Phoebe's First

Sagus scoffed and lowered his chin, letting his hood conceal a mirthless smirk that he would rather not show the girls. "I stop myself from doing the right thing by sending you to your grave and all you've got is crocodile tears? I already feel guilty enough knowing how many people you'll end up ripping to shreds. Piling an insult to my intelligence on top of it isn't necessary."

Phoebe lowered her chin as well, but for a different reason. The same reason a dog looks remorseful when its owner notices a stain on the floor. The siren raised her eyes, however, as the woman in blue did the same with her voice, though the eyes rose higher. "That's enough! I can't believe the same Sagus I know could be this cruel to a woman while she's showing him such vulnerability! You don't know anything about her, other than what she is, and that she has a perfectly good reason for disguising herself. Two of them!" Marianne sighed and relaxed a little bit. "I can tell you have an unpleasant past with sirens, and if you need someone to talk to about it, I hope you know you can talk to me. But while we're here, can you please be civil?"

Sagus started to voice just how 'unpleasant' his experiences had been, but Phoebe interrupted. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, miss. Believe me. But, his animosity is understandable. Almost all sirens are just as bad as he thinks they are, and some are much worse. They use loneliness to lure innocent sailors into their trap, keep them entranced so they can't defend themselves and eat them over the course of days." Sagus clenched his fists and teeth, but kept them hidden under the table and his lips. "Sometimes, they even **** the sailors to tell them where and when they can find new ships and new prey. before forcing them to mate..." She suddenly found herself unable to meet anyone's eyes.

"You're not very good at keeping sympathy, are you," Sophie asked. "You're not exactly coming off as someone worth covering for."

"You keep saying 'they'," Rebecca noted, believing she knew where their waitress was going with this. "Not 'we'. Are you saying you don't do any of those things?"

"Yes," Phoebe nodded. "Or, we don't. Just like how some humans believe that animals deserve to be treated kindly, there are a handful of sirens who have sworn off preying on people. And a few of them who have chosen to use their musical gifts to protect humans. My sisters and I were one of those choirs."

"Why," Rebecca asked. "And how?"

"The how is simple," Phoebe answered. "Imagine the most beautiful, perfect note you've ever heard. Now, think of it being accompanied by an out of tune violin with poorly-made strings. The same idea applies to the magic in a siren's song, as well. Even a virtuoso's music will sound bad if someone else is playing something offensive to the ear over him, and a spell will always lose effectiveness against another spell intended to stop it. When bad sirens would start to sing, we would do it, too, in what we call an 'anti-harmony'. We couldn't always overpower the other sirens, but our song could distort their magic enough to let the sailors pass by without succumbing." As she spoke, Phoebe's shame at what her kind was capable of shifted into confidence that what she and her sisters had done was worth doing. That it wasn't simply a decision they had made out of pity, but a virtuous calling that they had answered. "Why we did it isn't as easy to say. The three..." Phoebe was cut off by the owner's voice coming from the backroom.

"Songbird," he called. "Rolls are almost ready!" Phoebe assured the travelers she would continue when she returned and left to retrieve their bread.

"Well," Rebecca asked Sagus as she crossed her arms and leaned back. "Can she expect an apology when she comes back, or will you just keep on hating her to save face?"

"Is she telling the truth," asked Marianne. She wanted to believe that not every non-human creature would be a problem, but in situations like this in which the difference between lie and truth was the difference between life and ****, she deferred to Sagus. Both his enchanted blindfold and his instincts.

"I wish my ears had been given a reason-mage's blessing, too," he said. "I don't know for sure if she really is some guardian of humanity just from her words." He paused, preparing to say something he would rather not. "...but there have been rumors about sailors hearing beautiful women's voices, followed by what sounded like the dying howl of a coyote. Or, that's how they described it. That they lived to say anything about it does suggest that something is going against the sea-temptresses. But as I said, I don't know that this siren is that something. She could just be using your optimism and some knowledge she thinks I have to get us to go away or lower our guard around her."

"So, she's either a villain that you'll need to kill or she's as much of a hero as any of us are and we should show her some kindness," Sophie said with a little smirk. "Jeez, even when we survive a battle and make a profit, luck has to throw a quandary at us. It just never lets up, does it?"

While Sagus considered what to do about her, Phoebe returned with a large basket, overflowing with hot rolls. The rounded tops shined thanks to a post-bake buttering, while droplets of creamy white cheese leaked enticingly out of the the sides. The moment the basket touched the table, Marianne's hand flung itself out like a striking snake, grabbing a roll and bringing it to her mouth. As she bit into it, a delicious, medium-sharp flavor that she hadn't experienced in so very long caused her expression to light up. She barely even noticed her tongue coming out to capture a stray drop of it from her lip. Luckily, she also didn't notice the amused smile on Sagus and Sophie's faces, since she had closed her eyes. With a soft, joyful mumble of "mmm, medium pacifique...," she unofficially excused herself from adding much to the conversation.

