//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Lavender And Fuchsia 
// Story: The Legend Of Dazzling Hollow 
// by FourShadow 
//------------------------------//

The very next day, Adagio made it her mission to track down the two people who scared her girlfriend so many years ago. True it was several years ago and she was a little girl when they pulled their prank, but she wanted to know a bit more about them. Maybe they had changed after all of that time, or maybe they were still the same after those years. Adagio preferred the former over the latter. 

Regardless, she knew just where to track em. Their lockers! But first, she would need to step over to her locker. She went over to open it up, but first, a little precaution. She unlocked the lock, but just as she was about to open it, she moved with the locker door and slided to the side, away from the open locker's cabinet. 

Upon opening, she could hear a soft roar, and a a small party popping sound. A small burst of rubber spiders fell out of the locker and landed on the ground, all falling with small thuds. Adagio rolled her eyes, and looked at the note taped to her locker.

"'Haha, got you, again'--  real mature, Sonata. Very mature," Adagio deadpanned, getting her things. 

Slamming her locker shut, she immediately bypassed the rubber spiders. As she made a turn, she unwrapped the plastic wrapper around a chocolate ball, mounted on a lollipop stick. Just down the hall, she saw two girls. Very purple skin, but different styles of hair. Definitely the girls that had been described in Trixie's story. 

Without either girls noticing, Adagio continued to approach them until she stopped dead in their tracks. She smirked. "Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush.". 

The two girls froze. Turning their heads, they saw the former siren dressed in that tight siren's outfit, leaning against the locker with a small lollipop in her mouth, sticking out like a cigarette. She gave them all the bedroom eyes look, making them fluster in worry. 

"Good afternoon, ladies," Adagio purred, taking the lollipop out of her mouth.

The two of them gulped.

"Adagio Dazzle," Fuchsia began.

"Very lovely to see you both today, how are you two?" Adagio asked, still keeping that seductive grin.

"Um... fine," Lavender continued, albeit confused. "You?"

"Fine, fine. Got my costume for Halloween done, very excited to show it off. But then I learned a little something about the house we're in... someone died in the house, right?"

"Actually, no. That was just a rumor. Someone told us a long time ago that someone died in it," Fuchsia admitted.

Adagio nodded, suspiciously. "I see..." She took a soft bite out of her lollipop, making a small crunch, making the two girls cringe.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"This isn't actually a real lollipop. This is just a piece of chocolate that's given like a lollipop," Adagio explained.

"Oh."

Adagio took another soft bite, relishing the sweet milky candy flavor in her mouth. With a gulp, she cleared her throat to talk once more. "Now, I have questions for you two. What are your thoughts on Trixie?" 

Both of them froze. 

"Well, um... why do you ask that?" 

"Part of me is a little curious if you have any regrets... surely some that I'm sure would be worth letting out," Adagio queried.

Lavender frowned. "Is she... is she okay?"

"I'm sorry?" 

Lavender spoke louder. "Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes, but maybe some exercise could help her be in a bit more shape during gym--"

"No, I meant, in general," the blond interrupted.

"To answer, yes. But unfortunately still has some issues thanks to you two scaring and traumatizing her as a little girl!" 

The two shamefully hung their heads.

"I somehow knew that'd happen," Fuchsia cooed. She looked up at Adagio with a guilty face. "Adagio? Look, I know you're standing up for her, and that's great. But if we can be honest... we just want to apologize to her."

"Well maybe you should--I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Lavender nodded. "We're not kidding. Look, after what happened years ago, we felt so horrible. We just wanted to show her a good time with a little adventure, we didn't... we didn't want to put her in a situation where she would get hurt. And that floor, oh gosh... we didn't know that floor would collapse. And seeing her almost fall through, I... I was so scared, I didn't want her to die."

Adagio's brow raised, continuing to suck on her lollipop. "Continue..." 

"Trixie was getting pushed by everyone in school, we just wanted to help her not be afraid. We thought if we took her inside that house, maybe we could show her that not everything is as scary as it seems. But none of us ever thought she'd actually believe that the house she'd enter would actually be scary," Fuchsia explained.

"And we never intended to scare her so much that'd she cry," Lavender's heart snapped on a string. "When she came out of that hole, and seeing her so scared, I... I never felt so horrible in my life."

Adagio let their explanations slowly sink in. Their guilty faces, their dry speaking, their dead on looking in the eyes. They weren't hiding anything suspicious or lying. Years of seduction and manipulation to survive had helped her learn to tell when someone was being honest or lying to her face. 

"So. You two really want to talk to her and try and make up?"

"Believe me, we'd like to, but she never wants to see us again. We tried to talk to her so we could apologize face to face, but she shut us out. She refuses to talk to us or hear us out. Not that I blame her," Fuchsia said. 

The siren stood silent. She tapped her heel, thinking. 

"Mmm... I see. Tell you what, I'll talk with her. Maybe I can arrange a meeting where you two can make up for it. But I'm letting you know, it's going to require a lot of effort."

"We'll do anything we can," Lavender said, honestly.

"Very well. I'll see what I can do. Have a good day, and don't forget... I'm watching you," Adagio winked, walking away from them.

Hmm, don't seem too bad. Guilty conscious, definitely. Wishing for redemption, Adagio thought. Perhaps they want to make up with her. Very interesting indeed. Very interesting, girls. Just like Van Tassel and old Bones...





The next few days or so, Adagio and her sisters began to assemble their home. With the help of Red, of course. After most of their house was finished, the gang decided to take a little break, going over to a local pub that had been set up in the town. Sitting at one of the tables, all of the girls got drinks filled with sweet apple cider.

