SIRENS

-x-

Chapter 2

-x-

'Come.'

The plump Ex Enchantress held the large, white door to the Inner Sanctum open for Sheila and Diana, beaming at them as they passed. The boys had been taken, protesting, by other handmaidens to a series of living quarters in the outer courtyard of the large, floating castle. The immense, gleaming spire in the centre of the castle was, apparently, utterly out of bounds to any male. Although Uni was as welcome as the girls into the Inner Sanctum, the smell of sweet hay on the breeze had urged her to seek out the stables.

Sheila and Diana stepped through into the white marbled hallway.

Diana looked up, at the carved ceiling and shining, silver lined windows, and marveled.

Sheila looked down at the pristine floor, and worried that she should have wiped her boots.

'So this was all built by women?' asked Diana eventually, her voice echoing grandly across the walls.

'Designed, built, adored and all,' replied Janapurna. 'No man has ever seen the Inner Sanctum. No man ever will. It is our secret art. It is our mysterious soul. Mankind shall never know it...'

'I thought Zandora said no men were allowed inside the castle at all,' interrupted Diana.

Janapurna creased her forehead into a frown at the Witch's name. 'The High Priestess can make exceptions for visitors to the outer chambers, under special circumstances. You saved me. All of you. I couldn't allow those brutes to get you, and I knew you wouldn't be split up.'

Sheila gasped. 'So... are you the High Priestess?'

Janapurna continued to frown. 'I am now. I was left in charge when we took to the water.' She held a soft hand up in anticipation of both girls' barrage of questions. 'I'll explain it with the others, later.'

'Like those boys are gonna be able to concentrate with you around,' huffed Diana.

'Yeah,' added Sheila, 'I thought you were getting fixed.'

Janapurna smiled warmly. 'The spell on me took some time to lift, but it is gone. Your friends were just experiencing a little echo.'

'Echo...?' Echoed Sheila.

'It happens to those who've been previously enchanted,' shrugged Janapurna, 'it's just a memory of the feeling of desire. You'll notice that your brother remains unaffected. It should wear off on the others quite soon.'

Sheila nodded, unsure.

'I imagine,' smiled Janapurna, 'that the two of you would have a special interest in seeing your friends back to normal.'

Diana turned. 'Huh?'

Janapurna laughed a little, nervously. 'The Ranger and the Cavalier? It's been seven years, surely you'd have discovered them by now...'

'Been there, done that,' sighed Diana in reply.

'Got the Ex Boyfriend,' added Sheila.

'Oh!' Janapurna blinked at the girls. 'Oh... how sad. Still the Castle might have something to say about that...'

'What about the Castle?' asked Sheila incredulously.

'It has a bit of a mind of its own.' Janapurna gently stroked a hand down one of the hall's carved marble walls with a fond smile. 'Especially when it comes to star crossed soulmates.'

'They're not our soulmates,' frowned Diana, 'they're a couple of pains in the ass.'

'Diana...' tutted Sheila.

Janapurna slipped herself between the two other girls, putting her arms gently around them to disperse the oncoming argument, guiding them towards the far door.

'Ladies, please,' she soothed. 'No harsh voices. We females are all sisters here in the White Palace, and the Menfolk we take as guests are our friends. The Castle will hear of nothing but love. The harder your pride rails, the more it will make your love humble you. Believe me.'

Sheila watched Janapurna's beatific smile. 'It found you a soulmate, didn't it?'

'Against all odds,' beamed the High Priestess.

'Well, since this place is Women Only, I'd say you had pretty big odds to beat,' added Diana with a grin.

Janapurna stopped at the far door, still smiling, and released the girls, pushing open the door.

'Welcome to my chamber.'

Sheila and Diana stared. The refracted reflections of light against moving water shifted constantly over their faces. The pool took up almost the entire chamber, only leaving room for a small bed, chair and bookshelf. Windchimes were hung from the high ceiling, catching on the breeze from open windows above. Aside from their tinklings, the only sound was an idle splishing at the other end of the pool. A sleek jet black figure lolled in the water, its back to them.

'What is it..?' muttered Diana.

