SIRENS
-x-
Chapter 6
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The water around Sheila's ears made strange sounds. It seemed to be speaking to her. She looked about herself as she swam. The hoarde of women swimming alongside her were doing so silently, but occasionally one would peel off and swim ahead, as though responding to unspoken commands. Sheila frowned to herself.
'Sheila,' said the water, 'Sheila. Can you hear?'
Sheila blinked. Ahead of her, the Unpronounceable stopped and turned, watching her.
'Aurore...?' Sheila asked herself, 'Aurore can't speak...'
Aurore grinned sharply. 'Maybe not,' said the water, 'maybe I don't have to. Maybe I can make the water speak for me.'
Sheila stared at the toothsome Unpronounceable.
'Janapurna and I have to be able to communicate some way or other, after all,' continued the water.
'Wow,' thought Sheila.
'Indeed,' replied the water. 'We are getting close to the Sea Nymphs' City now, Sheila. Look beneath you.'
Sheila looked. Shining through the gloomy water were a series of lights, many shining through large, translucent spheres on the sea bed, others creating crazy lines.
'If you wish to help us with our mission,' continued the water, 'you are welcome to do so. If you still need to retrieve your men, now is the time for us to say our goodbyes. With any luck, we will meet again.'
Aurore met eyes with Sheila, and swam a little way towards her.
'You are worried,' said the water as the Unpronounceable took her hand, 'you know you must rescue your brother and your lover, but you are disorientated and alone and... and you do not wish to kill again. The latter I cannot help you with. I have had to take many lives myself, and it has never got easier, I'm afraid.' Aurore pulled Sheila into her, giving her a small hug. The Unpronounceable felt sleek, muscular and warm in the freezing water. 'As for the former,' continued the water, 'I can give you some information which may be of use. The Nymphs who took your men would keep them in their private residence, they would not wish to share them. And they are likely to be particularly interested in the dry world - watch out for houses decorated with human trinkets... shipwreck debris and the like. It is unlikely that there will be many guards to where the menfolk are being held, but considering Sea Nymphs are famously negligent with their live spoils from the topside, you may not have much time. Almost all captured humans have ended up drowning or asphyxiating after only a few hours in the Sea Nymphs' care.'
Sheila nodded. 'Thanks', she mumbled through her breathing kit.
Aurore took Sheila by both shoulders, holding her out at arm's length, gazing at her proudly.
'You are very brave, little coralhair human,' said the water, 'your love gives you courage. Be careful, Sheila. Be careful not to waste such a powerful love.' Aurore quickly kissed Sheila's forehead. 'Now go.'
And with that, the strange, ebony coloured creature turned swiftly on her tail and swam back into the throng of women.
Sheila set her face, and, cloaking herself, began to dive towards the lights of the city.
-x-
Hank opened an eye. He was out of the water, at least, but he was soaking wet and freezing, and the hemispherical room he was in was tiny and damp. The air inside it was stale and close. Everything stank of the sea. He noticed that his belt was undone, and his leggings unlaced. He began to do himself up again, cursing, searching his memory for how he had got there, or what had happened to him that had loosened his nethergarments so. He could remember being kissed, and his lungs filling with much needed air... after that, everything was pretty much a blur...
Bobby! Bobby had been with him! And one of those damn creatures had been all over the poor kid... Hank sat bolt upright. The Barbarian was already conscious, sitting hunched up against the wall of the dome. His helmet was missing, but otherwise the teenager's clothes seemed mercifully intact.
'Bob...' muttered Hank, 'you OK?'
Bobby nodded, frowning. 'You, Hank? Can... can you remember what happened?'
'I'm not sure,' replied Hank, 'There were these strange creatures, weren't there...?'
'I saw Terri,' added Bobby, miserably, 'at least, I thought I did... it wasn't her. It looked like her, but it wasn't.' The Barbarian looked up at Hank. 'I thought I saw Sheila, too.'
'Yeah.' Hank nodded, glumly. 'I think we were both tricked. Those things must've been shape shifters, or something...'
Bobby hugged his knees, tears welling up in his eyes. 'I miss her, Hank. I miss her so very much.'
