CHAPTER 518: LURESONG

One would have thought that this would have mellowed Aliya, but unperturbed, even in her state, "Which innocent ones are you talking about? Those fools and useless children?"

Aliya’s head was still snapped back as Suzie pulled her hair painfully, but apparently that did nothing to stop the harsh words from leaving her mouth.

Samantha took one step forward, fuming, especially at those words. First, that disgusting Aliya person had attacked their mother, and she dared say those exact harsh words to them? These were the same kind of words that she had overheard Aliya say sometime back. However, Samantha held herself back because her father and mother were there. She believed wholeheartedly that they would handle that woman, and she did not have to bother.

Samantha remembered all the words and advice that her new mother, Shelby, had said to her, and these new, harsh ones faded into the background. Samanatha relaxed, but Ingrid did not.

Alex was doing all he could to hold Geneva back, as the older woman was not having any of this. How could her precious grandchildren listen to such nonsense?

Shelby only paused a little, her brow raised in amusement, but at the corner of her eye, she scanned the three children to make sure that they were not being affected by the harsh words.

Aliya remained on her knees, breathing heavily, her once-flawless face streaked with sweat and humiliation. She itched to go out, but she was helpless and bound. She only had her words to rely on. Her cheeks throbbed, and a slight ringing echoed in her head.

Suzie was so disgusted that she shoved Aliya forward and wiped her hands on her dress as if she had touched filth.

Aliya’s tangled hair hung in disarray where Suzie had yanked it, her body trembling—not with fear, but with barely restrained fury. But she was powerless.

Shelby stepped forward, her eyes hard as stone. The air around her was charged with electricity. She didn’t raise her voice, for she didn’t need to.

"Do not talk about my children like that! They are more than you will ever be! You are nothi-" she continued, her tone as cold and precise as a scalpel. "A hungry leech with nothing but resentment in your veins. You w-"

Aliya flinched, though she tried to hide it. It was not from the words themselves, but from the weight behind them. The judgment. The truth.

Smanatha couldn’t help but smile, "Mum is back...." She mouthed.

"You parade in stolen silk, feeding

on those weaker than you. Pretending it’s power. But it’s not. You’re just empty. Desperate. Decaying."

Each word landed like a strike. Shelby smiled and started rubbing her tummy. She took a step closer to Aliya. Though Ian did not react, he watched with a keen eye. The baby had protected them at the most crucial moment, but he was unsure if it will or had the capability of doing so again. Even Currey was wary.

"You envy the life I carry? A child not yet born, and already more than you’ve ever been? That’s what gnaws at you, isn’t it? Hahahaha...."

Shelby’s sweet smile rang out, irritating the hell out of Aliya because Shelby had hit the nail right on the head.

Just then, the softest hum began—barely audible at first. Ingrid, thought by her mother to be powerless, fragile, and not worthy of her, stood still, mouth slightly parted, releasing a melody that was not quite human... not quite of the world. The air shifted again.

As the hum grew fuller and richer, it attracted the attention of all of them. A lull settled over the room, thick and unnatural. However, this time, no one seemed to be affected by this melody.... Except, Aliya!

Aliya’s body jerked slightly—like something inside her was being pulled loose. Her arms drooped, her lips parted. Her eyes welled—not from pain, but from some foreign, long-buried emotion. It was regret.

It flashed so quickly across her face that it might have been imagined. A flicker of humanity. But just as fast, she shook her head violently, letting out a jagged laugh, but the laughter felt sad. Ingrid did not stop, and in that moment, Shelby and Ian couldn’t have been prouder of her.

Capitalizing on that, Shelby stepped even closer, her voice dropping, venomous but calm.

"You’ve lived centuries, and still, all you’ve learned is how to destroy. No legacy. No love. Just fear. You destroy to mask everything! I hope you go to your grave knowing that you failed in everything!"

This time, Aliya’s mouth opened, but nothing came out... her throat tightened. The pain of that truth settled deep in her bones. She turned to glare at Ingrid as she felt her limbs weaken further. How could she not understand what the girl she thought was powerless was doing?

’How can she do that? I was only able to do this when I was about twenty years old, and I was praised for my brilliance!’

