Mahon and Zac left their room, instruments in hands, and headed out of school. Ash had invited them to a tavern but not the Hungry Alligator Inn and Mahon couldn’t wait to try another one. Zac only swore by his father’s tavern and if not for Ash, they would never have gone anywhere else.

“How was the lance training?”

“Uh… Good, good! I had no problem at all.”

“What? No, I mean, did it help you relax?”

“Uh, not really… It doesn’t matter… you know who there will be tonight?” Mahon asked in an attempt to switch the subject, which earned him a suspicious look from Zac.

“I’ve heard of some of them from reputation, but the majority I don’t know, no.”

“Ok, ok. So it’s meeting time?”

“Haha, yeah, probably. Although Ash warned me they were mostly here to play music and would likely leave early so we’ll see.”

A few minutes later they arrived in front of the tavern Ash had selected, named the Crowded Lychee, and they realized it was the closest one from Ash’s shop. They entered inside and asked the owner about a musician party and the smiling man led them to a private room where they joined half a dozen other persons. Ash noticed them and came their way.

“Zac! Mahon! How you doing?” She asked with a cheerful smile.

“Fine, fine. We finished training and came here just after.” He raised his sitar and showed it to her. “It’s perfectly tuned now. I can’t wait to play! You introduce us to the others?”

“Yup, come, come!”

Mahon and Zac found a place in the circle of musicians and Zac carefully chose a place beside Ash, whereas Mahon sat near his friend as he eyed the other participants. It was a heterogeneous group of people. They were all older than Zac and at least three quarters were also older than Mahon. There was an old lady with a transverse flute and long white hair, a large man, small drums in hands, a thin old man with a weird sitar and so on.

Each had his own instrument and Mahon recognized most of them from Ash’s shop. In fact, Ash was tuning the instruments of the other musicians herself while they waited for everyone. When they were all here, there were almost a dozen people inside the room and the owner of the tavern brought them some beers and snacks.

Ash took the opportunity to clap her hands and, having caught everyone’s attention, she addressed the little assembly.

“Thanks everyone for coming! It has been long since we reunited like that and I’m sorry, it’s always a bit hard to organize. Anyway, I wanted to say it’s always a pleasure to discuss music with you and you’re all so incredible and wonderful. It makes me so happy.”

The small crowd cheered at Ash’s words and the woman blushed before hushing them with her hands. She didn’t hide the proud smile creeping up on her face, however.

“Now onto tonight’s program. Here is what I thought of. First, let’s play a small song each and then we’ll group together and try to improvise something. Then we’ll see!”

As everyone was nodding, she seemed to think a bit before pointing at Zac. “Then Zac, go on.”

Zac executed himself, and with his usual fluency, he started a song. His hands moved along the strings almost magically and so fast it was hard to follow. Yet Zac’s face was peaceful and tranquil, like he was not playing a dozen different notes with each passing second. The other musicians listened with attention and when he finished his tune, everyone applauded with enthusiasm.

“Impressive, Zac! You’ve made a lot of progress since the last time I saw you.” The old woman with the transverse flute said. “Your mother mentioned so, but I admit I thought mother love was confusing her judgment… It is now obvious she might even have undervalued you!”

Zac smiled proudly at the compliment before the focus switched to Mahon. He felt a bit uncomfortable under the scrutinizing eyes of the veteran musicians around him.

“Uh, I’m sorry, I’m not very good. I just started and…”

“It’s ok sweet child.”, the same woman interrupted, “we’re not here to judge you, we’re here to share and have fun.”

Mahon nodded and nervously grabbed his harmonica. As soon as he blew through and started playing, however, his doubts vanished and he relaxed. He played a song Zac had taught him during the numerous nights they had spent playing. Mahon’s repertoire was awfully short and if he had been a good musician before, he didn’t remember any songs.

His performance was precise and methodical and it earned him appreciative nods and some applause, but he hadn’t managed to convey the same emotions as Zac. The round continued and one by one the musicians played their own song and Mahon immersed in the different instruments and songs. Two or three times, he even surprised himself as he almost whistled the song along with the musician.

I’m not going to let them leave without asking about their songs!

