Chapter VII
Sunlight smacked Sonata awake like a mallet to her forehead. She winced, mumbled, rolled away from the invading rays to burrow under her pillow. Her reaching, aimless hand found a plush something-or-other and hugged it to her chest.
Beside her bed, something buzzed. Sonata groaned.
Five minutes later, she worked up the will to roll onto her other side so she could grope about for her phone and drag it under the covers with her. The harsh white light of the screen made her squint. There was a text waiting for her:
Good morning, Sonata. This is Adagio. The other one. You gave me your number last night.
Sonata blinked slowly. Last night… what had she…
She sighed. Thinking was hard that morning. She finally sat up, pausing to stretch and yawn.
It wasn’t until she looked and saw the dress draped haphazardly over a chair beside her bed that it started to come back to her. Dim memories came to her, a slurry of drinks and short skirts and dancing and more short skirts and music and Adagio showing why she needed to wear short skirts more often…
When she flopped back down on her bed, she giggled to herself, holding up her phone. That had been a fun night.
She typed out a cheerful “Hi!”, then paused to contemplate whether a regular heart or a sparkly heart would’ve been more appropriate before she realized what a stupid question that was.
Two sparkly hearts it was, then.
A few minutes later, Adagio—or not-Adagio, maybe? Other Adagio? That sounded confusing. Adagio replied:
Hello. You promised to do something today. Do you remember that?
Sonata stared at the screen. Promise, promise… what would she have promised to do?
I think? :-(
But maybe you should remind me? Just to be safe. :-D
It took a little while to get a reply. She wondered what was taking Adagio so long.
You said you’d talk to Aria about your sister today, right?
Aria, apparently, was so good at being gloomy that just mentioning her sucked all the cheer out of a conversation. Sonata sighed—that was a hard thing to think about. It took her a few minutes to write back—maybe Adagio was thinking about hard things too, and that’s why she was taking so long?
Yeah.
Another few minutes, and she had another text:
Just do it. Please?
Sonata sighed again and stared at the wall in front of her. It didn’t do anything but affirm how pink it still was. Her phone buzzed in her hand:
You promised you’d do it, remember?
She wished it could have been yesterday instead of today. But… she had made a promise, hadn’t she? She typed out a reply, slowly.
Yeah. I’ll do it.
It took until she’d dragged herself out of bed, pulled some clothes on and fixed her hair a bit that her phone buzzed again.
You should try and get her to come talk to your Adagio today. If you can.
That… that did sound nice. Hard. But nice. She started typing out, “Okay, I’ll try and do that—” then paused, stared at the screen, backspaced and started over.
Okay. I’ll do that.
That made her feel better. She put down her phone and set off for Aria’s room.
Knocking turned out to be a scary prospect, so a minute or two later she was staring at Aria’s door, quietly hoping that maybe, if she looked at it long enough, it’d figure out what she wanted it to do and make it happen.
No such luck.
“Today” was an awfully broad time range, she concluded. She’d promised to talk to Aria today, that was true, but it would still be “today” in a few minutes.
Or a few hours. She’d have to put up with thinking about it and stuff, and maybe Adagio’d bug her about it and that would be hard, but she could put up with that for a bit, right?
Yeah. That sounded like a good plan. She’d go back to her room, maybe doodle or listen to music or something, wait until lunchtime when Aria’d be out anyway, and then she could—
“What are you doing, Sonata?”
Sonata let out a startled squeak, shrinking back before Aria’s unexpected presence. “Oh! Hi?” She gave a little wave, inching away. “So… what’re you doing today?”
Aria stared at her like she’d just done something incredibly stupid before shrugging. “Dunno. I was thinking I might go running in the park or something.” She peered back into the gloomy wasteland of a room that she called hers. “I’ve been cooped up too long this morning.”
“Oh. That sounds nice, I guess.” Sonata nodded slowly. Then, biting her lip and trying not to notice Aria’s expectant stare, she gradually worked up the nerve to speak. “Hey, so… could I ask you something?”
Aria gave another, nonchalant, shrug. “Shoot.”
“Well…” Sonata looked down at her fingers, fiddling with them idly. “I was just wondering if… maybe I could come with you?”
She looked up, mentally kicking herself and feeling even worse when she saw Aria’s cocked eyebrow.
But in the end, all Aria did was nod. “Knock yourself out.”