'Bob?' Hank shuffled over to the large Teen. 'I thought you were over Terri.'
'How can I be?' Bob wiped a sudden onslaught of tears away with the back of his hand. 'I can pretend that I'm cool with it til I'm blue in the face, I can be a big hypocrite and tell you that it's all going to get easier, but it's not, Hank. It's not. It doesn't get easier. Half the time it's like I'm dead inside, I'm a robot, and then when I remember her I wish I could be numb again because it just hurts so much... I love her. She's the One. She's the Only One. Why did I throw all that away, Hank? Why?'
Hank gazed at his own feet. 'You're talking to the wrong guy, Bob. I just did the same dumb thing and I still can't work out why I did it.'
'That woman I met before Furnus showed up,' continued Bobby, tearfully, 'Lilac, her name was. I liked her because she was sad like me, she was lonely too. But her husband was murdered. That's why she was alone. She fought for him, Hank, she fought tooth and nail for her love, and she's still fighting now. I... I just let mine go. How could I have been so stupid?'
'I guess...' Hank huddled himself up next to the Barbarian. 'I guess we can all be kinda stupid, when it comes to love.'
-x-
Yes, stupid stupid stupid because why was he still running, why was he still climbing the roofs when they needed him, his friends needed him, Hank and Bobby running out of air and hope, Diana fading further and further from humanity, Sheila and Eric not running but swimming, flying, swimming, flying into darkness and fast moving blades, so dangerous, so dangerous love could be...
He could smell blood ahead. He could hear a woman scream out.
'What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?'
He stopped. There she was, standing still, right in front of him. They were on top of the spire of the Inner Sanctum. There was nowhere else to climb.
'Presto,' she said.
'Varla,' he said. 'What have you done?'
-x-
Sylka looked up from her Dry Land trinkets. Her sister had returned.
'Merid is not with you?' asked the younger Sea Nymph.
'Not yet,' Ulse replied. 'They are securing The Truth. She will be back soon.'
'She will not find the pets,' added Sylka, nervously, 'we have hidden them well...?'
'She never finds them,' replied Ulse, 'or if she does, she does not care. Once the humans have been taken, what is there to prevent?'
Ulse picked up a lady's comb, and fiddled with it. 'Have you played with yours yet?'
Sylka looked at her feet, a little bashful. 'He is afraid. I wanted to wait until he has grown used to being here.'
Ulse scoffed. 'He will never get used to it. He is a Land Creature.' She fiddled with the comb again, not noticing the salvaged oar behind her rise up, almost magically, in the water. 'I am bored with mine. Can I play with yours?'
'No!' whined Sylka, 'you said I could have the big one. You do this every time, Ulse, you promise me one thing, and then...'
The oar lunged forward through the water and hit the back of Ulse's frail, translucent head, knocking her out cold. She crumpled slowly through the water, her long, fine hair swirling above her head like smoke. Sylka didn't have time to scream before she found a hand clenched in her own hair and sharp steel at her throat.
'Where are they?' demanded a disembodied voice from behind her. The voice was strange - warped and muffled, as though its mouth were full.
'We do not have The Truth,' stammered Sylka, 'the Elders have it. Please... please...' the Sea Nymph gasped as the blade bit at her thin skin. 'We are only juveniles. We are not the ones you want.'
'Where are the men?' The voice behind her was only growing angrier.
'Who...' squeaked Sylka, 'who are you?'
'They're my men,' continued the voice. Sylka felt her hair pulled back harder. 'Take me to them. Now.'
Sylka froze, searching the ground for her comatose sister. Ulse was gone.
'Do it!' insisted the voice. 'I've killed before, I'd do it again...'
'You wouldn't, though.' This new voice was different. Male. The voice of the longhair. Sylka's eyes widened as the longhaired male stepped from behind the clutter of their room.
At the sight of him, the unseen attacker loosened her grip on Sylka slightly. 'Hank?' said the voice.
'You didn't want to kill,' continued the longhair, 'you never did. If you had the choice, you wouldn't, would you Sheila?'
