On a pebble-strewn mountain trail, rarely travelled by the residents of the small mountain hamlet known as Helix Gap, a lone minotaur hiked up the side of a narrow valley, his laboured breaths misting in the chill autumn air.

He had walked for the better part of an hour, tired hooves taking him far from the hustle and bustle of activity that always seemed to go hand in hand with J’adore’s grand airship, Le Tesson. The scene surrounding him now was one of nature. There was not a creature in sight, bar the few kestrels milling around the sky, hunting for small rodents on which to sustain themselves.

The vast mountains were bunched up quite close in this section of the Unicorn Range, and much too treacherous a hike for the average tourist. This suited the minotaur well—there was much less chance of anypony from the ship stumbling across him, and potentially discovering the secret appointment.

His thoughts briefly drifted to her.

She was nothing on the boss mare, of course, but the effortlessly beautiful and hauntingly desirable Fleur de Lis had made it quite clear to everyone that she was not interested in pursuing a relationship. That had been her stance for many years. The sustained abstinence was due to the small detail that she was immortal. This, while noteworthy, would’ve perhaps been of little consequence. It wasn’t until one fateful evening, when the minotaur had his heart plucked from his chest, stolen by the heavenly tones of her voice, that he truly came to realise that which he would never possess.

Fleur de Lis was a siren.

She had not intended to sing, that much had been clear from her expression, but those beautiful eyes had burst into life regardless, their endless depths borne of the distant blue of the afterlife. Her song had twined its relentless hooks into every soul in the room, taking a small part of them with it in its absence.

The minotaur mourned. He mourned the depressing reality that sirens were creatures born of hatred. He mourned further still, that Fleur de Lis had taken that hatred and somehow managed to lock it away, thus eliminating the only downside of an otherwise perfect race.

He, a lowly crewmate of her grand airship, one of seemingly countless employees of her business empire—a minotaur she barely even knew existed—would never know what it was like to be with her. He would never hear the song she might sing just for him. Never feel the beating of her heart against his chest, or the playful nipping of her fangs at his neck. The very thought of those fangs sent a wave of pleasure sweeping down his spine, but it was bittersweet.

No. The only being that was going to get to experience those things, to see the beautiful siren that was Fleur de Lis deep in the throes of passion, frosted gem and lidded eyes glowing, fins flared in carnal ecstasy, was the rook.

The peak finally crested. The minotaur continued downwards, the golden bullring in his septum flapping in the ragged breaths leaving his snout. There was little point in anger. Fleur de Lis was not his destiny, and that was that.

His eyes swept the small mountain top lake for any sign of the ancient beings he had come to meet, heart beating in anticipation. The locale was chosen for its secludedness, of course, being miles away from any kind of civilization. Here, they could be themselves.

The minotaur smiled, coming to a stop at the edge of the lake. He crouched, eyes piercing the crystal clear water. “Where are you, my sweet sea pony?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the glassy surface of the lake erupted, and three dark creatures one and a half times his height in length flew up into the air. Though their departure only slightly disturbed the water, the motion was still enough to send an unkindness of ravens shrieking into the air from a nearby tree, their cries echoing eerily through the valley.

The three sirens slowly levitated down to the minotaur, and a sudden tightness gripped the latter’s heart in an instant. He stood, gazing wistfully up at the object of his affections, the other two momentarily forgotten.

Small fins flared either side of her pretty face, mimicking the much larger variant that ran the length of her back. She had just two forehooves, the top half of her body resembling a pony. The lower half consisted of a long tail covered in black scales, a large spiked fin at the very end.

The beautiful siren slowly shook her head. "Why must you constantly disappoint me?"

The minotaur stood his ground. “Please, my sweet, I tried everything. No matter how hard I struck, the gem would not break. All I could manage was a small crack-"

"What did I tell you, sister?" another of the trio interrupted, her orange scales glistening in the fading light. "He lacks both the magic and the might to persuade Memento Mori to awaken. He is but an ant to a shard. Insignificant."

