…In the moment that Garnet, rather Cornelia met her demise at the hands of her lover, the character Marcus. Something alit in Zidane that he had never, ever experienced up to this point...despair. Although it was acting in the end which of course Zidane knew and thus did not move to intervene. He still could not help but feel...an intense sharp pain emitting deep within. So much...he clenched his fist, accidentally causing it to bleed. Something which Baku, standing right behind Steiner had noticed. Though the leader of the Tantalus troupe did not call out Zidane upon the matter of his clenching fist. Instead, merely watching Zidane's expression...seeing a mixture of not just despair...but also, hate. The real kind of hate that the actor Marcus was trying to convey through his performance towards Baku's character of king Leo.

It was not rage at Marcus that Zidane was feeling...but just a hateful, gut stomach reaction. Even though again it was still acting, all of it...Zidane could not help himself but reel from the sight at seeing Garnet pretend to fall on her knees and then afterwards the ground. Acting out...her character-Cornelia's death sequence. It would only take a few moments before the whole audience was in an uproar about the scene, not expecting the way that it played out. Above everyone that was reacting...the one whom responded the most...was Vivi. He is stopped once more by Puck from trying to charge over at the Prima Vista airship stage, wanting to help. "N-No! you stupid servant! stop getting so worked up about a play!" says Puck, resuming to convince Vivi of the work that is fiction and not real.

Upon the balcony...queen Brahne lets out a malicious sounding laugh at the death of Cornelia, not having realised that it is actually her daughter Garnet that is portraying the role. "Oh MY! the exquisite angst of everything! such...such a thrill! I have never felt this excited for a show in quite a long while...Beatrix. Make sure to commend the actors on their jobs well done...especially the actress that is portraying Cornelia. I do not know why...but I feel that I must commend that young lady for her skills. Having seen so many plays, one such as I...you come to realise that it is more then just talent that the actors and actresses pride themselves on. It is emotion...of the highest kinds. Though...such frivolous things are wasted if only used in the world of acting. Oh what am I saying? why am I talking to YOU about all this? you are a general-a soldier, nothing more." says Brahne, fanning herself again whilst mocking Beatrix...the greatest knight in her service.

"...Yes...your majesty." says Beatrix, just going along with her queen's words. Back to the stage, as Cornelia falls...Marcus rushes to grab his beloved. "C-CORNELIA! W-WHY!? WHY!? why did you...DO THAT!?" shouts Marcus, holding the one whom was supposed to be his partner in life, dying in arms. "...B...B-Because...he is...my father, Marcus. I...s-still...love him. D-Despite...his cruelty...I still love him...n-no l-lesser then before." says Cornelia, already knowing of her father-the king's evil wickedness...but regardless. She still sacrificed herself to ensure his survival, nary a second thought occurring prior to the sacrifice she had made. "Cornelia..." says Marcus, tightly clutching Cornelia in his hands. Steiner sees this at an up close standpoint, thinking to himself the following "Y-You deviant brigand! I'll make sure you hang for your filthy claws touching the princess!" says Steiner, unable to take any action, so long as the queen continues to watch.

"...Princess..." also thinks Zidane in his own mental thoughts, wondering...how Garnet must currently be feeling. Especially in consideration to Brahne watching this performance. "M-Marcus. Please...l-living...does not...mean...basking...i-in vengeance. To truly...u-u-understand, one...another. We must...l-look each other...in...t-the eyes...a-a-and. See...w-what it means...to...to truly...c-completely...live. O-Only...b-b-by sharing...our...e-experiences...with the-the other. Can we...f-find...m-mutual...ground." says Cornelia, taking hold of Marcus' hand. "! But...Cornelia. I...I HATE Leo! he has taken away everyone dearly precious to me! my parents, my younger brothers. Now you too! I cannot...I WILL NOT forgive him!" says Marcus, gazing fierce daggers from his eyes, right at the king. "I...I-I know. I know...f-forgiveness...is-is not given. But...but earned. Y-Yet...Marcus. B-Both sides...m-m-must have...e-equal understanding...of t-their actions. Without...e-e-equality...the-the two kingdoms...will...n-never know...t-true peace. M-Marcus...I know...that-that you...k-know...that." says Cornelia...her voice starting to dim more rapidly.

