Cloaked in the darkness of a narrow alley connected to the town square, Adagio carefully observed the plaza, looking for anything that could help her.
The square was a large space bordered by a couple of important-looking stone buildings, and many timber houses. Several wooden crates and barrels were stacked up against the houses, including open barrels full of water for fire emergencies.
In the center of the square, townsfolk were erecting a stake. A few feet away from it, a tied up Sonata stood between two tall men. She had closed her eyes and was moving her lips. Adagio couldn’t hear her, but judging by the way the two men waved their heads up and down in rhythm, she guessed Sonata was singing and had put them under her spell.
Around Sonata, a large and noisy crowd waited. Some people gathered combustible materials; others were already holding lit torches. A small fire burned on the ground, not too far from the stake, and a woman next to it distributed torches to whoever wanted one.
A certain man on the side of the plaza caught Adagio’s attention. It was Midnight Storm, their host of the previous night. What was he doing here? The last time she had seen him, he was going to bed. Maybe the commotion prevented him from sleeping. Fidgeting, he kept throwing glances all around him, at Sonata, at the stake, at the fire… Adagio remembered that he was already under their spell, and they had convinced him they were not witches. That could be useful.
Adagio examined the square again, trying to come up with a plan. Rescuing Sonata would be difficult. There wasn’t any way to approach her without being noticed, unless…
A hand suddenly fell on Adagio’s shoulder; she instantly sprang and turned around, stumbling back before catching herself against a barrel, and finally, she recognized Aria. Adagio relaxed with a smile. Aria had decided to come after all…
“So, what’s the plan?” Aria asked.
While Adagio took a second to think, she noticed Aria’s knife attached to her belt. She looked at Sonata. “Can you free her?”
“I can cut the rope, yes, but with all these people around, I’ll need a distraction.”
“Hm. I may have an idea, but it’s a dangerous one. And it may not even suffice.”
Aria smirked. “Hey, if I didn’t want to take risks, I would have stayed on the boat.”
Adagio nodded. She couldn’t afford hesitating any longer. It was time to act.
* * * * * *
Adagio sneaked through the crowd, instinctively pulling her hood further over her head while praying no one would recognize her. She approached the woman who was giving torches and extended a hand. Before she could say anything, the woman gave her a torch with a grin. Forcing herself to smile, Adagio grabbed the stick and muttered thanks. She couldn’t believe how happy the woman was about what the townsfolk were about to do, but she tried not to show her emotions.
Adagio plunged the upper end of the torch into the fire to ignite it. She then held the stick upright while avoiding looking at the unsettling flame, and cautiously retreated to the side of the square. She cast many glances around to make sure nobody was looking at her; thankfully, most people had their eyes on Sonata or the stake. Then she entered another dark alley, her arm trembling with increasing intensity with each step.
She threw the torch through the nearest open window, hoping nobody was inside the house. In order to delay people’s effort in putting out the impending fire, she knocked down a barrel of water, spilling its contents to the ground.
“What are you doing!?” someone exclaimed from the square as she toppled a second barrel. She quickly fled in the opposite direction. She didn’t know if she was being pursued, but she knew she had to come back to the square, preferably via a different street. And while she ran, she couldn’t help but think that what she just did was a horrible thing.
* * * * * *
“Fire!”
All gazes turned to the thick cloud of black smoke that emerged from a side of the town square. Among a chorus of gasps and screams, people rushed to the source of the disaster, dropping torches and other effects. In less than a minute, most of the plaza had cleared; only a dozen of townsfolk remained in place, the majority of them around Sonata. But for Aria, that was enough of a distraction.
Torn between the desire to run as fast as possible and the need to proceed slowly to avoid drawing suspicion, she awkwardly advanced towards Sonata, who kept singing with closed eyes, either indifferent or oblivious to the chaos.
Finally reaching the singing siren, Aria leaned and whispered in her ear, calling her name. Sonata’s voice trailed off and she slowly opened her eyes, looking straight ahead with a blank expression.
“Turn them against each other,” Aria said before trotting away. Sonata frowned and, after a second of silence, began a new song.
There are witches all around you
They even hide among men, really
Attack them before they curse you
I’m already bound so don’t mind me
The two men next to Sonata eyed each other and the rest of the crowd with distrust. One of them dropped the rope he was holding and jumped on the other, attacking him with punches and calling him a witch. While Sonata slipped away, the other man fought back while accusing different people. The altercation attracted the attention of the other townsfolk around, and before Aria knew it, a brawl erupted.
Aria rushed to Sonata again. She grabbed the rope tied around Sonata’s chest and sawed through it with her knife, slashing fiber after fiber, while from the corner of her eye, she saw Adagio rejoin the plaza and approach Midnight Storm.
