Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
The Island of the Sirens

Sirens have been depicted and seen as birds with large women's heads, avian feathers and scaly feet in anquity, but the siren's true form is that of a hideous, hairless, vaguely-humanoid monstrosity with gaunt, inhuman facial features. They are able to take on multiple forms to deceive their prey -- humans -- usually transforming into a person that matches their victims' desire, such as a lover, friend or anything else that person may long for. Sirens can alter the perceptions into anyone befitting their target, so they can get close to their victims and infect them with their essence. Because a siren's true visage can be revealled by a mirror, it's possible that this is not genuine shape-shifting, but rather just a form of affecting the perceptions of the humans around them.

By using a pseudo-venom gland in their mouths, they can infect people with large doses of the hormone oxytocin or at the very least, one similar or derivative to it. Victims with this much of the hormone in their systems experience an intense euphoria and pseudo-love for the creature that extends beyond just the physical realms. They feel as if they truly love the monster to their cores and need, and desire, whatever the creature says it does for itself, and, as acts of love and devotion, the ensnared are willing to carry out drastic, most usually violent and deadly, requests simply for the asking. These terrible acts are usually perpetrated against those the victim loved before being infected -- just to prove just how much they love the siren. Once these acts of violence are enacted (or even just as they've just begun), the siren "gets bored" and immediately vanishes, leaving their victims emotionally broken to deal with the consequences of their own actions.

The compulsion is so powerful that they do these things regardless of personal beliefs, desires, morals or of the consequences resulting from said acts. Not even being fully aware of the siren's nature can prevent this.

While there are exceptions, sirens don't feed on humans, technically. Instead, they feel an intense rush of pleasure and exhilaration when their victims carry out atrocities against other loved ones. Like the people they infect, the intense feelings of euphoria do not last long and they quickly grow bored with their targets and venture off to find others.

Sirens can also read the minds of their targets, learning what it is that person desires and yearns for in others. Then it gives that to them, though through illusion. This includes not just physical characteristics, but also mental ones.

In ancient times, they lived on islands and forced sailors to chase them, driving their ships onto the rocks. During those times, they were bound ever so tightly to their islands, marooned and magically tied. But over the centuries those bindings of magic failed andships came to the island.  But they require a deserted island to reproduce, so their numbers are severely limited, by good fortune.

A young siren, called Alluria, was hatched upon a small island, alone, in a forgotten clutch. Its siblings had not survive to hatching, as sirens were born in clutches of one to three lumpy eggs. She was the only surviver of its generation.

It had managed to get onto a seaworthy vessel by imitating and mimicking a young damsel, picked from the captain's mind. She -- it -- left the island upon which it hatched. Off to cause more chaos in the world. . . .

[guitarhero01234]

For some reason, I have a feeling this book is gonna go somewhere cool. I have no idea why.

[Cloak]

Won't really know until it's written.

New chapter.

. . .

And . . . sorry, GH, I . . . I couldn't resist.

CHAPTER THREE:
Dreams and Dangers

"Ahem!" Ash cleared her throat.

"Oh, here we go," Estelore said. She was sitting with Cloak and Richard, as Ash sang, with a white top hat and cane.

"Superamigos is what we're called,
But really that is bogus!"

Then Aquilai sang:

"At best, we say we are work colleagues,
No matter how you coach us!"

Then, together, they sang:

"There's really only three of you,
The rest of us are tokens!"

Then they pointed to Rocklobster, Kaizer, Yarin, and Broken as they lined up.

"Robot! Fish! And alien! A male hocus-pocus!"

Then Sam sang:

"If Superamigos is what we are,
Then come and help me move!"

The Sakki sang:

"I asked if you could come and feed my cat,
You left to save the Louve!"

Myitt sang:

"I asked if you drive me to the airport,
You said, 'best to call a cab'.
So, how are we the superamigos?"

Blaze interjected:

"Here, let me take a stab."

He flicked an meek flame arrow from his bow, as Blue took up the song.

"Superamigos is just a name!
On Spacebook, you won't poke us."

Then, in a chorus, everyone sang:

"It all about the Unity dues,
Which really kinda a joke to us."

