//------------------------------// // Rise of the sirens // Story: Call of the sea // by sunsetsjournal //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Rise of the sirens “Are you sure about this, Adagio?” Sonata gulped worried; her sister nodded in response. “And you’re sure there’s no other way we could survive down here in the water?” Aria added, intervening. “For the last time, yes: I know what I said sounds extreme, I know it involves risks and, yes, I am one hundred per cent sure there is no other way for us to stay here. The sea ponies we usually attack are starting to get more and more rear; they must have noticed that something suspicious is lurking right beyond the borders of their home, so they stopped going out.” “Can’t we just find a new home for us to live, somewhere else that is not out there in the upper world?” “Aria, I’ve already explained to you that even if such a place existed, the wisest choice for us to take is leaving this permanently wet cave and start living above the surface of the sea”. “But how are we supposed to breath up there?” Sonata asked confused: “You’ll breath just fine; believe me. I’ve been there already and I guarantee that there is no difference between breathing the oxygen we have here or the one contained in the upper atmosphere. Just remember to use your nose instead of the gills”. “And can you really tell that is worth going?”. Hearing Aria saying these words, Adagio stared at her with her intimidating deep eyes: “Don’t you trust me?” “No, no, that’s not what I meant!” her sister exclaimed, trying to hide the sweat, lining her forehead: “Then what is that you meant?” “Well...it’s just...”the girl struggled to say: “…ah, I won’t lie: I’ve been feeling insecure about this since the first time you suggested it. The thought of what could be lying up there...it just freaks me out”. “I thought I told you needn’t fear: despite having visited that world multiple times, I’m still here in one piece.” “Yes, but what if there was something you didn’t know, yet?” “Please, try being more specific” “What if that world, we’re supposed to live in, hides something greater than we think, dangerous even; maybe even something we won’t be able to handle on our own?”. “Please, stop!” Sonata interrupted her: “You’re scaring me so much, suddenly I am not so eager to go, either!”. In the meantime Adagio kept staring at her sisters: Sonata was trembling at the thought of who knows what threat they could meet in that mysterious world they would soon come to know, while Aria, although she might have appeared calm and collected, hid an even greater fear in her silence. The oldest of the sirens sighed demotivated: she knew very well the true reason that had pushed her to take that decision her dear ones despised so much. It was certainly true that sea ponies had become very rear to come by, still the dizzy sensation that came with breathing air was something she detested; but something was pressing her, something she did not wish to remember, something she could not reveal to the others. “I understand your fears” she said, finally breaking that awkward silence: “I know both of you would rather remain here in our home and I, too, in the deepest part of my heart wish to stay...” as she was pronouncing these words, Sonata and Aria laid their gazes on the ground almost at the same time, putting on an expression their sister would never forget: “...but if I say we have nothing else to do: I swear to you I am telling the truth. We have nowhere to go, we may as we be wanted by the Seaquestria royal guards, we may as well...” a note of sadness was heard in her voice, as she was speaking: “...risk our lives, if we don’t leave by tomorrow morning. We also need food this place cannot provide us with anymore, thus we need to find ourselves a new home. The only thing I’m asking you right now is to trust me: trust me, when I’m saying that the upper world is the perfect place for us to move in; I’ve seen what’s out there, just waiting for us. New lands, ponies to dominate with our magic: they are unprepared for countering us, while we’ve been studying them all this time. Furthermore, if anything threatens us, I promise that I will be there for you both, I will always be watching your back, just as I hope you’ll be doing for me”. A second moment of silence followed, the two younger sirens looked into each others’ eyes until Sonata blushed, uttering: “Oh, c’mon, you don’t need all that fancy talk to convince us!” “Uh?” Adagio exclaimed, putting on a surprised: “Like we could ever let you go up there without the two of us: you probably wouldn’t last half a day before running into some of your trouble: who would be there to save you then, uh?” Aria intervened, giggling with affection, while her older sister’s eyes widened, so that her pupils wood look like two deep ponds of black water. Adagio’s