Sylka could suddenly see a shock of orange at her shoulder. She dared turn her head slightly. The one holding her was barely bigger than Sylka herself, a fair, frail looking human female with bright hair. Sylka recognised her instantly as the one Ulse had imitated to lure the longhair male out into the sea. Only this one wasn't bleeding. She had a knife in her hand, a razor tucked into her boot, goggles over her eyes, a breathing tube in her mouth and an airtank strapped to her back. As Sylka watched her from the corner of her eye, the human let go of her hair and took a step towards the longhair.
'Red?' said the male as the girl moved towards him, 'Babe? It'll be OK. You can put the killing behind you.'
Sylka began to back away. No. No. Stupid Ulse! This disguise wasn't going to work!
'Just...' the male held out his hand. 'Just give me the knife, Sheila, and you, me and Bobby... we can all go home, and all of this can stop.'
The girl nodded. 'Answer one question, Hank?'
'Anything, Red. Anything you want.'
'How are you breathing?'
The longhair looked down at himself, quickly, eyes widening at the omission of an oxygen tank anywhere. When he looked up again he was thinner, sharper, strangely androgynous and see-through. Its face twisted into a snarl and it caught the fist flying up towards it.
Sylka saw the human move her free hand swiftly to her boot. There was a flash of metal. Sylka was not proud. Sylka was not brave. Sylka ran.
-x-
Diana didn't look up at the flurry of feathers as she rinsed the wound on her hand under a fountain.
'You'd better not have given me Rabies, you bastard.'
'You'd better not have let him fuck you, you fucking... fuck...'
That made her turn her head a little. What she saw was half Eric, half peacock, but becoming more human shaped every second.
'I thought it was you,' she muttered. 'You stole some of my beads, didn't you?'
'Just one.'
'How dare you,' she growled, turning back to her bleeding hand. 'How dare you take what belongs to me? How dare you come here?'
'How dare I? How dare I?' Eric took an angry step towards her, his clenched fists pressed against his chest. 'How dare you, Diana? How dare you treat me like this? How dare you string me along like that and then just leave? How could you leave me for another guy while I was sleeping?'
'He's not just another guy, Eric. This is Kosar. You knew that I'd always go to him if he called...'
'We agreed you wouldn't use the "K" Word,' interrupted Eric through clenched teeth.
'I'm sorry about the way it happened, Eric,' replied Diana, 'but that's just the way it is.'
'Well, if you're not going to keep away from the Bad Words, neither am I,' yelled Eric. 'I love you, Diana. God help me, I love you, you heartless bitch, and that's what I'm doing here. You understand?'
Diana looked down at her hurt hand. 'Fine. You've said your piece, and I've listened. Now you'd better go.'
'Go?' Eric snorted a laugh, humourlessly. 'What, you think I changed species and flew all the way up here just to tell you somethin' you already knew?'
Diana was silent, but hoped that Eric wasn't going to say what she was expecting him to say.
'You're coming back, Diana. To me. To all of us.'
'No... no...'
'I'm bringing you back where you belong.'
'I don't belong there!' Diana fought tears back behind her eyes. 'I don't belong in the Realm and, what really sucks is, I don't belong on Earth any more either.'
'Neither do I, Diana! Neither do any of us! And that's why where you belong is with us. In the group.'
'This isn't about the group, Eric. This is about you! I belong here!'
'Like Hell you do. This place is dead. Nothin' but a well decorated tomb. You... you're alive, you're so very alive. You'll suffocate here. I'm just rescuing you from an eternity of comfortable tedium.'
Diana snarled, forcing herself not to scream. 'You're not rescuing me. I'm not in danger, I'm not unhappy here, I'm not some Damsel in Distress. This is my choice, damn you, and I do not want to be rescued. So just fly away home, why don't you?'
Eric tensed even further. 'Not without a fight.'
'He's not human any more,' seethed Diana. 'He's a God. You're no match for him, on any level. How the Hell do you expect to fight him?'
Eric arched an eyebrow. 'Who said anything about fighting him?'
'I do.' The third voice was calm and level, but still made the other two leap out of their skins. They both turned to see Kosar, a strange, serene smile on his face, as he slowly walked towards them.
