Post by PFA on Mar 12, 2011 11:07:04 GMT -5
IT'S HERE YOU GUYS *more guitar riff*
The time for the musical event had finally arrived, and Apollo and Trucy had come to the square to mingle with the crowd. The stage was still being set up, and people were conversing amongst themselves while waiting.
"This is gonna be great!" Trucy chirped eagerly.
"Yeah, should be interesting to see," Apollo admitted.
"Yes," came Piers' voice from behind them. "I hope this one goes better than the last one."
"Oh!" Trucy whirled around, turning to face Piers as he approached. "Hi, Piers!"
"So, um..." Apollo spoke up, turning as well. "I think I heard that this musical event was supposed to be calmer than that last karaoke?"
"I have heard that, as well," Piers replied. "I think it should be interesting..."
I hope so, too. Apollo turned to the stage, watching as one of Piers' friends—a girl with short blonde hair, named Sheba—took the stage. She was holding some sort of woodwind instrument, which she soon started playing.
The song she played was indeed very calm, soothing. At the same time, the song sounded quite sad—giving off the sense of a midnight sky, and a longing for something.
"Wow..." Trucy commented. "It's so pretty..."
"Yeah," Apollo agreed. Pretty, but also... sad, in a way...
Piers nodded. "It's the song of the werepeople of Garoh. They taught it to her."
"Well, it's really pretty..." Trucy applauded as Sheba finished the song, watching her leave the stage. After she left, Iris took her place, playing a flute.
Such beautiful music tonight... Apollo thought, listening to the song Iris was playing. The song offered a sense of a story... something awe-inspiring and grand that took place long ago. However, it was a gentle song, like the touch of someone tending to delicate things, or like a soft voice speaking.
In fact, all the music that night was very gentle. The next song was a lute duet between Hasaki and some purple-haired girl—Kaiiki, was it?—in a song that gave off a certain sense of tranquility, reminiscent of a calm, peaceful dream.
I think I heard him practicing that one at the Dramatis Personae, come to think of it, Apollo noted, applauding as the song finished. Hasaki and Kaiiki each took a bow before leaving the stage.
Piers raised an eyebrow as, after the two of them left, Ky flew down to the stage, pulling a piano closer to the spotlight. "...I thought Ky was working with the sound? Someone else must be monitoring it for this song..."
"I guess so..." Apollo nodded. Though apparently Ky was just playing the accompaniments for this particular song.
"Ooh, it's Mr. Godot!" Trucy chirped, pointing him out as he took the stage, holding a saxophone. "This should be great!"
Sure enough, Godot started to play what was apparently supposed to be his theme song, with Ky accompanying him on the piano. The music they played was slow and relaxed, sort of a call back to a warm, relaxing memory, with just a hint of wishing for its return.
I wonder where Mr. Gavin is? Apollo absently wondered as the song finished. Is he going to be participating in this, too?
"Isn't the music tonight just so pretty, Polly?" Trucy asked, as Godot helped Ky move the piano back. "It's so relaxing..."
"Yeah," Apollo agreed. Definitely a nice change of pace from last time... so much loud music...
Then, as if on cue, Klavier came up to the stage, with an acoustic guitar in hand. Apollo took note of the fact that it was not an electric guitar, reminding himself that Klavier could, in fact, play things besides rock and roll.
"There's Mr. Gavin!" Trucy pointed out eagerly. "I wonder what he's going to play?"
"Me too..." Apollo mumbled, watching as Klavier started plucking out a tune.
The song he played was, despite Apollo's expectations, a very calm and soothing song. A song of serenity, of calling back to days gone by. In a way, like it was speaking out to the audience on a deeper level... it felt somehow captivating.
...Rather strangely so.
Is it just me, or does he have the audience's... undivided attention? Apollo noticed, glancing around at the crowd. It was like this last time, too...
As he looked around the audience, in general, most of the listeners seemed to be listening with thoughtful, reminiscent expressions—as if, indeed, the song were calling back to days gone by. But something about the way the song was moving so many people seemed... odd, to Apollo.
Deciding to further investigate this, Apollo looked up at Klavier on the stage, and focussed his vision. As he focussed, the colors around him dulled, and Klavier started to glow with a bright silvery color. But, more interestingly, this silver aura seemed to emanate from his guitar every time he strummed the strings.
Apollo blinked. ...Huh.
"...Hmmm..." Piers mumbled, as if noticing something odd, himself. "...Almost like Lull..."
At this point, Klavier finished the song, and the crowd broke into applause. Apollo watched Klavier take a bow, the aura around his guitar fading along with the music.
"That was great!" Trucy cheered from beside Apollo.
"Yeah, really..." Apollo mumbled, clapping slowly. I should probably tell him about that... I doubt he knows.
Klavier waved to the crowd as he got down off the stage, the spotlight turning down—apparently he was the last perform for the evening. Trucy, seeing this, turned and grabbed Apollo by the wrist. "Come on, Polly! Let's go talk to him!"
"Yeah..." Apollo relaxed his vision again as Trucy dragged him through the crowd, not wanting to disorient himself from all the auras. "Sounds like a good idea, actually."
---
After the performance, Klavier came down off the stage to greet some fans, who had come to praise him for his performance. Even Godot, while helping Ky to take down the stage, offered some words.
"Tongue of silver and heart of gold indeed, Master Gavin," Godot said to him. "You play phenomenally well."
Klavier chuckled at this. "Thank you, Herr Godot."
"Yeah!" came Trucy's voice, as she and Apollo came coming up to them. "You did great today!"
"Why thank you," Klavier replied, flicking his bangs out of his eyes cooly. "I'm glad you enjoyed the performance."
"Oh, uh, actually..." Apollo spoke up, grinning sheepishly. "Speaking of that..."
Klavier looked over at Apollo quizzically, wondering what he was trying to say. "What is it?"
"Ah, well... how do I say this?" Apollo absently reached up, running his fingers through his hair. "You know that thing where I can see auras?"
"...What about it?"
"I, uh... think you might have been subconsciously tapping into some kind of power while you were playing," Apollo spat out hastily.
Klavier's eyes widened in surprise at this. Was there some sort of power in his music that he wasn't aware about? "...Oh really now?"
"What makes you say that?" Godot asked, while using dark magic to help Ky take down the stage.
"Well, I don't really know how to explain it..." Apollo told him. "It looked like there was an aura coming out of the guitar when you were playing it."
Klavier blinked. "...Huh."
"Yeah," Apollo said, "those were my thoughts, too."
"...Interesting," Godot remarked, turning to face them while Ky wheeled the sound system away. "What significance would that have, then?"
