As everyone went into the living quarters, the atmosphere still held its heavy, anxious tone. And while everyone seemed to cut the lights out, a single room stayed brightly lit, unable to let its person catch a peaceful sleep.

"Hmm...", Terna flipped through the pages of Omni, "Dang it...", she quietly said.

Unable to sleep at all, she turned off her lights and quietly exited her room, letting everyone else get their bit of sleep. She moved on to the kitchen-like area of the lab and flipped through the pages of it. Before she could begin to lose herself in it again, she paused at the sight a silhouette on one side of the kitchen table.

"Oh. Dante...can't sleep either?"

Dante flipped through a computer screen, "Haven't I been busted.", he humorously said.

“Still…angry?”, she nervously asked.

He sighed, “I mean…you know the events that transpired. Isn’t it reasonable to be? Though…that’d be for me. I can’t get over how impudently I handled my powers and raised hell. They’re supposedly ‘infinite’ and I just set them off like that.”

“You said yourself that it was reasonable. Though we’d rather not have gone through it.”, she fidgeted her hair.

Dante noticed her finger twisting her hair around, “Let me ask you something…are you scared?”

A small pause came before she could muster the strength to give her answer.

“Honestly…no…”, she looked at him in the eyes.

Dante exhaled deeply as he grabbed a nearby pen. With no effort whatsoever, in front of Terna, he snapped the pen in half, ink spilling all across the table. Terna’s eyes widened as she was briefly taken aback to yesterdays events. As if her mind was playing back moving images of what she saw and her ears reminding her of the horrifying crunching sound that brought Tiki to her knees. The snapping that brought her tears, followed by the ink that spilled her blood…all too familiar of a scene, with a not so expected outcome. Her mind raced a million thoughts in a second, spinning around her fear. If even someone as durable and strong as Tiki, whom she witnessed up close, clashing with Luna in a major fight, was brought down in a few swift moments…what chance did she stood? Snapping out of her trance in a moment after, she moved her eyes from the pen onto Dante, who’s faced turned grim with his ever growing mix of anger and sadness.

“Your eyes kind of did the talking…even back then, you knew something was off, right? Cecilia did too…in the end, nothing could restrain me.”, he hid behind the computer screen.

“It’s not that!”, she angrily yelled, “I…I don’t think your powers, even if they’re so powerful to the point where it doesn’t matter, shape what person you are. How you use them is what does!”

“And use them I did. Well…and I did not. These powers you say don’t shape me were never used when it really matter and were actively used when they weren’t needed. Even now, I struggle to see why you’re masking your fears…”

Terna looked at him dead in the eyes, “Because…you’re doing the same.”

He stared at her, pausing at her words.

“No matter if I didn’t recognize you back then, up until now. You and I changed so much, but we are still the same. I remember that one guy who was always laughing…the class clown. Whatever happened I…I want to see you smile again. It’s weird but…despite the way things have come around, it appears as if you were forced to forced to forget, while I struggle to remember.”

“Hence why you could never write over 50 in any history test.”, he tried to humor his way out of it.

“Mrs. Fiona wanted us to remember the day, time and year. I mean, come on.”, she said with a straight face.

“I also have to wonder then…what happened to you? I remember an entirely different Terna. You were always the girl behind the violin. What happened?”

“As weird as it sounds…I wanted to experiment. It sounds stupid, but music was one of the only ways I could remember something. The tone and the melodies were into my muscles, not into my head…well, most of the time. I wanted to see how far I could take it, explore how many melodies I could make…though…”

“That wasn’t you.”, he finished her sentence.

“I don’t regret it. As stupid as that sounds too…I experience it. I saw first hand how it was to be brought up inside the pop idol business, the harshness and the joys. In my eyes, every single moment in your life is a musical, if you trace it back…and the more you live and experience, the more you music you can make.”

“You’re way too deep into the whole music thing. I get it’s a passion, but…”

“And you were way into the military thing. I mean…you seemed to really like it at some point. You were reading all those fantasies and were constantly playing war games with everyone until high school. I even remember that fan fiction you wrote about…you know…being a Silverlance.”

Dante hid his embarrassment, “You struggle to remember or do you simply remember what I don’t want you to.”

