They entered their new residence with sparkling eyes. Their roommates were not there at the moment, so they explored the place on their own. It was at least two times bigger than the First Red residence, and there was no common dormitory. Instead, each duo had its own room. The room was large and you could draw a curtain between the beds for further privacy. Not that Mahon cared, but he assumed that made sense since some duo had both man and woman.

Contiguous to their bedroom, they had a water room for their personal usage. The house also had its own practice room, where different training facilities were available for the usage of its occupants. All in all, the house was leagues better than their former residence. And yet it was not the main reason Mahon and Zac were so happy.

“We did it!”

“Yes! It was all because of you, Zac!” Mahon cheered with enthusiasm.

“Yeah, I know, I know.”

Mahon laughed happily as his friend paraded in their room.

“That whistle, though… I was so far I thought I would never be able to protect you.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that. But I knew you would find something. We needed to do something anyway or we would lose. And I felt Laiex was playing with fire because she knew her brother was close. So, I took the opportunity…”

Mahon smiled proudly at his friend. Months ago, Zac wouldn’t have dared to do something like that. But under Mahon’s tutelage, he had improved by leaps and bounds and now, because of him, they had won. He had trusted Mahon a bit too much because in real fights this kind of move was way too dangerous, but Mahon couldn’t blame him now, just after he had secured them a way out of Travaran’s schemes.

“You know what?” Zac pulled him out of his daydream.

“Hmm?”

“I want to play.”

A smile illuminated Zac’s face and Mahon couldn’t resist but to mirror it. It has been long since his friend had played music and to witness how that had affected him had almost made Mahon plan an assassination or two.

“Music shop?”

“Yeah. Let’s go! I can’t wait!”

The duo left their belongings in their new room and exited the school. The residence was in the First White district, but it was the second to last and so their walk had just been reduced by two hundreds meters at most. Not a big change, but right now, they didn’t care.

“What will you buy? A new sitar?”

“Yeah! Well, I’m not sure, sometimes she has some amazing instruments and I may change my mind once inside…”

“Right! She…”

“Fada! I thought you would’ve forgotten after a month but I never thought we would rank up just a day after talking about it… Maybe I should have lost…” Zac joked.

“Just a day?! So much had happened. I thought it was at least a week!”

Zac chuckled. “Yeah… Between Faday, the death of Travarus, the Nightmare ambush and now our ranking up, I think we deserve some days off!”

“Exactly! About that, you still want to train in Nightmare, or will you go back to your usual no-dream pill?”

“No offense, Mahon, but I prefer my no-dream pill. However, training together in Nightmare had certainly been important to our victory. Can’t we continue, but in Ratho?”

“Hmm… With the training room, we should be able to do something, yes. Depending on how crowded it is.”

“You will need to train in Ratho and leave Nightmare behind at some point too, Mahon… I don’t want to stop at First White!”

Mahon acquiesced. He thought he could do it easily, but after yesterday’s fight, he had realized how much he had missed fighting there. Like he had left a part of him behind when he had stopped doing real things in Nightmare.

“It’s here!”

Mahon focused back on the present and observed the shop in front of him. It was a small shop, but it looked clean and organized. Dozens of music instruments were displayed through big windows for all to see. Zac passed his hand through his hair and straightened his posture before pushing the door. Mahon withheld his laugh and followed inside.

“Hello, Ash!”

“Oh? But it’s Zac! How you doing?”

There was only one person inside and she was standing behind a small counter, tuning a small violin with careful concentration. When they entered, she raised her head and Mahon could see how his friend had fallen in love with her.

She was dressed simply and her features were not outstanding, but she emitted some kind of warm-hearted aura. Her smile was much like Zac’s own and when she saw him, Mahon witnessed how it reached her green eyes as they shone with joy. Her long and curly ginger hair added volume to her head and although she was not incredibly pretty, she radiated a genuine happiness Mahon had rarely seen before.

“Great! Great! I came with my friend Mahon, here.” He gestured to Mahon and then to Ash. “Mahon, Ash. Ash, Mahon.”

“Hello, miss Ash.” Mahon nodded to her.

“Hahaha, please call me Ash! No one had called me miss for a long time.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to teach him how to behave properly but he has a lot to learn!” Zac joked and Ash chuckled in response.

Mahon grumbled and went to walk through the shelves to observe the different instruments while Zac and Ash continued their discussion.

“So, what do you need? Still satisfied with your sitar?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Ah, yeah. Unfortunately, ah… I lost it.”

“Really? What happened?”

“Ah… Nothing important. I’m looking for another one, actually.”

“I’m not sure I still have one of this quality around. Sure you can’t find it? If it’s broken, I might be able to fix it.”

“No, no, it’s completely lost…”

“A shame… Anyway! There is nothing to your taste on the shelf. Come to the back. We’ll see what I have left.”

“Mahon! We’re back in a minute, don’t touch anything!”

Mahon grumbled an answer and the happy laugh of Zac and Ash faded away. He had frozen for an instant as he had listened to their conversation. Even without seeing Zac’s face, he had known exactly what he looked like from the emotions in his voice, as he had avoided the subject of his broken sitar. He chased his negative thoughts with a shake of his head.

We are First White now. It’s not going to happen again.

He eyed around him the different items in the shop and realized they all felt a bit familiar. In front of him was a row of straight flutes. They all varied in length, diameter and even in the number of holes. Mahon found himself caressing their wood with a tenderness he didn’t think he had.

He picked up one to observe it closer. It was simple and elegantly carved out of light wood and the flute was yellowish. It was short and Mahon could hide it if he closed his two hands around it. Without knowing why he had picked it up, Mahon placed it back in the rack and continued his wandering. The next alley was all about percussion, in different shapes and materials.

