The siren pup, Aria Blaze, laid sprawled out on the rock. Her eyes were nearly closed, almost sleeping as she watched the thermal vent, its bright orange glow shining off the bubbles it was releasing. It was very hypnotic. Plus, the vent made the water nice and warm, which was relaxing. The whole thing made it all perfect for napping. Just watch the glowing bubbles, enjoy the heat, and let thoughts drift away until falling asleep.
She felt like she could stay like this forever.
"Hi!" a high pitched voice called out.
A low growl bubbled in Aria's throat as she turned toward the creature that had ruined her peaceful relaxation (which would be the first of many, many times).
Floating not far from her was another siren pup. Said pup was hard to see at first, as she had blue scales that made her blend in with the water. Once Aria was able to make her out, however, she noticed that the intruding pup was smaller than her. The intruder moved closer, revealing raspberry eyes and a big white smile. There were also bite marks along her forelegs, and a large patch of missing scales on her left side.
It made Aria feel less inclined to attack her. After all, what fun was there in attacking an already injured and weakened opponent? No thrill or challenge to it.
"I'm Sonata," the pup said, holding out a hoof.
"I don't care," Aria retorted, turning to look away from her and back to the vent.
Instead of taking the hint and leaving, Sonata swam closer, moving around to be in eyesight once again.
"I found a recently sunken ship." Sonata moved closer still, her snout almost pressing against Aria. "Wanna go explore it? See what treasures there could be?"
Aria let out a huff as she reached out with a hoof, and shoved Sonata away.
"Why would I care about some stupid surface junk?"
Sonata let out a gasp, eyes going wide.
"Why wouldn't you?" Reaching out, she grabbed Aria's face and pulled it so they were touching snout to snout. "Have you seen their stuff? It's all so different and weird." She let go and shifted back. "Like those little shiny round things, about the size of seashells. What are they for? And why are there always so many? And what about the bits of coral? Or those things that look like a marlin's nose?" She spun in a backflip. "It's all so strange and different."
Her eyes turned away from Aria and up toward the surface.
"I would love to see it all some day. Find out what the surface creatures and their world is like."
Aria rolled her eyes and made a vomiting motion.
Sirens fascinated by the surface world were nothing new to her. She had seen quite a few of them. There was even another Aria that was obsessed with the idea, to the point where she had even burst into song about wanting to be a part of that world. Aria Blaze, however, never understood the fascination. There was plenty of stuff in the ocean for them to explore, and play with, and eat. Plus, so much of the stuff that comes down from the surface was weird and useless. Like those little, round, shiny things they have. Or the fake lobster shell coverings they make for themselves. Why would they even need such a thing?
Sonata swam around to face her again.
"Do you like squid?"
That got Aria's interest. Squids were not the tastiest of prey, but they could be chewy in a fun way. That was not why she was interested in them, though. No, what she liked was the challenge of them. Fish just tried to flee. Crabs and lobsters tried, but they just had pinchers in front of them, and could only do so much. Things like clams and oysters could not even move, they just stuck to what they were on. Squids and octopuses though, those were fun prey. They had the ability to camouflage themselves and be hard to find, they could squirt ink to blind predators to try and escape, and best of all, when they were caught, they would put up a fight. They would wrap their tentacles around the attack, and try to bite with their sharp beaks. Some were even venomous, and while by no means fatal to a siren Aria's size, it could cause effects ranging from euphoria and numbness to feeling sick for a few days.
There were even stories of giant squids that actually attacked and ate sirens.
"I know where there's a whole bunch of them," Sonata said, pointing off with one hoof. "If you come with me to explore the ship, then I'll take you there, and you can hunt all the squids you want."
That sounded pretty good.
Too good in fact.
"What do you get out of it?" asked Aria.
"What do you mean?" Sonata asked, looking up with wide eyes as she tapped the edges of her hooves together.
Aria continued to glare at the other pup, not saying anything. Sirens were not known for working together, and like their dragon cousins, did not like to share. What stories there were of sirens cooperating usually ended with them fighting over the prize, because everyone wanted it all for themselves.
So even having a pup offer something -- anything -- in exchange for a favor was weird.
After several seconds, Sonata let out a sigh, head dropping.