'You come here,' continued Kosar, 'invading my world with the jewel you stole from her, you threaten my Diana, you try to take her back down into the mud, you break her skin and draw her blood, you call her those base names... I would certainly fight you, Eric. I'd consider it an obligation to Diana's honour.'
'Kosar...' whispered Diana. 'Don't.'
Kosar ran a hand through Diana's hair. It was all Eric could do to keep himself from hurling himself at Kosar, teeth and fists first.
'Of course I won't, if you say so,' Kosar told Diana. 'I know he is your friend. And I would kill him. He doesn't even have his weapon. Silly child.'
'I'm standing right here, Kosar.'
Kosar regarded him again, coldly. 'So you are. Even though it's been made clear by both of us that you are not welcome. How very thoughtless of you.'
'What happened to you, Kosar?' Eric shook his head, disapprovingly. 'I mean, you were pretty smug and insufferable before, but at least it wasn't intentional. And now you talk to me like this, even though I helped save your life...'
'You didn't do it for me, though, did you?' Kosar flashed him a freezing smile. 'And now I am returning the favour. For my Diana, I will save you. I will spare you. Even though I'd happily tear your skin right off your body, even though I can smell your pathetic monkey mortality all over her, you shouldn't fear for your life.'
'Kosar...' began Diana.
'It's all right,' cooed Kosar. 'I said we'd clean the slate. How can I be angered by something that never happened?'
'It happened, Kosar,' grinned Eric, 'like it or not, it happened, over and over and over...'
'Eric!'
Kosar just shook his head, calmly. 'You really are disgusting, little man. How can you possibly see the things you did as Loving her? Your tinkerings with her... they're nothing. Now please go. You're upsetting Diana.'
'Am not!' Eric folded his arms in defiance.
'Yes you are, Eric,' replied Diana, quietly. 'Please go?'
Kosar put a hand around Diana's waist. 'You heard the Lady.'
Eric tried to step towards her. 'Diana?'
'Don't touch her, Eric. I'm warning you.'
Ignoring Kosar, he reached out to brush her arm. 'Diana...'
Kosar was as fast as lightning, and just as powerful. With just one hand he grabbed Eric by the throat and lifted him up off the ground. Before Eric had chance to react, Kosar flung the young man backwards across the gardens and over the edge into nothingness.
Diana gasped, and took an automatic step towards the direction Eric had disappeared, but Kosar pulled her in to an embrace.
'Kosar...?'
'I did warn him, my love. He wasn't going to leave of his own accord.'
'But...'
'He'll be fine, Diana. I didn't take the bead from him. He can still fly to safety.'
'If he can fly, he'll come back.'
Kosar kissed Diana's forehead. 'That is up to him. Let's go inside.'
-x-
Sheila's razor blade swung a little too slowly underwater, and the Sea Nymph disguised as Hank was just able to duck back from it. Still, the edge of it caught the creature's cheek. Enraged, Ulse glared at her attacker as the salt water stung the fresh gash. She caught a strange look in Sheila's expression, and the human faltered slightly. A warm feeling of restored confidence began to flood through the Sea Nymph. The damn human girl might well know that this shape wasn't her lover, but it still unnerved her to attack it. Not as much as Ulse might have hoped, it seemed that this girl was used to misleading disguises - but it still troubled her enough to get the better hand. Ulse pulled away from the human slightly, still clutching her wrist, and lifted both legs, kicking them hard into the human girl's chest. Sheila was thrown back, winded, and Ulse flipped neatly onto her feet, grabbing the oar she had been hit with and breaking it in two, creating dangerous shards at the end. Ulse moved fast towards the fallen girl, raising the oar, but a swift boot flew suddenly threw the water into her knee, causing her to stumble.
The gravity of the water helped Sheila to gracefully upright herself in that moment the well placed kick had given her. Ulse took a couple of steps back, oar still raised, watching her assailant straighten herself and clench both fists hard around the handles of sharp, twinkling blades. And that's when Ulse caught it. That sudden flash, like the steel in the girl's hands and just as dangerous... in her head, and in her heart.
