Ballet of Fire And An Old Tale

Evelyn has no idea how much time has gone by. In the beginning she counted days, then it turned into weeks, until she was unsure if it was a month, or months. Though, she wasn't really concerned how much time had gone by. All she remembers from her time in the temple was waking up, eating breakfast, train, eat lunch, train, eat dinner, bathe, sleep, repeat. It's all she really cared about at this point. She wanted this.

 For training, Freya has a large circular room that looks sort of like an arena and three layers of stands all around for an audience on the outside and contestants on the inside. It was more like a spectacle than anything since those seats will never be filled. At the center is where Evelyn sat. Freya would put her hands on Evelyn's back and emit some of her power, a burning sensation, into Evelyn. She could feel the power flowing into her and she would try to conjure fire in her hands. A task that turned out to be a little more daunting than it had sounded to be by Freya's instructions.

 "There has got to be some type of technique to this that you must have missed telling me which is why I haven't done this yet," Evelyn said turning to Freya.

 Evelyn was sitting in the middle of the room. She was now covered in sweat in a dark gray tank top with an orange sweatshirt tied around her waist in dark red sweatpants and no shoes. The room's floor was padded in a type of cushion asphalt that Freya said was a good outfit to train in and the perfect type of material to train on. So far, she started to think the cushion asphalt is just for her butt to sit on since nothing was happening.

 "I think I told you all I could about how to do it," Freya replied as she casted a fireball in her hands with ease and close her hand to snuff it out. "Though teaching this isn't as easy as I thought. I mean I've been able to cast fire with east since the beginning of my existence, which is how Neptune created us, so we didn't have instructions either because it just happened."

 Freya was now in workout clothes too rather than the elegant clothing and dresses she was in when Evelyn had first arrived at the temple. Though to Evelyn, Freya's workout attire was sort of a distraction to her as Freya wore a cropped black tank top and dark red yoga pant leggings.

"Or are you really that attracted to me and that's the reason you can't do it?" Freya teased.

 Annoyed, and embarrassed, Evelyn blushed as she quickly tried to get her mind right on summoning fire. The feeling of being flustered and red in the face made Evelyn think she would catch fire instead of summoning it. Though she couldn't deny that being alone with Freya this long had put a toll on her attraction to her.

 "Okay, stand up," Freya finally said. "Obviously you've been stressed because of the trouble you've been having so how about we try an exercise one of my sisters created. It's helped me a lot in my life calm my nerves. Well, when I had them. Now I do it just to feel good. Like the first sip of a delicious bowl of soup."

 Sighing, Evelyn says, "Yeah, I admit this is making me stressed. The baths have been good for my body but my head, not so much."

 "Then this will be good for you," Freya says walking to the center of the room from the stands.

 Evelyn stood up and moved away from the center of the room as Freya took center stage.

 Freya stood straight in the center. She then moved her right arm forward and her left leg back and moved like she was walking forward. She swayed in her movements and moved her hands in a graceful fashion.

 "She's dancing," Evelyn thought to herself. "But there seems to be something else to it. Like a sense of dancing mixed with martial arts."

Evelyn knew of martial arts, just not what it was and surely not how to do it. On the island the only people who got to be taught martial arts were those assigned as soldiers on the island. It was a way so everyone else would rely on them to protect the civilians if any of the pirates who visited the island didn't come to relax and restock or broke any of the island simple rules as an independent island for all pirates and sailors to enjoy away from the Nobles who police the seas.

 Five minutes went by and then Freya stopped. "And that's all it is." She spoke. "After the first five minutes of the dance you just repeat it." She put her hands on her hips and asked. "So, you ready to learn?"

 Evelyn scurried to the center next to Freya and she went through the dance again very slowly so Evelyn could follow.

 Learning the dance took a few days to learn. Freya chose to break up Evelyn's three training sessions, trying to summon fire, practice the dance, try to summon fire.

 Think you can do the dance without me now? Freya asks Evelyn as they enter the training room after lunch a few weeks later.

 Evelyn thinks to herself for a moment then, as she walks to the center of the room, replies, "I admit it has been helping me. My mind is clearer, even with the failed training sessions still. But I think I can do it."

 "Great! That's what I like to hear!" Freya exclaims as she takes a seat in one of the audience seats, "Begin when you're ready. And I will watch and critique you if you falter or butcher any of the moves."

