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Chapter Text

I almost didn't want to leave for Eurovision. I knew it was going to be the biggest performance of my life, but I didn't want to leave my children in Denmark. They would see me in a few days but after this, I would be leaving and staying sporadically. How would they ever cope without me?

I was saying goodbye to my two daughters as I was leaving for the Nordic pre party that is taking place in Norway. 

"Mor, det skal nok gå," said my eldest daughter as she tried to comfort me. ("Mum, we will be fine")

"Jeg ved det, jeg kan bare ikke lade være med at bekymre mig!" ("I know, I just can't help but worry!)

"Bare gå! Farvel!" They both said, pushing me out of the door. ("Just go! Bye!")

I laughed as I called out a goodbye. They'd be alright with their grandparents, I'm sure. Now all I have to do is find my delegation and make it to the airport in one piece. Should be too hard, right?

---

"My nail!" I cried as I sat waiting for my plane. I was on a call with the rest of my 'Beauty Blenders' as we were nicknamed. My nail had just broken as I had accidentally dropped my phone. As I had rushed to grab it, the nail on my right index finger had broken.

JJ chimed in, "Sissal, how have you already broken a nail? It's been 5 minutes!"

"You know me, what do you expect?" I replied, feigning offence.

Kyle replied instead of JJ, saying, "Maybe it's just because you're old."

"B*tch! I am not that old. You two are just too young to see that you're not always right."

"Go get 'em girl, those children need to be taught a lesson," Miriana said, her heavy accent shining through.

I dissolved into laughter as I saw the offended face of the two twinks on the small screen. At times like these, you could almost forget that we were live on Instagram, instead of just a group of friends.

"Do I look?! We are literally the same age!" JJ replied, hotly. 

Suddenly, my attention was brought off of the screen.

"Sissal, Vi skal nå vores fly, det afgår snart," one of my delegation said to me. ("Sissal, we need to catch our plane, it's leaving soon.")

I nodded to her as I turned to the screen, "Sorry twinks and Miriana, I have to catch my plane. Twink number 2, I'll see you in Norway!"

I heard the chimes of them saying goodbye, while still trying to seem mad. I don't know how JJ managed it, but he did. Kyle, however, just looked like an angry chipmunk.

I left the live stream and turned my phone onto aeroplane mode while trying to muffle my laughter. Here goes nothing.

---

My life had been turned around in less than a day. After leaving Denmark for that first time, it was just chaos from there. My days were filled with interviews and performances. The Nordic pre party happened, where I met Kyle. He was even sweeter in real life!

After that, it was time for the concert in Amsterdam. Here, I met the rest of our little gang of Beauty Blenders. I even met my husband, Adonxs from Czechia. How can one single man be so handsome?

Then after that, it was the festival in Manchester. It was great to see so many fans and it was great to spend more time with all the crew from Eurovision. 

The day after that festival, we all travelled down to London for the pre party. What utter chaos it was! Everyone loved it, including me. 

And then finally, it was the Madrid pre party. It was the final night and we were partying hard. We drank way too much and had way too much fun. I don't know why I was ever nervous about Eurovision.

Despite this fun, there has been something.... Strange happening. 

I wouldn't know how to describe it. It was as if the air around me was almost - bending to my will? During my rehearsals it's almost like I have to forcefully make sure the wind machine is blowing in my face. This all started in Amsterdam. Maybe I caught something there?

I haven't told anyone else in case they think I've gone insane. I knew that if anybody thought I was unwell, I might be rushed away from Eurovision and I could not let that happen.

My soul mark was the Eurovision trophy, which must mean that I meet them here. I knew nothing about my soulmate, other than the fact that they were to do with Eurovision. 

Only my close friends and family knew what my soul mark was, as per the custom of these tattoos. Most people cover up their tattoos until they meet their soulmate. I'm not sure why we have to do this but people who don't are treated very harshly so I'm not risking that. I have my children to worry about.

Mine is easy enough to hide, it's on my wrist so I just use soul mark coverings to hide it. 

Just between you and me, I want to show the rest of the contestants my tattoo. We have all gotten very close over this turbulent time. Especially me, JJ, Kyle and Miriana. I love our little live streams. They are always so much fun!

I feel like we have all known each other for years, rather than just meeting a few weeks ago. I'm getting sad just thinking of all this ending!

Right now, it's the day before the first semi-final. It was only Kyle that was in this show so the rest of the beauty blenders, Go-Jo from Australia, Erika Vikman from Finland and my Euro husband were watching from the audience.

First up is VÆB so we were definitely feeling hyped up after their.... unique song. Everybody loves the brothers from Iceland as their seemingly unlimited energy was very infectious.

"I hope they qualify, they seem so lovely!" I exclaimed to the others. 

"You want everyone to qualify," JJ replied, expression and voice deadpan.

"As if you don't," I scoffed back in reply to JJ.

We dissolved into childish bickering as the people around us gave us funny looks. Sucks for them that they aren't having as much as we are. 

The rest of the performances swept by in a blur of music and laughter until it was time for Kyle's performance. We all gave the loudest cheer for our little twink when he started singing. 

He looks so nervous so I hope our encouragement reaches him. From all this cheering from the audience, they will have to mute it when it goes to TV!

It was clear that he was performing his little heart out. I'd be very surprised if the audience at home didn't love him. I can just feel myself tearing up at his performance.

"Adonxs! Let me weep into your shoulder! I'm just such a proud mum!" I cried as I rushed into his big strong arms.

"Girl, he's gay. Stop trying. You're an embarrassment to the Beauty Blender group." JJ said to try and discourage me. It wouldn't work.

"You're just jealous of our love."

"Keep telling yourself that. See where it gets you."

I ignored him this time as I felt Adonxs awkwardly patting my back in condolences. See JJ, we are meant to be.

As I turned to see the rest of Kyle's performance, I could see the pyrotechnics in front of him and the dancers.

I couldn't help but worry that the fire would be too hot as he once told me that the fire had melted his shoe during rehearsal. I could see his baby face looking very focused at the fire. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but it reminded me of something.

