Love Shack (2)

It took Midori some time to convince Rune that she had not entirely lost her mind, and after that only slightly longer to explain to him exactly what it was she had heard. But once she had he was equally interested in discovering the source.

Rune had been reluctant to walk into the cavern but once he began to hear the song and realized it had no true power of him his curiosity had been piqued and they agreed that they would undertake a very cursory investigation; though he was adamant that they could not spare more than a few hours given the importance of their mission.

“You still have not explained to me how fifty two insects can make a song. Do the insects in your world sing?”

“No, no,” she said between flits of laughter. “It’s just the name of the band. I think it has to do with a hairstyle, or an aircraft or something I don’t really know. But my dad was a big fan of them, and bands from that era…I think, anyway.”

It had been a delightful six months when her dad had found an old record player in a second hand shop along with a small collection of records, the B-52’s ‘Cosmic Thing’ among them. Every Sunday for those six months he had put them on and danced to the entire record while preparing dinner; dancing with him while making pancakes was one of the few positive memories she had.

“So the siren is singing this song, does that mean they are from your world?”

“Possibly. Either that or the B-52’s exist in all realities, which would be wild.” She laughed but the very idea that someone from her reality had been here before her raised all manner of questions that she hoped would soon be answered.

Inside the mountain was a labyrinth of tunnels and even though they had a semblance of a path to follow it would be easy to get lost, so in order to find their way back Midori used some yellow thread from the miniature sewing kit in her purse to leave a trail that would be a bit easier to find.

"There's a famous myth about using thread as a marker, though that thread is gold." Midori said with a faint chuckle, "hopefully we don't have to face a minotaur though."

"What's a minotaur?" Rune asked, and the question made Midori wonder what fantastical creatures existed in this world and which did not, or if perhaps they just went by a different name.

"It's part man, and part bull. Though really it's just a person's body with a bull's head, and usually they're really strong."

"Sounds like a worthy opponent, I hope that we do meet one."

Midori sighed and shook her head, but she couldn't help but smile at his impetuousness.

At first the footprints were easy enough to follow having been left deep in the mud-like dirt at the entrance, but the further they travelled the harder packed the dirt became and so easily visible footprints became faint shadows even under the light of a torch. It was then she first noticed Rune’s strange aversion to fire, with him flinching slightly as she brought the torch down to offer more light for him to see.

“Hey Rune, can I ask you something?”

“I guess?” He looked at her curiously out of the corner of his eye while they moved carefully through the rocky passageways.

“Are you…afraid of fire?”

For a brief moment he paused before continuing, “is now the best time for this?”

“I mean, probably not. But I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut when I have a thought. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been fired from so many jobs.”

He sighed, “I promise that I will tell you Midori, but now is not the right moment for this. If there are enemies ahead and they overhear…” Rune let his words hang in the air and she fully understood his meaning.

Following the singing was far more difficult than expected due mainly in part to the labyrinthine nature of the cavern causing sound to echo far longer than normal, and as they found certain pathways led to dead ends that still echoed the song at such an impressive pitch.

She understood why these caverns were known as the ‘Sirens Cave’ for anyone singing in here would be heard for miles around.

They knew they were going the right direction when they began to hear other voices mingled among the song, a chorus desperately trying to harmonize with the song yet failing to keep tempo; it was equal parts humorous and creepy. And given that they were now moving toward a faint glow at the end of the passageway, it was bordering on creepy for Midori.

As her and Rune crept to the edge of the passageway they were torn between surprise and confusion at the view before them.

Within an incredibly vast cavern a maelstrom of raw arcane energy crackled and swirled, around which four individuals clad in armour chanted and danced like they were in some kind of daze; each of them were devoid of any kind of weapons and even parts of their armour were missing, scattered across the cavern floor.

And within the centre of the maelstrom of energy, was a beautiful young woman with long silken hair clad in layered robes. She danced and sung without a care in the world, like she was unaware of anything happening.

The woman looked to be made of moonlight and left wisps of gossamer threads of light behind as she twirled and leaped through the air. It was mesmerizing to watch her and her voice was so enchanting that it was hard not to see it as some kind of mystical ritual, though as she spun a tear was cast aside, a tiny diamond tossed aside left forgotten and unseen by the enraptured audience.

