• Published 7th Feb 2015
  • 1,764 Views, 47 Comments

Burning Sirens - Lonarion



Adagio, Aria and Sonata are accused of witchcraft.

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1. Hungry Heart

Aria was woken up by a loud sound. Groaning, she opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings, looking for the source of the nuisance. Her gaze fell upon the blue-haired girl sitting on the floor next to the bed she was lying on. The girl – or rather, siren – threw a ball at an assortment of small wooden horses and soldiers, knocking down half of them.

Aria winced at the resulting cacophony and hauled herself to a sitting position. “Sonata, I’m trying to sleep.”

Sonata looked at her with a blank expression, tilting her head. “But, it’s the middle of the day. You’re supposed to sleep during the night, you know.”

Aria crossed her arms. “But I’m bored.” She glanced at the other bed in the inn room, the one Adagio had claimed for herself. Adagio had left earlier in the morning to talk with townsfolk and get information about stuff Aria didn’t care about, and Aria had quickly run out of things to do.

Sonata stood up and poked Aria’s arm with a toy horse. “Then come and play with me! I know a lot of games.”

“No. Just let me sleep.” Aria brushed the horse away with the back of her hand. She couldn’t comprehend what entertainment Sonata found in those things. Toys were for children a few years old, not for sirens several centuries old.

With a humph, Sonata left Aria’s side and picked up her ball. Aria gritted her teeth as the puerile siren showed no intention of avoiding making noise.

Her thoughts got distracted by a growing sensation of emptiness in her heart, though she knew the feeling was actually coming from the red jewel attached to her necklace.

Back in Equestria, this gem had been a part of her body. Now, as long as it stayed next to the top of her chest, where it used to be, it would still work like a part of her body, and she would be able to feel the power flowing inside – which was, at that moment, a very small amount. The emptiness was almost painful, and the desire to fill that hole in her heart was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

“Say, how about we go and find some negative energy to feed on?”

“Not now, I’m playing,” Sonata replied while placing her fallen toys upright.

Moving to the side of the bed, Aria groaned. She couldn’t believe the other siren preferred those infantile pastimes to food. “You’re such a baby, Sonata.”

In retaliation, said baby hurled her leather ball into Aria’s chest, cutting her breath. Mentally cursing her, Aria grabbed the projectile, and with her other hand, reached for the knife she had placed on the nightstand. She stabbed the ball, intending to rip it to shreds.

As soon as the blade pierced the leather, Sonata shrieked as if the knife had been aimed at her, with such force that Aria flinched. Sonata jumped on her and tried to snatch the ball out of her hands, apparently too stupid to realize that she placed herself directly on the knife’s path. Aria struggled to keep the ball in her grasp while finding a way to stab it again without any risk of accidentally harming her fellow siren.

The battle lasted a few seconds before they were interrupted by a loud voice.

“Just what are you doing!?”

They both froze and looked at the interloper, a girl with a large mass of orange hair who stood with her arms crossed in front of the now opened door, glaring daggers at them.

“Hey Adagio!” Sonata said with a large smile as she jumped next to her, while Aria sat on the side of her bed.

Adagio slammed the door behind her. “Can’t I leave you two alone without you breaking something?”

Aria furtively tossed the slashed ball to the floor. “She started it,” she and Sonata said at the same time. Adagio massaged her forehead.

Aria hesitantly changed the subject. “So, anyway, I’m hungry. Can we go and get some food?”

“Oh! I’m kind of hungry too,” Sonata added, holding her pendant between her fingers. Aria rolled her eyes. Couldn’t she have realized that earlier?

Adagio sighed. “Fine. Maybe that will calm you down.” Sonata let out a squeal of satisfaction while Aria stood up and smirked. Adagio continued, “We’ll find a tavern and do as usual.” The two other sirens nodded. Sing, turn people against each other, and collect the negative energy. They knew the drill.

Aria inserted her knife in its leather sheath. As she attached it to her belt, Adagio said, “Aria, you should put that knife away. We don’t want to look suspicious.”