It reminded me of... Me? Somehow, I remember myself making that same expression. I can't remember where though. I'm sure it'll come to me eventually.

The rest of the semi-final passed without incident, with all of us singing along to the songs. Maybe I sang purposefully badly to annoy JJ, you'll never know.

Then came the reveal of who is qualifying. We were all on the edge of our seats as the first split screen was between Norway, Estonia and Iceland. These were all strong contenders for the final. We believe in you Kyle!

When Sandra Struder shouted out Norway, we all erupted into cheers and celebrations. Our little baby had made it into the final! We couldn't stop cheering in happiness. I was so proud of him. 

After Norway got through, it was Albania, Sweden ("Of course), Iceland ("Well done, boys!"), Netherlands, Poland ("Mother!"), San Marino ("Good for him"), Estonia and finally Ukraine. 

That whole show was a whirlwind of emotions. We were all surprised that Belgium didn't get through but we were happy that VÆB and Kyle got through. 

"I hope our semi-final isn't this stressful," I commented out loud.

"Scared you'll get grey hairs?" JJ said, slyly.

"It'll match her skin tone." Miriana chimed in, quite rudely, in my opinion.

"I'm orange! I'm not grey!"

"I don't think you're grey, dear," my Adonxs said, coming to my rescue.

"See! I knew you loved me -"

"More of a red colour," he finished, like a traitor.

I shot him the most betrayed look I could muster as I glared him down, "I'll get you back for that."

The rest of our group started laughing harder at my misfortune. It was all JJ's fault. My Eurohusband would never say that without prompting.

"What did you do to my man, short stuff. I know what you're like," I turned my glare to the Austrian.

Through his laughter, he told me that he, "didn't do anything! It's all your own doing!" 

I scoffed in his face. I knew that they were all conspiring against me. 

"Where's Kyle? I know he wouldn't do this to me."

"Are you sure? Because I definitely would."

I spun around in shock to see the teenager himself. I started to glare at him as well. Why is everybody in this world against me? 

"Hmph. I'm leaving for people who actually care about me." 

I spun around on my heel and walked towards the exit. I could hear the rest of them still laughing at my retreating back. They just don't understand true talent.

Suddenly, I could hear the rest of them saying goodbye to Kyle and following me to the exit. We had all planned to get a taxi back together. I'm glad they came to their senses. 

We all jumped into a taxi that would be heading back to our hotels. I felt bad for leaving Kyle but I knew he had his delegation with him. 

As soon as we got back to the hotels, we all simultaneously agreed to have a party in my room. Of course, where else would we go? 

We partied hard, getting very drunk. At some point during the night, Kyle and the VÆB brothers joined us. I'm going to regret this in the morning, but I'm having too much fun to really care all that much.

Miriana and Erika had started a drinking competition between each other. I think only they know what the rules are. Still looks fun though.

At some point during the night, Kyle, JJ and Miriana had curled up on my bed together. It looked comfy so I thought I might as well join them. I fell asleep there, curled up with some of my closest friends that I'd ever made. 

---

I woke up to the sound of Kyle groaning in pain. I blinked open my bleary eyes as I saw him massaging his head. It suddenly all came flooding back to me what happened yesterday. I knew I'd regret it.

I joined in with his groaning as I tried to sit up. As I looked around, I noticed that I couldn't see Miriana anywhere. Suddenly, I heard the door slam.

That seemed to finally wake JJ up as he slowly opened his eyes. The diva herself walked into my view. She had a packet of some type of painkillers and three glasses of water in her hands. How she managed to carry all that, I'll never know.

"Good morning! Take two of these each and drink all of the water and you'll be Serving Kant in no time!" She said with her usual bubbly personality.

"How are you that awake already?" Asked Kyle as he accepted the offerings from her. 

"Secret." She replied.

Us three slowly woke up fully, the mysterious pain killers seeming to work wonders. The other three trickled out of my room, heading to their respective hotel rooms. 

I made my way to the bathroom to sort myself out for the rest of my day. I washed the smudged makeup off my face, and brushed my unruly hair.

As I did this, I put the Eurovision 2025 music playlist on. While I was singing my heart out, I checked my schedule for today. A few interviews and a rehearsal for the semi-final in a few days. Exciting.

The days passed by in a blur of colours and music as I waited for semi-final 2. There were 16 of us in this final, so it was going to be even harder to qualify. But I had to, for my country.

And then came the day. Time to make my country proud. 

First up was Go-Jo. He performed brilliantly, and we could hear the audience screaming during all of his performance. The rest of the performances rolled by in quick succession. We were all incredibly nervous. That didn't stop us from having a good time dancing to everything.

JJ was the next to perform out of our little group, then Miriana and then myself. I went out on that stage and gave it my all. I tried not to think about my soul mark or about my strange new condition.

I knew that after me, it was my beloved husband. I passed him on the way off of the stage so I gave him a quick hug of good luck. I hoped it would be enough for both of us.

I was busy during his performance, getting back up to the green room and checking in with a makeup artist. By the time, I had made it up to the green room, his performance had already finished.

There were only a few performances after this, and then it was time for the results. The tension was palpable in the air as we waited for the news. 

The first screen came up: Australia, Lithuania and Luxembourg. Come on Go-Jo! Instead, I heard Lithuania being shouted out. I'm so proud of them! They did amazing and I'm so glad they qualified.

A few more screens. Then it was my time. I was nearly crying from my nerves. I didn't want to do that, it would ruin my makeup. Then I heard it: Denmark! 

I couldn't believe it! I was so happy! I've made my country proud. Me and my delegation jumped up and down in joy, happy that we had broken Denmark's qualification streak. Everyone was hugging each other, beyond joyful.

After me, it was Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Malta and Greece that qualified. My beauty blenders! We were all there. But my Eurohusband... We will meet again again one day. I'll make sure of it.

I couldn't believe it, we were all heading to the final! I'm so proud of all of us. Now we just have to prepare for the biggest performance of our lives. Easy. I'm sure.

