> Dazzling Nephilim > by KyuubiMakai009 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- She couldn't believe this. She absolutely could not believe that he had found out about their plan. It was going so perfectly. They were about to have all of Equestria adore them, and Adagio Dazzle was so sure that the bearded one would not be able to stop them even if he figured out what was going on. If only she had set aside her arrogance to see that he was a threat, she and her sisters would not be in this mess. Adagio Dazzle, along with her two sisters Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, were sirens. The youngest, Sonata, had a cyan coloration and moderate raspberry eyes. The second, Aria, was purple in coloration with brilliant mulberry eyes. And lastly Adagio, the eldest of the siren sisters, had a goldenrod coloration with vivid raspberry eyes. Together with their amulets empowering their singing voices to entrance the ponies of Equestria, they were sure to achieve their goal. If only they had taken notice of that kooky old Unicorn, Starswirl the Bearded, they would not be in the situation they were in now. The old coot was smirking at them. Just minutes ago, the majority of the populace was under their spell, but then Starswirl came along and sent out a surge of magic that passed over them like a tidal wave on the beach coast, snapping them out of their adoring states and rendering their plan useless. Oh, how she wanted to slap that smirk right off his face and make him suffer. But she couldn't, for she was powerless to do anything while she and her sisters were cornered by the Equestrian guards. The sorcerer stepped forward, the bells adorning his hat jingling with the movement. "I don't believe I need to tell you the situation you three are in," said the Unicorn mage. "You've stirred up quite the amount of trouble for Equestria and its many subjects. Now, as you can see, you are outnumbered and exposed. Your plan has failed, and the punishment for your actions will be wrought unto you shortly." The three siren sisters growled and snarled at him, but the guards had spears directed at them, ready to slaughter them if need be. "Curse you, Starswirl," Adagio growled. "Curse you, and Equestria!" The prodigal mage only chuckled. "My dear Adagio," he mocked, "if anypony is going to be cursed..." He leveled a glare at them. "... it's you." At that moment, his horn lit up in an indigo aura, and the winds began to pick up around himself and the three sirens. Arcane circles and inscriptions began to line the marble flooring on which the sirens stood, and the many guards watched in wonder at what was taking place. The torrential winds intensified further with each passing second, and eventually the siren sisters themselves began to glow with the same aura as Starswirl's horn as a cyclone vortex formed around the trio. Aria and Sonata looked at the vortex walls in fear, while Adagio kept her gaze locked on the Unicorn sorcerer in a heated glare. Her hatred for the mage at this moment was palpable. Starswirl, on the other hoof, only smirked at her in victory. "I, Starswirl the Bearded, hereby cast you out of this realm and banish you!" he shouted, and the vortex began to glow with a myriad of colors as the gap on top closed, sealing them in. It then collapsed in on itself and the sirens, leaving an empty circular gap between the guards. The robed Unicorn stallion then turned around, leaving to report to Princess Celestia. The guards themselves dispersed, returning to their posts throughout the castle. Meanwhile, with the Dazzlings... Adagio Dazzle woke up with a groan. Sitting upright, she raised a hoof up to her head, only to feel something that was... not a hoof. She opened her eyes and brought the appendage in front of her, examining it. It looked like those weird things that the minotaurs and satyrs have... what were they called again? Hands? Yes... hands. A faint lemon yellow hand, with four fingers and an opposable thumb. She brought up her other hoof, only to see another matching hand. Adagio's eyes widened as she moved them, before catching sight of something in her peripheral vision. Turning her head, she got notice of two bipedal creatures laying on the ground unconscious and get a frightened gasp for a split second before pausing. They looked familiar, though she couldn't place why. The two of them were clothed differently from each other, and one was an arctic bluish white all the other was a pale, light grayish fuchsia. The blue one had arctic cyan hair with Persian blue streaks done in a high ponytail that reached down to her waist by an indigo hairband, and was dressed in a dark magenta dress shirt with a fancy shirt collar and cuffs folded back above the elbow. On the front of the shirt were three cyan straps, and... Adagio could only guess both of them were female, was also wearing a pink miniskirt. On both her wrists were dark magenta bands with cyan punk studs, and on her... legs? On her legs were pink root-like sneakers reaching up to just below the knee. On her eyelids was arctic cyan eyeshadow. The fuchsia one had moderate purple hair with brilliant aquamarine