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 lab's kitchen-like area and flipped through its pages. Before she could begin to lose herself in it again, she paused at the sight of 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, he snapped the pen in half in front of Terna, ink spilling across the table. Terna’s eyes widened as she was briefly taken back by yesterday's events. As if her mind was playing back moving images of what she saw and her ears reminded her of the horrifying crunching sound that brought Tiki to her knees. The snapping that brought her tears, followed by the ink that spilt 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 stand? Snapping out of her trance a moment later, she moved her eyes from the pen onto Dante, whose face 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 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 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 Silver Lance.”
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 Silver Lances-‘“, 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 knew 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 guys do so…I wouldn’t call that a huge success. And in the end, it bites everyone in the butt. You let a 12-year-old shit take command of the world's 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 go, 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. For 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 means 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 too 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 Golden Lances, 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.
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“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, bringing it up onto 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 exited 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: 6/5/3062’. 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 its 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 per cent sure. Dante is severely emotionally impaired, being able to feel emotions without at all being able to externalize them. Whether that persists or not, I’m entirely unsure…but I’ll hope for the best as 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…5/5/3062, 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 ended 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 wishes 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 Mrs.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, when I had to sing that song for her…” young Terna downed her head.
Angelica realized her mistake, “It’s cool! Despite what was 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 week's 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!”
“Its 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 said 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 cherish in their darkest hour. She pressed on down the path, gazing and getting lost in 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 reflects off the blue ocean, colored by the sky and their flashy metal bars illuminate the marina with the sun’s light. How she could ever come to forget a place like that, she wondered. Her mind once again took her back.