Chapter Text

It was the day before the final. We were all incredibly nervous. The day was full of last minute rehearsals and interviews that seemed to stretch on for eternity. All of us contestants could feel the pressure but we had to power through it. We had to make our countries proud.

I was in yet another interview with a woman from Spain. We had started the interview in English, but had rapidly reverted into Spanish. 

"Como concursante más joven, ¿sientes más presión que tus compañeros concursantes?" She asked. ("As the youngest contestant, do you feel any more pressure than your fellow contestants?")

I got this question a lot. You'd think that the other interviewers would know when a question has been asked before, but that would be too easy.

Despite getting this question so many times, I still had no idea how to answer it. I replied with a generic answer, something about using my country's support to make me feel more confident. At least it was true. 

"Pregunta final, ¿tienes algún plan que te ayude a preparar la final de mañana?" ("Final question, do you have any plans to help you prepare for the final tomorrow?")

Good, a question I could answer with no hesitation, "Yo y los otros concursantes estamos planeando hacer un picnic y emborracharnos mucho!" ("Me and the other contestants are planning to have a picnic and get very drunk!")

What I didn't tell the interviewer is our other plan for the night. We were going to show our soul marks. We had decided the night prior that we trusted each other enough to show them.

I just hope that I can finally meet my soulmate. My mum used to always tell me to 'just get to Eurovision, then hand the rest to fate'. My only hope is that she's right. My tattoo was of the Eurovision trophy, so I hoped it meant I met them here.

Back in the present, me and the interviewer laughed together as I saw her end her video. We said our goodbyes as I walked off to find the rest of the 'Beauty Blenders'. It was around 5 o'clock so around the time we would normally be finishing up.

On a normal day, we would be going to a restaurant to get something to eat. Instead, we were going to steal some food and drinks from the kitchens and have a picnic in the park. 

I was tasked with bringing some bread for the fondue. Me, JJ, Sissal and Miriana planned to sneak into my hotel's kitchen and steal the food from there. 

Out of the blue, I suddenly felt arms wrap around my neck from behind.

I couldn't help but laugh as I said, "JJ! I know that it's you!"

I turned around (still with JJ on my back) to see Sissal holding a camera with Miriana next to her. They were both trying to stifle their laughter.

"Oh, I see how it is. Post my misfortune for all to see. Very funny."

"We thought that you looked so lost and lonely so we thought we'd cheer you up!" Answered Miriana.

"I don't know whether to be offended or flattered."

"Take it as an insult, don't want your head getting even bigger." JJ said to me, with a smile on his face.

"That's a f*cking lie, we all know that your head is much bigger than mine." I answered back as I finally forced the shorter man off of my back.

We resorted to childish squabbling as Sissal ended the video. The two women were trying to stifle their laughter as they watched us two nearly resort to tackling each other. 

When we got back to the hotel, I rushed to my room to put something warmer on. Who knew how long we would be out there for. I went back down in the lift, and met the rest of the Beauty Blenders outside of the kitchen.

Sissal pulled us into a group huddle and gave us a little pep talk, "We are here to pull off the most complicated heist ever, in the history of the world. We have to move silently but quickly. Do you all understand?"

I nodded seriously even as I could see out of the corner of my eye JJ rolling his eyes. 

"Errhh, can I help you?"

We all spun around to face the new voice. There stood a woman in all white. She looked like she worked in the kitchens. Woops. How do we get out of this??

"Uuuuhhh, it's my birthday? We wanted a cake to celebrate but we didn't know how to ask," Sissal came to the rescue with her quick thinking. Wait - isn't the excuse Go-Jo used? Whatever, as long as it works.

"I'm afraid we don't have any cake to spare, but we have other things if you would like them?" She asked us. 

Our little group shared a grin as we all said yes at the same time. This heist is looking a lot easier.

I left with a hefty bowl of bread in my arms, while Sissal had an assortment of sandwiches. Miriana had a fruit salad while JJ had nothing. Turns out, he was bringing the blankets. He just came to the kitchen for the hell of it.

It was nearing 6 o'clock now and I could hear everyone's stomach rumbling, including mine. We rushed to the park where we were all meeting. It was only a ten minute walk away so we didn't have to wait long for food.

We were the first to arrive so we set up the blankets and the food. We only had to wait for another 5 minutes before Adonxs arrived. After that, everyone else slowly trickled in. I could already see the heart eyes Sissal was making at Adonxs, so we just left her to it. 

The park was soon filled with joyous laughter and conversation. At one point, I could hear Erika from across the blankets saying to Miriana that, "I was put on alcohol mission. I say wine for everyone!"

A cheer went up from everyone there as the alcohol was handed out. Everyone was going to regret this in the morning, I just knew it.

By 10 o'clock, the sun had gone down and the stars had come out. Somebody had brought lanterns that lit up our little patch of heaven. It was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.

At some point during the night, our little group of Beauty Blenders had formed a loose square. We were playing a game of 'most likely to - '. A bit childish, but fun nonetheless.

Apparently, Miriana is the most likely to get a face tattoo, Sissal is the most likely to adopt a stray dog, JJ is the most likely to text the wrong person and I'm most likely to die first in a zombie apocalypse. Wow, thanks guys. Love you too.

By 11 o'clock, most people were drunk, or at least a little bit tipsy. The only person who didn't seem to be drunk was Marko, from Croatia. But he always seemed insane so the alcohol didn't seem to have any effect on him.

The night previous, we had decided to do the reveal at 11 o'clock. We made sure that no one was near us in the park as this was a sacred thing to do. We were going to do it all at once, hoping that if anybody were soulmates, the effect would be instantaneous.

I was on the edge of my seat. I knew in my heart that I would meet my soulmate tonight. I had to. If it didn't happen tonight, would it ever? If it didn't happen tonight, there was a chance that I'd never get to meet my soulmate. I couldn't let that happen. I had to make my mum proud.

In the distance, we could hear a clock tower strike 11 o'clock. A hush settled over our picnic. The air was thick with anticipation as we all slowly got ready.

The person with the loudest voice (Go-Jo) started to count down from 5.

"Five."

I shuffled around to face my friends in our little circle.

"Four."

