Magic's Violence Record

Chapter 10: Miss Baron

"This city is soo cool!" Serenade squeals to Rosè. Both girls were in the epicenter of the city in the afternoon, going from store to store. Rosè was the one buying everything.
    "Yeah, cool, when you're not the one paying!" Rosè scoffs, putting her black card back into her wallet. "Seriously, can we go to a bank now? Get you a card or something?" Rosè whines, blinking her pink eyes, accentuated by large lashes.
    "Yeah yeah, fine.. I'm gonna need you to do it though." Serenade giggles, as the two go under a large grassy area covered by a tarp. The city was covered in large signs and billboards advertising all sorts of things. Curiously, Serenade looks at all of them, but one in particular catches her eye at a nearby TV.
    "All funds from your purchase will go toward helping this young lady reunite with her sister!" A cheesy blond woman says, the camera panning to a navy-haired, baby-faced girl. "She's having such a hard time getting by on her own! She's just a little girl!" Baron whines, and multiple people swarm Serenade, tears in their eyes. The girl on camera, with long navy hair, looks completely annoyed to be on camera.
    "That poor young lady! I need to find the nearest store!" One sobs.
    "T-Take me with you.." A woman wails.
    Confused, Serenade eyes the crowd, all of them confused as to why she isn't crying.
    "Serenade! What the hell are you doing? Stop wandering off!" Rosè seethes, grabbing Serenade by the arm.
    "Oww! Stop! Rosè, I think that was her!" Serenade wails, pointing to the TV. Rosè shoves her away and leans in close to the TV as the ad plays.
    "She literally looks nothing like you. She has long navy hair, a baby-face, brown eyes, and pale skin. Also, she has a way better body than you. You guys are literally opposites." Rosè scoffs. "Don't waste my time.. let's get going." Rosè says, but Serenade resists and pouts.
    "I'm not! I'm being serious! She looks soo familiar! Plus, that blonde lady said she was missing her sister!" Serenade whines, yanking her arm back.
    "Whoever she is, she's seriously popular.. look." Rosè says, disgusted, as the two look around at every ad and poster to see her face with "Baron's Bags" plastered everywhere. "That blonde woman is obviously milking her. Is everyone here seriously oblivious?" Rosè scoffs. The city was almost dystopian, seeming the way they praised her like a leader.
    "Even if it isn't her, I really want to meet her.. there's no harm in trying, right?" Serenade pleaded, and Rosè rolled her eyes.
    "I'm sure there's millions of girls out there missing a sister. You just had to pick the famous one who looks nothing like you?" Rosè whines.
    "I'm being serious! She's so familiar! Please Rosè? It's not like transportation ever burned a hole into your pocket!" Serenade says, stomping her feet.
    "Fine! Jeez!" Rosè exclaims, dragging Serenade through the crowd.
   
    After thorough research, (asking one person,) they found the building that ad was filmed at. It was a long drive, so the two took a community bus.
    A pregnant woman approaches the two, who are sitting next to each other sharing a playlist.
    "Excuse me, but could one of you spare a seat..? I'm so sorry to ask.." She says quietly, holding her stomach.
    "Ew, hell no! Early bird gets the worm, girl!" Rosè flips her hair, but Serenade immediately gets up and lets her sit down. Rosè stares in disbelief.
    "Thank you so much sweetheart." The woman smiles, and Serenade grins and makes a peace sign.
    "How far along are you?" Serenade says curiously, taking a seat on Rosè's lap, much to her disbelief.
    The woman stares slightly judgmentally at Serenade, who's tucked into Rosè's shoulder now. "Um.. 31 weeks." She says, moving her purse away from them. Serenade asks more in-depth questions, oblivious to the woman's uncomfortableness. Rosè, who is very aware, only finds it funny.
    "Hey Serenade.. ask if it was an accident." Rosè whispers into Serenade's ear, giggling.
    "Good question!" Serenade smiles.
    "Hey, was the baby an accident?" Serenade asks innocently, and the woman ignores her, staring ahead.
