Chapter 11: Musician
Allen stared up at Black Order Academy. He didn't know what possessed him to accept Lala's offer for piano lessons, but here he was for his first lesson.
The door to the building was open, but that was to be expected. He couldn't be the only person getting private lessons, after all. Taking a deep breath, Allen went inside.
It was strange to be in the school without the hallways being crowded. The halls weren't as brightly lit as they usually were during the school day, nor was it as warm. Allen shivered, but not from the cold. The empty school building gave him the heebie-jeebies. He half expected a ghost to appear and scar the living daylights out of him.
These thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an organ playing. Allen was glad the song was lighthearted rather than a dirge. Had it been a melancholy song, he probably would have high-tailed it out of there.
He followed the music to the music room, where Marie sat at the organ. His fingers glided over the keys, making the music seem effortless. Allen closed his eyes and let the music wash over him. He'd heard this song somewhere... somewhere long ago... but he'd never been near a piano, so how could he have heard it? Cross certainly didn't listen to this sort of music.
The song ended, and Lala glanced up. "Allen, I'll be with you in a minute." She turned back to Marie and said, "Good job. You were a little off on that last part, but otherwise, perfect. Keep practicing, all right?"
Once Marie packed up his Braille music—how he could read it, Allen didn't know—Lala turned to him. "Sit at the piano, Allen."
Allen did as Lala said and stared at the piano keys. There were so many. Tentatively, Allen pressed and a crystal clear note played. It was strange; it felt like he'd sat at a piano before, but that couldn't have been. He'd always been traveling with his father, and he knew for a fact they never played music.
"So how much do you know about playing?" Lala asked, shuffling through her things.
"Absolutely nothing," Allen replied meekly. He wasn't sure why he'd shown up. Maybe it was just because Lala had asked him again on Friday to come and had given him a time.
"Well, that's nothing to worry about. Everyone's got to start somewhere." Lala dug around in a cabinet before pulling out a book that had a large treble clef on the cover with the words "Piano for Beginners" next to it. She opened it and set it on the stand.
Allen looked over the music quickly. The dots and dashes somehow looked familiar, even though he'd never seen a score before in his life. "What's...?"
"This is the sheet music," Lala explained. She pointed to each part, saying what it was and what it meant. "See the space between these two lines? That's a measure. The dots and dashes inside are the musical notes. The little letter inside each is what the note's called; they're only there because this is a beginner book." She continued with her explaination1 until she'd named each part and said what it was for. "Any questions so far?"
When Allen shook his head, she started explaining how to read the music and play the piano itself. Then she showed Allen which keys corresponded with which note. That done, she turned the book to a page with very few notes.
"Try playing this. You don't have to play it fast. Just try to hit the right notes."
Allen nodded and slowly pressed the keys. It was like he'd been playing all his life. He played the song smoothly—though not as smoothly as Marie could have played it—and recognized the tune. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" He hadn't read the title to the song before he'd started playing.
"It's a simple enough song," Lala said with a shrug. "Most beginners start with that or others like it." She flipped through the book for another song. "Can you play this one?"
Allen glanced over the music and started playing. This one was a little more difficult, but still came out sounding nice. This time, however, he didn't recognize the tune. The name didn't help either.
Lala then flipped the book to something in the back. "And this?"
Again, Allen glanced over the music and played it. This one didn't come as effortlessly as the others. In fact, he missed quite a few notes and his fingers felt like they were tied up. It came out muddled and unrecognizable.
"Allen, are you sure you've never played before?"
"I've never touched a piano in my life," Allen replied. He stared down at the keys. "I guess those pieces are just really easy."
Lala raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? They aren't expert pieces, but they're difficult for beginners. That last one's the hardest in the book and you still managed to slog through it. Not even Marie was that good on his first try, and he's a prodigy."
Allen felt his face turn crimson. "I-I can't be that good. I-I've never touched a piano before..." But why did that feel like a lie? The keys, the music... everything had been too familiar. "It must be a fluke."
