A Pirate Melody

Chapter 10

I head over to Arianna's room and knock on the door.

"Just a minute." She calls from the other side. She opens the door all the way.

"I was wondering when you would finally show up. Come in. Come in and I'll make you some tea." She says and hurries back into the room. I walk into the room and it is like a mini sick bay in here. The walls are full of shelves with various ingredients. There is a countertop to use as a workspace. The only difference is the cot is in the corner and the table and chairs in the center of the room. I take a seat at one of the chairs.

"Would you prefer mint or jasmine tea?" She asks.

"Mint tea would be great thank you." I respond back. Arianna heats up a tea kettle with a magical flame and pours me a cup of tea. She pours herself a glass and places the tea kettle in the middle of the table. She takes the seat across from me and takes a sip from her cup.

How do I bring this up casually? I don't want to flat out tell her I am a siren. Maybe I can ask for an demonstration on how she does her magic. That might work but I don't know if she would go into enough detail. I wish I planned this more before coming in here.

"Is there something you need from me? You are looking kind of antsy." Arianna points out.

"Um..well. I was wondering how  you preform magic? Are you reciting some kind of spell in your mind? I am curious how that works." She pauses for a second and looks at me lost in her own thoughts.

"What do you mean how do you preform magic. What have you been up to the last couple of days?" Arianna throws a question at me.

"I have been practicing singing in the brig. I thought I should entertain the prisoners." I lie awkwardly.

"Entertain the prisoners? What are you saying girl? Are you not down there practicing your siren's song?"

"What are you talking about? I am not a siren. I was just singing for fun." Arianna stares at me confused for a second and then just shakes her head.

"That Julian. What is he thinking! No wonder you did not come to me sooner. He is a little too hard headed for his own good."

"Who's Julian?"

"Oh thats Captain Bloodstone's real name. Don't go telling him that I told you. He can be a little prickly about those sorts of things. Anyway, I am the captain's mage. Of course I know there is a siren aboard his ship. He keeps me up to date on all things magical. Speaking of magical, let me explain to you how it is done. It is not a spell. It is more like a feeling. Deep in your gut." She puts her hand between her rib cage in the spot between her heart and her navel. "You concentrate the energy you feel on the outside and you mix it with the magical energy in the universe around you." Arianna explains. She makes big gestures with her hands as she tries to explain this. I am totally lost though. Arianna sees the look on my face and she pauses the explanation.

"Let me try phrasing this differently." She heads over and grabs a feather from her supply cabinet and places it on the table. "I would like you to focus on the feather. Observe the color of the feather. The texture of the feather. The shape of the feather. Send away all thoughts that are not related to the feather. Do you got that?"

"Yes. I think so."

"Good, now bring your focus slightly outward. Keep your mind on the feather but try to feel the energy around the feather. Sense how the feather is interacting with the environment."

I look at the feather. I do what she says and I try to being my focus outward. At first, it seems like my effort is futile. But just when I want to give up, I see something. It is like a string of blue light emanating  from the feather.

"I thing I see something. It is a blue light."

"Good. Good. Now hone  in on that light. Focus, and find what else you can see."

I look at the blue light and try to sense anything around it. All of a sudden a pale yellow string pops up next to it. They are both together orbiting around the feather. I maintain my attention on these magical strings and more colors pop up. First a pale pink, then a lime green , then electric orange. This kept going until there is a prismatic display of strings around the feather. They interweave but still move together as an unit . It moves up and down like a wave while orbiting the object.

"I can see it. It is like nothing I have ever seen before."

"Now that you can see it around the feather. Try looking at me." I look up at Arianna. She continues her explanation. "Just do the same thing that you did with the feather, but this time look at me."

I concentrate on the energy around Arianna. The strings of light reappear. This time they are heavily concentrated with silvers, purples, and blues.

"Wow" I say in amazement.

"So, when you sing your sirens song. Focus on the magical energy of the individual. While you are singing, you want to send out your own magical barrier to influence the magical barrier of others. Eventually you will be able to do this without shifting your vision to look at the magical realm."

I shift my focus on myself now. I stare at my hand and zone in on the magical barrier. I am able to see it quickly this third time. The strings are mostly red, orange, and gold.

"Is anyone able to see this if they want to?"

"No, it usually takes humans several months of training to be able to access the magical plane. And even then, they have to be born with a little magic already in their blood. You can pick it up so quickly because you are a magical creature. Certain types of magic  are more innate for some species." Arianna explains. "Not even all creatures need to tap into the magical plane. For certain species preforming magic is as easy and natural as breathing. Such as the Fae's ability to change their form  or the Gorgons turning people to stone."

"Aren't those creatures just a myth?"

"They used to walk around on this land just like you or me. They have not done so in centuries however."

"Then what about me. What sort of magic do sirens use?"

"It is a little bit of both. Some things require the magical plane; others just come naturally."

"I don't really remember doing any sort of magic ever. What sort of things come naturally?"

"Oh,  siren magic is not my area or study, so I do not know that much about it.  Different sirens seem to have different innate abilities." Arianna rushed through that statement, sort of dismissing the question.  "Well, I suppose you would want to go off and practice your song right now." Arianna stands up and starts to clean up the tea.

"Can I not practice here with you? That way you can watch me and give me advice."

"No. No. Compelling a fellow magic user is far more difficult  than just a normal human. Best to practice an easier target."

"Well, I guess that makes sense."

"Is there anything else you wanted to speak to me about?" Arianna says while she starts washing the cups at the counter.

"I suppose that is it for now. Thank you for answering my questions."

"Not a problem."

I leave her quarters and make my way down to the brig. With the crunched timeline, I really need to make sure to focus down there. And not get too distracted by any cute princes.