Aria looked at her weapon. She enjoyed carrying it; its presence reassured her. With a sigh, she detached it and tossed it in her bag at the foot of the bed.

The three sirens left the room. As they passed through the main hall of the inn, Sonata waved goodbye to the innkeeper. Aria couldn’t understand how Sonata could be so nice towards people, and yet so malicious when talking about all the things they could make them do. Her niceness, unlike Adagio’s, couldn’t be an act, since she was too stupid for that, but when they had charmed the innkeeper on the previous day to get the room for free, Sonata had been jumping excitedly like a child receiving a new toy.

Following Adagio outside the inn, Aria couldn’t help frowning as her gaze wandered over the scenery. Old wooden houses were pressed against each other along narrow, dirty streets where animals wandered about, while people were going about their daily lives. It looked just like any other town they had visited in the past decades, bland and uninspiring. Aria didn’t even know the name of this town, nor did she care.

The only thing making the trip more annoying than boring was Sonata’s antics. Aria had to pull her back in line several times when she strayed from the group to pet a horse or scare chickens.

At a corner, while Adagio asked passersby for directions, Aria noticed a pair of armed soldiers marching nearby. Now that was unusual. She tapped Adagio’s shoulder once she was done conversing.

“Do you know why there’s a patrol here during the day?”

Adagio nodded. “I have heard of it. It’s because of the recent witch craze. The mayor raised a special militia to reassure the citizens.”

Aria remembered the reason of their presence in this town. They had heard that a few people had been accused of witchcraft, and Adagio had decided to come here and investigate, even though Aria was convinced it was a bad idea. In fact, she was almost sure townsfolk were looking at them with suspicion. She hoped they wouldn’t stay in this town for too long.

“There,” Adagio finally said, pointing at the hanging sing of a tavern representing a red lion. She stopped before the entrance and turned toward her companions. “Ready, girls?”

Aria nodded, already imagining herself filling her heart with sweet negative energy.

“It smells so good!” Sonata exclaimed, jumping on place and clenching her hands together. “Say, can we get some food, I mean, human food, while we’re here?”

Aria groaned. “That isn’t what we’re here for. Can’t you focus a little?” she said, pressing a finger against Sonata’s chest. Sonata brushed it away.

“I like food, okay? Maybe you wouldn’t be so grumpy if you ate more often.”

“Enough, you two,” Adagio grumbled through gritted teeth. “We’re going inside.” She entered the building and motioned the other sirens to follow.

The tavern’s interior was poorly lit, but Aria had to admit that, by this world’s standard, the atmosphere was rather jovial. Sitting at the various tables, people were talking, eating, drinking, playing, laughing.

That wasn’t going to last, though, she would make sure of that. The three sirens looked at each other with malicious grins.

Their jewels shone when the first notes left their throats. In perfect harmony, they sang the traditional siren song while they paced between the tables. The beautiful melody resonated through the tavern. Patrons looked at the singers with curiosity.

Then Adagio added words to the tune. Lyrics about not trusting your peers, about your neighbors being thieves and your fellow players being cheaters.

The sirens had done this routine regularly since their arrival in this world. Walking around the establishment, singing and dancing, getting people’s attention, and letting them hear the sirens’ singing voices long enough to fall under their spell.

The low amount of power available in this world was restricting their voices’ ranges and abilities. This meant they could only charm people who were near enough – which is why they had to move around as they sang – and they could only bend people’s opinions and thoughts to some extent. Fortunately, experience had shown that getting people or ponies to argue with each other was surprisingly easy.

The sirens made a few dance moves, waving their arms in synchrony. It didn’t add anything to the spell, but it enhanced the spectacle. As much as Aria despised humans, she always enjoyed showing off her performing skills while less talented people watched her with admiration.

It didn’t take long before the patrons stopped looking at her and started looking at each other with suspicion. This was no less satisfying for Aria, since they had fallen under her charm, and were taking her words as truth.

