//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 ~ For Responsibility 
// Story: For Their Sins... 
// by MusicOverMatter 
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A grey moon slipped across the frozen sky, spilling it’s tainted light upon a strange scene on the moors below. Five great black ponies—or what looked like ponies—stood in a semi circle around a trembling mare. 

Her mane was a fiery red, that seemed to flow down her face and neck like a pouring fall of blood. Her pink flesh was smooth and made of pearly scales that fit seamlessly together like the skin of a snake. Her blue eyes, which were once called flames of mystic fire, now looked out with a dull expression in them. Devoid of life and passion.

The middle figure in the ring of black ponies rose it’s head and let forth a slicing voice to address the poor mare. “Siren, speak and tell us once and for all: Will you join your fellow sinner in his sentence, or take responsibility for your actions?” 

The mare lowered her head, as if considering her options. On one hand, banishment meant never returning to her waters again. A life on land, for a siren, was comparable only to death. Even if it wouldn’t physically kill her, her heart and spirit would bleed away and leave nothing but a dry shell. But the other option was still nothing short of a living tomb. Could she really choose to live among her fellow sisters with such a black burden?

“I… I shall take punishment. I will raise the child.” A bundle of netting at her hooves began to squirm on the cold stone, before letting forth a cry for it’s mother. For in that bundle lay a small foal, still with it’s eyes closed. But the cry, if you could have heard it, may have made you cry yourself. It was certainly no earthly wail, but sounded more like a high, pure note. An impossibly beautiful sound for a mere babe to make. 

However, for those present the baby’s crying seemed to have no affect, not even in the eyes of the young mother. Poor child! It would have no way of knowing just how wretched it’s existence really was.

“Then it is decided. And this is right, for while your cowardly mate was able to escape his earthly punishment, it is only just that one of you should atone for your shared sins!” The middle figure’s voice boomed and echoed across the empty moors. 

“Siren, who is called Scarlett Shell, you will return to your home waters. There, you shall raise your spawn rightly and with all the strength your body will allow. When he is of age, he will be given his father’s territory, and if he be so inclined he may use it as his own. Should he decline he may be given a minor position to serve under the great house of the Kelpies, or be free to exert his will however he may see fit. 

However, he will never be seen as one of our own. We will not join him during the hunt, he will not be permitted to join us on high council days, and he will be given no name and no right to mate among us.”

The mare lowered her head in consent to the ruling. For a fleeting moment she was overtaken by pity for the small creature before her. It was a merciful verdict for him, but heavy just the same. He would be an outcast his whole life. But as swiftly as it had come, the feeling was replaced by fears for herself. SHE would be an outcast, SHE would never be welcomed into her community again, SHE would never get a proper mate and SHE was now saddled with the responsibility of caring for this half-thing! 

Her body shook with this new revulsion, and the night was not yet even over for this pathetic being. She had her own people to face now that the Kelpies had made their judgement. The ring of black ponies fell back to allow a lone pony to stand where the middle black figure had once stood. The new pony was covered in baby blue scales like the mare that stood before her, but around her middle hung a golden chain that was decorated with many hanging shells that seemed to glow many colors in the murky light.

“Sister Siren, you are aware of that law which is unwritten, but know by all just the same?” The blue mare looked down upon the child that lay between the two sirens, and with a condescending expression lifted her foreleg and let out a sound of disgust. The pink mare lifted her gaze to the eyes of the elder siren, the mistress of her troupe and her sole superior. 

“Yes, I am aware that my oath as a siren binds me to the sea. That I am to forsake the things of the world in preference for my watery home. The stallion I mated to was not a land pony, but still was not one of my people. Therefore I have betrayed them, and my oath to serve their home.” The blue mare gave a short nod of approval.

“Yes, while it is not written anywhere that relations to such creatures as kelpies are prohibited, the ties you sought to forge were inexcusable in any case. Your vows made it perfectly clear that your devotion was reserved for your people. You have broken that, and now we do not know you. 

However, since the council of the Kelpies has been so very merciful, I shall relent you this: You may continue to live in our waters, but you are no longer a part of our community. You and your thing will be sent to live at the edge of our domain, in the very place you defiled your legacy for all time!”

The young mare let out a gasp, the fear etched plainly on her face. “You mean, I can never return to Hollow Reef? How shall I live if I can’t get food? And what about my sisters? Are they forbidden to see me?!” The older siren was unmoved by this display of fear, but answered in a steady and final voice. 

“You are not forbidden from coming to Hollow Reef, the condition is that you do not live there. You can buy from the market if you wish, no one will deny you their services. Your FORMER sisters may visit you if they wish, but no one will force them, and I doubt that any one of them would like to be associated with a traitor like you.” The words were harsh, but to the windswept soul they sounded like a benediction of peace, and almost as good as a pardon. 

She bowed herself to the earth, and clutching the edges of the bundle in her teeth, she walked back to the shore, where she would lower herself into the waters and return to her former home for one last night before she was sent away to her new home.

The five kelpies walked forward to meet the siren mistress. “Your ruling has been acknowledged, and we will do our best to uphold it’s power. As I’m sure you will do the same for us.” Said the middle kelpie. The Mistress inclined her head respectfully before turning to pull one of the shells off her belt. The shell between her teeth was glowing a soft red, and as she bit down on it, the glow became more and more intense until the shell shattered into broken fragments and a translucent, shimmering red liquid. It dribbled down her chin, dripping onto the stone below her feet. 

The kelpies’ noses perked up at the scent of the liquid, and their eyes took on a peculiar glint. One stepped forward, as if to steal from the Mistress, but she let loose a screech warning him to not come any closer. She lowered her nose to the red pool at her hooves, and with a soft blow from her nostrils, ripples began to form on the surface of it. The ripples changed to little waves, the waves grew larger, and larger, until the pool became as large as a millstone. Then the waters calmed, allowing for those present to observe two glowing figures swimming in the depths of the pool. 

“Behold,” Said the Siren Mistress, “the true account of the matter. As seen from the eyes, and taken from the heart of your fallen brother.”

The six figures gazed into the red pool, observing the events it conjured forth, and when it had shown everything it had to show the Siren Mistress stepped forward and lowered her head to the pool. Her lips touched the surface, and as she sucked the pool dry to the stone her own scales seemed to become edged with a red glow. With the pool gone, the five kelpies turned to gallop off into the misty moors and the Siren Mistress turned to leap off the cliff into the churning waters below…