“A- Aria…” Sonata moaned pitifully, reaching upwards from the ground at Aria’s leg. “Don’t forget about me. Go, but let my tale live on.”
Aria pulled one earbud out of her ear—Sonata could just barely hear the blaring music it blasted out—then glanced down, her face shrouded by an air of callous indifference. “See, I might pity you, but this is exactly why I told you to bring water.” She punctuated her speech by jostling the bottle she’d brought, then looked to the side, at a picnic table not too far off, conveniently situated under a tree. “I’m gonna go take a break in the shade. Let me know if you feel like not dying anytime soon.”
And with that, Sonata’s last hope sauntered off.
Thunk.
Sonata’s head hit the grass. “Blegh.”
Sighing heavily, she clambered up onto weary limbs, wondered how in the blazes Aria looked not even winded, and trudged over so she could collapse at Aria’s feet.
“Blegh.”
A shoe nudged her in the ribs. “Are you done?”
Muttering, pouting, and dusting herself off, Sonata righted herself and plopped down on the table next to Aria. Neither of them said anything for a little while. Aria seemed content to sit there, and after a little while Sonata finally managed to work up the nerve to clear her throat. “Hey. So… remember those times when Adagio used to, like, be here? And stuff?”
Aria put down her bottle and tugged out the other earbud. Her demeanor became a grim one. “Is that what this is all about?”
“... Kinda, yeah. Those were nice, right?” When Aria said nothing, Sonata rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe not always, but there must’ve been something you liked about her, right?”
“She was…” Aria twisted her face into a grimace, then to a scowl, and then got up and moved to the opposite side of the table. “Y’know what? I’m not gonna ruin your fond memories.”
“Ariaaa…” Sonata leaned over and prodded her in the shoulder. “Please say something nice about her?”
She was rewarded with a hostile glare. “If I do, will you stop talking?”
Sonata paused to think, then shook her head. “Probably not, no.”
Aria pressed her fingers to her temple. “At least you’re honest. Fine. Adagio is…” She quirked her mouth, drummed her fingers on the table, then snapped them. “Callipygian.”
“There, see? That wasn’t so…” Sonata blinked. “Calli-what?”
“Callipygian.” Aria adopted a wolfish smirk. “Impeccably so, I’ve been told on many occasions.”
“Oh.” Sonata blinked. “I don’t really know what that means. Is it something nice?”
“Honestly, I think some people could overlook everything else that’s wrong about her.”
“ ‘Cause she’s… callipygian?”
“ ‘Cause she’s callipygian. There. Can we talk about something else now?”
“Sure! Can you come with me to go and talk to her?”
Aria glared at her, hissing through clenched teeth. “Sonata…”
“Please? You both seemed really sad the last time, and… I don’t like that. I really don’t like that. I’m worried about her, and—and I just think she’d be so happy if she got to see you again.”
For a moment, Sonata thought Aria was about to say something. Instead, the other siren folded her arms and scowled at the ground.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, okay. Are we gonna go now, then?”
“No.” Aria turned her back, tense and stiffened. “Do me a favor and don’t ask again.”
Sonata swallowed her immediate urge to comply. “Why not? Don’t you want to?”
Aria’s fist trembled, then slammed down onto the table, making Sonata jump and squeak. Aria glowered, but Sonata knew the difference between anger directed at her and anger for the world at large. A heavy breath slid out of her lungs, and then she hung her head facing away from Sonata.
As much as it frightened her to see Aria acting that way, Sonata told herself to stay calm, because that’s what she needed to do. With no small amount of trepidation, she approached Aria from the side, sitting next to her but maintaining a measurable distance.
Aria glanced at her, a few strands of loose hair dangling in front of her face. There was a long silence before Aria spoke, and even when she did, it was in a low, muffled voice as if frightened of her own sounds. “I don’t think I can say no to her again.”
More silence. Aria leaned back against the table, propped up on her elbows. She didn’t meet Sonata’s eyes, but her voice steadied and strengthened. “If you want to go, then go. It’ll be better for both of us if I don’t.”
“But I’ll be there too,” Sonata said. She offered a smile she hoped would be encouraging. “Maybe I can say no for you?”
To her surprise, her suggestion got a dry, mirthless cackle out of Aria. “Stupid little Sonata,” Aria drawled, though she didn’t quite sound malicious. “When has it ever been that easy?”