'I should introduce you properly,' replied the Priestess, before letting out a high pitched whistle.

The figure at the far end of the pool turned to look at them, then excitedly threw itself headlong into the water, using its supple body to propel itself speedily towards them. The girls stepped back a little, alarmed by the swiftness of the creature in its seemingly unwavering approach, but a instant before it hit the side of the pool, the black figure stopped, rearing up into the air with a great splash and a joyful shriek.

'Oh my God,' breathed Sheila in amazement.

It was a woman. Mostly a woman, on the top half anyway, and naked as you please save for a thick layer of shiny black fur all over her body. Her face and nipples were the only bald areas of her - three smooth, wet circles of skin far darker than Diana's. She had human shaped arms and hands, but her legs were fused together into a large, fat, furry tail. The girls watched as the woman-thing shrieked and clapped in delight again, and performed a happy backflip, thrashing her great tail. Curious, they stepped forward again a little as Janapurna took the creature's hand and petted her behind one of her small, flat ears.

'A Mermaid?' breathed Diana.

Janapurna shook her head. 'There's no such thing as Mermaids.'

'But...' began Sheila, pointing at the evidence to the contrary.

'There are several different species of water-folk, if that's what you mean,' replied Janapurna, 'not counting the so-called Swamp Mermaids, which are just cleverly evolved snakes. In the great ocean there are tribes of Sea Nymphs, which are the dangerous ones that sailors tell tall tales about. And then there's the Unpronouncables, like this little lady. But no Mermaids.'

'Unpronouncables..?' attempted Diana. The black creature yelped merrily at her, cutting her off and splashing a little. Diana couldn't help but raise a smile.

'They have their own language,' replied Janapurna on the creature's behalf, stroking its shiny black head, 'quite impossible to use with human tongues. They don't have a civilisation as such, but they're mammals, and as intelligent as you or I.'

'Like dolphins!' interjected Sheila.

Janapurna creased her forehead slightly. 'I'm sorry. I don't understand.'

'Earth creatures,' explained Diana, transfixed by the Unpronounceable, 'they're like fish, but they're not.'

'Hmm.' Janapurna visibly exchanged a glance with the strange, aquatic creature. 'Well, Unpronouncables are like people, but not. Like people they're capable of jealousy, lust, greed and terrible cruelty to one another.' She blinked, still petting the creature. 'Aurore... that's my name for her... was an Unpronounceable Princess, and a celebrated beauty. Glossy coat, strong teeth, fat tail, the lot. Her parents were going to force her into marrying some rich old Aristocrat from the other side of the ocean.' Janapurna beamed up at the two girls, and Aurore, following her gaze, grinned toothily at them too. 'We saved her. Brought her back to the Palace.' She tickled Aurore behind the ear again. 'You didn't want to marry that horrid old male now, did you, Aurore?'

Cautiously, Sheila knelt beside Janapurna to stroke Aurore's silky black fur. The Unpronounceable stayed still for the Redhead to pet her, and shot another fond look up at the Priestess.

'This place is full of females like Aurore and I,' added Janapurna, sitting back. 'It is a haven. A refuge for women who no longer want to be pursued by love.' She cast her eye over both girls, Sheila crouched by the Unpronounceable, Diana standing aloof, her back against the wall. 'It helps you to turn around. You mustn't run from love, but towards it.'

Diana opened her mouth to speak again, but fell into silence when, inexplicably, the bookshelf on the other side of the chamber began to slide across the wall. She watched as it revealed a large, door shaped opening in the wall, leading through to a dimly lit corridor. Two women in white tunics stepped from it, carrying spears. On seeing Sheila and Diana, they gasped, both gazing at Janapurna apologetically.

'Forgive us, Reverence,' muttered one of the spear carriers, 'we did not know that the visitors would be here.'

Janapurna held up a plump hand in acceptance.

'Have no fear. These are the two women of The Seven.'

The women in white visibly relaxed a little at this news as the bookshelf slid shut behind them.

'They are only in my chamber because I trust them,' added Janapurna, more to the adventurers than the spear carriers. 'So we shall trust them to know that door exists, and yet never speak of it again.'

'Why?' asked Diana. 'What's behind the door?'

