High-Strung, Low-Tension

Yuria, kind as she was to me, made it clear that I wasn’t skipping class at any point while I was on the island. It was one thing to be forced to do someone else’s will, but it was another to have that altered by me and have it end all the worse. I sat in Wolvram’s class for days on end, listening as she expounded upon the ins and outs of percussion and showed me for certain that she was still angry about being shot and hit on. Every time she laid a paper in front of me, she cracked my desk a little more with the force in which she put it down. I barely reacted. It was hard to care, even when she was glaring daggers at me for playing ‘simple beats with a superior creation’. None of my beats with the drum could be replicated by anyone in the class when I put my mind to making something complicated and decent, but even then my right hand was carrying me through most of the lessons. Wolvram clearly didn’t like me or the proficiency I showed with her instrument of choice, Occasionally sending percussive blasts at my left hand to trip me up. She rarely failed, but over time I learned how to beat her at her own game.

There wasn’t a soul in the class willing to stand up for me and I didn’t want to be bothered with Wolvram, but she continued to push me as I attended her class. There was a lot I wanted to happen to her, and when my fingers finally healed up I brought an undlegar to class that was on loan from the academy, confusing my few associates and peers. Flistor, a young man with a heart of gold and a healthy fear for our teacher, was my closest thing to a friend. Even he refused to sit near me when I brought the undlegar, making multiple people choose to stand in class. Near the back. Wolvram entered after the bell rung from the main tower and walked in shuffling papers around as usual. She cast a cursory glance at me that was leaning toward a glare (As always) until she spotted my undlegar. The look on her face didn’t make me feel anything, and I didn’t want to deal with the consequences of actions I’d yet to commit.

“Gatian Gauner, have you brought a string instrument to my percussion class?” Wolvram asked incredulously.

I nodded. “Yes, Miss Wolvram.”

“I assume you plan on playing it?” She asked, smiling like she was waiting for me to say yes.”

“If you’ll allow it, Miss Wolvram,” I replied tiredly.

That dampened her mood as the class looked on. “Then… I suppose we have little choice. Class? We have a special song from our resident idiot. Make of it what you will.”

Awkward laughs were heard around the room. I was already one of the top students in the class by my peers reckoning. No one wanted to mess with me just in case Wolvram was possessive about her targets, but I was still a pariah due to my talent. As I took to the front of the class and stood near-ish to an unamused Rozana Wolvram, I said, “This song… I made it while my hand was healing. Guess it’s for you too, but it’s for a couple people.”

She raised a brow, her cheeks pinkening slightly. “Cute. No one writes songs that fast.”

I shook my head. “This one is called ‘Thrice’... I’m gonna start now.”

And so I did.

Thrice by Gatian Gauner

First Verse

Thrice I heard my name in the wind

Three short bursts, will I find you again?

Don’t know who and I don’t know where

Looked in the mirror; Do you even care?

Chorus

Was it the future?

The past, now?

Was it your own device~?

My spirit dwindling so far down

Did you love me?

Did you ever?

Was our past a lie~?

My spirit dwindling so far down now

Second Verse

Was it ever meant to be?

Were you just the first my eyes could see?

Seen now pastures greener still

Just a void that I need filled

Chorus 2

Was it the future?

The past, now?

Was it your own device

My spirit dwindling so far down

Did you love me?

Did you ever?

Was our past a lie?

My spirit dwindling so far down now.

I stopped playing and looked at Wolvram, having had my eyes closed for the short performance. “How was it?”

She stared at me, her eyes misty and concern in her voice for the first time since we’d met.. “... Take your seat, Gatian. Class is starting.”

There were murmurs in the class and worried looks tossed at me left and right, but no one dared interrupt Wolvram to see what my song really meant. I didn’t care to explain in the first place and followed along the class as Wolvram set it, choosing to let my music speak for me. The morning class ended and I was scheduled to join Yuria’s afternoon class for the first time, but Wolvram held me back once people started leaving and asked for a word. Her expression was unreadable and no one dared make assumptions about what we were going to do out loud, but I couldn't say that I was terribly concerned

Once the class was cleared and we were alone for the second time since we’d met, Wolvram gestured for me to come to her desk and sit in the chair she kept near it. I followed her implied instructions and looked at her calmly. “Is there something wrong?”