heart was warming and, despite her attempts to hold her lips in a motionless and cold expression, her true feeling soon became crystal clear. That night, the last they spent in their cave, Adagio could not sleep a wink: unlike her sisterswho were resting peacefully like two baby lambs, she kept tossing and turning on the cold surface of the cavern rocky floor. “What’s happening to me tonight?!” she wondered with her eyes wide open, feeling sweat wetting her forehead: “It may as well be what Aria told me earlier” as she thought about these things, the siren turned around to lower her gaze on her sisters’ seaweed bed where the two girls were groaning loudly: “I’ll never get used to that...” she giggled in the darkness of the hall: “...but what if she were right? What if there was something that even I could not protect them from...”. Suddenly a little voice in her head suggested that she should turn around. Right before her snake-like eyes she could see the painting she had made to commemorate the worst nightmare of her life. “Thank you for reminding me of the biggest mistake I’ve ever made” Adagio complained, talking to herself: “As if seeing it everyday at down and dusk wasn’t enough already. Ah...Perhaps if I had stood there by your side I could have fought against those sea ponies and saved you, perhaps you would have been here with me, perhaps I wouldn’t need to feel like rubbish every time I walkthrough the mouth of the cavern and see you die again and again.” While she was reflecting upon these things, her head was filled with the dreaded sound of spears clashing against the thick scales of her mother’s fiery tail. All of a sudden one of their pointy heads penetrates her flesh under the left shoulder, the siren screams loud. A second guard spawns behind her back: he’s fast, so fast that he manages to hit her neck: Adagio’s mother cries again. At the same time a third sea pony succeeds in hitting her right eye from which blood starts pouring immediately; now theywillrequire less effort to take her down. A few other hits of the royal guards’ spears and that vile creature who dared suck energy out of the little ones, draining them completely, has finally been taken down, taken down for good. The warriors unleash a furious cry: they have won the battle, honor and glory awaits for the mighty, hell to pay for the evil. They walk away in cheers, while the monster is laying defeated on the ground, her warm dark red blood has not yet stopped pouring from her infected wounds, her shiny scales are covered in sand. The evil siren is no more, just a corpse remains, a corpse taking her last breath. Not too far away, a little girl witnessed the horrible scene; she looks so innocent with her little body, covered in golden scales and her fragile-looking hooves, yet her red violet eyes clearly convey a tremendous feeling of fear and fury. She wants to go to her mother, rescue her somehow or at least bid her one last farewell, but she cannot. Her tail, her fins...they don’t move: she’s too afraid. Seeing her daughter, the siren smiles, she tries to whisper something, but not a single word comes out of her mouth; she attempts again, louder, but her chest hurts. Suddenly an unexpected noise is heard: the guards are coming back to claim their trophy, after all, no noble warrior has ever been seen come back to his queen empty hoofed. The sight of their helmets, decorated with large colorful feathers, and armors covered in blood; frightens the little one. She runs away without turning back, there is nothing she can do against them if she’s so terrorized. In the meantime her mother smiles, seeing her run away: her daughter’s now safe and she can finally rest in peace, so she smiles, while a drop of tears lines her cheek. Adagio’s far away now, too far away to go back. She can’t recognize where she ended up though: maybe it’s just an impression, caused by the fear, or maybe she has actually reached somewhere she had never been to, but it’s no time to stop and think; the guards could have seen her, they could be on her trail. Desperate, the little one seeks a nearby place to hide, she finds a cave, carved deep into a cliff: it’s dark and humid, yet it’s the only safe place for now. Adagio quickly goes inside, swimming deeper into the carver, until she finds an underground hall; the atmosphere in there feels haunted, for there is no light, but at least nopony will ever find the young siren there. Adagio lies on a rock and cries, little does she know how long just as little do the royal guards, the very ones who are now being named honorary knights, know that sirens grow fast, faster than anypony can imagine, plus they do not forget and they certainly do not forgive. Even those noble nights shall fall, while trembling terrorized, theywill soon drop their spears before a large mouth full of ivory teeth. “Are you