"!? CORNELIA!" shouts out Marcus, recognising that Cornelia...was nearing her end. "...Marcus...the-the time...I...s-spent with y-y-you...was...the m-most...w-wonderful. A-Absolute...bliss...I-I...have ever...ever felt. Even...if-if I had married...p-prince Schneider. M-M-M-My heart...w-w-will...always...b-belong...w-w-with yours! M-Marcus! I...am-am sorry. I c-could not...fulfil...our-our promise. To wed...p-please, my dearly b-b-b-beloved. N-Never forget...our time...t-together. I...will...a-always...cherish...o-our memories...t-together. F-Forgive me, M-M-Marcus. Father...but...I-I...must-must-must leave. My...soul...is-is...becoming...u-unbound. I must...r-r-return...t-to-to the sky...t-t-t-the blue light...beyond...t-the veil. Marcus...p...please...n...never...forget. You...h...had...meant...the world...to...to...me. A-Always. Now...a...and forever. My...heart...is...y..." before Cornelia could finish her sentence, her eyes enter a sleep..."the" eternal sleep.

Distant Memory by Symphonic Remasters-

"...C...Cor...nelia? Cor-Cornelia...my-my love? ..." Marcus could only watch...as Cornelia's grip had loosened. Signifying...her truest form of death. "N-NO...NO...NO! NOOO! WHY!? WHHHY!? WHY HER!? WHY CORNELIA!? WHY!?" shouts out Marcus, as he let go of his now...departed beloved...standing up. And then...screaming out towards the crescent moonlight background of the stage. "DAMN YOU! DAAAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL! life...my constant curse. If living...is meant to only experience hardship and pain...then. Why live my life? I would cast it aside instead of suffering a DAMNATING existence! hope and dreams...ha ha. HA HA...HA! HAH HAH HAH! ..." suddenly, Marcus laughs like a maniac. Drawing the entire audience in...as he then states "...It all means nothing." says Marcus, shocking the king with his both change in demeanour and choice of words.

"...You are right, dearly beloved. Nay...vengeance...basking in such futility...is by no means, a way to live. None...whatsoever. In fact...living at all...is...utterly pointless. Without you, I have no meaning. Without you, I AM nothing. Leo...you have not only succeeded in crushing my spirit...but. You have...also broken my heart. If life is worth...family leading towards the deaths of their very own flesh and blood...why cause...such burdens? such anquish. This realm...this plane of existence. It is tainted. No more...no more...will I stand here, amongst the rotting world of man and their sins. Their putrid pride, their unending greed. Their disgusting gluttony, their foul lust. Their accursed sloth, their pointless wrath. And of course...their...darkening envy. I...am a different man, henceforth. And...such a contrast of myself...I cannot. Cannot bare to think...Cornelia is watching. Therefore...I...shall join her. Join her...still the person that I am. Brother...please. Forgive me...but I...can no longer take anymore woes. I am sorry...I will...be putting you through the same pain that I experienced both in life...and from life itself. I trust...that you shall find...an alternative answer...to...my fleeting way of living." says Marcus to Zidane.

After the former's speech, he takes his sword...and then...plunges his heart with it. In truth, the real Marcus hits underneath his arm closest to the heart in order to make this final acting of the show appear in a way convincing. Marcus lies forth on the ground...his hand touching Cornelia's. Having lost faith in life...no longer hearing...the Melodies of Life. With this star-crossed parting of the lovers, one after another...a huge uproar, followed alongside clapping could be heard. The audience...were ecstatic with what they have seen from I Want to Be Your Canary, even if it WAS improvised in the final act by those whom noticed the changes. Anybody and everybody amongst the spectator seats were loudly cheering out for the ending of the show...all except three certain individuals. Namely...Vivi, Zidane...and Garnet.

Zidane's hand was now so tight...a trickle of blood went unnoticed by him upon the staging floor. As for Garnet...she was shown tearing. Relating these departed feelings of Cornelia's...to the feelings that Garnet now faces, concerning her mother-Brahne's eratic behaviour at the sight of the show's tragic ending. "...Mother..." thinks Garnet...crying without pause. "...Puck? is...is this...what people love? do they...love watching stuff like this?" says Vivi, asking Puck a very worrisome question in related concern of himself. "V-Vivi..." says Puck, as he too is unsettled in his own way. Seeing the adults applaud this tragedy script...for some reason. The band of Tantalus, despite all of the hard work they put into I Want to Be Your Canary from the very beginning to end...felt bad for the characters they portrayed, somewhat.

