It hurt. It all hurt so much.
Emelia’s eyes finally opened, and her heart sank. It was dark, with no light at all. It was cold and she was bound tightly by chains. Beneath her the floor was hard, probably concrete or other stone, it was smooth but cold against her cheek. Her strength had deserted her, as she found herself unable to push herself up to a sitting position.
“What the terra even happened to me?” she whispered. At least she could hear her voice, that was good.
Her head was still pounding… from being struck. That’s right. As soon as she got onto the main street it all went black. The clergymen must have been lying in wait for Al and her to leave their hiding spot.
“Damn it, he was right… I’m such an idiot.” Tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so scared,” she admitted to the darkness.
She had no conversational partner, but hearing her own voice was the only thing keeping her sane – otherwise all she would be able to feel was the pain she was in.
“Damn it damn it damn it,” she repeatedly cursed, the tears continuing to spill. Even so, the princess managed to crack a smile. “At least Al’s okay.”
Seeing how her sight was useless, Emelia closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to take her.
“Miss Ayame, why does mommy have different ears from me?”
“She is a Resonator, and your father is a Maestro.”
“What am I?”
“A Maestro, dear.”
“What does that mean?”
“Sometime in the future, you will find a partner to share your soul with – together your two halves will be whole.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can’t tell you everything Emelia dear.”
“Hey… hey, wake up stupid.”
Emelia opened her eyes as she was shaken back into consciousness. Unlike before when she could not see a thing, the princess found her vision was functional. The room was still pitch black, but despite it all, she could make out her surroundings.
Someone was crouched in front of her, their hand on her shoulder. “They fucked you up pretty bad princess.”
Emelia recognized the owner of that voice. “Al?!”
Sure enough, the dragon boy smirked at her. “You look like shit,” he snarked.
“A-Al… you came back for me!” Emelia cried out.
“Shhh!” He clasped a hand around her mouth. “They’re prowling all around, we need to get the fuck outta here!” the dragon hissed.
“How?” Emelia struggled against her bindings, but they held firm.
“Simple – gimmie some of that rhythm and I’ll bust you out with a spell,” Albarich said.
“Okay!” Emelia couldn’t help the smile on her face.
The pair sat for a moment. “Well?” Albarich asked.
“Uhhh… what do I do Al?”
“Oh brother…” sighed the dragon. “You mean they didn’t teach you how to be a Maestro in that big fancy castle of yers?”
“Well, I didn’t have a partner to practice!” She couldn’t suppress the red that rushed onto her cheeks.
“Aight, hang on, we’ll do this the old-fashioned way.”
Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he shuffled around the girl, pivoting behind her. “Found the lock,” he told her. “Real piece of shit this one is. I can break it with some leverage.”
Upon Albarich’s hand leaving her, Emelia was plunged back into darkness. “Al?!” she yelped.
“I’m here, just shut yer trap!” he hissed.
The poor frightened princess could do nothing but lay there and whimper fearfully. After what felt like an eternity, she felt Albarich’s warm touch on her shoulder. However, it wasn’t his hands, but his tail. “Better?” he asked gently.
“Y-yes…” Emelia squeaked.
“Hold tight while I bust this,” he told her.
She felt him messing around with the chains behind her. Even if her sight had returned to her, in the position she was lying, she had no line of sight for whatever the dragon was doing behind her.
He grunted and then there was a pop, followed by the chains loosening. “Easy,” the dragon said, voice full of pride.
With the pressure gone, Emelia was able to remove the chains from her person and sit up properly. Her body was still protesting the pain that coursed through it, but the adrenaline rush from being free overrode that feeling.
“Al!” She turned and tackled the boy to the ground, holding him tightly and crying.
“Get off! And shut up!” he hissed quietly.
“Thank you, Al, thank you so much!” the girl sobbed into his chest as she clung to him.
Albarich laid there for a moment, deciding what to do. “We’re gonna get outta here, just keep quiet,” he spoke in a whisper.
“Yeah…” Emelia cooed. She didn’t know why, but this was nice. She wanted to run a marathon, plant a garden, paint a picture – it was like when she took in rhythm from the rubato crystals; except this was a thousand times better.
No wonder Maestros partnered up with Resonators!
She did wonder… did Albarich feel similarly to her? Surely, he got a benefit from this touch as she did. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise…
He ruffled her hair. “Come on, let’s get outta here already.”
