The Sweetest Kind of Fate

by Crystal Cestari

  “Lu-ci-ille!” Victoria chimes, in a singsong that chills my already-frozen blood. “And the matchmaker! How adorable,” she says to me, laughing at the thought. “You think throwing a rag over this poor girl is going to result in a happily-ever-after?”

  Ivy flashes her trademarked glare, and for a second, I kind of love her. “This isn’t a fairy tale, though it’s pretty clear you’re the villain.”

  “Happy to play the part,” Victoria says with a bow.

  “Don’t do this!” Iris cries, probably not even realizing no one can see her. These are the first words she’s spoken in weeks; her voice cracks due to lack of use. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to wake from what essentially was a supernatural coma only to be the center of attention in a magical showdown. Disorienting, for sure. “I don’t want your help anymore.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Victoria laughs. “Do you realize how much power I’ll unlock by altering a member of the human species? There’s no way I’m stopping now.”

  Mom steps in front of invisible Iris, acting like a human shield. “Think again,” she says.

  Victoria and Mom start to duel in true Wicca fashion. Victoria begins by muttering in Latin and flings what looks like a bath bomb into the air, which explodes at Mom’s feet, causing her to stumble back. While on the ground, Mom skids a disk filled with herbs over to Victoria, which causes the witch to sneeze uncontrollably. I can tell Mom is still trying to use lighter magic to disarm her enemy, but if she wants to stay in the game, she’s going to have to do more than cause hay fever.

  While Mom and Victoria are busy trying to one-up each other, I get back to my task: getting Iris away from the scene. I feel around for her hand, which is much harder than it sounds. “Iris, we have to get out of here.”

  Whether she looks at me or not (I can’t tell), she replies, “No. I won’t leave Brooke.”

  The mermaid, still trembling inside Iris’s coat, shoots a worried glance my way before turning in the general direction of her girlfriend. “I’ll be fine, love. It’s not safe here.”

  “NO!” Iris yells out from the void. “I’m tired of getting yanked around.” She pulls the blanket off her face, leaving an unsettling visual of a floating head.

  A finger taps me from behind, and I jump a mile high, spinning around. “Vincent! Gods!” He and Amani have left the safety of our hiding spot, ready to help.

  “Sorry. Should I just throw them over my shoulder and run?” he asks me.

  “Unless you can carry all three of them, I think it’s useless. Iris is not going to leave Brooke to be potentially tortured in her wake.” Argh. A perfectly good invisible blanket gone to waste.

  “Well, I can’t just do nothing.” He springs into action with surprising vampire speed, racing off toward the witches before either Amani or I think to stop him. He entraps Victoria, pulling her away from Mom and pressing two warning teeth into her neck.

  Amani gasps at seeing Vincent’s fangs for the first time. I too am taken aback, having grown so comfortable with his charming, polished facade. It’s easy to forget that behind the martini-shaking Casanova is a thirst for blood. I reach for Amani’s hand to comfort her, but she doesn’t seem afraid; she’s positively transfixed by Vincent’s strength and power over this wretched wench.

  With her opponent caught under the tension of Vincent’s teeth, Mom lowers her arms, taking the opportunity to quickly blow some protection powder toward Ivy, Iris, and Brooke. I don’t think it’d be enough to guarantee safety against a strong spell, but it may offer a few extra seconds of safety, which is sometimes all it takes.

  Just as I think things may be moving toward our favor, Victoria whistles a three-note tune, causing her birds of prey to halt their circling and change direction. The ravens swoop toward me with frightening speed, and before I can run, they’ve pinched my shoulders in their beaks and raised me high above the ground. I scream out in fear as my legs dangle over the icy waves of Lake Michigan.

  “Amber!” Mom yells.

  “Release me, or my birds release her,” Victoria cries.

  Vincent retracts his fangs but keeps her locked in his arms, waiting for Mom’s signal. She nods wearily, never taking her eyes off me. Once Victoria is free, the ravens lower me slightly, but I’m still several feet above, with a terrifying plunge below.

  It’s the perfect setup, with me as the perfect hostage: Mom can’t do anything to the birds without me tumbling into subzero waters. Instant hypothermia awaits.