“‘The shimmering armor of silver reflected the light of the sun down to the people, as Dante, beloved and peerless leader of the Silverlances-‘“, Terna recited.

“Ok, ok! Don’t remind me…”, he stopped her.

She giggled, “See? You’re still there. And besides, you reached all those stories and dreams you were talking about.”

“I was merely, like, 12. The only reason I was led to it was because of Cecilia knowing Frederick, and because Kagh needed to be stopped from gaining any leading military position. I failed my test so many times I lost count and became an illegitimate commander, just to not let some other guy do so…I wouldn’t call that a huge success. And in the end, it but everyone in the ass. You let a 12 year old shit take command of the worlds most feared military force, here’s what happened.”

“Despite that…you still managed to amaze everyone.”, she was stopped.

“And where is everyone? The only thing I have to show for it is a mass grave. No matter how much you’re trying to plaster that ‘music will give you hope’, try to make something nice sounding out of this. And as far as the stories I read goes, by now I should’ve been a major hero, don’t you think? Fit the cliché of feeding a person some hopes, dreams, broken hurt and a history of hell and then have him kill the villain. Despite every single box being ticked, I still struggle to see a world where I am the hero. In fact, since you thought so, look at what happened. Were it not for the one you viewed as the villain, you’d be dead where you’re standing.”, he menacingly looked at her.

“Music can do a lot of things. Some of us, it helps us remember what we don’t. Others, it motivates for a workout, or another activity. Some others use it as a mean of control, plastering it to appeal to a certain group to gain a following. And some others it…helps us calm down, when we’re as sad as we can be…when we had a rough day and when it always looked as if tomorrow would be worse.”

Dante got stunned briefly before getting up, closing the computer and moving towards Terna.

“You sure as hell didn’t.”, he menacingly said.

“Cecilia’s song…yes. That one song Yuno told us about. I never told it to anyone else…but her. She was constantly worried after some point, that she was accidentally going to hard and that she was ruining all that she had, including Angelica and Angelico. But despite Angelica being in the Sister Knights and Angelico moving on to be a somewhat legitimate leader of the Goldenlances, she was always worried that one day, because she put too much strain on you simply because of your powers, you’d collapse on yourself. She wanted a way to cheer you up, so…that was my ‘thank you’. For…for that day you helped me realize that there’s more than just walking alone in this world. All of you.”

Dante then aggressively walked up against Terna and stood right in front of her, somewhat looking down on her from their difference in height.

“That bullshit song was all she had to say when I slaughtered her. The last few words before I stabbed her to death, only to see that once tall standing warrior cower and cry back from sheer pain. Continue trying to get on my nerves, and I’ll make sure you sing that song too.”, he turned around and faced the door.

Unfazed by his words, she quickly extended her arm and grabbed his, him pausing from her move. As he turned around to face her, she pulled herself closer to him stunning him in the process. She moved one arm over his shoulder, wrapping it around his neck and the other underneath the armpit of his other arm, bring it up onto her his neck, almost as if she was trying to mimic holding her violin. Her voice seemed to crack as she lowered her head.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t remember you when I first saw you in Delpha. I’m sorry that I wasn’t strong enough to do anything on my own and forced myself to be carried by you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t brave enough to face you yesterday…and I left everyone hanging…but please, I don’t want you to forget me! I don’t want you to forget me like I did and I don’t want to be alone with my stupid songs again! Please don’t forget me again…”

He sat in silence as he witnessed her trying to hold her tears in. Ironic…because he too didn’t want to be alone, like anyone would want to. But he…he wanted to forget it all and run away. He reluctantly lifted his arms up, almost as if he was going to hug her back, but lowered them back down. Feeling the ever so gentle movement of his arms being lifted up was enough for her to calm down again, knowing that what little she would remember aside from her songs was still right there in her arms. She briefly chuckled as she regained her composure.

“You’re still here…I’m glad that I can remember…that. Even if you don’t want to do it back, like you used to, I don’t mind. I’m just glad I met you and all of your friends back then, so that I can at least not fade into obscurity. And despite you hating on your dreams now…I promise you, I’ll do everything I can to make you want to live them again. Songs, melodies or just words. Not just for you, but all of us. All that I know and have experienced will be with you all. And as far as Cecilia goes…I’m sure that she will be more than happy that besides her face, you’d remember that song. Powers or not, song or not…I’ll remember you all.”

