Orthros

After an hour or so Adagio had managed to cry her eyes out and finish the meal that Orthros had offered her. Delicious. As she opened the door a frigid wind swept past her and while not as chilling as before she dreaded the events she would now associate them with. Nevertheless she had to move on. For her sisters’ sake and for her own.

She adopted a slow pace as she trudged on to her home, occasionally experiencing a minute pang of pain in her chest and cough. Both of which she assumed were ‘his’ doing. She couldn’t quite understand him. On one hand he was more or less a psychopathic sadist who possessed an uncanny ability to toy with the mind. On the other hand he had not only saved her life but also given her a meal and practically imposed on her a reason to live. Albeit said reason was glaring her in the face all along, however he practically tore it from it’s place and threw it at her. On one hand, he was a mongrel, on the other he was a saint.

Before long she had managed to walk back to her home. It was a small, blue-colored one-story building not far off from the beach. She breathed in deeply as her hand gripped and twisted a rusty gold-plated doorknob. Heh. The familiar creak in its hinge seemed so much louder now than when she left and and as the door swung open she could hear opposing voices bickering. Her sisters were at it again.

She wanted to deadpan but such a sentiment was useless. She had to act now, for the better of them all. As always, she had to be the leader and hopefully, she’d do a better job this time.

She strut through the small house and turned right at the hall’s end, finding a sober Aria and a slightly tear-stained Sonata at each other’s necks in the living room. It was a modest area with a dirty-brown couch with a television in front of it. Aria and Sonata stood beside the couch facing one another, Aria’s face contorted into a scowl and Sonata had her arms crossed in an angry pout as they continued with their arguing. Oblivious to Adagio’s arrival.

“BOTH OF YOU QUIET!”

The yellow haired girl yelled uncharacteristically. The last time she had raised her voice at them was years past however through reflection she had realized that this time they did not need a leader. They needed someone who could take care of them, someone who could cradle them when nights were cold, someone to set Aria straight and to comfort Sonata as she cried in the night. They needed a sister. Their sister. Such a thing was forgotten among all of them but by the intervention of another Adagio remembered, now she just had to make them remember.

“What’s your deal Adagio?!”

Aria asked her voice rough and harsh, fear and acceptance creeping up her face as much as she attempted to hide it. She was definitely sober this time, though her rough appearance begged for a bath. Sonata simply stared at Adagio, a characteristic smile on her face. Her eyes were, empty though. Dull and reflective, her expression easily betrayed itself as a mask. Her voice was cheerful, even though both her demeanor and exhausted appearance disagreed with that sentiment.

“Yeah what’s biting you Dagi?”

Adagio did not grace either with a reply, she simply walked towards the two and wordlessly pulled them into a gentle hug, a soft, small smile on her face as she pressed the sides of their faces against hers, enjoying the closeness and warmth the embrace carried with it. Aria’s eyes widened in horror at the absurdity of the situation, never before had this occurred since they arrived in the human realm. Sonata simply stared into Adagio’s eyes with her own, the facade of joy slowly cracking with nervousness as time passed on.

“Girls, we’ve lost our song, our power, any chance for revenge and our immortality. But there is one thing we do have.”

She pulled them closer to her body, Aria winced at the increase in pressure and Sonata still stared at the older sister. Adagio on the other hand was beaming, though silently regretting her decision as pain flared in her sides. She ignored it and continued.

“Each other. We’ve been……alone…… for a long time, but have we ever really thought of it? When we came we were filled with anger, as time passed it only grew until we performed something so idiotic it robbed us of…everything.”

Aria said nothing as her eyes betrayed the silent rage she held in her heart over that incident. It burned her from the inside out and her powerlessness did not help one bit, if anything it acted as a welcome push into anyform of 'release’ she could find. Sonata bit her lip, the usually cheerful girl reduced to a nervous wreck as memories of an event that terrified her flashed past her eyes. She struggled to keep her composure as Adagio continued.

“All we have is each other, it’s all we can rely on and if we’re going to live, we need to move on. Tomorrow we’re going to school and afterwards I’m going to look for work. I have to take care of you two somehow after all. Tag along if you want but I won’t force you,”

She released the embrace and coughed a bit as she began walking to her room. The occasional flaring pain in her chest significantly diminished by one simple emotion. Hope.

“Sonata, tomorrow we’re going to see Vice-Principal Luna about your nightmares. Aria, try to stop drinking. I know it’s hard but don’t beat yourself up too much. And both of you, remember, if you need anything, your sister is right here,”

With that she waltzed into her room and quite literally flopped onto the bed. The cheap, scarcely soft material lulling her exhausted body and mind to sleep.

//3rd Person POV//

An ammeter could not measure the shock value that had been instilled into the two siren sisters by Adagio’s words. For one thing Adagio appeared calm, not distraught or tired as she had weeks past, despite the bags under her eyes and disheveled appearance she seemed calm, giddy almost and her words? They were struck. Adagio had not sounded that genuine, that gentle in years, many, many years and their last example of her acting in a similar manner would have been before their banishment. Other than that she usually acted loud, authoritarian and her strict character demanded respect, quite unlike the creature that had just paraded itself before them.

This Adagio’s expression was tranquil, her smile genuine and motions almost gentle. While she appeared tired that did not stop her from acting out her affection for them, not as a leader, but…..as….a…….

Sister…

This Adagio did not refrain from physical contact and as oppose to simply allowing them to frustrate each other she had stopped them with what appeared to be genuine worry and then silenced them, while expressing towards them an emotion so overbearing it could only be one thing. Love. While the content of Adagio’s words sounded like something straight out of the mouth of a pony her tone of sincerity sunk into them like an anvil on memory foam.

The fact that she intended to work only added to the weight and her suggested attempt and acknowledgement of their ‘problems’ left their jaws agape. They could hardly believe any of what they had just experienced. Aria and Sonata stood there, silently staring at each other. Aria’s aggression and Sonata’s depression replaced by a fistful of confusion and dread for the coming day. Adagio never acted like this, and the sudden change was frightening.

Then there was the matter of her state. Her hair was damp, skin a bit parched and then there was the fact that she and gone out without telling them. It was worrying to say the least

A rooster crowed somewhere in the distance. A reminder of how late it was. They shuffled back to their respective rooms, butterflies and hornets churning their stomachs as they wondered exactly what just happened, why it happened and most of all, what now

//Orthros POV//

It tasted sour.

His wide, open-mouth grin never faltered for a second as he placed the barrel of his revolver in his mouth, the tip of the sights just grazing the fleshy region behind his upper front teeth. His stare would bore holes into the gun if it could. He tasted cold metal in his mouth, his elbows resting on a worn, wooden table as he sat on a red revolving chair. Did he really want to do this?

Why not?

Why are you living?

Why do you bother?

Open fire.

You want an ally?

Press the trigger.

You want to trust?

Pull the hammer.

What do you wa-

*Click*

The sharp sound of the Taurus model’s hammer resounded in his ears, silencing the chaotic thoughts he himself had created.

Blank

He shot another blank. Another day, another dime, another depression, another deceit, another deprivation, another degradation, another mad dash for diplomacy. He placed the revolver down onto the table and flicked open its cylinder.

He smirked. Then chuckled, then laughed, then madness laced his laughter as tears spew from his eyes. He calmed himself. He coughed and stole a glance at the open gun lying on the piece of furniture. The line that was his expression twisted upwards. In the home that was his, sitting at a work work-table under the dim light of an old lamp he smirked and fingered the empty bullet cylinders.

“Heh. No bullets.”