"Fluke or not, you're pretty good at this." Lala picked up the book and flipped through it again, this time her brow creased with a frown. "I may have to get you a harder book."
"I... I have to go."
Lala grabbed his arm before he could leave and handed his the book. "Take this. If you feel like playing anything, you're welcome in the room anytime outside of school hours. Like I said before, I'm always here."
Once Allen was gone, Lala went over to the phone and dialed. "Hello, General Cross? Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but you were right about Allen's talent."
"Of course I was right," Cross grumbled. "The boy learned how to play years ago. That accident made him forget."
Lala nodded, then realized the general couldn't see her. "Well, regardless, I don't think his playing will help him remember anything."
"Heh. It was worth a shot."
"So what were you doing at the school on a weekend?"
Allen stopped and turned to see the card shark with thick glasses leaning against the school gates. "Learning piano."
Tyki raised an eyebrow. "You any good?"
"Sort of..."
Tyki smiled and patted Allen on the shoulder. "Gotta believe in yourself a little more, kiddo," he said as he walked past. "Never gonna get anywhere with that attitude."
Allen nodded, then realized something odd. "Tyki, what are you doing here?"
The other boy stopped. "Just looking for something is all." He shrugged and started walking again.
"Hey, hold on!" Allen called. The other boy stopped again. "Um..." Allen had wanted to ask him what he was looking for, but decided against it. "Nevermind. It was good seeing you again."
Tyki grinned. "We'll have to play cards again sometime. I'll wipe the floor with you, Mr. Musician." He waved. "I gotta get going. I've got work."
Allen waved back, then panicked as he heard the clock tower bell start ringing. Now he was late for work!
When Allen got home that night after work he felt really tired. Cross was nowhere to be found, so Allen just decided to go to bed early and forget about whatever chores the general left for him. Cross could manage to do his own housework for once.
He wasn't sure when he drifted off to sleep, but he knew he was asleep when he opened his eyes again.
He was like a ghost, standing off to the side and watching a scene unfold. There was a small child, perhaps five or six, sitting at a piano bench and playing a rather simple melody. The boy finished and grinned up at the two adults standing on either side of him.
"How was that, Father?" he asked the one.
"Perfect." The man smiled as the boy looked to the other for praise as well.
"Your arpeggio was off," the other man teased. "You'll have to work on that next time."
The boy pouted, then brightened. He turned to his father. "Can you teach me another song? Pretty please?"
"Another time. You have to go to bed." The father scooped up his son.
"It's not that late, Father! Please! I wanna stay up—" his complaints were interrupted by a yawn, "—longer."
"Listen to your father, kiddo," the other man said, ruffling the child's hair.
"But Uncle —" Allen couldn't hear the uncle's name. He saw the boy's mouth move, but couldn't hear the sound that came out.
"No buts, —" Again, Allen couldn't hear the name.
The child nodded off right after and the scene went dark.
Allen was fast asleep and didn't notice Cross walking in a few minutes later with another person behind him.
"Damn, he fell asleep already," Cross muttered. "Sorry, you came all this way and the brat couldn't stay awake."
"Nah, it's fine," the other person said with a quiet laugh. He went back to the kitchen with Cross close behind. "Poor kid. Must've been hard on him when Mana died." He accepted the wineglass Cross handed him.
Cross shrugged and sipped his own wine. "He can't remember much. I thought taking up piano might help, but so far, nothing."
Cross's friend smiled into his glass. "Give him time. Everything'll come back with time. You just have to be patient."
"Patience was your brother's thing. I know you want him remembering too."
The friend laughed and set down his empty glass. "Well, I ought to get going. There's no point to staying if he's not awake or remembering anything."
Cross nodded. "I'll call if anything comes."
"You better."
1 I'm a violinist, not a pianist, so excuse me if some things are inaccurate for piano.
Short chapter, I know, but that's all I really could do. It also jumped around a bit. I apologize for that. The two things I wanted to do were too short to really be chapters on their own, so I combined them to make one, slightly longer chapter. Sorry if it disappointed you. It was a bit of a rush job.