The Music Speaks

“Do you all understand the plan?” Sophia asks with an inquisitorial tone.

I glance down at the crude markings she’s etched into the dirt. “...Calling it a plan might be giving it too much credit…” I mumble, scratching my head. “Even calling it a tactic might be too much…”

All things considered, the plan that Sophia suggested is not terrible - just minimalistic. In the short amount of time we’ve given ourselves to discuss and think of a strategy, this one might even be considered good. Plus, while I do say that it’s ‘Sophia’s’ plan, it was actually born from inputs from all of us. Hence, by criticizing it, I am also criticizing myself.

‘Still… isn’t this just too simple…?’

Ivana, who’s been sitting cross-legged beside me seems to disagree, however.. “I think it’s a great plan.” Her words echo in my ears. “When things become too complicated, people tend to overthink. This plan, however, has no room for slip ups or mistakes. It's very straightforward. ”

“Y-yea! Whoever has a hold of the zone wouldn’t expect us to come in with such simplistic thinking!” Camille continues, unusual optimism in her tone.

“It’s reverse psychology if anything! I mean, look at who’s in our alliance, they’d expect a lot more from us!” Ray adds with a smirk.

Talyndra pumps her fist in the air. “Yeah! What they said! This might actually be genius!”

I stare at the diagram, mentally going through our prior discussion once more. Team Sophia, my team, will enter the zone as a whole. We will not prepare any traps or tricks. We will enter and fight the team holding onto the flag. If we want to truly convince them that we’ve come alone without preparing anything, we’ll have to fight with all we have until at least a few of us nearly reach our limits.

At the moment where the enemy team’s victory seems assured, team Sylvia, who has been hiding until that point, intervenes. One of us will shout “Release” as the signal, and Feyrin will shoot his signature blood arrow. Then, team Sylvia will swoop in and finish our opponents off. In sum, our plan is an ambush, no twist or turns, just an ambush.

I rub my chin, trying to think of alternatives, but nothing comes to mind. Eventually, I sigh, and look away from the markings on the ground. “...Alright.” I finally say, exhaling another long breath. “Still, if things turn sour, we’ll need to improvise…”

Sylvia pats my shoulder. “Isn’t that what we’re best at?” She says with a smile.

I can’t argue with that. Things have rarely gone the way we wanted them to, no matter how prepared we are. It always goes wrong somehow, whether it was that [echoborne] beast during the first trial, my first mission, Soulweaver’s facility, and hell, even this event is spiraling into chaos. No matter the setting, I just can’t seem to get my way.

‘Am I just unlucky?’

The discussion comes to a close and we all decide it is time to execute the strategy. Resolute, we finally all rise to our feet and decide to make our way toward the designated zone, planning to split up once we’ve come close enough.

As we march I let out another long sigh, I just can’t seem to shake the idea that we haven’t prepared enough. In response, Ray’s hand lands on my back with a solid impact, jolting me out of my thoughts.

“Don’t look so down! It’ll be fine! No one stands a chance against us!” He shouts, his voice carrying that easy-going attitude I wish I could tap into. Then, as if he had a secret to tell me, he looks around, checking for unwanted ears. When he’s made sure no one will hear, his eyes narrow, and he leans in closer to whisper into my ear. “Plus… I’m not one to fawn over women but… surrounded by so many beauties I feel almost invincible…!” He says.

I whip my head toward him, my face reddening, and I try to keep my voice as low as possible. “Seriously?! Is it really the time to think about that?!”

He arches an eyebrow. “Am I wrong? You think I don’t see how you look at the FullCatle lady?”

“W-what are you talking about?!” I say, shoving him away. Unfortunately, this draws Sophia’s attention.

“What are you boys talking about?!” She asks, inserting herself between us and placing her arms around our shoulders.

A chilling sensation overwhelms us and we can’t help but stutter in our reply. “N-nothing!!” We both say simultaneously. I’m sure she already knows, but if Sophia were to find us admitting just how pleasing to the eyes we find her, she would tease us to no end!

Ivana, who had been walking a bit farther away, approaches slowly. “Oh I can tell you what they were thinking about if you want.” A mischievous smirk forms on her face. “I’m sure you’d find it very interesting.”

My face visibly contorts, and panic begins to set in.

‘Right, Ivana’s here! How could I forget that!!’

To put it bluntly, Ivana is stunning. Meaning that if Ray was thinking about the beauties surrounding us, he must have been thinking about her. In turn, this means that she must have heard everything that went through his mind….and mine! In the short time we spent apart, I had completely forgotten about the nature of her [melody]!

Sophia’s curiosity grows. She must also be aware of what Ivana can do. “Oh? Please, do tell!”

Upon Sophia’s words, Ivana glances at me.

‘Please Ivana, let this one slide!’

I make sure to say it in a way that allows her to read my thoughts. However, all it does is force her to hold back a laugh. She seems to find the situation rather amusing. Placing her hand over her mouth, she tries to spit out a few words. “They..pff.. T-they were-”

Interrupting her, Sylvia’s voice echoes from the front. “We’ve arrived. My team won’t take another step. We’ll stay here, hidden.”

As if completely forgetting the current situation, Ivana's attention immediately shifts to Sylvia. Before leaving to hide with her though, she throws me a quick glance that sends shivers down my spine. If her eyes could speak, they would say something along the lines of ‘Lucky you’.

‘Saved by the bell!!’

In a similar manner, Sophia’s gaze darts to the designated zone which is now clearly visible through the thick jungle canopy. This one, unlike the clearing composed of grass and dirt within which we were discussing earlier, is a lake. Its surface shimmers under the fragmented sunlight slipping through the dense veil of trees.