She eventually split the rope in two, and Sonata, after a little twisting, freed herself. Just when Aria turned to leave, a man violently clasped her right forearm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he barked. He gritted his teeth, and Aria thought he was about to bite her. She tried to pull her arm away, but he refused to release her.
As much as she didn’t like using violence, she couldn’t see any other solution. The man was muscular, but disarmed. If she transferred her knife to her free hand, she would be able to stab him.
Just as she brought her left hand to the knife, he grasped her left arm as well, immobilizing her. She attempted to struggle, but he was much stronger than she was, and the pain of the pressure weakened her.
Aria didn’t have the time to think of her next move when Sonata wrapped half of the sliced roped around the man’s neck and tightened as hard as she could. He brought his hands to his neck, freeing Aria who took a few steps back. Sonata immediately let go of the rope and the two sirens fled, though Sonata limped.
It didn’t take long before the man caught up with them. Just as he was about to seize Sonata, Midnight Storm interposed himself between the angry man and the sirens, grabbing him by the chest and shouting, “Leave them alone!”
While they fought, Aria and Sonata kept running and reached the edge of the square, where Adagio was waiting for them.
Aria looked back one last time. A green mist floated above the ground, generated by the conflict between the people Sonata had charmed and those they suspected. Aria hesitated, wanting to go back and feed on it.
She felt a hand take her own, and turned around to meet Sonata’s concerned gaze. Without a word, Sonata pulled Aria away from the dangerous plaza and jogged towards the harbor. Aria accelerated, keeping up to Sonata’s pace, and although she had no need to be led any more, she let Sonata keep hold of her hand.
* * * * * *
When the sirens reached the docks, captain Moonwave was still waiting for them. Adagio glanced behind; no one seemed to have followed them. But she didn’t want to consider herself safe as long as they were in the town.
Moonwave let the girls come aboard and enter his cabin. On the way, Aria picked up Sonata’s bag from the deck and dropped it in the room.
“We have to stay hidden until the ship departs,” Adagio said as she stood next to the door, cautiously peeking at the port, while Aria and Sonata sat in silence.
After a wait of several minutes, the rest of the crew came back. From what Adagio could gather of their conversation with Moonwave, the mass had to be interrupted due to a nearby fire. The captain then introduced the girls to the sailors, saying they were passengers.
Adagio felt lighter as they were finally about to leave. Moonwave ordered his men to maneuver out of the harbor. The dockers unmoored the ship, and the crew kedged it away from the wharf. The whole process took much longer than Adagio would have liked, while she peered out of the cabin, worried that someone would barge in at any moment.
The ship had moved by three feet when someone ran to it, shouting, “Stop!”
“Oh, that’s sergeant Iron Blade!” Sonata said behind Adagio’s shoulder.
Adagio took a deep breath, then left the cabin. “Don’t let him aboard!”
“Sorry miss,” a sailor replied, “but I don’t want to get in trouble.” He threw a rope ladder overboard, while the ship stopped moving.
While the sailors were wondering what was happening, Iron Blade climbed on the deck and, facing the sirens with a look of determination, drew his sword. Adagio stared at him with a similar look, hoping Aria and Sonata were doing the same, though she felt Sonata was actually hiding behind her.
At least he was alone, which meant the sirens had a chance, but he had a weapon. Singing at the wrong time could be fatal.
“You have no way of escape,” he said. “Surrender now.”
Aria advanced. “We’re about to leave this stupid town! Just leave us alone! We won’t come back.”
“Never! You are witches, therefore evil…”
The sailors let out gasps and various expressions of surprise, while Sonata exclaimed, “We aren’t witches!”
“… And it is my sworn duty to protect the town from fiends such as you!” He pointed his sword at Adagio.
“Are you really witches?” a sailor asked.
Adagio waved her arm to dismiss the notion. “It’s a mere misunderstanding. Why don’t you put your sword away so we can explain?” She put her hands behind her back and forced a smile. Her gaze shifted to the massive cloud of smoke visible behind the sergeant, ascending from somewhere in the distance. They weren’t witches, certainly. But evil?
He shook his head. “No. I will not let you buy time.”
Adagio raised her hands in defeat. “Very well, we surrender,” she said, eliciting reactions from Sonata and Aria.
“Huh?”
“We do?”
“Just trust me.” Adagio hesitantly walked to Iron Blade, her heart pounding. He didn’t let his guard down. Still, she had to try. Stopping just out of reach of his weapon, she sang.
Oooh oh oh oooh oh…
Aria and Sonata’s voices joined her own. Iron Blade frowned deeper and took a step forward. Adagio couldn’t stop now. Still singing, she closed the distance and placed her hand on his shoulder.
