Melody of Sin

Chapter V~ Lior village

Mere dreams, fading words,

To where could they lead me?

Mere hopes, weakling wills,

What could they bring me?

I was lost in a path known as life.

Every minutes of my life,

I surrender to dismal emptiness.

Just because no matter how hard I tried

I couldn’t reach to happiness,

Still I will not give up.

To live, I have to fight.

To survive, I have to stain my hands.

            The voice of a girl sang throughout the bar. Her pink hair was attached into two buns, and pink ribbons accentuated her black long dress. Soldiers listened to her song.

The fate that I wrongly bear

Is engulfing my waning heart.

Everyone I care turns his back on me.

Everything is predetermined by fate,

But still, I will seek for another road

Than the one fate offered me.

I'll risk the hope that's faintly left

For the future I seek.

            She had a sad voice. But yet, people couldn’t help but to listen to it. A young and beautiful girl like her shouldn’t have this sad song. They heard that she was the one who made the lyrics and the melody.

The sun, bursting in distance,

Scattering down light of hope,

Wounds those who dare to try to reach to it.

Still I will not give up,

Because I am fighting for all people’s sake.

But… Someday… Would somebody stay by my side…

For my very own sake?

            One of the soldiers stared at that girl instead of listening carefully at the song. Because of the darkness, it was very hard to see his concealed face.

Even though my heart wishes for a rest,

I will still move a step forward.

Even though my dream may be dissolving,

I can’t abandon this smile,

The smile that kept my heart glowing.

Just believing isn’t the answer.

I have to continue to struggle in this era of war

Or nothing will begin.

I'll risk the hope that's faintly left

For the future I seek.

            At the end of the song, people all raised and clapped for that fifteen years old girl. She smiled at them and received all the praises. She slowly went down of the stage, and people gave her bouquets of red roses. When she passed at the person that stared at her, she gave him an even sweeter smile. While everybody else was falling for her smile, that boy did not say or do anything. She walked to the back stage, changed back to her more moveable costume, and reattached her hair.

            When she was outside, she looked at her surroundings. Everything here was filled with dusts. The air was so polluted. She put her hand over her nose to avoid to breath in that air. When she was walking, she saw the boy, staring at her in the bar, standing in front of her as is he was waiting for her. He stood in a position where there was no light. She went to him and greeted him.

“Is there something you wish me to do for you?”

“…”

“My name is Elwynn Eleanor. And yours?”

“…”

“If you are not going to tell me your name, I will call you Reiken.”

“…”

            That wordless boy had a small shock but held himself back.

“If you are here to see if I am the Blood or not, you have come to the right person. I am the Blood, Reiken, the thunder Monster.”

“…”

“If you are wondering how can I know that you are one of the five Monsters, I can answer you that. My blood, the thunder Monster’s one, is trying to come out.”

“…”

“So are you going to kill me? Like all the previous Monsters that saw me want?”

“…”

“I can’t help you if you don’t answer me. But you know where I’ll be, so you don’t need to search for me. I will be singing. I will be where my voice is.”

“…”

“I shall go now.”

“…”

“Farewell, until next time you have decided to claim my life.”

Elwynn went to a small torn up building where she had been living for few days. She returned to Assalut of Lorigen. She sang like her previous time that she was here but didn’t kill anyone yet. She had to kill the people back there or they would kill her… Kronos Sanctuary had spies sneaked inside of the army of the five countries. There were spies in the previous time that she sang. This time, no spies were found, but the thunder Monster found her. She gave up on gathering up the Monsters to her side. She knew that all they wanted was to kill her for their freedom. They wouldn’t let her the time to explain anything and just killed her. The next time that she met Christopher or Cypher will probably be her last if she remained to be weak. They will kill her at all cause; this was what she predicted.

Her Blood had been very agile lately. Maybe it was because the Monsters were near. It wasn’t only Reiken one’s, but the other also. Probably Christopher and Cypher were pretty near her, and her Blood wanted to go back to its owner. It had been a month that she took off her necklace. She didn’t summon it back because she didn’t want to be depending on it. If she became depending on it, it would create a weak point for her, and she didn’t want to be weak. All this month she had been training how to use Erei. Other than that, she also gathered a lot of information about the Lorigen army. Their invasion in Salkerye and Walkure postponed for some reason. It seemed that those two countries teamed up to conquer Lorigen. A month of singing for Lorigen’s army tired her, so she decided to go to Ralkian, the desert country.