    "Hellooo? I'm asking if you meant to get pregnant or not!" Serenade says louder this time, and a few people stare at her, including a young man with dreads across from them. Rosè snorts, attempting to play it off as a cough. The woman turns red, and quietly asks her to be quiet.
    "Oh, sorry! I didn't know your accident baby was embarrassing." Serenade grins, yet Rosè is the only one who seems to know she didn't have bad intentions.
    "..I'm so sorry, ma'am." The young man sitting across from them speaks up, glaring at Serenade. He was clearly a fighter as well, catching Serenade's interest. He had on a white hoodie with a fighter design, black jeans, and uniform boots. He had piercing red eyes, which Serenade immediately complimented.
"Elixir..?" Rosè says, disgusted and also slightly afraid.
"Rosè. Have you finally grown up yet? I almost didn't recognize you at first. Your hair and eye color are different." Elixir stares through the top of his eyes.
    "And you finally got dreads," Rose sticks her tongue out.
Serenade's eyes widened. "Whoa! Rosè, you know this guy?" She points.
"I guess we weren't on the best of terms in highschool." Rosè shrugs. "I may have been a little immature, I admit. I wasn't too fond of him. What the hell are you doing in this reality anyway..? Of all realities? Small multiverse, huh?"
"I'm out on a job, I guess. Some rouge Magia." He says. "I don't know much, but it's apparently mind control, and such a big deal that I had to leave the school."
"Pfft.. you're STILL at that school? For someone who was top rank, how are you even still there?" She giggles.
He looks annoyed and looks at his phone. "I'm a professor durrr.. you're the one that hasn't grown up." Rosè shoots him a dirty look at him mocking her, and he just looks smug. Serenade kept silent, just staring at him.
She hopped off of Rosè's lap and went to talk to him. The pregnant woman, who can now clearly see Rosè, gives her a nasty look.
    After around 20 minutes, the two reach their stop.
    "Pretty pleaseee can I get your number? I'm sorry about what I said!!" Serenade whines, and the boy stops messing around with her and agrees. Serenade runs off the bus with Rosè, and squeals.
    "Stop talking to that boy." Rosè pulls her lip in disgust. Serenade is on her phone, adding his number.
    "His name was Elixirr... I think I'm gonna call him Elixx.. Wait, what? Why??" Serenade giggles. Rosè rolls her eyes and makes a gagging sound, proceeding to flip off the pregnant woman and Elixir who were getting off of the bus.
    "We're here." Rosè sighs, walking into the commercial building, walking past the receptionist, who didn't seem to get paid enough to care. Serenade, following behind, seemed to stop every minute or so to observe rooms and paintings on the wall. It was a large building, so Rosè had to ask a lot of people where to go. Fortunately, everybody seemed to know where Baron was. Such a modern building it was... With marble floors, white walls, and even a fountain in the lobby. It wasn't a hotel, but it could be one. Having gathered enough information, the two step into an elevator on the second floor.
    The two waited for the elevator to reach the top floor, when all of a sudden Serenade shivered.
    "No way.. I've totally got that feeling! It's like Sirens Senses!" Serenade giggles. Rose rolls her eyes, not bothering to respond. She takes out her phone and starts texting a group chat.
The elevator opens to reveal a tall, mature blonde woman and the navy haired girl. The blonde immediately stops when she sees the two girls standing there, Serenade gaping. The navy haired girl looks apprehensive, and confused.
    "Oh my goooddd! It's totally you!" Serenade squeals, bear hugging the orange haired girl. The door almost closes, and everybody gets out of the elevator.
    The blonde haired woman laughs nervously before pulling the two apart. "What an interesting development..! Who could you be?" She says, Rosè immediately picking up the passive aggressive tones in her voice. She already hated her.
    "My name's Serenade! I come from Phrodite! ..It's a reality." She grins, motioning toward Rosè to indicate that's where she came from too. Rosè crossed her arms. "And I'm your sister Sirens! You can feel it too, right?" She exclaims.
    "How did you find out my name..?" Sirens says, disgusted, backing up. The blonde haired woman pulls her into her body with her arm, almost like a mother figure. Her long navy hair catches under her heel and she quietly yelps.
    "Aw, c'mon! I know you feel that weird feeling too! Like we're soul-bound! I also know your name through the hologram, by the way." Serenade reaches for Sirens, and the blonde woman covers her and pushes her back with her arm. Sirens' face loses the same concerned glare and returns to an annoyed, gloomy default. Guess that explanation satisfied.
    "My name is Baron, dear. I think that Sirens might be a little shy right now, so why don't we warm up to each other first? We don't even know the slutty one's name," Baron says, with a big faux grin on her face.
    "A-Actually-" Sirens begins, but gets cut off by Baron. Rose's jaw drops. She lunges for Baron, but Serenade grabs her by the hair and Rose slaps Serenade in retaliation.
    "I understand you must be tired, dear. Why don't we all go down to the first story lounge for some tea?" Baron says with a bit more force this time, as she grabs Sirens arms and walks down to the stairs. Serenade and Rosè walk behind her.
    "As you know, my name is Baron. I run an expensive designer bag business, and I'm one of the most influential and wealthy women in this world!" She exclaims, her heels clacking against the marble floors. "You know, if you couldn't tell by my Fille Riche suit." She says, a french accent on the suit name. Her suit was mostly skintight. It was black with long sleeves, a black tie with grey accents, an undone blazer, and a latex skin tight miniskirt. It was obviously designer, and Rosè's blood boiled with envy. She could definitely afford that suit, though it might actually burn a hole in her pocket this time. Nothing she couldn't make back, right...? Maybe. Her accountants would definitely advise against it.
    "It's a pleasure to meet you, babe. I'm Rosèamunde Hall, the most influential girl back in Phrodite. I'm a winner of several fighter tournaments, I'm a model, a musical artist, and an influencer." Rosè flips her hair, trying to nab at her.
    "Aw, that's adorable!" Baron laughs. "Seriously, fighter tournaments? That brute sport? A lady like me could never take part in something so.. violent, masculine, and dirty." She drawls. Rosè growls, but before she could retort, Serenade covers her mouth.
    "She's lucky I'm behind her." Rosè whisper-growls. "I'd punch her square in that petty clean jaw of hers." She says tensely, and Serenade tries to hold her hand to calm her down.
    Serenade looks sadly over to Sirens, who looks miserable having her arm being dragged around. It also seemed that Baron was walking too fast for her, because her legs seemed to be under a lot of pressure. Sirens kept tripping and shaking, like she didn't know how to walk. Her back was mostly covered by her ponytail, but something told Serenade that Sirens wasn't all that skinny... Maybe it was the way her skin barely squeezed into the corset. She'd get Rose back later.    Though, it looked like it hurt... Serenade walks up to Sirens, and in a whisper, she says into her pointy ear "Is that corset painful for you?" Sirens, offended, glares at her and walks closer to Baron.
    Serenade, catching Baron's eye, receives a glare from her as she yanks Sirens' arm softly. "So, Sarah! You're Sirens' sister, right? Tell me about yourself!" She says cheesily as the four walk down the stairs.
    "It's Serenade, actually." Serenade giggles. "Not much to be said. I'm a fighter and a shifter, and I work at a cafe with my super-best-friend Jen, and I train with my super-best-friend Rosè. I also won the tournament the other day so now I'm like, rich and stuff." Serenade says, walking back over to Rosè. Upon hearing Serenade's classes, Baron side-eyes her and goes quiet, stepping into the lobby finally.
    "Make us some tea." Baron snaps to the man behind the counter. "Black, strong, and make it sweet for the airhead over here, dear." Baron says.
    "But I like it unsw-" Rosè starts and gets her lips shut by Baron personally. Serenade shivers, knowing that Rosè is seconds away from losing her temper. Baron pushes Sirens onto a couch, letting go of her arm.
    Serenade gently tugs on Rosè's arm to take her out of the lobby. She gently unclenches her fists.