streaks done in twin pigtails that reached down to her waist by dark violet bands with silver stars on them, and was dressed in a cream-colored dress undershirt with a spearmint green punk rocker fleece. Held up by a dark violet belt with a silver star-shaped buckle that matched the hairbands, were fuchsia pants with rectangular patches of diamond studs along the sides stretching from the top to midway down the calves. On her wrists and forearms were a set of six dark violet bands with three on each forearm, and on her feet were dark fuchsia high-heel boots. On her eyelids was moderate purple eyeshadow. The both of them groaned as they awoke, and Adagio noticed the matching black collar necklaces sporting Ruby gems that were all too familiar to her, and it was then that she realized why they were so familiar: they were her sisters! Adagio then noticed a mirror nearby, and what she saw in the reflection shocked her. Whatever transformation her sisters went through due to that bastard Starswirl's spell, it had affected her too. She now had a large mass of curly luminous orange hair with brilliant yellow streaks, with the majority of her hair being done back by a black hairband with orange punk studs, the hair done back reaching down to her hips. Her bangs hung down to the sides and framed her flawless face, reaching down to her shoulders. She was wearing a violet short-sleeve shirt with a small pink jacket over it, and fingerless pink gloves on her hands. Held up by a studded golden belt with a topaz gem on the buckle were violet yoga pants shorts, and underneath that she wore light fuchsia pantyhose with moderate fuchsia triangle patterns. On her feet were dark violet boots with a golden punk stud band above the ankle and golden punk studs along the brown heel. On her eyelids was goldenrod eyeshadow. Around her neck was the black necklace bearing the ruby gem pendant, right where it should be. Her first instinct upon seeing her new form was to scream, but she fought the urge down. She did, however, widen her eyes to the size of dinner plates. She turned to the other two. "Sonata? Aria? I-is that you?" The blue one, Sonata, opened her eyes and looked at her, before gasping and backing away. As she did so, she noticed her transformed legs, and looked herself over before screaming in terror. Aria also looked herself over in fright, but didn't scream, instead hyperventilating. Adagio quickly got annoyed, before she decided to quiet them. "BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!!!" Both of them stopped panicking, and looked at her. "Adagio?" they both asked in unison. "Yeah, it's me," she said with a sigh. The yellow siren then crossed her arms and put a hand to her chin in thought. "Whatever spell that Starswirl bastard used to banish us here must have transformed us into the dominant species of this realm," she mused aloud. "Thankfully, our amulets are with us, so we can still use our abilities as sirens." "But what're we gonna do?" asked Sonata. "Well, first we've gotta figure out what we currently are somehow," said Adagio. She then smirked. "And after that, we make this world ours, one city at a time." Her sisters soon gave the same smirk, and got to work figuring out how to move properly. A year has passed since the sirens had been banished from Mythis by that bastard sorcerer, Starswirl. They had learned that their new forms were of a species called humans, and from there, they quickly found a starting point for their little plan to first blend in. It wasn't hard—forged documents on their identities, using their powers to get some cash as well as free stuff occasionally, and learning how to drive. But seeing as how they were teenagers, they eventually found that they were more or less forced to go to school. However, they quickly saw this as an opportunity to begin their plan to put the world under their spell. So, with only a slight reluctance, they enrolled in a local high school. At first, things were going smoothly. That is, until an accident involving a fire burned down the school. To this day, no one knew who caused that fire—not even the Dazzlings, which is what the siren sisters decided to call themselves on stage. The school closed down for repairs, which meant all of the students were forced to relocate to other schools. And that brings us to their current situation: relocation. Adagio paced back and forth as she read over the different choices on her iPhone 4S, trying to decide on which school they should enroll in next. It had to be somewhere that had a large student attendance. Sonata was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a Doritos Locos taco. Ever since she first tried the Mexican delicacy, it became her favorite food, though the other two sirens didn't know why. And finally Aria was reading the newspaper while occasionally taking a sip of coffee from her mug. Sonata looked at Adagio. "So, which school should we enroll in, Dagi?" she asked, taking another bite out of her taco. Adagio let out a frustrated growl, annoyed at her own indecisiveness. "I don't know! None of these schools look good enough!" Aria just gave a bored sigh. "Just pick one