Theme: The Beauty of the Beast - Nightwish
Sometimes, when she dreamed, she could still remember the intangible strands of the weave within her; comforting in the memory of their presence and harrowing in the knowledge of their absence. In those dreams she longed to feel the elation of channeled glamour just one more time, to reclaim her stolen heritage and be reborn anew. But even in dreams her birthright remained denied to her, her delicate joy burned away beneath a haze of blistering agony that always accompanied such dreams.
And with the pain came the voices.
Silenced as she was by the sinister caress of that haze, she could only listen as they muttered around her; and the longer she listened, the greater her agony became. How many of them surrounded her was impossible to guess, though one always seemed to rise above the rest. She did not know to whom that voice belonged, only that it was she of whom it spoke and that it contained a power that was as inexplicably familiar as it was undeniable, a power that promised her wonders beyond imagination or horrors beyond comprehension. With each passing moment she longed to deny the power of that voice and plead for its mercy, but each time she tried, her own voice failed before she could utter a single word of defense.
Yet in spite of her torture, a small part of her remained resolute before those voices as a strange song began to fill the growing void they left within her soul; a bitter, tuneless concerto that slowly tainted her spirit even as her heart struggled to resist its call. But in this effort she knew she would fail, for the final notes of that song always signaled the end of her dreaming. How she knew this she could never explain, just as she could never escape the questions that waking left behind.
Who was she really, and why did that voice torment her so?
Darkness loomed over her as she jolted awake, confused and disoriented as the last remnants of that dream crumbled into nothingness. On instinct, her left hand snapped upwards to seek the slight weight that lay against her throat, exhaling sharply as her fingertips brushed across it. Still filled with the energy she had feasted upon earlier, the jewel sang in time with the sound of her heartbeat and eased her panic as she took in her surroundings blindly.
All around her, a mixture of familiar sensations tickled playfully at her senses; the scent of lavender carried by the caress of cool air across her back and shoulders as she lay against something damp but comfortable. Shifting slightly, she found her right arm pinned beneath a soft, supple weight that pressed against her in return and sent a rush of warmth across her cheeks as she recognized the feeling of bare skin against her own. Rather than add to her confusion, however, the touch conveyed a feeling of safety that further eased her thoughts and returned a little more of her focus.
"Adagio," she thought, not daring to speak. "My name is Adagio Dazzle..."
Her name sounded strange and unnatural as she thought of it, almost as if doing so should have chilled her in some manner; but the act erased the last of her panic and turmoil as she forced her eyes to open and see who it was she laid against. Thankfully, even in the near total darkness that surrounded her, she could just make out the two-toned ribbons of deep violet with their aquamarine highlights that lay in blanket-like strands over the pale fuchsia form that cooed softly at her side. Raising just enough to keep from disturbing her partner, Adagio let her eyes roam across that familiar sight.
"Aria," she thought.
She remembered sitting at the kitchen table earlier, the three of them joking about the day's events when lingering worries had drawn her into Aria's embrace as uncertainty sometimes did, a smile gracing her features at the memory. Even if she would not admit it, such moments were special to her, a balm upon her heart and a chance to cast aside ambition and bask in an act of pure simplicity as old as life itself. Of course, seduction had always been part of their nature, something they had used against those whom their voices could not influence; but such acts had become little more than meaningless distractions against the never-ending hunger which gnawed at them since their banishment. Her times with Aria, conversely, had always been something more; but this time, whether from the spiritual high of Equestrian Magic or just the afterglow of physical bliss, for the first time she could remember, Adagio felt truly soothed in the wake of their intimacy and felt herself studying her partner - her lover - that much closer in response.
Abrasive, belligerent and spiteful, the kind of person who would dance merrily as the world drowned; that was the Aria Blaze she knew, but that was not the Aria she watched now. This Aria seemed to be none of that as the typical scowl she wore, even in sleep, was replaced with a small smile of peaceful contentment. Even at her most generous, Adagio could never have described Aria as innocent, but as she looked on now, she saw a kind of innocence the likes of which the girl would normally have denied to her dying breath.
Strangely, that expression seemed to call out to Adagio as it ignited some long forgotten sense of compassion that took hold of her heart even as her earlier fear returned. Unless wholly exhausted, she rarely stayed with Aria throughout the whole night, but this time it felt as if every fiber of her being was begging her to remain where she was, to embrace the sleeping girl tightly and shield her from the evils of the world so that expression would never again be lost. Try as she might, she could no longer muster her desire to leave as unbidden thoughts tugged at her in ways she could not understand.
But as quickly as the thought took hold, the feeling of compassion turned to one of revulsion that washed across her like a wave. She was not a creature that cared for others, she was a creature of jealousy and hatred given form; a monster born to feed off the conflicts she inspired. She was a siren!
Her eyes suddenly drawn to Aria's unprotected throat, Adagio felt her lips part in a predatory grin as her canines began to elongate, her teeth growing into dagger like points as she stared; her mind overtaken by the sudden desire to know what it would feel like to tear open that smooth expanse of flesh and gorge herself on the blood that coursed beneath it. A single heartbeat, she knew, was all the time it would take to snuff the life out of the sleeping girl and rid herself of the insipid feelings she had inspired. All she had to do was pounce, but at the last second a flash of sapphire darkness at the corner of her eye robbed her of those thoughts.
In an instant her nails dug painfully into her palms, her eyes widening as her teeth retracted, her body frozen as she watched Aria shift and draw the sheets round herself; thankfully still asleep. Shaking and barely willing herself to remain calm, she took the opportunity to free her arm and roll to the edge of the bed, groping blindly along the floor for her discarded robe as stinging tears flowed freely down her cheeks. No matter the reason, she had always considered murder a waste of possible resources and knowing that she had not only contemplated, but had anticipated Aria's death filled her with an indescribably terror unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Fear was an unfamiliar feeling for Adagio, one that her unrivaled confidence in her powers had always pushed aside easily. As she pulled the thin robe across herself, however, she could not quell the feeling as she fled the room silently. How she could have blamed Aria for her own moment of weakness was impossible to explain, but far worse was the uncertainty of whether she could stop herself a second time.