"I'm not really sure," Apollo admitted. "I was hoping you would know."
Klavier fiddled with his hair as he thought on this, still holding his guitar in his other hand. "...While I can't say I'm especially surprised with the idea of having power in my music, I'm afraid I don't know exactly what it implies."
"...Hmm." Godot thought on this, placing a hand to his chin. "Well, if you have power in music... that sounds rather like a bard."
"A bard, huh? That... is possible," Klavier admitted, contemplating this. "It could be worth exploring, at any rate."
"Well... the other thing I noticed was that a lot of people seemed really, uh, moved by the song?" Apollo pointed out. "So maybe that has something to do with it?"
"I just thought it was a really meaningful song," Trucy piped in, "but now that you mention it..."
Godot fell silent for a moment, thinking on this. "...The power of music is not to be underestimated. It can bring despair into the hears of men... but it can also bring hope." He looked away, putting his hands in his pockets. "...You know this. Do not forget it."
Klavier frowned slightly, nodding slowly, thoughtfully. A bard... from the sound of it, he had the ability to inspire emotion in others with his music, but what all this entailed was still a mystery. Was there anything in particular this magical music could do? Could it provide enchantments, or anything else meaningful?
And, perhaps most importantly... was this it, or was there more?
"A bard, are you? I can't say I'm surprised."
Klavier jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. It was definitely Kristoph's voice, but there was no sign of him nearby... and it also seemed he was the only one who heard it, judging by the confused stares he was getting.
"...Mr. Gavin?" Trucy spoke up, concerned.
"...You will be a fine bard, I am sure," the voice spoke again. "Just... be careful."
"It... it's nothing," Klavier mumbled to Trucy, a thoughtful frown appearing on his face. Trucy frowned in turn, not sure what was going on, but Klavier paid it no mind.
"Perhaps we must oppose one another," Kristoph continued. "I doubt we will ever understand one another. There is little chance I can persuade you to leave... even less so to persuade you not to meddle in our affairs. That's just not your way."
Klavier sighed softly, glancing down at the guitar in his hands. Kristoph was right; he wasn't the type to just stand by and do nothing while there was trouble. He was the type to take action, and do what he could to help. And with Kristoph in the Ring of Darkness... it was likely they would be at odds with each other a lot.
And that was unlikely to change.
Klavier shook his head. "...I'm sorry."
"...Hmph. I'm sure you are," was Kristoph's reply. "...There is little left for me to exist for... only vengeance and your well-being. So I would appreciate it... if you didn't go off taking unnecessary risks."
It was silent for moment. And then, finally, Kristoph let out a sigh.
"...That is all, for now."
At that point, there was the faint sense of a presence fading away, which Klavier assumed meant Kristoph had left. He stood there for a moment in silence, before looking up at the others, who were staring back at him with concerned expressions.
"...What just happened?" Trucy wondered, frowning.
"Is everything alright?" Godot asked him.
Klavier sighed, quietly muttering to himself in German before speaking up. "...Sorry. It's... nothing I wish to worry you with."
More silence. Apollo and Trucy looked particularly concerned, though not sure what to say. Finally, Godot shook his head, thankfully deciding to change the subject.
"Well, it's been a good time," he said, a reassuring smile on his face. "I'll see you guys later, alright?"
"Alright," Trucy replied, waving to Godot as he headed off into the distance. "See ya!"
After Godot faded out of sight, Apollo spoke up. "...We should probably get going, too. Come on."
"Alright, just hold on," Klavier replied, gathering his things. "I'll catch up with you in a moment."
"Okay!" Trucy smiled, turning to Apollo. "Come on, Polly."
Apollo and Trucy pushed through the crowd, heading back toward the Dramatis Personae. Klavier took the chance to finish up some unfinished business—not remarkably involving greeting some eager fans—before he followed after them, hurrying to catch up.
---
"...And the music was really good! Don't you think?"
"Yeah, it was," Apollo agreed. "It was rather relaxing, really... even Mr. Gavin's music."
"Oh yeah... wasn't that great?" Trucy smiled at the memory. "It was so calm and serene... it reminded me of some of the trips me and Daddy used to take."
I'm fairly certain that last one was part of Gavin's subconscious spell, though, Apollo thought, but decided not to voice. Instead, he just said, "Yeah... I have to admit, he's really good at the guitar."
"Well, I'm glad to hear you say it, Herr Forehead."
"GAH!" Apollo jumped, whirling around to see that Klavier had come up behind him, wearing an amused smile on his face. Apollo eyed him back in silent denial, dusting himself off self-consciously. Of course he has to show up right when I'm talking about him...
"Oh hi, Mr. Gavin!" Trucy chirped, thankfully changing the subject. "Well, today's been an interesting day, huh!"
"So it has," Klavier agreed. "Turns out Herr Forehead is a copycat and I'm a bard."
"...I've been going with 'mirror,' but I'm not sure which is better," Apollo murmured, continuing on his way toward the Dramatis Personae. The others followed.
"We should all get together and have some kind of training session!" Trucy suggested. "I can practice my spells, Polly can copy me, and Mr. Gavin can... do whatever it is he does!"
Klavier chuckled at this. "That may be worth a try sometime."
"Don't you think that would be fun, Polly?" Trucy asked, looking back at Apollo.
"Yeah, I'm sure it... would..." Apollo trailed off, slowing to a stop as he watched as a black butterfly flitter past. Something about it was strange, however... besides the fact that he had never seen a pure black butterfly like that before, it almost seemed to be giving off a faint, but rather unsettling aura.
Trucy, noticing Apollo's hesitation, looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What is it, Polly?"
Apollo didn't say anything, simply directing the others' attention to the butterfly. They looked over at it, watching it for a confused moment.
"...It's a butterfly. What about it?" Klavier asked?
Apollo made a face. "Is it just me, or..."
As if on cue, more of the black butterflies started to gather, forming into a small cluster. And then, just as Apollo and the others were wondering what was going on, blue flames appeared in the air, forming into the shape of one of the Kurain magatama jewels.
"Oh great," Apollo grumbled, taking a step back. This can't be good.
"You sound so disappointed," came an uncomfortably familiar voice. Just then, the flames faded away, a woman's form taking their place. Dahlia Hawthorne.
"You again!" Trucy yelped, narrowing her eyes at Dahlia.
"And hello to you too, Ms. Wright," Dahlia sneered, twirling her parasol. "Enjoy the music? I heard from a little German bird that it was good."
"Well... well, why should you care?" Trucy replied accusingly. "What do you want?"
"Why do I care, you ask?" Dahlia's face split into an evil grin, aura rising. "Because it's test time."
