The Knights Himura

Tsukiko looked around, finding herself inside of an infinite grey void, darker at her feet and lighter by the "sky". The world around was lit like it was a cloudy day, all muted and scattered by the grey above. Directly in front of her was an incredibly old looking grand piano.

"I never finished my lessons, y'know. It's been years, I don't remember a damn thing." Tsuki stood still.

Aurelia approached the piano. "I know."

"I don't really have a couple hundred hours to spare right now." Tsuki shook her head.

"Please, sit." Aurelia looked rather serious.

"...okay." Tsukiko took a deep breath and sat with her.

The piano itself was a bit like Aurelia, strange, all in working order by weathered by time. The exterior was painted a very dull, light red, with places where the paint had come off, revealing the grain of the wood below. The ebony and ivory keys below their fingers had lost their glossy glow.

"Play." Aurelia instructed.

"I wouldn't know where to start." Tsuki's fingers shuddered a bit on the white ivory.

Aurelia looked her in the eye. "What do you care about?"

"Well, I--" Tsuki got cut off.

"No, play. Trust your own heart." Aurelia smiled. "Think about the thing you care about the most."

"What, do I just bang on some keys?" Tsuki frowned.

"...something like that." Aurelia put a hand on her shoulder.

Tsukiko took a long, deep breath, before setting her fingers down on the keys again, her right hand moving first. Somehow, a song escaped, Tsuki staring down at her own fingers in disbelief, but she didn't have the courage to stop.

First came a happy tune, a smile stretching across her face as she realized it was her own hand doing the work, pride welling up inside of her. Not a single note was out of place, not a single time did her finger slip or cramp up. Tsuki played as though she'd played a thousand times before, like it'd been something she'd trained her whole life for but only now was able to enjoy the fruits of.

Then, she thought about something that mattered, transitioning her happy tune into something much more quiet, and simple. It was low, but it built up slowly, one hand on the keys became two, and with each passing measure, the song became something more grandiose and elegant. Tsuki's breathing grew heavy as she focused on that song, the world around her narrowing as it all fell to the wayside. By the time the song ended, Tsuki's face had gone all red.

"Holy shit…" tears formed in Tsukiko's eyes.

"What did you think about?" Aurelia asked.

"I-I dunno." Tsuki shivered.

"What did you see in your mind as you played?" Aurelia put an arm around her.

Tsuki took a deep breath. "I… I saw Fumi."

Aurelia nodded. "Keep playing."

Tsuki raised her jacket's sleeve and wiped her tears, before setting her fingers down on the keys again. This time, a lullaby came from the piano, a strange darkness to it. Darkness enveloped each note, each chord, as it grew into a grander, albeit unharmonious composition. It scared Tsukiko to her core.

What started as a grin to her face became tears, rushing down her cheeks as she played, dripping onto her fingers and the keys themselves, staining the ivory with her sorrow, the sound of Tsukiko choking on her sadness cutting through the music.

Tsuki stopped herself, leaving a long pause, before she started again, the tone brooding, but with a hint of positivity. The song turned mischievous and fun, Tsuki's fingers moving faster and faster as she continued through the extravagant song with a newfound passion, rising and rising before it crashed down on her and came to a stop.

A dull aching pain radiated throughout Tsuki's body as she held back wails, the tears stinging her eyes and making it hard to see. She pushed her own head down, ashamed. Her breathing was heavy and shaky, weakness slipping past her now collapsing façade. She put her arms on the keys, producing a loud jumble of notes before she lowered her head onto the piano.

Aurelia put an arm around her. "Will you be alright?"

"Y-yeah…" Tsuki choked.

Aurelia hugged Tsukiko, holding her tight like she was a scared child, stroking her hair and pressing her into her bosom. After a while, the Knight stopped shaking, and regained some of her composure.

"I did not expect quite a reaction." Aurelia spoke quietly.

"That was intense…" Tsuki shuddered.

"Are you alright?" Aurelia asked.

"No, it didn't… I needed that." Tsuki muttered.

"What did you think about?" Aurelia looked her in the eyes.

"Ha--" Tsuki started before tears formed in her eyes once more. "Haruka…"

Aurelia repeated. "Haruka?"

"…and Mom and Dad and--" Tsuki was interrupted by Aurelia squeezing her tight again.

Tsukiko pulled away, clearing her throat. "No, I'll be okay, I promise."

"I hope you understand why I brought you here." Aurelia spoke seriously.

"Yeah, I do. Still, I didn't expect that at all." Tsuki closed her eyes. "It… really helped put things in perspective, though."

"I'm glad." Aurelia's face returned to its usual gentle look.

"I feel… weird, too. I feel lighter. I feel like I can breathe better too." Tsuki sighed.

"I promised that I would teach you something." Aurelia nodded.

"Wait, what did you teach me?" Tsuki looked her in the eye.