seriously going to haunt me the whole night?!” Adagio thought, while turning her head around: her caver was silent, her sisters asleep. Relieved, she sighed ant got laid once more, knowing her nightmare would finally leave her to rest for the remainder of the night. The following morning the tree sirens woke up as soon as the sun began to rise: “Is everything ready?” the oldest of them asked. “Yes” Aria replied with a sad tone in her voice: “Then we’d better get going, the sooner we get to the surface the better”. “Uh...sis” Sonata interrupted her: “once we’re up there, what are we exactly supposed to do?” “What do you mean?” “Well...Y’see, I ain’t really looking forward to sleeping on the ground tonight...” those words hit Adagio deep: she hadn’t thought about where they were gonna live in the new world, since they were leaving their wet dark marine cave. “I’m sure we’ll find some place to stay, now let’s go, we’ve wasted enough time already”. Once the three sirens had gotten out of their lair, they felt an extremely cold current pass through their bodies, making them shake terribly.. As their were swimming higher the soft white sandy see floor became more and more distant, the colorful giant sea stars slowly began to look smaller. A group of opahs, covered in bright silver scales, reminding of the light of the moon, was swimming just next to them, as if they were trying to communicate something, as if they were trying to tell them not to go. “I will miss you, too” Sonata thought at that very moment, reminiscing the first time she had laid her young eyes on such beautiful creatures. “Adag...Adagio?” the little siren asked, pointing out a group of fish, passing by: “Yes, Sonata?” her sister replied calmly. “What are those?” “Cherry Barbs, you can tell by their red and black scales” “I see, what about those?” “Clown loaches, obviously” “The color of their bodies looks like yours, don’t you think?” “I suppose it does, partially” “Oh, oh and what about that one?” “Which one?” “The one with the silver and blue scales” “It’s a tiger barb”. While chatting calmly, the two of them where caught in a strong current which made their dorsal fin shake: “Now what are those?!” the youngster asked shocked by what had just happened, pointing a large group of fish, colored in a peculiar bright tint, as they were swimming away. “Opahs, pretty rear of them to come by these parts, to be honest”. “Wow, sis!” Sonata exclaimed, both surprised and enthusiastic at the same time: “You certainly know a lot about these things!” “Not really, I just learned a couple of notions, when I was younger” “Really, all alone?!” “I was a fast learner”. A moment of silence interrupted their conversation: “Hey, sis” the youngster suddenly intervened. “What is it?” “Would you mind if I stopped by here at the anemones field from time to time, I think I really like this place” “Do you?” “Yes, the colors of the plants and all the fish. I’ve never seen anything like it before, so...” “Ah” Adagio sighed in the end: “Fine, you can come”. Hearing those words, made the little siren’s heart soar so muchshe was about to jump from joy, yet her good sense recommend her it would be best tobehavein front of her sister: “Okay...thanks”. Silence filled the atmosphere once more, this time it lastedquite a while, until Adagio finally broke it. “It’s gotten pretty late for us to stay here” “It is?” the little one questioned with an expression of disappointment on her face: “Yes and if we wanna be ready for our usual hunting later we need to start getting ready right now.” “Oh, of course”. “Plus, you gotta practice a little if you want your new tune to work on the sea ponies” “Right, the tune: I’ll be going, then. Should I wake up Aria?” “Yes, I think she rested plenty, wake her up and let her know that she must prepare to leave the lair in a few moments.” “I’ll do that right away”. Having taken nothing but a single step forward, Sonata turned around: “Aren’t you coming?” “Yes, yes” her sister answered quickly: “I’ll catch up in a bit.” the little one nodded in response. Once the youngster had left, the siren sighed deeply and began to stare at the water surface: “Such innocence” she whispered after a while: “Such good in her. I’m sorry she and the other one have to live so awfully, but there is no other way that I know of.” She interrupted her thinking for a moment: “It didn’t work even for you, did it mom? Leaving in harmony with the other creatures. In the end you had to sacrifice them in order to save the one you loved the most and that good deed you made was apparently not enough to save your life. So what am I supposed to do? How am I to save them from this horrible existence, when even you...” Suddenly Adagio heard a delicate sound, it was the opahs Sonata had noticed before; they had come back. They were swimming high above her head, almost dancing