 "Wow. It sounds like you have so much faith in me," Evelyn says sarcastically but still supporting a determined smile.

 Taking position at the center of the room, Evelyn takes a deep breath and begins. Her constant practice and time doing it alongside Freya had trained her to do the dance in a more elegant way than was originally taught to her by Freya. A way of her own flare to it. After the second time of doing the dance, she chose to close her eyes as she continued to do it a few more times, then stops. Catching her breath.

 "BRAVO!" She hears Freya shouting. "WELL DONE! WELL DONE! WELL DONE! YOU DID IT!"

 "I only did a dance. How impressive can it be?" Evelyn thought to herself until she opened her eyes and immediately widened them to see flames all around her and all around the arena. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

Freya came to Evelyn from the stands, through the fire, and threw her arms around her hugging her tightly and when she pulled back responded, "In the middle of the third to fourth set of the dance your hands began to pull strands of flames along your movements and then at the begins of the fifth set, your hands were engulfed in flames and started to shoot out the most beautiful fireballs I could have ever imagined!"

 Evelyn began to look at her hands and back up at Freya would was supporting an approving grin. She looked back down at her hands and then around the arena. "I – I did this?"

 "Don't worry," Freya said reading Evelyn's face. "I can put out the flames. We're not in danger. But if you will?" She pointed to Evelyn's hands.

 Evelyn held her hands apart from each other and took a deep breath and forced the power out and in between them, a fireball ignited. She began to tear up in happiness as Freya cheered. "You're not pulling my leg? This really- It's me?" Evelyn cries out.

 "I wouldn't be this excited if I were pulling your leg! This is all you!" Freya happily said. "Now put it out!"

 Evelyn willed the fireball to disappear, and not only did it disappear but so did all the fire around the arena disappear too.

 "Oh my," Freya said looking around the arena. "Guess I don't need to put the flames out. I didn't expect your will to be that powerful."

 Looking at Freya, Evelyn says, "You say that like it's a problem."

 "I say that because I'm surprised," She responds. She looks back at Freya and says, "But it's alright. Better than expected I say. Training for today will end early and we'll have an early dinner and bath and get back to it tomorrow. Sleep in tomorrow morning and we will start again in the afternoon after a late brunch."

 Smiling Evelyn says, "I'm really starting to love you with the way you're treating me."

 "Oh yeah?" Freya says in a flirtatious way and tone.

 "But not like that," Evelyn replies reading her.

 "You could at least throw me a bone," Freya pouts.

 Annoyed, as they exit the training room, Evelyn says, "Jackson, who I was talking about when I arrived, I only have eyes for him. I admit I do have eyes for women but he's all I think about."

 "Oh right," Freya giggles. "The boy."

 "Didn't you have a love interest in the hundreds of years you've been alive for?" Evelyn asks.

 Smiling, Freya says, "Thousands of years, and yes. I did. I called the other sirens my sisters, but we weren't related because we were molded and formed by Neptune. But the Siren of Abyssical Nulvo was my love."

 "Abyssical Nulvo." Evelyn repeats. "Meaning…"

 "Oh, sorry. Abyssical Nulvo is Darkness," Freya translates. "Her name was Abagail, or Abby, the nickname I gave her. We were inseparable. I needed her to ease my mind and she needed me, like the light to guide her through her own darkness."

 "What happened?" Evelyn asks.

 "Evelyn," Freya says as they enter the dining hall with, yet again, a large feast waited for them. As they took their seats Freya continued. "We sirens have enemies, Evelyn. Practically monsters try to hunt us and take our power. Not like they can. If they ever do kill one of us, they'll be surprised of that."

 "Like not sea monsters?" Evelyn asks. "You mean like the Orc's? Like the war that happened 500 years ago?"

 "So they taught you about that in school and still say nothing about Siren's?" Freya says with a complacent expression.

 With a apologetic smile Evelyn replies, "I guess not."

 With a sigh, Freya continues, "But yeah. The war 500 years ago ended the Orc's reign." She pours herself a glass of wine with the year 1501 affixed to the label. She places it on the table and says, "The year after the war, production and advancement of the world boomed. If you ever happen to find any old wine, the year 1501 is probably what you will find. Produced so much that they waited a few hundred years before making it anymore. Anyway, 100 years went by before realizing that all the Orc's didn't die, and that the end of the war harbored a new problem that was frozen under the sea."

