The night air was filled with shaky breaths and fumbling footsteps. Hands were clenched into fists, pressed against chests in an attempt to stop them from trembling.
Voices once coated in seduction and trickery, now grating with fear.
"Are they...are they really gone?" whispered a blue haired girl, tears trickling down her cheeks. She slowly opened her fist to reveal shards of crimson stone. Blood beaded beneath them - she had squeezed her hand so tight that the sharp edges of broken ruby had dug into her skin. She gazed at her hand, then looked up to meet the eyes of her fellow sisters.
One of the other girl's’ hands fluttered to her neck, almost as if by instinct. Fingers clawed desperately at her throat, forgetting that the gem no longer hung on the delicate black string. She ached to have the warm, heavy weight of her pendant resting against her throat once more.
"I...I don't know," the girl finally replied, attempting to compose herself for the sake of her sisters. She was a natural leader - being the oldest and all - and she needed to be strong for them.
"What are we going to do?" the youngest one babbled, knees buckling in exhaustion. "How are we going to survive without our voices? And magic! We’re going to starve!"
"Shut up, Sonata," spat the middle child. Her purple eyes were dark and full of disdain, her mouth pulled into a twisted grimace; she always lashed out when she felt scared. "We'll find a way. Right, Adagio?"
"We're going to need new necklaces," Adagio murmured, fingers still caressing the hollow of her throat. "We can't stay in this town any longer - they know who we are. But where, where would we go..." She pressed her knuckles on her chin, closing her tired eyes.
The three girls were exhausted, drained, and losing hope.
"Adagio? Don't fall asleep on us!"
"I'm not sleeping! I'm thinking..."
"Well? Where are we going to go? What are we going to do?"
"Just...just hold on. I'm trying to think."
"C-can we please not fight?" whimpered Sonata. Her bottom lip quivered when they paid no attention to her.
"It seems like every time you think of a plan, it fails."
"Well, I'd like to see you try to lead us! You never contribute to any of my plans, anyways! All you do is scowl and sulk around, never pulling your weight."
"W-what? I try so hard to help you, but you're the one who keeps turning me away!"
"That's because your ideas are always terrible!"
"Girls! Please!"
"You know what? I'm done."
Adagio's eyes widened in surprise. "What did you say?"
Aria smirked, pleased to have finally shocked her elder sister. "You heard me. I'm done. I can tell when I'm not wanted, and I haven't been wanted for a long time. You said so yourself - I don't contribute. You want to keep turning me away? Fine. I'll go away then."
With a sharp turn, Aria briskly stomped away from the group.
"Aria! Wait!" cried Sonata, running after her, stumbling in her heels. She reached out and grasped Aria’s arm, pulling her sister into an embrace. “We can fix this! Please, don’t leave. We’ve already lost our magic - we...I can’t lose you either.”
“Then come with me,” Aria breathed, caressing Sonata’s tear stained cheek. “Adagio has pushed us around for too long. We don’t need her if we have each other.”
Adagio was staring at them, a strange expression on her face. What was it? Sadness? Worry? Fear?
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Sonata said, exasperated. “We don’t need to split up. We just need some sleep and then tomorrow morning we can work things out.”
“You mean go back to our dirty little flat and huddle together in the same bed?” muttered Aria, rolling her eyes. “No thanks. If you don’t want to come with me, then let me leave.”
“No!” wailed Sonata, starting to sob.
“If she wants to abandon us that badly, then let her go.” Adagio’s voice cut into the balmy night air, her tone frozen over with contempt.
Sonata’s grip loosened in surprise, and Aria took that chance to continue walking away.
“Good luck on your own out there,” Adagio said quietly, frowning menacingly at Aria’s back. “Feel free to come crawling back to us when you realize you can’t survive.”
Aria let out a small chuckle. “Don’t hold your breath. Or, actually, go ahead. Do something nice for once.”
Her hair swung back and forth as she walked away, her lean silhouette disappearing over the horizon.
“Adagio! Call her back! Just apologize, don’t let her go off alone!” begged Sonata, holding on to Adagio’s arm. “Please, Dagi, please just try to make it work, I can’t stand it when we’re apart!”
They didn’t see the slap coming.
Sonata’s pale cheek was quickly turning a deep red.
Adagio gasped, clasping her palm over her mouth. “Sonata...no, I didn’t mean to, please…” She reached out to her sister with a shaking hand, desperate to hold her and soothe the pain, but Sonata only shrunk away from her touch, her eyes wild with fear and hurt.
“We should head back,” Adagio said, her voice sounding far away. Sonata nodded wordlessly, and the two sirens began the walk to what never was their home.