'It leads to our vaults,' replied Janapurna, patiently, 'and that is all you need to know.'

'What do you keep in the vaults?' Sheila asked, excitedly.

Janapurna got to her feet, reaching into a pocket. 'I think it might be time for dinner.'

'C'mon, Janapurna,' added Diana, 'tell us. It's not like we're thieves... um...'

The Priestess retrieved a chocolate from her pocket and tossed it to the Unpronounceable in the pool.

'Well,' continued Diana, taking Sheila's arm, 'this one is...'

'Hey...' muttered Sheila, reproachfully.

'But she's really not that good at it...'

'Hey!'

Janapurna watched Aurore perform a merry backflip, catching the treat in mid air, then smiled at the two friends.

'It is not distrust, believe me. I know you would not steal from us, otherwise I would never have taken you aboard. It is merely a protective measure that the doors to the vaults, and the subject of what lies behind them, are closed to you.'

Outside, a bell began to chime. Janapurna smiled brightly at the sound.

'Besides,' she added, 'it really is time for dinner.'

-x-

By the time Janapurna and the two girls reached the dining hall, the grand table was already bustling with women of all races, sizes and ages. Not only human women, but fairies, female gnomes and dwarfs, as well as several species that Sheila and Diana had never come across before. There was even a corner in which a couple of female ogres chatted shyly with one another. The four boys were easy to spot amongst the sea of women. They were sat together at one end of the table, their food laden plates already half empty. They waved the girls over, cheerfully, and, to Diana's relief, failed to fall over one another in desire when Janapurna settled herself between Hank and Presto.

'How was the tour?' mumbled Bobby through a mouthful of potato.

'Interesting.' Diana took a step towards the empty chair next to Eric, then changed her mind and sat down beside the Barbarian.

Sheila took the seat next to the Cavalier instead, muttering irritably to herself.

'...could steal anything I wanted to... could be the thievingest darned Thief they ever knew... you name it, I'll steal it, 'cause you know why...?'

Eric set down his cutlery, giving Diana a quick, accusatory glace.

'Who started her off?'

Diana just rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.

'That's quite an appetite you've got there.' Hank was watching in amazement as Janapurna piled her plate high with hot, stodgy food.

The Ex Enchantress nodded at her plate, grabbing a spoon.

'I always have. It's just there was precious little to actually eat in the Plane of the Dead.'

She spooned a large glob of melted cheese onto a hunk of bread.

'Besides,' she added, tucking in, 'I was really unhappy back then.'

'But you're happy now?' Hank picked at some of his food. 'Cause I hate to break this to you, but the rest of the Realm seems to be fresh out of happiness at the moment.'

Janapurna sighed, placing the bread back onto her plate.

'I think she's aware of that,' whispered Presto.

'Yes, I am aware,' said Janapurna, sadly. 'We are all aware. The White Palace has not always taken refuge on the water, you know.'

Janapurna looked at the faces of the adventurers on either side of her.

'You think we are cowards,' she added. 'Weak women too afraid to fight. It is not the case. Every army needs its defenders as well as its aggressors.'

'Running and hiding never helped anybody,' muttered Eric.

'That all depends,' replied Janapurna, 'on what one has to protect.'

'So what are you protecting?' asked Diana.

Janapurna picked up her bread again. 'Things that you take for granted will stay safe. I hope that you will never have to discover they have gone missing. As for happiness, we in the Palace are all encouraged to pursue our own inner peace, in spite of what the world outside has to throw at us.'

She bit into her hot, fatty bread, closing her eyes and sensing the series of furtive glances that were being shot across the table. The Palace had been right to pick them up. It had a lot of work to do.

'What the...'

She reopened her eyes to see the Cavalier staring from his own empty plate to Sheila's full one.

'Did you take my ham?'

Sheila grinned at him, her mouth full.

'She took my ham. Why'dya take my ham?'

'Because I could.'

'You little... Stop laughing, Diana.'

Diana didn't stop laughing, even though Eric scowled at her almost as threateningly as Hank was frowning at his own plate. Bobby and Presto both noticed the Ranger's expression and began to pick listlessly at their food.

