Songs of Innocence

Chapter 58: Gjallarhorn

Cathuria

Aello awoke to find herself lying in a shallow puddle, surrounded by darkness and yet more rocky surfaces. She groggily attempted to remember what bizarre serious of events had led to this situation, but the answer soon made itself - rather, himself - known to her. She saw the weakened Fimbulwinter Wolf laying in a puddle adjacent to her, but he was far too hurt and weak to fight her again. His small, dripping mane was a far cry from the prideful cape of snow it was before, and that made it clear to Aello that his state was something to be pitied. 

"Garm." a worried, yet collected voice called. The wolf heard his name be called, and arose to its trembling feet. He walked hurriedly towards his master, who sat on a throne formed of igneous rock, just outside of Aello's view. She turned her head, and laid her eyes upon a feminine figure that sat upon the throne, and she possessed such immeasurable beauty that she could easily be mistaken for a goddess. 

The pale white-skinned woman sat with queen-like authority radiating from her. With her left hand, she stroked the wolf - whom Aello gleaned had been named Garm - in her lap, while her right hand held a sensu-style hand fan that looked somewhat like it had been made from a siren's tail. Her straight hair - one half jet black, and the other half an almost unnaturally clean white - flowed as if it was underwater (save for her bangs which covered her eyes, yet did not block her vision), only adding to the mysterious aura she exuded. Her ebony dress was nothing less than as extravagant as the attire of a Canterlot elite, being adorned with intricate insignias of lands Aello did not know of, and decorated with ornamental jewelry of elaborate designs that hung from her attire almost like decorations on a Hearth's Warming tree. 

"So..." the woman spoke, now directly to Aello, "...Look who fell into... my palace." She spoke in a stilted manner, as if not knowing what to say.

Aello, although awestruck by the glamorous stranger looking down at her, managed to speak, and even better than the stranger, at that. "Uh... Hello. W-where am I? Where exactly is your palace, if you... don't mind me asking..."

"Cathuria. You are in... Cathuria. The heart of the Caves of Melpomene. And I- ...My name is... Fantaga Nocturne, the Black Siren."

Despite the woman's brief stutter, she successfully instilled fear in Aello with the reveal that she was... Wait, what?

"But you're not a siren; you're a... Actually, I don't know. But you're definitely not a siren." Aello commented, almost like a child that had no restraint from asking questions at inappropriate times. 

"Oh, but I am! I've just grown so powerful that I can now turn what was a curse to my sisters into... a way that shows just how powerful I am, and how weak they are in comparison!"

"Wait, wait..." Aello interrupted, abound with questions. "But there's only THREE sirens: Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. And they got banished to another world. There was never a fourth one, and there definitely wasn't one that looked as..." She began to trail off, and caught herself as a sudden blush spread across her face. "As I was saying... if you're one of them, you should be wherever they are right now, you poser!"

Fantaga scoffed dramatically, gently placing Garm on the ground so she could walk menacingly towards Aello, casting an ominous shadow over the bird. "I am the Black Siren, little girl. Why would I be dubbed that by the entirety of Hippogriffia if I weren't a siren?!"

"Wait, they call you that? Sorry, I've never been to Mount Aris before." Aello apologized meekly, showing genuine humility even in the face of danger. "My sister did sorta meet the princess once, though..." she chuckled. But her brief aside was buried under the sound of Fantaga moaning in irritation at her. The woman snapped her fingers for some reason, before crossing her arms as her sneer turned into a smirk. "Why'd you snap your fingers?" Aello asked curiously.