Its source of water is a waterfall on the edge of a nearby cliff which feeds into the lake. The cascade of water crashes down onto it with a rhythmic roar that sends ripples spiraling outwards across the lake’s clear surface. Further down toward its edges, the mid-sized body of water branches off into a narrow stream that extends deeper into the wilderness, leading to who knows where.

In the center of this tranquility, however, a lone, purple-haired girl stands on one of the rocks protruding from its depths. The girl looks at the sky as if she is waiting for something, or someone

“Well well well...” Sophia mutters with a knowing grin. “If it isn’t our fast little friend.”

Ugo, who had not been talking much until now, takes a step forward. “Good. I had hoped they wouldn’t lose the flag they stole from us before making it here.”

‘Ah, so that’s how we lost it…’

“And I had hoped it wouldn’t be them…” Camille says with a dejected tone that makes me wonder just what exactly happened.

Feeling relieved that I narrowly escaped humiliation. I raise my sharpsong. “Shall we go say hi then?”

“We shall.” Sophia answers with a grin.

Together, Team Sophia leaves Team Sylvia behind and we make our way toward the lake where Zora is patiently waiting. Once we have arrived at its edge, Zora takes notice of us, but says nothing. Her expression remains calm and impassive despite the imminent confrontation that is on the verge of taking place. In response, Sophia crouches and dips her hand into the lake. Her body temperature drops and cold mist begins to be released from her body. Finally, unable to resist her, it takes no more than a few seconds for the lake to be frozen solid.

“I sure hope your friends weren’t hiding down there.” She says, feigning worry in her voice, but a hint of amusement betraying it.

“If it ain’t our friends from earlier! Don’t worry though, we wouldn’t do somethin’ that obvious, ice girl!” Zora’s voice carries over the lake, cocky, but strangely confident.

Letting go of her foothold, Zora steps onto the newly formed ice and adopts her battle stance. “Nothin’ against yall, but I don’t really feel like talkin’ right now… I’m itchin’ for a dance…!”

Ugo’s body rises into the air and bursts into flames. “For once, I agree with something you say…” He growls, immolating heat emanating from him.

Rapidly, we all adopt our battle formation. Ray positions himself to shoot. I manifest my aegis, Camille sends her seeds into the ground surrounding the lake, and Sophia summons more of her ice mist. The tension is high. I do not know what Zora’s team has in store for us, but it promises to be quite the challenge.

The battle is about to start, when suddenly, Zora’s expression changes, and she seems confused for a moment. Her eyes seem to be looking straight at me, and yet they seem to look past me.

“What the…” she mumbles, almost inaudibly.

Her words are confusing, but I do not know if this is some strategy to distract me. As such, I keep my attention on Zora. But then, a voice, struggling to sound human, resonates from behind me. “Fou…nd…Y..ou…”

The sound startles me. It’s wrong, the tone, the inclination, everything about it is wrong. I have a hard time making out what the voice is saying, but what I do understand is the chilling intent that sends a shiver down my spine. “What?” I say instinctively, half-turning around.

Before I can fully do so, however, Ray pushes me out of the way. “Watch out!” He yells, sending me stumbling a few steps back.

Time slows as I witness the scene unfold before me, each heartbeat stretching into eternity. In horror, I watch as a jagged, sword-like piece of bone pierces through Ray’s chest and lifts him up in the air like a lifeless puppet. His face contorts in agony, and he attempts to free himself, but to no avail.

Soon, crimson droplets trickle down, all flowing toward the ground, but they never reach it. Instead, they are intercepted by the mouth of a vile creature. When my sight lowers to process the situation further, I finally see the attacker. A grotesque, monstrous, hyena-like creature appears before me. Using its hind legs to stand, it towers above me, casting a large shadow over the lake. Power seems to emanate from every inch of its body. Its sharp fangs, bulging musculature, and crazed eyes, all contribute to the sense of dread it creates. As if that wasn’t enough, bone plating covers its vital areas and two, twisted, sharp sword-like protrusions extend from its forearms, exuding even more danger and inescapable lethality.

Once enough blood has sipped into its jaws, the creature’s expression contorts into a grotesque smile and it flings Ray’s body aside as if he were nothing, a mere afterthought once he had served his purpose. Ray’s body slides across the frozen lake, leaving a crimson trail in its wake, and when he stops, my world narrows onto him.

Painfully, he brings his hands to the gaping hole in his chest. He tries to cover it, stop the bleeding, but it’s far too large. Inevitably, he expels a few pained gasps.. before going completely silent. The shock beginning to dissipate, I finally manage to formulate a few thoughts.

‘NO!!! W-what just happened??! What is this!? How is this possible!?’

The creature raises one of its bone spears toward me.

“FOCUS!!” Camille’s voice resonates, snapping me back to reality.

Vines sprout from the ground, heading for the creature and moving at an incredible speed, fueled by Camille’s fury. However, the beast is faster. Before the vines ever get the chance to reach it, it is already upon her. As if toying with a child, it swings its arm leisurely, with an almost lazy motion. Of course, Camille attempts to defend herself. She raises her sharpsong to intercept the swing, and she nearly makes it in time, nearly, that is.

The creature’s blade cleaves through her in a single arc. Blood sprays from the strike and Camille recoils from the force. A large incision appears on her chest, and before I can even register what’s happening, her arm goes flying, severed cleanly at the shoulder. Camille collapses into the ground, screaming in pain.