Then Shock put in:

" Your members change so frequently,
Commitment is a sham, see?"

Faerie sang:

"You say you don't charge minors,
But then you bill Dpsb!"

Blaze intoned:

"Superamigos are there for you,
They always got your back!"

Then GH sang:

"And, yet, clearly you said nothing
When I went out dressed like that*!"

Gaz sang:

"I was really strapped for cash, it was really, really tight.
But asking you for money seems to be your Kryptonite!"

They sang, in chorus:

"Sure, we saved the world and all, plus all the other Earths."

Then Helen sang:

"But sit through 'Twilight' with me,
And you would really prove your worth."

Cerulean sang:

"But that's what Superamigos are for, sing Yarin Jones!"

"If you would only change the name,
This place would feel like home!"

Then they sang, all together:

"If you would only change the name,
This place would feel like home!"

"Huh?"

Cloak awoke on his bed, in his thread. He grunted, "Great. Now I'm dreaming in non sequiturs."

***

Meanwhile, under the cover of darkness, the siren known as Alluria stepped onto the mainland, as the captain of the ship was shaking in paroxysms of grief. Apparently, in order to prove his love for this supernatural siren (unaware that "she" wasn't a "she" -- or a "he" for that matter -- or that "she" wasn't even human), he killed his trusted and loved -- platonically -- copilot of the ship.

Alluria stepped lightly and serenely from its first steps upon the mainland. It looked around and marveled. It was going to enjoy it here. Gonna enjoying creating some of the darkest kinds of chaos.

It chuckled a dark and slightly sinister way, unaware that it was being watched. Watched by someone that it cannot disguise itself from. By someone it cannot affect. . . .


Song source: https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=52ZJOawHi5o

*Sorry again, GH. I . . . I just couldn't resist, even thouh I know its a mean swipe . . . but then again, the whole adaptation is . . .

[guitarhero01234]

I laughed. Really, I kinda opened myself up to it when I posted those pictures.

Still waiting on that bathtub full of coffee, though. . . .

[Cloak]

As I said, I couldn't reaist.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Bloodsport

But the siren wasn't done with its fun, unaware that its movements and actions were being closely monitored by someone, some being, that it had no knowledge of and was ever so blissfully unaware of.

In the guise of a pretty young thing, she managed to convince an older teenager to murder his father and severely harm two of his three siblings. The siren easily dropped the disguise after the elation had passed.

Then, in the guise of a teen hearthrob, he managed to convince three normally-close sisters to kill each other, and severely harm a fourth, the "runt", as they put it. The siren had dropped the guise and remained unseen by the trio during the bloody quarrel.

Then, in the guise of rather promiscuous-looking woman with a melodious voice, it managed to convince an hard-as-nails Army man to kill his old Army buddy without much effort. It really savered this one, as there had been a great deal of brotherly love between the two, and a trust that was very strong until this betrayal.

Then, disguised as a young boy, it managed to convince a young girl to commit matricide -- convinced her to kill her own mother. He -- it -- watched this both enthralled and embroiled vicariously with the horrid act. Then it got bored, and dropped the disguise, which actually had a somewhat musical quality, almost like the antithesis, the pllar opposite, to the bouncy, whimsical music of the Fairy Godmother in Disney's "Cinderella".

Then, again disguised a boy, an adolescent one this time, coerces a young woman to poison her father, conjoles her to commit patricide. But, when she comes to talk to her "love", she discovers him gone.

Alluria had disguised herself as a kindly man, and conjoled a girl to kill her neglectful parents, which Alluria did not realize were abusive. This did not give it the high that it was looking for, as the girl was emotionally broken before Alluria even came into the picture. Alluria didn't stick around.

It decided to coerce a riddle-loving man to kill his protege. But he fails, and Alluria lost interest quite quickly. This puts a rift between the man and the said protege, something that would always be there.

Alluria chose its next victim rather quickly. It was an ambituous, if not a little neglectful, father of one. It disguised itself as a man in a suit, telling the man that he could get a promotion -- if he killed his only son. The man does so without a second thought, but was panicked when he both realized what he did and the man in the suit vanished.

