Dreaming of Power's Destruction Chapter 2
A bit of a connecting chapter.
Chapter 2
The siren kissed the dead man’s lips farewell and sent him over the cliff to her mother. The ocean had many children and they all grew hungry after all. She stood up and stretched, her fingers barely scrapping the limestone ceiling of the cave that served as her terrestrial home. She carefully stepped around the trinkets humans gave her after a concert, shiny baubles that she threaded into her hair or gave to Hiacynthia (the sphinx always loved receiving shiny gifts), and the soft blankets she used as a bed.
Bored now that the sailor was dead, the siren went to the edge of her little cavern and jumped. The pure water of the ocean cleansed the sex from her, removing bodily fluids and the man’s come as it refreshed her scaly skin. Here was a lover who surrounded her body, filling her with itself constantly, unable to die while fulfilling her desires. Every man who swam to her died after they made love to her a certain amount of times, some lasting longer than others but not by much. She comforted herself with the fact that even if they died, her one true love was here for her.
She swam for a long time, visiting sea creatures that were under her protection. The clams showed her their pearls; the dolphins challenged her to races and chattered about fish and games they’ve developed (most of the games revolved around fish in one way or another but the siren was too polite to tell them that); benthic creatures showed off their camouflaged bodies; whales spoke of other times, places they’ve visited during their long lives, and the recent movement of fish; she held onto a couple of sea turtles as they rode the current, laughing happily every time a hatchling did a stunt.
Then, she visited the merpeople, a population who considered her to be a savior. Had the Seven not sealed away the unmagic, they would have died slowly, unable to sustain themselves below their current energy level. Even if a few individuals survived the low magic levels, humanity would have driven them out of their homes as the population increased without any predators to trim it down. She told tales in a powerful voice, reaching out with her magic and snaring their imaginations like she did with humans. In thanks, the elder (her great-great uncle on her mother’s side of the family) gave her a necklace made of rounded, shiny gems. She immediately put it on, impulsively giving the old merman a kiss on the check before swimming away.
By the time she returned to the surface, it was nearly midday and she was near the demon’s territory. Humming to herself, she was about to go home when she felt pollution flowing into the ocean from one of the great rivers in the demon's territory. Indignant, she went to see Krasnar, disappointed that he would allow such a thing to happen.
“Krasna~ar!” She stormed into the city, her body still slick with water. Oblivious to the stares she was getting from the humans, the siren headed for the demon’s apartment complex.
One man stepped in front of her and tried to grab the beautiful, naked woman she appeared to be. He seemed surprised to feel scales under his fingertips instead of soft woman flesh. He backed away quickly, screaming monster and other such insults. The stench of fear permeated the air around him so much that the siren felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.
The humans surrounded here, some seeing her true self: a blue-green creature with white-blue eyes and long, silver hair, miniature scales covering her entire body; others saw her as a human woman of various races, but with the same eye and hair colour. A fight broke out, some men trying to pummel the other suitors, their sexual desire enhanced by her glamour; other men and women trying to prevent them from touching the strange creature in their midst.
“Stop!” The siren’s voice rang through the square like the clear tone of a bell, freezing the humans in place. “Forget about this and move out of my way.”
As the path cleared, the siren sang:
“You shan’t see me
You shan’t hear me
Look to the left,
Look to the right,
I shan’t be in sight.”
The humans resumed their activities after milling about in confusion, subconsciously leaving a good distance between them and the siren without noticing her. It seemed to take centuries for her to reach the apartment complex, but the demon was in the lobby when she did. Tears flowing down her cheeks, the siren tackled the demon, sending them both to the floor. The demon’s sexless body was not softer than the linoleum floor but it was warm and the siren was unhappy. Sniffling, she sat up and straddled her cushion’s midsection. “Your people are mean Krashy!”
“I told you not to call me that, Coral.” The demon’s scowl would have frightened a mortal to death.
The siren continued without seeming to notice his objection. "They called me names and were about to throw something at me because one guy touched me and freaked out and it wasn’t my fault because I was using glamour like Mrr always tells me to but they make me feel ugly and unloved and I’m not ugly, am I?” She asked tearfully.
It took the demon a moment to process this spew of words and the siren hit his chest before he could speak. “You think I’m ugly too! That’s why you never visit and you let the river get all icky! I’m gonna go talk to Hyassy and she’ll make me feel better because she’s good and you’re a meany even if her people are all dry and yours aren’t!”