Apollo, Trucy and Klavier stumbled backward in surprise, just for a wall of Dark flames to spring up in their path, blocking their escape. But while her friends stood startled, unsure what to do, Trucy took up a defensive pose, preparing to fight. Dahlia glanced over at her, taking note of this.
"How interesting. Just like your father." She rested her parasol in the crook of her arm, starting to gather a Dark sphere between her hands. "Too bad he doesn't know it's you... and he never will. You know they aren't letting him or anyone else from his time go home?"
"H-hey!" Trucy stammered. "You leave him out of this, you big meanie!"
"What, the man who was partially responsible for landing me in this mess?" Dahlia looked over at Trucy, her expression falling flat. "No."
Dahlia cast the Dark sphere she had formed in her hands at Trucy, who immediately threw up a Light barrier to counter it. Dahlia seemed startled at this, scowling at the barrier.
"Where... where did you learn that?!" she growled, amassing another Dark sphere.
"A very nice lady taught me it, but you wouldn't care about that!" Trucy retorted, forming a Light sphere in her hands to counter it.
Dahlia, however, did indeed seem to care, as this made her very, very angry, the black butterflies around her bursting into flame. "MIA... MIA FEY...!!"
Dahlia cast the Dark sphere—stronger this time—at Trucy, just for Trucy to intercept it with her Light sphere. The two spheres collided in the air, causing a small explosion. Apollo, noticing this, decided it was time to take action.
As Apollo took a step closer to Dahlia, he could already feel his aura start to shift, taking on a Dark undertone to it. His stomach clenched; it made him feel so... tainted. It was a Darkness not intended for him.
But his powers focussed on those of his opponent's. No matter how hard he tried, he was not able to use Trucy's abilities, instead—he could only use Dahlia's. He had no other choice.
Alright, Apollo... you can do this... he thought to himself, taking a deep breath and starting to amass a Dark sphere of his own. It felt almost cold in his hands... but he tried his best to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Dahlia decided to change things up a bit, banishing her parasol and forming a sphere of Dark flames in her hands. Trucy, seeing this, formed a water globe in her own hands to counter it.
So far this is just being a game of back and forth, Apollo noted, raising an eyebrow at this. Then, narrowing his eyes, he turned to Dahlia. Well, time to change it up a bit!
Apollo cast the Dark sphere at Dahlia, attempting to catch her while she was distracted. It worked, colliding with Dahlia and causing her to yelp in surprise, losing concentration on her sphere of flames so it shot out as a beam of fire. Trucy hastily sent her water globe as a stream of water toward the fire, trying to put it out as best she could. Thankfully, she managed to get most of it.
"If this is a test, then don't underestimate us, Ms. Hawthorne!" Apollo exclaimed boldly.
"Don't you dare underestimate me, Apollo Justice," Dahlia growled, summoning Dark blades into her hand, the edges flickering with green. "The last man to do so regretted it deeply when he woke up again."
"Polly!" Trucy yelped, diving and shoving Apollo out of the way as Dahlia cast the blades at them. The two of them were brought to the floor, out of the way, and the blades instead whizzed past Klavier.
Klavier, stepping out of the way of the blades, wasn't sure what to do. His powers, so far as they had found out, involved invoking emotions in others with music. But what good would that do in a situation like this? It's not like he exactly knew how to do any real damage. So far he'd just been watching Apollo and Trucy, keeping out of the way, but if this kept up...
Meanwhile, Trucy got up off of Apollo, forming a Light sphere in her hands. Dahlia smirked, casting a disc of Darkness at the sphere, interrupting it and causing it to shatter in Trucy's hands. Trucy yelped, startled, taking a step back.
Apollo, seeing this, retaliated and sent a disk of Darkness right back at Dahlia. She pivoted aside to dodge, but it still grazed her side and arm. Scowling at this, she took a stance and started forming another disk, this one with green along the edges.
Nngh... I can sense the poison in that one, but I can't use that... Apollo grumbled inwardly, mind racing for other possibilities. Wait... she used Dark flames earlier. Maybe I can try that!
Unfortunately, this wasn't the best of Apollo's ideas. While he successfully managed to shoot Dark flames at Dahlia, he had never used fire before—thus the beam of fire was wild and uncontrolled, seeming to shoot off in every direction except the way he wanted it to go.
"Polly, careful!" Trucy yelped, using her water powers to try and keep the flames from burning anything.
"Gah! Sorry!" Apollo yelped back, immediately stopping this attack.
Dahlia just laughed at this, having blocked the flames that came toward her with a Dark barrier. "Interesting, Mr. Justice," she spoke, forming a second disk along with the first in her other hand. "I didn't know you were of Diego's vein of powers."
"I'm not," Apollo hissed, feeling a little insulted at the insinuation of him being Dark-aligned. Didn't you notice me imitating you? I'm mirroring you! Mirroring!
Trucy, trying to take advantage of the distraction, fired a Light beam at Dahlia. However, Dahlia noticed, pivoting aside and phasing out. With an evil grin, she then twirled back into position, phased back in, and threw the two disks—one at Apollo, and one at Trucy.
Before Apollo could react, he saw a Light barrier spring up in front of him, protecting him from the disk. Apollo blinked. It took a moment for his mind to register the fact that Trucy had created this barrier. It took another moment before he realized that Trucy only knew how to make one barrier at a time.
And it was two moments too long.
"...T-Trucy!"
Trucy had made an attempt to stumble out of the way of Dahlia's attack, but it was in vain. The disk grazed her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain, dropping to her knees. Immediately, another thought entered Apollo's mind—that disk was poisoned.
"TRUCY!" Apollo yelped, running over and kneeling down next to Trucy. This couldn't be happening... this was not happening.
Dahlia's cruel laughter filled the air. "You should probably call Wright as fast as you can. I'm not sure how fast that one acts."
"I-it hurts...!" Trucy whimpered weakly, clutching at her shoulder. There was nothing she could do; she didn't know how to cure poison yet, and the poison was already starting to spread.
Klavier watched from a distance as Apollo futilely tried to tend to Trucy—Trucy had been incapacitated, unable to move from the pain, while Apollo looked panicked, unsure what to do. And with Dahlia still there, her sinister aura radiating from her, the two of them were in deep trouble.
And Klavier was not the type to just stand by and do nothing while there was trouble.
"Y-you..." He glared up at Dahlia, a wave of determination coming over him. He had no idea what all his powers were, much less what he would do with them, but his instincts were telling him to act, and fast. "You monster!"
And then, without knowing what to expect, he slammed a chord on his guitar, hoping for some sort of offensive bard power he wasn't aware of. But what he got was something else entirely.
