“It’s so nice to see you again, after all these years… Oh, wait. That’s right. You don’t even know, do you?”

Act IV – Cry of the Siren

Samantha looked at her feet as she walked home. She clutched the arm that was hanging at her side nervously. Today was not a day for rollerblading. Today didn’t seem like a day for anything. The air was dry, but the temperature was chilly. The sky was a pasty ink wash. She looked from her left to her right from out the very corners of her eyes.

Kurimu and Reirei were walking on either side of Samantha. Kurimu’s schoolbag was slung over her shoulder; she held the bag with one hand and the other rested on her hip. Reirei had both her hands stuffed into the pockets of her long black trench coat.

On a normal afternoon, this would’ve been sort of kickass, Samantha thought. (Reirei owned a trench coat? She never would’ve guessed!) But after that display in the cafeteria earlier, she didn’t know what to think. More than anything, Samantha could confirm that she was indeed afraid. Afraid of what, she wasn’t totally sure. The three of them hadn’t spoken another word to one another for the rest of the day. Samantha’s fear had welded her mouth shut, so she hadn’t even spoken to another human being all day. Part of Samantha was scared of Kurimu and Reirei, of who they really were, or what they might do to her. The other part of her was afraid of what they were plotting to do to each other.

Once school had ended, and it had become apparent that Samantha was walking, Reirei just started walking beside her the entire way home like a bodyguard. As if it was perfectly normal.

Samantha stuck her key in the lock and turned it. Reirei and Kurimu stood on opposite sides of the door and stared at one another with blank expressions on their faces. Taking a deep breath, Samantha pushed the door open, removed her shoes, and proceeded to receive her mother’s usual greeting.

“Oh, Samantha, honey! I hope school was good today. Who’s with you?”

“Um…”

“This is Reirei, Naruhara-san. She’s a good friend of mine and Samantha’s!” squealed Kurimu, her ponytail bouncing. “She sits with us every day at lunch. Isn’t that great? More friends for Samantha!”

“It’s so great to finally meet you, Naruhara-san! Samantha’s so cute; I can totally see where she gets it all from now!” Reirei cried, taking her shoes off and glomping Samantha. Samantha froze from utter shock, her mouth hanging open.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, God! Another friend. You really are doing well, Sam… I’m really pleased! And these girls you keep bringing home are so cute, too! You know how to pick em’!”

“Oh, Naruhara-san, clearly you jest! Ahahahaha!” Reirei and Kurimu said together, laughing. Samantha’s mother chimed in with her own laughter as well.

“Well, we’re all going to go upstairs for a moment and discuss a project, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sure, Kurimu-chan. Go ahead, you three,” said Samantha’s mom, smiling.

Kurimu grabbed Samantha’s hand with a smile on her face and nearly dragged her up the stairs. Reirei followed behind quickly.

The door slammed shut behind Reirei.

Samantha whipped around and scowled at the two. “Tell me what’s going on… Now!”

Reirei and Kurimu exchanged glances. “We… Well, uh…”

“I said TELL ME!”

“Samantha, listen to me. Kurimu’s a monster. She’s not what you think she is,” Reirei said first, jabbing her finger at Kurimu’s face. “She’ll… She’ll… Trust me, she only wants to hurt you.”

“What is she talking about, Kurimu…?”

“Raymiel, shut the fuck up. You’ve never known what you were talking about, and you sure as hell don’t right now.”

“I won’t let a damn killer tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about! And don’t talk to me as if you know me, because you don’t.”

“Don’t I, Raymiel? Eh-heh-heh-heh… Don’t I?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” snapped Reirei.

“SHUT UP! Be more specific, Reirei. How do you know about Kurimu? Are you…?” Samantha asked, looking at the floor. She was very confused right now. Her head was beginning to hurt.

Reirei sighed. She sat down on Samantha’s bed. Her head turned to the side a little and a smile crept onto her face. It was like the normal Reirei that Samantha knew. Reirei ran her hand over the bedspread. “So you like frogs? That’s so cute…”

Samantha blushed. “Reirei, come on. I was so excited that you wanted to be my friend… Or was that just a lie?”

“No! Of course not! I really want to be your friend, Samantha-chan. It’s just that, Kurimu, she… I’ll tell you the truth. Right now. Okay?”

“That would be nice.”

“Oh, yes. Tell us all about the wonderful truth, darling Reirei,” said Kurimu in a sassy way, floating in air to sit and crossing her legs. Reirei shot her a nasty look and sighed. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and then looked back up at Samantha. Samantha grabbed the chair from her desk and placed it in front of Reirei. She sat down to listen.

“My real name is Raymiel. I am a genie just like Kurimu. I don’t know if you’ve guessed it yet or not, but Aiyuko is my master.”

Samantha didn’t move or change her expression. She continued to listen.

“In the genie world, each one of us is put into different… classifications. Kurimu’s type is called a siren. Sirens are genies that take on masters, and shape those humans into better people. They improve their lives. They help them to grow and flourish into amazing individuals with souls that glow like no other. But then, they devour those souls. If you don’t believe me, try looking over at your happy pal right now.”