“Come on come on come on! Pick up, Rarity, please pick up. Ah! Rarity? It’s Sunset. The siren gem fragments are missing! ...No, they’re just not there. No sign of break in. ...Yeah, I guess she is the main suspect, but if I just accuse her... Well it could be her human double. Yes, she’s—just like Twilight. Yes, or it could be one of her sisters, I guess? Or anyone else magical, maybe. No, I’ll go talk to her. ...Thanks, but there’s no way she could have glued it back together already, I’m sure I’ll be safe. I’ll call if I need you. Bye!”
Adagio pulled the door open, saw herself, and frowned. Her double, on the surface, didn’t look different at all, but her demeanor made her seem almost like another person entirely. There was an air of melancholy to her, a tragic layer to her stoic expression. She had a handbag slung over one shoulder, and gripped the strap tightly with one hand.
As soon as Adagio laid eyes on that handbag, she knew what was in it. That close, she could almost feel the shards calling to her, sense their yearning for wholeness.
Excitement coursed through her, bliss at the prospect of the panacea that seemed suddenly within her reach.
“Come in,” she said, slipping back inside and sauntering towards her backyard without bothering to close the door or look back at her double.
She didn’t hear a word, nor a sound, not at first. Then, soft footsteps followed behind her, and by the time she’d stepped out into her yard and turned around, her double was close behind.
And yet the imposter hardly dared to meet her eyes. None of the enthusiasm she’d displayed when she’d spoke of acquiring the gems returned to her eyes, nor to her voice. It was unsettling, and it put Adagio on edge.
“Do you have them?”
Her double locked eyes with her, then gave a small nod. “I… do, yes.” She spoke in a murmur.
Adagio frowned. Something had gone wrong—it must have. The gems had been damaged, perhaps—but what could be worse than shards?—or her double had been caught in the act. But if she had the shards, one way or another, what could have…?
She swallowed. There were unpleasant things to wonder, if she speculated as to the manner of the acquisition. She tried to dismiss them, because the gem was what truly mattered, she knew.
“Then let me see. Show me.”
Her double hesitated briefly, then reached into her bag, pulled out a pouch, and emptied a few jagged, fractured gems into her palm.
It was a sincere struggle for Adagio to let those shards remain in someone else’s grasp, even for a few moments. She wanted to snatch them away right that instant, claw them out of the imposter’s possession.
Why she didn’t, she wasn’t quite sure. Something was wrong.
“They’re all here,” the other Adagio said in a quiet murmur. “But…” She breathed, deeply and slowly, turning her gaze upwards, away from Adagio’s face. Weariness and resignation descended upon her visage. “I’m leaving. Today. I’m going back to…” She bit her lip, scratched at her left ear, then faced Adagio again. “I’m going back to where I came from,” she said, “and I need you to come with me.”
There was no joy to be found anywhere in the imposter. She spoke calmly, but in conjunction with her forlorn expression her voice became eerie. The odd blend of quiet speech and demanding words were so unsettling it took Adagio a moment to recognize what had just been asked of her.
Her eyes narrowed. She glanced over her imposter, and again the odds against her in a physical engagement made themselves obvious. For the sake of appearances, though, she tossed her hair and acted as though she were a queen speaking to a peasant. “That wasn’t part of our agreement, and I think you know that. I told you where my sisters were, you brought me the shards.”
“I do know that.” Her double nodded. She tilted her palm, pouring the shards back into the pouch and then cinching it shut. She wrapped her fingers around it tightly. “But it’s not my choice.” She closed her eyes; when they opened a moment later, they looked just as melancholic as before, but this time they were also fixated and determined. “And I can’t let it be yours. I’m sorry.”
Curling her lip, Adagio composed a reprimand in her head, only for a third voice to cut her off.
“Adagio? What’re you—”
Four eyes turned to face Sunset, who stood in the doorway to the house, with eyes that couldn’t make up their mind who to linger on.
There had not been many times when Adagio felt things were truly out of her control. Standing there with two women that both frightened her in their own ways, though…
She backed away, opening her mouth just as her double stepped forward.
“You should go,” the imposter said—urgency crept into her voice. “Get out of here, right now—I don’t care where you go, but don’t make this your business.”
“One of you has the shards, right?” Sunset frowned. She looked to the imposter and the pouch, and her features hardened. “I wanted so much to give them back to you, but I can’t. I can’t let you have them. This has to become my business.”
