In a world in which magical energy permeates the very air, even music has a mystical quality to it. A good melody can fill you with feelings that span the entire range of emotion. It can give you energy and divert your focus. On this world of Comalan, a musician carries the same responsibility as any spellwarrior or pyromancer to curb the negative consequences of this power. Those who understand this go on to become folk singers who travel the land and bring a level of joy and comfort to others that is the envy of both Serene and Salican priests. I like to think that's what I do most of the time, which is why my brother insisted that I join the Starlight Crusade.
I'm no warrior, nor do I have any particular interest in exploring the great void, but it was my destiny to play the famed Miracle Symphony for a needy audience. Who needs the power and confidence of this divine composition more than an army fighting an alien threat whose dominance has expanded to two worlds? This undertaking is the highest calling for any musician, but even my little brother's high rank on the Morta very nearly failed to secure my role in it. I have worked for many years to deserve such an honor, but a woman named Alexandra Hawke nearly swept me out of contention with a seemingly unnatural talent.
The interview was a stressful one for me because I had gone into it nearly sober. My brother had warned me that General Swan, the leader of Royal Army of Intelligence, would carry a lot of weight in the decision and he would not understand my need for sintaden. Hardly anyone ever does, after all. My malady is believed by most to be unique, which to them means it can not be real. Even if my disability is believed to be genuine, I needed to prove that I could function without wandering through my life in a daze like I usually do. For the most part, I think I can. When I cease to medicate, the music that plagues my ears returns, but that doesn't make it impossible to function completely. If I can stay calm, the music will never get too loud to tune out.
While I waited to speak to my brother and General Swan, I played the composition that I was to audition with in my mind. I wasn't fully confident in my ability to perform the Miracle Symphony yet, so I had planned to play a simpler piece with a similar melody-- the Hope Symphony. Even that was to be a complicated piece as I would need to control several instruments at once. This would be a simple manner for any experienced musician with enchanted instruments, but I was counting on the general to be unaware of that. As I waited for my turn, however, Alexandra began her audition with a familiar tune. From beyond the door, I could hear her playing the very antithesis of the composition I dream to play-- the Disaster Symphony.
Foolish! She may have been playing flawlessly, but that was never meant to be played in friendly company. My heart began to hammer with the dread that the Disaster Symphony is meant to evoke. The music in my head grew louder to compete with the sound of that evil composition. I have never needed my medicine more than I did in that moment. I had to take this edge off. But as I began to consider dipping off somewhere to medicate, heavy thuds rocked the walls of the Royal Army Headquarters while Alexandra reached her crescendo. I stared into the floor without focus as soldiers began to secure the rest of the building. There would be no stepping out now.
Suddenly, the music in my head changed. With the force of all of the blood rushing to my mind and the power of the melody itself, I could no longer hear the other audition at all. I was filled with confidence as I listened to the orchestra that played only for me. I realized then that this was my moment, not hers. I picked up the bag of instruments that I had brought with me. There was not enough for me to match the glory of the melody I could hear. I would have to add some claps to match the cymbals and some vocals to match the organ. I rummaged through the bag and found one remaining pair of clap gloves. I pulled them on with a grin. I walked toward the meeting room with my bag slung over my shoulder. An officer ordered the door open so he could check on the commotion.
Alexandra stood there in the center of the room, feverishly plucking at the strings of her vibrantine with such skill that her instrument seemed to be emitting a ghostly wail. As her music began to fade, she opened her eyes and looked upon the destruction she had caused for the first time. The dais upon which my brother and General Swan sat had several holes in it. The General himself stood alone atop the dais, staring intently at the three wrathar, two bladot, and six imps that were swarming around a silverfist that had been backed into a corner. They were assuredly drawn by the Disaster Symphony, the pinnacle of compositions for Doom Callers. She had revealed herself to be a musician whose sinister music was capable of drawing and controlling demons. But with no enemies at which to direct them, they had instead turned their wrath on my brother, who was losing. The officer and his three subordinates rushed into the room to help him, but even more demons showed up until the room was full. They were outnumbered, but I was ready.
I began with my guitar, playing along to the string section in my head. I then added my ocarina to follow the woodwinds, then my hand drum. Each time I added a new section to my piece, I floated my instruments in the air around me, where they would continue to accompany me as I played. As I released my drum, I began to clap along rhythmically to the melody. As my gloves slid off my hands, I began to vocalize the final piece of the melody. As my own music began to fill the room, the outnumbered soldiers and my brother fought harder to dispatch the demons before anyone could be harmed. I played out my new composition with a jubilant smile on my face as the angry gorilla in the corner ripped the last of the imps apart.
The silverfist leaped back onto the dais and snorted angrily at General Swan before resuming his original form as my brother. He said something about the general overestimating his power by leaving him to fend off the Disaster Symphony alone, which I probably would have agreed with if I could hear everything he was saying over the music that continued to play in my ears. The two men dismissed us to confer on the decision of who would be providing their musical abilities to the fleet. We were both invited to wait for them to choose and seated together in the waiting area I had previously occupied, where Alexandra tried to while away the time with conversation. She seemed genuinely friendly despite the sinister nature of her music, but my own music still assailed me, making this wait far too tortuous to talk to the one who had aggravated my symptoms.
Finally, a clerk directed me back to the meeting room, where my brother informed me that I was going to be joining the Morta in the Starlight Crusade. General Swan didn't look pleased with this outcome, thus demonstrating what a contentious decision this truly was. I learned later that he was concerned with my reliance on sintaden and saw more tangible benefit to Alexandra's weaponized music. But my brother stood by me, arguing that the incident proved that Alexandra was the bigger liability. What ultimately sealed my place on the fleet was my improvised composition: an acoustic rendition of the Miracle Symphony.
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