    "Deep breaths.. you can't lose your crap here.." Serenade says nervously.
    "I'm going to actually beat the shit out of her. Who the fuck does she think she is? She looks like a foot model. That fugly bitch, I bet she lets men dick her day in and out. That's probably why she's soooo popular." Rosè seethes.
    "Mhm, you're superr right. Keep talking." Serenade tries not to laugh.
    "Like babe, we can all tell you got filler. Not just in the lips, but the cheeks, the brows, and yet still she thinks I didn't catch that crease! I wonder how many kids we passed in the city that have her DNA. They probably have mutations from all the chemicals and semen pumped into her body, face and pussy. I wonder if pussy filler exists. That's probably why her 40-year-old vagina is rejuvenated enough to take all those dicks. And she wants to talk about feminine and masculine? Because she needs to reevaluate that jaw. Do you think that's next on the list? I mean, at least my jaw is natural. My tits too." Rosè rants, hands on her hips.
    "Really, I shouldn't let her get to me. See, Serenade? I calmed myself down. You don't need to worry." Rosè says confidently.
    Serenade, who would have had her jaw dropped if she hadn't known Rosè for as long as she did, silently dragged her back into the room. Baron and Sirens were chatting over tea, but Baron's expression changed when the other two walked in. It looked almost possessive.
    "Where did you two go?" Baron smiled.
    "Ah, uh.." Serenade stammered nervously.
    "Serenade needed to use the bathroom, but she was afraid to go alone. She can be real childish, right?" Rosè laughs dryly.
    "..I see. Well, no use getting worked up or anything. The tea is here." Baron says, pouring Serenade a cup. Rosè, confused on why she didn't get a cup, quickly realized Baron knew she wouldn't want one. She remembered that?
    "Hey Sirens, you haven't talked about yourself yet." Serenade says, taking a sip of tea, her eyes lighting up. "S-Seriously? This is the best tea I've ever had.. this might just beat the cafe tea." She grins.
    "Surprising. You never shut up about that cafe. Even when training, it's always "Jen blah blah tea blah coffee blah blah rude customer blah blah tea.." while you get your shit rocked. You concern me sometimes." Rosè scoffs.
    "..I really like cafes.." Sirens mumbles, also drinking her tea. Baron shoots a glare at her. Serenade gasps.
    "Omg, really? That's the first thing I get to know about you, and I already like you! Hey, maybe after this, I could take you back home and show you my cafe and ho-" Serenade gets cut off.
    "Whoa now! Let's not jump the gun here! Home is here, her job is here, and everything she needs is here." Baron smiles.
    "Well yeah I understand that but I thought she just might want to see-"
    "No. That is my final answer." Baron puts her cup down.
    "Hey lady, you aren't her mother!" Rosè growls, and Serenade could see her anger slipping. "You don't get to cut off my friend like that. And you don't get to dictate to her sister either." Rosè states, crossing her arms.
    "Now dear, we don't even know if they're sisters or not. I'd hate to see if something happened to Sirens because she went with a stranger." Baron says.
    Serenade pouted. "Of course we're sisters, you believe me, right Sirens?" Serenade pleaded.
    "I do. I can feel that, the thing you were talking about. Also, I'm an adult. ..I can do what I want." She pulls her arm away. Baron looks at her as if she'd just committed a crime, but keeps quiet.
    "I'd be interested in seeing this world with you." Sirens says, her expression unchanging. "Just as long as I'd have a place to stay." She says.
    "Duuhh! I have, like, a huge house with a million guest rooms!" Serenade boasts. "You'd totally have a place!" She says.
    "That's great! Unfortunately, Sirens is going to be busy with me for the next few weeks, and she can't afford to fit you in her schedule whatsoever." Baron says energetically, not matching her frowning expression. "I'm afraid there's no room for you two here either. I'm going to have to ask you two to leave." She says coldly.
    "Are you that fucking forgetful? Hellooo? I told you you don't own the girl. Why don't you close your fucking lips for once and let her speak?" Rosè says sarcastically.