"That owner guy is just giving away Pacifique Havre cheese," Rebecca asked. "Isn't that stuff a little too expensive just to quiet some gossip?"

"I would say it's much too expensive," Phoebe corrected her. Marianne held onto her roll a little more firmly, in case the waitress tried to take them back, bringing it in close to her face to lick some cheese about to drip out of it. "It would seem mister Barrel was charmed by how eagerly your friend accepted these rolls and decided to give you all something better than the Morens cheese he usually puts in them. He has a soft spot for those who really enjoy food, like he does. Though, I must admit, I'm surprised a wanderer would know what Pacifique Havre cheese tastes like."

"Yes, it's a puzzle," Sagus said, hoping to rush her through her curiosity. "I think you were about to try to convince us why you're one of the good ones."

"Thaguth," Marianne tried to admonish with a renewed mouthful.

"It's alright," the siren assured her. "The three of us, Alessa, Philana and myself, are...(sigh) When a siren mates with a human, it's usually just for her pleasure and to torment him. Which gives her more pleasure. But when a siren has violated her choir's rules, if they have any, she's **** to bear a captive's offspring. It shames her, puts her through a miserable pregnancy and she is not expected to survive the birth. My sisters and I are the result of...that. Our mother killed her choir's soprano and ate as many of the sailors she had caught as she could."

"I think I understand," Sophie said, mostly because a second roll prevented Marianne from saying it. "She grew a conscience and wanted to give them a quick, less-painful ****, right?"

"I wish that were what had happened, but no. The one who subdued and sentenced her, the choir's contralto, said that our mother had always been irrational and abnormally aggressive. Apparently, she had wanted to do what she did for a very long time and one day, she simply...did it." She paused as shame over being the spawn of a criminal even by monster standards began to surge within her. "Anyway, as the lone survivor of her choir after our mother's ****, a siren named Melanie became duty-bound to ensure my sisters and I would make up for our mother's crimes when we grew up by singing more beautifully than she ever did and capturing more humans than she had. But...I have never heard our mother sing so I cannot say if we are her betters at it, but we knew we could not try to kill more humans. So, we were left to die on a rock in the middle of the sea and I cannot recall Melanie being sad about it. We tried to teach ourselves to sing for the fish and seagulls that would pass by. To lure them in to be eaten, I mean." She shrugged sheepishly. "We had to eat something and we are still sirens, for the most part. One night, we saw a ship being followed by other sirens. They had most likely been doing so for some distance and wanted to be as sure as possible that they were too far out to sea for others to find and help. They began to sing and we could see the sailors lose control over themselves, shaking and almost falling over nothing. Philana tried to charm a seagull into distracting the other sirens, but she noticed the sound she made steadied the crew. Alessa and I joined in and found that the sailors came to their senses and a mage they had aboard chased the other sirens away with ice spells, allowing them to escape with their lives. The sirens cursed us as 'daughters of Eris' and left, as well.

"Sometimes, I wish that that mage had captured those sirens. sometimes, i wish he had slain them. For five years, the three of us, we 'daughters of Eris', prevented siren attacks where we could. We saw forty-seven ships attacked and saved all but three. Forty-four crews of men had safe voyages because of our song. I would have done nothing else with my life, if I could have. I hope that soon, I can resume. But those damned swimmers...they returned, along with at least seven more choirs. All of them out to exact **** on us for saving that first crew's lives. I never knew I could fight as I did, but with my sisters' lives at stake, I'm pleased to know that I had fight to give. But, that did not prevent an enemy from hitting me from behind. Perhaps if I could hear as well as I fought... When I awoke, I was the only one there. My sisters were gone and all the enemies we had defeated were taken somewhere. I searched the water in all directions for so long, but found nothing. No other sea-dweller would help a rogue siren, but I hoped that if I could find some of those sailors we had helped, they might know something. They may recognize a description or perhaps they've seen someplace where sirens gather or hold prisoners. I know that my chances are poor and my idea foolish. But it is all I can do. So, with the glamour magic that Melanie taught us, I began searching the land for sailors who had seen sirens and lived. But, I ran out of money on my way to Pacifique Havre and took a job at this tavern to earn it. And now, here we all are." She giggled. "I suppose that makes mister Barrel's generous choice of cheese somewhat funny, in a way."

When Phoebe had finished her tale, she exhaled and leaned back in the chair. All other eyes turned to Sagus.

"Is there something you want to say to Phoebe," Rebecca asked, attempting to lead him to an apology.

"Yes," he said, his rage well suppressed but detectable. "You don't need to ask a sailor where sea-witches take prisoners. I doubt they'd know, anyway. But I do. And I'll never forget where it is or what happened there as long as I live."