Part 1
The Rangers in Chillwatch were dumbfounded when they saw who was casually walking up the road, even though the civil war had already been raging for years at this point, Sirene Ignitis.
"No no no go away you maniac!" one Ranger yelled out at Sirene. "We don't need any more problems!"
Sirene ignored them and walked straight through the town, and into Elven Lands. The Rangers just looked at each other, knowing they couldn't stop her anyway, and decided to just follow her.
"Nature of your visit?" Another asked, trying to keep professional.
"Need to chat with your Princess." Sirene said, not breaking pace. "Still in Ellren?"
The Ranger sighed. "Yes."
"Good, this shouldn't take long." Sirene said, and kept walking.
By the time Sirene reached the Ranger barracks in Ellren, she had gathered an entourage of 10 rangers trying to convince her to just go away, but she ignored their pleas. Sirene marched right through the front door of the fortified barracks and into Syndra’s meeting hall, where she was currently talking with Captain Ryul.
"Get out you worthless layabouts I need to talk to Syndra alone." Sirene said loudly, starting to gently but firmly push all the rangers out of the room.
"Sirene what are you doing here?" Syndra asked, who didn’t move but watched Sirene effortlessly manhandle the rangers out of the room before blocking the door.
"Eigengrau has a problem which means I have a problem." Sirene answered, dusting off her hands and sitting down with her feet on the table. "Seems your soul is missing."
Syndra stopped smiling. "How did you know?"
"That’s a secret, Princess." Sirene said with a smile. She loved knowing things other people didn’t. Besides, rule one of royals, don't give them anything they didn't pay for.
"So what's this actually about, Sirene?" Syndra asked. "What do you want from me?"
"You disappoint me, Princess. I thought you learned after our last meeting." Sirene said, referencing their encounter after Syndra spoke with Emperor Lazarus. "I came here on behalf of my Master, because well... you know what she's like."
"I suppose I do." Syndra said with a chuckle. "So, what does Eigengrau want?"
"She wants to know what you did with your soul." Sirene answered. Sirene then decided to hook Syndra with a bit of misinformation. "I saw your death date, you know."
"You did? When is it?" Syndra asked, completely hooked.
"I'll tell you if you tell me." Sirene said with a smile.
"Deal. But, you first." Syndra said, folding her arms.
"Fine. I didn't get a good look, but you got oh, I'd say a century left. The Book of Fates uses an infuriating dating system. Happy?" Sirene answered, making up a date far enough in the future that Syndra will forget.
Syndra was suspicious of Sirene, as one should be, but decided if Sirene was willing to make up some a bold claim right to her face, she should at least give her what she came for.
"Good. Plenty of time to kill them all." Syndra said, laughing. "So, how about what you came here for, Sirene?"
Syndra walked over to the table Sirene was sitting at, and sat on it. She flashed a grin, showing off her pearly white teeth, then pulled a strange box out of her silvery mane of hair.
"My soul is gone because I consumed it, Sirene. In order to regain my beautiful elven body, I had to dissolve my fairy body into pure mana. There was nowhere near enough materials to create this perfect body that stands in front of you, so I burned the mana of my soul, until all that remained was the few specks inside this box." Syndra explained, before putting the box away.
"I've seen a lot in my time, Princess, but soul magic is a new one." Sirene said, frowning. She stood up, and prodded Syndra. "Yes, I can see it now, your body isn't real."
"I can assure you I'm quite real." Syndra angrily responded, causing the snow to pick up outside.
"No, you're not. You're a memory. You're a soul in the physical plane." Sirene replied, shaking her head. "I get it now. Thanks Princess, I'll be going now."
"Like hell you will!" Syndra answered, her emotions rising. Outside the wind was already howling. "You're not going anywhere!"
Sirene just raised an eyebrow as she watched ice shoot toward her. Why is it always ice?
"I will say, you and the Master have one thing in common, your love of ice." Sirene said, dodging the icicles. "If I really wanted to, you couldn't stop me anyway."
"Could a memory do this?" Syndra yelled, suddenly appearing in front of Sirene, much to her shock, and grabbing her by the throat, before tossing her to the floor.
Outside, the wind had died down, but the snowstorm was raging. The Rangers were shouting orders and desperately melting the falling snow. Inside, Sirene was laughing.
"You caught me off-guard Princess. Nobody's done that in a long time." Sirene said, wiping her mouth and getting up off the floor. "Well, since you want a fight, let's dance Princess."
Sirene threw off her cloak, revealing her rippling muscular physique. Her chest was covered by a bandeau, and she was wearing semi-tight trousers, but nothing else. She leapt at Syndra, ready to land a punch, but Syndra stepped aside just in time.
Syndra tried to trip Sirene as she moved past, but Sirene jumped as soon as the punch missed, before spinning around, a grin on her face. It was clear she was enjoying this. Syndra flung a ball of ice at Sirene, but she just punched it down.
"Come on Princess! Use those pretty fists of yours! See if you can land a punch on this spectacular body!" Sirene taunted.
"Fuck you!" Syndra yelled, running at Sirene.
Sirene laughed and easily dodged Syndra. "Princess, you've never been in a brawl before, have you? Always depended on your magic, haven't you?"
Syndra screamed in frustration, as the snowstorm outside became a complete whiteout.
"No matter. I've seen what I need to. You didn't consume your soul. It's still there, you did something else entirely." Sirene said, picking up her cloak.
"What." Syndra said flatly.
"Oh I was just winding you up." Sirene said, slapping Syndra on the back. "I needed to see you invoke your magic when angry. No, you've turned your soul into part of your body. No idea how you did it."
"Wait, that was all just a setup?" Syndra said, mouth agape. The snow outside had died down, and shouting could be heard from outside.
"Would you have been as angry if I had told you?" Sirene asked, smiling as she took the furniture away from the door.
Syndra held her head in her hands as Sirene calmly left, whistling as she did so. She was so easily set up by Sirene. Curse that infuriating woman.