Dante snapped out of it, “Yeah…whatever. I’m off to bed, can’t spend any more time listening to your nonsense.”, he pulled off her.

As Dante existed the room and Terna went to sit at his side of the table a weird mix of emotions filled her heart. A friend was remembered and gained once again, fear leaving her heart and replaced with reassurance. For all the time she spent worrying about whatever may be that her place was, she could at least now know that a part of her would be left where it belonged. She sat for a brief moment and caught her breath before gazing back at the computer that Dante had closed. She opened the screen to be instantly logged back in. In front of her was what seemed to be a live video feed of a room filled with masked men in robes. She leaned forward as she tried to look deeper into the screen. As the men cleared up she saw clear as day who behind them was. Looking better than before, Anya was motionless on the operation table, as the doctors all seemed to be clearing up and preparing to finish the operation. A warm smile came across her face.

“Cecilia would be proud…we all are.”

Just then as if a flash of bravery appeared in her heart, she closed the computer and placed Omni next to it. Looking at them both, she gazed outside the window as she turned back and opened Omni again, now finally finding some form of writing that she was looking for. She flipped through the pages over and over, trying to find the one thing she was looking for in it all this time. A schedule. Some written scribbles for a performance schedule, years before it had all transpired the way it did. She flipped through the pages to find exactly what she was looking for. Unable to do so she laid back again, stretching as she sighed, wondering why she was doing all of this. She then looked at the laptop again, the video feed showing an empty room, with Anya being carried out of it. She jolted as she realized exactly who this laptop belonged to, clicking out of the video feed and opening all the file folders she could find, until she finally found a title that peaked her intrigue. ‘Dante: 6/5/2052’. She clicked on the video file, viewing Drima operating on an unconscious young Dante.

“Today marks exactly one year since you and Magi brought me the kid. I think that I finally managed to mess enough with his head to the point where he forgot it all…Glady I sure as hell hope that if you view this, you know what you’re doing. This…this is too messed up. I could hardly even finish it, having Magi being all over him all the time. You’re dead wrong if you think you can replace what you took away…but it’s done. He will no longer remember much of anything from that day, but he will start to remember parts of his life before that when he reaches adulthood. It’s impossible to outperform his immense natural Obsulyte infused immune system from overtaking the neural blockade I set up in his brain. Any more of it and I’ll seriously damage some other neurological aspects of his body, since it’s approaching puberty. I already…I’m sorry but…some aspects have already been damaged. The state you brought him in and the aggressiveness of what I needed to do to save him…the way he’s been acting altogether after that day…it adds up. In the broken state you brought him in, the state he was before you did on that day and the fact that he’s acting in such a weird way around Magi, I’m one hundred percent sure. Dante is severely emotionally impaired, being able to feel emotions without at all being able to externalize them. Wether that persists or not, I’m entirely unsure…but I’ll hope for the best, like we all will. I just wish that over time, he doesn’t have to deal with any more of this.”

She was saddened to hear the story behind Dante’s firm stoicism, but courageously decided to press on with the idea in her mind, before that too was forgotten. She went back into Omni and started accurately searching through all the days that were on Dante’s birthday, eventually finding what she was looking for. One day before it all…5/5/2051, Terna Matune, 9:00 a.m. She was briefly reminded of what was to be done on that fateful day. She promptly got up and headed to the elevator. The ride ending as shortly as she entered, she was brought down to the floor level of the hall, starting to head out of it and onto the city suburbs. She didn’t want to use a vehicle this time. She wanted to take it slow, like the mellow melodies she used to once play. Not before long, she wandered outside of the city. The hours must have passed her by as she slowly wandered through the fields again. Mere silence accompanied her every move, the stars and moon above lighting the path she took that one time forward. She breathed the aroma filled air from the meadows valleys as he ears started playing tricks on her. The sounds of kids running around and their laughter, accompanied by a scenery of silence filled with mellow music and the fearful screams of haste. A mixture of sounds, smells and that same grassy taste someone would get if walking through that humid night meadow. She paused briefly as she took a second glance at the clear night sky.

“So…many of them. I…I wish you could hear me.”