“... How long did it take you to write that song?” She asked.

“A few days. I haven't had much free time.”

Rozana Wolvram stared at me, something in her voice I couldn’t identify. “... And you actively miss beats to stop your percussion from being Terruc.”

“Yeah.”

“No matter how much I taunt you.”

“Mhm.”

“... Gatian, you’re strange… “ She shook her head, narrowing her eyes as she looked at her hands. “I haven't forgotten your previous comment: the flirt you threw my way. I can’t help but feel it was connected to the song.”

“Greener pastures.”

“Ah. I see.” She pursed her lips. “... Would you teach me that song?”

“Thrice? Yeah, I guess. Don’t have anything for it other than an undlegar, though.”

“I know a bit of the instrument, though I’ll not pretend to have your skill.”

I raised a brow, meeting her gaze. “You understand that I have no concept of Avalesch flirting, right?”

“This isn’t flirting.”

“Then yeah, just tell me when you have time.”

That seemed to surprise her. “I figured you would’ve shown a level of dissatisfaction at the very least. I’m not offering myself or anything of the sort, but I thought-”

“Miss Wolvram, you’re an attractive woman but I don’t fall for all of you. I barely know you, and you broke my fingers. Regardless of whether or not your ass is nice to look at, your willingness to inflict actual damage on people over bullshit is retarded. I’m not going to put up with that in a relationship, whether it’s directed at me or anyone else. The only reason I come to your class in the first place is because it’s a consequence of something I did. I don’t like being here. I don’t want to be here. Say the word and I’ll leave.”

“As I said, you are strange indeed, Gatian.” Wolvram mused, her bluish-green eyes sparkling with something I couldn’t identify. “... I look forward to seeing you put some effort into your music. There are a few string-instrument instructors here that would be, for all intents and purposes, insulted by the fact that I sent you to them. If not for their own pride, then for yours.”

“So, what now?”

“... Do you wish to replace the one who doesn’t love you in turn?” She asked plainly.

“Not without speaking to her myself.”

Wolvram cracked a grin. “Good man. You are dismissed, and keep your eyes in decent places.”

“Sure.” I nodded and left, grabbing my loaned undlegar and plucking a few strings as I walked along.

It was either Moonlight Sonata or Fur Elise that I was idly playing as I walked, but either way it didn’t sound right in the octave I’d translated it to. Dropping to C Minor did the trick and made the song resonate with me a little better, earning me looks as I strolled down the halls to Yuria’s classroom. Rarely enough were the students in the halls since most of them were scholars from all over, just in a younger form. Their nerdiness carried over and it took the rare eccentric to play openly and risk ridicule, but it hadn’t really been a concern for me at the time. I’d had a good show, an uneventful class, a clear talk, and another chance to niggle at Yuria in the next few minutes coming up. Things were looking up for once since I’d stepped foot on Lahgo island, and especially since learning that I was a walking nuke.

That little tidbit was still hard to swallow and with neither my Companion or Partner being around. I didn’t have anyone to lean on. I’d gotten so used to being with Stella and Bast that being alone was pretty awful all by itself, but the sting was fading by the day. It had already been two weeks since I’d last seen Stella and a week since I’d seen Bast, but even then I didn’t miss then like I should have. I was already getting used to walking alone again and that didn’t make me happy. Being lonely was never good for me, so I went to Yuria’s afternoon class to see some people that actually liked me. After the days I’d spent with Wolvram, a lot of people from the class I’d interrupted with Yuria sought me out for conversation and answers. I gave them as many as I could once I gauged the mood of the crowd but it was slow going to figure out how each of them had been contacted. It was largely through letters since many of them were Septurns or settling River People, but my method wasn’t the oddest by far. Songweavers were an odd bunch and many of them were always on the lookout for a new way to up the ante. However, I never revealed that my strings were Terruc, but I did play My Heart Will Go On with a flute-like pipe called a pitup. It sounded better on the pitup and ended up being an energy draining song that needed to be countered by another students own fresh tunes. It was common for people to test new songs on each other when they were made with innocuous emotion, so nobody got mad at me for making them feel like a melatonin junkie.