The minotaur scowled, drawing himself up to his fullest height. "I would have accomplished my task, but the old captain almost caught me-"

“Then you should have killed him!” she hissed, surging forward so quickly he was forced to take several steps back. His hoof hit a rock, and his back hit the ground. The siren loomed over him, forked tongue flicking mere inches from his snout. “Once we deal with that crystal, we won’t need our cover.”

"Now now, let's not get ourselves carried away," the dark-scaled siren interjected. Her sister drew back with another hiss, forked tongue furiously probing the air.

The minotaur’s ragged breaths lessened, though his heart still thumped against his ribcage. He focused on his dark maiden. "Fleur suspects someone is trying to take it, my love. She has assigned Tank the task of appointing guards to the engine room. Would it not be better for me to distract one of them while you… you" He trailed off, but the dark siren was already shaking her head.

“Too many ponies would question why a model was snooping around the engineering level. Fleur more than likely suspects another siren already. If she figures us out, we’re as good as dead."

The minotaur slowly got to his hooves, a sombre expression on his face.

"We need to stick to the plan,” the green-scaled third of the trio rasped, no longer content to watch her sisters bicker. “It has to be you who gets the crystal. Once you have it, bring it to the sea and dash it against the rocks until it is naught but dust,” she all but growled at the minotaur, but her eyes quickly sought out the other two sirens. “Whilst Fleur struggles to remember the language of the Old Kingdom, we take the human. If he really is her consort then we can use him to trigger Dimidium Vitae. After that, we perform the ritual of Ad Originem,” she paused, a wide, fang-laden grin splitting her muzzle, “and Fleur is as good as finished.”

The minotaur did not know what ‘consort’ or the strange Old Kingdom words meant, but the rest of her words gave him pause. "Are you suggesting… we should kill Fleur?"

"Nay, silly little bull,” the dark-scaled siren answered. “Our mother was as old as time itself, one of the true elders of our race, with a magical ember powerful enough to slay entire armies in the span of one glorious afternoon. But, she still fell to Fleur de Lis and Celestia,” she hissed, demonic voice laden with venom. “The only thing powerful enough to destroy Fleur de Lis is the shard she commands, and it would have to see her dead or gone before it would ever obey another.”

The minotaur huffed out a breath that made his nose ring flail. "I don't like this."

A smirk slowly spread across her face. "Do you perhaps hold her dear to your heart, little bull?" she asked, her voice morphing from mockingly sweet to malicious laughter. "She barely knows you exist, Bronco. Don't give her any of your sympathy. She certainly does not deserve it. She is an embarrassment to my race, Celestia’s puppet, living amongst the ponies like she's better than the rest of us."

The minotaur flexed his knuckles, several of the joints popping. "What are you suggesting we do?"

That gave the dark-scaled siren pause, but not for long. "Fleur de Lis the siren cannot be killed, but… she can be broken… and in being made broken, she can be made gone."

The trio of sirens broke out into a bout of maniacal laughter, though it was thankfully short.

"Smash that crystal, little bull," the dark siren purred, "and I’ll make it worth your while."

With that, the three sirens dived back into the depths of the lake, leaving the minotaur to his thoughts.

“Hey, have you seen Fleur?”

One of Fleur’s maid staff—a grey unicorn with her blonde mane tied up in a tight bun—gave a start. Her eyes, previously flicking around the entrance hall looking for anything that may have been out of place, snapped to Luke, and he instantly recognised her as the head maid. “Oh, it’s you. Nevermind-”

“No, Meester Luke—eet is fine. I never got a chance to apologise for our initial meeting, so for zat, I am sorry,” she quickly said, eyeing the heavy oakwood doors, which had still not closed after Luke had walked in. “Allow me to start over, my name is Eva. Mademoiselle Fleur instructed me to send you and the princesses to the communal lounge when you 'ad finished your conversation.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke replied with a wave. The poor mare looked like she was about to have an aneurysm, her eyes constantly flicking to the door. “Celestia and Luna left—you can relax.”

A visible weight appeared to lift from the mare’s shoulders, and she let out a poorly concealed sigh. “Ah, I see. I shall inform madmoiselle-.”

“I’ll handle that. You just tell the other staff they don’t have to stress out over a surprise royal visit.”

