Drown With Me

You awaken the next morning after the most wonderful rest; for the first time in years, your mind was far away from the day's duties. Instead, your swirling thoughts feature Sonata herself, swimming through your mind as effortlessly as she does in your pool. You're so preoccupied with your own contentedness, you don't even notice the figure watching you open your bar.

"So. Dating."

You look up from cleaning your bar's counter-top to see the judgemental eyes of Aria Blaze. Not even one minute into opening time, and there's already trouble brewing.

"No point in hiding it from you, eh?" you reply. Trying to deny it from someone like Aria would only make things far worse.

"Hiding it? I saw you both smooching from my bedroom window. You looked ravenous."

You pretend not to notice the heat behind your cheeks. "What's it to ya?" you retort, trying to give her a taste of her own grumpiness.

"Quite a lot, if Sonata's to be believed," Aria smirks, leaning against the bar's counter. Your eyes scan the area; neither Sonata nor Adagio seem to be here. Too early in the day for them. "She barged into my apartment just after she arrived, demanding to see my notes on charm magic."

You freeze on the spot. Not very tactful of her. Then again, she was drinking that night, as were you. You think back to the date; the agreement to keep your charmed condition between yourselves. Did she really just go home and blab to the first person who'd listen!?

Aria leans forward cockily; "You know what that means, right?"

No. You have to trust Sonata. You want to trust her. She wouldn't sell you out like that.

Would she?

"What?" you try to sound nonchalant. It came out a bit hoarse.

"Obviously," Aria scoffs, "she's trying to charm you. You must've been such a good date she's trying to keep you permanently."

Wait, if that's what Aria thinks is happening, then... Sonata kept your secret! She didn't sell you out after all!

"Oh," you say dumbly, trying to hide a smile. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you because it means she actually likes you! For real. The charm ain't gonna work, of course. We can't really do that sorta thing anymore, despite what Adagio thinks. I go along with it just in case something happens, but let's be real here; we're not magic anymore."

For a split second, you thought about telling Aria the truth regarding Sonata, and how she actually succeeded in charming you. Then you immediately think better of it, because you aren't an absolute moron.

Aria continues unabated; "The important thing is that you oughta treat Sonata right, seeing as you're one of the few people who she likes these days. She'll always be the little sister of the group."

"Even though your IDs all say you're around thirty?" you quip back.

"Do you really believe our IDs?" Aria crosses her arms. "Do you think we're that old?"

"No, of course not," you retort. "I actually think you're older."

Aria's eyes widen by the smallest amount. "She told you, didn't she?"

"Not directly," you shrug. "But I pieced it together. She told me you were all Sirens, and they've been around for a long time. You must be several thousand years old, right?"

Aria responds with a scowl. "Several thousand my ass. We've only been in this world for just over one thousand."

"As for the IDs that say you're thirty..."

"They're legit. Or at least official." Aria nods. "Every ten to fifteen years, we drop in on our state-issued licence providers. We tell them there's a misprinted number on our date-of-birth, and that we're actually eighteen. They believe us, since we look the part, and they update the year. Rinse and repeat."

"And they never catch on?"

"It's usually someone different working there each time we pull that trick. Either that or it's been too long for them to remember us."

"Mystery solved," you chuckle, perhaps as a means to cope with the fact your ex-monster girlfriend is older than the invention of windmills, handguns and mechanical clocks. "And now that I know for sure you're old enough to drink... what'll it be?"

"It's still morning, so I want something light," Aria smiles. "Tequila Sunrise, please."

*******

The rest of the day went by quietly. Aria left within the hour. After that, it was just the usual customers... except for the Dazzlings. No Sonata practising apnea in the pool. No Adagio strutting about like she owns the place. Nothing.

Midday drags its heels through the afternoon, then the evening, then finally closing time. Not a Siren in sight. This whole time, your insides sink deeper and deeper into unease. It's not like them to just disappear like that. On the bright side, it gives you the chance to come to terms with Sonata's age; she's still more or less a young adult, despite being over a millennia old. It's just a matter of perception.