He flinched and raised his sword further, but didn’t attack her. He turned as she circled him. Ignoring the dryness of her throat, she kept singing, and her hip brushed his. Meanwhile Aria and Sonata were walking about the deck, singing to all the sailors.
After a moment, Iron Blade’s empty glaze convinced Adagio that he was under her spell. He was the last thing preventing them from leaving the town, and he was now under her control.
* * * * * *
The song over, Iron Blade, fully confident that he had no reason to bother the three girls further, jumped in the river and swam back to the land. The crew resumed kedging the ship until they could hoist the sails. At last, the ship passed the city’s walls, and Sonata allowed herself to relax, letting out a deep breath. Adagio and Aria pulled their hoods back, releasing their hair.
The three sirens gathered in the captain’s cabin again. Adagio sat on the bed while Aria leaned against the wall. Sonata stood in the middle.
“Do you think we’re safe now?” Aria asked.
“Yes, they probably won’t go after us,” Adagio replied. “However, we should stay away from this town for at least the next fifteen years.”
“Girls…” Sonata said hesitantly, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Huh, thanks.”
Aria raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
“For saving me! I, I thought they were going to burn me for real. And you said, you said you wouldn’t come to help me…” She lowered her head as her voice trailed off.
“I… changed my mind. Forget about that,” Adagio said. Sonata couldn’t remember the last time she heard her speak like that, without her usual confidence. It made her chest heavy, until she properly processed Adagio’s words. She wasn’t going to abandon her after all. Sonata’s worries disappeared in an instant.
“Here’s your stuff, by the way,” Aria said, holding out a leather bag. Sonata snatched it with a “thanks” and sat on the floor, searching through the contents as if she had been given an unknown present, smiling every time she discovered and took out a toy. A rag doll, a spinning top, a ripped leather ball, a whistle… and a purple siren figurine.
Adagio leaned towards it. “Is that Aria?” Sonata nodded.
“If you need something else that reminds you of home, you can take my book.”
Curious, Sonata grabbed the tome and flipped through the pages. The text and numerous illustrations described in detail the Emerald Reef, the sirens, even the land of Equestria and the ponies, rekindling ancient almost-forgotten memories. For a moment, the ship and the world seemed to disappear as she imagined herself swimming under the Equestrian seas alongside her parents.
At one point, she recognized the siren picture that she had once borrowed to commission her Aria toy.
On several other pages, the paper and ink were blurred in some spots as if drops of water had fallen on them. Sonata guessed that Aria had carelessly let her book open under the rain.
Adagio’s voice brought Sonata back to reality. “Aria?”
Aria, who had been looking through the window, slowly turned to face Adagio. She looked so sullen that it sent a shiver down Sonata’s spine.
“You haven’t been looking well all day,” Adagio continued. “Is it because of what I said yesterday?”
Aria sighed. “You were right. I don’t care about this world. And… I never wanted to be immortal. Especially not here.”
“Look, I’m sorry. It’s my fault if we’re here –”
“No, it isn’t.” Aria let her back slid down against the wall as she sat on the floor. “I never really blamed you. The real responsible is that unicorn wizard; I knew that. But now we’re stuck here and… I don’t want to continue.”
Adagio sat down next to Aria. Sonata couldn’t quite understand what was going on through Aria’s mind; she rarely did. But she wanted to do something. She crawled to Aria’s other side.
“I’m sure you can find something you enjoy here. You just have to try. Hey, how about we play the card game I learned in jail? I just need cards.”
Aria frowned. “No, Sonata…”
“She may be right, actually,” Adagio said. Sonata almost squealed with delight.
“What?”
“Not about the cards,” Adagio explained. “What I mean is, we’ve spent all the time we’ve been here looking for a way back, mostly because that’s what I wanted. I felt I had to make up for bringing us here. As you said, it’s probably futile. It’s time we do things you two want to do.”
Sonata jumped up, unable to contain her enthusiasm. “Oooh! Can we go back to Nürnberg? I want to get more toys!”
Adagio smiled. “We will, but I want to listen to Aria first.”
“But there’s nothing I want to do.”
“You just have to try new things. We’ll see what we can find in the next town.”
“I know what we can do right now!” Sonata exclaimed. “Let’s cause a mutiny!”
Adagio and Aria both laughed, which made Sonata all warm inside. They stood up, and Aria raised a hand to her pendant, smiling deviously. “Now that sounds fun.”
Adagio moved towards the door. “All right, girls. It’s time to make this journey a little more exciting.”
As Sonata stepped out of the cabin and into the sunlight, she felt like nothing could ever go wrong again.
~ The End ~