I got a lot of friendly associates out of my mingling and a couple interested looks from time to time, but a lot of the interest was based around my relationship with Yuria. It wasn’t as if I was Yuria’s pet or anything, however there was conjecture that I was her boytoy nonetheless. People gave me hell about it and usually asked me how she was, but I could never lie and say I’d been with someone when I hadn’t. That’s what my arguments usually boiled down to, but there was one young woman who had only been a couple years younger than me before being aged down that was persistent. And flirty. She was a River Woman named Leah Di’Angelo, but everyone called her Dirty Di or Di-Di for the simple fact that the woman had some loose morals. She enjoyed being in the youthful body and made me well aware of that fact, but I was none too keen on trying out the island bicycle. She was persistent and a lot of guys asked me why I didn’t go for her before they answered their own questions with Yuria. The older woman wasn’t one for sex and intimacy though she freely made jokes and occasionally kissed a student’s cheek for funsies. She liked kisses and hugs and hand-holding if you weren’t a couple, but the other stuff was not to be shown in front of her, and River People had it the worst.

If you loved your Partner and didn’t form a couple with them, you were completely in the clear and no one on the island saw you any differently. If you had a bond like me and Stella, people actively discouraged you from being in the relationship and some people even likened it to a teacher raping a student. Partners were also discouraged from returning feelings or developing feelings for their Masters for the simple fact that it was twisted and the people of Lahgo all thought the practice was warped in the first place. The tradition of providing a guide for a River Person was fine, but picking a sex-puppet that would be hugely obedient? Fucked up, and I happened to agree wholeheartedly. Di-Di always reminded me of Stella whenever I saw her because their eyes were similar, and the thought of being with someone like my Partner while feeling how I felt was wrong to me. I couldn’t explain that to her or Stella, but the longer I spent on Lahgo the more I felt like I’d let Sootina make me use her. The more I felt like our whole history was the epitome of solace found in the bond between the abused and broken.

“Hey, Gatian~” Di-Di sang like the fool she was. Garnering looks and attention as she wanted after class had ended, she continued. “Have I ever told you how much I can’t believe that epic name of yours? I mean, Gatian just doesn’t-”

“It’s Hebrew. My English name is Gage,” I said flatly. “Can we not do this today?”

“Oh, come on! It’s your first day in class with us and you won’t even let me have a little fun?” She asked poutily.

Baroan, the most liked guy in class, came to my rescue. “Di Di, you know Gatian is still healing up. Why don’t you sink those fangs into someone else, cougar?”

Leah colored. “I’m younger than you! I’m younger than him!”

“You’re also slutty.” Elss chimed in coldly from behind. “Be a whore somewhere else, Gatian is here to learn.”

I looked back at the auburn, almost stereotypically-nerdy woman and saw that she was nodding at me. I returned her nod and looked at Di Di. “I’m not interested in that kind of thing right now. I just need to work on my control and sound, and that’s it.”

Leah looked at me incredulously. “You think I’m some-”

Baroan coughed. “Um…”

Leah whacked him. “I am not a slut!”

Yuria coughed. “Hm…”

Leah whirled around and almost whacked her too. “O-Oh. Hi.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Yuria gave her a droll look. “Sleeping around again, are we?”

“I- E0.r-”

“That will be seven full scales, thank you very much. I’ll be leaving a somnode on your pipe as well.”

“Miss Yuria!” Di-Di wailed.

“Your date with Yeviu can wait,” she answered, amusement lacking in her expression. “And if I continue to hear that you’ve been neglecting your studies for coitus, I believe you’ll be excused from my class.” Yuria then looked at me with a certain level of ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’.

