Chapter 14 - Who Died?

Syra looked around and saw everyone around her was clad in black. She couldn’t see many faces as many had their heads down and cried. She looked in front of her and saw Pythia walking towards the front of the seated crowd. Syra struggled to see her normally cold sister’s face filled with sorrow, so she looked down and saw the coffin. 

She stared at the wooden box that she knew held someone, but she was not sure who. She looked around frantically to see if she could figure out whose funeral this was.

Syra awoke with a start and felt her face was wet. She knew that feeling, a dream that was too realistic. She knew this was a vision of the future. She felt sick with dread and tried not to cry. She had seen Lia and Sophel next to her, but she couldn’t clearly see anyone else in the crowd.

“-ness! Your Highness!” Hestia’s concerned face was right next to Syra when she fully awoke.

“Hestia?” 

“I could not wake you. You were crying and you were partially transformed! I was worried I was going to have to try to drag you to the bathtub! What happened?” Hestia’s eyes were searching Syra’s frantically.

“I was crying?” Syra touched her face and when she pulled back her hand she saw the tears and scales for herself, “Wait, Hestia! When I was crying, did I say anything? Like a name?” Syra turned and frantically clutched her maid.

“Not that I heard, your Highness. You were just sobbing like someone had died!” Syra flinched and Hestia looked at her with some wariness, “Did you have a nightmare that someone did?”

“It wasn’t a nightmare.” Syra felt sick, “I saw a vision of the future.” Syra saw Hestia’s face pale.

“Your Highness, I have not seen your powers often, but do you usually transform when you use them?” 

“Most of my visions are minor. I do not usually transform for those. For the few I have had that showed something more important, I sometimes have a few scales pop out.” Syra looked at her scale covered skin and felt her finned ears.

“So this was an important vision?” Hestia looked very nervous and a little green around the gills herself.

“I need to speak to my mother.”

***

Hestia knocked and opened the door. She shook her head as she entered. Syra felt her heartbeat in her ears. Her fingers were tingling. She needed to figure out whose funeral that was so she could warn them.

Warn them of what? Some day they will die? My vision did not show anything to indicate how far out into the future this was. I don’t even know how they died. What warning would I even give? Watch out, something at some point in the future is going to kill you?

Syra felt someone rubbing her back and could hear voices. The ringing in her ears made it impossible to hear anything they were saying. She tried to focus on breathing deeply. As she focused she felt a little better and looked up to see Hestia and Sorel talking. She looked to her side and saw Lia was the one rubbing her back.

“Breath, Syra. We are here. Breath.” Lia spoke in a calm voice that sounded far away.

“Hestia says that Syra had a vision, but did not tell her what it was. She just came back from asking for an audience with Grandmother when she found Syra like this. Lia, do we need to get her underwater?” Sorel crouched down next to Lia and glanced worriedly at Syra whose knuckles had turned white.

“I don’t know! Let’s try. Maybe being half transformed is why she cannot breathe?” Lia sounded scared as she grabbed Syra’s arm.

“We can’t take her out into the underwater part. She cannot leave the room.” Sorel grabbed the other arm.

“The tub fills with salt water, let’s get her there.” Hestia ran towards the bathroom and Syra could hear water running as she felt hands trying to move her.

Syra was trying to help walk, but her legs were weak and sore. She couldn’t breath and couldn’t feel her fingers. Sorel and Lia got her to the bathroom and the three lifted her into the large tub. They watched as she simply floated there still half transformed. Lia jumped in and transformed.

“Syra! You need to fully transform!” Lia grabbed her face and made her face her, Syra looked at her and transformed as she took in water through her gills.

Lia moved her hands to Syra’s shoulders and dragged her to the bottom of the tub and mimed out the action of breathing. Syra focused on her movements and tried to copy them. After a while, Lia held out her hand. Syra took it and they emerged from the water.

“Syra! Are you okay?” Sorel rushed forward from where she had sat on the floor.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Syra said with a shudder as she suddenly started shaking.

“Let’s get you out and warmed up, you are shaking so much.” Hestia helped Syra out first and wrapped her in a towel.

“Can I have some help? Non-aquatic gowns are quite heavy when wet.” Lia called out as she held on to the side of the tub.

“You weren’t kidding!” Sorel grunted as she and Hestia hefted Lia out of the water.

“Lia! You can borrow one of my gowns, I am so sorry!” Syra’s voice shook as she shivered while she looked at the dripping gown.

“It is just a dress. Are you okay, Syra?” Lia lifted the gown to walk forward a few steps and as she released it a loud slap was heard around the room.

“I… I just saw something. I need to talk to my mother. Hestia, what did she say?” Syra turned and Hestia looked sad.

“I am sorry, your Highness. I was told she will not see you right now.”