  “Now, you’ll let me complete my spell, unless you want an ice cube for a daughter.”

  I’m crying, which doesn’t help, as the tears leave frozen streaks on my cheek.

  Then, as if things couldn’t get worse, I see a blur of black barreling toward the scene. From way up high, I can’t make out the details, but anything moving with that fierce determination is something not to be messed with. No one on the ground detects the incoming horror, but just as I’m about to let out a warning scream, I realize it’s Marcus.

  He cuts through the group, snarling past with crazy speed. Everyone jumps back, as the wolf himself makes a fantastic leap straight toward me. His wolf fangs bite into one of the ravens, and they all release me instantly. My arms and legs flail hopelessly in the wind, and I try to prepare for the frigid temperature below. The water is like a million tiny needles simultaneously pricking my skin, even through my winter outerwear. I try to push my way up to the surface, but it’s so unbelievably cold, my movements are stilted, as if I truly am turning to ice. It hurts to see; it hurts to breathe. Yet just as I feel I’m being bled dry, arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back toward oxygen. Slippery scales undulate next to me, as Brooke tugs me back to shore. Ivy and Iris grab my blue hands as I cough out the lake from my lungs. Amani rushes to my side, covering me with her coat.

  Mom, Vincent, and a very wet wolf have Victoria surrounded. She looks tired but not yet defeated, as if she’s saved her best move for last. A wicked grin starts to spread, and Victoria quickly stops her incantation, lowering her arms and emitting the creepiest cackle I’ve ever heard. I’m shaking on the ground, the wicked witch towering over me, but my best friend is lying beside me. Then her eyes light up with a glimpse of the future.

  “Ms. Sand!” Amani screams. “The black pearl!”

  Victoria removes the onyx orb from her robe, and it instantly begins to glow from within. Her acrylic nails tap against the incandescent globe, which casts a ghostly phosphorescence on her skin. She went to great lengths to get this mystical item, only she doesn’t know we’ve come prepared.

  Mom stops her before she starts, gathering a clump of snow and mixing it with a single blue drop from a stopper. The coloring spreads through the mound like a snow cone, causing it and all the snow in the immediate area to activate, swirling up from the ground. A tornado of ice begins to circle Victoria, curling faster and faster until particles combine into something stronger.

  Ice. It rises up like a winter stalagmite, trapping Victoria’s feet and literally freezing her in place. Victoria, realizing what is happening, raises the pearl above her head, trying to keep it away from the frozen water. She shrieks a stream of Latin, causing the globe to glow brighter, but it’s too late: the snow travels faster, working its way up her body, encasing her within the elements. Finally, the maelstrom overtakes her head, closing off the screams that have been filling our ears until she’s frozen. Once it reaches her raised fingers, they lose their grip on the pearl, which turns back to black and bounces down the side of the evil Popsicle. The silence is haunting, and we all stand by, our panicked breath the only sound. In the middle of our circle stands a solid witch statue, Mother Nature wrapped around her tight. But from behind the sheath of ice containing her, Victoria’s eyes continue to blink.

  Mom walks up to her frozen creation and taps on the ice right above Victoria’s distraught gaze. “Now, chill out, and watch a real witch do some magic,” she whispers to her defeated opponent.

  The coolest bur
n of all time.

  WITH Victoria looking on from her icy prison, the group gives a collective sigh of relief. Iris re-covers a dripping-wet Brooke with her coat; Vincent wraps a comforting arm around Amani. Mom and Ivy converse in hushed tones. And I, still pulsating with adrenaline, roll over toward Marcus, who has paused to lick his paws. It looks like one of the ravens clipped him, as he’s lying on his belly, tending to a small wound. Marcus is incredibly cuddly in human form, but since I’m still unsure of his wolfish tendencies, I approach with caution.

  “Marcus?” I start through chattering teeth. Even though I wasn’t in the water for long, the waves definitely penetrated my core, and the midnight wintery wind is not helping. “Can you…understand me?”

