Chapter 476: Wolf unlock

Viola, who had been watching, could no longer bear the weight of all the grief and pain her mother had gone through, and she jerked her hand away from the leaves that kept her mother’s body, pressing it instead against her own stomach.

Natasha, who had been watching her, continued, "Your mother gave birth to the two of you while grieving your father. But despite everything she was going through, she loved you both the moment you came into the world, with those little feet covered in scales that I thought were hideous. She was willing to give everything for the two of you."

Viola looked at her aunt as Natasha continued, "She told me she believed your father still loved her and that she would bring him back someday. But before that, she wanted to take the two of you up to land and live there, cutting all ties with our parents."

Natasha’s expression tightened with guilt as she looked away for a moment.

"I didn’t want that to happen. So, while she slept, I took you both away from her..."

Until this moment, Viola had only ever heard about her mother, she had never seen the woman. But now that she had witnessed the love between her parents, she felt her heart torn in two, knowing that they had they been together, she and Ivy would have grown up in a loving home. But their father had never been able to accept their mother for who she truly was...

"Why did you show me this?" Viola asked, looking at the grave where her sister still watched the memories behind her eyes, silent.

Natasha looked at it and said, "Your mother brought your father’s body back after the flood. I never knew when or how she managed to do it, but it must have been sometime between the moment she gave birth to you and the moment she asked to be left alone. That’s the grave beside hers, the one without the light, because he wasn’t a merman."

She paused, her gaze lingering on the unlit grave.

"She brought him back in the hope that someday, the Child of the Sea would return and bring the dead back to life, just as every mermaid who knew of what Azmira had once been capable of. They believed we would have the Child of the Sea again."

Viola frowned, still holding onto the ache she carried for her mother’s tragic ending.

"Mermaids and werewolves cannot coexist, Serena. You have to choose a side to embrace. If you embrace the powers of the Sea, I will kill your wolf completely, and your potential as the Child of the Sea will awaken itself. You will have nothing more to do with werewolves, and all those dead mermaids, and your father... will be revived by you.

"But if you choose to stand with the wolves... you will only ever be their curse-breaker, and nothing more, and your connection to us will be severed the moment you embrace your wolf, because you can’t have both. Azmira was a mermaid. Which do you want, Serena?" Her aunt posed the most difficult question anyone had ever asked her.

•••

Viola stared at the pink wall of the royals’ cave, unsure how long she’d sat there deep in thought, trying to process everything she’d just learned about herself. Her aunt hadn’t pressed her to decide right at the grave, instead, she’d swum back with them in silence, quietly telling her to take her time with a decision this life-changing, one she might never be able to undo.

"What should I do, Ivy?" Viola asked quietly, turning to look at her twin, who had come to settle beside her without a word, offering silent support.

Viola knew she could never turn away from Sebastian, it was unthinkable, given that they were fated mates. She would carry the pain of that choice in her heart for the rest of her life, and her child would grow up without a father. But then again, after seeing her parents, something inside her longed to know them, to experience what it might have been like if they were still alive.

Viola wanted both things, and choosing just one didn’t feel right at all. She wished Natasha had never shown her those memories of their beautiful mother, a woman who had died searching for them on land. Who could have killed such an innocent, lovely woman? She couldn’t help but wonder.

"I wish I were the one born with this burden, Serena. I would have made it easier for you, since I don’t have anyone I love the way you do. Life is full of strange wonders, we’re twins, yet we don’t carry equal powers to help each other." Came Ivy’s words, her smile bitter. "Don’t let Aunt Natasha pressure you into a hasty decision. She wants you to embrace the powers of the Child of the Sea because she wants to bring our grandparents back to life too, so we can all be a family.

"She’s not a bad person, but she is putting you in a hard spot. I won’t tell you which side to take, sister, that choice is yours. Follow what your heart wants."

Viola looked at her endlessly kind sister and felt a lump rise in her throat as she said, "Won’t you hate me, if I follow what my heart wants? I know you want to see our mother too..." Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, Viola broke into sobs. "My heart wants to be with Sebastian..."

Ivy stared at her sister, a woman who, even as a child, had never cried or shed a tear for anyone, no matter the circumstances, and realized just how deeply she loved this man. Making her stay here would be nothing short of ruining her life. She pulled her into an embrace and whispered,

"Then be with him." Ivy said. "Save your man and start your family. Mom and Dad will understand, wherever they are, and so do I. Go back home, Serena."

Viola, hearing her sister’s selfless words, hugged her tighter, so grateful that her heart felt heavy, as though she’d swallowed a stone. "What did I ever do to deserve a sister like you, Ivy? I thought you’d hate me for the rest of our lives for what I did at the orphanage, and here you are, being my greatest supporter."

Ivy pulled back from the hug and held her sister’s shoulders as she said, "I’ve been wanting to tell you this, Serena. At that orphanage, I gave you the chance to take my place. Even if you hadn’t done it yourself, I would have made you take the clothes and pretend to be me. Now put that behind us and let’s focus on getting you out of here. Will you stop crying?" Ivy said, with a small glare when she saw her sister’s lips still quivering, even though the tears themselves were invisible under the sea, lost among the water surrounding them.

Ivy had never held anything against her twin, who had taken her place when Viola had only followed her own plan, dropping the dress the Lindens had given her to change into so Viola could wear it instead. As much as Ivy wanted to meet their parents, she knew her sister had always been her whole world.

Viola hugged her twin again before finally composing herself. "Thank you, Ivy, for everything."

"Don’t mention it, that’s what sisters are for." Ivy patted her back with a smile.

"I want to go home."

"Then home you shall go, sister. But first, there’s something I want to tell you." Ivy said, her eyes curious as they met her sister’s. "Does your Sebastian have a look-alike, or a twin, or something?" She asked.

Viola nodded. "Yes, he does. He’s a twin. Why do you ask?" She questioned, knowing Ivy wouldn’t bring something up out of nowhere unless she had something to say.

Ivy shrugged. "I stumbled upon a man a while back. When I saw your Sebastian, I thought he looked like someone the moment I laid eyes on him, so I went back to check and make sure. I found the other one in a terrible state. I couldn’t just leave him there, coughing and looking like a dying man, so I helped him to bed and, unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, cured him with my song."

She hesitated before adding, "I haven’t told you this, but I inherited Mother’s healing song, in a way. He was so pitiful and alone in that big place, and—"

Ivy was pulled into her sister’s embrace again before she could finish. "Oh my goodness, Ivy, you have no idea what you’ve just done. You’ve lifted such a weight off Sebastian, and he’s going to be so glad and happy, thank you so much!"

Sebastian, who she knew had been tearing himself apart over his twin, would be overjoyed to learn he hadn’t died after all, and that her sister had cured him. Viola suddenly felt she couldn’t wait to tell him. But just as they were hugging, their aunt, their cousin, and the Sea Guardian swam in.

Viola pulled back from her sister and turned to them as her aunt asked, "Have you made your decision, dear? You’ve already spent two days here, and everyone is curious and impatient."

Viola hadn’t realized that watching her mother’s memories had taken two full days until she surfaced from them, and she knew she couldn’t afford to waste any more time. She announced,

"I have decided, I want my wolf unlocked. I can’t stay here in the sea. I’m sorry, but if it’s meant to be, fate will bring another Child of the Sea. It just can’t be me." She spoke, even knowing the decision was a difficult one. But since there was no middle ground, and she had to choose a side, it had to be her wolf.