But then she looked back to Adagio, and her face softened again. Pain replaced anger in her eyes. “Tell me what’s going on,” she said. “I don’t want this to end badly for any of us.” It sounded less like a threat and more like a plea.
Adagio glanced between the two women in front of her. The thought occurred to her that she could try to talk her way out of it all. It didn’t have the same appeal that it might have had on a different day; Sunset must have guessed she’d try to take the gems back. It was the method that she must have been surprised by, not the goal.
And yet her double seemed to have a few secrets to her. “I don’t know the whole story,” Adagio said, and she turned her eye towards her imposter. “But I think she does.”
Her double looked at her, then back to Sunset. “You should go,” she repeated. There was a faint crack in her voice this time, hinting at a desperation Adagio found mystifying. “Walk away. You don’t need to be here.”
Sunset’s brow knit. She looked from one Adagio to the other, then eventually grit her teeth. “Alright. If neither of you are going to tell me what’s going on…”
In a blur of motion, she snatched the imposter’s wrist, and white light flooded her eyes.
Adagio tensed. She bit her lip, tempted to try to seperate the two but held back by uncertainty.
The imposter’s eyes went wide.
Sunset stiffened, tensed.
Sonata trailed alongside Aria, humming quietly to rhythm of the clomping of Aria’s pumps.
“Stop it,” Aria muttered.
Sonata stopped humming. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Aria kept an eye out for street signs, navigating them towards their old home. Her headphones dangled from her neck, swaying slightly as she walked.
“Hey, so…” Sonata nudged Aria in the side to get her attention. “Have you thought about what you’re gonna say to her and stuff?”
“What did I say when you asked me five minutes ago?”
“Something about growing wings, I think?”
Aria clenched her teeth, but nodded grimly and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Sure, that. Whatever.”
From somewhere not too far off, a shrill, ear-piercing shriek rang through the air, and brought them both to a screeching halt.
Sonata’s blood ran cold. It didn’t sound like Adagio’s voice, but it was from that general area… “A—Aria? What’s—”
“I—I don’t…” Aria’s eyes went wide, her face paling. She quickened her pace, snatching Sonata’s wrist and dragging her along. She fell into a grave, stony silence as a walk turned into a run.
Sunset collapsed backwards, her legs giving out from underneath her as the light faded from her eyes. She stumbled, and was just about to topple over before Adagio lurched forward and caught her.
As Adagio faced her double, it was a blend of fear and anger that churned in her chest. She released Sunset, let the girl drop to her knees, trembling, and then shot a vicious glare at her double.
Her teeth bared, and a snarl rumbled out of her throat, but a hand latched onto hers and held her back before she could descend on her double.
“W—wait.” Sunset’s voice cracked and wavered shakily, but her eyes fixed themselves on the imposter. “Who’s doing this to you? Please, you don’t—”
Adagio frowned. “Sunset? What’re you—” What in the world had Sunset seen when she used her geode?
The imposter sighed, stepped back, and just looked at Adagio. “Ah. I see. So that’s what that does.” It was a quiet, solemn stare she sent, forlorn and saturated with weighty resignation. Her fingers slipped into her pocket and she closed her eyes.
“Adagio, what—” Sunset stood back up, eyes locked on the imposter, still trembling but managing to rise on two feet. “Whatever’s happening, we can—”
“Some people don’t deserve your forgiveness. I’m sorry for being one.”
Silently, the imposter took her hand out of her pocket, wrapped her other around it, and brought them both up towards her throat. She exhaled.
Her eyelids peeled back to reveal two pools of solid crimson.
Adagio barely noticed them, for her eyes were instantly, irrevocably captivated by the flawless ruby clutched in False Adagio’s hands. A ruby that she knew could not exist, and yet defied all conventions of reason to do so anyway.
Music filled the air. Ethereal, undulating melodies plucked from distant memories swirled around Adagio, but their touch was cold and clammy, like blunt knives scraping across her skin.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, could barely even think. All went silent, the gem that was clearly hers and yet could not possibly be hers leaving her stunned into paralysis.
All it took was a single harsh note and her legs turned to jelly. She collapsed, her head swam, she reached out to steady herself but couldn’t hold onto anything. Music flooded her senses, ruthless pulses of sound corrupted from the beauty she knew into harsh, oppressive lashes. It made her enjoy it, made her wish she could lie there and listen to it for the rest of her life.
