blueteamnovel 773. The Second Musician
773. The Second Musician
773. The Second Musician
A second musician was required to activate the Major Luminescence located in the north.
It would not amount to much, but the act alone would fulfil two things.
The first was generating the mass desire of the Maestros of Flesh to bring forth another exemplary Conductor, but this time under their banner.
And secondly, to defend themselves from the apocalypse.
Mae knew this from the start. Though she was not a particularly high-ranking Maestro of Flesh, she was a Maestro regardless. Her influence was high enough that she was able to participate in vital meetings with the other Impuritas Groups. Not exactly stellar, but it was what led her to meeting Frost in the first place.
At the time she didn’t know how cornered the Maestros of Flesh were. Not only were they being used by the Brightest Star, but they had also made enemies out of the Amalgam. It wouldn’t be long before the Maestros would be swept in the war between Impuritas and the Nexus.
We’ll lose on all fronts. Everyone will die for nothing. If I was able to find my way out of this, then they should be able to as well!
The purple-haired Demon-like woman ran through the empty streets with one place on her mind. Her legs did not stop moving, and she’d occasionally teleport across short distances to save some time.
Beads of sweat shaped like musical notes dripped from her forehead as her eyes latched onto the heights of a Minor Arcane Tower. It was disguised as a clock tower, and Mae could feel a familiar presence within.
The black-brick path led her straight to its grand doors, and she began climbing up a set of stairs made from petrified wood. The area surrounding the clock tower was isolated enough where even an explosion would not be noticed. The situation in the Bellum Empire also guaranteed that there would be no eyes to notice the odd green glow above the tower.
But Mae did, and she could hear a faint buzzing as she rushed up the stairs, panting heavily.
They... need to know! If they know the Brightest Star intends to betray us, then they’ll understand! I need them to understand!
Mae’s reason for acting alone was not because she worried for the Maestros. It was her inner pettiness that wanted her to take something away from Iscario, just as he had planned to take her life away from her.
Desperate steps punctuated the buzzing. The sound of a grotesque violin screeched at her. The skill required to create such sounds was above the abilities of a Virtuoso.
Her hunch was correct.
A Maestro is here!
Mae’s endeavor may have appeared brave or gallant, but in truth, it was a gamble. There were many Maestros whom of which would not be willing to give Mae the light of day.
Maestros of Flesh varied greatly on an individual basis, much like the Painters or the late Artisans they wiped out decades ago. The lack of a collective Heart inspired individuality but made it so that each one sought to become a Heart of their own in a way.
That said, a Virtuoso would have attempted an attack by now. Her approach was obvious, loud and clumsy. But the song went on, and when it finally reached its crescendo, Mae emerged in the exposed heart of the clock tower.
Steel and wooden frames held the ticking clock together as the hands swung like a giant blade. The great mechanism played like a ticking heart as cold breeze swept into the open chamber.
There were no walls within the heart of the clock tower, revealing the entirety of the vacant Capital.
“HELLO!?” Mae called out, nearly tripping as she rushed onto the rickety floorboards. “You’re in here, right!? We need to talk! You remember my voice, don’t you!? The soon-to-be-proper Maestro! FROM ONE OF THE GEARS’ INSTRUMENTS! I was part of the mission to hear a Fractured Nilhim’s testament!”
Exposed gaps littered the pathway. One wrong step and she would plummet a hundred meters into the dark.
“I thought you were already dead.”
A voice spoke from everywhere at once, no doubt thanks to the Lesser Luminescence.
Mae’s eyes burned with fury.
“They didn’t tell you that they were looking for me!? Wait, no, that’s not right. They hunted me down!”
She recognized this voice, as it belonged to one of the eldest members of the Maestros of Flesh. It was accompanied by a sharp buzzing that irritated her ears, but she ignored it for she had grown used to it.
“Mozheart! You can hear me, can’t you! Why don’t you show your face already!”
“You are a traitor.”
Mae was outnumbered. If they attacked her now, then there was no guarantee that she would leave alive. Once again, the idiot inside of her used up her mana while searching for Mozheart. She truly believed that they’d listen to her.
... even the Amalgam was willing to listen to me. Me... a Maestro of Flesh. Someone who wished for her to disappear.
Her heart became heavy as she wondered if warning the Maestros of Flesh was the right thing to do. But could Mae even go back? She didn’t know if Deiman and Autumn could trust her with her ties to the same people who nearly killed them.
But it’d be better than being here... feeling like an idiot...
“But –”
Suddenly, Mozheart extended a hand to her, like it was a gesture of goodwill.
“We can fix this. It’s a broken composition that requires a Musician. We have no instruments. But you...”
His voice made it sound like he was doing her a favor. They needed her. She knew this. It was the only reason why she hadn’t been killed on the spot or captured.
They didn’t want Mae.
They wanted a replacement for Ara...
I’m more glad that she’s fine than these people. I thought they were worried about me. I’m just a means to an end to them...
... An instrument. That’s all I am. Just like how we see everyone else.
She smiled silently.
It was a forced smile. She had known this Maestro for a long time. To her, the Maestros of Flesh were family.
“Your name?”
But he did not know her name.
“Mae.” She softly said, dropping her shoulders in resignation. Her eyes trembled as she came to a realization.
“Mae. You have a... ‘gift’ for singing. You do not require Instruments, though I recall that you did use them in the past.”
I never mattered to them.
She was never acknowledged by even her own peers.
“I can offer you a chance to change that. Call it a way to redeem yourself. Since you are already here, you must also know why we required a Musician.”
The only people who remembered her were, funnily enough, the ones who she briefly brushed by in this new body of hers.
“Through you, we can support our friends in the north. They will be invulnerable to the Sins. The Lesser Luminescence will respond to you quite nicely. You understand their frequencies. All you need to do is give your heart to our cause again, then you will be able to produce a song to help our friends.”
The Brightest Star tried to kill me when we first met. Why should I have to help them? Why should we... no... why should ‘I’ have to keep taking the fall?
An idea suddenly came to her.
She tilted her head forward as if to bow. Her messy bangs darkened her face.
“I will. Anything to be a Maestro again... anything.”
“I’m glad you at least have a brain. Attune yourself to the Lesser Luminescence. The one in the north will match your resonance. Provide ample benefits to our friends, so that they can withstand the fury of the Red Wing. We will all be present for the light of the Advent of Desire.”
Unbeknownst to the Maestros of Flesh was that Mae had no intentions of returning to them.
And hiding behind the shadows of her hair was a deceptive grin.