The next victim Alluria chose was a rather . . . ample-bodied woman, but it can seem to get any response out of her, as she appeared to have no discontent with anything, and she couldn't seem to be controlled. The siren had never known anyone to be able to resist the songs and words of sirens, and found this very disquieting.

Alluria decided to switch victims. It seduced a man, but then realized that he had no loved ones, having been on his own, isolated from everyone, of his own violation. Alluria completely lost interest in him, and turned him away.

It then turned a cape-wearing man, conjoling him to kill his favorite cousin. The man was going to do it, but it was rather like a man under the Imperius Curse, and not of his violation. And he was fighting it, proving himself to be a being of incredible willpower. Alluria was surprised. This was also unprecedented, and it did not like it, believing that its chemical venom was not good enough.

It chose another victim. A ten-year-old boy. It gets him to assault his friendly rival, a battle to the death. They are broken up before anything could really come out of it.

More victims were to come. A police officer. An entomologist. A vivacious schoolgirl crybaby. A mythologist. An overweight, shirtless brawler. A demure schoolgirl. A cold, icy man. The cousin of the caped man. A masked wrestler. And a dark, long-haired young woman.

In a new district, Alluria discovered new victims. A schoolteacher. A surfer. An electrician. A fiery teenager. A mundane father. An aviation expert. A pair of twins. A dandy and his mentor. A punkish man. A spirited young woman. A matronly woman. A bare-chested sailor. And a geologist.

Alluria decided that this was indeed worth leaving its birth island.

[redtailedsaffa]

I'm alive! Don't worry, there was lots of workload, but it didn't finish me off... yet! And I've finally caught up. Damn, the ending of the last book though. :'(

I'm a few PDFs behind, but I'll get to those once I'm back home and my to-do list is cleared.

And happy birthday, again!

[Cloak]

Damn, the ending of the last book though. :'(

Yeah, but it probably isn't an all too surprising consequence, considering how animals in such menageries were mistreated and malnourished. Yeah, it was a very bad place for them, as they were nothing but trophies to Rosch. And, of course, Rosch (and people like him, because, god knows, there are) would use this as better than mounting their heads to their mantle (which I never got the point of, but I guess some people need to prove their masculinity, as ridiculous as it may sound).

And happy birthday, again!

Thanks!

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Rated G . . . For Gratuitous

The siren, this Alluria, was completely without scruples or morality, though it found them useful tools against her human prey. It wasn't about stop its hunt for victims just because what it was doing was wrong.

Its next victims included a miner, a forest recluse, a mixed martial artist with a bandaged nose, a luchador, a mannish woman with a thick French accent, another miner, a bubbly teenager in pigtails, an amateur rocker, an entomologist, an elderly woman, a bookish bespectacled man, a clown, and a calm, demurred woman.

"Oh," came a voice, viewing this from a rather comically impractical crystal ball, "how . . . interesting."

The speaker watched Alluria's next spurt of victims. Waiter triplets. A cheeky homemaker. A flamboyant artist. An aloof supermodel. A serious tycoon. A ditzy teenager. A methodical actor. A hard-working man. A little girl with a lot of black hair. A horror writer with a superficial resemblance to Velma of "Scooby Doo". A pseudo-vampire (a man acting out all the vampire tropes, despiting not being one). A sleepy young woman with a lot of blonde hair. A loud mixed martial artist. And a lecher who has a habit of mixing up names.

"Such a lack of rectitude," said the speaker, "it's rather refreshing, actually. What with all the moralizing, weak fools there in this day and generation."

Then the speaker watched passively as Alluria continued to victimize her prey. A photographer. A rock-climber. A rollar skater. An elderly man with a cane. A young, inventive boy. A rather creepy, fairy-like woman. A "psychic" (a conwoman that Yarin despises, if fact). A heavy set man. An aloof woman with rose-tinted glasses. A motherly octogenarian. A man who insisted on wearing a suit of armor. A volatile cook. And a fashionable A-list actress.

"This is very good," the owner of the voice said, leaning into the light of the crystal ball, for want of a better term. The owner of the voice was, rather unsurprisingly, Malice. "Very good, indeed."