“Excuse me, can I please have two dozen bottles of water and food enough for ten days?” said Elwynn.

“Certainly! Mine, what a pretty girl like you need all this food?”

“I am going for a trip.”

“A trip, well, it is certainly dangerous to do so. War is starting.”

“I know. That is why I am going.”

“What can a puny girl like you do in war?”

“I don’t know, but I want to try. I guess that I will never know unless I try, right?”

“I like your attitude. If there is more people think like you, war could end more quickly. Here, I’ll give you a discount.”

“Thank you.”

            Elwynn packed the food in her magical item and went to buy more clothes in case her old ones would get dirty. She heard that Lorigen stopped their assault on Ralkian because that desert country got a really powerful person guarding it, just like Valkyrie. If her supposition were to be right, the people would be the Monsters, Jounen, the earth Monster, and Hiroze, the fire Monster. She had to go check. She rented a desert traveling animal and headed for Ralkian.

             The cities of Ralkian were very well concealed. After three days of searching, Elwynn still couldn’t find them. To make sure that others would not discover her identity as the Blood, she summoned her necklace that hid her power. She was exhausted. She could barely walk. If it was the normal her, she could have, but she hadn’t slept since the day that she left Christopher. She couldn’t sleep. Each time she closed her eyes, a premonition would appear, and usually, it wasn’t good. By chance if she didn’t have a prediction, her past would come back to haunt her.

            Maybe a little sleep won’t hurt her… And she fainted in the middle of desert.

            By the time that she woke up, she realized that she was on a bed, and her body was aching. She looked around her and saw that she was in a small tent. Then, somebody, a girl, came in.

“Oh! You are awake. How are you feeling?”

“I am fine.”

“For real? Because your skin has been burned.”

“It is not as bad as it seems like. It hurts, but it is supportable.”

“Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

“Yes, that would be very nice.”

“My name is Lily Hillands.”

“And mine is Elwynn Eleanor.”

“What do you want to eat, Elwynn?”

“Anything will be good.”

“Ok! I’ll go get you something.”

“Thank you.”

            It wasn’t long before Elwynn could walk. It only took her few days to recover herself. From what she heard from Lily, this place was Lior village, the place where the castle was. When the pink haired one had to ability to move, she started to help the people out.

            One day, Lily’s brother came back.

“Gwendel! You are back!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Did you bring provisions back?”

“Yeah.”

“When is the next time that you will go for provisioning?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh! Do you want to see the girl that you save?”

“No, it’s too troublesome.”

“Well, do you want to eat anything?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, I’ll bring you some food.”

            Elwynn went near that boy and immediately knew that he was Gwendel Hillands from the Kronos Sky Institution. So he was the one that protected the country. He graduated from the school, so he must be decently strong. However, could he fight all alone with a full army if he was not Hiroze, the fire Monster? With her necklace around her neck, she couldn’t feel the Blood’s movements, so it was pretty impossible to know if he was the fire Monster or not unless if he used his power. Knowing that he was the one who saved her, she went to him and thanked him with her usual smiling face.

“Are you Gwendel Hillands?”

“What if I am?”

“I want to thank you for saving me…”

“No big deal.”

“If there is anything I can do to repay you…”

“No, it’s too troublesome.”

“Troublesome?”

“Yeah, for me to think of something for you to do.”

“Then… Don’t you want to know why I am in the desert?”

“No.”

“Aren’t you scared that I am a spy?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“If you are, I will kill you before you can say anything.”

“That confident?”

“Whatever.”

“Can I stay here for a while?”

“I don’t mind.”

            Elwynn started to live in that small country. Once in a while, she went to get provisions with Lily but usually ended up in mess. Her Espsy limited her only to one thing: control blood. Her basic Nigei was in a total mess. When she wanted water, dryness came out. When she wanted fire, an explosion came instead. Nevertheless, the people in Lior liked her presence. Her smile was very sweet. It made them forget the horrible life that they were having.

            During daytime, Elwynn helped the others out. At night, she went a bit away from the city and trained herself. Sometimes, she would just sing in the cold desert night.