already. We don't have all week." She turned a page of her newspaper. Adagio leveled a glare at her sister. "Oh, like you're one to talk, Aria. You're just sitting there, doing nothing." "No, I'm reading the newspaper," she replied stoically. Adagio was about to yell at her, but Sonata spoke up, interested. "What'cha reading?" Before she could answer, Aria had the newspaper snatched from her grip by Adagio. "Hey! I was reading that —give it back!" Adagio ignored her, instead skimming through the pages she was currently turned to, before something at the bottom of the right page caught her interest. Reading it over, she blinked in surprise. "Hey girls, look at this." The other two gave her an inquisitive look, before moving over to see what she was reading. "St. Lelouch High School in Washington, MO receives donation toward their tech support and upcoming festivities from Zanaroth Co. in amount of $3 million. Student prodigy Jackson Zanaroth receives praise for the donation; CEO pro-tempore Alistair Richards reports that it was the Junior's idea to sponsor St. Lelouch High." The three siren sisters stared at the school name and location, before Adagio turned to her sisters with a smirk. "Girls, I think I've just found the perfect school for us to enroll." Upon hearing this, the other two gave Cheshire grins of their own. "Hopefully we'll run into this Jackson Zanaroth kid, and I think that a little... congratulations are in order." > Chapter 1 - Jackson Zanaroth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a large two-story house in Washington, Missouri, an alarm clock blared its tune rather loudly. A hand shot out from the nearby bed and slammed on the snooze button, silencing the alarm. The bed's occupant yawned as he stretched himself awake, before hopping out of bed and walking over to the closet to pick out today's outfit. He pulled out a pair of black denim jeans, as well as a black long sleeve thermal shirt with crimson accents, a gray cross on the front and back with grey X's behind both, and a skull in the center of the front cross. He pulled on a pair of black socks, then walked down the stairs to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. Jackson Zanaroth, known as "Jax" to almost everyone he knows, is a Caucasian male of 18 years with an athletic build meant for endurance and speed, yet still retaining a remarkable amount of strength. He was 6'1" with a mess of raven black hair and amethyst purple eyes, which many anime fans say make him look like a certain Britannian rebel prince from Code Geass. Tattooed on the back of his left hand was the Fate/ series emblem in red, and his upper back was adorned with the large tattoo of the Darksiders emblem in matte black. Born to parents Haruka and Damien Zanaroth on October 10, Jax was the legal heir to the Zanaroth Corporation founded and run by his father when they were still alive. Corporate law stated that Jax would inherit the company by age 21, but until then, the Zanaroth Corporation would be run by Alastair Richards in the meantime. Richards was a good friend of his father's, as well as his right-hand man. The CEO pro-tempore was a kind old fellow, sometimes letting Jax make a few corporate decisions. Every last one of those decisions Jax made in concerns to the company had not only allowed the Zanaroth Corporation to prosper, but also boost its reputation among the public eye, showing his impressive corporate instincts. He had also helped out Alastair with filling out paperwork on multiple occasions to help ease the burden on the old man, and Alistair had given the teen a few favors in return. Opening the pantry, Jax pulled out a box of cereal and dumped some into a bowl, before pouring milk over it and grabbing a spoon. Sitting down at the table, Jax clapped his hands together before uttering a single word. “Itadekimasu.” He then took a bite of his cereal before turning on the T.V. and flipped it over to the news. With great annoyance, he saw that the topic the newscasters were discussing was himself and his donation to his school, St. Lelouch High. 'So I made a donation of three mil,’ he thought. 'It doesn't mean that you have to fawn over me and my dad's company for a week straight. I didn't do it for the praise.’ He noticed with faint interest that it would be a clear and sunny day. His cereal finished, he put the bowl and spoon in the sink and walked upstairs into the bathroom, brushing his teeth before slapping on some deodorant. He combed his hair to look neat—but not too neat; wouldn't want the fangirls to start a club—and smiled softly at his reflection in the mirror. His preparations done, he walked into the living room to pick up his backpack and laced his black-and-orange AVIA shoes. He put on an Alex Mercer leather jacket and began to make his way to the garage, before looking at a picture frame containing a photo of his mother and father, as well as his younger sister. He gave a sad smile at the picture frame. “Morning, Mom, Dad… Jane. I'm off to school.” Jax headed into the kitchen, grabbing his keys as he passed the hook on the wall, and stepped out into the garage, where his baby sat waiting for