Siren Song [20% Complete]

[Ketevan Iosava]

Prompt List

• Fly
• Introduction
• Legend
• Thief
• Monster
• Halloween
• Shock
• Phone Call
• Fear
• Loyalty

[Ketevan Iosava]

F L Y

[Ketevan Iosava]

I N T R O D U C T I O N

[Ketevan Iosava]

L E G E N D

[Ketevan Iosava]

T H I E F

[Ketevan Iosava]

M O N S T E R

[Ketevan Iosava]

H A L L O W E E N

[Ketevan Iosava]

S H O C K

With so many old-school Fae running around, Kes thought it best to lay low. She did exactly that, a delicious margarita the size of a small aquarium at the table beside her. She was happily relaxing on a beach in the Caribbean, the sound of the ocean and the faint echoes of steel drums winding around her with the warm breeze. Seriously, what was with the Fae lately? Taranis and his Sluagh had begun their onslaught over the mortal realm, with meddling demons and angels alike trying to have their say. The King and Queen of the Fae realm were actually on speaking terms for once, if only because of their terrible demon-child. It made her wince to think of how her own relationship with her son had been so badly damaged.

Speaking of family, the absolute only person who knew where she was - aside from her team, of course - was her sister, a reclusive, less-adventurous version of herself. It hadn't always been that way, actually. Once upon a time, Kes had been shy, unassertive, meek, and Nerissa had been quite the lioness. But times had changed, and after Nerissa imploded her own life for the sake of giving Kes a new one, she'd more or less dropped off the map. Kes couldn't beg her to come to the islands this time; Nerissa had made it pretty clear she was done doing favours for her.

Honestly, it was over two-hundred years ago. You'd think she'd have moved on. Kes slurped her margarita loudly, enjoying the bright blue colour the slush inside the massive bowl was. She was pretty impressed with the drink, actually. Inside of it, Swedish Fish slowly sank through the ice, and a pile of Nerds served as 'rocks' on he bottom of her little aquarium. She sighed into the straw and set the drink back down on the table, then sank back into her beach chair. That warm breeze blew strands of her cotton-candy coloured hair across her shoulders, and for a moment, she forgot all of the drama she'd left behind her.

"Hm. Now, might be my imagination, but the last time I saw that face, it was running away from me. Suppose I've lost my touch."

Kes froze in place. Even after two-hundred years, the deep, gravelly voice of Charles Hawthorne, who first and foremost was one of the meanest, strongest Mer she'd ever come across, and secondly had become a proficient pirate in his time, practically owning the island on which she now sat, but thirdly and most importantly, Lir's right-hand man. She was in total shock. She was shook to the core, and in her best effort to control her body movements, her slow head-turn to regard him came off as jerky and robotic.

"Relax," he said, holding a hand up to stay her before she bolted, which she most certainly looked like she was about to do. He dropped down in the chair next to her, all golden-tanned with that perfect jaw she remembered and that bit of scruff she'd never seen him without. "Your beau and I parted ways not long after you vanished into the night. I've no quarrel with you." His words gave way to a heavy sigh, one that seemed to cause the ocean to heave with it.

Kes very gradually unclenched, trying to determine if this was some elaborate trap or not. "Oh?" she asked, surprised when he said he and Lir were no longer besties. "Why's that, then?"

Charles was silent for a long moment, then looked over at her. "I came to the conclusion that it should have been I who was the god, and he the fish," he said cryptically. "Call your sister." He looked back at the ocean.

Kes sat up, flailing her arms around in obvious gesture that she was not getting this sudden information. "Call my sister? Why? Dude, Nerissa hates you. I'm not even sure I don't hate you at this point. Just because you aren't Lir's best bro anymore doesn't mean anythi-"

He lowered his head for a moment, then swung his legs over the chair and sat up. There was a brief pause before he stood, and he immediately leaned over Kes, putting himself in her bubble and forcing her to stop emoting and animating herself and lean back into the chair. "That wasn't a request," he said simply. "Call your sister, and tell her she should come visit you."