The demon’s hands latched onto the siren’s hips, keeping her in place. He hated listening to her childish concerns but he did not want her to alert Mrr as to the sphynx’ disappearance… It had only been a few days since he had captured her and her will was still strong. If the siren was to mention that Hyacinthia was not in her palace, the dragon might get curious and try to locate her through the claw on her chocker… and when she did not answer, well the dragon never did trust the demon. He was always looking for an excuse to trap Krasnar in the bowels of the Earth, and despite the fact that the dragon was approaching the end of his long life, he could still overpower the demon. It was enough to make Krasnar ill.
So he lifted the siren and set her down beside him, always keeping a hold of her just in case she decided to run away. He let the stunned female into the basement and another sitting room a few doors down from where he was keeping the sphinx, calling for Camelia as he walked. He did not miss the guilt in her eyes as she came out of the sphinx’ cage or the worry when she saw his companion ‘It’s not like I’m going to kill her today. She caught me completely off-guard so I wouldn’t be able to keep her anyway. Besides, I don’t think she visited Mrr yet and I know that she visits Him every day. Not like Hyacinthia. The overgrown cat goes off on her own too often for Mrr to bother checking in on her every day.’
Having never seen Camelia’s true from before, the siren stopped to stare for a moment. The shape-shifter was dark-skinned with little whorls of coloured pigments where the light hit. A perfectly symmetrical face was framed by forest green hair, shadowing the shape-shifter's coal black eyes as she looked at the siren curiously. She was also wearing a dress the colour of thick ice. Ignoring the fact that they hadn’t been properly introduced yet, the siren bounced away from the demon to hug the woman. “You look sad.” The shape-shifter stiffened as the scaly, damp creature almost jumped into her arms with a delighted smile. “I bet Icy would love your dress!” She practically bubbled, touching the silken fabric curiously. “She would probably even go and visit Hyassy to show it off and she hates passing through Mrr’s mountain since he really hurt her feelings but that’s really an awesome dress. I don’t usually wear clothes because She loves my skin and they usually get all ucky when I go swimming so there really is no point, is there?”
The shape-shifter just nodded, dazed.
“Camelia,” the demon spoke above the siren’s chatter, catching his bewildered subordinate’s attention easily, “give her some clothes and food. I have other things to attend to.”
“Oo~oh, food! I love food! I gues you aren’t such a meany Krashy!” She bounced away from Camelia nad gave Krasnar a girlish kiss on the lips before he could hit her. Ignoring Camelia’s shell-shocked look, she tugged the shape-shifter through the room’s doorway.
When the siren was safely out of sight, Krasnar wiped his mouth with a grimace. The bubblehead had actually given him an idea on how to break the sphinx’ silence, something useful about her impulsive visit. For that, he would make the siren the last one to die.
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“You don’t talk a lot do you?” The siren noted as she finished her snack.
“I observe people.” The shape-shifter answered calmly. She had finally gotten used to the siren’s habit of talking without pausing for breath but hadn’t quite figured out how that was possible yet.
“I don’t think I could ever do that Cammy.” The siren rested her head on Camelia’s shoulder, her hair spilling onto the other, moist with the water that permeated the siren’s skin. The creature didn’t seem to notice the growing wet spot on the shape-shifter’s dress. “Icy told me I’m an… ‘Extreme extrovert with no sense of propriety who has the heart of a child.’” There was a difference in her voice; her bubbly rush of words slowed and became colder, as if a semi-permeable dam had been erected within a cheerful spring.
Before Camelia could decide what to say to that, the siren gave her a peck on the cheek and was about to slip out of the room. “Bye bye Cammy!”
A moment after the siren disappeared, Krasnar appeared in the doorway, leaning against the wooden frame regally. “So how was your time with the second most-powerful of the Seven?”
“She’s more powerful than you?” Camelia blurted, shocked.
“Don’t make me repeat myself Camelia.” The demon warned. If it had been any other, he would have them rolling on the floor in agony, torn between lust in their lower body and the agony of having every nervy on fire; but he needed to use Camelia’s power, something that would require her sanity to be effective. Still, he was pleased to see her take a cautious step back. “And I will overpower the idiot when the time’s right. Since she gave me the key to breaking Hyacinthia, I’ll let her be free for another day.”
“What key?”
“You, my pet, will imitate the one the overgrown cat loves.”
The shifter felt her heart, renewed by the siren’s innocence, ice-over once again as the demon started to talk. She would have to do as he ordered to spare Tifa from a worse fate.