him. It was a black-and-white panda Toyota Corolla AE86 Trueno with a decal on the driver's side door that read “Fujiwara Tofu Shop” in Japanese Katakana. He bought the car on his sixteenth birthday; it was a clunker back then, but he fixed it up and repainted it to be an exact replica of Takumi Fujiwara’s Eight-Six from the Initial-D anime series. The only thing differing between the two was the radio, for Jax installed a more modern radio and speaker system that was compatible with his smartphone. After all, he was the kind of guy who enjoyed his music, and they didn't play J-POP on American radio. He tossed his backpack in the backseat, before sitting in the driver's seat which was on the right side, as it was a Japanese car. Sticking his keys in the ignition, Jax started up the engine and pressed a remote button, causing the garage door to open up. He lightly pressed the gas pedal, and the car pulled out of the garage and drove down the street. As Jax drove to St. Lelouch High, he connected his Moto G smartphone to the radio via jack cable and played “Dogfight” by M.O.V.E., the opening theme to Initial-D Stage 4. He was an admitted otaku, being a fan of popular anime like Tokyo Ghoul, Initial-D, and Code Geass just to name a few. Speaking of Code Geass, he was often told he bore a striking resemblance to Lelouch Vi Britannia. Funnily enough, the person who funded the construction of St. Lelouch High School four years ago was also a big fan of the anime, and named it after the main protagonist. Jax wasn't quite sure what to make of these two facts, but chalked them up as coincidence. That was his belief, and he was gonna stick with it. Minutes later, Jax finally pulled into the school parking lot, yanking his keys out of the ignition and stepping out of his Eight-Six, before closing and locking the door and heading inside with the rest of the students. Walking to his homeroom, he set his stuff down next to his desk against the wall and near the front, before sitting down in his seat and looking out the window, resting his head on his palm. Jax was not a very social person, and often kept to himself. He used to have friends in elementary school, but they have either moved away or just lost touch. Soon the bell rang, and students began pouring into their respective homeroom classes. The students in his homeroom usually sat in desks at least two seats away from Jax, due to his nonsocial attitude and intimidating posture. The teacher, Mrs. Valkyrie, often frowned at this at least once a week, but did nothing about it. Said teacher walked into the classroom a moment after the starting bell rang, and stood in front of her desk. She cleared her throat, gaining the students’ attention, before speaking up. “Class, I would like to inform you that we have three new students that have transferred here from Canter High School after it burned down due to an accident,” she announced. She then turned to the open doorway. “You can come in now.” With that verbal invitation, the three of us walked in and stood in front of the class. All the boys and even some of the girls grew looks of awe at us, and I don't think I need to tell you how much we loved the attention. I did notice, however, that there was one boy who sat alone near the window, and there were a few empty desks between him and the rest of the class. He broke his gaze from the window, and looked at us in a small amount of surprise. Vivid raspberry met amethyst purple, and I knew that he was likely to be different from the others, even if his isolation from the other students wasn't any indication. Returning my gaze to the class as a whole, we began to introduce ourselves. “Glad to meet you, everyone,” I started off. “My name is Aria Blaze,” said my fuchsia sister. “Sonata Dusk,” said our youngest sibling. “And I am Adagio Dazzle,” I said with a smirk. “We understand that our names are a bit… peculiar, as are our skin tones, but hopefully that won't turn you ladies and gentlemen away. The three of us are sisters, and we hope to get along with all of you.” “Thank you, girls,” said Mrs. Valkyrie. “As for seating arrangements, there are a few empty seats by mister Zanaroth over here,” she continued, gesturing to the isolated boy. My sisters and I cast surprised glances over at the guy, before sitting at the empty desks around him. I took the desk right next to him, Sonata sitting behind me, and Aria sitting behind the boy. To think that we'd find the reason we chose this school so quickly, it's actually quite surprising. Still, I feel that there's something about this guy… Mrs. Valkyrie cleared her throat once more, bringing the entire class' attention back onto herself. “Seeing as how we have new students, today's class will be study hall.” At that, the majority of the class cheered, with only Jax and the Dazzlings remaining quiet. “I would recommend that you actually study, class, for we still have our test this Friday. I know that some of you are doing well in this class, but for those of you who aren't, this test will make or break your grade.” Several of the students groaned in annoyance, while others just gave nods of acknowledgement. Jax