I raised my hands. “Don’t look at me, I’m just here to learn school and make sound-good type noises.”

“... I really wish you spoke differently some times, but I understand. I suppose.” Yuria said, a little irritable after the occurrence. “I believe Miss Wolvram has sent for you, however, so it would… behoove you, to make haste.”

I raised a brow. “What does Wolvram-”

“You haven’t been canoodling with her?” Yuria asked testily.

“Other than attending her class, I don’t see her.”

“... Hurry and go,” Yuria said softly, looking at the group of people around me. “And you all should be going now. It’s time for your next class.”

‘

“Bye, Miss Yuria.” Baroan left, Taking Elss along with him.

Leah stayed behind. “I want to negotiate-”

Yuria cut her the coldest look I’d seen from her by far. “Close your mouth, I can smell rotted semen on your breath.”

Di-Di shut up.

I went away at that point because I didn’t like what was going on and I didn't want Yuria to snap at me. Wolvram’s class was empty when I got there, but there was a music box with ‘Play Me’ written on a note stuck in the seam. Opening the box let me see that there was a simple mechanism inside that I was pretty familiar with from my Grandmother’s collection, so I turned the key and let the chimes wash over me. It was a melancholy melody that had no real effect on me that I noticed but it was also beautiful to listen to. I played it once and played it again, just tuning out the world until I realized that it was the exact purpose of the music box. To clear the mind and ease the soul. I wound the box as far as it would go and sat at my desk, cracked as it was.

Taking a moment to just sit and think without being worried throughout the entire event was relaxing. It felt like exactly what I needed to continue on with my day and get my thoughts straight. It also helped me decide that Stellara didn’t deserve to be the person I pinned my hopes on, but that wasn’t something I really wanted to face. The more I thought about her, the more I realized that Stella didn’t have a choice. Whether I’d freed her or not, she was still indoctrinated and would probably be in the same place I was mentally. Trying to make sense of what there was between us happened to be completely impossible on my own so for the first time since I’d set foot on the island, I planned on going to see Stella. We’d been told to stay apart for the duration of our visit, but I couldn’t help myself anymore; I needed to know what she wanted from me and for herself in the long run, and there was only one way to do that.

I wrote a quick song that was more of a chant, but I also had my undlegar to help me along with my tune. ‘Along I go with no one there. Along I go I do not care. Along I go I see you not. Along I go with my own thoughts. I go I go I go I go along my merry way! I go I go I go I go and make merry today! Along I go with no one there. Along I go-’ so on and so forth. The song repeated itself as many times as I needed it to whether or not there was a door in my way. After my room in the dorms, I just fucked off and waited for people to open main doors while I played the song and went along my merry way after all. No one commented on the odd guy singing and dancing along without a care in the world while dragging boulders on his shoulders metaphorically. I decided to nudge someone with my foot while playing my song and found that it worked better than I’d thought in the first place. The person I’d nudged was talking at the time and didn’t even react.I decided to dance around the pair and sing my song as loud as I could without straining my voice and they paid no mind.

There was an urge for me to be an utter dumbass with my newfound power and it would not be indulged. At that moment. Nope, I already had something to do and chose to go outside of the Minstrel’s Academy for Gifted Musicians for the first time since I’d gotten there and realized I’d been brainwashed already. Realizing that kinda… It kinda killed the effect and I came to wake up, in a manner of speaking. I almost broke down in tears when I realized that I’d yet to see the sun in its true form in over a month. Bast had probably noticed that I was just going along with life, even after having Yuria lay out the facts to me. I saw what was happening for once and it made me want to stop singing. I didn’t because the song gave me another sense of clarity that had surfaced when my fingers were broken; There was more to the island than I thought. I myself was being groomed into a weapon and Yuria herself had told me that the same was happening to Stella, so I decided that she too deserved the chance to see for herself and make a choice.

