Chapter 4 - Changes

Fiona

The lake was beautiful this time of night, with moonlight dancing across its surface, and now was the perfect time to test the abilities of the suit I managed to make.

The suits themselves are meant for warriors as it conceals them underneath any color of water, but they also have the ability to stick with us while ,we shift, no matter what specific water fairy we shift into.

Because my sisters and I will be going in our own directions soon, specific warriors were chosen to train at home in preparation for traveling with us to our new realms. I may or may not have stolen multiple suits from them to make my own, causing a blame game and more needing to be brought in. I recommended them going nude, but no one was nearly as amused as I was about it.

I dove headfirst off of the tall cliff into the water below, and my skin tingled with pleasure as soon as I made contact with the water. I swam around, covering distance quickly to make sure that I was in fact alone before shifting into my large dragon-like water serpent.

Unlike a werewolf, there wasn't another soul residing in my mind and body. My serpent and I were one, and I could shift whenever I felt the need. My large reptile matched the dark green color of my hair, and tonight I was testing the suit's ability to change that color as well.

I covered every surface inch of Lake Powell that I could before traveling to its depths. It had been so long since I'd been able to shift away from everyone and fully enjoy it. I wanted to relish every moment that I had.

It wasn't until I reached the bottom that my built-in sonar was able to pick up the sounds of motion back at the surface. I grumbled to myself in irritation. Of course, something just had to interfere now. With my luck, it was probably divers out looking for things that tourists might have lost during the day, and I'd have to sneak out of here without getting questioned on where my vehicle was. For some reason, I didn't think their human mind could handle "I magically arrived in the waterway".

I slowly started making my way back up towards the surface, trying to pick out any other odd sounds or movements that didn't belong. Even though there wasn't anything out of place other than the rhythmic splashing from the same location, I decided to shift back to my human form to play it safe.

Once I broke out of the water, I immediately saw what had been making the annoying noise that took me away from the depths of the lake, as well as my peaceful solitude. A large blue dragon lay on one of the cliffs, swaying its tail, which was splashing in and out of the water in a rhythmic motion, a cheeky grin on its punchable face. My eye twitched each time its tail hit the water.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked with my best bitch tone. I didn't hesitate to confront him as I stared into his aqua-colored eyes, nor did I bother playing polite, as there was no one else around to attempt to correct me for how I talked to a fucking dragon.

The dragon huffed out a small amount of smoke from his nose. I couldn't tell if it was in his own irritation .... or amusement, and I really didn't care.

"You really don't know who I am, do you?" he asked, not bothering to shift into his human form.

Great. He's cocky, arrogant, and obviously old as dirt since he taught himself how to talk while he's in his dragon form. Fucking peachy.

"First off, not only do I not know who you are, but I also don't care who you are. You interrupted my peace, so as far as I'm concerned, you can go fuck yourself," I answered as I continued to lightly tread the water .... even though I honestly didn't have to. But the feeling of it moving against my skin brought me pleasure that I wasn't ready to give up quite yet.

Snorting more smoke from his nose, the dragon glared at me, and now I KNEW that he was irritated and not amused. Oh well.

"Pretty bold for just a fairy, don't you think?" he asked arrogantly.

Just a fairy?! Did he seriously just say that?! "I thought that dragons were supposed to be smart? Clearly, the saying regarding being smarter than you look doesn't apply to you."

I saw his lip curl up, showing the constant glowing flame from within his mouth. I knew he didn't intend to use it on me. If he did, he would have already.

I don't know what his deal was, but I wasn't one to miss out on the perfect opportunity to put someone in their place. Hiding my smile so he didn't suspect anything, I sent a steady stream of water towards his face, directly crashing his arrogantly curled lip.

The dragon immediately shook his head like a dog that was sprayed by a water hose. I couldn't contain my laughter at seeing the prideful reptile's reaction to having a simple female fairy make an act of defiance against him. We stared at each other in silence, each one waiting for the other to make their next move.

"I'm not here to fight you, little fairy," the dragon said with forced calmness.

Interesting, but not enough ..... "I honestly don't care why you're here. As far as I'm concerned, you're nothing more than an arrogant creeper."