himself was not worried about the test, as he was actually pretty good at algebra, not to mention an exceptional test-taker. He just laid back in his chair with his arms folded behind his head, closing his eyes and lightly dozing. As he snoozed through the class, the Dazzlings leaned toward one another and began conversing in a hushed tone. “This is quite the lucky day for us, sisters,” said Adagio with a grin. “We end up in the same homeroom as the boy who gave us the idea to come here on our first day. If we play our cards right, he'll be under our spell, as will the rest of this school.” “Yeah, but I wish this place had some real magic for us to feast on instead of just these lame shreds of negative energy by themselves,” complained Aria. “I wonder if they have Taco Tuesdays here,” Sonata wondered aloud. The other two sirens just shot her a deadpanned glare. “Really, Sonata?” said Aria, annoyed at her younger sister’s taco addiction. “We're trying to rule the school and you're worried about tacos?” “We really need to get you off of that obsession,” stated Adagio, also annoyed. “What—it’s not my fault they taste so delish,” said the bluenette, drooling slightly at the thought of the Mexican delicacy. “All that yummy meat, and the melty cheese…” Aria's frown deepened while Adagio just rolled her eyes. They were brought out of their conversation by the teacher getting up from her desk, walking towards them. She stopped right beside Jax's desk, tapping him on the shoulder. He gave a tired groan as he lazily opened one eye. “Yes…?” “I would like to speak with you after class, Jackson,” said Mrs. Valkyrie. He grunted in annoyance. “Sure.” The teacher walked back to her desk, and Jax resumed his snoozing. The Dazzlings leaned back toward one another, resuming their hushed conversation. “What do you think about him?” Aria asked her older sister. “I think he's a bit of a mystery,” she replied. “It seems like there's more to him than we thought. It might just be nothing, but one can never be too sure about these kinds of things. But enough about that…” She gave a devilish grin. “Today, we take this school.” As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of First Period, Jax stretched himself awake for the second time that day with a yawn. The other students walked out of the room and headed to their next respective classes, while Jax walked up to Mrs. Valkyrie’s desk. As he stopped in front of the algebra teacher, she cleared her throat and took a sip of her coffee, before placing the styrofoam cup on the desk and turning to the raven-haired teen. “Jackson… I worry about you,” she confessed. “You can barely keep yourself awake on your more active of days, and on others you sleep through my entire class. It's clear that trying to help manage your father's company has been taking a toll on your sleep cycle, along with the weekly gaming binges. You really need to get more sleep.” Jax raised an eyebrow. “Gaming binges? How would you know about that?” The middle-aged woman giggled. “My dear Jackson, who do you think gives you a weekly pounding on HALO 5?” The teen furrowed his eyebrows, before his eyes widened in shock. “Wait… you're the chick who keeps kicking my rear at HALO? You're Shinigami7?” He paused. “And how did you know it was me?” She giggled once more, though this time with a hint of mischievousness. “I could tell because your voice is the same as Archangel_86 and so are your mannerisms,” she replied. Her face then turned serious. “I'm serious though, Jackson—you need to get more sleep at night. Stop working so late, or you'll work yourself right into the dirt.” “I know…” he relented with a sigh. The algebra teacher pulled out a Post-It note and began scribbling down a pass for him. “Here,” she said, handing it to him. He grabbed a hold of it, but she kept her grip for a second. “Take it easy.” She let go of the impromptu hall pass, and Jax slung his Swiss+Gear backpack over his shoulder, giving the woman a salute as he backed out into the hallway. She shook her head at his antics before sitting back down in her rolling chair. The few hours leading up to lunchtime were almost normal for Jax. Almost. To his surprise, at least one of the Dazzlings were in each of his classes. And, because of the fact that he was a loner, there was usually an empty seat next to him which they always sat down in. He caught each of them sneaking glances at him occasionally during classes, though he mostly shrugged it off. And now it was time for his second favorite period in school: lunch. He grabbed a tray and walked up to the line, listening to music on his earbuds. He tapped his foot to the rhythm of the song he was listening to. 'Nothing like listening to my favorite playlist to pass the time.’ As the line moved along, he racked his tray with an apple, steamed broccoli with melted cheese, a fish sandwich with lettuce and mayonnaise, and a small carton of orange juice, paying the lunch lady what he owed. Walking to an empty table, he sat down and offered a small prayer of "Itadekimasu!" before he took a bite of his sandwich. 