The Music Speaks

From where I stand, I notice that Sebastian wears an extremely serious expression. Much different from the one he has shown us until now. The wound on his thigh leaks blood, but it does not seem to affect his stance. He wields the sympholance, pointing it at the mysterious man. From the figure wearing the long black robe, an old, raspy voice emerges.

"Ohh, I had expected the cyclone to not be alone, but to think you'd bring a few brats, how audacious..."

Alarmed by the man being aware of our presence, Sebastian gives us a simple set of instructions.

"RUN!"

Immediately, he prepares an attack, much more devastating than anything he has displayed before. In an instant, the sympholance separates into two, then into four, then into eight, then sixteen different parts. Each miniature version of the sympholance lengthens, reaching the size of the original and they all begin spinning at extremely high speeds while tearing through the ground. Multiple chords are plucked, and the semblance of a melody can be heard. Listlessly observing the performance, the man’s raspy voice utters a few words.

"Ahh, how talented, barely in your thirties, yet you're on the verge of stepping foot into the third stage. Do you know how long it took me to reach where I am, I am so jealous...."

The sixteen sympholances place themselves around the figure in black. They surround him, forcing him into a cage. Their rotation quickens and the wind they produce becomes sharper, faster and deadlier. Evidently, this is Sebastian's ultimate attack, the devastation it leaves in its wake is tremendous. Even from where I stand, with the attack not being directed in my direction, the wind pressure threatens to blow me away. I do not doubt that this attack could render the sturdiest of buildings into nothing more than scraps.

The black-robed man stands in the middle of this storm with nowhere to escape.

'I don't know who that guy is, but I don't see how he'll escape that…'

As I expected, the figure is torn apart helplessly. No cries can be heard, but his body is being shredded like a piece of paper. The attack that Sebastian has launched is truly terrifying, making his title as the 'cyclone of melodica' appear well-deserved. Still awe-struck by the scene, Sylvia, Ivana and I have yet to depart, which forces Sebastian to speak to us once more.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME, I SAID RUN!"

I do not understand why he seems so shaken when he has clearly won, but I do not bother to question him. Regaining my senses, I finally prepare to depart alongside my two comrades. As we are on the verge of taking off, a soft female voice resonates from the main doors of the facility.

"Oh well, that body had reached its expiry date, it was time for a change. Why don't I play with you three while the Cyclone is busy with the past me?"

In a split second, the woman is upon me, caressing my back.

"Hmmm, how peculiar, something is different about you, but I can't quite pinpoint what."

I grab my sharpsong and swing it in her direction. She stops it with her fingernail, not even moving an inch. Her hand now caresses my torso more fervently. From what I gather, she is somehow examining me. I feel powerless, my hair stands on end and drops of cold sweat drop from my forehead. In a panic, I summon my shield, strike it and I attack once more.

'Crescendo!'

The attack is once more met by the woman's fingernail who still refuses to budge. While my sharpsong trembles as I strain myself to bypass her defense, her fingernail remains motionless. It seems to be even stronger than my instrument, making me question the real level of this individual. She speaks to me.

"How fascinating, you increased the amplitude of your pure flow? Such strength without even having grasped resonance... The talented are truly different."

As if swatting a fly away, the woman assaults my shield, shattering it into nothingness. She then taps my sternum, bringing me to my knees and directs her attention to Sylvia. The woman arrives upon Sylvia faster than anyone can react and repeats the same caressing motion.

"You're... Ah, I see, one of those huh. I thought he had died, perhaps another one appeared? That seems unlikely, he must have survived then.?"

I am unable to understand what she means. She seems to have grasped something about Sylvia's identity in that short instance, arousing my curiosity. She is interrupted by Sylvia who reacts quickly, launching a kick in the woman's face. The attack is dodged effortlessly, and the woman keeps muttering to herself.

"Truly, truly interesting..."

The woman leaves Sylvia without immobilizing her and instantaneously appears before Ivana. She attempts to place her hand on her back but Ivana ducks a fraction of a second before they come into contact.

"...I might not be at my peak, but you shouldn't be able to react to that... Premonition?"

The attacker then tries again, this time Ivana dodges right into the path of her hand.

"Ah, mind-reading, I see."

As she pats Ivana's body, the woman's expression slightly changes, a smile rising from her face. Gradually, the smile transforms into a wide grin, and she stares into Ivana's eyes.

"Ohhh? You've taken it haven't you, the tuning pill. Hehe, why thank you for your patronage young lady..."

The woman leaves Ivana's side and places herself directly in our path of escape. Sebastian, finally realizing our predicament, halts his attack on the long robed old man and changes his focus. Looking at the woman in front of us, his eyes widen and he stutters.

"T-The SoulWeaver. That's impossible, our grandfather should have killed you! You should be dead!"

"Hehe, as you can see, I'm not so easy to kill! That being said, you just gave me an idea! Why don't I send him a gift to thank him for what he did to me all those years ago? Perhaps his promising descendants' heads on a silver platter? Yes! That should be adequate! I'll keep the other two as a bonus for my hard work!"

Chills run down my spine. Despite her demeanor, I know that she is completely serious about slaughtering us. The worst part being that we are utterly helpless before her. From our short exchange, I've already judged that if she had truly wanted to kill us, she could have done it with a snap of her fingers. Thankfully, she seems to find pleasure in toying with us. Her gaze examines us each from top to bottom, then left to right. She then looks to the sky and her expression transforms into one of pure ecstasy. She shouts

"Three kids with boundless potential and one of the greatest geniuses of this era. Yet, all of them will fall to my power! I, WHO WAS CONSIDERED USELESS, UNTALENTED AND WORTHLESS. WHAT A GREAT DAY HAHAHA!!"

The fear coursing through my being is palpable. Her exclamation leaves me unable to move, frozen in place, the others seem to be in a similar situation. All except Sebastian, who has started warily positioning his instruments to form another attack. However, even he seems to view the situation as hopeless. Faced with this insurmountable obstacle, my journey as an [enlightened] may have already reached its end. Quickly after her outburst, our overwhelming enemy calms down, her expression hardens and she speaks once more.

"Alright, time to die now."