A bolt of electricity streaked through the air.
Dahlia was caught completely off-guard by this, taking the full blast and being thrown back to the ground. She struggled to sit back up, clutching at her heart with a startled scowl. "Can't... move...!"
Klavier stepped closer to her, jolts of electricity still sparking up around him as he walked. "Can you move enough to leave us be?"
"S-stay back!" Dahlia tried futilely to move backward, away from Klavier, and ended up phasing out to protect herself. She clutched her hand tighter, actually looking kind of terrified.
Klavier stood unmoving, still glaring at Dahlia, though the sparks around him were slowly starting to die back down. "...Leave. Now."
Dahlia, not wanting to stick around for any more of this, clutched at her head, shrieking as she burst into the blue magatama-shaped flames, fading out. The Dark flames from before faded along with her, and the area returned to how it was before Dahlia showed up. Everything fell silent.
And then, the soft sound of Trucy's whimpers.
Klavier frowned, turning away from the spot where Dahlia was to look back at where Trucy had fallen. "Fräulein...?"
Trucy had not moved from her previous spot, clutching tightly at her wounded shoulder. Despite Apollo's best attempts to try and comfort her, Trucy was shivering from the pain, and had tears rolling down her cheeks.
"D-d-daddy..." she stammered softly. "I want daddy...!"
"...Your dad..." Apollo frowned, thinking on this for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes widened, remembering something. "R-right! I'll go get Mr. Wright!" He hastily stood, running back toward the main square. He only paused briefly to turn back to Klavier, saying, "Look after her, okay?"
Klavier frowned, watching Apollo fade into the distance, before turning his attention back down to Trucy. Taking a deep breath, he knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her back. "It will be alright, Fräulein... he is getting help. Just hold on... it will be okay."
Trucy remained silent, aside from her quiet sniveling, still shaking from the pain that wouldn't fade. Klavier, realizing his words alone weren't helping much, started to think. She was in so much pain... if only there was a way to calm her down...
...Inspire emotion...
"Hey, Fräulein, it's okay..." Klavier took his guitar in hand, starting to play out a soft melody. If he had brought memories with music earlier, it wasn't too far of a leap to assume he could bring reassurance. It was worth a try, at least.
Magic or not, the music did seem to calm Trucy down a little, causing her shivering to lessen, and her breathing to slow to a more normal rate. Seeing this, Klavier smiled slightly, continuing to play. While he couldn't remove the poison or heal the wound, he could at least try to keep her calm until help arrived.
---
Apollo ran back into the square, scanning the remnants of the crowd for any sign of Phoenix. He had heard it said before that phoenix tears could cure even the deadliest of poisons, so Phoenix should, theoretically, have been able to help. He could only hope.
"Mr. Wright!" Apollo called out upon spotting Phoenix, running over toward him. "Mr. Wright!"
Phoenix turned away from the conversation he had previously been in, raising an eyebrow at Apollo. Looked like he was talking with Piers—who could also reportedly cure poison. Even better.
"...Apollo?" Phoenix spoke, watching as Apollo came up beside him, gasping for breath.
"Are you alright, Mr. Justice?" Piers asked him. "You look a little... roughed up."
"It's Trucy!" Apollo replied hastily. "She's been hurt... poisoned, I think!"
"WHAT?!" Phoenix cried in response.
Piers narrowed his eyes, aura rising and giving off a sensation reminding Apollo of an agitated ocean. "How long has it been since that happened?!"
"I-I don't know, a minute, maybe...!" Apollo stammered, turning and starting to lead the way. "You need to come, Mr. Wright, she really needs you..."
"Me?" Phoenix questioned. "I... I don't know if I can help, but—"
"Just trust me!" Apollo started running, Piers following after him. Phoenix hesitated for a moment, but decided to follow after them, as well. Apollo was glad for this, hurrying back to where they were before. Come on, Trucy, just hang in there...
Before long, the three of them arrived on the scene, finding Trucy still on her knees and clutching at her shoulder, though now she was making an effort to keep herself calm. Interestingly enough, Klavier was kneeling beside her, quietly playing something calming to her on his guitar.
He looked up at the three of them as they approached, stopping his playing. "She's injured... can you help?"
Piers immediately stepped forward, casting some curing spells on the fallen Trucy—one to heal the wound, and other to cure the poison. Apollo watched, worried, as the healing went to work on Trucy, hoping that they weren't too late.
And then, much to his relief, he watched as a wave of relief came over Trucy, the pain finally starting to fade away. She then relaxed significantly, taking slow, deep breaths.
"Th-thanks..." she mumbled softly.
Phoenix, concerned for Trucy's well-being, knelt down beside her, opposite of Klavier. "Are you okay now? You don't need any more healing, do you?"
Trucy looked up at Phoenix, her eyes starting to water again. There was silence for a moment... and then, in a rush of emotion, Trucy threw her arms around Phoenix, wrapping him in a hug. Phoenix was startled by this, but hugged her back regardless.
"J-just... thanks for coming..." she whispered to him. "Thanks for being here..."
Phoenix, unsure what else to do, awkwardly patted her on the back, on the opposite side from her injured shoulder. "It's okay... you'll be alright."
Piers smiled with relief, leaning against a nearby wall of a building, looking a little worn out—presumably he had used up a lot of energy at some previous point. "Good that you are safe. Does... was anyone else hurt?"
"...Well, I kind of scraped my elbow, but that seems rather insignificant now," Apollo replied, raising an eyebrow.
Klavier chuckled at this, standing back up and looking over at Piers. "No, I think we're alright. Thank you so much."
"You are quite welcome," Piers said, smiling. "Again, I'm glad you are all safe... and that's what matters."
At this point, Trucy finally pulled back from her hug, smiling up at Phoenix. Phoenix smiled back at her reassuringly. "...You should probably get some rest," he told her. "You probably need it."
"Yeah," Apollo admitted, gazing off into the distance as the weariness finally started catching up to him. "I'm sure we all do..."
"Yes... sleep sounds good," Piers agreed, nodding. "I'll see you all around, then." He waved and started walking off, reaching into his pocket and vanishing in a swirl of zeros and ones. Trucy waved back at him, though flinched a little as she did so, what with her recently healed shoulder.
"Well, come on..." Phoenix got to his feet, offering a hand to help Trucy up. "Let's take you home."
Trucy smiled warmly, taking Phoenix's hand. He then helped her get back to her feet, and even helped her walk back to the Dramatis Personae. Apollo couldn't help but smile at this—Phoenix might not have realized it, but his support was exactly what Trucy needed right then.
