1 enas

𝔢𝔫𝔞𝔰 - 𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔫

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Siren. No, I am not talking about the little thing on the wall that wails when there is a fire or an emergency. No, I am talking about the one that uses their beauty and voice to lure men to their deaths. The ones that originated from Ancient Greece, from the time of the Gods. The same ones that still live to this day, because they, like the gods, are immortal.

But this story is not just about any ordinary siren. No, this story is about the Queen of Sirens, Kleio, daughter of the son of Gaea, Phorcys. Long ago, after the Sirens had been punished by Demeter for failing to protect her daughter Persephone, and therefore cursed with voices so beautiful, that they lured men to their deaths, they were miserable, and spent their time trying to talk to people, only to kill them right after.

One young Siren, Kleio, set off on a journey, going to see Hecate, goddess of magic, and ask for her guidance. Hecate offered to remove the curse, but she warned Kleio that she would not be able to completely remove it, and they would still have some attributes, but she would give them enchanting looks in return.

And so, their curse was removed, they were blessed with beauty, and they used their singing voices to lure men to the oceans where they lived and eat them. But not all men, only the bad ones. And Kleio was decided as their Queen, she ruled over them in the one part of the ocean where not even Poseidon dared enter, the domain of the Sirens, the Mariana Trench.

But, even as Queen, and the most beautiful woman anyone could ever lay eyes one, besides Aphrodite of course, Kleio wanted only one thing, love. She wanted to feel the rush of that feeling every single day. She wanted to feel happy when she saw that one person. But she could not, as she had not met one man in her life who was not enchanted by her looks and her voice, and only those that were speechless at her beauty, never looking past her face.

And so, Kleio, sat on her coral throne, covered in various silks and pillows to make it comfortable, placed her chin in the palm of her hand, and let her mind wander. Thinking of what it would be like had she not been a siren, would she have found love? What if there was someone out there who would not be affected by her beauty, and her enchanting voice? What if.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" A guard swam into the room, her glimmering purple tail swishing behind her. Kleio sat up straight and folded her manicured hands in her lap after adjusting her silver crown, that was covered in crystals.

"Yes, Hali?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Your majesty, some mermaids have gotten dangerously close to the entrance of the Trench. No one has acted, or defended, they will not until they come into our kingdom. We thought you should be there just in case." Hali explained.

Kleio rose from her throne, dark hair floating above her, only kept down slightly by the heavy crown atop her head. She moved her pearly, iridescent tail behind her and elegantly swam behind Hali, as the guard led her to the entrance of the Trench.

There, she waited, a hand on the thin sword that was strapped to her waist. The other Sirens waited with her, casting curious looks towards their Queen.

Suddenly, there was a ripple in the cloud above them, the entrance, and the bottom of the ocean, or so the humans thought. It was not actually, for it was the top of the Mariana Trench, and the entrance to the domain of the Sirens.

Kleio unsheathed her sword, and held it out cautiously in front of her, alert but not offensive. A mermaid came through, and not a young one either. She looked the same age as Kleio. Kleio held her sword to her side and approached the mermaid, who was looking around, traces of awe and fear clearly present on her face.

"What is your name, mermaid." Kleio asked, spitting the word 'mermaid' out as though it were poisoned. Mermaids were sworn enemies of Sirens, and for one to venture into the Trench was a crime punishable by death.

"Isla, Siren."

"You will address me as your Majesty, mermaid. What are you doing in my kingdom, mermaids are forbidden here, it is a crime punishable by death. I hope you knew that before you decided to skip right in here."

"Death?"

"Yes, death. Has the pressure popped your ear drums?" Kleio lifted her sword. "Time to die." She smiled, before whipping the sword across. It sliced through the mermaid's neck like the hot knife in butter, and her head dropped off her shoulders, Kleio grabbing it, and watching the body fall to the depths of the Trench with an impassive look on her face.

Kleio let the water wash the blood from her sword, and then rose above the clouds, meeting the eyes of a small group of mermaids. "Oh hello." Her red lips turned up into a smirk. "How nice to see you here? What are you doing so far away from home? And yet so close to my home. The one place you are forbidden to go." She tapped the sword around her waist, before lifting Isla's head.

The other mermaids gasped and covered their mouths in shock. "Isla." One of them cried out.

"This is what happens when naughty little mermaids wander away from home. Be sure it does not happen again." She snarled, before tossing the head in their direction, and descending back into the Trench.

When she was back down, she smiled at the other Sirens. "Good day to you all. If anyone would like to join me later tonight, we have a hunting trip, we are running low on human meat."

And then she swished her tail and continued swimming back to her castle, and straight to her room. She pushed open the solid gold doors, swam in and shut the doors behind her before looking around the room. Directly opposite her was a massive glass wall with blue coral creeping around the edges. It overlooked a few other mansions and houses of the kingdom.

The other walls were made of polished aquamarine, with odd crystals and rare gems scattered in various places. The bed was held up on several poles, and was against the window, covered in multitudinous pillows and silk covers.

Soon enough however, Kleio got up and dressed herself in a red velvet dress that trailed down to past her tail, so when she changed it into feet, it would be floor length. The top part was right around her bust and waist and was accented with gold swirls. She swapped her silver crown for a golden one with rubies encrusted on it, and then headed out of her castle, and to the meeting area where the rest of the Sirens going hunting waited.

When they saw her, they stood up straight, and she smiled at them before rising above the clouds and continuing up this time, all the way to the surface of the ocean. Her head popped up, and she spotted a little island nearby and began heading there.

As soon as her tail began brushing against the sandy beach, she closed her eyes and willed her tail to change to legs, and began walking up the beach, the others following behind her. Kleio heard voices from nearby, and followed them, silent through the whole time.

When she got close enough, she could see a group of men gathered around a little pond, and they had a man tied up to a wooden stick, his head hanging low onto his chest. He looked helpless, and Kleio's anger flared.

She took a few short steps forward before nodding her head to the other Sirens, and then opened her mouth and let her beautiful voice sound, drawing the men's attention. She walked closer and closer until she was beside the pond, and there she knelt down.

She continued singing, her eyes giving the men a sultry, heavy-lidded look, they all looked lovestruck, and as soon as the other Sirens added their songs to hers, the men's eyes blanked, and they began walking closer to the pond mindlessly.

Kleio grabbed two of the men by the necks, still singing and plunged their heads into the pond, calmly keeping them there until they stopped struggling, and then she dropped them. She stopped singing, stood, and looked around at the other Sirens, who were all drowning the other men.

"Hali, get these men back home, I will be there shortly." Kleio addressed the guard, who nodded, and then she and the rest of the Sirens grabbed the men and headed back into the ocean, leaving Kleio alone with the tied up man.

She approached him curiously, her hand reaching out and touching his jaw. He had dark and tousled hair that stuck to his forehead now from sweat, and once he opened his eyes, she could see they were green and flecked with gold.

As soon as his eyes opened, Kleio panicked slightly, and began singing straight away, but it seemed to have no effect on the man, for he simply stared at her curiously, head tilted to the side slightly.

Kleio stopped. "How are you not affected by the song of the Siren?"

He raised his head and looked at her, a smirk forming on his face. "Oh, darling. I am Eros. And your songs cannot affect a god."