Eva smiled, her ears perking up a little. “Thank you, Meester Luke. I shall let zem know right away.” With that, she trotted from the entrance hall.

Luke watched her disappear through one of the doorways, before setting off for the communal lounge. He couldn’t get the image of the blackened moon out of his mind. It had been marred, not by a sizable meteorite impact, as one might assume when looking at the damage, but by a unicorn.

A unicorn that could do that much damage to a planetary body could probably destroy a creature capable of creating and manipulating dimensions for his own amusement. Just where was Discord now? Was he even alive? Fleur had killed before—openly admitted it, even—but some small part of Luke had always assumed that that particular version of Fleur—the deadly siren that killed other sapient beings—had died seventy years ago, and would never make an appearance again.

Discord was a reckless asshole, there was no doubt about that. But did he really deserve to die?

The communal lounge was probably the most underutilised room in the castle. Of the seven suites of this vast fortress, four remained empty. Fleur used one, as did her head of staff, Bow Tie, and she had insisted Luke take another for himself. The remaining four were vacant, so the communal lounge was mostly reserved as the main room for hosting visitors.

The large, golden-trimmed, red velvet panelled doors slowly swung open before Luke had even reached them, revealing a large room filled with expensive furniture and works of art similar to those of the grand lounge of Le Tesson.

No less than three sets of gold-mutin Prench doors lined the adjacent wall, leading out into the enclosed central garden, surrounded on all sides by the other sections of the castle. The seahorse wall fountain—the main centrepiece of the garden gently trickling over an otherwise deathly silence—now made a lot more sense to Luke. It wasn’t a seahorse at all.

It was a siren.

The siren waiting patiently on her haunches in front of the centre set of Prench doors however, thankfully took the appearance of a regular, albeit rather tall, unicorn.

The doors behind Luke swung closed, the soft click almost echoing through the lonely room. It was just an illusion, of course. The walls were lined with drapes, priceless canvas and a multitude of other decorations that effectively halted any potential reverb.

Fleur raised a questioning eyebrow, looking past Luke to the doors.

"They bailed," Luke grinned, settling himself on one of the chaise lounges and grabbing the waiting bottle of Marecallan Six Pillars from a side table. "Took my damn car with them though, so you owe me one," he added, brandishing the glass stopper at her. He poured out two glasses.

"Zey left?"

"I thought it was a bit rude, as well," Luke commented, taking a sip of his drink. Damn, this is some good whiskey. He offered the other glass to Fleur, who captured it with her telekinesis.

"What did zey say to you?"

Luke faltered. He had hoped this particular topic wouldn't have come up so suddenly. Fuck it. There was no use beating around the bush.

"Well, basically, they agreed to turn a blind eye if I agreed to… calm you down, if you ever get mad enough to do something like that again," Luke muttered, a little awkwardly.

"I see."

A period of silence followed. Fleur did not show any tells of what she may have been thinking, which was weird. Luke had become accustomed to getting a good read on her most of the time. He allowed a few more moments for her to say something. Anything. But, she didn’t.

"Is Discord alive?"

Fleur blinked, and after a brief moment, finally spoke again. "Yes. 'Ee is alive, though I will not deny that I initially intended to kill 'im."

The wall fountain trickled away from the garden. Luke thought of the blackened, gargantuan crater on the moon again. "Did you miss?"

Fleur’s lips thinned. "No. 'Ee is just incredibly difficult to kill. Are you upset with me?"

That threw Luke a bit, and he cleared his throat, eyes wandering to the garden. A shining eye of the siren head met his gaze. It had fangs. Luke had never noticed before. His eyes found Fleur’s. "No. You had my back up there. I appreciate it."

Another brief silence, before Fleur let out a sigh, and drained her glass in one shot.

"Luc… Do you remember, back in Helix Gap… Zat word, zat Discord claimed, and I affirmed, you are. Do you know what it means?" she asked, setting the empty glass back down on the side table.

Luke nodded.

Fleur tilted her head, frowning. "You do?"

"Luna came to me in a dream. She said I'd have a choice to make. A choice about… immortality."

Fleur gently hissed through her teeth, and the barest hint of blue flashed from her eyes. "I thought she was taking zis well," she muttered, more to herself than Luke.