You finally make it back to your home. Today's just been one uneasy mess, but at least now you can finally relax.

"HEY DUDE IT'S ME OPEN UP!"

Sonata's face squishes against your bedroom window, scaring the crap out of you. Even though it's dark outside, you can clearly make out the bags under her eyes.

It would make a lot more sense for you to get up and let her in through the front door, but instead, you open the window and let her tumble through; she never specified what to open, after all. As a result, you're treated to the sight of her falling face-down-ass-up onto your bedroom floor. After you watch her flop about for a moment, Sonata brings herself to her feet and produces her phone from her pocket; "Ta daaaah!"

Once she notices your blank look, she opens the photo-viewer on the phone, scrolling through picture after picture of scribbled notebook pages.

"I spent all of today with Aria's notes on charm magic," she explains, "and while I was reading them I thought Gee, there's so many notes, I'll need weeks to get through them all! So instead of just reading them, I decided to take pictures of them instead! That way we can both read the notes without ever having to ask Aria again!"

"You spent the whole day taking pictures of a notebook?"

"Well, yeah. Most of it was deciding what filter to put on each page." Sonata shrugs lazily. "I'm very tired."

Honestly, you don't care if the notes are in Sierra, Sepia-tone or Lo-Fi. "Anything in there about a cure?"

"Not really; why would a Siren ever focus on that? But there is info on how far a charm can go," Sonata swipes through a few chapters, "Maybe if we use this info to stretch the charm to its limits, then maybe we can straight-up break it."

"Sounds insane," you tell her. "Let's get started."

"Cool. Chapter one;" Sonata squints to read the scrawlings on her phone, before remembering its zoom-in function, "The art of charming is a spell that alters the logical centres of the victim's brain, rendering them highly susceptible to suggestions from the caster. Hell, I coulda told ya that!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, duh, that we can just order you not to take orders! I think." Sonata adopts a powerful stance, hand-on-hips, and points to you in a take-that fashion. "I order you not to take any more orders from now on! I order you to be cured of my charm!"

You feel... you feel... absolutely nothing.

"Okay, now to test it out," Sonata says. "Stand on one leg for a sec."

Without thinking or questioning her, you lift a leg.

"No! You weren't supposed to do that!"

"Oh, right," you say. You remain one-legged.

"Why are you still doing that!?"

"You told me to."

"Well you're not supposed to!"

"Can't not, though."

Sonata sighs. "Still charmed, huh? Screw it, put your leg back down." She whips through a few more pictures. "There have to be ways to override charms. If it alters the logical centres of your brain, maybe we can use logical paradoxes to break you out."

"Sonata, what the hell are you even-"

Before you can utter another word, Sonata shoves her face unsettlingly close to yours, and with her tired eyes wide open, she yells;

"WHO SHAVES THE BARBER!?"

"...What?"

"I DARE YOU NOT TO ACCEPT THIS DARE."

"Sonata, I don't think it's working."

"THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE."

"That only works on evil robots, Sonata!"

She finally backs off. "I dunno, it might've worked. Snap your fingers three times if you're still charmed."

You watch helplessly as your hand raises, and your middle finger and thumb press firmly together. Snap. Snap. Snap.

The hopeful light dims from Sonata's eyes. "Damn, I thought that would've worked!"

"Hey, don't worry," you reassure her. "There are way more notes to go through."

She turns back to her phone, eyeing the notes in disgust. "Yeah, but I had really high hopes for that one."

Gently, you place an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay. I appreciate you going through all this. I can tell you're doing everything you can to help. You could've just made me a captive or something, but you didn't."

"If this happened a few years ago, I probably would have," she mumbles bitterly. "Back when we called charmed people like you thralls. Back when we were power-mad."

"That's not you anymore though, is it?"