Apollo then started on his way back to the Dramatis Personae himself, beckoning Klavier to follow. After a long day like that, the opportunity to finally wind down sounded very welcoming.
To be continued...
"This is gonna be great!" Trucy chirped eagerly.
"Yeah, should be interesting to see," Apollo admitted.
"Yes," came Piers' voice from behind them. "I hope this one goes better than the last one."
"Oh!" Trucy whirled around, turning to face Piers as he approached. "Hi, Piers!"
"So, um..." Apollo spoke up, turning as well. "I think I heard that this musical event was supposed to be calmer than that last karaoke?"
"I have heard that, as well," Piers replied. "I think it should be interesting..."
I hope so, too. Apollo turned to the stage, watching as one of Piers' friends—a girl with short blonde hair, named Sheba—took the stage. She was holding some sort of woodwind instrument, which she soon started playing.
The song she played was indeed very calm, soothing. At the same time, the song sounded quite sad—giving off the sense of a midnight sky, and a longing for something.
"Wow..." Trucy commented. "It's so pretty..."
"Yeah," Apollo agreed. Pretty, but also... sad, in a way...
Piers nodded. "It's the song of the werepeople of Garoh. They taught it to her."
"Well, it's really pretty..." Trucy applauded as Sheba finished the song, watching her leave the stage. After she left, Iris took her place, playing a flute.
Such beautiful music tonight... Apollo thought, listening to the song Iris was playing. The song offered a sense of a story... something awe-inspiring and grand that took place long ago. However, it was a gentle song, like the touch of someone tending to delicate things, or like a soft voice speaking.
In fact, all the music that night was very gentle. The next song was a lute duet between Hasaki and some purple-haired girl—Kaiiki, was it?—in a song that gave off a certain sense of tranquility, reminiscent of a calm, peaceful dream.
I think I heard him practicing that one at the Dramatis Personae, come to think of it, Apollo noted, applauding as the song finished. Hasaki and Kaiiki each took a bow before leaving the stage.
Piers raised an eyebrow as, after the two of them left, Ky flew down to the stage, pulling a piano closer to the spotlight. "...I thought Ky was working with the sound? Someone else must be monitoring it for this song..."
"I guess so..." Apollo nodded. Though apparently Ky was just playing the accompaniments for this particular song.
"Ooh, it's Mr. Godot!" Trucy chirped, pointing him out as he took the stage, holding a saxophone. "This should be great!"
Sure enough, Godot started to play what was apparently supposed to be his theme song, with Ky accompanying him on the piano. The music they played was slow and relaxed, sort of a call back to a warm, relaxing memory, with just a hint of wishing for its return.
I wonder where Mr. Gavin is? Apollo absently wondered as the song finished. Is he going to be participating in this, too?
"Isn't the music tonight just so pretty, Polly?" Trucy asked, as Godot helped Ky move the piano back. "It's so relaxing..."
"Yeah," Apollo agreed. Definitely a nice change of pace from last time... so much loud music...
Then, as if on cue, Klavier came up to the stage, with an acoustic guitar in hand. Apollo took note of the fact that it was not an electric guitar, reminding himself that Klavier could, in fact, play things besides rock and roll.
"There's Mr. Gavin!" Trucy pointed out eagerly. "I wonder what he's going to play?"
"Me too..." Apollo mumbled, watching as Klavier started plucking out a tune.
The song he played was, despite Apollo's expectations, a very calm and soothing song. A song of serenity, of calling back to days gone by. In a way, like it was speaking out to the audience on a deeper level... it felt somehow captivating.
...Rather strangely so.
Is it just me, or does he have the audience's... undivided attention? Apollo noticed, glancing around at the crowd. It was like this last time, too...
As he looked around the audience, in general, most of the listeners seemed to be listening with thoughtful, reminiscent expressions—as if, indeed, the song were calling back to days gone by. But something about the way the song was moving so many people seemed... odd, to Apollo.
Deciding to further investigate this, Apollo looked up at Klavier on the stage, and focussed his vision. As he focussed, the colors around him dulled, and Klavier started to glow with a bright silvery color. But, more interestingly, this silver aura seemed to emanate from his guitar every time he strummed the strings.
Apollo blinked. ...Huh.
"...Hmmm..." Piers mumbled, as if noticing something odd, himself. "...Almost like Lull..."
At this point, Klavier finished the song, and the crowd broke into applause. Apollo watched Klavier take a bow, the aura around his guitar fading along with the music.
"That was great!" Trucy cheered from beside Apollo.
"Yeah, really..." Apollo mumbled, clapping slowly. I should probably tell him about that... I doubt he knows.
Klavier waved to the crowd as he got down off the stage, the spotlight turning down—apparently he was the last perform for the evening. Trucy, seeing this, turned and grabbed Apollo by the wrist. "Come on, Polly! Let's go talk to him!"
"Yeah..." Apollo relaxed his vision again as Trucy dragged him through the crowd, not wanting to disorient himself from all the auras. "Sounds like a good idea, actually."
---
After the performance, Klavier came down off the stage to greet some fans, who had come to praise him for his performance. Even Godot, while helping Ky to take down the stage, offered some words.
"Tongue of silver and heart of gold indeed, Master Gavin," Godot said to him. "You play phenomenally well."
Klavier chuckled at this. "Thank you, Herr Godot."
"Yeah!" came Trucy's voice, as she and Apollo came coming up to them. "You did great today!"
"Why thank you," Klavier replied, flicking his bangs out of his eyes cooly. "I'm glad you enjoyed the performance."
"Oh, uh, actually..." Apollo spoke up, grinning sheepishly. "Speaking of that..."
Klavier looked over at Apollo quizzically, wondering what he was trying to say. "What is it?"
"Ah, well... how do I say this?" Apollo absently reached up, running his fingers through his hair. "You know that thing where I can see auras?"
"...What about it?"
"I, uh... think you might have been subconsciously tapping into some kind of power while you were playing," Apollo spat out hastily.
Klavier's eyes widened in surprise at this. Was there some sort of power in his music that he wasn't aware about? "...Oh really now?"
"What makes you say that?" Godot asked, while using dark magic to help Ky take down the stage.
"Well, I don't really know how to explain it..." Apollo told him. "It looked like there was an aura coming out of the guitar when you were playing it."
Klavier blinked. "...Huh."
"Yeah," Apollo said, "those were my thoughts, too."
"...Interesting," Godot remarked, turning to face them while Ky wheeled the sound system away. "What significance would that have, then?"
"I'm not really sure," Apollo admitted. "I was hoping you would know."