Oh no. Oh barnacles and shark shit. This girl was angry. This girl was furious. And not just at Ulse. Oh no.
Ulse took another step back as Sheila approached her slowly, purposefully.
This girl was so very angry at the longhair. At the shape she had thought would distract her. Ulse frowned. Maybe she should change sh...
A roundhouse kick to the side of the head sent Ulse flying through the water. She rolled to her back just in time to see the human girl charging towards her. She lifted the splintered oar, sharp end pointed towards the girl. The girl span away from the shards of wood, but Ulse lunged the oar at her as she dodged, catching the girl's hip. The girl didn't cry out, but instinctively lashed out with her dagger, catching nothing but wood. Ulse dragged herself to her feet, lunging the oar towards the girl yet again, but this time the girl was able to kick it out of Ulse's hands. Now weaponless again, Ulse had no choice but to vault backwards behind a table where she knew her sister kept her collection of glass and china. Before she was able to do so, however, she had been grabbed by the hair and pulled towards the girl. Ulse tried to push the girl away, but she had a firm grip. The girl pressed the blade of her dagger against Ulse's throat.
'Where are they?' mumbled Sheila.
Ulse said nothing.
'Where are they?'
So angry, yet still so possessive. What a strange thing this girl was.
Ulse grinned, despite the danger. 'They're mine, now, Sheila.'
The girl's face creased with frustration and rage. Without releasing Ulse's hair, she moved her free hand away, flipping the dagger in her fingers to point towards her elbow, and hit Ulse hard, with the blunt handle of her weapon. Ulse stumbled back a little, dazed and yet relieved. So the girl couldn't kill her, after all. She may as well not have those fancy blades. Still, Sheila tried pointing her dagger at Ulse again.
'I said...'
Ulse clenched those big, masculine hands of the form she had taken and punched Sheila square in the face. She followed it up with two more blows to the stomach and a kick to the shin, causing the shocked girl to lose her balance and topple into Ulse's arms... the longhair's arms. It only took a second for Ulse to wrap one long, strong, male arm around the girl, pinning her arms to her side, and with the second hand, pull the breathing tube from the girl's mouth. Sheila began to struggle as Ulse wrapped the tube around the girl's throat and tugged. Ulse smiled down at Sheila as she pulled again, reaching into the strangled girl's memory and making the face of her disguise slightly younger, and much softer and kinder. Through the girl's goggles, Ulse could see Sheila's eyes brighten with tears. Ulse squeezed the girl harder, embracing her so hard that it forced any air she had been holding in her lungs out of her.
'Sshh, baby,' Ulse whispered with the longhair's voice, 'shush now, Red. Just go back to sleep...'
Sheila wasn't underwater. She was a long way away, and a long time ago. Her pink bedroom. She'd had another nightmare... about the Realm. Only the Realm was worse than it had been before, and everyone was dead... but he was there now. He was there, holding her. He loved her. He always would. She could sleep.
But she couldn't. And he wouldn't. He wouldn't always love her. It couldn't stay like this.
The pink was becoming grey. She couldn't breathe. It hadn't been a dream. They were back in that terrible place, and he had gone all wrong somehow, and there was that damn Orc on top of her... 'mm, girlie so delicate, so delicate, so delicate...' and what could she do? She had to live. What could she...
The grey turned to red, and she felt her hand tighten around her dagger.
And all of a sudden she could move again.
-x-
'What have you done? Why are you here?'
Presto hadn't meant it to sound so harsh. Varla didn't move, she just stood there, blinking as tears stained her cheeks.
'Presto...' she said again, 'Presto... I'm sorry.'
'I know,' sighed Presto, 'me too.'
'I wanted to...' began Varla. She cut herself off and started again. 'Evil powers have always been interested in my talents, Presto,' she said at last, sadly.
Presto nodded. 'And you were able to defy them, for so long...'
'Until now,' added the Illusionist. 'That's part of why you're so disappointed in me, isn't it?'
'You lied to me, Varla. You used me, and my friends.'