'Ah, good stuff…’ So lost in his music and food, Jax didn't notice when the Dazzlings entered and began singing. Nor did he notice all the students begin to get aggressive towards one another and literally start butting heads with each other. He just continued to bob his head to the music on his earbuds as he munched on the food in his tray. As soon as he finished eating, he dumped his garbage in the trash can and made his way to the door leading back into the hallway. Placing his hand on the door handle, he suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. Turning off his music, he heard the sounds of arguing between almost every student about something he didn't quite catch. Looking down at the floor, he noticed a faint green mist around the ankles of the students. 'Well, that's weird,’ he thought as his eyes wandered around at the infighting of the students. 'I’ve never seen these students start a full-on riot during lunch before.’ Arguments between some students here and there during lunch was rather common, but never had it gone to this extent. He was glad that they were only arguing instead of brawling in fisticuffs or vandalizing school property. A familiar cough diverted his attention from the chaos as he turned to the right. His eyes widened as he spotted the same trio of girls that had transferred here just this morning, each of their pendants’ crimson jewels glowing and seemingly absorbing the green mist into themselves. His eyes glanced up as he caught Adagio staring at him from head to toe, hand upon her chin in thought. 'This is rather unusual,’ he thought as he pressed against the door, opening it slightly. He looked back, noticing the orange-haired girl hadn't broken her gaze from him. 'Maybe this will get her to stop staring,’ he thought, and flashed a smile in her direction. The trick seemed to work as she blinked, before looking away slightly. He chuckled and waved toward them, not really expecting one in return. But to his surprise, Sonata returned it, smiling and waving at the raven-haired teen. However, she immediately stopped once she noticed the disapproving looks her sisters were giving her, and chuckled sheepishly. A small laugh escaped the Zanaroth as he walked out and shut the door behind him. “Well, that was odd. But then again, I'm not exactly one to talk.” He shrugged to himself as he resumed playing his music, heading to the library to check out a book he'd been waiting for. As the final bell rang through the halls, the students began pouring out of their classrooms, heading to their lockers or walking out to the busses or their cars. Jax walked out of his physics class with a bored look on his face. Walking to his locker, he twisted the combo knob a few times before opening it, putting his textbooks inside. “Excuse me, Jackson,” said a voice from behind him. Startled, he hit his head on the top of the locker. “GAH, FUCK!!! Ow…!” He rubbed his head and turned to the culprit, only to stumble backwards slightly as he saw who it was. “V-Vice Principal Robinson! What brings you around here?” “I wish to speak with you in private for a moment,” replied the middle-aged woman, motioning him to follow as she started walking away. “May I ask why you need to talk to me in private?” he asked as he walked alongside her. “Have I done something wrong?” “No, you've done nothing wrong,” she replied. “Just wait until we arrive at our destination to find out.” Jax raised an eyebrow. “Okay…?” he said in confusion as they walked down the hall. Soon, she directed him to enter an empty classroom instead of taking him to her office. Confused at her request, yet not willing to take a chance to ask why, he entered the classroom. As he stepped inside, the sound of the door closing behind him caused him to spin around. The sound of the lock on the door turning made him feel uneasy as he tried to open the door. “Oh, ha ha, VP. Nice prank.” After a few moments of the door remaining locked, his uneasiness began to increase. “Uh, you can let me outta here now.” No response was given, and he began banging on the door. “Hey! Let me out!” As he looked out the tiny window on the door, Jax noticed that the Vice Principal was gone. She'd ditched him here! He tried knocking on the windows to see if he could get the attention of any of the students, but there were none around. They'd all gone home, and there were no club activities today for them to stay for. 'Dammit!’ he thought as he looked back to see the Vice Principal had returned, giving a key to a person obscured by the lockers next to the doorway, before the middle-aged woman walked away and the obscured person came into view. “You've gotta be kidding me,” he said as Adagio Dazzle unlocked the door, entering the room with her two sisters. “Well, hello there, Jackson,” she said as Aria closed the door behind her. “Fancy meeting you here.” “That's funny, seeing as you trapped me in here,” he growled. “Moi?” she said in a mock-innocent tone. “I've done nothing of the sort. It was Vice Principal Robinson who trapped you in here, not I.” “Oh really?” he said disbelievingly. “Well, I'll just be on my way, then, since you unlocked the door for me.” He walked toward the door, only to be stopped by Aria. “Really now?” said Adagio as she strolled up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Because I thought we could use this opportunity to… get to know each other better.” Her fingers running down the length of his arm, coupled with her seductive tone, sent chills down the Zanaroth’s spine. “You see… you appear to be rather different from your fellow classmates. You're a special kind of person.” 