    "I'm sorry, you don't speak to me that way masc girl," Baron grins with a smile that gives away the fact she's losing her patience. "And if you and that other stranger don't leave at once, I'm calling security." Baron said.
    It was at that moment Rose lost her temper. She lunged at Baron, who swatted her away without any hesitation. Effortlessly. Serenade's eyes widened in horror. Sirens, who didn't know a thing about Rose, just assumed she was really weak. But seeing violence made Sirens grin. Once Rose got up, she glared at Baron with a face that emitted pure horror and anger. Baron only softly smiled and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.
    "What happened to fighting being a brute, masculine sport?" Rose laughs, with an insane look in her eyes.
    "G-Guys, we can work this out-" Serenade starts, but her lips are sealed by an unknown force.
    "What do you mean, Hall?" Baron raises an eyebrow.
    "I want you to look at me, dead in the eye. Tell me you've never trained a day in your life." Rose hisses. Baron bites her lip and stays silent.
    "You can't accept that someone is naturally stronger than you? How did you even win a tournament for 8 years straight when you're so weak? Did you cheat, dear?" Baron stands up, almost as if she'd be willing to participate in a fight with Rose.
    "How dare you?" Rose spits gravely, getting into a stance. "For someone who can talk so much shit, I don't see your fists up."
    "You'd be willing to fight me, knowing you'd lose?" Baron drawls, placing a hand under her chin and folding the other perpendicularly.
    "I didn't earn my title for nothing." Rose declares.
    "Though, you lost it for nothing... Serenade won, didn't she?" Baron continues to spew verbal jabs.
    "If I win, Sirens is ours," Rose ignores her previous comment.
    Baron's smile fades. "You want to fight right here?"
    "Someone like you surely has the money for the repairs. Come at me, studio slut!" Rose smirks. Serenade and Sirens both giggle, and Serenade swaps seats so she can sit next to Sirens on the couch. She then motions to the guy behind the counter, at a safe distance, to make her some popcorn. Then, they continue to chat about Phrodite and the cafe. Sirens interest is undeniably piqued. Despite all the shit Baron was talking about earlier, Serenade swore she saw a bead of sweat run down her face. Rose lunged to Baron with a yell, throwing a punch into the crater behind her. Baron swished out of the way, her hair narrowly getting caught. She looked worried.
    Rose threw punch after punch, and Serenade knew Rose– she could do this all day. She wouldn't get tired... But Baron dodged over and over again, and raised her knee in an attempt to slam Rose in the stomach. Rose backed up, and snorted.
    "Huh. Maybe you really haven't ever trained," teases Rose. "Come on, do something! This fight is boring!" She whines, throwing another punch. Baron hisses and she grabs Rose. Who's somewhat far away from her... Have Baron's limbs always been abnormally long? Rose doesn't hesitate though. She grips her right hand twice, and her ax takes shape. She raises the ax and slams it down on her abnormally long extended arm. Baron immediately tries to retract it, but Rose was too swift. Her forearm was cut off. Serenade gags and looks away, instead laying on Sirens' chest. Baron stammers, and Rose raises an eyebrow.
    "M-My precious arm! You disgusting, whorish, fighting brute!" Baron yells, and Rose's guard drops once she hears a second tone in her voice– one deeper, more threatening and grim. As if her voice had 2 dimensions to it. Was she the only one who heard it? Baron seemingly noticed her guard dropping, because she threw a powerful punch that hit Rose in the face. Her thigh extended as she slammed Rose forward from the front. As if she kicked Rose into her direction. She dodged her own Rose attack. Rose retracted her ax in order to have the mobility to skid across the marble floors and evade Baron's crushes. Despite the pressure, the running, and the twisting, Rose's heels don't budge, and she doesn't trip once. Did she really learn how to fight in heels specifically? Did she master it? All of these questions ran through Serenade's head, who was now watching again– just Rose though. She wasn't the most agile, but damn, was she pretty agile...
    Then, Sirens got up abruptly. Exhausted, and having been coerced by Serenade's unsupervised words, she floats toward the door.
