Chapter Two: Three To Tango
“Another day, another series of lessons to sit through.”
Adagio looked up at the sky as she lied on the grass of the soccer field, completely empty during the morning save for a few students sitting on the nearby bleachers. Sonata lay on her stomach nearby, kicking her feet in the air while reading one of the magazines she grew to love during her time in the human realm. Aria chose to ignore the ramblings of her sisters and instead opted for loud music blaring through her headphones.
“C’mon Dagi, it’s not like you can’t handle it.”
“That’s beside the point”, she returned as she sat upright. “So what if the books are still sitting in boxes away from the student area? We could just rush in there and grab them, then make our escape!”
Aria paused her music player just in time to catch her snippet of impatience. “I thought you were the most patient one out of us, Adagio.”
“You’re right, I’m just getting ahead of myself. But to be so close to finding a possible answer…” She slumped back down onto the grass, staring at the clouds again. “We haven’t even gone a week without our powers and I’m already sick of being human.”
“Some of us don’t have the choice, you know.” All three sirens darted upright at the sound of the voice. Comet was standing over them, backpack slung over his shoulder.
All three sirens stood and sized up their interruptive guest. He clearly stood taller than both Adagio and Sonata, only losing to Aria by several centimeters. His attire consisted of a light grey zip hoodie over a black t-shirt and slacks. The logo on his shirt displayed a sword shrouded in silvery fire, surrounded by fragments of rock or possibly ore. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, accented by a streak of black hair across his forehead and one on each side of his face.
“What’re you three doing here so early?” he added.
“None of your concern, you hairless ape” retorted Adagio. “What are YOU doing here this early?”
“None of your business, fishbreath.” They all stared at each other for a few moments before the teenager broke his gaze. “Actually, I came to apologize. Reluctantly.”
“Apologize? For what?”
“Vorpal and I had a talk yesterday about how I acted toward you three during lunch. While I still dislike you, the insults were uncalled for.”
“You don’t have to apologize”, Aria said. “It’s not like we’ll accept it anyway.”
“Whether you do or not, I came here because of Vorpal.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s just say there was a series of unfortunate events the night I picked up that bookworm from work, and seeing as how you three were the topic of the trip home, I just assumed you were bad luck.”
“Bad luck?”
“A curse, really. I see now that I was just overreacting, and I’m sorry.”
Sonata beamed at the teenager. “Apology accepted!”
“Sonata!” interjected Aria. “You can’t just accept it for all three of us, you know.” Aria eyeballed him for a few moments, then simply shrugged. “So long as you leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.”
“Oh believe me, it’ll take some serious convincing to get me talking to you again.” He pulled his cell phone from his sweater pocket and looked through his contacts. “By the way, I’m supposed to give you Vorpal’s number. You mentioned something about keeping in touch and forgot to ask him for it. Do any of you have a phone?” Adagio grabbed her own cell and waited for the grouch to continue. “974-8977, and make sure you have it right. This is the only time you’ll get it from me.”
“...977”, Adagio added. “Is there anything else as long as you grace us with your presence, o mighty ape?”
“Not with that attitude.” He walked off in the direction of the main building, waving at them as he did so. “Goodbye, Dazzlings. May we never cross paths again.”
“Yeah, ditto” replied Aria. She turned to Adagio and leaned in to whisper. “We’re totally making him a drone, right?”
“No doubt about that.”
“C’mon girls”, added Sonata. “He doesn’t look like a bad human at all.”
“That’s exactly the problem. He DOESN’T look like a bad human. Meaning he’d be one of the first to try and stop us.” Adagio laughed as she sauntered toward the school building. “Emphasis on try.”
“Vote Starlight Glimmer for a bright and more equal tomorrow! What do you think?”
Sitting across the library table from her, Vorpal claps softly as Starlight steps down from one of the chairs. “I liked it. We just need to work on all this talk about everything and everyone being ‘absolutely equal’. It comes across as something a dictator would say.”
“This is why I asked for your help”, she replied as she took a seat. “I don’t want to scare people away.”
“You came to the right person. Do you have a copy of that speech on hand?” Starlight handed him a packet detailing her entire speech. As Vorpal read through it, he kept mumblings parts of it to himself. “Let’s see...longer lunch hour...less pop quizzes and more weekly tests...uniforms designed by local tailors…”
Starlight’s gaze wandered to a stack of books on Vorpal’s side of the table. While the writer was busy skimming through her speech, she noticed a common word on the titles of each volume. Curiosity getting the better of her, she interrupted him.
“What’s with all the books on sirens? Does Ms. Cheerilee have a project for us on mythological creatures?”
“Hmm?” Vorpal looked away from the papers in hand. “Oh, no, nothing like that. There’s this girl I met the other night. She asked me to look into helping her acquire some of these books for her studies.”
“I see…” she trailed off. “Since we’re on the subject, what do you think of them?”
“Sirens? I find them interesting, to say the least.” He placed Starlight’s speech aside and cracked open a book. “Some of these myths say that sirens feed off negative emotions of other living things while others simply state that they eat their victims. If left unchecked, sirens can live for centuries.”
