A Song To Save

"Kill people?" Raymond asked, sure he had heard wrong. "Yes, kill people." The Grand Conductor said with a smile as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Three months from now, a tournament will be held where several families will pit their best fighters against each other. Rumor has it that one of the contestants is working with an organization that I don't quite like. I don't know which exactly but when I figure it out, I want you to kill them for me." Raymond was off put by how willing the Grand Conductor was willing to kill over such a petty reason. Was it really necessary to kill over such a reason? The Grand Conductor saw the look on Raymond's face and laughed, "Worry not, I don't want these people dead because I don't like their emblem or something banal like that. These people are a threat to Palmarius's safety. " Raymond wasn't sure if the Conductor was telling the truth but at the moment he had no way to check. He swallowed his hesitation and nodded, "A-alright."

The Conductor laughed again, Raymond was quickly starting to hate that laugh. He got up and followed his senior out of the cell. They walked past the guards' office where Raymond's guitar was located. He tried to reach for it but with the sound of an eastern glute, blue chains wrapped around it before pulling it through the wall as if sinking it in a puddle. "You really think I'll let you walk around with something that? I don't have a death wish young man," he said with a chuckle

* * * * * * *

"Refer to me as William," the Grand Conductor said as they neared his manor. Raymond still didn't know how to feel about his new "employer" but he nodded and remained silent. The idea that he'd have to kill people still hadn't fully set in his head. He tried to distract himself with the extravagance of the manor. As the carriage parked and they entered the building, that task became much easier. Right in front of the door was a red-carpeted staircase that led to the upper floors, to the right was a hall leading to the kitchen, pantry, and an indoor swimming pool, and to the left was the living room and two bedrooms. William had a servant lead Raymond upstairs as he headed for the second bedroom. The servant guided Raymond to his room, the sixth to the left on the second floor, and gave him some basic information. "Master William is a very busy man so you are not to disturb him unless called, there is plenty here to keep you entertained until then. You should also know that the master is actively supervising three disciples who also live in this manor though they are not currently present. You are to under no circumstances interact with the one named Vivi, the other two you may converse with as you see fit. If I must give you one piece of advice, never anger the master." With that, she turned around and left.

The room was not bad, a large bed decorated the left side of the room with a small bookshelf next to it. On a desk were several music sheets and a few miscellaneous instruments. At its feet was an electric guitar and next to it was a grand piano. Raymond sat on the bed with a sigh. "What did I get myself into?" he asked out loud. "Deep breaths" he reminded himself with a long inhale and a long exhale. "You're here now so all you can do is move forward. First I'll try to get rid of this feeling of confusion, there should be something here to help me" he said as he scoured the bookshelf for books with titles like "The History of…", "A Guide to…", etc. He managed to pick out five books of interest; The History of the Shadow Kingdom, The Voices, Praise the Fist One, A Song From The Soul, and To Sing, To Kill. He had heard of the Shadow Kingdom, the Voices, and the Fist One mentioned so that influenced his choice of book, the last two were simply because he liked the title.

He made his way to the desk and moved the music sheets out of the way before placing the five books. He took a seat and opened "The History of the Shadow Kingdom".

The book splits into three eras, The Old Era, The Enlightened Era, and the Modern Era. The Old Era is the creation of the world, a time when nothing could be heard besides the blowing of cosmic winds. From that constant melody came four beings known as the voices, Alatha the First, Berin the Pacified, Cleo the Flame, and Darius the Throatless. The four beings shaped not only Pamarius but the world it shadows, Veritas. Their final creation was man to which they each gave a gift. Berin gave them a body and a mind, Cleo gave them a soul, Alatha gave them instruments, and Darius gave them the gift of song. Seeing that the humans appreciated the others' gifts more than his, Darius grew resentful and cursed all those he had given the gift of song. He reclaimed it and gave them wands of wood called the First Conductors, with that they could no longer sing but could use the voice of others, those who had escaped Darius's curse through the protection of the other three. Those who were cursed grew corrupted by the power of the First Conductors and had to be put down. After centuries of battle, the gods were fed up and decided to interfere. Using the Instruments given by Alatha they were able to subdue Darius and his corrupted. Alatha then came to the realization that they could no longer exist in this world for they would only hinder it so he chose to seal his brothers and himself.

Raymond finished the Old Era with new understanding, it was said that Alatha sealed his brother with a never-before-seen instrument, could it be his guitar? "That would explain why they called me the First One," He thought.

As he read the Enlightened Era he found the name quite misleading. The Enlighted Era was one of wars, lies, and bloodshed due to the loss of the Voices guidance. Atrocities were committed, many of which form the laws in Palamrius today. Raymond skipped over the descriptions in this era finding them unnecessarily graphic. He was about the begin the Modern area when he heard a knock at the door. He got up from his chair and headed toward the door, upon unlocking it he found a man with long brown hair, green eyes, and a smile at the door. 

"Hey" the stranger began, "I'm Ylis, you must be the new disciple," he said with an outstretched hand. Raymond shook his hand "You could say that." Ylis laughed, "The master is calling all disciples for dinner and asked me to call you, I hope we can be good friends," he said while leading Raymond to the dining room. "Yah" Raymond responded with reluctance, he still didn't trust anyone in this house. In the dining room was a long table with many chairs, William and two other men were already seated. Raymond quietly joined them.

"Boys, this is … I never actually got your name," William said as he turned to his guest. "Raymond" the addressed replied. "This is Raymond, my new disciple. He will be representing me in three months at the yearly Royal Smash." It didn't take long for that to stir a reaction. One of the other disciples stood up, incredulous. "But master, I was to represent you at the Smash!" Said a black-haired man, his voice only one decibel under a shout. "Calm yourself, Ludwig, it is for the best that I have taken this decision" The man, Ludwig, didn't seem to calm down. "Who even is this boy?" He asked as he pushed his chair back, his hand reaching for something in his pocket. "No Ludwig," said the last disciple who Raymond assumed was Vivi. Ludwig seemed to hesitate a little but in the end, decided not to back down. "No, I will not let my honor be trampled on like this. I will not stand for this!" he said as he took out a flute. William seemed to have been against this at first but made no effort to stop it. "I challenge you to a duel!" He finally let out. "A duel?" Raymond responded. Ludwig looked appalled "Master, this tone death fool does not even know what a duel is yet you allow him to take my place." Raymond got pissed, he could talk most any insult unless it was related to music. "I'm not tone death" he retaliated as he too stood up. Ludwig scoffed, "You probably can't play a good note to save your life!" Raymond was starting to boil "And you can you stuck up little Beethoven wannabee?"

The tension was thick between the two of them. Ylis and Vivi watched from their seats, the latter with an unreadable expression and the former with a smile. William didn't seem to react. "I accept your duel," Raymond said firmly. Ludwig scoffed and left the room. Ylis burst out laughing, "Well done newbie, you might be the first to actually stick it to Luddy." He said with a smile. Raymond felt a hint of pride, a hint that quickly disappeared when he remembered something. "What's a duel?" he asked Ylis. Ylis laughed even harder at the question which made Raymond feel a bit stupid.

The next day, Ylis knocked at Raymond's door early in the morning. "Let's talk," he told him as he showed him towards a small training ground behind the manor. Ylis had an electric guitar attached to his back. Raymond took this opportunity to get a good look at Ylis. Besides his flowing brown hair and emerald green eyes, a few more things stuck out about Ylis. Firstly was the smile permanently glued on his face as if he had won the lottery and a new puppy at the same time. The second was just how buff Ylis was. His muscles easily deformed the white linen shirt he had on. Once they arrived at the training ground Ylis placed his guitar in his arms and seemingly plugged the cord into the air. "You really don't know what a duel is?" he asked for final confirmation. "Not the slightest clue" Raymond responded. Ylis sighed. "Then I guess I'll be your teacher," he said as he strummed his guitar a few times. Massive shockwaves emanate from the guitar almost blowing Raymond away with their strength.