    "Sirens, you're making a grand mistake. If you float out of those automatic doors, our contract is up. You need me. You know you do." Baron says firmly. Sirens stayed quiet. Is doing whatever she wants really worth her financial stability?
    "If it's about money, you know me and Rosè are like richie rich, right?" Serenade blinks. "It might not be as much as you'll get from her, but we could toootally help you out until you get a job or something." She says.
    "Oh. I would like that I guess." Sirens shrugs, floating out. Baron shrieks, yelling more things that the three couldn't make out. She dropped to her knees and began to seethe. Rose felt an uncomfortable churn in her gut. She'd be a problem.
   
    "Before anything, I want to get to know your home first!" Serenade grins. "Show me around your reality, okay?" Serenade says, as they walk along the sidewalk together. Except for Sirens, who was still floating.
    Rosè clears her throat. "Uh, no, don't think I forgot. We're going to the bank!" Rosè exclaims, dragging Serenade by the arm. Sirens follows quietly, not having the slightest clue what's going on.
    "How are you two rich..?" Sirens mumbles.
    "Huh? I could've sworn we mentioned it!" Serenade pouted.
    "..I'm kinda forgetful I guess.." Sirens laments. "I dunno.. or I wasn't listening. I forgot. I was thinking about other things."
    "That's a lot of excuses! Anyway, Rosè is soo much more rich, but that's ok! I didn't even do it for the money anyway. By it, I mean the tournament! You know, the fighter tournament. Rosè got all hissy at me and threw a temper tantrum and told me she was gonna kill me and stuff and challenged me." Serenade rambles.
    "Hissy? Was not! You were totally hitting on him! You would've reacted the same way!" Rosè says defensively.
    "Nope! Then again though, I don't have a boyfriend. Speaking of that, I wonder if he texted me back hehe.." Serenade trails off, pulling out her phone. Rosè and Sirens slow down, letting her walk ahead.
    "I won the Top Fighter Tournament for 8 years in a row, eventually becoming a model and a music artist as well. I have multiple sources of income, and I'm a celebrity there. That's how I'm rich. Your sister just so happened to catch me on a bad day and beat me in the tournament." Rosè sighed.
    Sirens had a feeling it wasn't just a "bad day," but kept quiet because she could care less. Her reactions didn't concern her anyway.
    After walking for a bit more time, and eavesdropping on Serenade's conversation with the boy she met, they arrived at the bank.
    "Awww.. Rosè is making me gooo.. I'll talk to you later!! Bye bye!!" Serenade giggles, flapping her hands quickly.
    "You really like that boy already, huh?" Rosè jokes, and Serenade blushes and spins back and forth.
    "How could I not? I'm sooo lovesick!! I wanna move in together, and hug, and maybe even.." Serenade hushes her voice. "K-kiss.." She whispers in Rosè's ear. Rosè laughs, to Serenade's confusion.
"Alright, but don't expect me to show up at the wedding or whatever. I'd never attend an event with him as a focus." Rosè rolls her eyes, and Serenade stares at the floor, red.
"W-Wedding..?" She mumbles.
    Rosè approaches the lady behind the glass, and has a long conversation with her. After getting Serenade involved, opening an account, signing some paperwork, by the time they went to leave, Sirens was fast asleep on a chair.
    "Sirens.. hello? Wake up.. it's 1 pm.." Serenade pouts, rocking Sirens back and forth to shake her awake.
    "How the hell do you pass out in a bank chair mid-afternoon?" Rosè says judgmentally, and Serenade shoots her a look.
    "We don't know what she's been through!" Serenade sticks out her tongue.
    "What kind of trauma makes you knock out in banks?" Rosè rolls her eyes.
    "Ask Sirens that question," Serenade says, shrugging.
    "I don't have trauma.. I'm fine.." Sirens says, awoken by their yapping. She yawns. "I just have a bad sleep schedule."
    "Ooh! That makes sense," Serenade shrugs, helping Sirens up.
    "So I can make fun of you?" Rosè says.
    "No." They both say.