others slowly but surely. "Sup señorita." Milo said to Lau as they sat next to each other on the grass. Lau laughed and blew leaves into Milo's face. "Hey!" Milo said, picking the leaves out of his hair. Lau chuckled and tapped Milo on the shoulder and said "Tag you're it." and ran off. Milo ran after Lau. Milo had an unfair advantage since he could fly and had super speed. But Lau could walk on air and from far away he was difficult to spot since he looked like the wind. Playing tag with him felt more like hide and seek. Nerine watched the boys run around the trees laughing. Then Wraith joined the game and so did Nerine. After a while of them all playing games and joking around they all got exhausted and sat around in a circle on the grass. "I have to be honest. Spending time with you guys is great. But I still want something more. I know that's probably selfish of me but I just miss having parents I guess. My dad hates me and my moms gone for good. I'll never experience the love of my parents again." Nerine said, frowning. "I understand." Said Wraith, sadly. "Well I can be your dad!" Milo said, trying to cheer her up.. "And Lau can be your mom and Wraith can be your... creepy looking uncle." "Exactly! — wait what?" Said Wraith. They all laughed. "Or maybe we can find you a new mom and dad who aren't children." Wraith suggested. "That's probably for the best. I'm not ready to be a mom." Lau said jokingly. They all laughed and shook their heads. "I think you'd make a great mom." Milo said, joking. "Shut up." Lau laughed and rolled his eyes. The group of four made their way into town in search of new parents for Lau. The Queen fairy named Mylah was in town walking around to the different shops and everyone greeted her cheerfully. Nerine wasn't paying attention to where she was going and accidentally fell into the queen fairies arms. "Oh I'm so sorry!" Nerine said as the fairy caught her. She looked up and saw the nature fairies face. She was a blonde woman with gorgeous blue eyes and sparkling green wings. "Will you be my mother?" Nerine blurted out without thinking first. Nerine stood up and straightened out her ocean blue dress. Mylah looked at the scaly girl in front of her and asked, "Aren't you one of Nereus' daughters?" "Yes I am your majesty but I upset my father and he doesn't want to see me ever again ." Nerine said as she did a small curtsy. Nerine's friends stood behind her and bowed. "Please call me Mylah." Said the queen. "Well then maybe I should take you in." Said Mylah. "Wait what?!" The group of four said all at once. "Yes! I've always wanted a child of my own! Your friends can come along and I'll give you a place to live in the castle." Mylah said. "Really wow thank you so much your maj- Mylah!" Nerine said excitedly." "It's no problem at all. I'll just have to talk about it with my husband, Norman." Said Mylah. "Wait Norman? You married Norman? The man who killed your husband Max? That Norman? I thought he was your servant?" Nerine asked, feeling very confused. "Yes, Norman. He's actually very sweet once you get to know him." Mylah explained. "Huh," Nerine said, in disbelief. They all followed the queen to her castle which was gigantic, way bigger than the golden underwater castle. It was white and covered in lots of vines and roses. There were gold accents and giant white pillars. "Wow this is magnificent!" Milo said. "It sure is." Nerine agreed. Nerine held Wraith's hand and Milo held Lau's. They were all very excited. "Norman! I'm home!" Mylah called to her husband calmly but there was no answer. "Norman!" She said once again also in a calm tone. "NORMAN!" She said finally in a very loud angry voice, she appeared to be getting irritated, and finally she saw Norman making his way downstairs and sighed in relief.  "Hello darling!" Said Norman. "Oh who are these creatures?" He asked as he looked at one in particular with skeleton hands that sent shivers up his spin. "Hello I'm Nerine! I'm a sea nymph." Nerine said cheerfully."Hi I'm Wraith! A vordr." He said calmly. "Hey I'm Milo! A kitsune" Milo said in his enthusiastic voice. "Hello I'm Lau. A wind spirit." Lau said in his quiet soft voice. "Hello everyone! You're all such interesting creatures." Said Norman who was smiling a half smile. "Dear, what are they doing here exactly?" Norman whispered to his wife. "Don't be rude, Norm." Mylah whispered back. Norman looked at her still waiting for an answer to his question. "I'm adopting Nerine and I guess her friends too but mostly Nerine." Said the queen. "Oh uh which one's Nerine." The king asked her. Mylah rolled her eyes and pointed at the sea nymph. "Oh ok at least it's not the Wraith." The king muttered to himself. "I said don't be rude." Mylah said, punching the king's shoulder. "Sorry!" He whispered. "Ok everyone I will take you to your rooms." Mylah said as she motioned everyone to follow her and they did. She led them up stairs and through the halls of the castle which were magnificent. There seemed to be hundreds of doors and they all had flowery designs on them and shiny gold door knobs. The ceiling was very tall and there were paintings of the queen and her family on the walls. There were lots of arch shaped windows and near them on the ground there were statues of beautiful looking creatures. "Alright we're here." Said Mylah as the group reached the end of the hallway. Mylah pointed at four different doors that were near each other at the very end and said they can each have their own room. They all looked at each other and smiled excitedly. Each of them chose a room which all looked pretty much identical. Each bedroom has a giant king size bed, book shelves, beautiful windows that let in a lot of sunlight, a desk, a wardrobe, and everything you could want in a bedroom. Nerine looked at one book shelf and saw lots of magic spell books. On another shelf there were bottles of magical potions. As everyone settled into their new rooms, they couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and wonder at their new surroundings. Everything was so majestic and grand, yet cozy and comfortable at the same time. Nerine grabbed a book called, The Magic Of The Sea, and flipped through the pages. Her eyes widened with curiosity as she scanned the pages of the book. Meanwhile Milo and Lau explored the ground of the castle, marveling at the gardens and the  beautiful architecture. As for Wraith, he didn't really like it there. He prefered cold and gloomy places like the dark forest but he stayed in the castle regardless because he wanted Nerine to feel happy. Unfortunately Milo and Lau couldn't stay in the