"I took a weight off of your shoulders, and now you feel lighter. I taught you how to face your emotions. Try to play another song." Aurelia motioned for her to play again.

"I dunno if I can handle it, I…" Tsuki's voice weakened.

Aurelia leaned over and hit a key. "You know the rest."

Tsukiko took another deep breath and laid her fingers back on the black and white keys, against her better judgment. She started another song, its first few notes painting an indecipherable tone, sitting somewhere in the mundane, between light and dark, strong and weak. Some parts were slow, some parts were face, then abruptly, it all went magical. High notes twinkled the stars, with a feeling of awe and grace. Tsuki hit each note with enthusiastic force, power. When it was over, Tsuki closed her eyes tight and took a long breath before letting it out slowly.

"Feeling better, Tsukiko?" Aurelia asked.

"Yeah… way better." Tsuki nodded.

"Who did you think about?"

"You." Tsuki blushed.

Aurelia chuckled. "Me? Am I that interesting?"

"You've taught me a lot. I feel like I should give back to my teacher, or something." Tsuki struggled to explain herself.

"I also taught you how to play the piano." Aurelia chuckled.

"Huh?" Tsuki looked at Aurelia with surprise.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yes, it seems the potential was within you from the very start." Aurelia looked at Tsuki's hands.

Tsukiko held her hands in front of her face, wiggling her fingers. "…weird. Why don't you play a song?"

"The piano is a beautiful instrument, but I am more well acquainted with the sound of the harpsichord. I enjoy its sound."

"Harpsichord… sounds familiar."

Aurelia smiled. "No one ever quite remembers its name, but its sound is remarkable."

When Tsukiko blinked, the piano was gone, but something similar took its place. The black and white keys had been reversed, with few white many black, and with twice as many keys kept on two layers on top of one another. Aurelia cracked her knuckles and put her fingers forward.

"This will be a simple song. It will help you understand why I love the sound." Aurelia explained.

Her left hand went on the bottom keys and her right hand went to the top layer of keys, and when she started playing, her hands basically flew away. She kept going with incredible speed and unthinkable precision, Tsuki barely able to keep up.

Aurelia stopped and turned to her. "Now do you understand?"

"Yeah… I knew it sounded familiar. It sounds really nice. Maybe a little out of tune, but nice." Tsuki stared down at the black keys.

Aurelia chuckled. "Part of me has always enjoyed seeing what this room brings out of people."

"Who else has been here?" Tsuki asked.

Aurelia paused to think. "Shizuka learned the bass here. Haruka is the finest flutist I have ever met. There have been a few others that you have… yet to meet as well."

"Yet?" Tsuki asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have to meet with Lilith today." Aurelia stood up.

"Huh?"

"She has been waiting for us." Aurelia stepped away from the instrument.

"Wait, really?" Tsukiko's face lit up.

–

Aurelia snapped a finger and Tsukiko's eyes went heavy. She blinked and found herself in a large dark room with a massive semi circular window at the far end, overlooking a dark and rainy grey city. The far end of the room was a deep inky black, save for a shiny door knob cutting through the darkness like a beacon.

The room itself was several dull, dark shades of a deep grey brown, with just enough light inside to see, but weak enough to leave out the color. It didn't take much to know that, if the place had been cleaned up, though, it would've been beautiful. Unfortunately, it was just full of dusty boxes and shelves crammed with stuff lining the sides. There was a chair by the window, as if it'd been someone's favorite spot to sit down and watch the world roll on by.

It was late in the day, but not quite night yet as Tsuki approached the window and looked down.

Outside, she could see dark black automobiles the size of boats, and people walking down the street in heavy coats and big hats, all in dark colors that made them look like walking silhouettes. The rain running down the glass made it hard to make out any more detail, save for the bits of yellow neon lighting and the big colorful billboards up high that advertised all manner of things, like phosphates and cars from unknown, otherworldly brands.

"It is such a beautiful city." Aurelia stared out the window.

Tsuki turned around to see Lily running up to her. "Tsuki! Tsuki!"

Tsuki kneeled down and caught Lily, hugging her tight. Had it been any other day, she would've let go sooner, but she felt as though the poor girl deserved a longer hug.

Tsukiko eventually let her go with a big grin on her face. "How's it going?"

"It's going great!" Lily's face was bright with joy.

"Aww, that's good!" Tsuki planted her hand on the top of Lilith's head.

"Are you crying?" Lily stopped.

"No… I was… but…" Tsukiko hid her face.

"Are you okay?" Lily had a look of concern.

"Yeah… I actually feel really happy now that you're here." Tsuki smiled at her.

"I would've come with you, but Claudia and I had stuff to do." Lily frowned.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo." Tsuki stood back up.

"Look, watch this!" Lily held out her hands and showed Tsuki a broken music box.

"Hey, wait, how'd you break--." Tsukiko stopped when she noticed Lily doing something strange.

