A Weapon’s Serenade

Melody put on a kettle as Serena sat down with Anne on the couch.

“I’m Anne, knowing Melody she forgot to introduce herself, so that’s Melody and the sharp lady over there is Kuria.” Anne smiled.

Serena forced a smile in return. “I’m Serena.”

“You weren’t out there this late without a reason. Let’s see if we can help or at least cheer you up.”

“Not much you can do, part of my heart is literally too small. Heart failure and all that. I am well medicated but going on out a month-long trip to the middle of the ocean on a science ship is too much of a risk according to literally all of the involved professors. So, I got to wave goodbye as everyone I knew went to have the best possible time without me.”

Anne looked at Melody, who had just thrown her hoodie over a chair, revealing a set of abstract tattoos running down her right arm. Melody returned a nod.

“Purely hypothetically, if we could do something about this, maybe a replacement trip or something fancy about your heart, would you indulge us?”

“Purely hypothetically, yes.”

Without a word, Kuria picked up a piece of paper from a side table where there had been no paper before and wrote a little note, dropping it back on the table where it never landed.

Melody nodded contently. “You’d be surprised, popping out of thin isn’t the only thing a flat of magical girls can do.”

“Yea, you can let paper disappear. Who even are you people? No, more like what are you?”

“I mean, I’m human, she’s human, that one… eh.” Melody shrugged playfully.

“Oh yea, she’s certainly not human. At least one half knife with a jawline like that. In a good way. A very good way. Kuria, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wow what a voice. Anyway, purely hypothetically, how do you intend to do anything with me, for me, whatever, and what do demons like you take as payment? I don’t think my soul is worth that much. Bad heritage, even worse vintage.”

“Secrecy. That’s the price you pay for involvement with us. Until someone else comes through that door in a few minutes, we are just a quirky group of flat mates. Once you accept the offer that lady will make you, you will get to know things you won’t be allowed to talk about. You will also understand that enforcing that is almost too easy.”

“Oh, so you’re the witches and your demon is coming to adopt me too. Neat, count me in.”

There was a knock on the door. Melody moved to open it and allow inquisitor Famine inside. The demon was disguised as a human, as was proper in such a situation.

Famine approached the rest of group in the kitchen. “Apologies, Nirrti sent me. She is alone at the library.”

“That’s alright, I’m glad she asked you.” Anne greeted the newcomer with a friendly wave.

“You have not asked for her presence for amusement this late.”

“Yea, we have someone here who could use our help. Or at least a little nudge on a path to a life in which things go better.”

“It is not one of… our issues. Correct?”

“No, it’s a local problem.”

“Tell me of the problem.”

Anne let Serena explain the cause of her late-night orange juice fuelled excursion and how she had walked around the woods outside the city to take her mind of things but nothing worked so she simply resigned herself to her fate.

Serena sighed. “So that’s that. Sorry for being a bit snarky all night, just what I do when I don’t know how else to deal with something, I guess. I know it’s annoying.”

Famine took a moment to answer. “Better to cope than to suffer. The expedition is more to you than an academic endeavour.”

“Yea, it is. Well, would have been. Back before shit went fucked with my family, we were on a cruise to the Azores. Then I got my diagnosis and we never went anywhere ever again.”

Famine shook her head. “No, that is not it.”

“What do you mean?” The young human sounded genuinely confused.

“What did you see?”

“What? When? On the cruise?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing, just water and some whales. They were awesome though.”

“Something else.”

“Are you reading my mind or something?”

“No, but I am trained to ascertain half-truths and lies.”

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“I promise.”

Serena looked at the floor, clearly ashamed. “I know what I saw was real, a shadow far deeper than the whales we had seen. Almost like a mermaid but not quite, it would need to be massive so deep under water. It swam beside the ship for a few moments then dove again.”

“Melody, a map.”

Melody pulled out her phone, opened the map app and handed it to Famine.

The inquisitor raised an eyebrow. “Between this island and the Azores archipelago?”

Serena nodded. “Yes.”

“Very far north and far away from their home.”