She traced back her words to be left drowning in mystery. That ‘you’ felt like a face so familiar yet so distant…how would she know. She always forgot. In a way, despite her knowing the awfulness of his past, she wish that she too could get her memories wiped like Dante. Because all she wanted for once was to remember it all after.

Finally making her way back to Dirunon. She gazed at the city entrance, this time taking the sight in, instead of running in a rush to prevent the worst. She looked at the destroyed gates to see a brilliant white coating of paint, grazed with bits of after glowing gold. Walking through them she witnessed ashes covering a marble path, only to see grass and flowers guiding into the main plaza. Moving further she saw the remains of that same fountain. Where she would see what she took for granted every day. Those same smiles of all her friends still appeared before her as it reflected off the fountain’s running water. Despite it all, how grim and unforgiving every single thing was in her quake, she still managed to remember what little she could. Dark turned to light as her curiosity pushed her ever so further, the melodies in her ears, smell on her nose and illusions in her eyes showing her what others would fail to see. She slowly turned her head towards that bench…that same old bench that she used to lose herself in for hours, almost as if she was lost at the trance of the fresh water fountain’s flow. Only to be taken further aback, and starting to accurately remember what she thought was long gone from her mind, a small break into the void revealing only to her, a part of her long string of memories.

Angelica stretched, “Aw, man! Big bro is sometimes such a bump!”

“Wasn’t he with miss Cecilia?”, young Terna asked.

“Yeah…but it’s just Cecilia for you! We’ve known each other for so long, I don’t think it matters, mom agrees too! No need to repeat things!”, she happily said.

“I…if you remember…”, young Terna downed her head.

Angelica realized her mistake, “It’s cool! Despite what your parents said, I don’t believe it’s true! You’re one of the absolute best performers in Aria Mista!”

“But…if you were at last weeks performance, you saw the embarrassment that I was. My words…I just forgot them…”, she sniffed at the horrifying scene of a thousand eyes looking upon her at her worst moment.

“So? It’s stage fright. Can’t be that you’re forgetting any words at all. You literally know thousands of songs without even needing to look at any of them!”

“It’s sheets and…that won’t do. My maestro wants me to learn the lyrics too. He said that my talents will be the biggest shame the world has ever seen if they’re wasted.”

“Nothing will ever go to waste, so don’t worry! My big sister always say that “If you really like something, then do it. That’s why I’m just ignoring everyone else who tells me otherwise.”. And she’s totally right! So you shouldn’t worry about a thing, if you really love what you’re doing, just take it at your own pace. It’ll come naturally!”, Angelica reassured her.

Young Terna nodded, “Hmm. Thank you all, really. Without your support, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Aww…come here!”, Angelica hugged young Terna.

Like she had done to Dante moments ago, her memories played back the exact same movements, inch for inch. The same violin playing stance turned into a hug, tightly around Angelica. The hug played back again and again as she replaced her face with numerous others she once took for granted. Angelico, Hikari, Anya and then Dante. As if she was marking them in her own way. As if she was leaving a part of her behind for others to carry on and to cherish in their darkest hour. She pressed on down the path, gazing and getting lost at the city sights. She started playing back all the images her wide mind was starting to remember, passing by the city and eventually ending up at the marina. Grante Porto is what it used to be known as. She always loved watching all the ships go by. Their white coating reflecting off the blue ocean, colored by the sky and their flashy metal bars illuminating the marina with the sun’s light. How could she ever come to forget a place like that, she wondered. Her mind once again taking her back.

The young Terna kept playing her violin on and on at a small corner of the marina, hidden from the view of others. She stopped for a moment again, distracted by the same ocean she had so easily gotten used to. She was never once afraid of the abyss bellow the surface, but would rather curiously wonder what was beneath. She was then surprised to look Cecilia, approaching her from the side.

“Hey kiddo, got a little bit distracted I see?”, Cecilia happily approached her.

“O-Oh. Miss Cecilia. Hi.”, she was surprised, “How did you…find me? My music wasn’t that loud, was it?”

“Nope. As quiet as it always is. Viola was just looking for you and she told me where you’d usually hang out.”, she sat besides Terna, “So, can I see what the Great Maestra Terna is putting in the making?”