Luke was quick to continue. "I was curious, so I went and asked Celestia about it. She told me… She told me that I'm your consort."

Fleur flinched at the word, her ears flattening of their own accord. Luke pretended not to notice.

"Did she elaborate?"

"A bit. I guess if I had to summarise, she said that a consort is a siren's only shot at love," Luke said, somewhat anticlimactically. Tell her, you idiot! He cleared his throat, but Fleur was shaking her head.

"Celestia and Luna are not sirens, all zey gave you was all zey know on the matter—the suicidal ramblings of a filly. If you are to truly make an informed decision, you need to know all of the facts."

"I know enough-"

Fleur held up a forehoof "Luc, let me say my piece on the matter."

"Okay. But… after everything that's happened, do I still have a choice?" It sounded as though this Everlasting Enchantment, whatever it was, had already been triggered.

"Of course you still have a choice, Luc. Do not ever think zat you cannot walk away from me if you should ever want to. I would never dare to hold you against your will. Neither of us would do zat."

"I know you wouldn't,” Luke countered, taking another sip of whiskey. "I was more questioning your suspiciously excellent interdimensional tracking skills, if anything."

"Ah… Oui. L'eternal Enchantmente. I shall fully explain what zis bit of magic entails, of course, but if you are to know absolutely everything, I guess I should start from the very beginning."

Fleur poured herself another glass of whiskey, levitating it along as she paced up to the Prench doors, throwing them wide with her magic. The moon was just visible beyond the castle parapet, its dark mark visible for all of Equestria to see.

"Zey say a siren knows when she has found ‘er consort, and the ‘ost ‘as no idea. I wanted to be the exception to zis rule. I always thought I would recognise you for what you are from the very first moment. Alas, zis was not the case. From the moment I saw you, zat very first time in the main shoot studio, I was certainly intrigued by you, but more perplexed by the strange be'aviour of my darker ‘alf. She pined for you like a little filly. She would not shut up."

Luke frowned. "Really?"

Fleur nodded "The more time we spent togezzer, the more I suspected you meant something to me. I did not want to believe it, for fear of being wrong. I even tried to tell myself otherwise, because I was afraid you may not feel the same…" Fleur’s eyes flicked from the blackened moon back to Luke, "but it makes sense to me now.”

"What does?"

Downing the second glass of whiskey, Fleur deftly climbed up onto the chaise lounge next to Luke, the slight breeze from the open prench doors causing her pink locks to shift a bit.

"A number of years ago, something changed in 'er. I remember the day well, despite it being only one in well over a million zat I have lived. I 'ad been swamped with meetings all morning, and well into the afternoon, one of which saw a fairly large acquisition fall through at the last minute. I 'ad several of my top models quit as a result, and an old friend of mine passed away. I only found out about zat particular detail later, but I digress."

"I wanted nothing more zan for zis day to just end, so I could go 'ome and drown myself in wine. Of course, Photo did not let me. She 'ad only been my manager for five weeks at zat point, but she was the same back zen as she is now, ordering her immortal boss around like a ruthless dictator. It's a tough job she does, so I grit my teeth and comply. When I was finally permitted to leave by our paragon authoritarian, I still had to endure the date I 'ad so foolishly agreed to."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "You went on a date?"

Fleur let out a peculiar laugh. "I may never be able to truly commit to anypony, but I 'ave been on many dates, mon amour, perhaps even more zan any ozzer immortal. If you think ozzerwise zen you truly underestimate the relentless persistence of the average Canterlot noblestallion. Zere are the odd, blessed occasions where I only 'ave to say the word 'non' once before zey get the message, but zose occasions are depressingly rare."

"But… wouldn't blue Fleur still not like that?"

Fleur gave a snort. "I beg your pardon?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "You’re both called Fleur, how else am I supposed to differentiate?"