in the water with their shiny scales, illuminated by the rays of the sun: that view gave the siren an idea. Adagio remembered well the first time she went to the surface: It had happened when she was still little. She had always wondered what laid beyond the thick wall of water above her: whenever she felt the heat of the sun warming her back, something started calling for her, something attracted her, something she knew nothing about. So she took the habit of waking up early in the morning to gaze at the raising daylight, penetrating from the surface of the sea, her eyes glimmered in a mysterious light and her heart began to pound; yether mother was not too happy about that. One day, despite being still half asleep, the siren sensed that Adagio had left the bed, for they used to slumber together, so she got up as well. She caught her, staring at the sun with such passion she could not help but ask her daughter the reason of her unusual behavior. The little one, even though she felt embarrassed at first, decided to share her secret with the one she loved the most, after all, who better then her own mom to keep that dream safe? Having listened to what her daughter had to say, the siren put on an unexpected expression of revolting disgust, as if she were feeling sick; in the mean time the youngster remained shocked: “Why Adagio?” her mother asked: “Why are you telling me these things, do you seriously think it’s some kind of joke?!” “I am not joking!” Adagio replied nervous: “I am serious, I really wish to reach the upper world and see what it looks like!”. A moment of awkward silence followed: the young siren understood what that meant: “Never!” “What?!” “Don’t ever go up there, I forbid you!” “But why?” “Certain things must be kept secret for good, now promise!”. Seeing her mom’s gaze, the little one could do nothing but obey, after all she had no other choice, yet that brief argument was not nearly enough to rob her heart of its most secret and passionate dream. It had instead made Adagio’s desire so intense and strong to push the young siren to do something crazy. That night, while her mother was resting, Adagio left her in their temporary hideout, a giant anemone, similar to the ones clown fish settle in, and swam high up to the surface. As soon as she pulled her head out of the water, she felt a sudden lack of oxygen, for her gills had immediately stopped working: luckily her body instinctively began to breath through the nose. Having quickly gotten used to the dizzy feeling of her head, caused by the air, the first thing she wished to do wasadmire the sky: it was dark as squid ink or perhaps even darker, furthermore countless luminescent spots decorated it, shining in a silver light like sea pearls. At the very middle of that black blanket stood a white giant orb: Adagio felt like the moon was observing her from far away. While staring at this breathtaking view, the little one happened to hear a distant sound, coming from the shore. She got closer, probably attracted by the warm color of the torches she had seen burning on the beach and for the first time she saw them with her own little eyes. Resting on the sand there were two weird looking creatures, their sight immediately frightened the youngster: they were not so tall, their body covered in dark fur, both of them were tailed and hoofed at the end of each leg, plus their head and neck were hidden by a thick hairy mane. At that moment, perhaps because she was afraid of being spotted by those strangers, perhaps because she feared being caught disobeying by her mother or perhaps because of both, the young siren dove into the water and disappeared beneath the deep ocean floats, promising herself to go back to discover that world sooner or later and she did just that, after her mom had departed. In the terrible times that followed the beginning of her loneliness, the glimmering of the night stars was the only thing that would cheer her up and the shining of the moon somehow prevented her from having nightmares, whenever she rose up to the surface to stare for a little while at that giant silver orb, before going to sleep in her wet obscure cavern. “Now it’s time to see whether this world can save us all from or damn us to the same fate my mother faced” Adagio thought, finally approaching the surface of the water with both of her sisters following her. “Wow!” Sonata exclaimed as soon as the oxygen contained in the air, reached her brain: “You did not mention us this new way of breathing was so... head spinning!” “Actually I did” her sister answered calmly:. “Now what?” Aria asked confused: “Remember the levitating lessons: it’s just like swimming. C’mon, I’ve already spotted somepony on the beach: let’s see if we can get him to help us”. “Lead the way, sis” and with these very words the three sirens slowly started to near the coast, swimming.