Yes. It had a lot to do indeed.

-x-

Presto found a stable spot on the ramparts on which to perch. He sat, facing out towards the widening river as the Palace slowly drifted seawards, and closed his eyes, and tried again. Yet again, his mind was filled with colour and sound - mixed up memories, fantasies and fears of hundreds of different people. His friends, ranging from the easily read Eric to the near inscrutable Hank, all instantly distinguishable nonetheless. Venger, always there, in the distance, like a background hum of grief and regret. Tiamat, further away still, her impotent rage flickering on and off like a lighthouse on the horizon. Pistol and Nym, growing faint with the other bandits, but still thrumming with life and love. Zinn's malice and fear flitted about him like a firefly - there was something else with her. Something bigger. Furnus was still invisible to him. There were others, too - the women of the White Palace filled most of his mind's eye. They cluttered it with their needless fretting. There were too many voices. There always were. And no matter how hard he searched through them, he still couldn't find the two he was looking for. Rhamoud was not there. Presto didn't know whether the great King was dead, or simply hidden, but he was definitely Not There. He sighed, screwing up his eyes in concentration, but it was no good. Varla was gone, too. She had closed herself off to him, disappearing off his register the moment he had left her, and she didn't seem to be coming back. Deep in his concentration, the other minds swirled around him, chattering and worrying over one another. The women of the White Palace were particularly loud, all whirling round like a tornado. He frowned. They were too frightened. From what Janapurna had said, they should be among the safest and happiest in all the Realm, but they span in panic. He exhaled, pushing himself deep into the frothing whirlpool of their thoughts. There had to be something at its centre. Focusing, he made it out - a sphere, tiny yet infinite, insignificant yet all powerful, holding everything, disclosing nothing.

The Truth.

'Beautiful, isn't it?'

Janapurna's voice wrenched him so suddenly from his meditations that he yelped in surprise.

The Priestess stepped away from him slightly.

'I'm sorry. Have I disturbed you?'

Presto blinked back into the material world. 'A little.' He frowned up at Janapurna. 'You were saying...?'

Janapurna pointed apologetically out to the expanse of water ahead.

'The river. And the mouth of the ocean. I'm sorry, I thought that was what you were entranced by.'

Presto gave her a little lopsided smile, turning back to the view.

'Well, it can't always be you, Janapurna.'

She laughed, warmly, and joined him. 'Yes. It turns out that I'm not the fairest in the land after all. The sea is far more beautiful than I can ever hope to be.'

They sat, watching the water for a moment. Then Janapurna spoke again, quietly.

'I hoped when we parted ways that you would all find love. To hear that you had all lost it again so soon saddens me.' She took his hand, gently. 'But you... there was always somebody in your heart. Even the first time that we met, you were the only one amongst those boys who truly knew what it felt like to be in love. And then you found another. Poor Presto. The confusion and misery of being in love with two women, but being able to have neither must be...'

'How did you get The Truth?' Presto interrupted, harshly.

Janapurna withdrew her hand, blinking in surprise.

'I... I merely feel what is in people's hearts...'

Presto fixed her with a steely glare, the lenses of his glasses glinting emotionlessly in the light of the sinking suns.

'You have The Truth on board. The greatest of the Pearls of Wisdom. I've seen it, Janapurna. I've seen it through your eyes.'

Janapurna bit her lip, meeting his gaze.

'You really have become powerful, haven't you?'

'Bet you didn't see that one in my heart.' He raised his eyebrows at her. 'Where are you keeping The Truth?'

'In the Vaults,' whispered Janapurna.

'The Vaults?' Presto folded his arms. 'Janapurna, The Truth is one of the most dangerous, volatile weapons in the Realm, and you're hoarding it like it was treasure?'

'I know what it is, Presto!' Her voice was supposed to be a hiss, but it still spilled from her lips smoothly and sweetly, like syrup. 'Why do you think we fled to the sanctuary of the sea? Zandora sent us out here in the hope that the water might form a barrier against Furnus' reach. We know that she must never find The Truth.' She got to her feet, defensively. 'If we keep it in the Vaults we can keep it guarded as well as hidden amongst the other trinkets. To anybody who doesn't know what they're looking for it would pass as nothing more than a large jewel.'