Prologue *** Chapter 1 *** Chapter 2 *** Chapter 3 *** Chapter 4 *** Chapter 5 *** Chapter 6
Chapter 2
The siren kissed the dead man’s lips farewell and sent him over the cliff to her mother. The ocean had many children and they all grew hungry after all. She stood up and stretched, her fingers barely scrapping the limestone ceiling of the cave that served as her terrestrial home. She carefully stepped around the trinkets humans gave her after a concert, shiny baubles that she threaded into her hair or gave to Hiacynthia (the sphinx always loved receiving shiny gifts), and the soft blankets she used as a bed.
Bored now that the sailor was dead, the siren went to the edge of her little cavern and jumped. The pure water of the ocean cleansed the sex from her, removing bodily fluids and the man’s come as it refreshed her scaly skin. Here was a lover who surrounded her body, filling her with itself constantly, unable to die while fulfilling her desires. Every man who swam to her died after they made love to her a certain amount of times, some lasting longer than others but not by much. She comforted herself with the fact that even if they died, her one true love was here for her.
She swam for a long time, visiting sea creatures that were under her protection. The clams showed her their pearls; the dolphins challenged her to races and chattered about fish and games they’ve developed (most of the games revolved around fish in one way or another but the siren was too polite to tell them that); benthic creatures showed off their camouflaged bodies; whales spoke of other times, places they’ve visited during their long lives, and the recent movement of fish; she held onto a couple of sea turtles as they rode the current, laughing happily every time a hatchling did a stunt.
Then, she visited the merpeople, a population who considered her to be a savior. Had the Seven not sealed away the unmagic, they would have died slowly, unable to sustain themselves below their current energy level. Even if a few individuals survived the low magic levels, humanity would have driven them out of their homes as the population increased without any predators to trim it down. She told tales in a powerful voice, reaching out with her magic and snaring their imaginations like she did with humans. In thanks, the elder (her great-great uncle on her mother’s side of the family) gave her a necklace made of rounded, shiny gems. She immediately put it on, impulsively giving the old merman a kiss on the check before swimming away.
By the time she returned to the surface, it was nearly midday and she was near the demon’s territory. Humming to herself, she was about to go home when she felt pollution flowing into the ocean from one of the great rivers in the demon's territory. Indignant, she went to see Krasnar, disappointed that he would allow such a thing to happen.
“Krasna~ar!” She stormed into the city, her body still slick with water. Oblivious to the stares she was getting from the humans, the siren headed for the demon’s apartment complex.
One man stepped in front of her and tried to grab the beautiful, naked woman she appeared to be. He seemed surprised to feel scales under his fingertips instead of soft woman flesh. He backed away quickly, screaming monster and other such insults. The stench of fear permeated the air around him so much that the siren felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.
The humans surrounded here, some seeing her true self: a blue-green creature with white-blue eyes and long, silver hair, miniature scales covering her entire body; others saw her as a human woman of various races, but with the same eye and hair colour. A fight broke out, some men trying to pummel the other suitors, their sexual desire enhanced by her glamour; other men and women trying to prevent them from touching the strange creature in their midst.
“Stop!” The siren’s voice rang through the square like the clear tone of a bell, freezing the humans in place. “Forget about this and move out of my way.”
As the path cleared, the siren sang:
“You shan’t see me
You shan’t hear me
Look to the left,
Look to the right,
I shan’t be in sight.”
The humans resumed their activities after milling about in confusion, subconsciously leaving a good distance between them and the siren without noticing her. It seemed to take centuries for her to reach the apartment complex, but the demon was in the lobby when she did. Tears flowing down her cheeks, the siren tackled the demon, sending them both to the floor. The demon’s sexless body was not softer than the linoleum floor but it was warm and the siren was unhappy. Sniffling, she sat up and straddled her cushion’s midsection. “Your people are mean Krashy!”
“I told you not to call me that, Coral.” The demon’s scowl would have frightened a mortal to death.
The siren continued without seeming to notice his objection. "They called me names and were about to throw something at me because one guy touched me and freaked out and it wasn’t my fault because I was using glamour like Mrr always tells me to but they make me feel ugly and unloved and I’m not ugly, am I?” She asked tearfully.
It took the demon a moment to process this spew of words and the siren hit his chest before he could speak. “You think I’m ugly too! That’s why you never visit and you let the river get all icky! I’m gonna go talk to Hyassy and she’ll make me feel better because she’s good and you’re a meany even if her people are all dry and yours aren’t!”