Mahon resisted the urge to tap them as he passed through. He could almost hear their sounds and far away melodies resurfaced from a corner of his head. As if they had been buried deep down a long time ago and now that he was surrounded by musical instruments, they were screaming for their freedom.

As he walked further along the alley, the melodies in his head became louder and louder. Mahon almost stumbled when the noises erupted unrestrained in his mind. The thuds thumped against his skull. A heavy feeling of nostalgia took his breath away, and he nearly collapsed from the turmoil of emotions inside him.

What is happening to me?

The Last Red Nightmare commander tried to recover the control of his emotions, but the strange nostalgia was louder than ever. Feeling uneasy, Mahon switched for another alley and the sounds stopped almost immediately.

He had entered an alley with different kinds of wind instruments. Traverse flute, panpipes, horns, bagpipes, ocarinas, whistles and other things he didn’t recognize. He walked slowly through the shelf and stopped to observe an impressive flute that twisted and twisted multiple times, with a head carved like the head of a snake.

But it was not the serpent flute that had brought him here. It was that little instrument just behind. It was flat and carved from bones, with ten holes piercing his length. Mahon knew it was a harmonica.

What he didn’t know, however, was why all the sounds in his head had stopped the exact moment he had put his eyes on it.

He approached and grabbed the instrument with caution. For a long moment, he observed the harmonica without moving and he had the feeling it was looking right back at him. The instrument in the palm of his hands, he went to sit on a nearby chair. His head, who had gone through a hurricane a minute before, was now so silent he could almost hear his own brain functioning.

Instinctively, he brought the harmonica to his lips, but he stopped a centimeter away.

What am I doing?

A memory flashed, and he saw the Blue counselor from all these months ago. He remembered how she had stopped at the last moment. Strange how he had not thought a single time about this moment, but he could still perfectly remember what she said.

If I may add, it would be a waste not to listen to your music again. I suggest you try the harmonica.

And as if a valve had broken, the harmonica touched his lips. He gently blew and a pure crystalline note resonated in the silent shop. Mahon closed his eyes, transposed by the sound. Familiar yet so distant. He slightly turned his head to the right and blew again. A deeper note came out of the instrument, and like a sibling that had been missing for too long, it naturally retrieved its place in Mahon’s mind.

Excited but almost religiously, Mahon tried every note and each time he bathed in the feelings of reunion with a long forgotten friend. And just as naturally as he had picked up the harmonica, he started playing.

At first, he chose the notes at random, but soon an unknown partition appeared in his mind and he followed its tune with a surprising familiarity. Soon his head was moving increasingly faster and faster through the instrument, but the music never faltered. Each note linked with the previous one with perfection in a stunning prowess of ability.

Mahon felt uncomfortable, but for nothing in the world he would have dropped the harmonica. They were unified in a song by the flow that came from Mahon’s lungs all the way through his mouth and into the instrument. Little metallic reeds vibrated in accordance with the strength of the flow passing over them and they emitted that pleasant little sound that wed so well together.

The song was played low and yet it was vivid and full of emotions. Sorrow, oblivion, curiosity, intimacy, nostalgia, birth. They mixed together to tell a story that no one knew and even his maker could only guess. The final note reverberated happily in the silent shop as Mahon let down the harmonica.

Clap. Clap, clap, clap!

“Wow! Impressive! It sounded like an old song I heard before. You played it so well! Zac, you didn’t tell me your friend was so good with a harmonica!”

At Ash's side, Zac was looking at Mahon with surprised eyes and a wide open mouth. The magic of the moment was broken and Mahon promptly stood up and put back the harmonica to his place.

“Uh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to play. I don’t know what got me, I…”

“Hahaha, don’t worry about that. In fact, I’d gladly listen to another song…”

“I’m not sure, I…”

“Mahon,” Zac intervened, “you should try it. It’s not every day that one finds back his past talents.”

Mahon felt conflicted for a second. He had wanted to cut all bridges with his forgotten past to start a new life. But on the other hand, he wanted to know. He wanted to feel that strange breath of perfection as he was one with the music again.

“Let’s try.”

He picked up the harmonica and placed it between his lips. A second passed and another, but nothing happened. After a minute, Mahon sighed and dropped the instrument.

“It’s gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know what to do, I don’t know any songs.”

“Ah… maybe we can try to sing one of the popular ones to see if you catch up?” Ash proposed, but Zac shook his head.

“We’d need some from before Nightmare and I don’t know many of them.”

“Oh, but I do!” Ash exclaimed. “Let me try.”

Hesitantly at first and then with more conviction, she started to sing. Her voice was beautiful as she chanted an old romantic ballad. Her tone was a bit too high, but within the first verse she was already conveying her emotions through the lyrics.

At her side, Zac was nodding at the pace of the melody. Mahon approached the harmonica from his mouth and played the first notes instinctively. He stopped thinking too hard about it and then, with more ease, he accompanied Ash into the song.

The feelings from a few minutes ago came back after a few notes and Mahon immersed himself in the song. It lasted for a few minutes and when it ended, Mahon, Ash and Zac all had sparkling eyes and ecstatic smiles. Mahon put back the harmonica at his place, but Zac interrupted.

“What’re you doing?”

Mahon threw him a questioning glance. “What?”

“There is no way you’re leaving the shop without a harmonica.”

Mahon hesitated, but Zac ignored him and he pointed to the new sitar in his hands as he directly addressed Ash.

“I will take the sitar and this harmonica, please.”