The only problem I faced was not knowing where in the crazy, snowflake-sensitive world she’d gone. I assumed she was somewhere on the islands, so I wandered my way in to the forest and quieted my song so I could maintain it longer. The first chance I got in a secluded part of the woods, I took the blue candle necklace the old man ghost-dude had given me and funneled my Terru into my hands. It wasn’t guaranteed to work by a longshot, but it was also the default method for activating modern enchantments. Luce had never taught me many of the old ways since they were useless by and large, due to the fact that many had long since ceased to be useful. However, I needed a hope now more than ever after seeing hard truth and cast a small Arca to light the candle on a guess and a prayer. I wasn’t surprised when it worked, a waxed flame appearing on the wick of the candle. I pinched the flame after a moment, having gotten everything I needed and more from the wisdom of wax.

After I looked around the place I found myself my song ended for a few minutes at that point. The beauty of the forest was lost on me for a moment, my eyes seeing more than they had before Rasputin had thrown wool at my eyes left and right. The forest was made to calm one’s senses and make them slightly subservient, more susceptible to certain suggestions. I remembered that the old Sotan had given me a way to see through the haze and now that I was paying attention I realized that there was still a lot I stood to learn from the Songweavers, though it necessitated a song to be written on the fly. I don’t think I’ll ever write that one down because it’s just… It’s short anyway, and… I really just don’t want someone to figure out some sort of counter-Arca or some shit.

After singing my song and a few others that were along the same lines with the same goals, I started practicing some Arca because I’d probably forgotten half of my arsenal by that point. Hoarime, Umbralisis, and Fuldis were all still working, but I had to experiment to get Inoskic, working again, which was a bitch. After learning how to mildly poison things again I realized that I’d learned a bunch of half-useless shit and tried to remember something along one of my fucking affinities for once. It had been some time but I did remember Lucine saying that my heart was torn between a storm of the heart and the hearth of home. It sounded a lot like he was talking about Gatian and Gage at the time, but some Arca theology books I’d read while delving into the abandoned towns book supply lead me to believe that he was talking about Tempest Terru and one of the many forms of Earthen Magic that had ‘died out’ by the time the industrial age came around.

The phrase ‘Storm of Heart’ often meant some kind of kinetically charged Terru for a Thesuvian, but that in and of itself was conjecture based on the author of the book and the nationality of my mentor. Different nations had differing and correlating opinions and my books were mostly Thesuvian or Unicorn based, so half of it was reading for fun. The Thesuvian stuff boiled down to my abilities to think fast, react when I really wanted to, and the fact that it usually took something serious for me to lash out. Thus, I was either Ignitian or Tempestian, and I was pretty shit at fire Arca. I only had two Tempest Terru Arca, and one of them was the ineffectual Fuldis. The other was the stronger, louder Zeotsu, which would probably need a catalyst or something of the sort to be cast without hurting me. After all, casting Arca isn’t free by a long shot. It usually just hurts a little if it’s not that strong, but killing someone with a hand-cast Arca?

Masochistic at best. Suicidal at worst.

Now, there was a trick to getting a catalyst, and Lucine explained it to me because Unicorns are the only ones who can make catalysts and they’re usually assholes about it. Clockly was technically a catalyst, but it was solely for Arca-Arrows, or rather certain spells that could be cast with bullets. It was overpowered in its own way, but my weapons were gone and all I had were a tired voice and aching fingers. I stopped playing for a little bit and settled on letting myself rest for a little while, deciding to sit down and chill out. When I got my breath back and felt another song take place in my heart I let it flow through me and just sang it to myself, knowing for certain that I was just doing something for the sake of doing it. Adding the undlegar to it gave it a healing effect, but prior to that it had just been a pretty little song.

Once I felt my throat soothe itself, I got back up, fucked off to the edge of the island, and saw that there was a ferryman waiting for me, despite having said nothing about leaving. The woman, which was the ferryman that I mentioned before (Ferrywoman sounds dumb for some reason), waved and smiled brightly. I waved back and saw that she, for some reason, had blonde hair. Not a pale, barely yellowish blonde like Yuria, but a completely normal-looking, casual blonde that I wasn’t terribly fond of. The woman looked friendly enough, but I had bad luck with blondes and the trend had continued thus far. When I approached she waited for me to get closer before saying anything, which I really appreciated.