----------------------------------------
Poor Emelia’s heart raced as she hid in the shadows with Albarich. Day had fallen to the darkness of night. It made sneaking about the church grounds that much easier. Unfortunately, people were patrolling the property, keeping a vigilant watch for any would-be escapees.
“What do we do Al?!” Emelia whispered.
“We wait, just be patient princess,” Albarich advised.
The two watched the clergymen gather nearby. It was quiet enough they could overhear the conversation between them even at the distance they were at.
“Where’s the girl?”
“Escaped.”
“That’s no good. Find her, and if you do-”
“Right.”
“For a pure Luna!”
“For a pure Luna!”
The group dispersed, thankfully away from Albarich and Emelia. After a few moments of hushed terror, Emelia braved speaking up
“Wh-what are they gonna do if they find me?” Emelia squeaked.
Al made a motion slicing across his neck with his thumb. The girl paled, getting the implication in an instant.
“Wh-why?”
“You saw too much, simple as.”
“What’s going on here Al?!” She grabbed his shirt, forcing him to face her.
“The church has been… disposing of non-lunars for a long time. They’ve also been making some ‘tributes’ in the name of ‘lunar purity’ if you catch my drift.”
Emelia shook her head mouth agape. She didn’t get it, but she felt it. What was going on here was sick. These people were deranged. She stepped backward, the bile rising in protest; she covered her mouth. “M-mom and Dad… we have to tell them what’s happening.”
“Easier said than done.” Albarich turned back to keep an eye on their surroundings. “They want both of us dead. And if they find out you’re the princess, they’re going to double their efforts to make sure you can’t get back to the palace.”
“What do we do Al? Their pope is at the castle today!”
“That definitely complicates things.”
The two remained in silence for some time.
“Idea,” Albarich spoke up. “Let’s find somewhere to hide until the heat dies down, then we can sneak back to the castle and you can get this whole mess wrapped up.”
“That is a good idea!” Emelia hugged the dragon.
“Guh! Get off!” he growled. “I’m billing you for emotional damages when we’re through with this,” the dragon warned.
“Sure, Al,” Emily smirked back.
----------------------------------------
If it was Emelia by herself, she would have never made it. It was all but a guarantee that the sheltered girl would have been caught within thirty seconds of trying to escape.
Fortunately, she was not alone.
Albarich, by Emelia’s admission, was quite good at hiding and sneaking about. More and more, Emelia found herself staring at him, curious about what his story was. She didn’t have much of a story, just being a troublemaking princess at the castle. All things considered, it was quite the boring life.
And now she was running for that life.
Freedom sucked. How did it turn out this way?
She’d be numb to it all if it wasn’t for… him. The rhythm that connected her with Albarich was so nice. Every time he grabbed her hand she got another hit of his stubborn willpower. The headstrong determination of a survivor. He would have died a long time ago without that aspect of him – that’s what Emelia read from his rhythm.
“Fuck,” his curse snapped the princess from her thoughts.
“What’s going on?” Emelia peered over his shoulder.
At the entrance to the property, several of the clergymen stood guard. Though the men at the front gate were not defenseless: they had Resonators by their sides.
“Oh no,” Emelia muttered. “If they have Resonators…”
“And?” Albarich cocked a brow. “Why would that make a difference?”
“Well they can use magic and-”
“So can we, princess.”
“Eh?”
The dragon shook his head. “You already forgot? You said you wanted to be my Maestro. Well, it’s time to act like one.”
“R-right!” Emelia balled up her fists, ready to act. Her determined expression quickly faded. “Uhh, what do I do?”
“The princess of Luna everyone…” Albarich sighed. “Okay look, just touch my back and call a spell, I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Right!” Determination once more faded into confusion. “So, what spells do you know?”
Albarich sighed dramatically. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
----------------------------------------
All seemed calm on the church grounds. The clergyman standing guard by the front entrance didn’t note anything amiss. After the earlier blunder let most of the Resonators they had captured escape, they managed to get back some of them and even an unrelated civilian. This particular clergyman had drawn the short straw and stuck by the front entrance to keep an eye out for any further escapees.
The others would be back soon hopefully with further captures to rid the streets of the impure beasts that were trying to work their way into Lunar society.
Yes, things were looking up after such an unfortunate series of events.
That was until a certain cry met the clergyman’s ears.
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!”
A wave of lunar energy swept toward the clergyman, who turned just in time to find one of their targets flying at them like a missile.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
They could defend against the magic or the dragon’s physical form, but not both. The clergyman opened his mouth to call a spell for his guard resonator to respond with.