Varla hung her head. 'I owe myself more than becoming like this. I want to make it stop. I want to end the control that evil has over me.'
'You can escape,' replied Presto, hopefully. 'You can join us. We can help you...'
'And where would that leave my people?' Varla smiled sadly. 'Where would that leave me? Do you really think that somebody can be truly redeemed, once they've been seduced by evil?'
Presto tried to make a move towards Varla, but she shuffled backwards away from him, closer to the precarious edge of the spire-top.
'Yes, Varla. I do. It takes a lot of time and energy, but I believe it can be done. Don't you?'
'Maybe,' sighed Varla, 'but I don't have any more time, and I don't have any more energy. And my people, Presto. My people will suffer.'
'So what are you going to do?'
'I've thought of a way out, Presto. The only way out.'
He could see it now, this Only Way Out of Varla's. She let him in ever so briefly to see her plan, then pushed him out again, bolting the door.
'Varla, no.'
'It's the only way, Presto.'
'Varla...' it was Presto's turn to cry now. 'Varla, please don't. There are other ways...'
'No there's not. Don't you think I've thought about this long and hard? If I'm gone, along with my powers, Furnus will lose interest in my land. There would be no point in punishing my people if I were not there to see them suffer.'
'You can't be sure of that!'
'I know her, Presto. She will leave them be, and I'll be free.'
'You'll be dead.'
Varla gazed at him, sadly. 'That's the closest to freedom I can hope for. Please understand. It's gone too far. I have to get out.'
-x-
'We have to get out,' muttered Hank.
Bobby looked up at him. 'Huh?'
Hank got to his feet. 'Whatever brought us here... they were dangerous. And have you noticed the air?'
Bobby nodded, miserably. 'Or lack of it.'
'Exactly, added Hank.' This is only a small bubble, only a limited amount of oxygen...'
'And out there,' replied Bobby, pointing at the domed wall, 'there's even less. To the point of zero percent. Do you have any idea how deep we are, Hank? 'Cause I don't. Do you really think we can make it all the way topside with just a lungful?'
Hank paused, blinking. 'This isn't like you, Bob.'
'Yes it is,' sighed the Barbarian, sinking his head to meet his knees. 'I just don't let it out much. That's all.'
'So what are we gonna do, Bob? Just curl up and die?'
'You tell me.'
'Well it's one or the other, Bobby, because I can tell ya, down here in the deep there's nobody coming to rescue us...'
A trapdoor in the centre of the floor opened up suddenly, revealing a pale, copper haired head. Sheila spat out her air tube as she pulled herself up.
'Hey, guys.'
Her voice was strangely hollow, and she still had mystery cuts and bruises. Insictinctively, Hank backed away from her.
'You... you're not the real Sheila. Stay away from us.'
'Of course I am.' Sheila closed the trapdoor, surveying the boys. 'Have you guys just been moping, all this time? Didn't you wanna even try to escape?'
'I don't believe you,' Hank replied, warily. 'Prove it. Prove you're my Sheila.'
'I'm not Your Sheila,' she answered, approaching Hank, 'I'm the real deal all right, but I'm not Your Sheila. And you want proof?' She leaned into him, and whispered into his ear. 'You kissed Nym. You said you wanted more, but she ran off. You seemed to have forgotten the things I can see when I can't be seen myself. And now she's gone you say you want me back. Of course it's me, Hank. You'd never be this cruel to anybody else.'
She stepped back, studying his expression as he tried to hide his reaction from Bobby.
'Sheila...' Hank managed, eventually. 'You came back to rescue us.'
'How do you know it is her?' asked Bobby, getting to his feet. 'What did she say?'
Hank floundered for a brief moment, then shot the Barbarian a quick smile. 'She said you still like eating your boogers.'
Bobby frowned, guiltily. 'Do not.'
Sheila didn't even raise half a smile. 'We don't have much time. We have to go while the coast is clear. You can share my oxygen.'
Bobby watched her as she walked back toward the trapdoor.
'How did you find us, Sis? How did you get past those... those things?'
'Do me a favour, Bobby,' replied Sheila, opening the trapdoor, 'never ask me that question again.'
