One by one the three girls got cleaned up for the first time in a month.
"Ah, much better." sighed Sonata in relief. She walked out wearing her new pajamas.
She joined the others in the living room. All of them were watching TV to help pass some time.
"I'll take these to the laundromat across the street." Mr. Myestro held a basket with the girls clothes. "The owner is an old friend of mine and will have these clean for tomorrow."
"Thanks!" smiled Sonata.
"I'll be right back, no fighting while I'm gone."
"No promises." muttered Adagio.
Mr. Myestro chuckled before leaving.
"Well?" Sonata looked at them wryly.
"What?" responded Aria.
"I was right, he is a nice man. Say it."
"There is nothing in this world 'or any other' that will make me admit to you being right." Aria stubbornly crossed her arms.
"'Cause I am." grinned Sonata.
Adagio was silent as she thought of all the shop owner had done for them so far.
'Why would he do this for us?'
It was still a strange concept to understand kindness from the man. For all her life she had believed such things were the ideals of fools. Yet here she was, shown kindness thought fake. It was then that she remembered something 'I'm a Siren' It was like a slap to the face or a splash of cold water. She was above such nonsense; still she saw this as an opportunity and was going to milk it for as long as she could.
"Ooh! This looks good." smiled Sonata at the movie that was on. "High school musical."
"I already feel a headache coming on." sighed Aria.
"No way Sonata!" Adagio grabbed the remote and turned the channel.
"Hey! It was just starting!" She growled.
"Well I'd rather not be reminded of our greatest failure."
Sonata didn't say anything as she sat back down.
The three sat in silence until their gracious host returned.
"I'm back." he called out. None of them replied.
He looked at them in confusion as they were barely watching the TV. "Alright, what happened?"
"Nothing." spoke Aria.
"Sonata?" he looked to the blue haired girl with a raised eyebrow.
"Adagio won't let me watch a movie."
"I told you, I don't want to be reminded of the fact that we can't sing anymore."
"Who said that? I'm sure the three of you still have the talent to sing." he spoke.
The girls looked at each other before standing up and taking a deep breath.
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You did know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Mr. Myestro tried to keep up a smile as he flinched a little from the tone.
"See we stink." Aria sat back down.
"Well that just means some practice can fix that up." Mr. Myestro cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Do re mi fa so la ti do!"
The girls were stunned by his singing.
"Wow." smiled Sonata.
"I can teach you to sing again if you are willing to learn."
While Sonata nodded her head, Adagio held up her hand.
"No thanks."
"We can do without practice." spoke Aria.
"Come on girls, don't you want to sing like super stars again? Think about it." Adagio and Aria kept their eyes closed out of pride while Sonata imagined herself as a star again. "Stadiums of people screaming our names, fans all around the world, we'll be adored again."
"Which we can do on our own." spoke Adagio.
"You know, now that I think about it a little practice might be do me some good." Aria stood next to Sonata.
"What?! Do you even know what you're saying?" exclaimed Adagio.
"Beats singing like an accordion in a wood chipper." Aria shrugged.
Adagio fumed at hearing that.
"Alright then you two. We'll start with breathing exercises."
"Breathing exercises?" Sonata scratched her head.
"Yes." Mr. Myestro replied. "Breathing exercises will allow you to better control the pitch and duration of your singing. Singers who can breathe deeply and consistently get better mileage out of their voice."
"How do we do those?" asked Aria.
"Begin by inhaling a couple deep breaths of air. Imagine that the air is really heavy as you breathe it in. Let the breath fall below your belly button, into your diaphragm then exhale, repeat this several times."
Both girls took in a deep breath of air then let it out. They repeated this process for a good few minutes.
"Aria slow down you look like you're hyperventilating."
Aria calmed down as it looked like her face was turning red.
Adagio shook her head as she watched them acting like idiots.
"Alright then, now lets begin warming up. Like your biceps your vocal cords are muscles that need to be stretched. I want you girls to practice your scales starting with the middle C."
They took a deep breath before trying it. However when they tried to sing the the note in question the voices wouldn't co-operate and would crack every so often.
They stopped as Myestro held up a hand. "Well that was... odd."
"Now what?" groaned Aria.
"Well before we go any further I need to ask, do you feel anything strange when you sing?"
"It feels like my vocal cords won't do what I want them to do." Sonata answered while rubbing her neck.
"Very peculiar." Mr. Myestro was at a loss. He never heard of such a thing.
"Told you it was stupid." spoke Adagio.
"Well, there are other ways to play music you know."
"Like what?" asked Aria.
"Instruments we can try to find some thing that suit each of you in the shop."
"You're wasting your time." called Adagio.
"You never know unless you try."
Mr. Myestro proceeded to lead them to the shop below.
"So what do we choose from?" asked Sonata.
"My father often said that the instrument chooses you more than you choose it. Try them out and see which one you like."
Sonata and Aria spread out to test out some of the instruments.
Sonata looked left and right for an instrument, there was quite a selection to choose from. She then spotted a keyboard and let her curiosity take hold. She pressed one of the keys and was greeted with a note. She let out a hum of intrigue and pressed the others one by one. She smiled in joy at finding something that might be her.
Aria on the other hand was growing bored. If the couldn't sing what were the chances they could play any of these. But she stopped when she spotted something. It was a drum set. She picked up one of the sticks and examined it. 'what am I doing, this is pointless.' she turned and threw the stick back where it landed on the symbol making a sound that caught Aria's ear. She turned back and noticed the stick roll on the floor at her feet. She picked it up and looked at the drums a little longer than before. Her legs seemed to slowly move back to the drums on their own. Before she knew it, she was sitting behind them with both sticks in her hands.
She tapped the sticks on the toms and symbols. To Aria it felt oddly right.
Sonata noticed the sound and couldn't help but try a few keys to match. The blue haired girl was surprised by how quickly she memorized the sound each key made.
"Excellent girls, you're doing wonderfully." Mr. Myestro clapped as the two of them did a slow tune together.
The were interrupted when someone entered the store. It wasman who came in had platinum blonde hair, ash grey skin, brown eyes, and wore Khakis with a white tucked in shirt.
"Mr. Rince." Mr. Myestro said as if he expected the man's arrival.
"Mr. Myestro, I'm curious about something." spoke the man carrying a basket over and put it on the counter.
"Uh, girls would you give us some privacy. I need to speak with my friend."
Both were confused, but complied and walked upstairs.
"Milo please tell me this isn't about what I think it is."
"I can explain." spoke Mr. Myestro.
"I thought you were past this?" Mr. Rince questions "First it was stray animals, now you've taken two girls into your home?"
"Actually there's three." Mr. Myestro responded awkwardly.
The man just sighed and pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Jim, I found them living in a lot filled with garbage. They have no where to go."
"It won't change the past."
"I know that, but I can't just let them live out their lives on the streets."
"It's your choice, but if this ends up like last time I'll have no choice but to take you to a psychiatrist Milo." Mr. Rince took the basket and walked to the door leaving Mr. Myestro to his thoughts.