“Hey, bud. Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere right about now?” She asked, her age showing in her words.

“Hey pal, can you not?”

“Not what?”

I smiled. “Not make assumptions. I go where I please.”

She smiled back. “They take you from someone?”

“They said she was being trained as a fighter.”

“Oh, you mean the silver-haired one that’s been breaking people’s shield arms?”

“Sounds like my Stella.” I shook my head, grinning to myself.

“How bout I take ya to her for a spell?” The lady asked kindly. “Sounds like ya done broke the somnerre’s effect, so why don’t ya-”

“Can I play a song for you real quick?”

She smiled. “I like you. Sure.”

I started strumming my instrument and went at it in earnest once I had the general melody stolen from Radium Eyes, translated over to the undlegar.

Clearly by Gatian Gauner

Merry makes a man. Clear mind, solid stance.

Plugs in his ears. Waving off his fears.

There was a song that never

Ever quite sounded right.

He would play his own but to claim them

He found had no right.

Dummy likes to sweat, Dummy likes to hear.

Dummy’s getting wet, Dummy’s bout to clear

.

He drops, he tumbles heading further in,

Never to know the truth

He sweeps his eyes now in his way

Uncovering the cold day

Oh you got, crystal clear eyes

You- You got crystal clear eyes

There was more to the song, but that was the gist of it. The lady gave me a round of applause. “Damn, that was actually pretty good. Different too.”

“I’m told I’m a unique guy.” I shrugged. “How’s your day going?”

She nodded, her brow high. “It’s good and it got a little better. How bout I lend you a hand now?”

“Mind if I play another song or two while we go?” I asked the Shade.

“Sure, bud. I don’t mind as long as you can play me something with a little more pep to it.”

“I’ll think of something.” I chuckled. “I have a love song or two, but I don’t think those are too peppy.”

“Hm… Well, do ya know Wonderwall?”

I gave her the look of the ages and started playing it. “You’re lucky I like young ladies with pretty blue eyes.”

“The middle-aged woman in front of you ain’t fallin’ for that, but you are sweet.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, hop aboard, will ya? I don’t have all day to spend dilly-dallyin’.”

I started playing her request and put no real effort behind it, but I still made the song sound good, if that makes any sense. I didn’t put my heart behind it since I don’t like the song and barely remembered it, but my hostess wanted what she wanted and I decided that she deserved it. I played Wonderwall and followed up with a song I wanted to hear that translated better to the undlegar than any guitar song ever used before. Fernsehr by Adios Ghost rocked the boat with how much I got into it, despite the song having vocals I couldn’t identify with at all. Adding my own made the song better to sing, especially since the vocals were pretty… Well, the song would’ve been just as good without them in my opinion, but I wanted to brighten the day a bit and added a little Terru to the song. I almost ended the song before the ferryman asked me to keep it going, so I just jammed out and sang what I felt was right for the lyrics. Making up a song on the fly made the woman stop rowing, the warmest smile on her face that I’d seen in weeks.

“Now what song is that?” She asked.

I let the final notes play out as I finished the song. “I don’t know, but the feeling here is strong~.” Realizing that I was still singing made me stop. “My bad. Still feeling the music.”

“I see that, hun.” She chuckled, our momentum petering out. “So what was that?”

“Uh… Spontaneous Jam-Sesh Number One?” I asked more than answered.

She smiled, her cheek crinkling with amusement. “There aren’t many people like you, kiddo. People who can make Terruc song up on the fly, that is.”

“Oh. I figured.”

“There are more like you though. Just not here.” The lady spoke casually, as if she were telling me tomorrow’s weather.”

“... Could you help me find someone like me?” I asked. She reached into a pocket and tossed me a thick metal disk. It was about as thick as a candy-bar was tall, which really made me want a candy bar. “Oowoo, what’s this?”