Zidane...was the one whom overall mostly felt infuriated. "...I know tragedies are a genre of show performances...there's no changing that. But...something feels...off about all this. It...really...REALLY bugs me. Why...do I feel so angry about it all? I don't...understand." says Zidane. In a similar case to Vivi, Zidane too was suffering from the blend of both reality and fantasy. Though vastly more mature and experienced about life...still. Zidane couldn't help...but feel on edge. Like...that there was some kind of unease playing upon his mind. He places a hand upon his heart...wondering something. What should he feel concerning the show's end? anger? hate? sadness? or perhaps even joy at the success of the show's quality? all of these things weighed heavily on Zidane's heart...however.

No matter how the play may have ended, whichever route. It was now time...to take action. The Tantalus crew still had a job to do...and that is to escort princess Garnet to Lindblum. Zidane had made an oath...and he intended, to keep it. His feelings from watching I Want to Be Your Canary end like this...have only strengthened his resolve. In a way, when he saw Marcus, rather his Character of the same name pass on his last words towards his only remaining brother...Zidane felt something akin to "passing the torch". Although it was a portrayal and nothing more...the strong vibes that Zidane got from it made him felt...as though he has now inherited something. The will...to protect. To protect Garnet and see her forth with dedication and courage of Zidane's own heart and soul. To live up to the performances...of the lovers-Marcus and Cornelia.

"...No Cloud, no Squall...shall hinder us!" is the signature of the play's story. It means to inspire hope...to look beyond tragedy, even the most dire bleakest of it's variations. Zidane was thinking about the signature...upon reaching this ending of the show. With hope in heart and possessing a soul of courage to make dreams as well as magic come true. Zidane was prepared...and ready. To protect Garnet...all the way through. To fulfil the mission that he already made a charge with but by no means had overenthusiasm at the genesis of it. Asides flirting with a princess...Zidane. Was now dedicated and serious to the task he accepted with his family of Tantalus. He bumps his fists together...smiling. Knowing that the feelings that went into I Want to Be Your Canary are not all in vain. Not all was depressing...so long as one could remember the conveying message of the character, Cornelia. For the slight or lasting reprieve it granted towards every individual in question, each in respective...

...Suddenly, music played. It was the Coda to bring the whole show to a proper climax. Zidane and Garnet could relate to this final crawl of musical based credits:

Song of Memories by Enrico Deiana-

"! This music..." thought Zidane whilst Garnet thought "!? T-This Melody!" as the two overhear on the floor above the orchestra of the Prima Vista giving it their all to convey the feelings of Marcus and Cornelia. The former's endurance of strife...and the latter's stand against despair. And then, together...the unbinding love that the two felt for one and the other. "...Heh, whaddya know?" says Zidane lastly. As he thought that despite the very tragic nature of I Want to Be Your Canary...this Melody, filled with hope. Was enough...to redeem what was a "partful parting". For those amongst the audience that geuinely felt for the fictional characters of the performance...their hearts...were put at ease by the Melody. Zidane having played the improvised role of Marcus' last brother that still lived by the story of the show's end. Now...truly felt that he had inherited something. Something rather crucial...to carry him and those that he cares about throughout their times of crisis.

With the earlier onroar of applause ending, the masses of the public were then touched by how the closing Melody "saves" the souls and united heart of both Marcus and Cornelia. Though Marcus died in despair of life itself...his will was inherited. Entrusted...to a new bearer. Clapping once more...the audience give great cheers and praises towards the Tantalus cast that have lived up towards the original work of the playwright lord Avon. Perhaps...maybe even having surpassed previous acclaimed iterations of the play acted through the passing millenniums since the time period of Avon himself. I Want to Be Your Canary...a star-crossed story. But a story...that questions a single riddle. Seeking the answer to that which is life and why everyone continues living. Seeking reasons to live...be they of good or evil origins.

These were the life-threads known as "connections". Otherwise known...as the Melodies of Life. Bonds of both hearts and souls, as they live in tandem. Continuing to live...for that is the purpose of life in and of itself. That which again...IS life.

"I Want to Be Your Canary"...-"FIN".

TO BE CONTINUED.