'But it isn't just a pretty Thing, is it?'

'Its power is tremendous.' A troubled thought hit the High Priestess, and she looked across at Presto sharply. 'When you saw it... it didn't... show you anything?'

Presto stood, shaking his head. 'I didn't look into it.' He paused for a moment, thoughtfully. 'And you?'

'I don't think anybody would dare to,' replied Janapurna, 'if they knew what The Truth was capable of. It cannot lie, but... it is very selective about the facts it discloses.' She shuddered. 'It is a wicked weapon.'

'That troupe of Orcs wasn't waiting to ambush us, was it?' Presto watched Janapurna, waiting for a response that didn't come. 'It was meant to attack you.'

Janapurna sighed. 'We have spent four years at sea this coming summer. We need to sail upriver every few months to collect fresh water and land food. They must have worked out the pattern.'

Presto turned to watch the slowly approaching ocean mouth. 'But we'll be safe once we're out on the sea, will we?'

'I don't know.' Janapurna frowned slightly at the horizon. 'The Sea Nymphs have grown in number and hostility over the past few months. They are cunning things, and greedy. If Furnus were ever to consider recruiting an army of the sea, she would do well to contact the Nymphs.' She hugged herself, as though cold, even though the evening breeze was gentle and balmy. 'Perhaps they are already working for her.'

'Perhaps.'

There was a long, leaden pause.

'Presto?' she asked, eventually.

'Yes.'

'Zandora said she would find us as soon as she could. But that was years ago.'

Presto closed his eyes unhappily and mentally ran through the list of those he had helped bury since coming back to the Realm. The wizened old woman was not amongst them. Somehow, that was worse.

'Nobody has heard about her since,' continued the Ex Enchantress. 'I don't suppose you might know where...'

'No.'

'But...' the old look of beautiful melancholy danced in her hazel eyes again. 'But you are powerful now, and...'

'I don't know, Janapurna,' he sighed. 'I'm sorry. There's still so much that I don't know.'

And how right he was. He did not know that, in the dining hall beneath him, a woman had been standing at the window, watching the sky slowly blush and fade, transfixed for so long that she hadn't stirred while the rest hall was emptied. He did not know that a man had marched halfway across the courtyard in a blind rage, then stopped suddenly, stood muttering to himself irritably for a moment, then turned on his tail to storm back on his tracks. He did not know that, at that same moment, a different woman and man had found themselves at separate ends of a dormitory, staring at each other.

He felt the vibrations in the castle walls, as though the entire building were sighing. But he didn't know why.

He felt the slight movement in the water beneath the Palace, but the cause of the disturbance, the distant thrashing swarm of slender, slippery bodies swimming the long swim through the ocean's depths to intercept them, was invisible to his mind's eye.

-x-

Hank and Sheila both stood stock still, staring at each other across the dormitory.

Sheila gnawed at the lower lip a little. She didn't know how she'd managed to do it - she thought she had been walking away from that No Good, Rotten... but here she was - different door, same room. Looking at him. All her life she'd been looking at him.

It was he who spoke first.

'Sheila, we need to talk...'

He was right. Of course he was. But... he had said "Yes"! After all that time, he had just said "Yes" to that damnned Bandit girl! Sheila took a step back. 'I'm through talking, Hank.'

Hank took a step towards her, a strange, cold look rising in his eyes.

'It's not a request, Sheila, I am telling you. We have to talk, because this is killing me.'

Sheila shook her head, taking another backwards step, and placing her fingers on the door handle. He began to pace towards her.

'This isn't right, babe. You know it's not. We're not supposed to be apart. It's made me... go all wrong. I'm falling to pieces here, Red...'

She turned from him, opening the door, her eyes welling with hot tears.

'I still love you, Sheila.'

She faltered. She could hear that he had stopped in his tracks too, and even through her own shallow breaths she could tell that he had begun, silently, to cry. She felt herself harden to it. Without turning back to him, she answered with a rare harshness.

'Do you, now.'

She strode from the room, and didn't allow herself to sob until the heavy door had safely slammed behind her.