"In mythology—specifically in Greek mythology—a siren is a monster whose initial appearance (to unsuspecting men) is a really beautiful young woman with the most enchanting voice that you could ever hear. They would lure men (the majority of them being sailors as seen in the famous stories that chronicled the adventures of a Greek hero by the name of Odysseus) into a trance, causing them to disregard all of their previous thoughts, qualms, actions and values, thus making them insane to the point of obsession. Whilst in this trance, the men would surrender to the voices of the sirens, instantly instigating their demise. As a result, the sirens (who in reality are soulless beings who constantly need nutrition in order to stay young and beautiful for eternity) would devour the men's lifeforce while giving them fantasies so they would stay entranced until they died." –A female Greek philosopher
Thunderclaps sounded in the distance as two girls stumbled across the grassy path near Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, their dresses tattered from their knees down. The two were sisters, by the colour of their hair, their skin and their eyes. The shorter of the two collapsed onto the ground behind the taller one, her hand covering her mouth as she coughed violently, her body shaking. The taller girl whirled around and ran to her sister
"Megan!"
The girl, Megan, shook her head, continuing to cough. "No—hack—Alice. Leave me. Go on."
Alice was furious. "No, as your older sister, it is my responsibility to take care of you!"
Megan shuddered as she hacked. Looking at her younger sister in terror, Alice helped her up. She looked around desperately until her eyes alighted upon Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. "Megan, please. Hold on a little bit longer." She begged, trying not to cry.
Tears ran down her sister's face. I'm scared, Megan whispered, using the telepathic connection between them.
Don't worry, little sister, Alice replied calmly, despite her emotional state. She and Megan were bound together by blood, and as her older sister, she was going to save her little sister if it was the last thing that she was going to do.
Fuelled by her determination, she lugged her little sister to the front doors. Heaving and panting, Alice nearly made it, but due to the heavy weight on her left side that was Megan, she collapsed onto the ground, wheezing. She didn't want to heal herself, but the blood in her veins was forcing her body to shut down and regenerate.
The door opened to let light flood out. A boy with silver hair stepped out, looking bored. Alice's eyes were heavy with the force of her body's instincts to recuperate/
Peter Maximoff hadn't really expected much to happen tonight.
Earlier, after being scolded by the dorm matron for eating more than his fair share of the Fizz Whizzes, he had decided to go out on a whim to raid 7-Eleven for an entire year's supply of junk food. As he shrugged his brown leather jacket on and stepped outside, he noticed two girls lying on the ground a couple of feet away from the door.
On instinct, he swore loudly, capturing the attention of Kurt Wagner, Jean Grey and Scott Summers, who were coming outside.
BAMF!
Kurt teleported beside Peter. "What's up, Peter?" he asked, his English still slightly accented.
Kurt looked over and saw two girls sprawled out across the lawn. On principle, he teleported to them. The two girls were hurt—gashes up their legs, scratches on their faces.
Kurt knelt down, wanting to help.
The girl on the left side woke up, her eyes flying open. She looked around wildly, like an animal trapped in its cage.
"C-Calm down," Kurt said, trying to soothe the girl. The girl whipped her head around and focused on Kurt.
Kurt's eyes widened at how beautiful the girl was. She had long, unruly tresses the colour of black jet, lightly tanned skin and deep coal eyes. She looked like a doll—with her petite, dainty features and delicate limbs. He was absolutely helpless, unaware that the girl had the blood of a mythological creature rushing through her veins and that she was terrified of her instincts.
"Who are you? Where's my sister?" she demanded, her voice loud and high with distress.
"His name is Kurt Wagner," Jean answered for him as she stepped towards the girl. "Your sister is okay, Megan. She's right there beside you."
Megan turned to see her sister. Her older, beautiful, strong sister. Alice was fast asleep, a grim set to her mouth. She turned around to glare furiously at the group of people.
"Who are you?"
The tall girl with the flaming hair stepped closer; Megan shrank back in fear, but the girl didn't touch her. Megan was startled to hear—
Don't be frightened; we're just like you, in her head.
Too anxious and jittery to respond, Megan began to cough again.
"We really need to get you inside." The girl said, reaching out to touch her, but Megan recoiled from her touch, still deeming the girl somewhat untrustworthy. But, then realisation struck her—and she stared up at the girl, stunned.
Y-You're not…affected? She questioned timidly, her voice small and hesitant.
By your siren's blood? The girl's voice was quietly concerned. No, not really. Though, she glanced over Megan's shoulder. Megan looked over her tattered shoulder to see a boy—incredibly handsome and blue—gazing at her, his golden eyes hazy with soft lust and desire.
A blush rose to Megan's cheeks as she nodded her assent to Jean. Go ahead, Megan said quietly. I'm… putting my trust in you, she added.
A soft sigh escaped Professor Xavier's lips as he steepled his hands underneath his chin, tired. After dealing with rowdy twelve-year-old mutants complaining about how they were so homesick all day, he just wanted to relax and if possible, get an hour's sleep with the comforting warmth of Moira keeping him company.
But, then he heard Jean's voice in his mind. Professor, there are two injured girls—two sirens, to be specific. They're—
Without even bothering to wait for Jean to finish her sentence, the Professor was already on his way to the infirmary where the two sirens were, already asleep.
Everything appeared to be normal, but there was a subtle change in the air that made the Professor pause. Hmm? He looked at Peter and Kurt who seemed to be in a trance as they gazed at the girls who were in the beds, sleeping.
"What happened here?" The Professor asked as he rolled towards the bedside of the older girl.
"Well, we found them on the lawn. Actually, Maximoff did." Scott answered.
The Professor turned to Peter who was immediately snapped out of his trance when someone called his name.
"Uh, yeah. I found 'em." He said hesitantly, his eyes roving over the older girl once more. "What are we going to do with them?"
"Certainly not chucking them out on the streets, Professor? Because if we do, then we'll be contacted by Child Protection Services and we don't want that." Ororo Munroe piped up, shocking everyone by the audacity of the suggested situation.
"Of course not, Ororo. We would never turn away anyone."
Ororo nodded, biting her lip.
"We'll let them rest for a while, then get to know them a bit and then enrol them as students." The Professor said decidedly, nodding at the others before he went out of the room.
END OF CHAPTER ONE.