'Lady, you don't know the half of it,’ he thought, but said something else to cover himself. “What're you talking about?” he said as he moved his arm away from her touch. “I'm not special.” “Well… it's kinda hard to explain,” she said, stepping in front of him. “So bear with me for a moment, if you would be so kind. If you want, go ahead and sit down, because I think we're going to be in here for a while.” He rolled his eyes as he sat on one of the desks in the room. “So, Jax, what do we look like to you?” “Well, aside from your unusual skin tones, you look like normal teenage girls,” he answered honestly. “Exactly,” she replied. “We may look like human females to you, but we are, in fact, anything but normal.” He raised an eyebrow as Sonata brushed up against him. “In fact, we aren't even from this world,” Adagio added as she walked up to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Wait… You mean that—” He was cut off by Adagio as she put a finger to his lips. She looked into his eyes as her other hand moved across his shoulder. “I wasn't done talking…” she said softly, keeping her finger on his lips. “You see, Jackson… we're sirens. Banished here from a land known as Equestria, where equines like Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and Unicorns reigned supreme. Over time, we've realized that our singing can make your kind fall just as easily as the ponies we once had adoring us.” Her hand brushed across the back of his neck, sending a shiver across his body. “Men especially would fall to our feet in admiration. Yet, you're the first male we've seen not adoring us in years.” “Hold on a second,” he said as he moved Adagio's finger from his lips. “You seriously expect me to believe that you three are sirens? Are you girls insane?” “Hmm… hard to tell sometimes,” Adagio replied before giggling. “I'm just curious to know how you've managed to not fall to our singing.” “Well, to be honest, I haven't heard you girls sing,” he said, pulling out his Moto G Plus smartphone. “I've been listening to music for most of the day.” Sonata immediately snatched it out of his hand. “Hey! Give that back!” “Oh, you'll get it back,” said Adagio seductively as Sonata handed her the phone. “Once you've heard us sing.” Jax rolled his eyes again as she and her sisters started to sing. As they did, he noticed nothing unusual happening. No green mist, no light-up jewels, nothing. 'Well, they sure do sing like sirens, I'll give 'em that,’ he thought as they finished their song. Adagio grabbed her jewel, a look of surprise on her face. She glanced at him, then down at her jewel, then back at him before a smirk appeared on her face. “Interesting…” she said. “Normal people would've been on the floor, bowing at our feet by now. Yet here you are, not even phased by our song. This means only one of two things.” She walked towards him and placed a hand under his chin. “You're either not from this world, or you're one of those rare humans who need a more… personal method to make them fall. I'm not sensing anything different about you from your fellow classmates enough to warrant that sort of vibe, so we can rule out the first option. So that leaves us with using a more hands-on approach just for you.” He noticed Sonata and Aria starting to walk towards him with seductive looks on their faces, causing him to get up from the desk and start backing away. “What are you going to do?” he asked as Adagio stopped them from coming any closer. “Oh~, you'll find out,” she said with a wink. “However… let's make a game out of this, shall we?” She got up from the desk and walked over to the door, opening it before stepping to the side. “I don't really like just ganging up on people like you when we first discover that they need special tactics used on them. I prefer making a little game of hide and seek in situations like this. So, I'll tell you what. We'll give you a five minute head-start before we start chasing after you.” “Huh?” he questioned, confused. “You can't be serious.” “Oh, I am serious. And by the way, that five minutes starts… now,” she said as she looks at the wall clock next to her. Sonata and Aria walked over to stand beside her, and Jax walked toward the door as they continued to stand still. “Oh, and also… here you go.” She tossed the smartphone back to him, and he put it in his pocket. “Now, you'd better hurry and run. Your head start is being wasted.” He looked at her again before stepping outside the room. “Well, then… I guess I'll see you girls later,” he said, before he took off running down the hallway. Adagio smirked as she watched him sprint through the halls. “Run, run, run, Jackson Zanaroth, as fast as you can…” she said in a seductive tone. “You won't escape from us.” The chase was on… To Be Continued...