The lap ended with Ash and she played a slow song from a mandolin while humming long notes and it also earned her a round of applause. Shortly after, they formed small groups and went to play whatever went through their minds. Mahon grouped with Zac and Ash and together they performed among the best groups.

Zac and Ash knew a lot of songs and they were both experienced and talented musicians. They were able to understand each other perfectly and their repertoires were almost identical. After a few notes, they were able to jump effortlessly into the song and together they formed the main core of the team. Conveying their feelings through their music was second nature to them.

At first Mahon had trouble adapting to his companions, but as the evening progressed he managed to weave himself with less and less difficulty. He didn’t know the songs, but something in his mind was compelling him to play along. Somehow, he knew at which moment he needed to accompany them and when he needed to show them a new direction.

By the end of the night, he was playing along with the two experts, and everyone thought they had practiced together before coming. During some songs, he was so immersed in the music he could feel the Flow just at the door of his mind. A single breath and he would bath in his perfection. But he didn’t dare use it. He knew what would happen if Nightmare interfered again and didn’t want to ruin these magical moments where the war, training, the school and everything else were far away from his mind.

Around midnight, most of the musicians left and only Mahon, Zac and Ash stayed behind. They cleared the room of the leftovers and glasses before leaving as well. But having shared this moment of intense complicity where they had jammed together for hours, they dragged their feet and no one wanted to leave now.

“Wanna drink another beer?” Zac proposed.

“I’m not sure, I might…” Mahon started, trying to give him an opportunity to be alone with Ash, but Zac threw him an annoyed look.

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“Well, you’re forced to stay and drink with me, Mahon. I was mainly asking Ash if she wanted to share the burden of your company with me.”

Ash covered her giggle with a hand before answering.

“I’ll gladly take a beer with you, guys. Only because you’d grow bored without me, though.”

The trio grinned at each other and they ordered some beers as they sat at a random free table.

“Thinking about tonight, we’ve certainly surpassed ourselves. I didn’t think we would be such an amazing group.” Ash started.

“You two, maybe, but I’m still way behind. Sometimes I felt so lost in your duo I couldn’t even think of what to do.”

“I think you did pretty good! Sure you need some more practice, but sometimes you even surprised me by how on point you were!”

“Yeah, totally, Mahon. Once we were kinda competing with Ash and I admit I forgot about you, but, very subtly, you joined the battle until you grew so big you forced us apart like a parent tricking his children to stop fighting. It was amazing!”

Mahon threw Zac an unconvinced look, but Ash intervened.

“Yep, it was impressive! I felt like I had no other choice but to follow your direction, but it all happened so smoothly!”

“Seriously? I didn’t even realize… I was just… following my instincts?”

“Anyway, I was thinking…” Zac started.

“Let me do that part, Zac.” Mahon interrupted

“Don’t overexert yourself!” Ash said almost at the same time and Zac threw them both an annoyed look.

“And it was I who suggested drinking with you two…” Zac sighed as the other duo laughed in concert. “Anyway! I was… saying… would you like to practice together again sometime?”

“Why not? I’m not sure I’ll have enough time though…” Ash answered directly while Mahon shrugged.

“My parents want to organize a party at home and they’re looking for a musician group. Originally, they thought I could do it, but I didn’t want to spend the whole night playing alone. But we could practice a bit together and try to do it. If it’s cool, then we can continue. If not, then, no pressure.”

“That sounds like a good idea… When is the concert?” Ash answered.

“Two months from now.”

“Short but doable. It could be fun to try at least, I’m in.”

Zac and Ash then turned to Mahon.

“Yes, sure.”

“Yeahhh! The new band is formed!”

“Oh! We’ll need a band name!”

The extra beer they had ordered transformed into multiple extra beers and the evening turned into night as their relationship with Ash deepened. The topic moved from music to deeper talks and soon they shared their life and story.

“So you’re patrolling to protect us from the Fada cult? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’s fine. The frustrating part is that we still know nothing about the cult.”

“Have you tried infiltrating it?”

“Infiltrating? We’ve no idea where they even recruit all these people! But the day we do, you can be sure we’ll tore them from the inside.”