castle for very long because they had to go back to their home in the light forest and back to their families. The two boys said goodbye to everyone and left. The Light Forest wasn't too far away from the castle so they planned on visiting often. Nerine was hoping to stay for a while in the castle but even though she really liked it there she felt out of place. She hasn't been in the ocean for a while and she was starting to long for it. Nerine ignored that feeling though because she was annoyed at herself that she never seemed to be satisfied so she was going to try and be grateful for her current situation. The next day Wraith was starting to feel restless so he told Nerine he had some stuff he needed to do but he really just wanted to go hang out in the dark forest for the day. Nerine had joined the king and queen for breakfast. King Norman had a disgusted look on his face as the slimy sea nymph sat down in a chair at the dining table. Nerine noticed this and felt very annoyed. "Humans," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. "Good morning Nerine. Did you sleep well?" Mylah asked the girl. Nerine was currently shoveling forkfuls of pancake and strawberries into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Mylah awkwardly looked at Nerine with a half smile. Nerine quickly finished swallowing her food and wiped her face with a napkin. "Yes I slept well. Thank you for the pancakes, they're delicious." Said Nerine, gratefully. "We can see you enjoyed them." Norman muttered, in a judging way. Nerine was very tempted to snap at the human but she stopped herself not wanting to get into trouble with the king. Nerine couldn't believe that Mylah chose Norman as a husband. Mylah was starting to wonder that too but really the only reason she had done so was because she genuinely thought he was the one for her. But after they got married Norman revealed his true colors which were sassy scarlet and judgemental jade. After they all finished, Mylah said she had to go to her fairy friend's house. "Try to spend time with Nerine, dear. She is like your daughter now." Mylah whispered to Norman. Norman groaned but nodded in agreement regardless. "Goodbye Nerine." Mylah said and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You better behave Norman." Mylah said right as she left the castle. Norman rolled his eyes and had a pouty look on his face like a five year old boy who got his grimy iPad taken away. Nerine and Norman sat in awkward silence in the living room for a while. Finally, Nerine couldn't take it anymore. "Why do you hate me so much?" She asked Norman, her voice shaking with anger. Norman was taken aback by Nerine's sudden outburst. "I don't hate you, I just find it difficult to accept that my wife has brought a literal sea monster into our home." He said, rolling his eyes. "I'm a sea nymph actually." Nerine said, feeling offended. Norman sighed heavily and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry if I've been rude to you. It's just difficult for me to accept change." He admitted. Nerine nodded, understandingly. "It's okay, I guess we just have to give it time." She said, trying to make peace. Norman nodded and the two of them sat in silence once again. After a while, Nerine decided to take a walk in the gardens. As she strolled through the beautiful flowers and plants, she couldn't help but feel a little homesick. She missed her sisters and father, even though she knew she couldn't go back to them now. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. "Nerine! There you are!" It was Wraith, panting slightly from his trek from the dark forest. "Hey Wraith, your back already?" Nerine asked, smiling at her friend. "Just wanted to see how you're doing." Wraith said, looking a little awkward. The two of them walked around the gardens for a while, catching up on everything that had happened. Eventually, they ended up on a small hill overlooking the castle and the surrounding forest. "You know, even though this place is beautiful, I still don't feel like it's home." Nerine confessed. Wraith looked at her with understanding. "Yeah, me neither." He said softly. "But we still have each other, right?" Nerine smiled at him. "Yeah, and even though we may not have traditional families, we have each other and our friends." Wraith said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Nerine nodded, feeling grateful for Wraith's friendship. They sat there for a while, enjoying each other's company and the peaceful surroundings. Despite everything, Nerine felt a little more at ease knowing she had Wraith by her side. They talked about what they could do to make the castle feel more like home and came up with the idea of making their own little garden in the courtyard. They could plant sea flowers and shells from Nerine's home and other plants and flowers that their friends could contribute from their homes. It would not only make the castle feel more like home but it would also bring them all closer together. With their plan in mind, the two of them made their way back to the castle, feeling a little more hopeful about their situation.  As they entered the castle, they saw Norman sitting in the living room reading a book. He looked up and greeted them with a small smile. "Again I'm sorry for being rude earlier. It was uncalled for." Norman apologized. Nerine and Wraith both nodded appreciatively. "We actually have an idea that could make this place feel more like home." Nerine said, excitedly. She and Wraith explained their idea and Norman surprisingly seemed interested in it. "That actually sounds like a great idea. It would bring some life into this old place." Norman said, smiling at them. The three of them started to plan out the garden and even came up with some designs.
Over the next few days, they worked on the garden, planting different flowers and plants. Milo and Lau came to visit and brought some flowers from the light forest, and even Mylah pitched in with her own contribution. As they worked together, they all started to feel closer and more like a family. Norman even started to warm up to Nerine, and they had small conversations here and there. Finally, the garden was complete, and it was beautiful. There were sea flowers from Nerine's home, bell-shaped foxglove blossoms from Milo, and even some poppy anemones (windflowers) from Lau. It was a mix of all their homes and personalities, and it brought them all together. As they all sat in the garden, watching the sun set, Nerine felt a sense of peace. She may not have her real family, but she had found true friends who had become her new family.