            On a sunny day, few soldiers arrived to the village. Those soldiers were those of Ralkian. Since Gwendel was gone, the head of the city was replaced by an old person. They came here and asked for food and water. The people gave them food and water, but the soldiers seemed not to be satisfied.

“We are in Ralkian to protect you weakling! The least you could do was to provide us with gourmet food!”

“I… I am sorry… Let… Let me go get you some other things…”

“Make it quick.”

            The elder brought out all the food in the city and asked Lily to bring them to the hungered soldiers. One of them, who seemed to be the commander, seized her hand.

“Mine, what a pretty lady like you doing in a small town like this? Come with me and live a good life.”

“Let me go…”

“Such a pretty voice too.”

“Please, let me go.”

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

“Please…”

“Officer, it would be nice if you let her go.” Said Elwynn.

“Wow! An even prettier girl. You mustn’t be around here… Your skin is so white…”

“If I sing you a song, will you let my friend go?”

“A song… I guess I need a little bit of entertainment.”

“I will go get my instrument.”

            It wasn’t long before Elwynn got back with a harp. It was in silver accentuated by blue ornaments.

Mere dreams, fading words,

To where could they lead me?

Mere hopes, weakling wills,

What could they bring me?

I was lost in a path known as life.

Every minutes of my life,

I surrender to dismal emptiness.

Just because no matter how hard I tried

I couldn’t reach to happiness,

Still I will not give up.

To live, I have to fight.

To survive, I have to stain my hands.

“It’s too sad. Sing a more happy song, or I will not let this girl go.”

“But… It is a new song that I just wrote… You are the first one that I sing for…” said Elwynn in a poor little voice.

“Oh no need to be sad, continue. Continue to sing for me.”

The fate that I wrongly bear

Is engulfing my waning heart.

Everyone I care turns his back on me.

Everything is predetermined by fate,

But still, I will seek for another road

Than the one fate offered me.

I'll risk the hope that's faintly left

For the future I seek.

The sun, bursting in distance,

Scattering down light of hope,

Wounds those who dare to try to reach to it.

Still I will not give up,

Because I am fighting for all people’s sake.

But… Someday… Would somebody stay by my side…

For my very own sake?

Even though my heart wishes for a rest,

I will still move a step forward.

Even though my dream may be dissolving,

I can’t abandon this smile,

The smile that kept my heart glowing.

Just believing isn’t the answer.

I have to continue to struggle in this era of war

Or nothing will begin.

I'll risk the hope that's faintly left

For the future I seek.

            At the end of the song, the soldiers were all not moving. Out of a sudden, they immediately went away of there. Lily, not knowing what happened, asked for explication.

“Elwynn… Why did they just leave like this?”

“It’s my Espsy. I used my voice to inject my aura into their brain to control them.” It wasn’t exactly like that… I used the sound to control the blood inside of them and forced their brain to my liking. Can’t let them know that I am the Blood…

“You can do that?”

“Yeah. A girl got to have something to protect herself.”

“You are truly amazing. And I thought that you couldn’t use your aura properly.”

“What makes you think like that?”

“The last time I asked for water to wash my clothes, you burned all my clothes.”

“Hehehe!”

“And there is a time that I wanted to have a fire to cook, you gave me a raining cloud.”

“Hehehe!”

“Don’t ‘Hehehe’ on me! What you did in the past is not what you showed now. Did you play a joke on me?”

“I am really NOT good in Nigei. The only Espsy that I know well is Erei.”

“Learning Espsy really seems to be fun. Too bad that I can’t learn it.”

“Why?”

“My pathetic idiot brother doesn’t let me.”

“It is good to have a big brother. I don’t have any sibling.”

“True that it is cool to have one, but my brother is too… How should I say this…”

“Neutral?”

“Yes!”

“Thinks everything is boring?”

“Exactly.”

“Lazy? Thinks all things are troublesome.”

“Man, you know my brother as well as I know him. Pretty easy to figure him out.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“He wasn’t exactly like that when he was young. Ever since my parents died, he was like this.”

“Maybe their death is too much for him to bear.”

“I don’t think so. He didn’t really like my parents.”

“Strange.”

“I heard my parents called him monster…”

“Monster?”