Starlight, no longer concerned with help on her campaign speech, grabbed a book herself and read through it. “It says here that according to experts in the field of mythology, sirens are rumored to travel in groups of at least three.”
“That’s right”, beamed Vorpal. “They needed one siren, usually the leader of the trio, to lure sailors into dangerous or unnavigable waters. Once their prey was trapped, the other two would come out of hiding and tear sails, cut lines, and do anything to keep their quarry trapped.”
He seems a little enthusiastic about the entire matter, Starlight thought to herself. “A trio of sirens, you say?”
“We’re getting off topic. Let’s get back to that speech.” Vorpal’s phone beeped as he received a text message. “Excuse me a sec.” He reads through the message as quickly as he can, then sets his phone aside. “Alright, let’s get back to the topic of equality. Instead of ‘a more equal tomorrow’, you go with ‘a fair opportunity for everyone’?”
Adagio walks in, taking in the sight of CHS’s rather expansive library. It was easy to see why Principal Celestia was able to have a new section added, given the library’s several empty shelves. Across the entrance, she spotted Vorpal sitting at one of the tables on the first floor, talking to another student.
The other two sirens followed behind their “fair” leader. Aria kept herself busy, preferring the liberty of social media to say whatever she thought whenever she wanted. In their short time attending CHS, the Dazzlings haven’t completely explored the grounds, leaving Sonata to gawk in amazement at the size of the library.
“Woooow!” she exclaimed only to earn a shush from the librarian currently on duty.
“You two find us a place where we won’t be bothered”, instructed Adagio. “I’ll see if our mutual friend has what we’re looking for.” Vorpal noticed her making her way toward his table. Working her charm, she walked with a rather attractive gait in his direction. “Well well, fancy meeting you here, Mr. Barista.”
“Oh please, you knew I’d be here, Ms. Dazzle.” He motioned over to his guest. “This is--”
“Starlight Glimmer”, Starlight interrupted. “Pleasure.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Starlight. I’m--”
“Adagio Dazzle” she interrupted again. “I know who you are.”
“Yes, well…” the siren started. “I was wondering if you managed to get a hold of those books for me.”
“I have them right here”, Vorpal responded cheerfully. “They’re already checked out in my name, so all you have to do is return them to the drop box when you’re done, otherwise I’ll have to sic Comet on you ladies”, he joked.
“My my, such an authoritative tone. I’ll be sure not to forget.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you sift through them, but Starlight asked for my help on something. Any chance you have some time to--”
“That’s okay, Vorpal”, Starlight cut in once again. “If we have too many people working on it at once, we’ll only end up with a mediocre product at best.”
“Well, what a shame.” Out of the corner of her eye, Adagio spotted Sonata waving at her from a distant table. “I’ll leave you two alone for now. See you around, Mr. Barista.” She gathered the piled books and gave Vorpal her signature wink. He followed her with his eyes as she made her way toward the opposite end of the library.
“Ahem.”
He snapped to attention at Starlight’s cough. “Sorry about that. Where were we?”
“What was that all about?” she asked. “And why are you doing a favor for someone like her?”
“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” he responded. “She bought an expensive drink at the cafe the other night and I wanted to thank her for it. You wouldn’t believe how very little Danger Pinkies we sell.”
“That’s not important. You know what kind of person she is. Now that she knows how simple it is to gain a favor from you, she’ll take advantage of it. That’s not the kind of friend you want in your life.”
“So it IS jealousy.”
Starlight’s cheeks blushed a light pink, responding quickly to keep Vorpal from noticing. “It’s not that at all. I’m just concerned for you, that’s all. Unlike them, you’re a decent human being and it’s rare to find someone like that these days.”
“Uh-huh”, he said in return. “If it makes you feel any better, I think she might be into Comet. They kept glancing at each other during our conversation yesterday.”
The candidate scoffed at Vorpal’s theory. “Please, don’t even joke about that. What’s there to like about him?”
“For starters, my hobbies don’t include revising a speech or signing up for debate clubs just for fun.” Starlight nearly jumped out of her seat at the sound of Comet’s voice. Taking a moment to calm her nerves, she turned around and saw him dragging a chair toward her and Vorpal’s table. “Did you get my text?” he asked him.
“Yeah, read it just a few minutes ago.” He handed his copy of Starlight’s speech to him. “Can you think of anything that needs improving?”
The grump read through the speech, glancing up at both of them every once in a while. After a couple of minutes, he placed the sheet on the table. “No, I think it’s absolutely perfect. If you want to bore people to death, that is.”
“Wait a minute, HE’S going to help with MY speech?”
“My car is in the shop, Vorpal needs a ride to work, and my old man won’t be here for a while.” Comet kicked up his feet onto the empty chair next to his friend. “So yes, I’m stuck in the hellish nightmare that is helping you with your speech.”
“Then you can begin by fetching these three books.” Vorpal handed Comet a slip of paper. “I’m hoping they could give us some insight on how a good speech is written.”