Klavier fiddled with his hair as he thought on this, still holding his guitar in his other hand. "...While I can't say I'm especially surprised with the idea of having power in my music, I'm afraid I don't know exactly what it implies."
"...Hmm." Godot thought on this, placing a hand to his chin. "Well, if you have power in music... that sounds rather like a bard."
"A bard, huh? That... is possible," Klavier admitted, contemplating this. "It could be worth exploring, at any rate."
"Well... the other thing I noticed was that a lot of people seemed really, uh, moved by the song?" Apollo pointed out. "So maybe that has something to do with it?"
"I just thought it was a really meaningful song," Trucy piped in, "but now that you mention it..."
Godot fell silent for a moment, thinking on this. "...The power of music is not to be underestimated. It can bring despair into the hears of men... but it can also bring hope." He looked away, putting his hands in his pockets. "...You know this. Do not forget it."
Klavier frowned slightly, nodding slowly, thoughtfully. A bard... from the sound of it, he had the ability to inspire emotion in others with his music, but what all this entailed was still a mystery. Was there anything in particular this magical music could do? Could it provide enchantments, or anything else meaningful?
And, perhaps most importantly... was this it, or was there more?
"A bard, are you? I can't say I'm surprised."
Klavier jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. It was definitely Kristoph's voice, but there was no sign of him nearby... and it also seemed he was the only one who heard it, judging by the confused stares he was getting.
"...Mr. Gavin?" Trucy spoke up, concerned.
"...You will be a fine bard, I am sure," the voice spoke again. "Just... be careful."
"It... it's nothing," Klavier mumbled to Trucy, a thoughtful frown appearing on his face. Trucy frowned in turn, not sure what was going on, but Klavier paid it no mind.
"Perhaps we must oppose one another," Kristoph continued. "I doubt we will ever understand one another. There is little chance I can persuade you to leave... even less so to persuade you not to meddle in our affairs. That's just not your way."
Klavier sighed softly, glancing down at the guitar in his hands. Kristoph was right; he wasn't the type to just stand by and do nothing while there was trouble. He was the type to take action, and do what he could to help. And with Kristoph in the Ring of Darkness... it was likely they would be at odds with each other a lot.
And that was unlikely to change.
Klavier shook his head. "...I'm sorry."
"...Hmph. I'm sure you are," was Kristoph's reply. "...There is little left for me to exist for... only vengeance and your well-being. So I would appreciate it... if you didn't go off taking unnecessary risks."
It was silent for moment. And then, finally, Kristoph let out a sigh.
"...That is all, for now."
At that point, there was the faint sense of a presence fading away, which Klavier assumed meant Kristoph had left. He stood there for a moment in silence, before looking up at the others, who were staring back at him with concerned expressions.
"...What just happened?" Trucy wondered, frowning.
"Is everything alright?" Godot asked him.
Klavier sighed, quietly muttering to himself in German before speaking up. "...Sorry. It's... nothing I wish to worry you with."
More silence. Apollo and Trucy looked particularly concerned, though not sure what to say. Finally, Godot shook his head, thankfully deciding to change the subject.
"Well, it's been a good time," he said, a reassuring smile on his face. "I'll see you guys later, alright?"
"Alright," Trucy replied, waving to Godot as he headed off into the distance. "See ya!"
After Godot faded out of sight, Apollo spoke up. "...We should probably get going, too. Come on."
"Alright, just hold on," Klavier replied, gathering his things. "I'll catch up with you in a moment."
"Okay!" Trucy smiled, turning to Apollo. "Come on, Polly."
Apollo and Trucy pushed through the crowd, heading back toward the Dramatis Personae. Klavier took the chance to finish up some unfinished business—not remarkably involving greeting some eager fans—before he followed after them, hurrying to catch up.
---
"...And the music was really good! Don't you think?"
"Yeah, it was," Apollo agreed. "It was rather relaxing, really... even Mr. Gavin's music."
"Oh yeah... wasn't that great?" Trucy smiled at the memory. "It was so calm and serene... it reminded me of some of the trips me and Daddy used to take."
I'm fairly certain that last one was part of Gavin's subconscious spell, though, Apollo thought, but decided not to voice. Instead, he just said, "Yeah... I have to admit, he's really good at the guitar."
"Well, I'm glad to hear you say it, Herr Forehead."
"GAH!" Apollo jumped, whirling around to see that Klavier had come up behind him, wearing an amused smile on his face. Apollo eyed him back in silent denial, dusting himself off self-consciously. Of course he has to show up right when I'm talking about him...
"Oh hi, Mr. Gavin!" Trucy chirped, thankfully changing the subject. "Well, today's been an interesting day, huh!"
"So it has," Klavier agreed. "Turns out Herr Forehead is a copycat and I'm a bard."
"...I've been going with 'mirror,' but I'm not sure which is better," Apollo murmured, continuing on his way toward the Dramatis Personae. The others followed.
"We should all get together and have some kind of training session!" Trucy suggested. "I can practice my spells, Polly can copy me, and Mr. Gavin can... do whatever it is he does!"
Klavier chuckled at this. "That may be worth a try sometime."
"Don't you think that would be fun, Polly?" Trucy asked, looking back at Apollo.
"Yeah, I'm sure it... would..." Apollo trailed off, slowing to a stop as he watched as a black butterfly flitter past. Something about it was strange, however... besides the fact that he had never seen a pure black butterfly like that before, it almost seemed to be giving off a faint, but rather unsettling aura.
Trucy, noticing Apollo's hesitation, looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What is it, Polly?"
Apollo didn't say anything, simply directing the others' attention to the butterfly. They looked over at it, watching it for a confused moment.
"...It's a butterfly. What about it?" Klavier asked?
Apollo made a face. "Is it just me, or..."
As if on cue, more of the black butterflies started to gather, forming into a small cluster. And then, just as Apollo and the others were wondering what was going on, blue flames appeared in the air, forming into the shape of one of the Kurain magatama jewels.
"Oh great," Apollo grumbled, taking a step back. This can't be good.
"You sound so disappointed," came an uncomfortably familiar voice. Just then, the flames faded away, a woman's form taking their place. Dahlia Hawthorne.
"You again!" Trucy yelped, narrowing her eyes at Dahlia.
"And hello to you too, Ms. Wright," Dahlia sneered, twirling her parasol. "Enjoy the music? I heard from a little German bird that it was good."
"Well... well, why should you care?" Trucy replied accusingly. "What do you want?"
"Why do I care, you ask?" Dahlia's face split into an evil grin, aura rising. "Because it's test time."
Apollo, Trucy and Klavier stumbled backward in surprise, just for a wall of Dark flames to spring up in their path, blocking their escape. But while her friends stood startled, unsure what to do, Trucy took up a defensive pose, preparing to fight. Dahlia glanced over at her, taking note of this.