"Okay, fine," she huffed. "The ship isn't far from where Canto Mesmer hangs out, and she doesn't like me. If she sees me, she'll attack me and won't let me get anywhere near it, even though she doesn't care about it."
She moved closer and pointed a hoof at Aria.
"She's afraid of you, though," Sonata continued. "If you come with me, she'll totally leave me alone instead of facing you. And if she does try anything, you can whip her sorry tail all the way to the shore." She emphasized this by making several punching motions.
Aria Blaze tensed at the name, fighting the snarl that bubbled in her throat. Aria was familiar with Canto Mesmer. In the human world, Aria would learn two terms that she would retroactively apply to the siren: one is "Napoleon Complex;" the other is "two-faced, trash-talkin' bitch!" Canto was a couple clutches older than Aria, but was not much bigger. She was also mean, attacking and insulting any siren smaller and weaker than her. Canto had tried it with Aria once, and quickly learned that while Aria was smaller, she was not weaker, and definitely was not a siren Canto could boss around.
Aria's looked Sonata over again. She had never measured Canto's mouth or anything, but the bite marks looked about the right size. The patch where the scales was missing was covered with pink raw patches and scratches, like the spot had been rubbed against something rough with sharp points. Say, for example, like a larger siren forced Sonata against some coral.
So Aria would get to have squid, possibly beat up on a siren she does not actually like, and Sonata thought she was hiring a body guard. Seemed like a win-win to Aria.
"Alright, fine," Aria said as she got up.
"Woo-hoo!" Sonata squealed out, doing a backward somersault. She then shot forward, hugging Aria. "New friend!"
Aria let out a low growl. She was already regretting it.
The feeling of the SUV slowing down and turning pulled Aria out of ancient memories. Soon, she and Firecracker Burst would be back at the farm house. Aria was mostly there as back up in case the "terror crystals" (the official scientific name was something she could not remember) still had enough energy to affect Burst. The senior agent was to blow up the remnants of the crystals, and implode the house so it all collapses into the basement.
As they approached the gate, they instead saw a pair of black and white SUVs with flashing lights on top, and several people in police uniforms.
"Ah, shit," Firecracker Burst muttered as she came to a stop. She was already opening the window as one of the officers approached: an officer with a potbelly and sagging jowls.
Aria turned away and bit her thumb, resisting the urge to make pig jokes.
The fact that the officer made a snorting sound as he looked through the window did not help.
"Are you folks lost?" he asked.
"No sir, Officer... Beanes," said Burst, reading off the last part.
Aria tasted blood as she bit down harder.
"My associate and I are from Silver Shilling Realty," Burst continued. "This property is supposed to go up for auction, and we were sent to evaluate it." She glanced forward, shifting to look further. "I'm guessing that won't be happening though."
"Sorry, ma'am,' the officer replied, "but we have strict orders not to let any unauthorized personnel onto this property."
"Ah, too bad," Burst replied. She placed her hand on top of the officer's. "Any chance you can tell me by who?"
Before Officer Beanes could respond, the sound of someone coughing caused him to jump, pulling away.
"I'll take if from here," stated Tempest Shadow. She pushed the officer back as she stepped forward, approaching the car. Her arms rested on the edge of the window frame as she bent down, poking her head inside. Reflective sunglasses showed Firecracker Burst and Aria Blaze in them.
"I'm afraid that for reasons that cannot be disclosed, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared this are indefinitely off limits until the matter can be cleaned up." She pulled the sunglasses down, looking at the pair from over the top. "I'm sure you and your bosses will understand."
"Ah," Firecracker Burst said with a cold note in her voice. "Of course. Sorry to waste your time."
Tempest Shadow smirked and pushed her glasses back up.
"Have a safe trip back." She gave the door a pat as she stepped back. Her smirk grew wider as she pushed her sunglasses back up.
Burst rolled up the window, and backed up to turn around.
"Fuck," Aria huffed.
"Yeah," Firecracker Burst replied. "It sucks we don't get to blow the place up." She sighed, then smiled. "Still, It's not all bad. We managed to get samples of the crystals, and someone else is now having to deal with clean up."
"Still don't like it," Aria growled, glaring at the rearview mirror. Seeing Tempest Shadow behind them made the back of her neck itch.