 She returned to the shadows, with a laugh that would not been out of place issuing from the Joker's mouth. Her maliciousness was outright and, indeed, overt.

"This allows me enough time to complete my next scheme," she said, smiling sinisterly. "Good thing, too. This will take extreme eye to detail. . . ."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Not Unnoticed

All the siren's pleasings did not go unnoticed by law enforcement. But a majority of the law enforcement officials mostly dismissed these cases as having any links to each other, despite accounts of similar "imaginary friends", to use their term, but they did not take it serious, believing it only to be a feeble excuse for the actions.

One could argue that they were excuses, though their actions were obviously manipulated. It was a rather sticky issue when all information was known. The siren only persuaded, conjoled, and convinced them to commit their actions. Granted, Alluria's venom makes its victim far more open to persuasion, so much so that it is arguable whether it's borderline mind control.

Soon enough, the RAFians became aware of this. And the question of whether it was their jurisdiction arose quickly. It wasn't as cut and dry as the thread or the Heinlin menace or Proteus or the like, this one was a lot more subtle and difficult to navigate the politics of. It would be very bad PR for them if they overstepped their bounds on this one. And thanks to people like Bern Bridges, their PR is rather frail and feeble enough as is.

Then the footage came.

It so happened that someone happened to catch Alluria on camera, while disguised as a ten-year-old boy. Most of the RAFians saw just a dark-haired ten-year-old with hazel eyes and a red-and-white ball cap, Cloak saw Alluria for what it really was. It's not very easy to deceive a Realm Walker in such a way.

"Wait," Cloak said, seeing the footage, "there."

"It's a kid," Sakki said, bluntly, "so?"

"No. It's not." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what that thing, not really, but I know one thing. It wasn't human." Cloak said.

"Looks like a kid to me," Saffa said.

"Saffa. How many times have gone against creatures or being that look like kids, but really aren't?" Abby said. "Parasites. Ghosts and possession. Illusions. Mind control. We dealt with them all, and there were kids -- as well as adults and the elderly -- involved in that."

Then Cloak realized that he recognized the creature, albeit vaguely. He looked at the footage again, which was replaying on a constant loop. He scrutinized what he saw very seriously. Could be . . . ?

"A siren," Cloak murmured. "A supernatural siren."

"What? What was that?" Aquilai asked.

"It's a siren."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
A Veritable Smorgasbord

Meanwhile, GH was sitting on the edge of a fountain of white marble, or some facsimile, sending water cascading up. The water collected in the basin glittered with the mounds of discarded coins, pennies mostly. GH had his back to it, guitar on his lap, mind deep in thought.

GH thought these fountains would have been shut off because of the cold, but he was thinking this idly. His mind was still on the Slamworm they were unale to save. And he was thinking about the Buglizard, Terroranchula, and drakon still to be found. He had no idea where they were, and he feared that they might end up like the Slamworm. He felt pity for the ceature, sure. But he also felt a deep sadness -- no creature deserved to be treated in such a way, in such a overly harsh and needlessly cruel way.

"Hello," came a voice. An unfamiliar, but not altogether unpleasant one.

"Hiya," GH said, a bit gruffer than he intended. He wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation.

The person who approached him did not seem to notice and he finally looked up at her. She had dark, raven hair a deep caramel skin, though she was was bundled up rather prudently. Her lips were full and a deep red. But her eyes . . . they were like cavernous tunnels that might swallow you up without a second thought.

She smiled a smile that glittered as much as the water behind him. Her face betrayed no element of malice . . . but her eyes . . . and there seemed to be an unheard song playing somewhere. GH was aware of all this, but in a detached sort of way, as if he were a Controller, only without a Yeerk.

She sat down. She was much too close. GH wanted her to back away.

"What's your name?" she asked sweetly.

GH said nothing. He could feel something about her that he really didn't like, something that made him feel rather nervous and anxious. Not to mention that certain aspects about her reminded him of . . . of her . . . and with the memory of her came memories of what happened then. They were not pleasant times.