"How interesting. Just like your father." She rested her parasol in the crook of her arm, starting to gather a Dark sphere between her hands. "Too bad he doesn't know it's you... and he never will. You know they aren't letting him or anyone else from his time go home?"
"H-hey!" Trucy stammered. "You leave him out of this, you big meanie!"
"What, the man who was partially responsible for landing me in this mess?" Dahlia looked over at Trucy, her expression falling flat. "No."
Dahlia cast the Dark sphere she had formed in her hands at Trucy, who immediately threw up a Light barrier to counter it. Dahlia seemed startled at this, scowling at the barrier.
"Where... where did you learn that?!" she growled, amassing another Dark sphere.
"A very nice lady taught me it, but you wouldn't care about that!" Trucy retorted, forming a Light sphere in her hands to counter it.
Dahlia, however, did indeed seem to care, as this made her very, very angry, the black butterflies around her bursting into flame. "MIA... MIA FEY...!!"
Dahlia cast the Dark sphere—stronger this time—at Trucy, just for Trucy to intercept it with her Light sphere. The two spheres collided in the air, causing a small explosion. Apollo, noticing this, decided it was time to take action.
As Apollo took a step closer to Dahlia, he could already feel his aura start to shift, taking on a Dark undertone to it. His stomach clenched; it made him feel so... tainted. It was a Darkness not intended for him.
But his powers focussed on those of his opponent's. No matter how hard he tried, he was not able to use Trucy's abilities, instead—he could only use Dahlia's. He had no other choice.
Alright, Apollo... you can do this... he thought to himself, taking a deep breath and starting to amass a Dark sphere of his own. It felt almost cold in his hands... but he tried his best to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Dahlia decided to change things up a bit, banishing her parasol and forming a sphere of Dark flames in her hands. Trucy, seeing this, formed a water globe in her own hands to counter it.
So far this is just being a game of back and forth, Apollo noted, raising an eyebrow at this. Then, narrowing his eyes, he turned to Dahlia. Well, time to change it up a bit!
Apollo cast the Dark sphere at Dahlia, attempting to catch her while she was distracted. It worked, colliding with Dahlia and causing her to yelp in surprise, losing concentration on her sphere of flames so it shot out as a beam of fire. Trucy hastily sent her water globe as a stream of water toward the fire, trying to put it out as best she could. Thankfully, she managed to get most of it.
"If this is a test, then don't underestimate us, Ms. Hawthorne!" Apollo exclaimed boldly.
"Don't you dare underestimate me, Apollo Justice," Dahlia growled, summoning Dark blades into her hand, the edges flickering with green. "The last man to do so regretted it deeply when he woke up again."
"Polly!" Trucy yelped, diving and shoving Apollo out of the way as Dahlia cast the blades at them. The two of them were brought to the floor, out of the way, and the blades instead whizzed past Klavier.
Klavier, stepping out of the way of the blades, wasn't sure what to do. His powers, so far as they had found out, involved invoking emotions in others with music. But what good would that do in a situation like this? It's not like he exactly knew how to do any real damage. So far he'd just been watching Apollo and Trucy, keeping out of the way, but if this kept up...
Meanwhile, Trucy got up off of Apollo, forming a Light sphere in her hands. Dahlia smirked, casting a disc of Darkness at the sphere, interrupting it and causing it to shatter in Trucy's hands. Trucy yelped, startled, taking a step back.
Apollo, seeing this, retaliated and sent a disk of Darkness right back at Dahlia. She pivoted aside to dodge, but it still grazed her side and arm. Scowling at this, she took a stance and started forming another disk, this one with green along the edges.
Nngh... I can sense the poison in that one, but I can't use that... Apollo grumbled inwardly, mind racing for other possibilities. Wait... she used Dark flames earlier. Maybe I can try that!
Unfortunately, this wasn't the best of Apollo's ideas. While he successfully managed to shoot Dark flames at Dahlia, he had never used fire before—thus the beam of fire was wild and uncontrolled, seeming to shoot off in every direction except the way he wanted it to go.
"Polly, careful!" Trucy yelped, using her water powers to try and keep the flames from burning anything.
"Gah! Sorry!" Apollo yelped back, immediately stopping this attack.
Dahlia just laughed at this, having blocked the flames that came toward her with a Dark barrier. "Interesting, Mr. Justice," she spoke, forming a second disk along with the first in her other hand. "I didn't know you were of Diego's vein of powers."
"I'm not," Apollo hissed, feeling a little insulted at the insinuation of him being Dark-aligned. Didn't you notice me imitating you? I'm mirroring you! Mirroring!
Trucy, trying to take advantage of the distraction, fired a Light beam at Dahlia. However, Dahlia noticed, pivoting aside and phasing out. With an evil grin, she then twirled back into position, phased back in, and threw the two disks—one at Apollo, and one at Trucy.
Before Apollo could react, he saw a Light barrier spring up in front of him, protecting him from the disk. Apollo blinked. It took a moment for his mind to register the fact that Trucy had created this barrier. It took another moment before he realized that Trucy only knew how to make one barrier at a time.
And it was two moments too long.
"...T-Trucy!"
Trucy had made an attempt to stumble out of the way of Dahlia's attack, but it was in vain. The disk grazed her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain, dropping to her knees. Immediately, another thought entered Apollo's mind—that disk was poisoned.
"TRUCY!" Apollo yelped, running over and kneeling down next to Trucy. This couldn't be happening... this was not happening.
Dahlia's cruel laughter filled the air. "You should probably call Wright as fast as you can. I'm not sure how fast that one acts."
"I-it hurts...!" Trucy whimpered weakly, clutching at her shoulder. There was nothing she could do; she didn't know how to cure poison yet, and the poison was already starting to spread.
Klavier watched from a distance as Apollo futilely tried to tend to Trucy—Trucy had been incapacitated, unable to move from the pain, while Apollo looked panicked, unsure what to do. And with Dahlia still there, her sinister aura radiating from her, the two of them were in deep trouble.
And Klavier was not the type to just stand by and do nothing while there was trouble.
"Y-you..." He glared up at Dahlia, a wave of determination coming over him. He had no idea what all his powers were, much less what he would do with them, but his instincts were telling him to act, and fast. "You monster!"
And then, without knowing what to expect, he slammed a chord on his guitar, hoping for some sort of offensive bard power he wasn't aware of. But what he got was something else entirely.
A bolt of electricity streaked through the air.
