Author's Note: This started out as a response to the Random Pairings Challenge (GibarixMelodia), but I got horribly sidetracked and it turned into a crappy onesided-AU with hintings towards events in the game. This is supposed to take place in a 1920's jazz club/neighborhood (sorry, I'm a history nerd). So, uh...have fun torturing yourself, it's terrible.
Disclaimer: I do not own Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.
After Midnight
For the fifth day that week, Gibari sat alone in the club, listening to the dry prattle of the other patrons and the soft chords of the onstage band. He only stopped by if he was having a slow day; a fisherman of his caliber made little money in the city, especially now when there seemed to be enough seafood going around already in the local markets. The days passed slowly and he was finding himself increasingly bored—fishing was becoming more of a hobby than a job to him, but it still left a meager sum of coins in his pocket and bread on the table. A glass or two of the local brew didn't hurt, either.
A voice—a high, beautiful, melodious voice—cut through the dull conversation of the room, flowing brilliantly with the smooth music accompanying it. Gibari's head snapped up almost of it's own accord, his eyes locking on the stunning girl swaying delicately on the stage.
She was young, perhaps barely sixteen or seventeen. The white stage lights illuminated her form stunningly; pale, luminous hair shone in the lights, framing an innocent and youthful face. A sparkling necklace of pearls hung loosely from her neck; he could see that most of the strand was wrapped around her long, elegant fingers.
The singer seemed to emanate a subtle grace—even the faint movement of her lips as she followed the tune of the musicians was refined. Gibari—like many of the others in the club—watched her, entranced by her voice and poise.
He didn't notice how quiet the room had been until the last note faded and the girl's song concluded. The patrons erupted into applause as she bowed elegantly, murmuring her thanks as the ovation began to die down. Without another word she seemed to glide across the stage, her feet barely skimming the ground as she walked, flitting past the heavy curtains.
The small band began another mellow tune and the conversation of the clientele started up again—their music suddenly seemed to be lacking something after the singer left. Gibari slowly got to his feet, still watching the stage even after the spotlight had faded with the girl.
He turned to Anna, the bartender, who was shining a glass with a rag. "Who was that?" he asked awkwardly; his mouth was dry despite having taken a drink of the amber liquid in his mug.
"The last singer? That was Melodia."
Melodia. Somehow, the name seemed so fitting.
"Careful," Anna continued, "that girl has a voice that could corrupt hundreds."
Gibari raised an eyebrow. "I don't follow."
She only smiled, not taking her eyes off the glass in her hands. "Did you see how she captivated the entire audience? She does that everywhere she goes."
Gibari only frowned; a girl as innocent as Melodia didn't have the guile to corrupt, did she?
When he left the club later that night, he saw Melodia walking almost elegantly down the opposite sidewalk. She was illuminated briefly by the warm, flickering light of the street lamps; there was a young man beside her. Beneath the man's hat, Gibari could see tufts of messy blue hair.
"One of the innocents she's 'corrupted'?" he thought with a fleeting smile. He felt a small stab of jealousy as he saw her lean over to the man, whispering quickly in his ear. They laughed, and Melodia's angelic mystique was broken by a brief, almost malicious smile. The man with her didn't seem to notice.
Gibari watched longingly as she disappeared down the block, enveloped by the darkness of the street.