I rolled my sleeve up, revealing my lower arm.

"Three."

I saw out of the corner of my eye, everyone else preparing in a similar way.

"Two."

I looked at my wrist. Nearly there.

"ONE."

I ripped the soul mark cover off of the inside of my wrist as I saw the others doing similar things. Before I could look around more, I suddenly felt like liquid fire had just been injected into my veins. I was shocked stone cold sober by the sheer amount of this power that had just been introduced to my blood stream.

I felt the power thrumming through my body. I could feel the fire licking at my insides, begging to be let out. So I let it. It danced along my skin and over my clothes.

At some point, me and the others had joined hands. The fire spread from my hands to Sissal and JJ next to me and then to Miriana. I could feel the cool water from JJ curling around our loose circle, and the stirring wind that seemed to circle around Sissal.

I felt the ground shake, and saw the plants lean towards our group. Despite feeling and seeing all of this, I couldn't process it. My eyes were glowing with the power that had just been thrust upon me.

This couldn't have lasted longer than a minute, but it felt like an age before I came down from the high. I looked around at what I now realised were my soulmates. All this information was almost too much to process. I have three soulmates, and some weird powers? What -

"What The Hell Just Happened?" One of the girls from England asked abruptly, seeming to cut through everyone else's reverie. 

Everyone started talking at once, trying desperately to make sense of what happened. I just sat there in shock. What do we do now? In just a few days, we would all leave Basel and maybe never see each other again. How could we let that happen?

I looked around at my friends - no, soulmates - and wondered how we were going to make this work. Because we have to make it work. We have to.

The other three were looking as dazed as I felt. The remnants of the power I felt just moments ago were still thrumming through my veins. I wonder... I focused on that feeling as I - yes! It worked!

A small flame was flickering in the palm of my hand. I barely felt the heat of it as it swayed in time with the wind. The only people who seemed to notice this were my soulmates. All three stared in open shock at this display of power.

I tentatively spoke to them, "You know that feeling of power thrumming through your veins? Focus on it. Use it." 

I saw the recognition spark in JJ's eyes as he seemed to focus on something. Suddenly, I felt cold water hit me square on the face. I spluttered in outrage as I wiped the water off of my face. To my right, I could see Sissal doing the same. 

"My makeup! You've ruined it!" She wailed as quietly as possible to avoid drawing the attention of the chaos surrounding us.

"Hey! Why didn't Miriana get the same? We didn't deserve this!" I turned to JJ, anger clear on my face.

"Maybe it's because she's a nicer person than you."

"Maybe you're just mad that I got cooler powers than you," I countered back.

"As if. You'll never be better than me."

It was comforting to fall into this familiar banter, despite the chaos surrounding us and the life changing things we had just discovered about ourselves. I hoped that we could stay in this moment forever, and forget about everything we just learned. 

Instead, Emmy, who was performing for Ireland, broke our little bubble of peace. She asked us, "Um guys, not to bother you or anything, but do you guys understand what just happened?"

"We just gained magic. Magic that only exists in movies. I got that," JJ replied to Emmy, "Just not processed it yet."

"Not only that. Tomorrow is probably the biggest night of our lives and on top of that, now you have to hide glowing wrists and new powers that you are not used to yet," added one of the girls from Latvia.

"What do you mean glowing wrists?" I asked as I looked down - "No f*cking way!" I exclaimed in shock as I saw my soul mark had started glowing. It was sparkling in the moonlight. The other three seemed to be in a similar state of shock as they also looked at their wrists.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," commented Miriana.

"Tell me about it. And that tree over there won't stop burning. You'd think the fire department would have been called already," said Go-Jo, nonchalantly.

That makes sense - Wait.

"What do you mean the tree is burning? Why didn't anybody tell me about this?" I shouted as I jumped up. I turned around to see the once beautiful tree had been nearly reduced to ashes. Did I cause that?

Rushing to the tree, I tried to put the fire out. I focused on the feeling of the heat and tried to make it smaller. Instead, all I ended up doing was making the fire more spread out. It started jumping to the plants nearby and catching them on fire. 

Now it was time to panic. What have I done? What if it spreads to more plants? What if I burn the whole park down? What if the police found out I did it? What if I go to prison? What will my parents say - 

Then I felt the wind rush past me. It snuffed out the fire on the smaller plants as the force of the air blew them out. A jet of water drenched the tree and put out the raging fire. The burnt wildlife seemed to come back to life, as if nurtured by mother nature herself.

Beside me, I could feel the comforting presence of my soulmates. I felt all my worries melt away from me in an instant. How could I have ever been worried while my friends and platonic soulmates were by my side. 

But this fire had brought a startling realisation to the whole Eurovision group - "How will we hide this? We're sober and we are still struggling to keep it under wraps!" I asked no-one in particular, hoping at least one person had an answer.

Nobody did. They all stood there, soul marks in clear view. It was a vulnerable moment for all of us, which made it especially startlingly when Melody, from Spain, ran up to us. She threw me into a fierce hug and whispered to me, "Todo estará bien. Con tus almas gemelas todo es posible." ("Everything will be alright. With your soulmates, anything is possible.")

Despite the cheesy words, I felt my spirits being lifted. If she said it was possible, then it must be. Why wouldn't this diva be right?

"Gracias," I whispered back. ("Thank you")

I turned to my soulmates to come up with a plan. I started, "We only have tonight, so we need to make the most of it."

"I agree. We need to practice our new abilities, try and get them under control," added Sissal.

"We also need to do some research, see if anybody else has gone through a similar thing," commented JJ.

"Of course the chronically online person says that," Miriana said, slyly.

JJ made an offended face as he mimed pushing her. Instead, another jet of water hit her in the face.

"JJ should not be allowed that power," Sissal whispered to me as we watched the other two bicker. 

"Agreed."

Even though tensions were still high, it seemed the others had lost interest. The majority of them were still drunk so they moved on quickly to more exciting things, such as watching the VÆB brothers attempt a handstand. Key word - attempt. It was funny watching them fall though.

"Time to grind?" Asked JJ.

"Time to grind," I confirmed.