Then there was a blur of motion, the sharp crack of knuckles on flesh, and a yelp of pain.
Suddenly, the fog lifted. A hand wrapped around her wrist tightly and pulled her away quickly, all but dragging her until she finally had the clarity to run.
She blinked, looked back. Her double was on the ground, rubbing her cheek and clawing at the dirt.
A hand clenched around a ruby, and two grim eyes cut through her, slowly enveloped by crimson as lips parted and the first hint of a melody made her head start to spin again—
A startled cry, not Sunset’s, pierced the fog. Sonata? What was she doing there? Adagio didn’t know what was happening, but suddenly there was a lull in the music—for a moment, it seemed to recoil from her; the sounds bombarding her, once filled with grim, undying purpose, hesitated and took on a tragic tone.
She looked back, just in time to see her double wide-eyed and trembling, with an outstretched hand but firmly planted feet. The music quieted, receding to the corner’s of Adagio’s mind and ears.
Then, a door slammed shut, blocking Adagio’s view of the yard. She heard the pattering of running feet. Her own, blind and stumbling, and others less so.
An insistent tugging jerked her to the side, then another shortly after. Blurry motions of yellow and purple and blue danced about all around her in a haze of confusion, before settling into a dim fugue.
Hands on her shoulders shook her, jolted her awake. She shook her head and blinked rapidly as the world gained focus and sharpened, and at last she could clearly see two concerned teal eyes inches from her face, hear her name being whispered urgently.
“Sunset?” she murmured, only half-remembering what had just happened. Then it all came back in a flash, and she snapped up to straightness. “Sunset, where did—”
“Shh!” Sunset clamped a hand over Adagio’s mouth, holding a finger to her own lips and glancing warily to both sides.
Whatever protests Adagio might have had died out at the distant sound of an anguished wail. It made her shiver, that sound, and it forced her into wary silence.
She was seated behind a couch now, she saw, one she knew very well, and when she peeked out she saw Aria standing grimly by a window, peering out through a tiny crack in the curtains.
Aria’s eyes flitted over to her, stony and bleak save for faint vestiges of anger and fear in equal measure. She crept over, bare feet all but silent on the carpeted floor, and knelt down beside Sunset. “Doubling back must’ve confused her, ‘cause she’s not coming back inside, but I wouldn’t count on it buying much time,” she whispered, just barely loud enough to be heard. She cast a piercing gaze towards Adagio first. That steeliness never quite left her, but it did mellow considerably when her eyes dipped down towards Adagio’s locket.
There were things that needed to be discussed, that look said; a second, harsher look directed towards Sunset echoed the sentiment. But then Aria’s attention flicked back to Adagio, silently questioning.
“We can trust her,” Adagio murmured. “She didn’t have anything to do with this.”
Aria hardly looked satisfied, but she relented. “Sonata’s looking for earplugs upstairs. I don’t know if they’ll help, but…” She glanced towards the window, then shook her head. “As soon as she’s back, we need to—”
A tremor stabbed through the air, a wave of sound that tugged at Adagio’s mind. Already the room started to blur and her whole body wanted to go limp, until a lingering fragment of will forced her fingers to her ears.
Beside her, she saw Aria doing the same. Sunset just held still, but a stab of worry in Adagio’s chest faded when she saw a faint shudder but then a focused, willful gaze.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on that just then. Aria rushed over, kicking her in the shoulder to get her attention. and ushering her towards the front door, then craning her neck to look behind them. The three of them darted out into the street, Sonata trailing along behind them.
Open air was like bathing in liquid madness. Everywhere Adagio looked, she felt an echo of that mystical tremor, like an armada of ethereal footprints chasing after her. Blood drained from her face, her heart hammered away in her chest.
Then the song called out to her, with a voice that transcended sound and crawled right into her mind, and she needed to hear it. She couldn’t think of anything else—no, she could, she had to, she must—
She had to hear more. She released a finger, just for an instant. More clearly, then, an echo came from behind her, but in that short instant her knees gave out, and sudden dizziness made it impossible to stand. She slumped over, collapsing into a pair of waiting arms as unwanted euphoria filled her thoughts with an impenetrable miasma. An air of gentleness surrounded her, promising comfort like a long-lost friend, but as it drew closer its deathly, frigid pallor sliced her to the bone.