Sonata shakes her head. "I'll undo this charm one way or another, I promise. But right now, I can't even begin to think of a plan for it. There's like two hundred pages here, and most of them don't even help. Gotta look at this with a clear mind."

"Wanna go for a swim? You've still got dibs on the pool at night."

She genuinely considers it for a moment. "Nah. I'll be tired all tomorrow if I did that. No condition to help. I just wanna rest for now. I gotta rest."

"Want me to walk you home? You look exhausted."

"Nah. I know the way back. Here." She jams her phone into your free hand. "Passcode's 8226. Maybe you'll have better luck reading through the notes than I do." And with that, tries to lift herself through the open window.

Your jaw drops. "You aren't serious."

"What?"

"You're just leaving me with your phone?"

"Yeah?"

"Sonata, I'm not going through your personal stuff while you just waltz off for a whole night. I've got a bed right here, I'll sleep on the couch or something."

She looks at you, then the bed, then back to you. "Heck, you said it, not me," she shrugs. Then she takes her top off.

"Whoa Sonata what the hell are you- oh." You stop freaking out when you realise she's wearing the swimsuit - the same one you see her in almost every day - under her regular clothes.

"What? I'm just getting comfortable. I do this all the time," she grins, pulling her skirt down. Even though she's still technically clothed, you find yourself unable to look away. And she knows it.

"You wear that swimsuit twenty-four seven?"

"I wash it too!" she retorts defensively, plopping herself onto your bed. "More than you wash your bedsheets, at least. It's cool, my bedsheets stink too."

"Gee, thanks. Have a good night, Sonata," you say, opening the bedroom door; the couch awaits.

You were expecting her to reply with something like "Yeah, have a good night too", but when you turned back, she was already sound asleep.

After relaxing in your makeshift bed - made from a spare blanket and the cushions acting as pillows - you discover Sonata's phone in your pocket; must've been from when she gave it to you earlier. 8226, right? Maybe your non-Siren perspective would catch something she'd miss.

You're not even two minutes into reading Aria's notes when something vital stands out in the chapter labelled Giving Orders; Dictation vs Self-Preservation.

The following Law of Charming was discovered by accident in the Autumn of 1987, as Adagio ordered her latest thrall to buy her an espresso from a nearby coffee shop. Said shop was on the other side of a busy road. As observed many times before, the thrall took steps in self-preservation, walking to the nearest set of traffic lights and waiting for the right time to cross safely. This is perfectly normal for those under the effects of a charm, as we leave the so-called "Survival Instinct" part of the brain untouched, meaning our thralls don't accidentally walk into buses or off cliffs when carrying out certain orders.

However, Adagio began to show signs of impatience and, once her thrall was on his way back out of the coffee shop, espresso in hand, she ordered him to "hurry up and screw waiting at the lights". And this is where it gets interesting; the thrall was forced into carrying out a task that directly interfered with his sense of self-preservation. The result was strange to behold; he happily walked out into the busy road, and was halfway across when a truck sped around a nearby corner. Said juggernaut screeched past the thrall, missing him by what I can only assume to be inches at most. At which point he appeared to shudder, and a moment later, drop the coffee and run off.

Even as Adagio shouted orders from afar, the formerly charmed thrall did not obey, choosing of his own free will to escape our grasp. I can only speculate that the near-death experience caused the untouched "survival instinct" part of the brain to override the original order. And once the charmed individual reaches the logical conclusion of being able to disobey orders, any future orders no longer have any effect on them. To put it simply; the charm breaks.

Moral of the story? Don't make your thralls do stupid crap.

By the time you'd finished reading, your veins ran cold. In order for you to get rid of your charm... you had to undergo a near-death experience. Perhaps Sonata had missed this part of Aria's notes; she did look exhausted, after all. First thing tomorrow, you'll speak to her about it. Maybe she can figure something out.

Curling up under the blanket, you lie wide awake, flicking through the rest of the notes. There must be an easier way. Must be.

Amongst all the thoughts that buzz around in your head, one thing stands out; tonight is going to be long and restless.