“What…? Whose home?”

Famine returned the phone and looked Serena in the eyes. “I am inquisitor Famine of the Pandemonium, you must not speak of what I will tell you. Do you understand?”

“Uhm… okay?”

“You have seen a siren, a sapient deep-sea being native to the equatorial regions of what you call the Pacific Ocean.”

“Sapient… deep-sea… being. A mermaid.”

“Reductive but accurate.”

“But it was massive!”

“They are.”

Serena tilted her head. “Honestly, I don’t know if I believe you. This is way too convenient.”

“Fair. I can prove my assertions. As you require sleep, we can meet tomorrow.”

“Okay?”

“I will take you to meet a siren, but you need to be rested.”

“Alright, where should we meet?”

“I will… the phrase? Pick you up?”

“Sure. You have a paper so I can give you my address?”

“Not necessary.”

“Oookay.”

“You will also accompany us, Melody, Anne, Kuria.”

Melody protested. “I have labs tomorrow.”

Famine tried to not look mildly annoyed. “I will return you in time.”

“Alright then.”

“Then we will meet tomorrow. Good night.” Famine vanished into thin air.

Serena stared for a moment. “Did she just…?”

Melody nodded. “She did. And your tea is ready, here.”

“Oh, thank you. But how?”

“I put on water earlier.”

“No, not the tea. Famine, if that’s her name.”

“It is her name and she can just do that. Just like I can do this.” Melody held out her hand. The tattoos on her arm began to shift slightly, parts of it changing colour from pure black to a deep purple for a second, as a sugar cube appeared on her hand. Melody dropped it into her cup of tea.

“What the fuck…”

“It’s fun at parties.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, conjuring random stuff. It’s a neat trick.”

“A neat trick? You just made matter from nothing!”

“I didn’t do that. The tool in my arm, these lovely tattoos, is merely nudging reality to comply with my wishes. If it’s small enough, it will happen.”

“Magic. Fucking magic.”

“Fucking magic, indeed. Also non-fucking magic. It has many applications.”

Serena sighed and then laughed. “You girls are impossible, metaphorically and physically.”

Melody took a sip from her cup of tea after handing everyone else a cup as well. “I hope we at least managed to cheer you up.”

“You kidding? If you’re not lying to me about everything and tomorrow we actually go to see a siren, you didn’t just cheer me up, you made this stupid life worth it.”

“Then I hope we can deliver. So far, Famine has never disappointed us.”

“She is a strange one, isn’t she? What is an inquisitor of the Pandemonium anyway?”

“Put black ops, diplomatic duties and an intelligence service into a blender and you get the inquisitors. These days they are also a bit of a walking nuclear deterrent too. Oh, and they’re demons. The Pandemonium is the closest thing demons have to a government. What we can do with our little tools, the demons can do naturally with ease. I can conjure some simple stuff, teleport across the city and enhance myself physically for a short time, but demons can do far more. If not for the library and some others around here, I would have easily called her the most powerful being on this island.”

Serena nodded along but raised an eyebrow at the last sentence. “Only on this island?”

“There is someone who sells grilled sausages in Germany. You don’t need to worry about her. If someone with green eyes and reddish-brown hair approaches you and calls you something strange that you somehow deeply identify with, just resign yourself to the fate of making this world a better place.”

“Okay… wild shit. You also kind of implied that the librarians here are demons and that there are others like Famine running around here.”

“I did, yes. My adopted parents are demons too. One of the librarians is just a vampire though, but she is doing a semester or two in Germany for her German literature degree. Her sixth total I think? I would have ask. She’s our upstairs neighbour actually.”

“I don’t know why a vampire living in a flat feels so disappointing. So her and the demons just look like normal humans, just acting a bit weird? I mean, Famine was just a person.”

“Only when we choose to.” Kuria had casually shifted back into her demonic form.

Serena blinked a few times and just stared for a bit before glancing up at Kuria’s horns. “So, you’re horny people?” She caught herself immediately and went bright red. “Fuck, that was so bad, I am so sorry. Holy shit you are real.”