Battered and bruised, Ed picked himself up from the ground for what felt like the hundredth time. His clothes had turned into tattered rags, destroyed more and more with each note he played. Two piles of clothes sat outside the barrier. One neatly folded, a fresh stack of clean training clothes. The other a devastated pile of rags much like what he was currently wearing.

The barrier powered down as he relaxed his shoulders. The violin disappeared into his body as he walked towards the piles. I really need to pay him back for all this.

Shrugging off the rags, he winced in pain as the clothes scraped along a bunch of harsh cuts and scars on his back.

Zara walked over to him, her healing glow already shining on him. “I think you should take a break.” She suggested.

“I’m fine. I’m getting close, I can feel it.” Changing into a new set of clothes, he returned to the circle. “Again.” He pulled the violin back out and rested it back in its position as the barrier came to life.

There’s gotta be something I’m missing. There’s no way he’d give me something that just hurts me every time.

Calming down, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in before going at it again.

Again and again, he threw himself into the wall, or was sent crashing to the ground.

WHAT AM I MISSING? Frustrated, he slammed his fist into the barrier. Blood dripped from his knuckles as he dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Flopping over, he turned into a pile of threads and just sat there, sulking in his frustration.

Several minutes passed and he eventually calmed down, returning to his human form. I can’t keep doing this. It isn’t working. Let’s just stop and think for a second. He told me everything it was made from, so that’s probably a good place to start if I want to figure out what is going on.

The banshee ashes can probably be ignored. He said that was just for amplifying the sound. The ash coloured wood was used to make it connect with my soul easier. Could that be what’s causing me to fall? I suppose it could also be the midnight wood. He didn’t really tell me what that did other than that it was a good material for the outer casing...

No. I feel like he would have told me about something important like that. That just leaves the dragon bones.

And my arm.

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As if a lightbulb flashed above his head, he figured out what the problem was, and why Ira hadn’t mentioned anything about what was happening to him now.

It’s the addition of my arm that’s messing everything up and making it impossible to play. If his creations take on the properties and abilities of those its made for... Following his own train of thought, he blinked his eyes until the strings of fate appeared.

Inside a small room that hadn’t been used too often, and with no windows to the outside world, the sight of the strings of fate wasn’t too overwhelming for Ed. There was the occasional faded string left behind from previous customers of Ira. Or left behind from a guard using the room for training. But those weren’t too taxing on his mind.

The most prevalent and obvious strings were those linking to Ed and Zara.

Itching to test his thoughts, he brought the bow back up to the violin and played a note. The strings of fate bounced, pulling towards one of his possible futures.

And he fell flat on his face.

Lying on the ground, he laughed wildly without a care in the world. Much to the concern of Zara who was watching on with a disturbed look on her face.

“Okay. It’s time for you to rest.” Powering down the barrier, she grabbed him and brought him out of the room before he could protest.

“No no no. I’ve finally figured it out.” He said.

“You’re starting to sound crazy. Just listen to me and take a moment to relax.” She took him outside and sat him down on a nearby bench, overlooking a small garden. “Just breathe.”

Listening to her, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Exhaling, he felt his body relax, as a tense feeling he didn’t even know about unravelled itself. “You’re right. Thanks. I think I just let all the failure get to me.”

“It’s okay. I get that. Are you feeling better now?” She asked.

“Yeah, I am. Let’s go find somewhere to eat, then we’ll get back to trying it out.” He said.

A guard popped around the corner and called out to them. “Lord Ira thought you might be hungry after practicing, so he sent me to come find you.”

Well that’s convenient. Following behind the guard, they were led to a small cafeteria area where some off-duty workers were currently eating.

“Feel free to take whatever you like.” The guard said before returning to his duties.

Grabbing some food from the front counter, they found a table to sit at far away from the rest of the people.

Come to think of it, why does Ira Live here? I thought he would have a massive castle like the other Sins. This place looked just like the rest of the buildings we’ve seen so far.

“What are you thinking about?” Zara asked between mouthfuls of food.

“Oh, nothing important.”

“You said earlier you think you’ve figured out what’s wrong. What’s that all about?” She asked.

“Oh yeah, of course.” He said, leaning forward on the table. “You know how he used my arm as one of the materials when making it right?”

“Yeah.” She said, still a little pissed off about it.

“Well, I think that because a part of my body was used, it’s somehow affecting the future whenever I play it.” He explained.

“So you’re just going to fall over whenever you try to use it? That doesn’t sound very good.” She said.

“I think I’m just not using it correctly. I’m going to have to practice a bit more, but at least I know what I’m looking for now.”

“Do you think you could affect other people? That could be useful.”

“I don’t know, we’ll just have to figure that out.”