“I-I…I don’t know. My music is normally…not good. I’d rather perform for you privately with a known piece, if you don’t mind.”, Terna tried to hide her sheets.

“If you don’t wanna show me, it’s fine. I won’t be pushing you to it. We all have things we don’t wanna share, just that I was really curious is all.”

Terna thought about it, “I…you know me. If I’m ever to become something of notice like my maestro said, I need to be judged by strangers.”

“I don’t really believe in making things mellow, you know. Call it rudeness, but the way I chose to live, I had to be harshly judged. Unlike training, for me, one mistake during the real thing will most likely not allow me to make another one after. However, you can be judged again and again, improving during practice and during the real thing. They say that we have to fail to succeed, right? I wouldn’t know, since that sounds way too stereotypical for me to believe.”, Cecilia chuckled.

“I have to ask, miss Cecilia. Why…why are you so nice to me?”

“What kinda question is that Terna? Why wouldn’t I? I mean, you’re not a bad kid, are you? I like to treat people like they treat others. And you’re in for a nice ride, given how much everyone tells me how good you are back home. If you were a bad influence, I doubt you’d be hanging out with Angelica, Angelico and Dante.”

“T-Then…u-um…can I ask you something?”, she scarily asked.

“Sure, no need to be scared. Say it.”

“If you treat people like they treat others…um…why do you…hate Dante?”

Cecilia jolted, “Is…is that how you perceive it?”

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bothering you with this, I’ll go back to mom-“, young Terna was stopped before she got up.

Cecilia sighed, “You realized by now…he’s special, right?”

Terna stopped her haste, “Um…yes. He’s…kind of being hurt by other kids.”

Cecilia’s face turned even more grim, “I see…but no, that’s not the reason why. I love every single one of them, to the point where neglecting myself for all four of them wasn’t an issue at all…but I can’t simply not discriminate against Dante. His powers…they’re mine. Something which I thought would be entirely impossible to inherit. They will destroy him eventually…I can’t help but train him. It’s the only way I can be on top of him 24/7 and be sure that he doesn’t hurt himself more than he has to. I…I might have gone too far, but I don’t care. So long as he’s fine, he can hate me with a burning passion. But I can’t let what I had take away what it did from me in the same way for him.”

Terna sat back down, looking at a saddened Cecilia and realizing her mistake of bringing up that conversation. She shuffled through her sheets again and pulled out that one same sheet she worked on for days to present to her maestro.

“This…I worked on this for a long time. It was supposed to be presented today, but I have a few more left. Here.”, she gave Cecilia her song.

“Wait, what? What…is this?”

“It’s a song I was writing for a play but I started having second thoughts about it…I thought of singing it for everyone, especially Dante, for their birthday but…I don’t think I’d muster the strength to sing in front of anyone by then. I’d rather play my music silently in the back.”

Cecilia softly smiled at Terna, “Hmm. You really are a good kid. But say…do you honestly think the same as everyone else when you look back at me and Dante? Sorry, just that…this really bothers me.”

“Dante would always be mad about you…he never stopped telling us of how bad the whole Silverlance thing got. He used to fantasize all the time about being as strong a you and as proud as those soldiers, but…not anymore. We kind of…I’m sorry. But we really are worried about him, at the same time, we don’t really want to be around him…he has changed. We don’t see him smile so much anymore. He’s always training and rarely hangs out and when he does, he really doesn’t talk much unless we provoke him to do so. We miss him…me, Anya and his siblings.”

“Very mature for someone your age I’d say. And…I guess I should apologize. Shouldn’t have pushed you to say all this.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I really like everyone anyway, so I’m perfectly ok with talking about them. I don’t believe that we can be happy all the time…that’s rarely the case. And I also don’t believe that it’s necessary to go through sadness to gain happiness. But talking about it always makes me feel like I can make the bad good and the good better. I just…I didn’t want to make you feel sad about it. I know deep down Dante is still the same and he loves everyone unconditionally, like me…I really do love everyone, because without them, I struggle to see how I could be where I am today. That day when I bumped into Angelico in school, he introduced me to Angelica and thanks to her experience from the Sister Knights, she encouraged me to join Aria Mista and start showing my music to everyone. Without Anya promoting me in the city left and right no one would ever hear me and without Dante actually going out of his way to give up on his practice test, before my first show as a violinist at the side, just to come and cheer me on…”, Terna paused briefly tracing her rumbling back, “A-Ah, sorry! Please don’t get him in trouble for that!”