“Yeah… Like, ‘Why are you born in my family, you monster?’ ‘We hate you, devil’s son.’”

“Do you know why they say that?”

“I don’t know. But they only started when a Priest from Kronos Sanctuary came.”

“I see… Despite the fact that he hates his parents, he cares a lot about you.”

“Oh yeah? I think that he only thinks that I am too troublesome.”

“He wouldn’t stay in Lior if it wasn’t for you.”

“Why do you say so?”

“He hates here. He doesn’t like this village or rather say this country. The only person he wants to protect is you. That’s why he is always staying here and why he took time to search for food and water.”

“How do you know that?”

“It doesn’t take much to figure this out. If there is anything I am good at, it is observing others. If I don’t know this well, I guess I won’t survive till today.”

“What kind of life did you live?”

“A running for life one.”

“That song… Is it really true? Is that really your life?”

“Of course not! Did you seriously believe what I just said?” Elwynn laughed at Lily. “Do you think that a person as cheerful as me can have such a past? No, the question would be: how can I still smile if my past is like that?”

“Silly me. I really thought that it’s true.”

“Being silly is good!”

“Hey!”

“Hehehe!”

            It was very late in the night. In desert, the nights were extremely cold. Elwynn was outside trying to perfection her Erei. This time, she released the seal of her necklace, and her eyes were purple. She suddenly stopped and spoke without turning her back to see whom that person was.

“Hey Gwendel.”

“Why did you ask about me?”

“So you really were eavesdropping.”

“Why?”

“We were just talking.”

“What are you doing in this village? You are healed. You do not need to stay here anymore.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know either. Maybe I just want to escape from reality,” said Elwynn with her sad smile.

“Why did you lie?”

“Lie about what? I lie so much that I don’t even remember what I lied and didn’t.”

“Everything.”

“I lie to live.”

“Why? I can’t tell you. The only thing I can tell you is that I don’t mean harm to you all. Besides, I shall go away of here tonight.”

“Why?”

“Do you care?”

“Whatever.”

“Those who are after my life is coming for me. I used my power today. They will soon find me. If I were you, I would take Lily and get out of here or kill me now.”

“Why? Why should I get out of here and why should I kill you?”

“Hiroze, the fire Monster, is you, am I right?”

“You got to be joking.”

“So you really are. If you aren’t, you would just say ‘whatever’.”

“What if I am?”

“I am the Blood. The ones who are after my life are also after yours.”

“They won’t know that I am Hiroze. You only knew that because Lily told you about my past.”

“True. But there is one person who could tell who are the Monsters.”

“I’ll just kill him.”

“You can’t. He is Sujen. By his side, he has Kaze. And your power is not fully developed like them.”

“Wait… Who is after your life?”

“Those two people. Or maybe you too.”

“It’s too troublesome killing you.”

“And there is another one that wants to kill me. He has been hiding near me ever since I got here.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I don’t believe that, by killing the Blood or the Monsters, this tragedy will end.”

“What makes you think like that?”

“I can’t tell you. I should go.”

“Whatever.”

“Goodbye. Maybe next time that we meet, we’ll be enemies. But right now, I suggest you to run.”

“Why?”

“Sujen and Kaze are near.”

            Right after her words, a strong current of wind blew at them. It was Cypher!

“Christopher and the others are near.”

“Why are you even trying to help? Don’t you want to kill me?”

“Don’t be mistaken. I still want to kill you.”

“Then kill me this instant. Can you?”

“…”

“Cyph, if you chose to kill me, I will not blame you. After all, I have already experienced once the feeling of betrayal. I don’t mind having the second one of my friends like this.”

“Ely…”

“Stop being nice to me! You and I are enemies! This is the road that you chose. You still have that blade, don’t you?”

“…”

“Strike it in my heart. Didn’t Chris say it was the only way?”

“Don’t force me.”

“Nobody is.”

“Ely… Why must you be the Blood, and why must I be Kaze?”

“Chris said the same thing. If you are not killing me now, I will run away. This is what you want me to do, right? Or you won’t have come to tell me.”

“…”

“Let me tell you something. Kronos Fallen Shrine, it is not what it seems to be. Farewell.”

“Ely, what are you trying to say?”

“Nothing. Goodbye.”