Dahlia was caught completely off-guard by this, taking the full blast and being thrown back to the ground. She struggled to sit back up, clutching at her heart with a startled scowl. "Can't... move...!"
Klavier stepped closer to her, jolts of electricity still sparking up around him as he walked. "Can you move enough to leave us be?"
"S-stay back!" Dahlia tried futilely to move backward, away from Klavier, and ended up phasing out to protect herself. She clutched her hand tighter, actually looking kind of terrified.
Klavier stood unmoving, still glaring at Dahlia, though the sparks around him were slowly starting to die back down. "...Leave. Now."
Dahlia, not wanting to stick around for any more of this, clutched at her head, shrieking as she burst into the blue magatama-shaped flames, fading out. The Dark flames from before faded along with her, and the area returned to how it was before Dahlia showed up. Everything fell silent.
And then, the soft sound of Trucy's whimpers.
Klavier frowned, turning away from the spot where Dahlia was to look back at where Trucy had fallen. "Fräulein...?"
Trucy had not moved from her previous spot, clutching tightly at her wounded shoulder. Despite Apollo's best attempts to try and comfort her, Trucy was shivering from the pain, and had tears rolling down her cheeks.
"D-d-daddy..." she stammered softly. "I want daddy...!"
"...Your dad..." Apollo frowned, thinking on this for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes widened, remembering something. "R-right! I'll go get Mr. Wright!" He hastily stood, running back toward the main square. He only paused briefly to turn back to Klavier, saying, "Look after her, okay?"
Klavier frowned, watching Apollo fade into the distance, before turning his attention back down to Trucy. Taking a deep breath, he knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her back. "It will be alright, Fräulein... he is getting help. Just hold on... it will be okay."
Trucy remained silent, aside from her quiet sniveling, still shaking from the pain that wouldn't fade. Klavier, realizing his words alone weren't helping much, started to think. She was in so much pain... if only there was a way to calm her down...
...Inspire emotion...
"Hey, Fräulein, it's okay..." Klavier took his guitar in hand, starting to play out a soft melody. If he had brought memories with music earlier, it wasn't too far of a leap to assume he could bring reassurance. It was worth a try, at least.
Magic or not, the music did seem to calm Trucy down a little, causing her shivering to lessen, and her breathing to slow to a more normal rate. Seeing this, Klavier smiled slightly, continuing to play. While he couldn't remove the poison or heal the wound, he could at least try to keep her calm until help arrived.
---
Apollo ran back into the square, scanning the remnants of the crowd for any sign of Phoenix. He had heard it said before that phoenix tears could cure even the deadliest of poisons, so Phoenix should, theoretically, have been able to help. He could only hope.
"Mr. Wright!" Apollo called out upon spotting Phoenix, running over toward him. "Mr. Wright!"
Phoenix turned away from the conversation he had previously been in, raising an eyebrow at Apollo. Looked like he was talking with Piers—who could also reportedly cure poison. Even better.
"...Apollo?" Phoenix spoke, watching as Apollo came up beside him, gasping for breath.
"Are you alright, Mr. Justice?" Piers asked him. "You look a little... roughed up."
"It's Trucy!" Apollo replied hastily. "She's been hurt... poisoned, I think!"
"WHAT?!" Phoenix cried in response.
Piers narrowed his eyes, aura rising and giving off a sensation reminding Apollo of an agitated ocean. "How long has it been since that happened?!"
"I-I don't know, a minute, maybe...!" Apollo stammered, turning and starting to lead the way. "You need to come, Mr. Wright, she really needs you..."
"Me?" Phoenix questioned. "I... I don't know if I can help, but—"
"Just trust me!" Apollo started running, Piers following after him. Phoenix hesitated for a moment, but decided to follow after them, as well. Apollo was glad for this, hurrying back to where they were before. Come on, Trucy, just hang in there...
Before long, the three of them arrived on the scene, finding Trucy still on her knees and clutching at her shoulder, though now she was making an effort to keep herself calm. Interestingly enough, Klavier was kneeling beside her, quietly playing something calming to her on his guitar.
He looked up at the three of them as they approached, stopping his playing. "She's injured... can you help?"
Piers immediately stepped forward, casting some curing spells on the fallen Trucy—one to heal the wound, and other to cure the poison. Apollo watched, worried, as the healing went to work on Trucy, hoping that they weren't too late.
And then, much to his relief, he watched as a wave of relief came over Trucy, the pain finally starting to fade away. She then relaxed significantly, taking slow, deep breaths.
"Th-thanks..." she mumbled softly.
Phoenix, concerned for Trucy's well-being, knelt down beside her, opposite of Klavier. "Are you okay now? You don't need any more healing, do you?"
Trucy looked up at Phoenix, her eyes starting to water again. There was silence for a moment... and then, in a rush of emotion, Trucy threw her arms around Phoenix, wrapping him in a hug. Phoenix was startled by this, but hugged her back regardless.
"J-just... thanks for coming..." she whispered to him. "Thanks for being here..."
Phoenix, unsure what else to do, awkwardly patted her on the back, on the opposite side from her injured shoulder. "It's okay... you'll be alright."
Piers smiled with relief, leaning against a nearby wall of a building, looking a little worn out—presumably he had used up a lot of energy at some previous point. "Good that you are safe. Does... was anyone else hurt?"
"...Well, I kind of scraped my elbow, but that seems rather insignificant now," Apollo replied, raising an eyebrow.
Klavier chuckled at this, standing back up and looking over at Piers. "No, I think we're alright. Thank you so much."
"You are quite welcome," Piers said, smiling. "Again, I'm glad you are all safe... and that's what matters."
At this point, Trucy finally pulled back from her hug, smiling up at Phoenix. Phoenix smiled back at her reassuringly. "...You should probably get some rest," he told her. "You probably need it."
"Yeah," Apollo admitted, gazing off into the distance as the weariness finally started catching up to him. "I'm sure we all do..."
"Yes... sleep sounds good," Piers agreed, nodding. "I'll see you all around, then." He waved and started walking off, reaching into his pocket and vanishing in a swirl of zeros and ones. Trucy waved back at him, though flinched a little as she did so, what with her recently healed shoulder.
"Well, come on..." Phoenix got to his feet, offering a hand to help Trucy up. "Let's take you home."
Trucy smiled warmly, taking Phoenix's hand. He then helped her get back to her feet, and even helped her walk back to the Dramatis Personae. Apollo couldn't help but smile at this—Phoenix might not have realized it, but his support was exactly what Trucy needed right then.
Apollo then started on his way back to the Dramatis Personae himself, beckoning Klavier to follow. After a long day like that, the opportunity to finally wind down sounded very welcoming.
To be continued...