The lady raised a brow. “Something to put a little bulgie wulgie in your pocket.”

I flipped the disk open and saw a compass. It was a very cool compass. “Cool compass.”

“Say what you want and it’ll point you to it. Doesn’t always make sense, but it never steered me wrong.” She cracked a smile.

“Thanks, I really appreciate that. Say, what’s your name, anyway? I don’t think I ever said I was Gatian either.”

She extended a hand. “Matilda. Pianist extraordinaire and Yuria’s former fave.”

“... You mean like Yureki?”

“Ah, that must be her current one.” She shrugged. “I just row these days.”

“Shame there isn’t a piano anywhere on the boat, I’d love to hear you play.”

“Wouldn’t even if I could. I left that all behind a long time ago.”

“What happened?”

“... I wasn’t good enough,” Matilda said softly, looking into the waters.

“... The only reason Yuria likes me is because I’m a walking nuke, and I did that by accident.”

“Sure.”

“When I died, I picked the Gift of Gab and I wanted to be one of the best musicians to ever live.”

Matilda looked back at me. “The Friendly Bard.”

“Prophecy?” I sighed heavily.

“Ain’t too many Bards that won’t stab ya. Ain’t too many River Folk pick those talents. Ain’t too many River Folk Bards...”

“Fuck me” I groaned.

“What all ya got so far?” She asked, smirking.

“... How long have-”

“Honey, I’m older than the academy itself.”

“Cheeki breeki Damski.”

“So whatcha got?”

“Uh… “ I thought about it. “I think a Minstrel thing, Moon River, The Bard’s Ballads and the Friendly-thing now…”

“Ah, then you’re probably gonna tie all those up and get the ‘Bard’s Tale’.”

“... I beg your goddamn pardon?” I asked, smiling.

She leaned back. “... You alright…?”

“That doesn’t sound like a prophecy…” I chuckled, smiling still.

“... It’s more of an epic or a full length story, but-”

I pulled out a pen knife and flipped it open. “Mhm.”

She brought the oar to bear. “I might not-” I pressed the blade against my neck

. “... Woah. Woah. Let’s calm down a sec.”

“Am I in a story?”

“... Don’t take drugs before you do stuff, kiddo.” She said, her hands extended toward me. “Why don’t you just put that down for a spell?”

I did. “I’m losing my mind.”

“I’d say so… You don’t wanna be in a story?”

“I’d really rather not.”

“... Then don’t write stuff down? I dunno, kiddo, but it’s not worth your life.”

“... It is when this doesn’t feel real. Nothing about this-”

“The Bard’s Tale says you feel like you’re in a dream or something like that.”

“Yeah, no, I don’t like that.”

“... It’s just supposed to be a general thing. ‘Dreamy steps he took on a boat with no sail. The… Person of the song-’ Ah, that makes no sense.”

“Shade of the song?”

“... You know?” She asked, surprised.

“After one of my songs, yeah. Probably Clearly.”

“... Oh.”

I gave her a smile. “Maybe I can help you get to the other side when we’re not over open water?”

Matilda smiled back, little more than a curving of her lips. “... You’d take time out of your day for that?”

“... A day for your eternity sounds more than fair,” I said slowly. “If I can help you do cooler stuff than row boats and listen to me, then why wouldn’t I?”

“You’re a real good guy, Gatian.” She started rowing again, seeming to struggle a bit.

I got up and reached for the oar. “You’ve gotta be tired, Tilda. Lemme take over for the rest of the trip.”

She raised a brow. “I’m fine, it’s just-”

“Give me the oar before I give you a bruise.”

“Kinda-”

‘

“That bruise could be a hickey, I didn’t say what kind.”

Matilda passed the oar with no more kerfuffle. “Say no more.”

I gave her a wink and started rowing toward the direction she’d been going. “Thanks for seeing reason, demon.”

“Aww, you’re welcome.” The sarcasm hit me in the face with her expression as the launchpad.