---

I don't think I'd ever been as nervous as I was now. I thought the first semi-final was bad, but this was 100 times worse. Not only did I have my country to make proud, but I also had these strange new powers to hide.

We stayed up until the early hours last night to practice, and I'm starting to regret it. I could not get out of my bed this morning, despite not drinking after the whole soulmate reveal. 

I still can't believe that I've finally met my soulmates. I didn't understand people when they said that meeting your soulmate was like completing yourself. I understand now. I feel whole, like I've never before. I keep catching myself staring off into the distance with a smile on my face.

This feeling of fulfilment didn't stop the nerves though. I had downed two red bulls before I went to rehearsals. Probably not the best idea as I couldn't stop shaking. I really hope that ends by the time the show starts.

It was around 3 o'clock, and the final preparations for the show had just started. I had barely seen my soulmates all day, and I could feel the aching hole in my heart where they should be. Just a few more hours, and we would be together to watch the performances. I was first, so I could perform them sit back and relax. In theory, anyways.

---

I'm sitting on the steps, ready to start singing. I just had to wait for my cue, and then I was ready to go. Time to make my country proud. 

"Golden girl dressed in ice

A heart as dark as night..."

I gave the performance my all, hoping that all the practice had been worth it. My whole life up to this point has been for this moment. Meeting my platonic soulmates, performing for my mum, performing for my country. Its all led up to this moment. 

I had to focus on not moving the fire, not messing up my lyrics and not messing up my dancing. Easy.

"Nothing can burn me down

I'm my own, I'm my own lighter!"

I nearly cried from relief that my song was over. I had managed it! I didn't mess up with anything. I had made everyone proud. 

On my way off the stage, I wished Laura Thorn from Luxembourg good luck. I knew she didn't need it, but I hoped it would be enough for both of us. I couldn't wait to see my Beauty Blenders, my soul matches. I hoped they were proud of me. 

Chapter Text

I couldn't believe it. I had just won Eurovision. I had just won! All that hard work, has finally meant something. As soon as we heard the 178 points, all I felt was overwhelming joy. We had overtaken Israel and taken the win! I couldn't believe this was actually happening to me.

I felt the crushing presence of my delegation around me as we all celebrated the win. We all were bawling our eyes out with tears of joy. I felt an overwhelming feeling of euphoria, so much that I felt that one person couldn't handle all this emotion. We had done it! 

I escaped from the grasp of my party to go and see my soulmates. Sissal came from her group and gave me a squeezing hug. 

She whispered into my ear, "I'm so proud of you. You deserve this."

Her words just made me break down into more tears as I pulled away from her. I lent down to the level below to hug Miriana and Kyle. I felt their emotions mixing with mine as we all celebrated this win. 

"You did so well! We're so happy for you!" Kyle nearly shouted at me, despite the fact that he was right in front of me. How deaf does he think I am?

"Go up there and accept your well deserved victory," Miriana said to me, which was strangely good advice, coming from her.

I took her advice and stood up. I downed a glass of water because I knew that I had to sing. Can't afford a voice crack, that would be very embarrassing after I've just won a competition specifically for singing.

I knew that I had to make it to the stage so I started walking down. I could see my family in the audience, seeming to be next to Adonxs. I shouted at them, hoping that they would let me see them. And they let me!

I hugged her as tight as I could, still reeling from winning the biggest singing competition in the world. I tried to transfer all my emotions through my hug. Trying to tell her about the discoveries last night, about the joy from winning Eurovision, about my never ending love I hold for her.

On my way down, I tried to high five as many people as possible. I have to show them my appreciation of their support. Out of the blue, I felt hands on me. They were miking me up, ready for my performance. All of this was so overwhelming. I had never felt anything like this before. What was happening?

The rest was a blur. I knew that I gave a thank you speech, and that I sang my song. Other than that, I had no idea. All I could think about was the fact that I had just had the two biggest shocks in my life in as many days. I could feel the support of my soulmates as they cheered me on from the green room. What have I done to deserve such good soulmates?

I could still feel my soul mark glowing underneath the cover. It comforted me with its presence. I knew that this wasn't a dream. I felt on top of the world. Nothing could bring me down. How could it?

---

It happened a few days after that. We were all still reeling from all that happened a few days earlier, but despite that we had to do yet more interviews. You can guess what mine mostly consisted of. The most common questions seemed to be, 'How do you feel after winning?' and, 'What does your family think of your victory?'. Very predictable questions.

I was in the middle of doing one of my Trisha Paytas impressions when we heard a loud explosion. Everyone started to look around in confusion as nobody knew what had caused the loud noise.

Suddenly, an intern ran out of a side door and towards us. She was shouting in rapid French, "Au feu! Au feu! Sortez du bâtiment!"

I didn't understand what she was saying, but some people in the room started panicking. They looked up frantically and started to run out of the door. I shared a confused look with the interviewer I was with. 

"What's happening?" I asked nobody in particular, with a note of nervousness in my voice.

"JJ! We have to get out of the building," Kyle said breathlessly as he ran up to us. 

"What do you mean, what's happening?" I questioned frantically.

"I don't know! All I could get from the woman was that we needed to leave the building."

"Alright," I said as I stood up. 

We started walking towards the exit as everyone else started running past us. What was happening? 

Kyle stopped in his tracks, "Wait! Where are Sissal and Miriana? We can't leave without them."

I suddenly remembered, "They're doing a private interview further in the building. They don't know that they need to leave the building!" 

At that moment, I knew what we had to do. We both turned around and ran back into the building. People tried to grab us and stop us, but we couldn't let that happen. We had to save our soulmates. Who knew why we had to leave the building, but I'd be damned before I let it hurt my soulmates.

"Do you know where they are?" Asked Kyle.

"Not exactly. I just know that they are on the North side of the building."

We turned a corner that led deeper into the building. Less and less people were going past us until we saw no one. Then, we heard two familiar voices from down the hall. We came to a room that had an occupied sign on it. Through the closed door, we could hear Sissal and Miriana laughing together.