Fleur shook her head, gorgeous wavy locks shifting again, framing her smile. "Well, I suppose she does swear more zan I do. She is docile enough to tolerate a little bit of casual courting, though as you guessed, anything more zan completely contactless conversation—she would certainly take offence to. Zis, in fact, is perhaps one of the reasons it 'ad been so foolish of me to agree to zis date. Zis particular stallion was known for being a little… grabby, but 'ee 'ad invited me to a different restaurant in Canterlot every day for three months straight. 'Ee had to start looping back around to previously suggested establishments because 'ee 'ad went through zem all! In the end, I just wanted 'im to stop. 'Ee was completely adamant 'ee was going to be seen hanging off my forehoof, a trophy stallionfriend, coming along to shoots, bragging to all of 'is noble friends zat 'ee managed to tie down the 'prettiest, most beautiful, successful and important supermodel gentlemare zat ever lived'—eugh, 'is words, not mine."

Luke grinned. "He sounds like a catch."

"Oh, quite, mon amour. The date was a disaster. I agreed to accompany ‘im to a small, modest restaurant just off Mane Street, but he had the carriage driver take us to Salt Bay on Restaurant Row."

Luke's Jaw dropped. "... Isn't that the place that charges like twelve hundred bits for a salad or something?"

"Fourteen hundred."

"And he was expecting you to pay for all of this? What?"

"No, zat was the thing—'ee paid the bill! 'Ee insisted on paying. I do not like stallions zat like to pay. It is insulting."

"Hey! I like to pay."

"You come from a world where it is the norm zat stallions pay. If anyone has the right to be the exception, zen it is you. Zis stallion though, he 'ad no such right. 'Ee kept ordering more courses, even though I made it clear on several occasions I 'ad 'ad enough. ‘Ee had the owner, Nusret ‘imself, come over to our table to perform zat blasted party trick with the salt—zat brought all of the cameras out. 'Ee kept calling me pet names like 'my sweet princess' and 'darling'. Sirens typically 'ate pet names not spoken by a consort. I am not very fond of zem, either, truth be told, but 'ee was absolutely full of zem. Think Prince Blueblood, but even more obnoxious."

"Ouch," Luke said, taking another sip of whiskey.

"Oh, you don't know the 'alf of it, mon amour. I was wishing for another work emergency after five courses of 'my pretty little flower,' 'my beautiful lily' and 'sugar teats'."

Luke nearly spit his drink everywhere.

"Non, it gets worse, because zat was when ‘ee stuck ‘is hoof between my legs.”

“He fucking what?”

“Oui! But it gets even more peculiar still! It was at zat very moment zat my darker 'alf suddenly 'opped up and started springing with joy like a spring foal in my 'ead. She was overjoyed! Ecstatic! So full of rapture and whimsy zat I thought she might burst out of my chest. I pushed ‘im away, of course, and accosted 'er immediately, thinking she may 'ave been reacting to what ‘ee just did, but she acted like I was not even zere! Normally, she would 'ave been inclined to tear the skull and spine from anypony so stupide enough to do such a thing, but it was like she never even noticed at all."

"What? But… Why? How would she not notice someone doing a Donald?"

"Well," Fleur said, pausing to pour herself another glass of whiskey, and topping up Luke’s glass as well. "Zat 'as more to do with the precise number of years ago zat zis date took place."

"Really? What's the number, then?"

Fleur grinned, slowly raising an eyebrow. "A little over twenty five."

Luke's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. "No…"

Fleur raised her glass. Luke did the same. Clink.

"You saved zat ‘orrible stallion’s life, Luc, as well as my reputation, simply by being born."

A short silence, broken only by the trickle of the siren fountain. "But… I was on Earth. How is that even possible?"

"It does not matter, Luc. L'eternal Enchantmente is not bound by dimensions, or parallel universes, or whatever theory one may hold. In fact, I would even go so far as to say zat you ended up in zis world because… because of me."

Luke's eyes grew wider still. Mostly gone were the days when he dwelled on the why—those thoughts had plagued his mind for the first few months on Equador, but had slowly faded into nothing more than idle curiosity. To suddenly be presented with a plausible explanation, especially after Discord's little stunt, was a little jarring.

"How… How did you know it was me?"

