The appearance of Acheron with a zither had gotten quite a several people's attention.
They were interested, hardly any males around Acheron's age were interested in playing the zither this day and age.
Some didn't believe he could play the zither and just came to jeer at him for attempting something without any abilities.
Acheron took his time setting up the zither and tuning it. His well-practiced moves caught the old lady's eyes. She had been playing the zither all her life, so Acheron's moves told her that he wasn't just some amateur, he had put quite a bit of time learning it.
Finally, Acheron was ready, the crowd surrounding him were already getting a little impatient, but Acheron just continued to smile.
The zither was highly regarded in Chinese culture and considered the noblest of instruments, and Acheron agreed with this. The art of playing the zither has been with him for almost 2100 years, it was what he used to calm himself and what started his passion for music.
A couple of delinquent looking teenagers were already booing him before he even started and were quickly shut down with a death glare from both Akeno and Rose.
However, Acheron was not affected, he still wore his indifferent smile.
He looked down to face the zither. Clear zither notes came out as his fingers fiddled with the strings.
Everyone held their breath, Acheron's seemed to turn into someone else, the air around him changed into that of a master.
The purple radiance in his eyes disappeared as he closed his eyes. He raised his arms and moved them in place with an elegance one hardly sees in a person as young as he appears to be.
His right hand on the strings and his left hand on the chords, his fingers seemed to move unusually.
The mood soon set in, all of Acheron's fingers stroked the zither, giving the audience a symphony full of the joyous charm found in a festival.
A few seconds after the zither sounds came out, those in the crowd who had questioned his skill were shocked. All 4 girls that came with him were shocked still, as though they had been struck by lightning.
The eyes of the others contracted. They were locked unto Acheron and didn't move, not one bit.
Acheron had immersed himself in the music, today had brought out a lot of memories he hadn't thought of in centuries, it made him feel bittersweet.
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The crowd was so immersed in the music that they soon found themselves in some sort of vision or illusion.
They found themselves in what looked like an ancient Roman Villa, Acheron sat in the middle of the courtyard wearing clothes worthy of a noble, while 13 family members of all ages played and danced around him.
In the illusion, some children stood out amongst the others.
The main one that attracted people's attention was the beautiful woman in her 20's dancing closest to Acheron, she smiled and laughed while she danced around him, but every time she opened her eyes to look at Acheron, you would be able to see they were white, almost as if she was blind.
Then there were the children and adults playing in the background, one child had a pair of angel-looking wings while another had a pair of devil-looking wings. One of the adults seemed to be playing with fire until he started to create animals out of the fire and had them entertain the small children as they floated in the air.
Feelings of love seemed to sprout in the crowd's chest as they looked upon this scene, this was a family, a family full of love and happiness.
Acheron had lost himself in his memories, in these feelings of love, this was his first family, the ones that brought him happiness after his late wife.
But Acheron's memories couldn't help but take a dark turn as he also remembered the death of his family.
In the illusion, the sky turned dark, it appeared a storm was coming. Soon, the music turned gloomy and sad, the crowd saw as soldiers armed with shields and swords stormed the villa's courtyard.
The slashed and drove a sword through the chest of the beautiful blind girl, while they killed the others and crucified them in that very courtyard.
"NOOOOOO!!!!"
A scream full of pain and anguish resonated through the crowd's souls, everyone felt that helplessness, that pain, the dread of everything and everyone you loved ripped away from them.
They saw as Acheron held the body of his dying daughter in his hand, they felt the sadness as they witnessed the life coming out of her body.
The tempo of the music seemed to increase, the melody was now full of rage and filled with madness.
Lightning struck the villa, the earth seemed to crack open as Acheron rose to his feet covered in the blood of his first daughter.
A wrathful roar seemed to shatter the firmament as they demons and devils screamed and shrieked demanding for blood, the crowd didn't know if the screams came from the illusion or them.
The world had turned into hell, fires raged everywhere, the world had turned dark and red, mountains of bodies seemed to appear below Acheron's feet as his glowing purple eyes sentenced more and more people to death.
Mountains collapsed, cities were overturned as the minds of everyone present almost shattered from the horror inside the massacre, Acheron realized what was happening and brought the symphony to an end.
The crowd was frozen in place, some had tears running down their faces while others seemed to be in the process of going mad.
Acheron slowly got up with a sigh and packed the zither away, he looked at the old lady that still seemed to be immersed in the music.
He took out his checkbook and wrote a check for 10 million dollars and left it her pocket with a note, telling her to take the money and have her granddaughter go to Pandora to be cured.
Rose was the first to snap out of her absentmindedness, she noticed Acheron quickly leaving the scene after leaving a check to the old lady, she woke the other girls from their stupor and dragged them towards Acheron's direction.
"What was that?" Sakura asked,
"I dunno…" Akeno said,
"... In music, only those who have reached the epitome can cause the listener to imagine and experience illusions through their music… I think that was what happened..." said Kotone,
Acheron stopped before turning around,
"Thank you, girls, I had a wonderful time today, but I think I'm done for today, I'll be heading home now, do you want me to drop you off or will someone pick you up?" Acheron said,
"I'll have someone pick me and Akeno up," Sakura said,
"My grandpa will pick me up," said Kotone,
"Alright, let's do this again another time," Acheron said, he waved goodbye as Rose followed from behind him.
"I gave her 10 million by the way," Acheron said to Rose,
"May I ask why Acheron-sama?" Rose asked as she walked up next to him,
"You can say it was fate… but that old lady had one of the purest souls I have ever seen… almost all white…" Acheron said,
Acheron seemed to look in the direction in which the old lady was located at, his eyes for a quick second seemed to turn white… as if he was blind. His eyes turning back to normal, Acheron seemed to smile, a smile full of love as he thought of someone from long ago.