Lyra woke up snuggled between two sexy, handsome men. She smiled, then froze. At the foot of the bed stood Calypso. Lyra stared at her. How long had she been there? Slowly Calypso turned around and walked to the door, motioning for Lyra to follow. Lyra looked down at Siden and Pallo sleeping with her wrapped between them. She got lucky twice, but she doubted that they wouldn't stay asleep with her unwrapping their arms from around her again. Calypso flicked her wrist then motioned for Lyra to follow her. Lyra, knowing Calypso was an all-powerful god, knew she probably prevented them from being able to wake up for a while. She untangled herself, then hopped off the bed and followed her upstairs to the art room. Lyra took a deep breath and looked in Calypso's eyes, preparing to fight up a storm about being with Siden and Pallo, but Calypso spoke first.
"I know that dis must be confusing, dey seem so perfect but dey aren't what dey seem to be. I don't want to see you get hurt Lyra." Lyra was taken aback by the sincerity of Calypso. She really meant it. Calypso continued.
"You're like a daughter to me, Lyra, and I care about you."
Siden and Pallo woke up. Lyra was gone. They panicked. Could she have left them, thinking they could never love her now that they knew what she was? If she had left, they would look for her. They would never let her go. They cared about her.
"I'll check upstairs." Said Pallo.
"Then I'll check downstairs." Said Siden.
Lyra had never known her parents. She knew her mom had been a mermaid, which meant she should have been part mermaid, but she wasn't. She knew her dad was a human, which meant she should be part human, but she wasn't. Her mother and father died when their car crashed as they were driving along the beach, on a path that stopped a couple feet from the ocean. It flew off the road, flipping and crashing. She had been thrown out of the car and her parents were knocked unconscious so they couldn't get out before the car exploded. She was lying on the beach, only two. Calypso came and took her in. Tears filled her eyes at the memory she couldn't picture or remember but had been told about when she had turned ten. She remembered her parents, bits of them, like their faces and their smell.
"Really?" asked Lyra.
Calypso smiled and nodded her head. They didn't hug but they smiled at each other.
Pallo stopped short of the art room door. She was here and she was talking to Lyra. Siden walked up behind him, having checked downstairs. They looked at each other. What was Calypso's connection with their Lyra? They were getting answers. Now.
"Calypso, why do you want me to stay away from Siden and Pallo? They. . . I . . . being with them feels right."
Calypso looked at Lyra then looked over her shoulder, her eyes turning cold a little.
"Tell her or I will tell her myself." Lyra looked at her confused then froze. She was looking over her shoulder, talking as if to somebody else was there, and there were only two other people in this house besides them. Lyra swallowed. Slowly she turned around and looked at Siden and Pallo standing in the doorway. They looked at her then at Calypso, their eyes turning cold as they stared at her and likewise, she was looking at them with cold eyes. Lyra felt conflicted. Something she had never felt before with people. She wanted to stand besides Calypso and say "She's not bad, leave her alone." But she also wanted to run into Pallo and Siden's arms. Instinctively, she took a step towards them. But her hand stretched out to Calypso. She stopped. Calypso, Siden, and Pallo all saw how she was conflicted and felt a little guilty about unintentionally causing her to have to decide between them. Calypso grabbed Lyra's hand at the same time Siden and Pallo took a step towards her. Lyra froze. Which one? Siden and Pallo? Or Calypso?
"Lyra." They said at the same time. She looked back and forth between Calypso, the closest thing she ever had to a mother, and Siden and Pallo, the two people that it felt right to be with.
"Get out." Said Pallo stepping forward and taking a hold of Lyra's other hand. Siden just stood back and stared at Calypso with cold eyes. He was the brother that preferred peace and didn't fight when he could help it. Calypso's hold on Lyra's hand tightened. "Why should I." Pallo's grip on Lyra's other hand tightened.
"You are in our house, telling secrets that you have no right to tell." He said, staring at her with cold eyes. She stared back at him with cold eyes.
"She has a right to know." She said loudly, almost yelling.
"WE will tell her, not you. And we'll tell her when WE decide to. Get out." He yelled. Calypso held their stares, never looking away.
Siden, Pallo, and Calypso stared at each other with cold eyes, and Lyra shrank back, stuck right in the middle of it. Finally, Calypso disappeared, but not before saying one more thing.
"Dey will not stay when dey learn of de curse." She disappeared, leaving Lyra staring at where she had been standing.
Lyra yanked her hand out of Pallo's and burst into tears, backing up three steps before she bumped against the heavy duty easel. She covered her face with her hands, the horrible truth hitting home for the umpteenth time. She would never find love because no one could ever love a cursed . . . creature.
When Lyra yanked her hand out of Pallo's, he was hurt. When she burst into tears the brother's hearts were in pain and yearned to comfort their Lyra and hold her and soothe her and to heal her pain.