"It did not take me long to figure it out. I knew what you were because myself and I are so close. Zis is a little known fact of my race. Sirens zat embrace zeir inner demons give zemselves the best possible chance of not turning into absolutely despicable creatures. It sounds counter-productive, but it is true. Sirens that truly know zemselves are able to convince zat part of zemselves zat zey need not spread strife, or push chaos upon the world. Zat is how myself and I have managed to integrate ourselves into society. Celestia saw the effort I had made in zis regard, and when she gained power over the newly formed Equestria, she gave me a chance... even after the terrible things I did with Memento Mori."

Luke held his tongue. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to know. Part of him wanted Fleur to just keep it to herself. Not that she was going to...

"You need not ask, Luc. I am tired of zere being secrets between us. You should know what happened, before you make your choice."

Luke took a decent swig of whiskey, the amber liquid burning his throat. "If you're ready to tell me, then I'm ready to hear it."

"In the days of the Old Kingdom, Equador was ruled exclusively by just one race. Zey were despicable beings zat forced creatures of all other races to remain separate. Zis was an effective method of control, for when creatures turn zeir backs on each other, zeir magic fades. Unicorns could cast no spell with zeir horns. Pegasi were completely flightless, and earth ponies lacked the strength and endurance zey are known for. Zis, of course, was a big problem. Without earth ponies working the fields, famine plagued the land. Without pegasi patrolling the skies, the weather was fierce and unpredictable. Without unicorn magic, ponies were left defenceless to these cretins."

"Did you lose your magic?"

"My unicorn magic, oui. My siren magic however, was unaffected."

"What was this 'one race' of creatures?"

Fleur's eyes darkened, and she threw a glance to the blackened moon. "You ‘ave already met one of zem."

"Discord?"

Fleur nodded. "’Ee has every right to ‘ate me, and ‘ee distrusts you because ‘ee fears you may end up doing what I did."

Luke pressed a palm to Fleur's cheek, but she gently pushed it away with a forehoof. She had fire in her eyes. "Listen to me before you comfort me Luc, for I do not deserve you. I 'ad only just been chosen by Memento Mori in the days of the Old Kingdom. I thought I knew what I was doing, but in reality I was like a filly who ‘ad stumbled upon the elements of ‘armony. I wanted to be the hero. I wanted the admiration of the world for single ‘oofedley defeating zese oppressors… I…" Fleur faltered. Her sapphire was glowing, but her eyes were still lilac, and slowly filling with tears.

"Fleur, it's okay-" Luke began, but Fleur shook her head.

"Luc… Discord… Discord is ze last draconequus. I killed his entire race, using a shard I barely knew 'ow to control. ‘Ee only survived because ‘ee is the God of Chaos."

A deathly silence filled the room. Even the water fountain had stopped.

"It… It can do that? G-Genocide?"

"Yes," Fleur sniffed, determinedly avoiding his gaze.

Luke paused, his thoughts running a mile a minute. This thing could wipe out an entire species? "I… I don't want anything to do with that shard."

Fleur’s eyes found Luke again, and there was a noticeable sadness in them. "You don't 'ave a choice, Luc."

"Didn't you say I could walk away if I wanted to?"

"From me? Always. From Memento Mori? Never. Once you ‘ave been chosen by a shard, you shall be its commandant until the day you die."

No. No… this was bullshit. "I'll find a way."

Fleur shook her head, her expression devoid of joy. Her eyes were lilac no more, and all four fangs had emerged. Luke couldn’t stop himself from gazing into the depths of her eyes if he'd wanted to.

"You think we 'ave not tried to rid ourselves of zis burden? Memento Mori binds us, and now you, to its core. Zere is no escaping destiny.”

Luke caved, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. In an instant, the siren retreated, leaving only a broken, sobbing unicorn, gently resting her head on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Fleur.”

"We 'ave tried, many times, to rid ourselves of Memento Mori. She always finds 'er way back to us, and scares the living daylights out of every soul unfortunate enough to see 'er."

"But… she's a ship."

Fleur shook her head once more, pulling back to look Luke in the eyes. "She is only a ship because we shrunk and moulded ‘er into zis form. The unicorn adaptation unit… no such device exists. It is really Memento Mori, a different form, and an order of magnitude smaller zan she should be. It was the only way to ‘ide 'er in plain sight."