Samantha did so. Kurimu was smiling maliciously with a line of drool seeping from the corner of her mouth. She licked her lips and wiped the saliva away. “I couldn’t help myself,” she said. “You made it sound so tasty the way you described it… You’re mean, Raymiel. You know that?”

“Anyway, sirens devour souls in exchange for something. Usually they’re looking for power, or revenge, or whatever. I have no idea as to what Kurimu’s particular case is. She’s notorious in our world, though. She’s the second most successful siren in existence, as she’s never been caught or killed, obviously and unfortunately, and she has consumed an extremely high amount of human souls. Where do I come into play? I am a siren hunter. We are genies who dispose of the trash that is called sirens. We make sure that once it’s gone, it NEVER comes back.”

Samantha turned to Kurimu almost instantly. “Is this… true?”

“Partially, yes. But mostly, no. First of all, I absorbed those souls for a reason. Not blindly. It was to protect myself and the others around them. I have worse luck than any other genie. I kept running into people who were liars, murders, robbers, drug addicts, sex offenders… I do the universe a favor every time one of those morons gets eliminated.”

“Don’t… lie to me… Kurimu…”

“I’m not!”

“Reire- I mean… Raymiel described a good individual. A person with a soul that glowed because they were a good person that you shaped them into. A person with a heart that flourished into something warm and loving, right? And you couldn’t hold yourself back. You started drooling. Don’t lie to me, Kurimu. Do not lie to me.”

“I… I’m not proud of being a siren, Samantha. When I insult and threaten Raymiel, the way I react when I hear about or encounter a delicious spirit… Those are not things I asked for. This is not the real me. This is NOT what I chose. I was happy when you released me from that locket, Samantha. I would never consume your soul. Do you want to know why? There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s already beautiful. It’s just frozen. Frozen solid in a thick wall of ice. That ice started to melt a little once you got some friends, correct? I want to help you unleash that. I don’t eat good people. Only the ones who deserve to die. The ones who weren’t born with souls as pure as yours, Samantha. Please… Please believe me…”

Kurimu hugged herself tight, tears brimming in her eyes. They spilled over and began to flow down her cheeks. She floated down to the floor, rocking back and forth on her knees. “P-Please believe me… Y-You don’t know what it’s like for an entire world to m-misunderstand you… You think high school is hard? I never even got to go, but something a million times that size hates me and is afraid of me… And they don’t even know me… Please… Please…”

Samantha’s eyes opened wide. She ran over to Kurimu and lifted her face up with both hands. Kurimu’s eyes had shifted back to their original purple. Her eyelids were red. Samantha threw her hands around Kurimu and squeezed her tight. She kept on crying, digging her face into Samantha’s chest.

Reirei, or Raymiel rather, stood. She walked over to Kurimu slowly. “Kurimu… I…”

“Raymiel, I know you because I’m the reason you’re a siren hunter. Remember the first siren you ever encountered? Remember how we fought, and fought, and fought? And then, as you were taking your last breath, I…”

“… I know. I realized it now. I became a siren hunter because I thought you were trying to mock me. I thought you had killed that little girl for no reason, but… You couldn’t control yourself, could you? I didn’t really think it through. You… You spared me.”

“I didn’t spare you… I… I was trying to save you.”

“… What?”

“That wasn’t a human girl, Raymiel. She was one of the demon tools. But you never wanted to listen to me, so I hated you. Used to hate you…”

“Kurimu… Can I truly believe you? I'm not as easily won over as Samantha is.”

“Then do what no one else in our world will do. Get to know me. Then maybe you can believe me. I won’t hurt Samantha. I won’t hurt the only thing I care about.”

Raymiel sighed and looked from Samantha to Kurimu. After a few minutes of deep thought, Raymiel smiled her old smile. She bended over and held out her hand to Kurimu. Kurimu took it without a second thought, showing that she trusted her. Raymiel pulled her up. Kurimu smiled faintly.

“This is strange. I never thought I’d encounter you… and then end up doing this.”

“There’s a lot of stuff you can’t expect when I’m involved! Tee-hee-hee!” Kurimu giggled like her usual friendly self.

Samantha sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Finally, all back to normal. Seriously, I thought I’d pop a blood vessel.”

“Well, not really. We can’t just… resume like none of this happened. It’ll never be the same, honestly. I’m sure you still have plenty of questions,” Raymiel said to her. Samantha scratched the back of her head and agreed. “You’re right. I’m very curious about a couple of things.”

“No more for tonight. I’m sure Kurimu’s tired. That was very stressful for her. I’ll be on my way home. Tell Kurimu I said goodnight.”

“Why? Just tell her yourself.”

Samantha turned to look at Kurimu for a moment. As she and Raymiel were talking, Kurimu had made her way over to Samantha’s bed. She was curled up and fast asleep already. Samantha sighed silently and smiled a little. That was quick. But she couldn’t blame her, the last time Samantha had wept tremendously, she had tired herself out just from the waterworks alone and cried herself to sleep.

At the thought of that memory, Samantha frowned.

“Um, Raymiel?”

She was already gone.

“Wah! Genies are so fast about everything, geez…”

Author’s Note: As always, thanks for reading. The story’s starting to darken. What will happen next I wonder?! (And it’s only the fourth chapter.) :D