Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 97:White Songstress

Raymond stopped briefly, spotting a certain something in the corner of his eye.

"...hey Ellen. Mind if we do something else for a bit?"

The two of them were in the academy mall, located in the commercial district. Raymond had still earned points even while he was in his coma. So he currently had plenty of points to use, and Ellen was taking full advantage of it.

After finishing another photoshoot, solo this time. Ellen had immediately dragged him outside again to go shopping together.

"Sure. What is it you want to do?"

He pointed at a certain open part of the mall, completely empty—save for a single grand piano right in the middle.

She raised an eyebrow, "Do you even know how to play?"

He didn’t answer her, only walking towards the piano. Causing Ellen to let out a small sigh as she followed him.

He could see a small notice attached to the piano.

’Please play me!’

Taking a seat, he stretched his fingers first. Testing out each note to make sure it was the same as he was used to.

Every key, every note was the exact same. His fingers hovered over them as he mentally prepared himself. It had been a while since he last played. He hadn’t owned any instruments on Earth, the last time he played was probably for his ex.

"Its quite nerve wracking to do this with an audience, " he muttered.

Leaning against the frame, she crossed her arms. Gaze locked onto him, a slight glimmer in her kaleidoscopic eyes. "Just pretend I’m not here."

He drew out a slow breath.

Tink

A soft sound rang out. Barely audible with the constant background noise around them, a small crowd noticing the two and gathering to watch him play.

One note after another, soft steady notes unfolding in front of the previous ones. Building up a melody that could only be described as ethereal yet dark.

It wasn’t flashy, dramatic or intense. His fingers dancing across the keys. His stiff shoulders relaxing as he gradually got into a flow state. The music finding its rhythm.

Raymond gradually started to tune out his surroundings, for a moment. It seemed as if he was still a child. Sitting on his mother’s lap as she played. His mouth open in awe as he watched her fingers dance across the piano.

Now here he was, playing that exact same piece she had once played for him. The piece she created, for them.

The tone suddenly decreased, reaching its lowest pitch. Before abruptly stopping for a moment, making the audience’s hearts seemingly jump out of their chests at the sudden silence.

After the brief silence however, his fingers continued moving with an increased confidence. Weaving a joyful melody, a stark contrast to the starting tone.

He glanced up slightly, making eye contact with Ellen. A small grin on her face. In his view, right now—she was his only audience member.

The notes started to rise, subtle. But clear nonetheless. Rising and rising, invoking feelings so strong in the audience. It could very well have been magic.

Moving just as his mother once did, with a final dramatic flair of the wrist. The entire melody erupted all at once. Like a field of flowers blooming all at once. Each different, so very beautiful. Complementing the flowers next to them, yet still emitting a pleasant fragrance.

As his fingers stopped moving, traces of the song still lingered in the silence. A sound so otherworldly, no recording could ever do it justice.

He could already see the posts that would soon appear on the academy forums. Hopefully they knew how to take good pictures. Otherwise Raymond might die of embarrassment.

This silence onlyasted for a few seconds. As the audience processed the heavenly music they had just heard.

Then, applause. Thunderous applause as hundreds of people all clapped their hands for him. His performance having moved many. The sound nearly drowning out even Raymond’s own thoughts inside his head.

But Raymond didn’t care about that.

His eyes were still locked onto a certain someone, her eyes glimmering. Filled with a quiet emotion he couldn’t quite identify. The unsettling awareness of his own heartbeat filling his eardrums.

After giving a small bow to the audience, the two quickly ran away—finding a place outside to rest temporarily.

Sitting together on a bench side-by-side. Ellen said to him. " I didn’t know you could play the piano."

"Back in my home dimension, they say that any decent mage beats masters at music. Playing an instrument helps to develop hand-eye coordination, as well as multitasking. Skills essential for any mage. It also makes for a good hobby. "

She nodded in understanding, "That makes sense."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "But that’s what I say to people who ask me. The truth is..."

"My mother taught me. She created that song as well. I-I was quite young at the time. But the memory of her teaching me is still so clear in my head."

She inched slightly closer to him, her warm presence like a soothing hug. "Sounds like your mother was a great person."

He looked away, a faint smile at the corner of his eyes as he admired the night sky.

"The very best. She was often thought of as the best songstress humanity had ever seen. The White Songstress, they called her. Her beauty was so stunning that men and women alike both fell for her..."

"I...took after her. My brother, William. Took after my father. My hairstyle now, it was styled by her too."

This was one of the smaller tidbits of his life that Raymond hadn’t yet revealed to her. He simply couldn’t fit it into his story last time when he was venting to her. So it had just remained unsaid.

Raymond suddenly realized that Ellen was the second person he ever played that song to. The first being his former girlfriend. He hadn’t even played that piece to Sophia when they were together.

"I see," guilt ran through her body as Ellen remembered all those times she had poked fun at his hair, "I’m sorry for laughing at it."

He let out a small chuckle,"It’s fine. She would have probably laughed with you as well. I was only seven at the time."

"I wish I could meet her."

"She would’ve loved you."

Raymond sincerely believed that, his mother would have loved Ellen if she ever met her.

She rested her head on his shoulder, her soft silky hair had a pleasant feel to it. Absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair around his finger as he reminisced on his mother. He had promised he would save her and William, but it had already been nearly a century since he left Erde. His own progress growing stagnant.

He let out an internal sigh. Once he fully recovered, he would ask Flare to teach him magic. That would probably be enough to level him up another hundred times or so.

"You should play more often. You shouldn’t let it go unused," she remarked.

"...I’ll play it for you then. Just tell me when."

The next day, while Ellen was in class a new keyboard mysteriously appeared in their bedroom.

***

Raymond yawned, tapping his fingers impatiently as he watched his classmates present their topics. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’Blatantly wrong and plagiarized.’

It was so extremely clear this group had crammed all the work on the day before. That or it was only one guy who did the entire thing. It actually hurt Raymond to watch as he continued his presentation—stuttering over his words, while the other four members stood around awkwardly watching.

Seriously, they had two entire weeks to complete this. How do you even procrastinate this bad?

Conveniently ignoring how Raymond himself skipped class more often then he showed up, and barely ever did any work unless it counted for exams or rewarded points.

Their teacher, Camila Veradawn also seemed less then impressed. Legs crossed as she scribbled something on a notepad. A look of displeasure on her face.

This was already the third group that had disappointed her. This project may not have rewarded points, but seeing how the class A students were like—the supposed best of the year minus the special class. It really put her in a foul mood.

Trying to hide her disappointment, she signalled for them to sit down. Calling out the next group.

Now, it was his time to shine.

Standing up and confidently striding to the front. His four group mates who did nothing also confidently walked alongside him.

But Raymond didn’t even care about that. It just meant he got to show off even more, and who doesn’t like to show off in front of others?

*cough* Probably some boring black haired protagonist hiding their strength for no reason other then to look cool after hundreds of people died from them hiding it. *cough*

Ahh! Must have been possessed by a ghost...Raymond would never have such thoughts...

Ahem. After setting up the slideshows, and putting on his glasses to look smarter. Raymond smiled, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s attention.

Today, was the day he was going to make history!

(with permission from Ellen of course)