Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Part IV: Lessons Learned
Deejae looked up from her place on the bed and saw her mother standing in the doorway. She dried her eyes, knowing that shedding so many tears was not behavior befitting a princess. The queen entered the room and proceded to the side of the distraught princess. "What troubles you so, my child?" she asked.
The question was not an easy one for Deejae to answer. There were many things that disturbed her, yet she could not pinpoint exactly what the reason was for her tears. She considered her reply carefully, so as not to offend her mother. "I am not certain. Sometimes I feel as though there is another time and place where I should be. Nothing here seems to be familiar, even though I am told that I have lived here all of my life." She picked up the photograph that was on the bed beside her. Gazing at it once more, she aked her mother, "How is it that I know this man's name? I cannot even remember my own father, yet everything about this man seems so clear to me."
The queen was quite pleased with her "daughter's" reply. The time of initation for the crown princess was drawing near. She sought to reassure her that her feelings were normal. "It is quite reasonable that you do not remember your father, child. He was gone before you born into the Sirenian life. As for this other man, the one you call Matthias Jabs, he is destined to be your first lover. Your heart calls out to him. This is why you seem to know him so well. Do not worry, he will be here soon."
Deejae pondered the queen's words. How could her mother know that this man would be her lover? The thought of it reassured her, yet left her even more confused about her life. "You say that he will be my first lover. Does this mean that there will be others? How can you possibly know this?" she asked her mother.
The queen threw back her head and laughed at the princess's words."Of course there shall be others, my child. You are a siren. This is our way of life. He will come to you because he hears the call of your heart. Never has there been born anywhere in the universe a man who could resist the call of a siren. He will provide what you need, and then he will be gone. You will move on. There must be others. This is our way. It may seem confusing to you now, but when the time comes, you will Understand and do what you must."
Deejae had heard these words from her mother many times, yet they still made no more sense to her than they did the first time she heard them. If this man was to be her lover and provide what she needed, why should he have to go away? She wanted to ask this of the queen, but yet she remained silent, fearing that such a question would anger her mother.
Sensing the doubts in the other woman's heart, the queen continued, "I do not expect you to understand this all now. The time is yet too soon.Your feelings blind you to the truth. No one man can meet your needs as a siren. You must have many lovers. Without them you would wither away and die all too soon."
Deejae wondered if whether withering away and dying with this man at her side would be such a bad thing, but did not mention this. She supposed that she would eventually do as was expected of her. She was a crown princess, destined to become queen herself one day. She knew that she must fulfill her responsibilities as such.
"I did not come here to speak of these things," the queen told the younger woman. "I came to bring you a gift." She removed a long black velvet box from the pocket of her gown and offered it to the pricess. "This will be used in your initiation ritual. You will not yet understand its purpose, but you will in time.It has been crafted especially for you. Open it at your leisure." With those words, the queen left the room.
Deejae stood staring at the box in her hands. She wanted to open it and peer inside, but somehow feared seeing its contents. She slowly lifted the lid. Inside the box was a dagger. She ran her finger along its blade. It was cold and hard. The brilliant gold plating did nothing to dull its razor sharpness, the princess discovered as she saw the tiny droplet of blood upon her fingertip.When her gaze reached the hilt, she felt a slight stirring of fear within her heart. It was also crafted of brilliant gold, diamond cut in the shape of a creature that the princess recognised to be a scorpion...
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Part III: The Candidates Arrive
Deejae stood, staring at her own reflection in the mirror. The woman looking back at her seemed somehow unfamiliar to her. It was her own face, she knew, but it seemed almost too perfect to her. She had asked her mother, the queen, about this, and had been given the answer that all sirens were perfect beauties. Still Deejae couldn't help but to somehow harbor the feeling that somehow in another place and time she had been neither this beautiful nor perfect.
She had been told that she had lived here among the sirens for her entire life, but she held no memory of any past at all. The only clues she had to her past were a stange musical instrument that she seemed to know how to play and a picture of a man whom she somehow knew had the name Matthias Jabs. She looked at the picture again, wondering how she seemed to know this man's name and why there seemed to be no men in this place. Surely she had a father, even if she had no memory of him. She wondered where and who he could be. Frustrated, shew threw herself on her bed and cried.
The queen walked past the room of the fifth candidate, the one she called her daughter, and saw her crying. The crown princess of the sirens was full of surprises, the queen had discovered. Somehow this woman had managed to bring with her two items from her previous life. The first was quite a logical choice for a siren's possessions, a musical instrument which the princess called a stratocaster. The queen often heard her young protogee playing and singing haunting melodies which would have made her siren ancestors quite proud. The song of the siren definitely lived on in this woman.