The woman, she was beautiful too, chuckled pleasantly. She seemed to have no malice. Why was every instinct GH possessed telling him to get away and maintained some distance? Could it be that she looked like . . .

"My name is Alexandrite Alluria," she said, sticking out a hand, in a good-natured way. GH couldn't se any harm in shaking the hand, as, after all, he did not about the threat of a supernatural siren about. "And you are?"

GH eyed the hand wearily, not knowing why. Like a dog that had a cruel master, that was offered sudden kindness. But this was a simple handshake. What dangers could there be from that?

He resched out, unconciously with the hand inscribed with his Mark. Alexandrite seemed to be normal. Nothing seemed to be out of the usual. And yet . . .

She screamed.

She screamed when GH touched his Mark to her flesh. She quickly released, showing her hand was smoking with blue smoke, which was curling from GH's hand as well, but he wasn't harmed at all. He was more perplexed than anything.

Then he noticed somethjng rather conspicuous. Alexandrite's hand no longer looked human. In fact she looked like a patchwork of the human disguise Alexandrite and the siren Alluria. And the human parts looked like they were merely a costume the siren beneath was addorned in. Within moments, it decided to do away with the illusionary human costume, and rather than attack GH, it fled. Fled because it remembered what happened to its hand, which was still charred, but healing slowly. Very slowly.

Gh didn't stick around either. He went straight back to the forum, to tell the others of this. Then he remembered that his guitar could turn into a hoverbike, not unlike Terra, Aqua, or Ventus with their Keyblades, then he used that to get back faster.

[guitarhero01234]

GH said nothing. He could feel something about her that he really didn't like, something that made him feel rather nervous and anxious. Not to mention that certain aspects about her reminded him of . . . of her . . . and with the memory of her came memories of what happened then. They were not pleasant times.

The woman, she was beautiful too, chuckled pleasantly. She seemed to have no malice. Why was every instinct GH possessed telling him to get away and maintained some distance? Could it be that she looked like . . .

Ooh, could this be foreshadowing? Me likey!

Even though the idea of me being with a woman is pretty unlikely.

[Cloak]

I'd tell you, GH. But Saffa has that skillet . . .

Anyway, new book ideas.

• Book DCCCXXIII: "A Spike of Control" -- The RAFians must battle someone who is half human, and half M'arrillian.
• Book DCCCXXIV: "Blue's Students" -- A clan of ninjas come to RAF, to learn from Blue.
• Book DCCCXXV: "Preeminence Presence" -- The RAFians must fight the Preeminence.
• Book DCCCXXVI: "And Her Mate . . ." -- And then they must face her mate, Diagon.

All titles are subject change. Lemme know what you think.

[redtailedsaffa]

Ooooh, interesting!

[Cloak]

New chapter. Sorry about the brevity.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Requiem of Reflection

The siren, Alluria, ran away from the town square. From that terrifying creature. It had never known fear, not really. It had grown to assume that nothing could hurt it, that it would not be able to be found out, that none of its victims happened to look at a simple mirror or reflection before falling under Alluria's sway, under her enigmatic thrall.

It had grown complacent and overconfident, and, in doing so, it had grown arrogant and careless. It could see that now, or, at least, it thought it could.

It looked at its hand, so unlike a human hand normally, with the corpse-gray skin and unusually thin fingers. It was not gray right now, but blackened and crinkled with heat. It was healing, to be true, but far slower than it should.

What was it about that creature that it could retard its healing? Injuries like this should have healed up moments ago. As it was, this hand was useless in this state. The skin still very tender and hot to the touch. Hand joints were uncomfotably stiff . . . perhaps due to the venom it had secreted onto its hand. It did that so that a simple handshake would have put the stupid human under its thrall! It would have worked! It should have worked! Why didn't it work?

Whatever those creatures were they were to be avoided. But sirens could be an officious breed, and rather stubborn with what they did. It decided that it required a few more victims that it could gictimize would help heal its hand quicker. It made no sense, even if it was, indeed, true.