His nose twitched, and I could tell that he wanted to snarl in irritation again, but thought better of it this time. Instead, to my horror, the reptile dove off the cliff into the water and immediately blended in with it. He became completely camouflaged with the water we were in ..... and I had no fucking clue where he was.

I sighed, now realizing the predicament I found myself in. A fucking water dragon of all things. The arrogant prick probably got a glimpse of my serpent and thought I was one as well, only to be disappointed in finding out I was a fairy. But what's he doing around here? Yeah, the North West hemisphere is their territory, but usually they stayed closer to larger bodies of water and where it's cooler.

Ripples finally appeared about 30 yards in front of me, only instead of the dragon emerging, he had shifted into his human form. His impossibly ridiculously handsome human form, with his aqua-colored eyes and anchor-cut goatee that I didn't know if I wanted to punch .... or have all over my body. Of course, his facial features would represent water in almost every way possible. SIGH ....

"I don't care if you are in your human form; push your luck, and you'll get more than a burst of water to your face," I warned as I tried not to stare at him.

"Do you show this attitude to everyone, or am I just that special?" he asked with a coy grin.

I wanted to smack the smirk off of his face; I just didn't know if I wanted to do it with my hands or lips.

I shook the second thought from my head. "Don't flatter yourself, dragon. You're not special. It's more like there's no one around to criticize me for running my mouth."

He slowly started swimming closer. "I told you I'm not here to fight you."

"And I told you to stay back," I repeated as I backed away.

But he continued to swim closer.

I wasn't left with many options. Dragons are, and I hate to admit this, superior to a lot of the other supernaturals. This is why they're so arrogant, as well as why they stay true to the purity of their kind.

Realizing that fighting wasn't an option, my flight instinct finally kicked in. I quickly put myself in a bubble of water and started raising myself until I reached what I thought was a more than sufficient distance from his human form.

"Wow, you really are clueless as to who I am?" he asked with a wickedly evil smile before he chuckled.

His smile was sinister in so many ways. It mocked me and lured me in at the same time. No! Do NOT think that way, Fiona! I snapped out of my moment of lust, quickly moving my hand sideways to create white-capped waves on the once calm lake. "As I said, I don't care who you are! You're nothing to me, no one! Go back to your dragon kingdom, back to your elders of the council, back to your high and mighty deity! Arrogant bigots mean nothing to me!"

"ENOUGH!" he yelled as his expression turned from amusement to anger.

My eyes widened as the waves I created immediately came to a halt. It felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest as fear consumed me. I wasn't dealing with your run-of-the-mill water dragon; he wouldn't be able to control his element so easily in his human form. I was dealing with ....

Before I could finish my thought, my bubble of water gave out, and both the water and I fell back into the lake. I regained what composure I had left as quickly as I could and returned my gaze to the aqua eyes of the water dragon deity. Of all the beings to be stuck alone with. He could easily kill me .... or worse.

"I told you I didn't want to fight you." His voice sounded honest, almost calming, but everything told me not to trust him.

"Then what exactly is it that you want?" I asked as I weighed out my options.

He smiled at me again ... a smile that I didn't trust. "Maybe I'm here wanting an alliance?"

I let out an exaggerated scoff. "In the middle of Lake Powell? With no witnesses? No documentation? With a fairy princess that hasn't even taken over yet? Yeah, right. And I'm housewife material. What do you really want?"

He swiftly closed the gap between us, and before I even knew what was happening, his mouth crashed against mine, and his tongue found its way into my mouth while his arms wrapped around me and pulled me against his lean, well-built body.

For the briefest of seconds, I enjoyed the sensation of his skin against mine .... but everything about what was happening was wrong .... so wrong ....

My knee lifted and found its mark as my teeth bit down on his bottom lip, and I tasted the unusually sweet yet metallic taste of his blood. I smiled as he moved just out of reach with an extremely shocked look on his face that I was willing to bet he had never worn before.

"Leveetan, right?" I asked as I wiped my lips with my hand, just to piss him off.

He blinked a few times before he answered. "Leviathan. My friends call me Levi."

I had to give the devil his due; he bounced back from the unexpected pain like nothing happened at all. It made me wonder if I didn't hurt him as badly as I thought, or if he was immune to feeling any pain at all?