The demon’s hands latched onto the siren’s hips, keeping her in place. He hated listening to her childish concerns but he did not want her to alert Mrr as to the sphynx’ disappearance… It had only been a few days since he had captured her and her will was still strong. If the siren was to mention that Hyacinthia was not in her palace, the dragon might get curious and try to locate her through the claw on her chocker… and when she did not answer, well the dragon never did trust the demon. He was always looking for an excuse to trap Krasnar in the bowels of the Earth, and despite the fact that the dragon was approaching the end of his long life, he could still overpower the demon. It was enough to make Krasnar ill.
So he lifted the siren and set her down beside him, always keeping a hold of her just in case she decided to run away. He let the stunned female into the basement and another sitting room a few doors down from where he was keeping the sphinx, calling for Camelia as he walked. He did not miss the guilt in her eyes as she came out of the sphinx’ cage or the worry when she saw his companion ‘It’s not like I’m going to kill her today. She caught me completely off-guard so I wouldn’t be able to keep her anyway. Besides, I don’t think she visited Mrr yet and I know that she visits Him every day. Not like Hyacinthia. The overgrown cat goes off on her own too often for Mrr to bother checking in on her every day.’
Having never seen Camelia’s true from before, the siren stopped to stare for a moment. The shape-shifter was dark-skinned with little whorls of coloured pigments where the light hit. A perfectly symmetrical face was framed by forest green hair, shadowing the shape-shifter's coal black eyes as she looked at the siren curiously. She was also wearing a dress the colour of thick ice. Ignoring the fact that they hadn’t been properly introduced yet, the siren bounced away from the demon to hug the woman. “You look sad.” The shape-shifter stiffened as the scaly, damp creature almost jumped into her arms with a delighted smile. “I bet Icy would love your dress!” She practically bubbled, touching the silken fabric curiously. “She would probably even go and visit Hyassy to show it off and she hates passing through Mrr’s mountain since he really hurt her feelings but that’s really an awesome dress. I don’t usually wear clothes because She loves my skin and they usually get all ucky when I go swimming so there really is no point, is there?”
The shape-shifter just nodded, dazed.
“Camelia,” the demon spoke above the siren’s chatter, catching his bewildered subordinate’s attention easily, “give her some clothes and food. I have other things to attend to.”
“Oo~oh, food! I love food! I gues you aren’t such a meany Krashy!” She bounced away from Camelia nad gave Krasnar a girlish kiss on the lips before he could hit her. Ignoring Camelia’s shell-shocked look, she tugged the shape-shifter through the room’s doorway.
When the siren was safely out of sight, Krasnar wiped his mouth with a grimace. The bubblehead had actually given him an idea on how to break the sphinx’ silence, something useful about her impulsive visit. For that, he would make the siren the last one to die.
~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&
“You don’t talk a lot do you?” The siren noted as she finished her snack.
“I observe people.” The shape-shifter answered calmly. She had finally gotten used to the siren’s habit of talking without pausing for breath but hadn’t quite figured out how that was possible yet.
“I don’t think I could ever do that Cammy.” The siren rested her head on Camelia’s shoulder, her hair spilling onto the other, moist with the water that permeated the siren’s skin. The creature didn’t seem to notice the growing wet spot on the shape-shifter’s dress. “Icy told me I’m an… ‘Extreme extrovert with no sense of propriety who has the heart of a child.’” There was a difference in her voice; her bubbly rush of words slowed and became colder, as if a semi-permeable dam had been erected within a cheerful spring.
Before Camelia could decide what to say to that, the siren gave her a peck on the cheek and was about to slip out of the room. “Bye bye Cammy!”
A moment after the siren disappeared, Krasnar appeared in the doorway, leaning against the wooden frame regally. “So how was your time with the second most-powerful of the Seven?”
“She’s more powerful than you?” Camelia blurted, shocked.
“Don’t make me repeat myself Camelia.” The demon warned. If it had been any other, he would have them rolling on the floor in agony, torn between lust in their lower body and the agony of having every nervy on fire; but he needed to use Camelia’s power, something that would require her sanity to be effective. Still, he was pleased to see her take a cautious step back. “And I will overpower the idiot when the time’s right. Since she gave me the key to breaking Hyacinthia, I’ll let her be free for another day.”
“What key?”
“You, my pet, will imitate the one the overgrown cat loves.”
The shifter felt her heart, renewed by the siren’s innocence, ice-over once again as the demon started to talk. She would have to do as he ordered to spare Tifa from a worse fate.
Prologue *** Chapter 1 *** Chapter 2 *** Chapter 3 *** Chapter 4 *** Chapter 5 *** Chapter 6