"Sis! What was that for!"

Lilika's voice hit her target. It's filled with disbelief and shock.

"Sorry..."

Lunasa apologised; she had just missed a note in their rehearsal.

This mistake led to the song collapsing, and the Prismriver sisters had to stop to adjust.

"Hum... That's quite odd of you, sis. You've never made any mistake during our practice."

Merlin also commented. Blowing out a sense of flummox with her trumpet.

"Let's take a break today; maybe wondering around could solve the problem."

Lilika suggested.

"Affirmative."

Also, to her surprise, Lunasa, who has always rejected resting, agreed without thinking twice this time.

"You really are a bit different today, sis."

Said Merlin worriedly.

"Maybe I do just need some rest."

Lunasa tried easing the situation, putting her violin on her back.?

She left the mansion alone.

As if it was without thinking, Lunasa reached for the ensemble's next concert.

The village, human village, to be more exact.

She and her sisters had performed countless times here;?

In this corner, she could always find praise and comfort.

She gives them her melody; They grant her their appreciation.

It's a deal, yet she had always considered it a courtesy.

For it is her instinct and nature to perform it, the music within her violin.

For its vibration brought not only happiness to her audiences but also joy to herself.

This joy kept her existence; it drove her to play it even more.

And in her memories, she had never played a single note wrong.

She never knew why it was, probably a blasphemy to do so.

With every exact note, it weaved a symphony.

She felt even worse for playing that note wrong.

But why?

She questioned herself as feelings of agony raised in her chest.

I was born to play the violin behind me, isn't that so?

She was utterly confused; if it hadn't been for this note, she would never even thought of it.

She held her violin in her hands, trying to figure what had happened.

Then it hit her.

The top string had broken off, leaving nothing but emptiness.

Her fiddlestick stuck directly on its wooden body, leaving a light mark.

That's the reason for the missing note...

Lunasa made the same expression on Lilika's face just a minute ago.?

It's filled with disbelief and shock.

How could it?

Even she doesn't know what the string was made of, let alone fix it.

Still, a slight sense of relief filled her.

It wasn't her own ability that had failed her, but rather the violin.

"I'll just replace it..."

Lunasa said to herself.

"A violin?"

"Exactly, Mr Rinnosuke, my old violin broke its strings, and I need to practice for that concert; any chance you could find me a replacement?"

"Well, a violin is not that uncommon; I happen to have one collecting dust in the room back there."

Rinnosuke turned to his storage, and within a minute, returned with the exact instrument under his left arm.

Picking at a piece of cloth lying on the front counter, he cleaned it thoroughly before wrapping it with another clean fabric.

"Could I take a close look at it?"

Lunasa asked.

"Sure thing."

Rinnosuke unpacked the violin he had just sealed, handing it to the girl before him.

"Wow... It's pretty..."

Lunasa didn't hide her compliment.

It would be an insult to do so.

The instrument radiated a shining aura to everything around her.

Its body, shaped in the perfect gradient, feels even more comfortable when she holds it in her hands than by just glancing.

Engravements were entrenched all over her body, its gaps filled with solid gold, etching a beautiful pattern.

Its headstock had gems inlaid, A sizeable clear-cut sapphire orbited by dozens of others.

Lunasa would swear that's the single most stunning object her eyes had ever seen.

"Consider it on me, Miss Lunasa, massive fan of the Prismriver Ensemble."

Rinnosuke didn't ask for a price for this work of art; instead, he offered it straight to the girl.

"Ah, Thanks, Mr Rinnosuke."

Lunasa made her gratitude to the merchant.

"I'll play the most marvellous piece of music with it."

She left with a promise.

Lunasa led straight to the mansion.

She was much pleased with her newfound violin; the old one still floats behind her, yet this time, it shivered in the zephyr.

She also didn't realise that her left hand was trembling at the same frequency.

"Ah! Sis, you are back; that's quicker than I thought."

Lilika was a bit surprised at Lunasa's return.

"Just a trip to Rinnosuke's shop had solved all the problems. It's just a broken string."

Lunasa displayed her old instrument with the broken string.

"Hun...Quite interesting, but that's two broken strings instead of one, sis. Can't you count or something?"

"Two?"

Lunasa was confused at Lilika's comment; she retracted her violin to scrutinise it.

Lilika was right.

Another string had broken off from the body.

And the light trail on it had enlarged itself to be a much more noticeable scar.

How come...

Lunasa felt something was wrong, but she decided not to bother.

She had much more important things to do than an increasing wound on a replaceable object.

"I'll work on it later... It's more vital to practice for our concert!"

Lunasa tried easing Lilika's curiosity.

"Anyway, the question is already solved; Rinnosuke has courtesied a perfect replacement for me."

Lunasa took out her new violin.

"That...Wow, that's something."

Lilika was also stunned by her beauty.

"Something indeed."

Merlin's voice appeared; her vision too was drawn to the instrument within Lunasa's hands.

...

Lunasa raised her fiddlestick, but no sound appeared.

"Hun?"

She tried again but to no avail.

The pretty instrument made no sense except for looking like a piece of art.

"Have you been scammed?"

"No, not logical; it should have made a sound no matter what; it's an object grazing another one..."

"I'll...take a break."

She left again.

...

The realms of the phantoms.

Lunasa enjoyed playing here, but her strings had broken, nor could the new replacement make any difference.

Lunasa sank her feet into the river beside her.

Normally, this river can bleed coldness to even the toughest phantom.

Yet now, she felt nothing but numbness.

She submerged herself into it. The branch of Styx.

Please...I wanted to play again...

She cried, but no reply ever came.

Wasn't the violin my meaning?

Did I...Once lived for something else?

No...No, I'm a phantom.

I couldn't call myself "Living", right?

Please, tell me...

"You did forget something."

a voice appeared above her.

It's crisp, yet filled with undeniable stateliness.

"Eh?"

"No need to look up...And I won't tell you what you've forgotten."

"But I could let you feel it; open your eyes."

Lunasa did so.

She didn't regret it.

For the view had been so majestic.

The once turbid Styx in her memories is now clear like a crystal spring, shimmering lights hidden within every wave and bubble.

In it, a flower petal flew by her side.

She reached her arms to grab it.

"I miss you..."

Lunasa heard something vague, but she could swear it was true.

It's a girl's voice, childish, yet unswerving.

" I miss you too..."

Lunasa replied, to the voice.

She couldn't remember who, but her emotions broke through her chest.

She tried desperately scraping her memories, searching for them.

"Lay..."

Before she could recall it, it disappeared.

"It would be a crime to remember, for she had made a promise with me."

The stately voice murmured, in a volume, Lunasa could not hear.

She then vanished, following the disappearing petal.

Lunasa smiled; tears ran down her face, parting themselves into the river.

"Even if I couldn't remember you...I'll keep you in my prayers. Thank you."

She took out her violin, the old and trusty one.

Her finger glided through, and the fiddlestick stroke melodies.

The petal, it formed the two missing strings.

Lunasa no longer cared why they broke; she was sure they won't shatter once more.

For it be the tranquillity within her, prismised her so.