“Only if you say it like Dr. Frankenstein.”
The writer simply chuckled at his friend’s request. “Igor, fetch me these texts.”
“Right away, doctor” he responded as he snatched the slip from Vorpal’s hand.
This is going to be a long hour, Starlight thought.
“This is stupid, Adagio” said Aria after a solid hour of research. “If we’re not part-woman part-fish, we’re part-bird. What makes you think humans know enough about sirens to help us?”
Adagio set aside her own study material and picked up another book. “I know it seems grim now, but there’s bound to be something. For pete’s sake, if celebrities can be famous for doing nothing, who knows what humans are capable of?”
“Face it, we’re doomed.” She tossed her own book onto the pile in the middle of the table, but decided to slack off instead of continuing their fruitless search.
“Say, Dagi” Sonata started. “That guy you like is getting pretty chummy with that girl he’s with, don’t you think?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sonata” responded Adagio. “Sirens can’t “like” humans. Like the ponies of Equestria, they’re nothing more than nourishment.”
“Funny how you avoided talking about the girl.”
“You too, Aria?” Adagio slammed her book in frustration, annoyed that their endeavour wasn’t as quick as she planned. The librarian shushed as she heard the noise. “This is getting us nowhere. There must be some other text in this god-forsaken school that can tell us something. Anything!”
“Shh!”
“Let’s just go home already”, Aria said with a frustrated sigh. “Classes ended two hours ago.”
Meanwhile, over on Starlight’s table, the three students were in heated albeit quiet debate over the contents of the speech. Comet’s phone buzzed on the table, its owner checking a message sent to him.
“Looks like my old man’s out in front. Time to go, Vorp.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Starlight”, Vorpal said. “Same time afterschool?”
“Of course. I can’t wait until then.” Starlight smiled and waved goodbye to Vorpal followed by a scowl at Comet as they both left. After she was left alone, she noticed a lone notebook lying in front of the chair where Vorpal sat. “What’s this?”
Starlight reached for the notebook and opened it. Sure enough, the handwriting belong to Vorpal. Thinking it was class notes, she skimmed through the pages before stopping on the most recently used one.
“A Chance Meeting”, she read the title out loud. “‘Every morning, my mind wanders to thoughts of her. Every evening, the same is true. How it pains me to not say those three words to her: I love you.’” Starlight began blushing again as she continued reading. “‘Her gentle voice as sweet as honey, her eyes as bright as the sun. Her hair, the locks so mesmerizing, whether worn straight or as a bun.’” She set the notebook down for a second as she examined her own hair. “It’s in a bun!” she exclaimed.
She continued reading the last stanza, eager to know how the poem ends. “‘The stars themselves proclaim our fate, amongst the fading light. Her unique charm has captured my heart, the woman known as…’” Starlight flipped the page, but found the other side blank. The poem ended abruptly, but that still didn’t stop her from filling in her own rhyme.
“Starlight…” she breathed. “It makes perfect sense. What other name would rhyme with “fading light”?” Distracted by thoughts of romance, Starlight set the notebook down and made her way out of the library, a noticeable spring in her step. “‘Her unique charm has captured my heart, the woman known as Starlight.’” She giggled to herself as she repeated her improvised verse.
The PA system crackled to life. “Any students left on campus, please vacate the grounds as soon as possible. The school will be closing in ten minutes.”
“See?” Aria said, fed up with her forced study. “Even the faculty’s ready to leave.”
Adagio picked up as many books as she could and stuffed them into her bag, the other two Dazzlings following her example. “I suppose we can continue this at home. Be sure not to leave any behind. I’d hate to be indebted to someone so soon.”
Sonata tugged on Aria’s vest as the latter zipped up her bag. “Hey Aria, do you think sirens and humans can be friends?”
“Seriously?” she replied. “Weren’t you the one that suggested crushing a human turned bug yesterday?”
“That was just to make Adagio feel better.” She kicked one of her feet against the carpet before she continued. “I’m being serious about this, though. Ever since we came back, people have been giving us dirty looks and calling us names when they think we won’t hear it. But…”
“Look, if you want to make friends with humans, then who cares? Just don’t go crying when we bend them to our will once our powers return.” She glanced over at Adagio, already at the opposite end of the library staring at a notebook. “But between you and me, I think Adagio’s turning into a sucker for them.”
Both sirens made their way toward their leader. Adagio was engrossed in the notebook left behind by Starlight. “This doesn’t look like a girl’s handwriting…It must be that library assistant’s...” she mused while reading the most recent entry. “‘Her gentle voice as sweet as honey…’”
The siren picked up the notebook as the other two walked past her. Following them out of the library, she flipped through it and read the previous poems as well. “I have to say, these aren’t half-bad…” As she finished reading line after line, her face started feeling a bit warmer than when she walked in.
Noticing this, she snapped the notebook shut and stuffed it into her bag, planning on returning it to him the next time they meet. “Don’t be ridiculous, Adagio” she said to herself. “Sirens can’t have feelings for humans.”