I knocked on the door, because who knows what they were doing in there. While we heard them getting up and coming to the door, I noticed the increasing heat. 

I leant over to talk quietly with Kyle, "Are you causing this heat?" 

"Honestly, I didn't realise it was heating up. I don't think it's me though."

"That's worrying."

That thought was quickly pushed to the back of my mind when Sissal opened the door. 

"JJ! Where did you come from?" Questioned Sissal as she opened the door, "We were expecting the interviewer to come back!"

"I think they left the building," I answered.

"What! Why?" Demanded Miriana as she walked up to the doorway.

"We don't know, all we know is that we need to leave as well," replied Kyle.

While we were talking, I felt the temperature of the hallway increase. Smoke started to trail along the roof. 

"Guys, is that normal?" I pointed out the black smoke.

"Definitely not," answered Miriana.

"RUN!"

We pelted down the corridor, away from the smoke and towards the nearest exit. Instead, we were met with a wall of billowing fire. The temperature was excruciating. I felt myself beginning to sweat from the extreme heat.

"What the F*CK!" I heard Kyle shout as we made a sharp turn backwards. 

We tried to run down another corridor before coming to another blocked hallway.

"Scheiße," I swore under my breath.

"We have to go back to the main entrance, it's the only way," Sissal said, panic clear in her normally calm voice.

I nodded in agreement as we started to run down the corridor that me and Kyle went up just a few minutes before. We were all beginning to lose our breath from all this exercise. None of us were used to this much running and to make it worse, the air was beginning to fill with more smoke.

I started coughing but I couldn't stop running. We had to get out of this building. This shouldn't be happening. How had they allowed a fire to happen? The fire alarms didn't even go off! It was disgraceful. Do they want us all to die?

We eventually got to the main entrance, but something was wrong. There was a gathering of people at the doors.

"Why are they just standing there?" Asked Miriana.

None of us had an answer. 

The wall was made up of glass panels, with the doors also being see - through. Through these, I could see a large group of people gathering outside. Why were we standing inside a burning building while they were out there? 

I saw Go-Jo pushing at one of the doors. We rushed over to ask him what he was doing. 

He replied, "These bloody doors are locked. We're stuck!" 

I then saw them. There was a twisted pipe of metal in every door, stopping them from being opened. Someone wanted us trapped in here. Someone wanted us dead. Who?

Me and my soulmates shared a glance. Looks like we had all jumped to the same conclusion. I called them over for a group huddle.

"What do we do?" I started, "We have the power to help."

"But will we hinder more than help? We only just got these powers a few days ago! We don't know how to use them properly!" Exclaimed Sissal. 

"We have to try," countered Kyle.

With that decision, we all took a step back. Now what? It's not as we could wait for the fire to reach us - 

BOOM. 

We were blown back against the glass walls from the power of the blast. Bits of shrapnel from the blast hit me, and left cuts on my arm that seemed to continuously drop blood. I can't focus on that now though. We've got to help these people.

I looked towards the opposite wall to see the fire growing in size. It was licking at everything it could, eating up everything it could. Standing up, I saw the other three joining me. They also had blood dripping down from any place of uncovered skin. Looking around, I could see everyone was in a similar state. We have to act quickly. F*ck the consequences.

I took charge, "Kyle - try and limit the fire from moving any closer to us. Sissal - put up an air barrier to try and protect the others. Miriana - try and move the glass windows. They're made of natural materials, you should be able to control them. I'll gather some water and limit the fire until the fire brigade comes."

I could see them nodding as we all went our separate ways. I focused on my surroundings, trying to branch my mind out to try and find water sources. Where, where are they? A-ha! I could feel the water pipes in the walls which were filled with cold water.

I focused on them and - Pulled! Water burst from the walls, showering everyone in water. I opened my eyes (I hadn't realised I had closed them) to see where to put the water. I guided it to settle in mid air over the raging inferno.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the others doing what I asked. Kyle stood in front of the fire. I could see the sweat gleaming on his brow from the heat. Sissal stood in front of the other civilians as I could see the air swirling in front of her. Miriana was behind Sissal and seemed to be focusing intently on the glass windows. I could hear the grinding sound of the shifting glass.

Back to what I was doing, I spread the water out over the fire. My control over the water had greatly increased since the first night. I could control a greater amount of water, and I could even summon water from the air.

I released my control over the water. It cascaded over the fire, and into the rest of the large room. The inferno had been lessened slightly as it seemed to retreat from this room. Kyle looked to be having an easier job at controlling the fire.

Then I saw it. A glint of silver metal in the air. It was flipping over and over again. It came from a masked man in the opposite corner of the room. It was heading towards Kyle. He was distracted, he wouldn't see it. I ran towards him, but I knew I'd be too late.

"KYLE!" 

He looked over at me and gave me a little grin. He couldn't see the desperation in my eyes. No, please! Even across the loud room, I could hear the wet squelch of the knife as it entered his stomach. The small grin slid off his face as he collapsed to the ground. 

Chapter Text

I was in the middle of ushering people out of the hole I had made in the glass wall when I heard JJ screaming, "KYLE!"

I turned around just in time to see Kyle collapse onto the floor with a handle of a blade sticking out of his stomach. I didn't think. I just ran over to him. So what if whoever did - that was still there. I had to help him! Somehow...

I could see JJ and Sissal ahead of me. They too were running to our soulmates side. It felt like it took me an age to run to Kyle, when it must have been less than a minute.

When I got there, I collapsed by his side. JJ had put Kyle's head in his lap. I could see Kyle in visible pain. His hair was damp from his sweat and he could barely open his eyes. I didn't dare look at his stomach, knowing what I'd find there. A spreading patch of dark red that would have stood out against his white shirt.

"H-hey bud, stay with us," JJ pleaded with the teenager. 

How could this have happened? Just less than an hour ago, me and Sissal were having the time of our lives in an interview. Now, one of my soulmates is laying in front of me, dying. How had this escalated so quickly? 

"Kyle Alessandro Helgesen Villalobos, you better not leave us," ordered Sissal.

Kyle chuckled wetly, "How do you even know my full name?"