But Midori saw it.

“She’s…crying.”

Rune narrowed his eyes to get a better look, “oh, you’re right. Maybe because of the soldiers?”

“No,” shaking her head Midori knew that wasn’t the case, the pain on the woman’s face was one she knew well. “She’s been crying long before them. She doesn’t even see them, or us.”

“Well now that we know what happened we can head back,” he stood and shifted to follow the thread back to the entrance but was stopped by the vice-like grip Midori had on his wrist.

The thought had left her mouth even before it entered her mind, even she was surprised by the declaration.

“I want to help her Rune.”

“What!?” He whisper-shouted. “That’s some kind of enraged or enchanted spirit and you want to, what, talk to her?”

“Walking away is what I’d always do…and every time I’d hate myself for it later.” In her mind she saw all the people crying outside a convenience store, or slumped down in an alley. Every time she longed to help but her mother’s words played through her mind.

“That’s not for you to do Midori. Remember, the nail that sticks out will get hammered down.”

Midori had no words to explain what she was feeling at the moment and so simply stared at him with the same intensity he’d shown when declaring his plan to attack Luvall first.

“Alright, fine.” Rune said with a relenting sigh. “What’s your plan?”

“I don’t…really have one.”

Rune laughed loudly, loud enough to catch the attention of one of the nearby soldiers. He noticed this and leaped out of the passageway with a wild, chaotic smile plastered on his face.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out while I deal with them!”

The soldiers had stopped their chanting and began to gather in some type of phalanx formation, their training shining through their dazed state.

“Protect the Lady of Love!”

“She will take us to to Love Shack, where only love rules!”

They shouted strange declarations based on the lyrics while clashing loudly with Rune. He batted them away with ease but they gathered themselves back up and leaped back into the fray without hesitation, though strangely each of the soldiers seemed unwilling to strike Rune in any way.

“Keep them unharmed Rune, I don’t think they want to fight!”

“Ugh! Such a demanding wife!” He sped behind the youngest of the three figures and hit them just hard enough at the base of their neck for the soldier to crumple to the ground unconscious; and despite the words of frustration he spoke, the smile plastered on his face told a different story.

Through all the fracas Midori raced toward the maelstrom of arcane energy.

It crackled and snapped at her like some ferocious beast, but she knew behind the ferocity was fear. She reached a hand up and placed it against the sphere, and it took every ounce of her strength not to scream from the pain. The flesh of her hand slowly began to flake away as if from an invisible flame, yet in defiance of reason she pushed forward, gritting through the pain until suddenly it had vanished entirely.

As did all semblance of sound.

Glancing around she could see Rune shouting at her while the two remaining soldiers tries to pin him down, but no words met her ears. Turning back to the woman at the centre of the maelstrom Midori took a slow breath and began to move forward through it all.

Everything felt so much lighter, each step felt like gravity was simply a mere suggestion. She could not see that her entire body had turned into mist, the barest hint of her form visible in the steam.

And with each step came a flash, like a recovered memory but not from a life she lived.

Sitting in class feeling embarrassed as other kids laughed about her hijab. Shouting herself hoarse at her father who sat with a cold and emotionless expression on his face, declaring that she would not be going to university. Running away until her legs gave out, and a light engulfed her only to be transported to some strange far off land.

Stepping through the maelstrom to the centre was like walking into a different world, literally. And her body regained the mass from before.

She had entered the den of some large, spacious home. Twin flags pinned to the floral wallpaper declaring it the home of an Iranian-American family. A bulky charcoal coloured CD player—flanked on either side with enormous wood panelled speakers—sat against the far back wall of the room and dancing through it singing loudly to ‘Love Shack’ was a girl who could not have been much older than sixteen.

“Hello?” Midori asked, curious why her voice sounded so wispy and airy.

Turning toward her it was then she realized the girl was the same as the moonlight woman. She looked confused for a moment before her face went stern and she shook her head.

“No,” her voice sounded older than that of a sixteen year old and for a brief moment her image faded revealing the woman of moonlight before the image snapped back into place.

“I’m not going back. You can’t make me!”

She looked ready to fight.