* * * * * *

In a corner of the tavern, an old man sat alone, eating stew. As his age had rendered him all but deaf, he didn’t seek socializing; instead, he was coming here only for food and drinks.

When he saw three unfamiliar girls walking around, moving their arms and swinging their hips, he didn’t question it. But not long after, he noticed a change in the behavior of the other patrons. They began throwing distrustful glances, pointing fingers at each other. That was already strange, but just a few second later, a man punched another in the jaw, and soon a brawl involving half of the tavern erupted. Meanwhile, the three mysterious girls were watching the scene with sinister grins on their faces.

The old man could only come to one conclusion, which sent a shiver down his spine. His spoon slipped out of his hand. The whole town was in danger; he had to do something. Making sure the girls were not looking at him, he quietly retreated towards the exit and left the tavern to seek help.

* * * * * *

The sirens’ pendants had another property: in their proximity, the ambient negative energy manifested itself as a green mist that other people seemed unable to see. As the sirens sang the last notes, the mist shifted, attracted by the red jewels, and plunged into them. Aria could feel her heart absorbing the negativity and the hole inside of her being filled.

And yet, she wanted more. Most of the hole was still there, but they had taken all the energy available. There wasn’t any more mist even though the patrons weren’t calming down.

In fact, the atmosphere got worse. People started physically assaulting each other while food and cups flew across the room. Despite her lingering hunger, Aria couldn’t help smiling at the chaotic scene, knowing she had been involved in its inception.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Adagio walk away, and followed her to a table in a corner, where Sonata was seated and helping herself from an unattended bowl of stew. Aria repressed an urge to slap herself.

“Feeling better?” Sonata asked through her full mouth.

Aria raised a hand to her pendant. “Barely.” She sighed softly as unwelcome memories rushed back to her mind. In the past, it would only take the negative energy of a dozen ponies to fill her heart.

“We should go back to the inn now,” Adagio said. “Staying here for too long could get dangerous.”

The other sirens agreed. Sonata stood up and, carrying the bowl, she kept eating while they sneaked out. Aria wanted to point out that they were not supposed to take the utensils away, before deciding that it was none of her concern.

The commotion from the fight quieted down once they were outside. They had only walked a few dozen feet away from the tavern when they encountered an old man accompanied by two soldiers, walking in their direction. Pointing at the sirens, the man shouted, “There they are! Those three girls!”

They sirens stopped. Aria clenched her fists, fearing the worst and hoping it wasn’t what she expected. As the soldiers walked up to them, Sonata positioned herself behind Adagio. Around them, people gathered, watching with curiosity.

“You three are being accused of witchcraft,” one of the soldiers said. “Come with us.”

And that was precisely why Aria thought coming to this town was a terrible idea. She could hear a few gasps among the onlookers, and whispers of “witches!”

“We are not witches!” Sonata said with a trembling voice. “We’re sirens!”

Aria immediately shoved her elbow in Sonata’s side, ignoring the resulting cry of pain. How could Sonata be so stupid?

Adagio jumped between them and the soldiers. “She means we’re performers. Would you like to hear a song?”

“No!” The soldier grabbed Adagio’s arm; his colleague grasped his halberd with both hands and walked behind the sirens, looking at them menacingly.

Aria didn’t know what Adagio’s plan was, but she wasn’t going to stand here and let herself be arrested. She had been imprisoned in the past, and she had hated it. Her mind raced, searching for the options.

It didn’t look like the soldiers would let them sing long enough to be charmed. Moreover, the onlookers were probably out of range. They always avoided singing in open air and in front of a crowd for that reason; there was a risk that people coming or going would notice something was wrong without falling under their spell.

Aria decided that the best course of action was to run. She normally didn’t use violence against living being – no matter how many times she had wanted to punch Sonata in the face, she never actually did. However, in this situation, violence seemed inevitable.

She snatched the bowl of stew from Sonata’s hands and threw it into the face of the soldier in front of them, then kicked him in the leg. The soldier let go of Adagio, and Aria instantly ran away, followed by her companions.

The soldiers, as well as some of the townsfolk, gave chase.