Two soft nubs went in her ears and made the sound fade and dull, but a persistent ringing kept her dazed. Her feet didn’t touch the ground, and she felt arms on her back and legs. She gasped, icy, dreadful realization gripping her, and silently cursed her recklessness as soon as her focus returned.
Sunset set her down shortly after, plopping her onto a panelled deck where a panicked Sonata rushed to her side while Aria darted off to pry open a window. A few moments later, Adagio was being pulled back up to her feet, Sunset whispering in a voice too muffled to understand but guiding her towards the now-opened window.
As soon as they were all inside, Aria broke off from them, then froze, dropped to the ground and gave a frantic wave.
Adagio caught a glimpse of brightly-colored hair outside a window, tensed, and fell into a crouch behind Aria. She hadn’t realized how hectic her breaths had grown until she stopped moving, but, now that she had, every labored breath made her chest heave. Phantom echoes wormed into her brain, and a burning craving sprang up inside her. Every second she remained separated from that song was torturous, like needles piercing her skull. She shuddered, her eyes welled up. It felt like she had a million questions and couldn’t even try to answer any of them.
She lowered her head, covered her ears, wished for it all to go away. She wept into her knees, pushing with all the will she could manage, but it felt like trying to topple a mountain barehanded. Power dominated her world, crushing her beneath its inexorable weight.
Somehow, though, a terrible shrieking of splintering wood and pulverized concrete ripped through it all to reach her ears.
If thoughts of escape had been muddled before, they were abandoned the second it dawned on Adagio’s mind that that was a golden, pointed hoof, as long as she was tall, that had gouged through the roof.
A deafening, piercing roar segued into a harmony that carried the weight of the ocean’s gloomiest reaches. The ceiling above them disintegrated into splinters.
How could someone possibly react to that? All Adagio could do was stare, trapped in panic and drowning in confusion. The hoof retreated, slithering back and dissolving into nothingness. For a moment, it seemed as though the whole thing had really been a mirage.
But then, descending gently, carried on diaphanous, fin-like wings, eyes consumed by a baleful crimson light, the imposter touched down not far from them. The ruby hung from her neck, and Adagio wasn’t sure whether what she was seeing was a feverish dream finally brought to reality or a horrific nightmare.
Dreadful silence hung in the air. The world seemed to vanish, everything around her except the siren in front of her.
And even that soon faded to blackness.
The moment Adagio thought too much, she would lose. Her emotions would betray her, the softness of her heart tangle her in a mire of her own making.
So she didn’t think. There was a building standing between her and her goal, so she tore it away. Sharp hooves rent through the house like it was paper. Earplugs or not, Aria—no, not Aria, she told herself—toppled immediately, her whole body made rigid.
Adagio gave the purple girl—who was not her sister, no matter how much she looked and sounded like she was—no more thought, simply hurling her into the corner and diving down to the first floor.
There, she touched down on slender feet. A whispered harmony put her double to sleep.
Sunset stayed where she’d been, catching Dazzle in her arms and holding her. Then she looked up and met Adagio’s gaze with something more pitying than fearful. “You don’t want to do this, do you?”
No. Of course not, Adagio thought. Somehow she just knew that all she had to do was speak truthfully, but when the words tried to make their way out of her mouth, a thrumming by her ear heralded a nagging tightness in her chest that she knew would only intensify and sharpen if she kept trying. A crystal hung from her ear, all but violating her with the ugliness of its power. Whatever hatred she could have felt for it had relented to only a simmer. In that moment, it was little more than just one more pain to endure, mixed in with what could’ve been an eternity of labor.
“It doesn’t matter.” Adagio bowed her head, reaching up to wrap her fingers around her gem. Weary, bleak purpose drove her to draw on the font of power hanging from her neck. Sunset had resisted her magic before—no doubt thanks to her own—but perhaps a different application…
Adagio lifted her head, stared right at Sunset, purged herself of pity, channeled sound up her throat and—
Threw it all away when a familiar blue face leapt in front of her.
She jerked her head to the side. Magic she’d been holding in her throat surged outwards. A wake of ruin stretched between her and the now-gaping hole where there had once been nothing but wood.
“Sonata…” She clamped her eyes shut. She had to. And she had to be quick. If she saw or heard something, then—
Too late.
“We promised, didn’t we?” Sonata sounded small, her voice soft and full of pain. Heartache, bordering on a sense of betrayal. “Did you mean to do this all along?”