“What, him giving up a practice Silverlance test made from me exclusively for him to cheer you on?”, Cecilia chuckled, “I’d have done the same. And I believe Angelico and Angelica would too…so would Freya.”

“I haven’t seen her for so long…where has she gone?”

“Studying abroad. She was way too fast of a learner to be left in Dirunon like that, so she went along with her uncle to another place for following her dreams. I be, she sounded as smart as you from the mere age of 9. I can’t ever not look back whenever I get like this and be so proud of every single one of my kids, you know. Dante and Angelico both wanted to live tales of glory and excitement with their respective Lances, Angelica chose to go down the path of the Sister Knights and help those around her physically and mentally and Freya wanted to take her own ‘secret’ path. Don’t really know about the last one, she always knew what she wanted but also wanted it to be a secret. I just wish that they all eventually find their way. Now, I know your mother sent me to get you but I don’t think she will be worried for you since I was sent here…mind, you know. Helping me understand how to sing this? I really do not get note writing very well…”, Cecilia nervously chuckled.

“Yes, it’s as easy as cooking, really! Here, I’ll show you.”, she pointed at the sheets Cecilia was holding onto.

Cecilia nervously smiled again, “If it’s anything like cooking…yeah…”

“Hmm? You don’t know how to? Doesn’t every mom prepare foods?”

“Terna, do you remember that day that a fire broke out at the restaurant Viola had?”

“The day that mom left it to you for safekeeping while she took us to school on a rainy day?”

“Yes. So a few customers showed up early and…well, I challenged myself.”

“Oh…uh…but then how do you and everyone else…eat?”

“When Angelica isn’t around or doesn’t feel like cooking, it’s takeout at your mothers place every day.”, Cecilia scratched her head, “I mean, at least Viola was kind enough to teach Angelica about cooking and a little bit of archery too so…I owe her.”

Terna chuckled, “It’s fine, no one can know or be the best at everything. Here, let’s start with the first verse.”

Her mind faded once again to the mellow humming of that same melody that Cecilia reminded herself of at her final moments. She didn’t look at that marina with melancholy, rather than happiness. Happiness to know that at that day, she was at least able to use her music to bring a smile to someone’s face for the first time. She wasn’t one to normally look back and reminisce memories for the sadness that they’re no longer something she can experience. Rather, she was happy to experience them in the first place, something that would have made her sad if she missed the chance to experience them otherwise.

She kept moving on and on throughout the destroyed city. Minutes, hours, what did it matter? Were it her choice, she would be forever lost in those warm memories before she would forget those too. She finally reached the place she didn’t even know she was set out to go. An old, destroyed building eaten away by time. The gates of the building had rusted away and given in to the elements. The garden around the porches and small open area withered away and the building itself, a massive dome like structure was partially destroyed, barely handing on to its roof by a single thread with its last piece of strength. To her, it didn’t matter, because once again, her mind rushed to fill in the rotten image.

“So, you ready for the first impression? It’s gonna be extremely important you know.”, Dante said.

“I-I…I think so. No singing! Right?”, Terna scarily said.

“Nope, don’t worry on that part! I ran all the way around the city and promoted only your fantastic music, as per request. Man, I must’ve worked a weeks calorie worth in a day. But we did it!”, Anya happily said.

“Doubt you’ll fail this one, if practice really does make perfect, then you sure are perfect by now!”, Angelico said.

“Hehe…thanks.”, Terna thanked him.

“Yeah, unlike someone who tends to skip it all the time.”, Dante looked at Angelico.

“Lil bro, I’m not the one who failed his test...thrice. Hell, weren’t you supposed to be doing the second one today?”, Angelico looked at Dante.

“Both of you stop it right now! If you fight on Terna’s day, I’ll smack you both.”, Angelica angrily said, taking a menacing look at them both.

“Sorry!”, Dante and Angelico simultaneously said in fear.

“She does have her…way, of calming them out.”, Terna said.

“That’s why we love her!”, Anya budged next to Angelica.

“In any case, might as well go forward, right? Today is your big day anyways.”, Dante said.