“Did you tell her how much she transformed for this one?!” Lia whirled around to face Hestia.

“I did, your Grace. Her secretary said that ‘making up visions to get out of punishment will only further anger her Majesty’ and then she sent me away.” Hestia flinched while looking into Lia’s angry face.

“Lia, it isn’t her fault. My mother thinks I am lying to get out of my room.” Syra laughed dryly, but then began to laugh harder and harder before she fell to the floor with tears dripping.

“Syra! What did you see? Maybe we can help.” Sorel crouched next to Syra who looked up and tears poured even faster as she finally stopped laughing.

“Who among us can stop what I have seen? I have seen nothing and too much.” Syra laughed again as tears continued to pour down.

Nothing good will likely come from telling them my vision. It will likely just make them spiral in fear of losing someone. I don’t want to have my visions cause such turmoil again.

Lia, Sorel, and Hestia looked at each other in bewilderment. Sorel waved the other two away and sat with Syra. She sat quietly as her aunt sobbed and laughed hysterically. Until she seemed to quiet down.

“Syra, would you like a hug?” Sorel raised her arms while making her offer.

“... Yes.” Syra leaned over and let Sorel wrap her arms around her.

“Can we come back in?” Lia’s voice was heard from the doorway.

“Yeah, we are just in here on the floor.” Sorel called to her sister from over Syra’s shoulder.

“We brought dry clothes.” Lia moved her hand to show off the nightgown that Hestia held.

“Thank you.” Syra sat up and wiped her eyes, when she tried to stand she stumbled, but was caught by Lia and Sorel, “Oh I… Thank you again.” Syra laughed lightly.

Dressed in a comfortable nightgown and wrapped in a blanket, Syra sat on her favorite chair while Lia and Sorel sat across on the couch while they drank hot tea. Hestia stood nearby with a worried expression stuck on her face still.

“If you want to tell us your vision, we will listen. But you don’t have to! The choice is yours, I just wanted to let you know we will try to help if you need it.” Lia sipped her tea as she blushed at her stumbling statement.

“Like Lia just tried to say, we are on your side. We will try to help, if you let us.” Sorel added with a glance to her sister.

“Thank you both. I just don’t know how much anyone can help. You know how it feels when you see a future that would be terrible if it came true?” Syra took a sip and felt the heat of the tea comfort her and did not see her nieces exchange a look.

“How terrible is the future you saw?” Sorel looked nervous and Lia looked down at her teacup.

“Very bad. But the problem is I do not have enough information from what I saw to even know for sure what was going on or how to prevent it from happening.” Syra felt a tear drip down her cheek and wiped it away.

“I am sorry, I am struggling to follow. You know this future is terrible, but you don’t know what this future is?” Sorel’s eyebrows gathered together in her confusion.

“I… know it doesn’t make any sense. I am just… scared. If I tell you what I saw, I do not know how you would react or what you would do. The action of telling you could make this future happen or even a worse future to occur.” Syra shifted uncomfortably under the confused gazes of her closest family.

“Or we could try to help you figure out a solution. Telling us might help.” Lia offered.

“I love you both, but I need to talk to someone who has most likely experienced the kind of vision I had to try to get guidance. I learned the hard way that there are times that trying to stop an event can cause the event to happen.” Syra felt cold. She didn’t often feel cold, except when she was sad or grieving.

“What happened?” Lia’s voice was soft.

“When I was young, I had a vision of my grandmother eating and suddenly coughing up blood.” Syra heard three gasps before continuing, “I came to her crying and she ended up becoming terrified that someone was going to poison her.”

“Didn’t Queen Cerulian die from poison?” Lia looked to her sister for confirmation.

“Yes, my grandmother did. She fired the whole kitchen staff. She barely ate She locked herself in her room and would only let her daughters inside. One day, one of her daughters came screaming into the corridor about my grandmother’s death.” Syra sighed heavily with the memory before she resumed the cautionary tale.

“She had been poisoned. She had gotten rid of loyal servants and had unknowingly gave her murderer easier access. My vision scared her into trusting only three people, and only one of them was trustworthy.” Syra wiped her eyes.

“I barely remember my great grandmother.” Lia confessed offering a reassuring hand to Syra, “But, none of what happened was your fault. Her murderer would have just found a different way.”

“I didn’t even remember we had great aunts!” Sorel exclaimed and the table shook slightly, “Ow! Lia!” 

“Yeah, my mom had three siblings. Two sisters and a brother. Princess Gale and Princess Monsoon worked together to slowly poison my Grandmother. Apparently for a lot longer than anyone realized. Everyone thought her declining health was from age, but it was from being slowly poisoned.” Syra shivered.

“Which sister was the murderer?” Sorel had long forgotten her tea as her eyes stayed on Syra.