Adagio felt a stab of pain in her chest. She gasped, her hands trembling Bitter liquid swarmed up her throat. A violent cough produced a spray of crimson as the horrible, acerbic taste filled her mouth. Adagio pressed her hand tighter against her chest, her body shaking.
What's happening to me? she wondered.
But Adagio knew what was happening. She'd seen glimpses of it while flipping through television channels. She'd seen photographs of it in the newspapers. She'd once, very briefly, seen it happen in real life. A small, nerdy boy, cornered by a group of bullies. A classic scene that Adagio had found hilarious. Adagio had laughed gleefully as she observed the innocent boy's beating, amused by his pathetic whimpers. Crimson liquid had erupted from the boy's nose as he was struck squarely in the face by one of the larger bullies. Aria had laughed as well, entertained by humans and their various weaknesses.
The knife was in Aria's hand. She was neither smirking nor frowning, even as blood dripped from the blade. Her expression was indifferent. Blood was such a disgusting thing, she had always thought. A filthy human fluid. But Aria had never been disturbed by it. She adored the color. A nice, solid, comforting red. A nice, solid, comforting red flowing out of Adagio's body and dripping onto the kitchen floor.
Adagio was clutching the remaining shards of her pendant in one hand. She stared at it, as if hoping to see a reflection of Equestria in it. An escape, a miniscule portal to a third life. But all she could see was her own face. Slowly, she lifted her eyes from the shattered pendant and looked at Aria.
“So that's what happens,” Aria mused aloud tonelessly. “I thought your magic would fight it a little. But you just accepted it immediately, didn't you? You let go the instant that pretty little necklace was broken.”
Aria turned around to face the sink. She turned on the water, her hand steady as she grasped the handle. She held the knife under the cold water, smiling as she moved the blade across the stream. Kitchen supplies, even if they were seldom used, was easy to come by when one could charm money out of unsuspecting classmates. As were penthouse apartments, cars, and various other “necessities” Adagio had insisted upon in the human world.
Adagio clutched the edge of the kitchen table, attempting to keep herself on her feet. Her vision swam, although she tried to focus on Aria's back. She was startled by how weak she felt and disappointed by how easily her body had given in. Adagio glanced at the remains of her pendant again, as if willing them to come to life and grant her their strength. But she received nothing, not even a reassuring pulse of lingering magic. Adagio groaned, her arm shaking. She was remembering what normally happened to humans when they bled this much.
“Ar-Aria…,” she choked out.
Aria finished washing off the knife. But rather than placing it aside, she held it as if preparing to use it again.
Adagio's eyes went to the open silverware drawer. A collection of forks, knives, spoons, and receipts were gathered messily inside. She reached out the hand holding the shards, as if willing one of them to come toward her. But of course, she did not have her magic. Her hand fell limply to her side, her fist wrapped around the shards. She felt the glass bite into her skin, but she did not care. As the blood trickled between her fingers, she stared at Aria, her eyes filled with regret.
Aria cocked an eyebrow, her mouth twisting into an amused grin.
“You think I'm doing this because I hate you?” Aria uttered, laughing. “No. If I hated you, I would have taken that gun you keep under your mattress and shot you seven times.”
Seeing Adagio's eyes widen in surprise, Aria laughed again.
“What, did you think I didn't know about the gun?” Aria demanded. “Get real! I've known about your little back-up plan for months. You've been saving up since the beginning, haven't you? Keeping all that extra money for yourself just in case we didn't succeed!”
Aria strode closer to Adagio, staring at her with a mixture of disgust and sadness. A part of her had predicted it would end this way, although not in this exact fashion. But inside of her mind, during those many moments of doubt, she'd seen herself standing over Adagio's body, watching with satisfaction as the magic trickled out of her.
“The fake suicide note was a nice touch,” Aria continued.
Adagio fell to her knees, grasping the edge of the table in vain. She tried to hoist herself up, but her legs collapsed before she could right herself. She clutched the broken pieces of the pendant even tighter, ignoring the added pain. Adagio realized sadly that the shards were all she had left. The final piece of hope was clutched in her hand, completely drained and unresponsive.
Aria slid her hand under Adagio's chin, tilting her head upward to meet her eyes. She was wearing the same sultry look she had once employed to entice alongside her deadly song. But there was cold irony behind that sensual expression, as if she was using it to mock Adagio's ideals.
“You're pretty, even by human standards,” Aria observed quietly. “I bet you could have had anything you wanted, magic or no magic. But you never thought of that, did you? No, it's beneath the mighty Adagio to use her body or her brains to get what she wants. You'd rather fake your own death and leave the two of us to suffer without a leader.”
Aria released Adagio's face from her grip, her expression turning from sensual to utterly repulsed.
“It's not like the idea didn't cross all of our minds at one point,” Aria went on. “But you wouldn't hear of it, would you? You wouldn't hear of anything we had to say. It had to be like this. We couldn't start a new life.”
Adagio groped the table, feeling in vain for any sort of sharp implement. But the table remained bare, save for a bowl of decorative fruit beyond her reach.
“There you go again!” Aria snapped. “You want to kill me, don't you? If you die, you want me and Sonata to die with you! You don't get it, do you? That's why you let go so easily. Because you're too stupid to know exactly what you've done to yourself. To us.”
Aria seized Adagio's face in both of her hands, pulling her close. Her eyes were somewhat wild and her breathing was heavy.
“We're humans now,” Aria whispered, her voice tinged with satisfied malice. “We aren't bound by the laws of immortality and magic. I followed you because I was one of only three. But that's not true anymore, is it? We're now three of millions. And I don't have to follow you anymore.”
Adagio's arm slid off the table, falling to her side as if it had fainted. The hand clutching the shards slowly opened, releasing the remains of her pendant from her grip. She could feel the life draining from her. It was the same feeling she had experienced when their pendants were first broken. Except this had a far more distinct finality to it. Adagio stared into Aria's eyes, her senses gradually fading. The last thing she saw was Aria's face, filled with hatred and misery.
Aria departed the kitchen, leaving Adagio's body in its growing pool of blood. She was mildly worried about what would happen to Sonata when she came back and saw the mess, but this was less than a secondary concern. All she cared about for the moment was leaving. Not wasting any time, Aria entered Adagio's bedroom. She retrieved the money from the safe. At a quick estimate, the amount was somewhere around forty thousand dollars. Less than Aria would have hoped, but she didn't care.
Taking the money, the gun, and a few essential articles of clothing, Aria left the apartment for the last time. She did not know where she was headed, what she was going to do, or if she would even get there. But, for all of Adagio's egoism, she had accepted her defeat far too easily. She hadn't realized what she had truly lost by letting go with such ease.
As she waited for the bus, Aria reached into her pocket and removed a few small shards. They appeared lifeless at first glance, but after a moment they pulsed lightly. It was a subtle pulse, only perceivable if one was expecting it. But Aria could feel the magic emanating from those shards. Only a tiny amount, small enough to remain hidden but large enough for Aria to feel it.
Bad luck, Adagio, she thought. Guess you just didn't have what it takes.
Smirking, Aria tucked the shards back into her pocket. Grabbing her suitcase, she walked forward and stepped into the crowded bus.
