Isaac sat down on the bench in front of the old piano. Its keys were worn and the paint was worn thin or through completely on the pedals. Isaac's fingers gently brushed across the keys while Lenna sat in the front row, watching him. Shamesh was just out of sight off stage, both so he could listen and so he would be available if they needed him. Shamesh had cast a Flight on himself, Levitate on the duo, and then Shroud on Lenna. Isaac had shadow-cloaked both himself and Shamesh to make their trip to the orchestra hall unseen. Now he was just on standby without any active spells draining his mana reserves.

The manor was close enough to the orchestra hall that Margaret, Madeline, and Martha were going to be cleaning outside for the next few hours in order to hear him play. The acoustics of the orchestra hall would send the sound of the grand piano far and wide. The quality would not be nearly as good as if they were in the hall itself, but the original creators of the hall had wanted even those unable to afford tickets the ability to bathe in the rejuvenating power of music.

Isaac felt adrift as his fingers slid over each key. His feet tested the pedals but nothing came to him. He could choose a song to play, but he really wanted a song to just come to him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Lua, I'm not sure if you know which songs I know and which ones I don't, but, if you do, can you help me?" He asked with his eyes still closed. It was noon so Lua had practically zero power available on their side of the world, but Isaac still felt his fingers drawn to two specific keys to start.

He started humming the melody as he started. The melody was soft and gentle, exactly like how he was humming. The song felt almost as if it was supposed to be sung but Isaac, in his first life, had somehow been taught how to play it on the piano. Isaac wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that he was playing the serenade, though, as he played it on the piano with soft strokes, its meaning shifted slightly. It was no midnight longing for a lover to be with him, it was a final declaration of longing for someone gone forever. It sounded like a quiet acknowledgement that the pain of the moment was going to fade but never truly leave. It sounded like going through one's life after a piece of oneself was lost. A life more difficult but still to be continued.

As Isaac passed the halfway mark, his hands split from playing one melody to the same one twice. Each set played with his left was echoed with his right. Shadows reached out from him to hit the notes that he simply wasn't good enough to reach by himself. Someone better at the piano could have played the song by themselves, Isaac knew that he would be able to eventually, but he was barely better than an amateur.

The echo of the melody, set just a bit higher, both brought the second object of his longing into view and gave hope for a better future. The song finally faded away after he was finished like everyone who heard it was just waking up from a memory long passed. Isaac sighed and closed his eyes again. "Thank you, Lua, that was perfect." He prayed to not only his mate's, but his goddess as well. Lua had always been there for him, even though he was not one of her children. In a way, she was his adoptive mother just as Jina Ashborne was Walter's. Some would call Isaac's thoughts about Lua heresy, Lua herself would instead wish that all of those she cared for would see her that way.

Isaac's next song was an entirely different monster. It started with two keys being slammed downwards like a hammer. His right hand played across a few keys in the back and forth of footsteps. Hammer strike after hammer strike as if he was remembering the final heartbeats of a fallen myth. The footsteps that his right hand played were soon mixed with the thunderous fall of his left. The hammer strikes changed from the final heartbeats of someone else to his own heart pounding in his chest in time with every other step. His steps went from a march to a run as he built up speed like a fully armored knight out for blood.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

A flashback to the final battle of the fallen myth. The hero or god lost to history that only he knew. A frantic back and forth. The riding of the knife's edge between life and death. The fatal strike, the heavy wound that would not end the battle quickly but had written the conclusion across the ground in crimson ink. The slow loss of strength until the end should have come, only for a final burst of resolve fueled strength that was ultimately fruitless. The cry of agony as he watched the admired one breathe their final breath. The despondency of failure and loss. Suffering sadness rolled on across the keys until a spark of something else found its way in. Resolve.

Resolve to do whatever it took. The resolve to die as long as the other fell. The slow walk that turned into the same run from the beginning, only this time seen in a new light. A charge into battle. The clashing of wills with everything on the line. Hammer strike met fist in a clash of the ages. A melee that would see the world around it torn asunder simply for being too close to the clash. Another lethal wound, the splattering of blood on the ground as it poured from the mark of inevitable demise. A wound that only served to spur him on as he threw everything he had, and would ever have, into a frenzied barrage of attacks that gave no room for defense on either side. And then, nothing. Nothing but the sounds of dripping blood as the conclusion of a quest for vengeance was reached. Corpses, one, two, three.

Isaac sat there, once again on the piano bench. Sweat caused his clothes to cling to his skin as he breathed heavily from adrenaline more than the song that he had just broadcasted out across no less than a dozen city blocks. "Ah." He sighed. "The end that I must avoid, huh." He commented quietly and then closed his eyes once more. "You really know how to pick them, don't you?" He asked the goddess who could not answer him even if she wanted to. The only reason she could even direct him at all was because he was blessed by her and it was music related which fell well within her purview. "Let's play a villainous classic." He said just as much to Lua, Lenna, and Shamesh as to himself.

Don, Don, Don, Donnn. Blasted out over the city. He couldn't remember the name of the song that he had started but he felt a profound connection between it and what a villain sounded like. It brought for images of black cathedrals, blood, and skulls. Of sharp fangs and ghostly powers. The melody shifted from its four resounding slams into a quick, almost frantic, chase. On and on Isaac played until his fingers started cramping. When that finally happened, he switched to using only his shadows. From sonata to sonata he went from just after breakfast until lunch.

Martha and Madeline brought a packed lunch for the duo, as well as themselves, while Margaret continued to look after the manor. When they reached the outside, Martha called out at the top of her lungs: "LUNCH!"

Isaac was between songs so they heard her voice clearly from inside. Isaac gave Shamesh a shadow-cloak and his retainer let in the girls and their food, he locked the doors behind them just as the trio had when they first arrived.

"There's like a hundred people out there!" Martha exclaimed as she ran down the aisle with one of the picnic baskets.

"That's less than last time." Lenna commented. "Before we left, it was normal for there to be a hundred people in the stands." She told Martha.

"Mom wouldn't let us leave the manor back then." Martha pouted.

"That was before she knew exactly how much protection and jeopardy our names carry." Lenna explained.

The four of them ate their lunch and then as soon as Isaac was finished, he took up his post on the piano. He had resolved himself to play every single piece he knew before the day was through. This was his send off for Aria and Claus. There would be another one, one day, when their next of kin had been contacted and gathered, but today was his. He would keep playing until either he ran out of songs, he passed out from mental exhaustion, or the piano broke under his relentless pounding.

Eventually, an hour after dinner, the piano finally fell silent. Isaac had run out of songs.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.