However, hesitation led to disaster – the guard Resonator was swept up in the magic and the clergyman got a knuckle sandwich for his indecision.
The guard resonator got to their feet, but before they could retrieve a crystal to cast their magic with, Albarich cast a wave of lunar energy again, sweeping away his adversary.
Albarich threw away a now-depleted crystal – one of the two he was given by Emelia before he rushed out. “Come on – quick!” he shouted.
Emelia ran out of their hiding spot and rushed over to meet the dragon. She was trembling, not from fear, but excitement. “Maestro, I’m a Maestro,” she giggled excitedly.
“Yes, and everyone is proud of you. Let's make ourselves scarce before-” unfortunately, some shouts brought rain on their parade:
“THERE THEY ARE!”
“DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY!”
“-that happens,” Albarich groaned. “Let’s get!”
Emelia and Albarich fled as fast as their legs could carry them. Once more they were driven further away from the castle. The pursuit was unrelenting – it seemed like no matter which corner they took, the church’s goons were everywhere.
They were fighting a battle of attrition, with Emelia and Albarich being severely disadvantaged.
“Haa haa haa…” Emelia stood hunched over, sweat pouring off of her as she struggled to regain her breath. Her sides were cramping up and her legs throbbed painfully from how hard she had pushed her body in their escape. Her regular shenanigans and theatrics in the castle never prepared her for this level of physical exertion and it was very clear to her now.
“God damn…!” Albarich on the other hand didn’t appear to be in pain, just breathing hard and sweating a bit. He seemed to be quite in shape, though there was something about him that told her that he wasn’t so physically strong because he was a health nut.
“Did we lose them?” Emelia wondered.
“Doubt it,” Albarich mumbled through haggard breath. He glanced over at the girl and noticed how out of it she was. He knew she would not be able to go on much longer. They needed to change up their strategy if they were going to survive this.
“What do we do?”
“Good fucking question. I’m pretty sure they got us surrounded.”
The two remained quiet for a moment, looking around for an out. The voices of their pursuers drew ever closer.
“Wait, over there! If we hide in there-!” Emelia pointed to an open shipping container that was nearby.
“Are you crazy?” Albarich hissed.
“Probably, but you came back for me so what’s that say about you then?”
“Uhg, shoulda left you be. Whatever, let’s try it.”
The pair made their way into the massive cargo container and sat amongst the goods that lay within; positioning themselves in such a way where they wouldn’t be immediately spotted should someone peek inside. They held their breath as the sounds of their pursuers drew close. Emelia clung to Albarich, closing her eyes tightly and trembling. Albarich wrapped his wings around the Maestro, pushing both of them lower to avoid detection.
They remained like this for what felt like an eternity, the clergymen’s voices echoing into their hiding spot.
But finally, after some time the sounds grew distant and finally faded away altogether.
“I think… we’re safe Al…” Emily squeaked, wiping the tears from her face.
Albarich slowly released his held breath, unfurling his wings. “Yeah, let’s-”
CLANG! CLICK!
The door slammed shut, plunging the two into darkness once more.
“-fuck.”
“WHAT DO WE DO AL?!” Emelia shook Albarich by the scruff of his shirt.
“You think I know?!” the dragon barked back.
“Let’s bang on the walls! Maybe someone will hear us and let us out!” Emelia released her captive and turned to the steel wall beside them.
“Hold up!” Albarich yanked the girl back by the collar of her shirt, causing her to gag in surprise. “What if those church fucks are still out there?!”
Emelia rubbed her neck while considering that. “Wh-what do we do Al?” she whimpered, holding herself and trembling.
The proud dragon exhaled through his nose. “We wait,” he decided quietly. Emelia sniffled, but nodded, agreeing to the Resonator’s plan.
THUD!
“Ow!” Emelia yelped, clasping her hands over her ears. Something had struck both sides of the container.
“What the terra was that?!” Albarich shouted, also holding his ears.
Before the two could investigate, the container began to move, swaying from side to side. Immediately Emelia crashed onto the wood ground, having lost her balance.
“Fuck! Damn!” Albarich cursed, dropping low to balance out his center of gravity.
“Al! We need to get out of here!” Emelia shouted, her ears still ringing.
“No shit! Let’s-” Albarich’s eyes widened as the cargo in the container was not secured. It suddenly began moving all around. “Emily!” he shouted instinctively, jumping and grabbing the girl. They managed to roll out of the way of some boxes that threatened to squish poor Emelia.