"I'm your mother, of course I know it!"

Kyle shared a small grin with the Danish woman before scrunching his face up in pain. He moved into the fetus position, his head still in JJ's lap. I could hear his quiet whimpers of pain. I moved his hair out of his face very gently, not wanting to hurt him even more.

"I don't want to go," Kyle whimpered as he looked up at me. I was caught off guard by the intensity in his eyes. Despite his obvious pain, he still had this fire in his eyes. This desire to stay alive and not only that, but live as well.

Despite that, we could still see the life leaving him. His breathing was growing weaker, and I could start to see his blood mixing with the water on the ground. I was helpless. When it really mattered most, I was useless. What a horrible soulmate I must be. 

We had created our own little bubble, just the four of us. The outside had no effect on us, it was just static. That meant we were very surprised when we were pushed out of the way by a man and a woman in teal jumpsuits. They looked to be paramedics, but they had a strange logo on their outfits. It was a purple Pegasus with the letters IOPS underneath. Who were they?

Us 'Beauty Blenders' were too stunned to speak for a few seconds. I saw them take the knife out of his stomach and quickly apply pressure to the wound. They placed him onto a stretcher and picked it up. The two strangers started to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you taking him?" I stepped in front of them. What were they doing with my soulmate? I couldn't allow them to harm him.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we have to help your soulmate. If he doesn't get help now, there's a strong possibility that he might not make it," the woman in front had spoken. 

I had a decision to make. Do I trust these strangers? I looked down at Kyle. Somehow, he looked even worse. The blood was quickly spreading through the makeshift bandage and he seemed to be unconscious. His condition did it for me. I would take any chance that he lived.

I stepped aside. I looked at my other two soulmates. We all shared one single thought: what do we do now?

---

It was just a moment before two more people approached us. They were all in matching dark maroon suits with slicked back hair. The suits had the same logo on them that the paramedics had. They were both men. Despite their faces being in show, I couldn't directly tell what they looked like. Their faces seemed kind of... fuzzy.

The one on the right spoke first, "I know you're all probably very confused," JJ could be heard scoffing in the background, "However, we can't explain here. We need you to come with us."

I shared a glance with my soulmates. Do we trust them? They seemed to be from the same company that took Kyle, and we had to see him again. It seems like we have no option.

JJ replied to the two men, "Alright, we'll come with you. Only if you let us see Kyle first."

The two men seemed to have a silent conversation before the one on the left nodded his head in agreement to JJ's stipulation. They led us to a white van that was parked on the street. Like the man's faces, the van seemed to blend into its surroundings. My eyes passed over it a few times before I even realised that it was there.

One silent 10 minute drive later, we arrived at a grey building on the outskirts of Basel. It was rectangular with sharp edges. Overall, it wasn't a very welcoming building. If Kyle was conscious, he must have been so panicked. I hope they help him. I already feel awful enough.

It was clear to me that me and my soulmates had gone numb from everything that has just happened. Nothing surprised us anymore. Well, I thought nothing would. That was until we entered the building. I've never seen anything like it. 

Scattered around the large room was many different stations, each full of different gadgets and all types of stuff. What made it even more surprising was the people in what could only be described as super suits. They wore brightly coloured masks and were openly displaying magic powers. One lady was flying, while another woman was changing into a lion and back again repeatedly.

What the f*ck? Were we in a movie now? We had gone from regular singers, to Eurovision, to soulmates with powers and now superheroes! What was next? The ancient gods being real? Actually, don't answer that. I don't want to jinx it.

"Colette!" One of the men shouted across the room. The woman who was in the middle of shape shifting looked up. She must be Colette. The woman walked over to us. She had blonde hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to dig deep into your brain and unlock everything in there. Her pupils were slits, kind of cat - like.

"Ce sont les nouvelles recrues? Je croyais qu'elles étaient quatre?" Asked the woman. ("Are these the new recruits? I thought there were four of them?")

"Il y en a un. L'un d'eux est à l'hôpital, blessé." ("There is. One of them is in the hospital building because he was injured.")

I wish Kyle was here. He at least knew a bit of French. The rest of us only had surface level knowledge, so without him we were lost at what they were saying. In reply to whatever the man said, the woman just nodded. 

"Nous n'avons pas pu tout leur expliquer. emmenez-les voir le quatrième et expliquez-leur." ("We haven't been able to explain everything to them. Take them to see the fourth and explain to them.")

"Qui est le supérieur ici? Mais je les prends," Colette replied icily to whatever the man had said. ("Who's the superior here? But I will take them,")

The mystery woman gave one last glare to the two men before gesturing for us to follow her. We were so confused. Why wasn't anyone telling us what was happening? We had a right to know! But I knew that if I spoke up, it would just waste more time. We had to see Kyle.

Colette took us through winding corridors that never seemed to stop. How does she remember where to go? Eventually, we stopped at the part of the building where Kyle was being held.

"He has just come out of operation. He is awake but he is very tired. I will explain everything when we are inside," Colette spoke in perfect English with only a slight french accent. 

She opened the door for us. Kyle was sat up in a hospital bed, with a hospital gown on. He was pale and looked even thinner than normal. An IV was attached to his arm that was continuously pumping pain killers and other things into his blood stream.

"Oh, Kyle!" Sissal rushed over to his bed. She pulled him into a tight hug. I could tell, it looked like she was cutting off his circulation. 

Me and JJ walked over to Kyle as well. We had a big group hug, with Sissal trying to strangle us with love. I took a big breath of relief, despite the situation we were in. My soulmates were all safe and in my arms. We would be alright.

"Hey guys. Sorry if I worried you," Kyle said easily, as if he hadn't just nearly died. He had a weak smile on his face as he looked up at us. 

"Don't you ever try anything like that again," ordered JJ.

"I'll try."

We all shared a grin. It was refreshing to joke around again with some of the people I love most in this world.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm sure you're all curious about where you are," Colette interrupted our moment.

She had our full attention. We wanted to know everything.

"I think I should start with you lot. When you gained your powers a few nights ago, we got an alert. This organisation had never seen such a big spike in supernatural energy. Never before have we seen a unification of four soulmates and each of them get powers.

