Siren

Kyndra on a mission... well, now we know where that lady took her.

I walk back to my dorm, case file in hand. Just kidding, the file is already on my screen back at home, waiting for me. Seraphimbia hasn’t used physical case files in who knows how long. As I walk down the path, I see a group of my friends, Rick, Elliott, Draike, Kylara, Natalie, and Zania, as well as two of my other friends, Talon and Alek. We wave, and they invite me to go deep-sea diving with them, which I politely decline in favor of my new mission.

When I get to my dorm, Dorm 8, the creativity dorm, I duck into my room and am grateful when I discover that my roommate is out. Thank goodness. She’s nice and all, but this is a top-secret mission, and sometimes, she’s more than a bit nosy. I tap a button on my screen, and the case file pops into hologram, and I flip through it, looking at the diagram of the mission place and the object of my mission. The case file of the leader of the group is included, but severely incomplete. Tyron Jernigan, alias Drum Major. Drum Major? Seriously? I swear, these villains come up with stupider and stupider ideas every day. Powers: Necrosis. I don’t know what that is, but it doesn’t sound very useful. Weapons: No known. Seems easy enough. I change into my mission uniform, grab my weapons, and head out to the helipad.

A couple of hours and one sore butt later, I’m dropping out of the heli into the dark night, falling some forty feet (ouch), and landing on the deck of what looks like a really old really big fishing schooner. I creep noiselessly around to the stern, where the captain’s quarters and what I’m looking for are likely to be. I hear footsteps and withdraw behind a couple of barrels and catch a glimpse of a guy carrying a... a clarinet?? What the hell is a dude carrying a clarinet around on a ship for?? Oh, wait, that’s an oboe. My bad. Must be a sort of marching band-themed gang. I pity the low brass and percussion sections. Once they’ve passed, I slip out and continue on to the back of the ship. I make my way around the ship, planting explosives in key places, based off of my analysis of the ship. When I finish, I creep around to the back.

The cabin is unlit, and I can’t hear any sounds from within, even with my cybernetic super-hearing, so I quietly open the door, inch by inch, and slip inside, closing it behind me. I grab what I came for, slipping it into the bag on my back. I take a minute to look at the desk, what looks like maps of the ocean, some evil-looking plans, and... sheet music? Man, this guy must be really committed to his alias.

Then, with a creak that makes my heart skip a beat, the cabin door opens, and the light flickers on. I freeze, going wide eyed. Standing at the door, wearing a black shako, with a tall fluffy white plume with flecks of gold in it, and a black and gold uniform with a white cape and white gauntlets and gloves, is apparently Drum Major. Behind is more of his crew, but I can’t really make out details.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”  he drawls in an almost bored voice.

“As far as I can see, we have a heroic vigilante and an absurd band geek villain who’s still stuck in high school.”

“Take her.”

A couple minutes and a futile fight later, my hands and feet are bound. My head is ringing from a shot from a trombone slide (yes, they fight with their instruments, yes, I got injured by my own instrument) and my side aches from being jabbed by drum sticks. Drum Major orders them to throw me overboard, and I hit the water and start sinking immediately, weighed down by the metal cybernetics in the side of my head. A couple seconds later, the boat explodes, the timer on the explosives I planted going off. Soon, I’m surrounded by band instruments and the lifeless bodies holding them. It’s a sea of what looks like an undead marching band. The tuba and percussion players sink fastest, with the piccolos, flutes, oboes, and clarinets near the top.

I strain against my bonds, my lungs already starting to hurt. The more that I struggle, the more my lungs hurt. Dark spots start forming at the edge of my vision. Is is this it? Is this the way I go out? I beat cancer just to be killed by water?

No.

My resolve strengthens. I will not die today. Not today, not this way. The darkness, which had almost completely taken over my vision, recedes, and everything looks... different...

I can see farther under the water, and it seems a little bit brighter. I can see details that I couldn’t see before, and... new colors? That’s the best that I can describe what I’m seeing…

My mind is so focused on my vision that I don’t even realize at first that my lungs no longer hurt, are no longer trying to draw in breath. At first, I can’t believe it. Then I think that I must be dead. Once I realize that I’m not, I pull on my bonds, which come off easily. I stay underwater a few seconds longer, reveling at not needing to breathe anymore. A song floats into my head, and I feel strangely compelled to sing it, and I do, swimming about, looking at the different underwater creatures and plants. The water forms around me, my mind unclouding, as I realize that my mind was clouded, when I was suffocating to death. Which I’m not now. I go towards the surface, still singing the tune under my breath.

I hit the surface of the water, and open my mouth to take in a deep breath, only to get a mouthful of water. What? I look around and see that there is a sort of bubble of water encompassing me. I stick my arm out of it, and feel the cool night air, which is in stark contrast to the warm water. I pull my arm back in, and look around. The explosion leveled the ship, like it was supposed to. I don’t see any survivors. I locate my bag of stolen goods, and check inside. Thankfully, everything remains. I pinch the earpiece on my left ear.

“Mission accomplished.”

Author's Note

Crazy Dragon Lady wrote this chapter.

Reviews

[Locke Redwyne (night sy..]

YES I DID
tired
My favorite part:
(yes, they fight with their instruments, yes, I got injured by my own instrument) XD

[Peregrinator7]

no i like the part where she sees an oboe and thinks it's a clarinet at first... (well i came up with that =b)

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

yeah
well that's actually happened in real life before, so...

[Peregrinator7]

for some reason i have never mistaken an oboe for a clarinet. i dunno why

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

most of the time i never see the mouthpiece, just the body of the instrument

[Peregrinator7]

yeah they're pretty much the same

[Locke Redwyne (night sys)]

yeah that's why i get them mixed up XD