 Evelyn had filled her plate while Freya was talking, "I imagine that was easily overlooked."

 Sipping on her wine, Freya replies, "Well yeah. There is a lot of it. It turns out that the Orc's coming to our planet weren't the only species that did. Others landed elsewhere and were frozen in sleep at the deepest depths of the ocean. A war that shook the planet was powerful enough to wake them up. Sure, they haven't shown themselves but like I said, when I was with your parents, we encountered an island full of their species. And your parents crew wiped the island clean of them. And it was a frightening experience of what was learned about them."

 "You guys left an island full of dead bodies?" Evelyn asks with a shocked expression.

 "I summoned a volcano from under the sea to wipe it off the map."

 "YOU CAN SUMMON VOLCANOS!?" Evelyn cries out with excitement.

 Smiling at Evelyn now with an endearing expression, Freya says, "I might have told you too much."

 "Oh no, please, keep going," Evelyn says with a sense of wonder in her eyes as she bites into a sandwich she made on the spot. Her tone sounded sarcastic, but she meant what she said.

 "I'm sure you're aware of human's having powers?" Freya says.

 "Oh, yeah. You know that might be why Siren's aren't mentioned in the history books. Like Captain Goob, I mean I'm not sure if he has powers, but his ship can go invisible."

 "Yeah, I guess that could be why, but nobody had powers during the war. But the Siren's who had powers at the time did band together. And after the war, humans started getting them."

 "Any idea how?" Evelyn asks.

 "Well the war ended with a meteor hitting the Orc's country they formed."

 "Ah," Evelyn said. "Space junk. That'll do it." After a moment of silence she asks, "Why did you give me this history lesson again?"

 "Oh, shit. We were talking about love, right?" Evelyn nods to her. "Yeah. Sorry. Anyway, Abby was hunted by the Orc's a thousand years ago. She left me and the other sirens to protect us. We never knew why but it was her power they wanted the most. When she left, they did ultimately stop hunting us. But we had all given our powers away already once that was discovered. All except me that is."

 "So you have no idea if she's alive or passed her powers on away as well?" Evelyn asks.

 "I don't. I just hope she's been safe these last 1,000 years since I last saw her," Freya responds.

 "Oh my God. Their love is adorable. Morbid as the story is, but adorable," Evelyn thought to herself.

After eating in silence and processing all Freya had told her she thought, "Should I ask her what more is there about being a Siren? Or should I play it as I live to see fit? I mean I imagine we have a lot more time down here. More for her to teach me. Would she even tell me if I ask her? I think I should especially know more about these 'other species' of monsters she speaks of. Are they really strong or have they gotten stronger in her time down here? It sounds like I will be hunted down as well. Do I just naturally just hide my power? Or do I conjure it when trouble happens and fight like hell?"

 Finally deciding Evelyn says, "I think I'm done."

 Seeing Evelyn had only finished half the number of plates of dinner she usually does, Freya takes a sip of the glass of wine she had poured herself earlier when her and Evelyn were talking. Smiles at Evelyn and says, "Then feel free to enjoy your bath and go to bed."

 Evelyn got up and excused herself and left the room.

 Freya took another sip of her wine and after giving some time to assure Evelyn had left, Freya summoned a ball of fire.

 "Freya! Nice to see you again! How is my daughter doing? We still have a few months out to get there." The woman on the other side of the fire said.

 Looking over to the woman in the fireball, Freya says, "She's summoned fire."

 "Oh," The woman says. "So, this is our final conversation?" Reading Freya's expressions she says, "Hold on a minute."

 After a few minutes a man comes on the line, "Freya! Is what she says true? Our Daughter has finally summoned fire?"

 "It is," Freya responds. "I'm actually quite proud of her. She has a lot of power and I'm more than happy to entrust her with my powers."

 "I'm sorry we couldn't make it to you in time but we'll try to be there for Evelyn." The woman says.

 "I imagine in some way once this is done, she'll end up back on the island. But I think she'll be able to handle herself. I suggest you sail for there." Freya responds.

 "That's about a four-month sail from our current position," The man responds. "We'll do our duty and try to do right by our daughter."

 Freya smiles and says, "Thank you. I love you both, Blake and Scarlet Black. Farewell to you both, The Great Pirate King And Queen of Neptune."