Eirene sat around the fire with her sisters, her brother, and her mother and father. The fire crackled, and sparks flew all around, the smoke billowing up into the night sky. She looked around at her family, who all sat in silence, thinking about what they knew was to come.
Suddenly, the air was filled with screeching cries, coming from the sea. Everyone whirled their heads around, looking through the trees to the edge of the water, all of their eyes filled with fear. Well, almost all of them. Circe looked out with a certain gleam in her eyes, something Eirene had seen a few times before. Something that had worried her before, but now...it absolutely terrified her.
Circe jumped to her feet, and began running through the trees, racing towards the ocean's edge. Her parents cried out after her. Eirene, too, leapt to her feet, and followed after her sister, ignoring the sounds of her parents, screaming at her to come back. She caught up with her sister, who was standing in the sand, the waves silently gliding over her feet. She went up beside her sister, studying Circe's face. Her eyes danced in the moonlight, darting all over the surface of the waves, looking for something. The sea mist sprayed them, but they took no notice, not even of the chill.
Then, they came dancing out the waves, their feet gliding along the surface. Their skin was pale, almost translucent, and dotted in scales. Their hair was dripping, and clung to their necks and bare shoulders. But as they came closer to the surface, their features began to change. Their hair dried, and became billowy, beautiful, different colors of blonde, brown, and blue. Their skin became a bit less pale, and started to glow, ever so slightly. Their eyes, some green, some blue, some even white, were piercing, but gleaming. As they continued to approach, a sound filled the air. It sounded like a thousand voices resounding, echoing off the cliff walls a few yards away. It was a song, coming from the creatures from the water. It hypnotized the two girls, filling them with an immense pleasure and desire to fulfill these creatures every wish. Then as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Eirene felt an intense loneliness, emptiness. She shook her head, trying to release herself from the stupor she had found herself in. The creatures came closer to the girls, right up to their faces, only inches away. They could feel their breath in their skin, cold and wet, like the sea.
"What would you ask of us?" one of them asked. Her voice was soft, and lilting, harmonious with the wind and waves.
"I-I wish to become like you. A siren," Circe said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Circe, no! You cannot!" Eirene exclaimed.
The sirens shifted their gaze so that it rested upon Eirene. Their once soft eyes hardened with slight animosity, and questioning.
"Would you not ask the same? Is it not your desire as well, little one?"
Eirene hesitated, unsure how to answer, but they seemed to take her silence as answer enough.
"Yes, we can sense it. The wish to be one with the sea, the gift of immortality, and unlimited power. You have it as well, though, perhaps not as strongly as your sister. But it shall be granted to you nonetheless."
They stepped backward, and joined hands, raising their hands and faces to the sky. The wind picked up, the tide rolled back, and the moonlight began to glow brighter. The howling of the wind was deafening, and the cold of the water made their limbs go numb. Then, they began to tremble, and shake. Their nerves felt on fire, and they felt water accruing on their skin, dripping from their fingers. A whirlpool began to form, far out in the sea, and a ball of water and light rose from inside. It hovered for a moment, before splitting in two, and racing towards the shore. It headed straight for Eirene and Circe, before colliding with them, and disappearing. The girls collapsed, gasping before air, and coughing up water.
The sirens released hands, and returned their gaze to the girls. The wind died down, and so did the waves, while the tide pushed back in.
"The ritual is almost complete. The Gift of Poseidon now resides in you, but you must give a gift in return."
"What must we do?" Circe huffed, struggling to breathe.
"You must sacrifice something. Something of meaning. Something...that means the world to you. It has to be the thing you love the most in the world." She turned to Circe. "For you, it must be...your sisters, the twins."
Eirene gasped, unable to contain her shock the idea of the sacrifice.
"And for you," she began, facing Eirene, "The love of your life. You know of whom I speak. If the deed is not done, you both will perish. The Gift given supports your life now, and if a gift is not given in return, that life will be taken, and your soul will be seized, and dragged to the depths of the ocean, where it will be trapped for eternity, in endless torment."
Eirene and Circe lay there, speechless, while the sirens silently retreated to the depths from whence they came. They stared out at the ocean, looked at each other, and pondered the decision for them. To kill, or to die.