Adagio trembled. Ragged breaths made her chest heave. Damning and cursing herself all the while, she let go of her magic. The power that had been flooding her body withdrew to her pendant.
“No.” She didn’t want to look, told herself that she couldn’t look, begged herself not to look, but she opened her eyes and looked. She saw exactly what she knew she would, and the haunting sting of failure already drove her almost to despair. “No. No, I meant every word. But…” Words flooded her mind, but when they tried to escape her lips a thrumming by her ear heralded a dull ache that made her falter and change course.
“Things are different now,” she said. “And there’s not a promise, anywhere in this world, that can change how things are.”
“But why?” Sonata drew closer. Almost close enough to touch. “What are you—why do you—” Tears dripped to the ground.
“Because—” The pain intensified. Adagio’s chest tightened. She gasped for breath, then tore her eyes away. “I can’t say.”
“Why not?”
Adagio faltered again. Her head hung, her shoulders slumped. She stepped back, retreating from Sonata. Glancing away, she locked eyes with Sunset, who sat right where she’d been before, tragic compassion etched onto her face.
Adagio looked at her double, then back to Sunset. Then to Sonata. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “If you believe nothing else I say…”
Then that accursed earring lit up. At first, a lance of stabbing pain leapt into her, making her stumble, gasp and catch herself on a nearby table.
“No,” she whispered, silently pleading that she’d be heard. “No, please, I can—”
The air turned to invisible needles, piercing her from every angle. Searing agony engulfed her, and she collapsed to her knees.
Run, she wanted to say. Go, while you still have time. But she didn’t say either of those things. That ship had sailed, if it had ever been in the port to begin with.
There was a crack, and then a writhing, twisting portal of seething multicolored light sprang into being beside her. A torrent of living, inky black shadow flurried out, filling the room with a cold, malevolent presence.
Adagio looked up and saw two sinister red eyes peering down at her.
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Ugh, of course you break out the unreliable narrator during the climax. I don't know whether to applaud you profusely or hunt down where you live and slap you.
Well the story WAS interesting in a slice of life redeem Adagio aspect, using her double and maybe learning about something happening to her double's sisters. But now you just fucked it up and made it uninteresting, cause now Magic and a Villain is involved.
Adagio isn't going to change because she wants to, cause she learned to be good, or cause she fears losing her sisters. No, she's going to be good, cause it's required to beat the bad guy now, and so her change is forced and going to be a deus ex machina.
*Slow Clap* I don't think I've seen an interesting story fuck up so fast before. Congrats.
9574387
Fair enough, yeah. This chapter is definitely a big shift, and I can totally see that kind of thing putting some people off. This was the direction I wanted to take the story, and I knew not everyone was gonna like it. Obviously, I'd prefer that, since some of your negativity seems to be speculative, you give the next chapters a chance, but that's completely up to you. Even if you don't read any further, I appreciate you giving it a chance and speaking your mind
9574295
How you proceed is up to you, but I wish to let it be known that I have several vicious, well-trained plushies of various species you'd have to slap your way through first
I'm not smart enough to fully understand what's going on here, but I do know that there's a bunch of magic shit now, and I strapped in for a more drama focused story. So uh yeah, good luck with this and all.
9574931
I hope you find other stories more to your liking.
Thanks for reading up to this point
Been reading this story over the last few days, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Can't wait for the next installment.
Well, this took an interesting turn.
Not sure how I feel about it, but I'll stick around and see.
And now I am caught up (for now, hopefully in the future there will come more to read!)
This chapter was quite a trip! Though perhaps that might have worked a wee bit against it? I understand it’s from Adagio’s perspective and when she gets magically concussed our view of the world gets as blurry and jumbled as hers.
But I admit feeling like I was seeing one of those pictures where the edges started to swirl into a mess of shapes and colors. I sort of lost the blocking of who was moving where and what. Like I got the sense of them being inside, hiding behind furniture, run outside, then take a window go back inside?
I still have respect for your prose though and compared to your other stories this one has the most artful descriptions of feelings and thoughts in a rather unique way. Though it could be that it would always come out as such but this one one of the long ones so I have more time to appreciate it!
A little sad that its on hiatus, especially when it looks to be the climax. Of all the surprises that the story bought now I have to wait for the revelation! Ahh. But still I am happy for the story and this detailed look of the sirens!
I had to look up what that means, and it made me laugh like an idiot.