“What if we just leave her somewhere-”

“I tried zat many years ago. I fled. Back to Prance. It took ‘er only a few weeks to find me,” Fleur sniffled, tears lining her eyes. She gazed right into Luke’s. “Do you know what happens to the citizens of a small mountain town when a hulking Great Shard appears out of nowhere, so big it blocks out the sun?”

“What happened?”

Fleur’s eyes, whilst lilac, suddenly appeared as though they were staring right through Luke. It almost seemed like they were suddenly gazing upon scenes long lost to the aeons of time. “Chaos. Ponies got ‘urt. Some even died. ‘Eart attacks. Stress. Memento Mori in ‘er true form is not a sight I ever want you to see, Luc. She is not just an inanimate object, she is much more zan zat. She sought to punish me for abandoning ‘er. ‘Ad I been a lesser siren, she would ‘ave destroyed me.”

Luke felt the colour drain from his face. “She attacked you?”

“Not physically, psychologically. Weakness and betrayal are one and the same to a shard, and if a shard senses weakness in its commandant, it will try to take control through manipulation. The commandant would become the commanded, and who knows what would happen after zat? I certainly don't, and I'd rather not find out."

Luke shakily took a large gulp of whiskey, draining the rest of his glass. Shit. “Could she… would she-”

Fleur shook her head. “She will never do this to you, as long as you are never stupide enough to make the same mistakes zat I did.”

Silence followed her words. Luke found himself suddenly lacking the capacity to fill it. This mare had killed a whole race of creatures. Clearly unintentional or not, genocide was a deal breaker, right? He should have been packing his bags already, and disappearing into the night without another word.

But he didn’t do that.

Instead, his eyes found hers, and he had to stop for a double take. One of Fleur’s was the usual lilac, but the other was engulfed in glowing azure. Both were regarding him with the very same curiosity they had when she had first laid her gaze upon him in the main shoot studio. The trident glowed from her sapphire, the coolness of the gem emanating through the air. It took Luke a moment to realise she was probably wondering why he was still here.

He didn’t have to wonder anymore. A hand made its way to the side of her neck, gently brushing aside pink wavy locks as his lips made contact with hers.

Fleur’s mismatched eyes grew wide. What followed was an awkward moment that almost had Luke second guessing literally everything, but then as if something had just clicked into place, soft forehooves found his shoulders, and Fleur closed her eyes.

The slowly increasing buzz of alcohol was far surpassed by a surge of adrenaline the likes of which Luke had never experienced. It quickly became apparent that Fleur did not know how to kiss, but that didn’t stop her forked tongue slipping into his mouth regardless. Shit was fucking weird. She tasted like happiness, if such a taste existed. The experience invoked such a strong sense of rapture that all of his senses were amplified to the point that he thought he might pass out. The tingling sensation of her gorgeous wavy locks brushing against his forearms, the telltale tinkling wind-chime-like sounds of magic flowing through her horn, the warmth of her barrel pressed to his chest.

One of Luke's hands eventually found a soft white ear and the siren let out a low purr, sending a satisfying icy chill down the length of his spine. After a perceived age, their lips finally parted, and Luke felt her fangs gently scraping his neck, the chill of the frosted gem penetrating his shirt. He relished the sting, though his heart was beating like that of a deer caught in the jaws of a lioness.

"I 'ave wanted to do zat for so long…" Fleur breathed, muzzle buried in the crook of his neck.

Luke held her close, the fluctuations of the magical ember flowing through her horn causing him to blink. An aura somehow both pink and blue danced before his eyes, and it reminded him of the fiery glyphs spinning around the gem in the ship's engine room. The gem connected to an artifact that may one day try to warp his will…

"Fleur?"

Fleur turned half-lidded eyes up to Luke. "Oui, mon amour?"

“Will you teach me?”

“Teach you what?”

“Teach me how to deal with Memento Mori.”

Fleur smiled, a couple of half extended fangs poking out. “Oui… But I cannot promise it will not take an eternity. Even I am still learning.”

Luke grinned right back at her. “Lucky we just happen to have an eternity then, isn’t it?”

Author's Note

Forever, not unlike the intervals between the posting of chapters of this story, is a long damn time.