"We had to keep an eye on you, especially when we found out how high profile you were. We were there to do damage control if anything went wrong. And something did go wrong. Somehow, a villain found out who we were tracking.

"She was the one that caused the fire. She had super strength which she used to block the doors. I guess she was hoping that you guys wouldn't have mastered your powers. But she was wrong.

"She was also the one who attempted to kill Kyle with the knife. It appears she got desperate when her first plan didn't work."

I looked down at Kyle after she said that. For reassurance that he was still there, and still breathing. He appeared in just as much shock as I felt. What has my life become?

"Unfortunately for you, somebody was filming the whole thing."

Colette pulled a tablet out of nowhere and started tapping rapidly on it. She then twisted it around to show us the video.

It was a grainy video, clearly taken on a cheap phone. It started when the fire burst out into the main room. It then showed us four standing up and standing up against the fire. I could see and hear myself moving the glass windows and Sissal creating an air barrier. JJ was shown to control the water, and Kyle was standing bravely in front of the fire.

Colette turned the tablet around before we could see Kyle fall. I'm glad. I don't think I could handle seeing it again. 

"This video and a few others like it are plastered all over news stations all over Europe and beyond. The world is shocked that powers like these exist. People are wondering where you are."

Her words were delivered coldly and bluntly. She didn't seem to have any sympathy for us. Despite her cold attitude, it was comforting that someone was calm and reasonable in such a turbulent time.

"However, we can help you. We can do damage control. All I ask from you is that you consider our offer. I will explain it to you. I am part of a company called IOPS."

At this point, she pointed to the logo on the back of the tablet. It was the same one that the paramedics were wearing. 

"We are an international organisation that works for peace and safety for everyone. To do this, we employ super-powered people. These are people that have awakened their powers from meeting their soulmate. 

"This organisation believes that The Ancient Greek Gods were the ones that gave us the gift of soulmates. That is why our logo contains a Pegasus. I'm not sure if I myself agree with that, but it is what IOPS believe.

"I met my soulmate 10 years ago, and that was when I gained the ability to shape shift. IOPS approached us both to ask us if we wanted to help their cause. I said yes. He said no. Since then, I have been travelling the world in secret to maintain safety and peace for everyone. 

"We want you to help us. To join us in this mission. We will wipe the memories of everyone in the world. None will remember what happened today. To do this, all we ask is that you consider joining us."

Her voice had taken a pleading note in the last sentence. It was clear to me that this organisation was in dire need of some help. I wanted to give it to them, but I have to see what my soulmates think. If they said no, then it was a no for me as well.

I turned to JJ. He took charge during the fire, so I trust him to do the same now. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sissal and Kyle doing the same. For a second, JJ looked panicked at all the eyes on him.

Then he spoke up, "I think we should help. I want to do some good in this world."

"I agree," Kyle had this challenging glint in his eyes, as if asking someone to stop him. I would definitely not be the one challenging him. I wouldn't dare take this away from him.

"I'm in, those super suits looked stylish," I chimed in.

"It's decided then," Sissal turned to Colette, "We'll do it."

---

For a few days after that, we seemed to never stop moving. It was full of more explanations, more gadgets, more worry and more exploring.

On the third day, IOPS brought in a healer to finish the healing process for Kyle. After that day, somehow, we got even busier. They wanted us to choose our outfits and our names. They taught us how to better control our powers and strategies for taking down villains. They even attempted to teach us a few languages (it would take a while before we learnt them fluently). It was never ending!

IOPS did what they said they would. Everyone's memory of that day with the fire was deleted. Nobody remembered what we were. This allowed us to debut as superheroes without anyone knowing our identity. 

The organisation decided that we were going to be the first public superheroes. Nobody would know our identity, but we would act in the public eye. They decided to do this because the villains of the world were becoming more adventurous. They no longer worked in the shadows, so IOPS had to follow suit.

The other good thing that came out of this is that I could spend more time with my soulmates. IOPS pulled some strings so that me and my soulmates were able to form a band (of sorts). We toured Europe and beyond, while also maintaining our second identities. 

Coming up with the names and outfits for our 'superhero' identities was harder than it should have been. Putting four fashion obsessed people in a room full of fabrics and all different kinds of material was never going to end well. Eventually, we decided.

Sissal called herself 'Hypnos', after the Ancient Greek God of sleep. She took inspiration from her song that got her in this situation. Her outfit was also inspired by her song, looking very similar to the one she wore on the Eurovision stage. The only difference was the black accents and black leggings. She wore a mask that covered the left side of her face. It was glittery blue with more black accents.

JJ donned the name 'Thálassa' after the greek word for water (very original). He wore all black (Kyle had called him 'emo' when he first saw his outfit) with loose fitting clothes. He had a tactical belt, filled with who knows what. His mask was a full face one. It two, was black. 

Kyle called himself 'Prometheus' after the titan who gave humanity fire in the Ancient Greek myths. He kept the armour from his Eurovision song, but made it easier to manoeuvre in. He wore loose fitting clothes that enabled him to move nimbly. His mask covered his lower face and had the same colours of a fire. IOPS wouldn't let him wear the jewellery that he wanted to (obsessed twink).

I chose the name 'Atlas' after the Ancient Greek titan who holds up the sky. I wore nearly the same outfit as my Eurovision stage one, just with more sensible shoes (only a bit more - I have to keep the style!). My mask also only covered half of my face, but it was different to Kyle's because it covered the top half. It followed the theme of red and black.

Together, we were the most stylish superheros out there. We were always serving. We were also one of the most successful, taking down villains left and right. We became great friends with Colette and the two men that first introduced us to IOPS. The two men met 5 years ago and had immediately gotten their powers. One had telekinesis while the other had mind-reading powers.

It felt good to help the world. I hope someday, you too will get the chance to do a bit of good in this world. 

Sincerely,

Sissal (Soccer Mom),

Kyle Alessandro (Twink #2),

JJ (Twink #1),

and 

Miriana Conte (OG Beauty Blender)