Ash then turned to Mahon with a knowing look.

“Congrats on being accepted to the Pine Hill Officer Institute, though, it’s an extraordinary feat for a commoner! You must have done something great in Nightmare to be accepted.”

“Uh, kind of... I don’t like to talk much about it though…”

“Oh, sorry, I…”

“Don’t worry too much, Ash. Mahon is a bit shy when it comes to his past. I’ve never seen someone so bold and direct and yet so easily embarrassed or hesitant.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That’s even part of the deal between us. He teaches me how to be bold and I teach him how to behave around people.”

“What?! Not at all! I talk about Nightmare and you talk about Ratho!”

Zac threw him a dubious look and sighed.

“Anyway, enough about us. What’s your story, Ash?”

“Oh, nothing extravagant like yours… I think I’m the stereotype of the commoner. I died at the beginning of Nightmare. I had a benefactor who fought there to fill me with no-dream pills so I could start a new life.”

Ash’s usual happy demeanor showed a faint sadness, but she continued her story nervertheless.

“I found myself attracted to music when I tried different actions during my awakening. And thus I decided that’s what I wanted to do. Bring a bit of joy in this dark work. Little by little, I managed to be accepted into an apprenticeship and then one thing led to another and I’m now the owner of a small music shop and I live in a small room over it.”

“What about your benefactor?” Mahon asked. He had seen countless people like them in Nightmare and knew how hard it was.

“That’s the sad side of my life. I don’t know him. Or her. He helped me to live and probably saved me from numerous deaths in Nightmare, but I’ve never met him. Yet no-dream pills kept arriving, day after day.”

She stopped for a second before smiling with heartbreaking sadness.

“I’ve been able to earn my own no-dream pills almost twenty-five years ago and I’ve kept his pills untouched since. I wanted to give it back to him, but I don’t know who he is. My guess is that he died too much and doesn’t know who I am either. Maybe he went mad and kept fighting there.” She sighed sadly. “A dozen years ago, when I bought my music shop, I decided to forget about all this and go ahead with my life. I changed my name from Ashryn to just Ash and here I am.”

Ashryn?!

Zac turned his head to Mahon and as he opened his mouth Mahon slightly shook his head and Zac stayed silent.

“That surely is sad, but you managed to move forward and that’s not an easy thing to do either. You can’t say you’re just a normal commoner.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Zac swiftly followed. “It's impressive enough to build your own business with success, and yet you were alone!”

Ash smiled at them.

“Whew… We shared a lot tonight. I admit I didn’t plan for that. I think I’m gonna go back home now...”

“Ah, really? Sorry, we didn’t mean to pry in and…”

“Don’t worry Zac. I’m glad I told you guys that, but I think I need to be alone for a bit. And it’s already late. Some of us have to work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you’re right, it's already so late. We’ll escort you back.” Zac said, a tint of sadness in his voice.

The trio left the tavern and walked less than five minutes to Ash’s shop. They waved goodbye to each other and promised to meet again soon. Mahon and Zac started their own walk home, and they were not even a dozen meters away when Zac spoke.

“Why didn’t you say anything? It’s your Ashryn, right?”

“It’s not my Ashryn, Zac.”

“You know what I mean.”

Mahon sighed deeply. “Yes, it’s probably the person a past-me knew. A music owner named Ashryn with her story? There aren't two of her in this city.”

“So why not say it?”

“You heard her. She drew a line under her past. And I feel the same. I don’t know her. She doesn’t know me. We knew each other in another life, so what? We both have new lives now. Besides, I think she’s not indifferent to you…”

“Ah, shaddap! I’m not dating your mother or whatever.”

“I don’t know her, Zac.” Mahon threw him a serious look and Zac acquiesced in response. “But if you need help to capture the hearth of my sister…”

Zac burst out laughing. “Ah, no, please! Mahon, the wingman, trying to give his sister to his best friend. You’re undoubtedly in dire need of relationship lessons.”

Mahon’s laugh joined Zac in the silence of the night.

“But, seriously, Zac. I don’t know her. Do what you want.”

“I heard you the first time, don’t worry, my friend. You’re no rival to me.”

The two friends giggled together the whole way home.