“You saved me…” Emelia whimpered.
“Focus! We need to get the terra out of here!” the dragon barked.
Emelia opened her mouth to agree, however, the ever-shifting container threw some more cargo at them.
Albarich managed to dodge, keeping a tight grip on Emelia as he did so. “Okay, new idea!” he huddled them in a corner. Emelia blushed as she sat on his lap. The dragon curled his wings around them. “I need you to cast Bastioni del Ritmo in Staccato,” he told the Maestro.
“Bastioni del Ritmo, Staccato,” she cast without a single second of hesitation.
The container continued to toss the contents around, however, whenever the pair would have been crushed by the various objects in the container, Albarich threw out a wall of purple light which intercepted the potentially hazardous items.
Feeling safe, Emelia relaxed, curling up and resting her head on Albarich’s chest. “You called me Emily earlier,” she whispered.
“My bad.”
“Don’t be sorry, I like it,” the girl tittered. “I think it sounds cuter.”
Albarich coughed, glaring at the princess. “Whatever,” he grumbled.
THUD
The entire container shook as it hit the ground. Where at, neither occupant could know.
“Should we…” Emelia trailed off.
“Not yet. Just in case it gets picked up again,” Albarich advised.
And so, they sat for some time, in silence. The container itself wasn’t moving but they both felt something was wrong. Neither could place the feeling, but it wasn’t right.
“I think we need to get out of here,” Emelia said, pushing herself off of the dragon’s lap.
“Yeah. Too quiet,” Albarich noted.
Unfortunately, a new problem had presented itself. Since they wedged themselves into the corner, all of the original contents of the shipping container had shifted about. In the chaos of whatever was moving it, they now had a full container’s worth of stuff between them and the door.
“This sucks,” Albarich decided, shaking his head.
“None of it is stacked high enough where we can’t climb over it,” Emelia observed, grabbing the dragon’s hand to borrow his night vision for a moment.
After a moment of studying the layout of the container, Albarich nodded. “Alright, try to keep up.”
The two got to work navigating the maze that had been created within their metal prison, but after some effort, they found their way to the front.
“Now, how to open this bitch,” Albarich furrowed his brow, examining the mechanisms that held the door firmly in place.
“Maybe we could use a spell?” Emelia offered.
“Sure, and then all the goons on the other side can have a nice, defenseless princess gift-wrapped for them,” the dragon pointed out.
“Oh yeah…You’re right,” Emelia said, wilting.
Albarich frowned. “Let’s just figure out how this damn thing opens,” he said. Emelia nodded in agreement.
They got to work studying the door for any signs of an opening mechanism. Emelia held Albarich’s hand as she couldn’t see without him. He tried to pull it away but eventually gave in, realizing two pairs of eyes were better than one. After a good two or three minutes looking over the door, Emelia spotted something.
“Hey, what’s this?” She reached out and grabbed a strange metal protrusion sticking off the door. She released Albarich’s hand, operating on feel since she was plunged back into darkness. Closing her eyes, the princess focused on figuring out the strange handle. After a moment there was a loud pop and clang to coincide with the handle moving. Rotating it cracked some light in through the edges of the door.
“It’s open!” the young woman exclaimed, throwing it open. She winced as the light stung her eyes which had been acclimated to the darkness of the shipping container.
As soon as her vision cleared, however, her heart sank.
“Oh,” was all Albarich could let out.
They stood on a large platform with many other shipping containers. That wasn’t the surprising part. The large window surrounding them revealed the outside world. The inky blackness of space greeted them from above. However below them…
Emelia shakily made her way to the edge of the platform. Below them were large swaths of blue with greens and browns breaking up the vast seas. Fluffy white clouds moved about unchallenged.
Slowly the blue became larger as they approached the fluffy white clouds.
“Al!” Emelia turned to the dragon. “That’s Riterra! We’re not on Luna! We’re going to Riterra!” shrieked the girl.
“Looks like it princess,” he chewed on that for a moment. “I guess you’re not a princess anymore,” he pointed out.
“This is no time for jokes!” Emelia barked.
“Chill. This is a blessing in disguise,” Albarich said, turning back to the container.
“How?!”
“Simple. We escape onto Riterra and then get ahold of your folks there. Maybe they can send some people to come get us,” he stated while walking back into the shipping container they came from.
Emelia followed the dragon back, considering his words. “I guess it would be the safest,” she admitted.
She stole one last look at space before it faded into the blue of the Riterran atmosphere.
“A blessing, huh?”