With one sip, Red could hear the girls sighing in relief and pleasure from the strong taste.

"Ah... that's the stuff," Sonata said, savoring the flavor. 

Red chuckled. "You three seem to really enjoy your cider, don't you?"

"The stuff helps with the pain," Aria said, taking another sip.

"The pain?"

"Well, pain as in, emotional pain. Losing several people we called family in the heat of battle, I'm afraid," Adagio answered, somberly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I... I didn't know," Red apologized.

"Its okay. You didn't know."

"Unless you're a witch?" Sonata stood up, accusing.

"Sonata, sit down!"

"Sorry!"

Sonata slammed herself back down into her chair, making Red giggle. "You don't actually believe in witches, do you?"

The three of them starred at Red with a slightly insulted glare.

"That depends. Are you going to insult us if we say we do?"

"No, I wouldn't. But may I ask, why?"

Adagio took a bite of her food that she had bought, and looked at Red with a smile. "Well, Red, sometimes its really fun to think about. I think its fun to believe in something, even if it has never been proven. And having gotten started on History Of New England Witchcraft, its rather exciting to think about."

"Well if you believe that's exciting, then I think you may want to know of something about this town. Sleepy Hollow, actually," Red began, "Those who believe in the witchcraft and ghosts and spirits believe that a spirit lives in those woods. If I am correct, I believe during this war you speak of, there was someone who's head had been shot clean by a cannonball."

All three of their heads jolted up.

"And legend has it, this headless horseman rides for each night in that drowsy, dreary glen, in search of long lost head..."

The trio gulped.

"Was there anything said about what would happen if he finds someone?"

"I don't know. As far as the legend goes, he carries a flaming pumpkin which he throws at anyone in his path. Whether he obtains you and carries your spirit, I'm afraid I don't know. But that's as far as I can recall. I don't know, I'm not a believer in these sort of things," she said. Turning her head, she scoffed. "Oh brilliant."

"What?"

Their heads looked to Red's direction. A man dressed in a sporting coat, flashing a big cheeky grin was talking to a few girls at another table. The women he was talking to all seemed very impressed and intrigued by the things he said, but the sirens couldn't make out a word. 

"Burly Bones," Red spat. "The man loves to show off his muscles to try and make all of the women swoon. He can show off all he wants, but that does not mean I'm going to fall for him."

"What, is he the town's braggart?" Aria asked.

"No, I think that's what she's saying," Sonata observed. 

"Well I don't wish to be anywhere near that pig," Red stood up, "I'm going to chop some more wood, hopefully I can get it done. I'll join you three later to help finish the roof."

"Okay, thanks Red!" Sonata smiled. "Oh, and thanks for the cider!"

Red smiled. "My pleasure, Sonata."

She walked out of the pub, with the three Sirens alone. And wouldn't you know it, the moment she left, the man started to walk towards their table. He was rather intrigued to see new faces over in a far booth. Who were these gorgeous young women, and when did they get here? They didn't seem to be from anywhere he knew, or anywhere he traveled. Maybe they were visitors? Only one way to find out. 

"Hello there," the man said.

Adagio raised a brow, taking a sip of her cider. "Hello. Who might you be?"

"Why surely you must have heard of me? Burly Bones? The strongest man in town?"

Adagio and her sisters looked to one another, shrugging.

"Oh right, you three are new in town. My mistake. Burly Bones is my name," he said. "Who are you?" 

Adagio took another swing of her cider. "Adagio Dazzle. And these two are my sisters, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk." 

"Very lovely to meet you three. May I ask what brings you to our town?"

"We just want some peace and quiet, dummy," Aria deadpanned. 

Burly Bone's nose scrunched up. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm afraid the last few decades on us have been very rough, we just came to this town for some peace and quiet," Adagio replied.

"And cider!" Sonata cheered, raising her glass up. All three of them clinked glasses, taking sips. 

"Well I must say, its very nice to meet you three. Say, if you don't mind my asking, I would actually like to get to know you fine young ladies some more? Maybe you can meet me over at the Van Tassel party?"

"And when is that?" Adagio asked.

"Its later tonight. I can talk to Miss Van Tassel, get you three invited. And after all, if you three are new in town, maybe you can meet more of the lovely people in this town that way.

Sonata seemed happy with the idea. Aria was still grumpy as usual, but that was only because the rest of her cider had been gone, and she didn't have anything snarky to reply back with. Well with Adagio's foot slamming on her own to keep her from talking. 

"We'd love to come!"

"Excellent. Then I suppose I would see you dames later tonight. Do be wary, Miss Van Tassel's the fairest in the land," Burly replied. "Sounds like you three may have some competition. Have fun, and be careful, should someone harass you, let me know. I will show someone how not to treat a lady."

The man gave them a wink before leaving the pub. 

"Well then. An invitation, and a way to meet more people. I think that went rather well," Adagio grinned.

"Did you have to slam your heel onto my foot?" Aria growled, feeling her toes.

"We're trying to be polite, Aria. We can't be rude."

"Think you'll ask him out?" Sonata asked.

Adagio chuckled, "Oh, Sonata. Dear heavens, no. Burly Bones may have some fine muscles for sure, but I'm afraid his confidence and over-longing of claiming of his greatness and his attributes are a little... how do you say it... much?"

"That's kinda hypocritical of you," Sonata pointed out.

"How?"

"You're a complete narcissist, Adagio," Aria deadpanned again. 

"No I'm not. I just think my sly and seductive body is more happy with someone who doesn't think highly of themselves, and who will adore me for the sexy queen that I am. Is that that narcissism, or is that the heart speaking?"

"Do you really want an answer to that?"

"Yes."

"You're a freaking moose."