“Row, row, row your boat, gently cross the lake! Wake yourself before you die, your life is surely fake~”

“That’s…” Matilda gave me a concerned look.

“Grim? I know, but I really only sing about what I’m feeling.”

“That’s really grim.”

“I know, but I try not to lie.”

“Stop!” She laughed, shaking her head. “Lord, I forgot what millenials were like.”

“Shut up, boomer.”

“Watch it.”

“Boomer made a boom boom.”

Matilda rolled her eyes and took her jacket off, exposing a traditionally Caucasian complexion that I hadn’t really seen since Gerritt. Most people on Lahgo were around my complexion or a bit darker, and then there were the other races. Sotans and Fiskians in generals were all either too pale or too ruddy, but Matilda was off-white and about the color of the brownish parts of a Saltine. I’d rarely realized how much I missed seeing more variety in the people around me, especially since I was sure that the magic on me in the Academy was some form of assimilation-type brainwashing since I really couldn’t remember many people standing out unless they were key I my day to day. That in and of itself was odd since I love watching people and practice it regularly, but I wasn’t going to pretend to understand what exactly had gone on. I almost made a song to clear that up, but then I realized I was just rowing and not really paying attention to where I was going. Matilda looked like she was having a good time, smiling and relaxing while the shore came closer and closer. I rowed us away, further down the lake to prolong the journey a bit and sang a lullaby for my new friend. She sang with me, already knowing the lyrics to a song my mind barely even recalled. My Mom had memorized it and would sing it to herself all the time, I just never knew what it was called. As we repeated the song and grounded on the shore, Matilda sang along until it stopped itself and we just exchanged a hug.

“Thank you, Gatian. There’s a long road ahead of you, but you’ll tough it out. I know you will.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence and for the compass. Both are probably going to be useful around ten minutes from now.”

“You’ll live.”

I got off the boat and looked back to answer that, but she was already gone. A little saddened, I pulled out the compass and said, “Thanks, Tilda. Now let’s find Stella.”

The compass’ blued-steel arrow pointed northeast, so I followed my primarily inanimate guide and started on the journey to find my Partner. I wasn’t too worried about it since I’d been through a hypno-forest before, but there was something odd about the one I was walking into. It seemed to lack any of the same qualities as the other forest and actually made my mind feel sharper, more acute as time elapsed. It might’ve been my song or the surroundings, but a lot of things I was taught in class? Thinking back showed me that I barely learned that much about music; half of the Academy was based on where to go to gather a following so you could spread the Songweaver’s teachings in secret while making money for them. It was basically a Pyramid scheme with zombies, in all honesty. Why I didn’t think of that before, Teruni. Plain and simple. Ras loaded them down on me and Stella and I didn’t doubt that there were going to be even more waiting for me. Simple and Clean came to mind when I wanted to sing a song, so I played that on my undlegar and hope that it would clear my being of anymore Teruni. Little did I know that I also took care of the age Teruni that Ras had cast on me. My fucking uniform fit like it was made of me to come back to twenty-six, my musculature returning and making me smile. I shed the jacket so I wouldn’t look like a regular student, rolled my sleeves, cut off the hem in my pants, and wandered through the forest after mussing my hair up.

Gatian Gauner was back in action. Right after a potty break.

Speaking of breaks, I think I’ll end this one here, Booksy. I wanted to get past meeting Matilda and coming to my senses, but there’s more to this entry than what I’ve written down… I’ve… I’ve felt like something was off for a while now. Two and half lefts like a motherfucker; something just wasn’t quite right. When I figured out what it was, it hit me like a sack of bricks; I’d written a story called ‘Bard’s Tale’ when I was a kid and it was panned in class because it was about a wonderful musician who was sad because he was too good. The parallel is clear and it’s odd that this shit keeps coming up again ad again, prophecy after prophecy after prophecy… Shit’s not adding up, but all the pieces are falling in place… More on that when my hand doesn’t hurt, I guess.

Later, Booksy. Take it easy.