  He continues nursing his paw, uninterested in my advance. Yet when I crouch down and offer a peaceful palm for him to sniff, he does respond, looking up at me with those same kind eyes. Despite his black fur and frightening fangs, I recognize that serene soul within, and I slowly, cautiously, place my nearly numb hand on his shaggy head. He leans into the gesture like most dogs would, encouraging me to sink my hand over and scratch behind his ear. And while I’m sure canine Marcus would appreciate that gesture, human Amber can’t really deal with giving a good nuzzling to the boy who wrote her poetry.

  “Thank you,” I offer instead. I don’t know if he’ll remember this when the moon cycle moves on, but hopefully some of it will stick with him. “You saved my life.”

  He whimpers in acknowledgment, then comes to a stand. We’re now eye to eye, and I hold my breath, hoping my werewolf friend will maintain his momentary tranquility while so close. He’s massive, like a small bear, and could easily devour me. Instead, he licks my cheek, then turns to run, howling away in the moonlight. That sly dog, sneaking in a kiss. Well, I guess he earned it.

  I’m shaking on all fours, unable to stop. Mom comes up beside me and rubs a strong-smelling lotion on my exposed skin, working her way behind my ears and down my neck. It’s cold at first, causing obscenities to spill from my lips, but it instantly warms, growing hotter and hotter until it feels like summer sunlight bronzing my skin. I sigh in relief, letting the heat run through me, and I grab her lotion bottle and dump the remains down my shirt. Soon I feel like I just jumped out of a pool on a warm August day, rather than having escaped death in an arctic lake.

  “What happens now?” I ask, once my lips return to their natural color. Everyone has huddled close for warmth, congregating alongside the shore. Iris and Brooke are curled up against each other, a shimmering tail entwined with UGG boots. Even in the moonlight, it’s clear how content these two are together.

  “Well, that is up to Iris,” Mom says. “If you still want to go through with this, now would be the perfect time.”

  “But how?” Iris asks. “Everything got completely out of hand.”

  “That’s true,” Mom agrees. “But the moon is still full, and I have an entire supply cabinet here in my bag. I can help you see this through.” She was so against this spell to start, and now here she is, offering her services.

  “But why?” Iris asks, reading my mind. “Why now?”

  Mom takes a long pause. “For a long time, I thought that choosing love had made me weak. I altered my path to follow my heart, and it led me to sadness and regret. But now”—she looks first at the Victoria statue, and then at the water-bound couple—“I know I was wrong. I did make a choice, and it did change my life, but not for the worse. Had I never ventured down that road, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” She looks at me and smiles with love that further warms my heart. “I am not a Fate; only you can choose your life path.”

  Iris takes a long look at Brooke, who strokes her jawline. Watching the two of them together, you get the sense that everyone else fades from their peripheral vision, their worldview very small in the best possible way. It’s good to see Iris with life in her eyes, and it’s clear that life is Brooke.

  Ivy stands over them, biting her thumb. To her credit, she offers no opinion, letting the scene play out without her influence. Either she knows fighting is futile, or she finally sees that silent support is the best way to help her sister.

  “I’m ready,” Iris says while still looking at her girlfriend. Brooke breaks into a crazy smile, her tail slapping against the rock. Both of them grab on tighter to each other, flashing ecstatic smiles bright enough to light up the night. “I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” Mom smiles back. “Let’s begin.”

  I didn’t realize when Mom was packing her bag, her real intent was to complete the original spell. Stopping Victoria was key, but helping Iris reach her goal safely was Mom’s plan all along. One by one, she pulls out the necessary elements for the spell, starting with several white water lilies and floating candles. Mom steps into the water, interspersing the flowers and flames in a buoyant circle, and sprinkles a golden powder around the perimeter, which dissolves into a shimmering glow. Although I know the water is still freezing, the space Mom creates looks warm, welcoming, like a gentle portal to another world. And it is, awaiting not a victim but an active participant, ready to start her life.

  “We’re all set, Iris,” Mom says quietly, backing away to give Iris some space.

  Iris kisses Brooke on the forehead, then stands to face her sister. Ivy, who’s been remarkably strong throughout the whole ordeal, immediately starts to crumble. She throws herself at Iris, burying her face in her sister’s coat. From the way her shoulders are shaking, it’s clear she’s crying, though she doesn’t let a single tear show. Iris lovingly cradles Ivy’s head, laying her cheek in her golden hair.

