The Music Speaks

I feel the unevenness of the terrain as the vehicle I’ve been thrown in leads me to my starting location. My eyes have been blindfolded, my ears plugged, and my hands tied behind my back to avoid my being able to recognize the path they employed to bring me here. After what seems to have lasted close to an hour, the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. When I hear the sounds of the backdoors opening, the vivid smell of grass fills my nostrils. One by one, the event officiators guide my teammates and I out of the vehicle. Finally, When I’m given permission, I remove my blindfold, and an entirely new scenery is revealed to me.

“Grasslands, is it?” I say

There is grass for as far as the eyes can see. A few hills decorate the landscape as well and if I strain my eyes, I can see what I think seems to be some sort of valley far in the distance. The bright sun is blazing in the sky, illuminating the entirety of the grass plains. I see none of the other teams, nor any beasts, a testament to the vastness of these grasslands. As I stare at the landscape, one thing in particular grabs my attention. Camille is the first to point it out.

“T-there’s nowhere to hide…” She says, nervously.

“At least we won’t have to look for the beasts too hard!” Sophia exclaims with joy.

Before I can say anything, a message appears in the sky, for all to hear.

[Good morning to all of our participants and all of our spectators! Today marks the beginning of DaiKar’s special three-day event: Subjugation Royal! I, your host, Maestro Palazio, will first share a few words with our dear spectators. If you’re watching, this means you’ve received a special invitation ticket from one of our dear trainees or from DaiKar itself, giving you access to watch this event from the comfort of your home! Now, now, I know three days sounds like a long time to sit in front of a holographic display, but fear not! Regularly, ‘special events’ will occur and you’ll receive an alert, that’s when you’ll want to tune in! If you look closely at your display, you’ll see the ten teams of brave and talented participants who have been selected to undergo this challenge. You, as the viewer, have many visualization options, you can choose: The ‘Dynamic point of view’ which automatically switches to the most interesting current situation, also the one I will be commenting on for the majority of this event. Then, there’s the ‘Focused point of view’ which follows a team of interest. If you have a brother, sister, son or daughter you’d like to keep tabs on, this is the one for you! Finally, you have the ‘Free point of view’ which allows you to fly through the designated perimeter how you see fit, exploring it as you like!”]

“I still don’t know how I feel about so many people watching us…” I say.

Sophia pats me on the back, grinning. “Don’t worry handsome, you look dashing today as usual!”

I roll my eyes. Sophia’s teasing is unlike Ivana’s, I never know for sure if she’s serious or not. She did mention when we first met that she doesn’t joke, but if that’s true, then her behavior is even more concerning. Though, I must admit, when it comes to easing the tension, Sophia is the one for the job. I feel a little more at ease with just a few words from her.

Still, I think of my siblings at home.

‘Should I have not given that ticket to them after all… I wonder what they’re up to right now… It’d probably go a little like this…’

*** At home ***

Aurora, her hair tied in a tight bun atop her head, eats a bowl of ice cream in front of their newly purchased, large, three-dimension, fully colorized holographic display. “Asher, Calli, stop arm wrestling and come here, it’s starting!”

With a grunt, Asher grips Calliope’s hand tighter. “Wait! I think I have her this time!!”

The delicate, yet surprisingly powerful little girl slams Asher’s arm on the table, nearly denting it. “Big brother is there?! Coming!”

Calliope dashes to the couch, where she excitedly sits down, ready to view the event. Asher does the same, but at a slightly slower pace. “Next time I’ll win for sure…!!”

Aurora feeds Calliope a spoon of her ice cream without even waiting for the little girl to ask. With her mouth full, she asks: “Do you think big brother will win?!”

Aurora places her hand over her chin. “I thin-”

Asher replies before she can formulate a full sentence. “Of course he will! Alden is the strongest! The others don’t stand a chance!!”

A vein bulges on the side of Aurora’s forehead, she doesn't like to be interrupted, especially not by Asher. He knows this, yet he continues to do so, perhaps intentionally. “I’m inclined to agree with this stupid twin of mine, for once.” She says.

“Stupid?!” Asher exclaims.

“You heard me.” She glares at him.

Calliope gets in between them. “No fighting! We’re supposed to watch the competition! If you guys fight, I can’t watch!”

The two twins click their tongues and look away from each other, but Calliope does not think this is good enough.

She looks back and forth between them. “Shake hands.” She says.

Though usually calm and collected, Asher has been getting on Aurora’s nerves lately, making it harder and harder for her to be the bigger person. At school, he gets into fights more and more often, and at home, he is unruly and disorganized, as if he had regressed by a few years. She just can’t understand why he’s so fixated on making her life more difficult than it already is! She isn’t his mom, so why does he force her to act like she is when he makes stupid decisions and when he refuses to act like an adult? She sometimes sends letters to Alden about it, her dependable older brother, unsure if they even get to him because she never gets a reply. DaiKar has special postal offices meant to deliver news to its trainees, but she doesn't know if they can send anything back.

On the other hand, Asher finds it difficult to share the same space as his older sister lately. She makes big deals out of small issues, and incessantly nags him as if she was his mother. If he wants to get into a fight or go out late at night, who is she to stop him? They’re both the same age! Leaving a few socks on the ground, by the side of his bed, in HIS room, should be of no concern to her, so why is she so adamant about condemning him? He doesn’t understand her problem, and doesn’t want to, he’s got better things to do. He also sometimes sends letters to Alden, his annoying, yet very helpful and considerate older brother, but never gets a reply. He can’t wait for him to be back, so Aurora can tone down the mother act a bit.

However, none of that matters right now. “Shake hands, and say sorry!!” Calliope says, more fervently.

Reluctantly, perhaps to not upset the little girl, both comply and turn their attention back to the display.

***At home***

“Snap out of it man, Maestro Palazio finished his speech, we have thirty minutes to browse through the shop and get something before the official start.” Ray says while waving his hand in front of my face.

“Ah, yeah, sorry.” I reply.

I move towards Sophia, who is displaying the shop from her watch. Ugo is the first to suggest something.

“We need a way to get around. Had we been dropped in a zone with less ideal terrain it would be another story, but here, considering how vast this place is, we need some way to reach far-off locations quickly.” He says.

“So transportation?” I ask.

“Yes, it doesn't have to be fancy, but we can’t just run everywhere, at our level we’ll run out of pureflow before midday.”

Sophia browses the shop and stumbles upon something. “Well, there’s this thing, it’s like a military vehicle, and costs 70 points. It’s big too so it can double as an emergency shelter if need be.”

“B-but 70 points… is kind of expensive.. That’s the same as seven Echotoned beasts..” Camille interjects.

“Plus, this thing would be like announcing our presence. We’re still not sure how the other teams will act upon the notion that there’s no rule against attacking other participants.” Ray adds.

“True, but here in the grasslands, there’s no cover whatsoever, so it’s not like we can hide either way.” I say.

Ray nods in agreement, but still isn’t convinced with this purchase. I look to Sophia, the only one with the power to finalize anything when it comes to the resource shop.

“So, you’ve heard our input, but the final decision is on you. What do you say, leader?” I ask.