“Hmm, right.”, Terna nodded, “I hope I can remember it all.”, she scarily said.

“Alright, then let’s go!”, Angelica cheered everyone forward.

She smiled upon remembering that one memory she engraved, not in her mind but in her heart. She moved forward again, entering the great theater. The Aria Mista. The once beautiful wine red hall with the ticket vendor withered away into a cold gray, the once beautiful portraits of pure art on the walls burned and left to extinguish themselves in times hands. She walked without at all noticing the difference, lost in an illusion carefully crafted by her mind’s memories and portrait through her eyes. She finally reached it…the main theater room. The top floors auditorium partially crashed down, destroying the seats bellow. The curtains on the stage, though partially burned managed to retain some form of color throughout time. The main stage, holding firm, retained the strength to support the performers on top, however, it had stopped retaining that reflective glow from the stage lights. She made her way up at the center of the stage, looking back at the auditorium.

Though empty, she could hear their laughs. The chuckles and yells of that day. She remembered it all too well. How she got up on the stage and began playing as she was taught and as her hands remembered. But not a single word escaped her lips. Not a single but of hollow air coming from her lungs. And as her lips failed to come into sync with her dexterous fingers, her hands failed to progress the song further. A sudden burst of silence that held for a few quick moments, only to be remembered as an agonizing eternity. And as the silence continued, she heard from bellow the words that broke her from bellow.

“Get going, did you forget already?!”

She did not know who the words were spoken by, but she did not care, because a moment after they filled the silence, a wave of laughter and chuckles came her way. They say that humans are mimetic creatures. They say that if someone speaks ever so convincingly, he will gain others to back them up, following the moment but not the person themselves. How could it be that she went with the flow, only to be dragged away by it? She paused yet again, this time in the present, as she slowly began backing up more and more as if she was facing a monster that gradually consumed her world, bit by bit. She crashed and fell behind the scenes, a few small tears escaping her eyes from her frightened face. She quickly got back up and stopped all of her rushing emotions, her eyes forcing her out of the horrific melody that was the ill mannered laughter of onlookers that day. How come they did this to a mere child? Were they that inconsiderate? Was the world she viewed so beautiful just a facade that hid something much more sinister underneath? Or was it simply a twisted desire to be placed on the other end, lacking empathy for what was in front? Her mind raced a million questions as she forced herself to stop, blankly staring at the emptiness of both the stage and the auditorium as she got up from the wrecks in the backstage.

“I guess…even with talent something’s I can never do…”, she whispered sadly.

She lifted her head up as the final piece of that days memories came into her mind. As if her ears were playing tricks on her once again, she heard a mellow and soft melody play in her ears. However, this time, it was more than real. She traversed the backstage, looking at every corner of it, images she saw being replaced once again, with ones of the past. The final and most important moment to her from that day.

“So sweetie, are you ready for it?”, Viola happily asked Terna.

“I-I…I dunno, mom. It’s…it’s weird…”

“I thought you liked trying new things.”, Gaz smiled at Terna.

“T-That’s not it…it’s…”

Viola softly punched Gaz on the shoulder, “Stop messing with her, go out and grab you seat already!”

Gaz chuckled, “Heh. Fine, I’ll give you guys a mother-daughter moment before the big stage, alright? I’ll be rooting for ya kid. Check out the seats where Cecilia and the kids are at. That’s where I’ll be.”, Gaz hastily left for his seat.

“So, sweetie, like you practiced. Nothing different, just do the exact same thing.”

“But…what if I mess it up…”

“You know, I’ve been saving something exactly for this day. I think it’ll help you relax a little bit. Here.”

From her side, Viola pulled out a peculiar looking case, almost looking like a sword seethe, with a magnificent looking handle protruding from it. When Terna received it in her hands, she started slowly taking it out. A flawless looking, white flute was then placed onto her hands. The long white flute, partially decorated with gold bits all along its length shimmered in front of the backstages dim light as its base with the handle ended in a glorious pair of wings, mimicking the guard of a sword, finished by two beautifully layered crystals at the tip of the wings. She gazed at the familiar looking item before tracing her eyes back on Viola.

“M-Mom…this is…”, Terna gazed in awe.