  “This isn’t good-bye,” Iris whispers, at which Ivy balls up her fists tighter. “I could not live if I didn’t have you in my life. You are my sister, my champion, always looking out for me; I wouldn’t even be here right now if it wasn’t for you.” Ivy sniffles. “Even though we’re very different, your love fills the spaces where we split. Just because I’m choosing this does not mean I’m rejecting you. I love you, now and forever.”

  Ivy nods, and skillfully wipes her face clean before coming up for air. Her eyes are puffy, yet she’s smiling, still holding her sister tight.

  “Well, at least now Mom and Dad will be forced to take me to the Caribbean on a regular basis,” Ivy jokes.

  “See? Silver linings.” Iris takes Ivy’s face in her hands. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  After one more embrace, Iris turns back to Mom, who gestures toward the shore. I stand next to Ivy, occupying the space Iris left, and take her hand. For once, Ivy doesn’t resist.

  Iris removes her coat and shoes, and tests the icy waters. She shivers but plunges in anyway, with Brooke floating beside her. Iris paddles to the incantation circle and treads water, her form swimming in moonlight. From the shore, Mom begins her spell.

  Chanting in Latin, her hands raised toward the Gods, Mom closes her eyes and lets the magic flow through her. A path of light traces from Mom’s toes to Iris’s body. An invisible force pulls Iris under the waves, and Brooke dives down in tandem. The rest of us are shielded from view, as the light grows stronger and stronger, almost like a supernova engulfing the coast. Iris and Brooke disappear completely, and Ivy squeezes my hand to the point of pain. They stay under the water for longer than any human could hold her breath, and I realize we’re all holding ours.

  Like a firework fading from the night sky, the light dims, and all we can see are two heads bobbing in the water. Mom lowers her arms and steps back to join the group.

  “Did it work?” Ivy asks, rushing to the water’s edge and inadvertently dragging me with her. “Iris?”

  Iris turns our way; she’s dripping wet, but some of that moisture is from her own tears. Tears of relief, tears of joy, because poking out from the surface is a second tail, a shimmering collection of blue, sapphire, and cerulean scales. Ivy gasps, and Iris swims over her way.

  “Are you okay?” Ivy asks, crouching down. “You look…beautiful.”

  Iris r
eaches for Ivy’s hand. “I’ve never been better.”

  “Can I…touch it? Your tail?” Ivy asks.

  Iris, learning how to navigate her new appendage, awkwardly flops her fin on the rocks. Ivy removes one glove and gently grazes her sister’s scales. Iris giggles and immediately falls back into the water.

  “That tickles!” She laughs. Ivy smiles despite herself; it’s the first time I’ve seen any positive emotion cross her face in weeks.

  Brooke swims up beside her girl, and the two of them fall into what can only be described as an absolute snugglefest, tumbling over each other, trying to find the perfect position that leaves as little space as possible between them. As I watch the couple, so happy and carefree, I realize that this whole time I completely missed the point of Iris’s journey. I’ve been so focused on what she was sacrificing—her family, her home—that I didn’t even look at what she’s gaining.

  Brooke is crazy in love with Iris, and in return, Iris is positively floating, and not because she has a tail. It’s true she had to make a leap of faith to get here, but just because she jumped doesn’t mean everything else got left behind forever. She still has her sister, she still has that love in her heart, but because she took a chance, she gained even more. Turning away from Brooke would have been the logical choice; the status quo is always easier to swallow. But look at what she would have missed. The real sacrifice would have been to play it safe, to lock herself in a cocoon where nothing ever happens.

  The Fates dealt her one hand: a pair of legs restricting her to a land-ridden life. But Iris refused to accept it as her final option. She carved out something new, a different kind of fate, more in tune with her heart’s desire. If she’d been paralyzed by what was supposed to happen, she would have ultimately sacrificed the love of her life.

  My gut drops, and all the emotions of the night catch up with me. The joy in seeing a true love connection proves to be a massively powerful stomach punch. Now more than ever, I realize how I’ve let my visions handcuff my future, surrendering without a fight. I’ve been living life from a laminated road map, while Iris went ahead and just threw the guidebook out the window.