"Commander," Estella called, "it's ready."

Chrysalis looked at the large, spherical orb of energy that had slowly formed up in the circular platform since they had restarted their machines. So far there had been no more attempts from ADVENT or Chimera to interrupt.

It was just one switch.

It was all or nothing.

"Do it."

Tirek paced back and forth in the sanctum sanctorum built by the Elders for their communion with their Chosen. Up until then, the room had been little more than a secret mockery for Aria, Sonata and himself, where the Elders would torture them, true, but the Chosen knew that underneath it all, the alien's control over them was little more than an illusion.

But now, it seemed like the only place where he could go. He hated being subservient to anyone, or anything, but even Sonata and Aria had admitted that the Ethereals were powerful beings in their own right, blissfully unaware of the true power of magic, but by no means pushovers. If they had any negative reactions to their psionics clashing with magic, he had seen no sign of it, and much to his irritation, they were the only ones that could protect him.

"You come to us in your time of despair, Warlock," the voices of the ethereals echoed in the room as the familiar cascade of psionic energy materialized. He could almost see their shapes, ephemeral in the flow of power. "We cannot reach the Hunter. Our calls find only emptiness. Our minds see only darkness, where her light used to be."

"She has betrayed us," Tirek growled. "She and her ally used unknown powers to steal her sarcophagus and seal it away from us. She conspires against ADVENT, against me… against you."

He could feel the sadness emanating from their psychic energy. A sadness, he knew, that had nothing to do with empathy. It was the sadness born of disappointment that their pets were acting up. The type of sadness that ended in suffering for any that caused it. "Betrayed... by one of our chosen. This hurts us, Warlock, for you, Sonata and Aria are our children."

Tirek sank to one knee, fighting a scowl. 'Children indeed.' "The betrayal of the Hunter is a fresh wound in my mind too," he said, not looking up, "especially so soon after the death of the Assassin, with whom I had a friendly rivalry." As much as wanting to decapitate her could be called a rivalry, in any case. "The Hunter has chosen to side with this monstrosity from another dimension… the Siren Queen, Fugue Dusk. She is the one that has the power to hide the sarcophagus from you. The power to decimate our forces… as much as it pains me to say, I fear that Sonata and Aria had both been waiting for their queen to come to this world and claim it."

"This world will not belong to her."

The psychic energy shuddered with deep anger at the statement of the Elders, and Tirek silently thanked the fates that he had not been on the receiving end of that.

"It belongs to you, Masters," Tirek said smoothly, bowing his head. "But Fugue is a threat to all living beings, not just of this world."

"Is this Fugue Dusk like our enemies from beyond the dark?"

For this, the Warlock had no answer. The fabled enemies of the Ethereal's empire were such a distant threat, after all… "Of course she is not," he said, "her powers do not measure to your own. But she is dangerous, and she is hunting us-you."

"This bearer of unknown power, this creature known as a siren… she shall—"

Tirek was about to ask what was wrong, but then he felt it. The psionic fields channeled through the ADVENT Network around the world were being disrupted. He gathered his power, summoning a protective field as the energies in the room crashed like waves against every surface.

The two Codexes that watched over his meeting with the Elders collapsed onto their knees, screeching their banshee-like wails as their forms fizzled between dimensions even more so than usual with each hit of the wave.

It was then that he realized the Elders were screaming in anger, and that he himself was trembling with… something. It couldn't be fear, right? What could cause this reaction in him? Was it Fugue? No… it was different, this was shaking the Psychic Network to its very core, but that could only mean… he glanced at the writhing and wailing Codexes.

They looked... diminished.

"Fuck."

Sonata looked up from where they had been observing the ADVENT base they had been stalking. "He's in there," she giggled, "crying out for help to the Elders."

Fugue rolled her eyes. "We should just go in and take him out."

"Oh, Fugue, you're so confident…" Sonata whispered biting the other siren's ear playfully. "But you shouldn't underestimate them. Between the Commander, Chimera and us Chosen, the AVATAR project hasn't gained much traction, but should they complete it… well they might prove more dangerous than we anticipate."

Fugue snorted. "I can feel the psychic power in there… it's… impressive."

Sonata nodded. "And something we just need to wait out. The moment the Warlock is gone, they start moving for real, and we need to also be ready."

"We will take on XCOM and retrieve Aria," Fugue whispered. "She will be reborn." She was about to add something else, but the moment was interrupted by… something. A familiar feeling, yet completely different than anything she had felt before. "What's that?"

Sonata grinned, a savage, blood-thirsty smile that contrasted with the aura of anger that she emanated. "It seems XCOM moved faster than we anticipated. They have freed Adagio. There are three Sirens in this world once again."

Fugue looked down at the facility. "Then let's get her gem back."

Author's Notes:

https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/859603/updates-status