Lilith wrapped her hands tightly around the damaged box. A weak rainbowy light flowed from her hands. When she opened them, the music box appeared to have been completely repaired, and when she opened the box, the same small bird came out and sang, just like before.

"I… yeah, I'm not even gonna ask at this point." Tsuki sighed.

"It was Claudia's idea to break it!" Lily complained.

"I'm not really sure what to say. I can't really question this kind of thing anymore." Tsuki laughed.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

Tsuki dodged the question entirely. "What's it like down there anyway?"

"Rainy, and cold. Everybody's in a hurry, but the big signs are so pretty. It's kinda dark, but it's nice. I kinda like the rain. It's cold, but a good kind of cold. The kind of cold that makes you wanna hide under a blanket." Lily's hands fiddled with the music box as she spoke.

"Did you have fun?" Tsuki hoped for a good answer.

"Yeah, definitely." Lily sparkled. "Claudia's really nice too."

Claudia smiled from the corner of Tsukiko's eye.

"Get any souvenirs?" Tsuki scratched her head.

"Yeah, she gave me this hat!" Lily pointed at her head.

Lily wore a slightly too large, white cloche hat with a ribbon on it. It still had the tag hanging off of it.

"Lemme get that for you." Tsuki reached behind Lily's ear and tore the tag off.

"She taught me that thing I just did too! She called it like… Muh… Mach… Mac--" Lily struggled.

Tsuki paused to read the tag, but it wasn't a price tag, but rather a little doodle Claudia had attached to the hat. It seemed that Claudia herself had made the hat for Lily to replace her old burned one.

"Mechanica." Claudia's raspy voice spoke a single word.

"Yeah, that! Mechanica!" Lily was almost a bit too excited.

"Teach me sometime, will ya?" Tsuki smiled.

"I'll try." Lily nodded.

"We should return home soon." Aurelia announced.

"Why so soon? This place looks nice." Tsukiko complained.

"We can return another time, if you would like." Aurelia offered.

"...definitely." Tsukiko nodded.

--

Once more, Tsukiko's eyes got heavy. She blinked and found herself in an empty version of the void with the harpsichord.

"What're we doing here?" Tsuki looked around.

"You know." Aurelia replied from behind.

"You sure about this, Aurelia?" Tsuki expressed some concern.

"Lilith has things she has to deal with. Maybe this could help her." Aurelia's voice soothed her.

"…alright." Tsuki reluctantly agreed.

"What's wrong?" Lily grabbed Tsukiko's arm.

"Nothing… You'll see." Tsuki put her hand on Lily's head.

Claudia appeared, tapping Lily on the shoulder. She handed the little French girl a strange wooden instrument.

"Huh? What's this?" Lily looked confused.

"Play us a song." Aurelia smiled.

"I don't know how to play the viola." Lily held the instrument and its bow rather awkwardly.

Claudia dragged her to the center, before backing away and sitting down on the floor.

Tsuki tried to offer some advice. "Just think about something and play."

"I don't think that'll work…" Lily fidgeted.

"The point is to play something you don't know how to play, I think." Tsuki sat down next to Claudia.

"Why?"

"You'll figure it out faster if you just play." Tsuki smiled.

"I don't think it works like that but…" Lily pressed the bow against the strings and began playing.

"If you believe in it, it'll happen." Tsuki looked her in the eye.

"You're right." Lily looked back at her.

"You have to think about something or someone first." Aurelia put her hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Oh… I shouldn't say it out loud, huh? Bad luck…" Lily placed the bow back against the strings and began playing a dark song.

Lily focused, closing her eyes tight the harder she played, and swaying to a rhythm only she understood. The song was dark and slow, just like Tsuki's, and as it went further along, it got darker and darker. Even with her eyes shut tight, tears still formed, but she refused to stop, playing until the song came to a natural end. She handed the viola back to Aurelia, wiping her tears on her arm.

"You okay?" Tsuki looked up at her

Through it all, Lily looked back at Tsukiko with a straight face. "Yeah… I'll be fine."

"Who did you think about?" Tsuki asked her.

"Mom and Dad." Lily sniffed.

"You were crying real hard there." Tsuki kneeled down and put an arm around Lily.

"I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel. I guess deep down I'm sad, but…" Lily didn't finish.

"You're tough." Tsuki chuckled.

"I shouldn't cry in front of you, I wanna be strong." Lily smiled through her tears.

"It's okay to cry, Lily…" Tsuki subconsciously blushed in embarrassment.

"I felt good when I opened my eyes again and saw you watching me play. I love you, Tsuki." Lily hugged her.

Tsuki felt as though she'd been struck in the heart. "I love you too, Lily! Sorry for not warning you…"

Lily pulled away. "Nah, it's OK!"

"Yeah, Aurelia taught me piano like half an hour ago. It was pretty intense." Tsuki sighed.

"I took lessons a few years ago. I could have taught you if you really wanted to know!" Lily chuckled.

"Ehh?"