The summer breeze played with Marella's hair, the salty smell filled her lungs. The dock at the edge of Honau was filled with Naiads, all busy with unloading the ships, merchants yelling and selling their fish, or other seafood. This was her town, her whole world. But she knew when everybody looked at her, they saw someone that didn't belong here. Still nobody ever said it to her face, literally nobody. Not even her grandparents, who hated her from the day she was born. She was not a full blood, like everybody else. She sighed and looked into the water, her reflection was mercury, but still clear as day. She didn't know who her father was, but she had the feeling that she would know him when she would meet him. If he was still alive that is. She must look like him, because she didn't look like her mother at all. Or the rest of their family.

"Marella!" That was her mother's voice. "Marella, what in the Nine Kingdoms are you doing here?"

"What those it look like." Marella replied.

"It looks like, nothing." Her mother said sharp. "It looks like you are doing nothing productive with your life."

"That is not what I am doing mother, I am looking at the ocean. You know the place you told my father came from." Marella said, with a very sweet tone.

"Why are you so..." Her mother started.

"Challenging, irritating, unyielding, bothersome." Marella started to sum up all the things her mother had called her over the years. "I do not know. There is so much I do not know about myself." Her mother sighed and looked deflated.

"I know that it is not easy." Her mother started again.

"That is the understatement of the year." Marella said. "Everybody hates me, the friends that I have only seen grandpa's Acorns. In the meantime I feel like a fish out of water, I can not breathe, I can't run, I can't hide. Mom why am I so different? And please do not tell me that it is because some man came out of the sea one day and knocked you up." She knew that it was rude to say this to her mother, but all she wanted were some answers. She was a Naiad without the ability to control water, which made everything worse.

"Scylla was looking for you. She and her friends were going for a trip." Her mother said. Chancing the subject, like Marella had not said anything at all. That was the problem every time Marella said something about her father, her mother chanced the subject. "She wanted to know if you wanted to come too." Marella wanted to sigh. Did her mother not hear her, when she said that her 'friends' only saw the Acorns. Not her Acorns, her grandfather's. But of course her mother would ignore that fact, as any other.

"Do I need to?" Marella asked. She knew that Scylla's family wanted to make a good impression on hers. And hers wanted to make a good impression on Scylla's family. Normally Marella would have declined Scylla's invitation, but something told her that she would not have much choice in the matter.

"Yes." Her mother replied, in one single word. "They are on the dock near our house, if you want to make it you need to run." In other words, get your butt over there.

"I am on my way." Marella said with a sigh.

******

The Nightstorm's yacht lay still at the dock, the servants of the family were busy loading it with food and drinks. Marella shook her heads with a sigh, really was it too much trouble to load that dammed thing themselves. She really couldn't understand people with too many Acorns to their name. Her family included, she cleaned her own room, washed her own clothing. Something that was beneath her according to her grandmother, but Marella just felt useful when she did it.

"Hey Marella!" Someone on the yacht yelled. Marella looked up and saw Scylla, heavily waving at her. "I am so glad you could join use." That was clearly a lie, Marella knew that for a fact. But she said nothing, just walked towards the ship and stepped onboard. She needed to climb a small set of stairs to reach the main deck, were a whole group sat on the chairs and sofa's. She didn't know all of them, but then again she never needed to know them. Scylla with her long brown hair walked over to her and tried to hug her. Marella frowned, this was awkward, to say the least. Scylla was a long brunette with an amazing fake tan. At least it looked unnatural to her.

"Thank you for inviting me, Scylla." Marella said politely.

"Of course, no problem. We will leave shortly."  Syclla replied, with a fake smile on her face. She had probably hoped that Marella would decline, like always. But apparently that was not in the cards, for the both of them. Marella stepped forward. 

"My mother." Marella said, as if it explained everything.

"Mine too, so now you are stuck with use." Scylla said and Marella just nodded and shrugged. Scylla turned around. "Never mind, we are going to have so much fun. First we are going to make a trip to the Pōha'siren, were we are going to swim. Play some music and my cock will grill the most delicious food you ever tasted." The last part was highly doubtful, but she was not going to say that. In stead, she forced a smile on her face.

"Sounds indeed like fun." She said, while making a small mental note, do not go in the water. Scylla guided her to the rest of the guests, some other rich kids. Marella greeted everybody.

"Alright sit down everybody, we are going to leave." The captain said. Everybody said down and they took off.

*******

The sun was already setting when the arrived at the Pōha'siren. Almost everybody made themselves ready to jump into the water. Marella almost sighed in relief when she saw that she was not the only one who was not going in. Two girls who sat a bit away from her, stayed in their clothing and watch like her how the others jumped into the salt water. The cock was already mending the grill, Marella looked at the large sharp rocks that pointed out of the water. Legend has it that sirens sat on those rocks waiting for their next victim. But she couldn't see any spot that would be comfortable to sit on, for any amount of time.

"So you are roped into this trip as well." Somebody said behind her. Marella turned her head, it was one of the two girls.

"Yes, my mother incited that I came. I am not much of a party girl." She replied. She recognized the girls, Ruby and Cyntia. Scylla's cousins. Ruby just nodded and sighed.

"Hey, I get it. You do not fit anywhere, so it is better not to engage with people. You stick out like a sore thumb, but still your family is trying to make you fit in." Ruby said. "And this is not even your own fault. Your mother and her fairy tale man from the sea." Marella looked at her with narrowed eyes, most of the time she was thinking the same thing, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear it out of somebodies else's mouth.

"Ruby." Cynta snapped. "That was so rude." Ruby shrugged, simply as if she did not care. Which in Marella's opinion was a breath of fresh air. Nobody ever had acted like this in front of her, it did not mean that she liked it.

"Ruby, can you please not talk about my mother like that. She is still my mother." Marella said. "And there is maybe some truth to her story, you can simply see that by looking at me." Ruby nodded slowly, as if she was thinking about those words.

"Ruby." Cynta snapped again. This time Ruby shrunk slightly, as she was got hit by something. "I am sorry Marella, my sister is such a..." A scream or terror interrupted her, all three of the stood up and ran to the side of the yacht. The cock and the captain joined them.

"In the name of the Dragon Lord." One of them whispered. Between the swimming Naiads there were men in bright colors. The water around the ship was colored a deep red, blood. "Sirens!" The captain screamed turning around. "We need to get out of here and..." A blade to his throat prevented him from finishing the sentence. A large man covered in purple scales stood on the main deck, looking at her. There went a shiver through her spine, not a shiver of fear. But she didn't know what else it was. His wet silver blond hair hung on his back. His silver eyes with a blue undertone looked at her, he was like a shark watching his next meal.

"Rʻulaʻula" He said in a whisper. She frowned this was Mou, Sirentongue. She has never heard someone speak it before. Still she understood it. He said 'Red'. What ever that meant. Ruby and Cynta screamed as another siren leaped onto the main deck, this one was covered in orange scales. This time the shiver was from fear, she stepped away from the orange man. But she then bumped into the purple one, one wall of muscle.

"Kūˈnoinā kel wahi." The orange man said, to the purple one. Again she understood him.

"No, please do not kill me." She started to beg. Ruby and Cynta looked at her in horror. What she couldn't help it that she understood Mou.

"Rʻulaʻula." The purple one said, again. The orange one shook his head and repeated his command to kill her. "Ä'ole. Rʻulaʻula." The orange man sighed and then turned towards Ruby and Cynta. The purple man grabbed Marella by the waist lifted her up and then her world became dark. The last thing she remembered were their screams.