The second item that the princess had smuggled with her was a photograph of the man she so desired. This second item was not allowed by siren law, but the queen saw no harm in it. In fact, the queen believed that her protogee's retention of both of these items could only help make her a more powerful queen for her people when the time came.The princess's passion for this man could only increase the power his blood brought to the magic of the initiation ritual.There was no doubt ot the woman's passion for this man. He was the only element of her past life that she seemed to remember, another surprise to the queen.Most initiates held on to much more of there past than the princess did. The magic of forgetfulness had worked perfecly on her. She clung to no memories of her past as the others were inclied to do.The queen smiled. It seemed that her choice of replacements could not have been more perfect.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Part II: The Fifth Candidate
The queen had taken a special interest in the fifth member chosen for the current group of candidates. She was well aware of her own mortality. Although she still retained the appearance of the age she had attained at the time of her initiation, even the strength of Sirenian magic could not completely halt the aging process of the internal workings of her body. She had already lived several hundred years, and knew that her time among her siren sisters would soon be drawing to a close. A suitable replacement must be found.
The fifth candidate chosen in the new group of initiates seemed to be possessing all of the qualities necessary for a future leader if the Sirenian nation. Although she was quite lovely, she was a good deal older than the usual initiate. This was an absolute necessity not for leadership of the sirens themselves, but for ease in relations with other cultures. A queen who appeared to be too young would have much difficulty earning the respect of many of the peoples with whom the Sirenian nation had dealings. This woman was also of an ideal life experience for a queen of the sirens. Her past was littered with bad relationships with men. This still did not stop her from desiring them, though. She would surely be an excellent seductress!
Of course, the most difficult thing about taking on this woman as an initiate was ascertaining her willingness to join . She had much which she would be leaving behind. She had a family, friends, and a job to leave if she were to join their ranks. The queen had her watched very carefully to see if she displayed any signs of willingness to join their ranks. She was quite pleasantly surprised at how quickly the woman displayed her willingness.
The potential candidate had been with a group of friends, listening to music. While admiring the photographs on one of the CD's, she had said to her friends,"Matthias Jabs, I tell you, I'd sell my soul to be that guy's lover!" The queen smiled, the woman's soul had ben sold to the Sirenian queen. Indeed she would become this man's lover. It was all so perfect. The Scorpions were a five man band, a perfect number for the candidates initiation ritual. All that remained was to bring the candidates, and later, the band, to the Sirenian nation.
Saturday, August 02, 2003
Part I: Who Are Those Women Anyway?
The queen of the Sirenian nation announced her decision. Of the hundreds of women being considered as candidates for memership in their elite colony, five had been chosen. Much was to be considered in the choosing of these five. Surprisingly, youth and beauty were not among these considerations. These aspects of the siren could easily be granted to any woman by means of their magic. The most important considerations were those of personality and attitude.
One of the most important attributes of the candidate's personality was that she should have no desire to give birth to any children. Sirens do not bear children. Their ranks were replenished by the current meticulous selection process from the universe's many races of humanoid females. Were they to give birth to their own predecessors, the odds were too great that a male child would be born. To deal with the birth of such a child would have serious repercussions. Males served their purpose for the sirens, but it was not as members of their society.
All of the chosen candidates held a certain amount of bitterness towards the males of their race, but not so much as to no longer desire them. It was, after all, the way of the siren to seduce and play with men. Were they so bitter as to lose their desire, they would be unable to function in the Sirenian society.
The final, and most important requirement for a candidate to be accepted was her willingness to give up all aspects of her former life to join their ranks. The sirens would never take an unwilling female as a candidate. But even so, the transition was often difficult for the new candidates. To ease this, all were allowed to bring with them the one object they considered to be most important in their former lives. As their precious memories of the past slowly faded away, the new candidates took great comfort in this one item that they were allowed to keep.
When the new candidates were brought to the colony. each would be assigned one of the members of the colony as a special mentor. This mentor would train her in the magic required to attain her full potential, as well as teach her the basic precepts of Sirenian culture. These lessons would be taught over the course of a year, culminating with the candidate's final test for acceptance into the colony. The siren magic was the most difficult thing for many of the initiates to grasp. The vast majority of current societies denied the existence of magic, opting instead for the use of technology. The sirens had not chosen this path. Their magic was much more powerful than any technology. Even if at first the initiates found the methods of Sirenian magic to be distasteful, they quickly embraced it when they saw the results that it produced.
Some important legal stuff before we begin.
OK, I know you aren't stupid, but it is in my own best interest to state this. This story is purely a work of fiction. All of the events portrayed are products of my own twisted imagination.
Of course, this work is also copyright 2003 LadyStarlight Jabs.
Friday, July 25, 2003
Welocme to my newest experiment in fan-fic writing!
Those of you who have visited the shrine of my other obsession are already familiar with my style. If you have not seen my Gundam Wing fan-fic, which is a work still in progress, you can check it out by clicking here!
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