"Well, I don't even know you, so Leveetan it is." He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand to stop him. "I'm talking now, not you. Who you are doesn't give you any right to play games and think that I'm just going to open myself to you. I'm sure you have females of every species constantly throwing themselves at your feet, but I'm not one of them. And I sure in hell will never be your fling, so if that's what your goal is, you can fuck off."

Leviathan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. I had no clue what was going on in the little man brain of his, but I wasn't having any part of it. I quickly backed up towards the shore, keeping my eyes on him the entire time. I figured if I could somehow jump back into the river far enough away that he couldn't control the waters I was in, that I might stand a good chance at making it back home before anything could happen.

"Wait!" Leviathan yelled, his aqua eyes drilling holes into me. I swore they were pleading with me, but I knew better than that. I held my breath as I obeyed, not knowing if I really dared to be obstinate. "Are you telling me that you feel nothing at all?" he asked.

I shook my head in confusion. What on Earth is he talking about? "Feelings what? I'm just a fairy, one that doesn't want to be involved in any of the games you're trying to play!"

"Just answer the question," he asked quietly.

I shook my head. "No. I feel nothing."

Ok, it was a partial lie. I was attracted to him, and I enjoyed being in his arms, but that was completely besides the point. I refused to be the bimbo side-piece to a dragon deity.

A low, deep growl escaped Leviathan as he shifted back into his dragon and took flight, pausing in sky to look down at me.

I held his gaze, not knowing what to expect, nor what just transpired between us. "Wish I could say it was nice meeting you, Leveetan!" I yelled with a prissy wave.

He blew out a puff of smoke before taking off and I quickly made my way back home.

After taking a quick shower and putting on some PJs, I decided to make my way to the kitchen to look for something to settle my nerves. Hot coco made with some peppermint schnapps sounded good right about now.

"That was quite the little show you put on tonight, dear sister," Shaylee said quietly as I watched my cup of milk turn in the microwave.

I didn't bother turning around to look at the unapproving look on her face. "Someone needs to make a stand now and then."

"Look, we all fight with each other, it's what we do. But I love you, and I want you to be careful. Do you understand me?" she asked seriously.

I finished making my drink before I bothered to look her in the eyes. When I finally did, I could see the worry that her blue and brown eyes held. "You just focus on yourself and being the perfect princess, OK? I'll be fine. Are you ready for the move to Aunt Aella's?"

She forced a smile. "As ready as I'll ever be, how about you? Are you ready to go to Aunt Nixie's?"

I nodded my head. "Same."

"Did you enjoy your swim?" she asked sarcastically.

Fucking Cerulean couldn't keep his mouth shut.

I shook my head. "Not so much. I ended up not being alone. Hey, you're well versed in the social side of things. What do you know about Leviathan?"

"The water dragon deity?" she asked with a shrug. "He was here tonight with his kids. It's the first time he's made an appearance at one of the princess announcements in ages, by my understanding. Why?"

Great. So he saw the entire show. I shook my head. "No reason. He lives up around Aunt Nixie's, right? So I'll kind of be neighbors with him?"

Shaylee nodded. "Yeah, not super close neighbors, but still ..... I heard he has stayed to himself since his chosen mate left him, so you shouldn't have to worry about anything."

An unexplained feeling of relief washed over me. "That's right, I forgot about that. Why'd she leave again?"

Shaylee raised a brow, but answered my question all the same. "Rumor has it she couldn't handle being his chosen mate any longer and had a breakdown. Poor woman. Imagine being chosen to have children with someone you don't love and spend day after day with them."

I shook my head in disgust at the old school traditions. "Their ways are worse than ours. Pompous assholes anyway."

Shaylee was quiet for a moment, as if she were deep in her own thoughts. "Well, I'm going to go to bed now, it's been a long day. Have a good night Fiona."

"You too, Shaylee," I replied with a small smile.

I sat alone in the dark kitchen, sipping my peppermint flavored hot coco, thoughts of the day's events running through my mind.

I decided to go to bed long after Shaylee, as well as my drink, were gone. I needed to get some rest before a long day of packing. Tomorrow Cerulean needed to make his announcement about where he had decided to live, and I knew my life was about to change, but little did I realize just how much.