It disguised itself as an authority figure, something that an ambitious, reckless boy secretly and unconsciously desired. Alluria, going by the nomme de plume of Jim Leedur, convinced this ten-year-old boy that his companions are standing jn his way and needed to be removed. That he need to kill them. "He" brushed the boy's neck sith "his" uninjured hand, infecting the boy with the toxin.

Easily swayed, this boy went and tried to commit it. He didn't succeed, but Alluria didn't stick around to see. It had already gotten what it wanted, and the friendship of the trio of friends were fissured and fractured, and Alluria didn't care.

After discarding the appearance and persona of Jim Leedur, Alluria looked at its hand, and saw it had indeed healed up progressively faster than it would have without it. It needed to do this. It found secreting its venom via palms, fingertips, and salvia to be the easiest ways to inoculate victims with its venom.

That creature must be an anomaly. Possessing some sort of allergic reaction to its venom. Wait, that didn't make sense. That human-looking creature must have cause it to have an allergic reaction to . . . its own . . . venom. That didn't make anymore sense than before, though.

Alluria decided to ignore these queries, and continue to do was it was supernaturally designed to do. . . .

[guitarhero01234]

To be fair, I tend to have this effect on a lot of people.

[Cloak]

Ah there is at least one fictional entity . . . all right, Saffa, put it away. I won't indulge in any spoilers.

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
Reports and Second Chances

"Charles Horace Kelley. Adam Silenus Morgan." Goom said, with weary clinical demeanor. "Brutally murdered by one Bella Donna Lewis."

"They couldn't be any other than ten," Saffa remarked. "What the actual hell?"

Parker, however, felt a surge of guilt, though he bore no responsibility. He recognized the profiles of these three kids. As did Cloak, Aquilai, FuBar, and Bladeh.

"Does the report say anything more?" Cloak said.

"Just that little Donna claimed that she did it because a boy she liked asked her to," Goom said. "She claims she didn't know what she was doing, that she wasn't in control of herself."

"Just like anyone in that position would claim," RYTX replied dismissively. "Feeble excuses as well."

"She's ten, RYTX, or close enough to count as ten," Abby said. "Everyone's naive and unrealistically hopeful at that age."

"No matter the species," Cloak muttered to himself.

"Guys, it's so obvious," GH said. "It's that . . . that . . . that thing that I told you about. That thing who I nearly burned her -- its -- hand off with my Mark."

"Interesting," Saffa said, sincerely.

"What did you see after?" Cloak said, at once. "The girl who you shook hands with."

"Oh, yea--" someone was about cheer, rather lecherously, thinking it to be really bad innuendo.

"Silence." Cloak snapped, his irritation getting the better of him. "Continue, GH."

He did, and Cloak knew immediately what they were up against.

"A siren," he said.

"Say what?" GH said. "I thouht that sirens were suppose to be beautiful women who sung just as bueautifully, luring people to get killed upon the rocks in the seas near their islands. Wow, that was wordier then I thought."

"They are," Cloak said. "Time to brief you on what I know."

"By looking it up on Wikipedia?" Saffa inquired, with a mischievous smile.

"Shut up."

***

Meanwhile, Ash was not at the forum, but going about her own business. She was not aware of the presence of a siren, as she decided to go and be a bit of a mallrat for a while. No, not literally a mall rat.

She had simply sat down on the low, titled wall of the planter that was in the center of the wide corridor. She was trying to decide if she needed anything else here before she would be needed at the forum. They were kind of due for a Malice plot or scheme by now.

"Hello, there," came a male voice. Ash didn't bother looking up. She didn't want to give this guy anymore incentive to hit on her, and hoped that he could take a hint.

He couldn't.

He sat down next turn her, too close. Was he drunk or just plain stupid? He was trying to press himself closer. She scooted away, keeping her distance. He just scooted closer. She scooted away. He scooted even closer.

Ash's last nerve was being worked, and she lost it.

"Hey jerk!" Ash said, irritated. Yeah, he may have been pretty, but he was clearly an arrogant, persistant misogynist incapable of taking a hint. "Take a friggin' hin--"

"AAAAHH!" he screamed, having seen her palm as she pointed an accusatory finger towards him. He fled, leaving a very surprised Ash behind.

"Wha . . ."