“Remember when I told you that when I found you on that beautiful flower field? I told you pretty much everything I knew, because I didn’t want to lie to you. This was the thing I told you I found next to you but…I didn’t want to give it to you back then. It seemed…powerful. Too powerful…but as I realized more and more how strong you’ve become over these short years, I decided to give it back to you. It’s yours to begin with after all. I was just worried that it might’ve been too much for you to handle at the beginning.”

“Thank you…I know how to play the flute extremely well too, but…”

“I know, it’s a violin solo play. But check what I found when tinkering with it.”, Viola tinkered with the flute.

As Viola touched the handle, a sharp string came out the other end, mimicking the bow of a violin. She gazed at the shiny silver surface of the “bow” and slowly placed it on the bridge of her violin. Nothing. Not a single strain of muscle was needed to be pulled for moving it around, almost as if she was holding on to a cloud. She tested it to see if it fit her liking and to her surprise, it far exceeded her expectations. Such a weird tool with such a unique outcome.

“I will take this with me.”, Terna firmly said.

Viola smiled at her, “Now go give them a show they’ll never forget. I’ll be right here, ok?”, she pushed Terna forward softly.

As the young Terna moved towards the stage, exiting the backstage, she was briefly blinded by the light shinning above her. She quickly regained her vision to be left awestruck by the sheer amount of people that were filling up the theater that day. A logical amount for the space that the seats allowed and an infinite amount in her mind. She began to softly tremble before being shaken up by her maestro, signaling her from bellow. She softly placed her newfound bow onto the bridge again and widened her stance. The light, beautiful dress she chose to wear on that fateful day seemed to start and weight more and more, exceeding what she could carry. Her breath, once normal, now too became heavy, as if she was being chocked by herself. The first baton swipe happened. So did the first swipe of her bow onto her violins strings. Off tune. Her face began change from its frozen look to a soft red. The temperature in her body raised more and more like a furnace fully stacked with burning wood. She quickly tried to tune her strings back again, succeeding in doing so…the second baton swipe happened, that too followed by another swipe of her bow. Off tune. Was it really the mistake of her strings, or was it simply her? She began to crack again, her hands and body trembling as if an earthquake had occurred. The first chuckled were heard from underneath, as she gazed at her school classmates who had gathered in the usual reserved area. These words…

“Get going, did you forget already?!”

She still couldn’t point out the one who spoke them. Only hear the laughter after. She relaxed her stance as her eyes teared up, not daring to let a single one roll down her face. She gazed at the audience and was then again blinded by the stage lights, struggling to make a move. She heard a voice again and again, calling to her.

“Sweetie, it’s ok, really!”, Viola whispered loudly from behind.

Her step-mothers voice echoing within her mind, she broke out of her distressed state, now letting those frozen tears run down like waterfalls. She gazed at her friends on their side of the theatre, Gaz, Angelica, Angelico, Anya, Dante and Cecilia all signaling her that it’s fine and to go on. She could not. The only sound she could make that one time was one echoed through the theater.

“No!!!”

As she squealed it out of her trembling lips, she turned around began her running motion, only to step on that same light dress. Her violin, heavier than the bow was the first one to come into contact with the hard floor. Her entire body followed after it in a sick duet of agony and crashed right on top of it, braking it to bits. Her two hands extended forward, trying futilely to soften the fall. She turned to her side while still down to gaze at the crowd once again, now with them looking in a worried tone for the crying child. Interesting, wasn’t it? How at the peak of the misfortune and scenario cause they would all stare in silence, but would all continue their laughs carelessly before the breaking point. She looked back down as she gazed at her broken violin. Her left hand still firmly holding on to that unique flute…her right hand, though she couldn’t feel it, bleeding profusely without any signs of stopping. As her blood formed a running river underneath the violins broken bottom half, she looked around at the top half. Slashed by the broken bits of wood during her fall she finally realized what had happened. The thing she spend so much time mastering had twisted her faith all around, now hurting her most in what time should’ve been her best. She gazed at it with regret and the flute with disgust, almost as if she was ready to keep hurting and cracking them back like they did to her. She mixed her blood with tears as the dress now began to soak up the river of red running from her hand…she wasn’t a singer. She wasn’t a musician. She was exactly what she viewed her violin like, once having her dreams placed upon it. Broken.