He didn't say what would happen if she didn't, but walked away after patting her on the shoulder with a little laugh his only parting words. Jesus fuck, why was she scared of him? Where were Mer even in the Lorelei food chain? Wasn't he lower on the list than she was? Well, not from that exchange, obviously. With shaky hands, she picked up her phone and dialed her sister's number.

"Heeeeey, Nerissa.... you should reeeeaaally come visit me."

[Ketevan Iosava]

P H O N E  C A L L

  It had started out as one tiny speck of information that flashed across her computer so quick she hardly noticed it.

(Except that there were certain things Ketevan would always notice.)

  She picked up her headset and allowed her fingers to do the walking - across her keyboard, that is. Kes wasn't using any cell phone for this call.

(She'd never risk anyone tracing anything back to her with the information she'd just discovered.)

  "Hello, darling," she purred. The tired voice on the other end was dead silent after she greeted him, if only because Kes' calling had one meaning.

(It was their last mission; they could go their separate ways.)

  "Feel like doing some flying this weekend?"

("I fucking hate flying!" he shouted at her, just as the engine on the plane died out. "I FUCKING HATE IT.")

She wasn't surprised when the call disconnected, but she'd made her point, all the same.

It was time.

[Ketevan Iosava]

F E A R

[Ketevan Iosava]

L O Y A L T Y

Kes sat down in the posh suite she'd secured for herself just outside of where they'd be flying out the next day to take Harvey home. He was doing...  He was doing. She was no sorceress, and she could work no magic spell where he'd just magically forget the last year or so of his stay with Midnight Europe, where rules as they had them in the States did not often apply. She sorted over her notes, surprised at just how much she'd compiled. Her job was to update him on everything he'd missed, to make sure he understood it. Right at the moment, they were all in and around the same few rooms, mostly because Harvey needed familiarity, and they were it.

Kes' job was special, though. Since she was the Siren, she was the one who got to convince him that things were going to be fine - except, as she saw it, that was going to be harder to do then she'd anticipated before.

"Sam, what do you make of this?" she asked, after she'd gotten who was essentially her mentor to sit down and take audience with her. Of all the people she worked with, he was the one to whom she'd most likely listen - which was saying a lot, since her brand of crazy didn't even really have any boundaries that most of them had found, yet. Croft was more like a father to her than anything else, though, and as such it rewarded him with an occasional say in her decision-making process. This one, in particular, affected people that weren't her - and she really did need his advice.

"Almost every day for the past year, he's been at their house. I mean... " she trailed off. "I know Eli, and I'd like to think Heather wouldn't lie to me. I suppose I never tried her outright, but maybe I should have. Do you think she's replaced Harv? I need to figure out how to word this so he doesn't just fly off the handle," she said.

He eyeballed the computer, then sighed and looked back up at her. "This is really bothering you?" he asked, his lilting accent showing his obvious surprise.

She frowned. "Of course it is! Sam, I'm not heartless. If it were me, I'd want to know."

"Me as well, I'm afraid, but this situation isn't about us." He sighed. "Ketevan, tell me something. Do you have any proof that Elias hasn't been anything except a friend to her?" he asked. The question was very direct and to the point, as he tended to be.

She shrugged. "No, but - "

Sam waved his hands out in front of him, palms flat and facing down. "Then that's all you need. We've worked with him before. He and Harvey don't get along, but Elias was trained to the same strict standard we were - until we branched off, anyways. Do you really think he'd try to play permanent house with another man's wife and child? Honestly."

She thought about this for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't. But we should still tell him," she pressed.

"And we will, dear. But in time. I do love that your loyalties run deep, but you need to remember that sometimes, some things are best left between the people they directly concern, and nobody else. Now, turn this thing off and go to bed. We've got a long flight tomorrow and I don't want to hear any more of Stark's crying."

She smiled fondly. "I will."

"See that you do," he said, standing up and walking to the door. "Harvey doesn't need any more theatrics then he's already going to get in the next day or so. That, I can guarantee." And with that, he exited her room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Kes went back to her computer, stared at it for a few more moments, then deleted the report with a few keystrokes. Sam was right.