Aliya had discarded her daughter because the girl, a halfling, was thought to have no power, but it took her being on the receiving end of the Luresong to know that her daughter was as powerful as she was, and even as a halfling, she may surpass her, Aliya.

The luresong was a hum, or half-formed melody that could subtly manipulate emotion, calming fear, stirring longing, or confusing enemies. It’s not full mind control, but enough to distract or weaken resolve.

This was what most believed that Sirens used to attract and capture fishermen and other men who went at sea. Usually, it would be directed at everyone, but Ingrid was able to direct it at Aliya only, making her more helpless, and driving Shelby’s words deeper. Aliya wanted to cover her ears, but she could not move an inch.

The humans were not sure of what was going on. Shelby’s gaze narrowed and continued,

"Your end won’t be a blaze of power. It’ll be this. Irrelevance. Obscurity. No one will sing your name. No one will mourn your fall. You’ll fade—and the world will breathe easier. The very ones you let go of, will be the ones to be indifferent at your passing!"

Then Shelby turned her back on Aliya, utterly dismissing her presence, as if she no longer deserved even a second glance. No one in her entire life had ever done that to her.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!" She screamed as her frustration mounted.

"You think this... this song thing will undo what I’ve become? .. what I’ve done? Huh?" Aliya spat. "I’ve walked with kings, drowned people who thought themselves gods! I’ve—"

Ingrid’s hum pitched sharply. A low, sudden pulse rippled from her chest—a shockwave of sound that made the chandeliers tremble and windows rattle. This time, it caught the humans’ attention.

Geneva and Alex especially frowned, for they had seen what Aliya had become. Was Ingrid also joining that? They were worried, for they liked that quiet, reserved child, but if there was a possibility of her becoming like her biological mother, then they wanted nothing to do with her!

The force knocked over a vase on the far wall, and Aliya stumbled, rolling on the ground, and trying to avail to cover her ears with anything!... even the floor, if that would work! The force of the sonic burst from Ingrid drowned out her scream.

Then, there was silence, as Aliya whimpered. She collapsed while lying down and gasped, stunned.

She turned her head tiredly and looked in Ingrid’s direction:

"You!" Aliya stared...

"You!" Ingrid continued,

Gasps went around, even from Shelby, this time. Ingrid continued after her birth mother. She repeated the babble—nonsense words, confused muttering, a stream of thoughts without tether. "I was chosen—he said I was—how dare you all—filthy thing, that child, that unborn—"

Ingrid flicked coldly at Aliya. These were words that Aliya had spoken barely moments ago. But that was not the problem. It was the voice she spoke in. It was a voice identical to Aliya’s —same cadence, same mocking lilt—she said:

"How dare you all—filthy thing—"

Everyone froze—even the Aliya. It was her voice! Echoed back to her. Her own venom. Thrown at her by a girl she’d written off as powerless. Ingrid was anything but powerless. Among her people, only a few people could harness all three of these: Luresong, sonic pulse and the mirrored voice!

Aliya’s face twisted in shock, then panic, then fury. But something deeper was forming beneath it all. A fear she couldn’t mask.

Because now she truly didn’t know what her daughter’s potential was. She changed her tune, for Ingrid now had the potential to free her...

"Chi-ld, come to Mummy... y-"

Ingrid smirked. This was an Ingrid that Geneva and Alex had never seen. The rest in the room had seen this confident girl when Ingrid was in the water, but it was a first for the old ones.

"I do not know you, creature!" Ingrid still used Aliya’s voice and then pointed at Shelby.

"That is my mother! She is the only one deserving of me!"

And that, perhaps, was the greatest wound of all. In Aliya’s world, she could discard people, but they should never do that to her! This became the most significant blow by far... to be rejected by her own flesh.

"Mummy?" Ingrid called out sweetly in her own voice,

"Yes, dear."

"She’s going to be punished, right?"

"Of course!"

Ingrid smiled and then stepped back.

"It’s time to take out the trash. This place stinks!" Ian hummed in acknowledgement, loving his wife and kids.

"Do what you have to do.... I’ve got your back!" He whispered in Shelby’s ear.

"Suzie?"

"Miss?"

"Get that for me!"

Suzie was confused a bit before a smile spread across her face... a wicked, sly smile.

*********

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on Webnovel :) ~Uploaded only on webnovel by Loctovia ~