nightingale

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Prompt: Red Herring

also I'm a sucker for anaphora but y'all already know that by now hehe

In a palace full of ocean treasures,

Lay a siren, just another trinket.

In her veins flowing murder and rage.

Though she was but trapped in a cage.

But not for long, thinks the siren.

But not for long, her lips curl in a sneer.

But not for long, she calls the prince to her side.

And then the siren, she sings to her lover;

I'm tired of laying here in the sun.

Do you want me to burn up?

Smoke me up and turn me red.

You like the way I bleed for you, don't you?

I do so much for you, my love.

The light I bear for your sake.

But darling, don't you love the dark better?

It is in the nox that you become something akin to mine.

I can't sink my teeth into you from within this cage, can I?

Can you feel my lips through the glass?

Does seeing the want in my eyes alone satisfy you?

Don't you want to feel my hands on your neck?

Come to me. She beckons.

Come to me. She sings.

Come to me. And you do, like a fool.

Your hold on her waist is gentle.

Her human-like legs wrap around yours like tentacles.

Blood red hair flows past her shoulders.

Your siren laughs into the kiss.

She has you under her spell,

You know, and yet you don't care.

You succumb to her song willingly.

Submit to her every mood and whim.

Maybe you lost your purpose along the way.

All those corals and crystals stopped giving you joy.

Maybe you want to know what its like to drown from a kiss.

You've wondered too many times, how does it feel to have your heart ripped from your chest?

You fell for false clues and deception. 

You fell for betrayal and words that cut like glass.

You fell for acid and for scales that gleam brighter than the moon.

You fell for a red herring - and it felt like a dream.

It felt like a dream. She circles her sharp fingers around your chest, making you bleed.

It felt like a dream. Her songs and kisses keep you from hurting when her fingers sink in and pulls it away from you.

It felt like a dream. The last thing you see is her tender smile, your heart in her hand.

To have loved a human,

To have given herself to him entirely.

To have felt but hunger and hate for the land-dwellers.

To have felt pure, agonizing pain when her lover's heart touched her waiting fingers.

That was the stuff of legends.

That was what the siren would sing about.

That was the one thing she would carry forever,

Along with the heart of a human prince and the lingering ghost of his kisses.

And she regrets. Tears escape the siren's ocean eyes.

And she regrets. Her bloodied hands rub against his cold, dead cheeks.

Why did death make one so cold?

Why did death make one so quiet?

Why did death put a smile on her lover's face?

Why did death make numbness settle in her stomach?

The red herring cries for all her deceit.

But she knows. That was what he had wanted.

But she knows. That was what the Fates had chosen as her destiny.

The siren returns to the water - Queen of the Sea.

To Blue and Carter, for being my sirens - singing me songs of hope and encouragement ♥️

Don't forget to tell me what you think of this piece C: