The Song Within [Legendseekers]

Pantalaimon brought out their treasured flute, and using their magic, brought it to their lips to play a song. The dial of the compass span wildly, never sopping, and just like all of the others- only stopped to land in the exact same direction it started once they had finished playing. They scratched their head with a paw, and their faerie halo fluttered about the compass in confusion.

Odd. They had played their favorite song perfectly. The compass should have responded, they reasoned, but perhaps it was only some unknown magic interfering with it that wasn’t allowing it to work as it should…

Troia merely stared at her Clef Compass, perplexed. She hadn’t done anything to try to get her own compass to move.

Pantalaimon nudged Troia’s with a wing, frowning at her. “Troia? Why don’t you try making music?”

She shied away from their touch, swatting away their wing with her claws. “You know I can’t sing. And, I can’t play music.”

“What’s that you said- you can’t play music?” Asked someone from overhead.

Pantalaimon and Troia looked up. It was Bravura, who had flown over to them. Some xyns standing nearby the two made way for Bravura to land on food. Chiptune, in the meantime, was helping other xyns play, one by one, so she could hear them play their songs clearly.

Bravura gave Troia a gentle smile. “Perhaps if you follow the lead of your friend here, maybe that can help guide you to discovering your soul song. This is a song that will always come naturally to you at the end, no matter how good you are or have ever been at music itself. Copy what they do, at the same time, and give it a whirl.”

“He’s right,” said Pantalaimon. They rummaged through the sack on their back again and passed Troia one of their favorite lyres. Troia took it in her paws, and tried to strum a few strings with a golden claw; Pantalaimon winced. “But please be careful!” they admonished to her. “Use your magic to strum it with your claws if they’re too sharp to cut through the wire.”

Troia considered their words silently, and her horns glowed with magic as she practiced strumming for a few seconds- observing how plucking certain played certain notes.

“Now follow my lead,” said Pantalaimon. They played the first notes of their song, slowly, and waited for Troia to repeat them. She clumsily followed their lead, and they repeated the process.

Neither of their clef compasses pointed to any particular direction, stopping and starting in the same place one after the other.

Bravura thought for a moment. “Say, do you think you can both try playing your song at the same time?”

Pantalaimon and Troia did as suggested; Pantalaimon began, slowly, on their flute, with Troia attempting to keep up with her lyre.

As they played together, the dials of their clef compasses spun rapidly around- but this time, the dials struggled to face similar directions. Troia thought, idly, about the state of the world and her concerns for the future as she played; the way she repeated Pantalaimon’s notes was slower and more somber.

As the song that Pantalaimon and Troia played progressed further, so did the dials gradually pointing in unison.

Bravura blinked, astonished, and shouted to Chiptune. “Chiptune! You need to see this!”