Not long after Severa had heard Inigo singing in the cave system, the Shepherds were tasked with clearing out an old chateau that had been overrun with risen. The large building would be a nice base of operations for the next stage of their march, and the previous owners were apparently nowhere in sight. Whether that was because they had left the country, a la Virion, or because they had met a more gruesome fate was not determined.
The work was surprisingly easy given the potential for ambush such a location provided. However, risen were known for their brawn more than their brain, so the Shepherds managed to divide and conquer in the chateau's many halls and rooms. Within four hours, the building and surrounding area was cleared of risen, and the Shepherds were tasked to scope out the location to make sure no stragglers remained within the chateau's walls. Lucina, Severa, Inigo, and Owain were tasked with clearing out the east wing, separated from the main building by a long colonnade, while Chrom, Olivia, Cordelia, and Gaius worked on the west wing, similarly separated. The remaining Shepherds worked in the central building of the chateau, as it had by far the most rooms. The wings were relatively small by comparison.
The east wing had already been cleared by the main army, and working their way up, the four of them found nothing. However, a feeling Lucina could not shake kept persisting. A feeling that she had missed something in some closet or wardrobe. Unwilling to be the reason a stray risen attacked somebody in the night, she insisted on checking again, though she made it clear that she did not need help in this regard. There could not have been more than one or two risen left in the wing, even in hiding, and a swordswoman of Lucina's caliber was more than capable of handling such things on her own.
Even so, Inigo and Owain volunteered to stay on the bottom floor of the east wing to ensure no stray risen left as Lucina worked her way down from the top. Severa, for a reason the other three could not decipher, was seemingly in a hurry to head back to her parents and the main group. Inigo and Owain, thinking little of it, wandered briefly to a study or small library, both of them admiring the shelves of books that remained untouched by the risen and the following battle.
It was there Owain noticed the small upright piano in the corner, its keys protectively covered and its wooden finish completely untouched. Owain uncovered the keys in excitement, seeing their perfect ivory glisten in the sunlight from the window. It looked as though it had never been played, though when Owain pressed his fingers down to play a chord, they sung out in perfect tune.
Inigo, his attention now captured by the sound, turned from the books to his cousin. "What are you doing?" he said.
Owain looked back at him. "Why, Inigo of the Indigo Skies, surely you must not have forgotten our past experiences with this magestic instrument."
Inigo smiled. "Yes, we did play quite often when we were younger."
"We did more than that, my friend!" Owain said, his finger pointing to the heavens. "We were an enthralling duo you and I! My trusty sword hand and its faithful companion, ensnared by a rare moment of gentle delicacy, would strike the keys as an archer to his targets! And all the while, you, my artistic companion, would write out your notes like a general outlays his plans, ordering the soldiers of my fingers to act in sequence to conquer our objective: The production of the most beautiful music ever put to the ear!"
"I suppose that's one way to put it," Inigo said.
Owain then stood on his feet. "And then," he said, "not content to merely write an instrumental, we would compose masterful lyrics to accompany your merry notes. One of us would write a poem grander than Archbishop of Exeter's, and you would grace the world with a beautiful tenor, bringing our performance into something worthy of the ears of Naga!"
"You certainly think quite highly of them," Inigo said. "Though, if I can be perfectly frank, we did produce some fine music. Do you remember "Love's Philosophy?"
Owain laughed heartily. "As if I could forget our mighty Opus 4, Number 2!" he said. "It was inspired, my poetry with your music! I truly wonder, my friend, why you do not use that song and its mates more often in your pursuit of the fairer sex? I find it hard to believe they would not be swooning at your feet!"
Inigo maintained his smile, though it devolved into a grin. "You talk as though my mediocre voice would be attractive to a woman."
"Mediocre?!" Owain sputtered. He stepped to Inigo and placed both hands on his shoulders, his face expressing a horror whose genuineness Inigo could not discern. "Your voice is something to be admired, envied even! Men would kill to be able to sing like you can!"
Inigo rubbed the back of his head. "I always thought I was a better dancer and swordsman than a singer." To most, Inigo's dancing was a secret, but to his immediate family it was something he could never deny. They had seen far too much. "I can hold a note, sure, but compared to...Owain? What are you doing?"
Owain was now back at the piano bench, rummaging through his leather bag that he always carried when not in the heat of battle. He pulled out a stack of papers, each graced with musical notation in three lines, two for piano, one for voice. Atop the first page read: Five Songs, Op. 4. Then in small print: A Composition by Inigo, House of Ylisse to the librettos of Owain, House of Ylisse and Himself for Voice and Piano.
Inigo blinked. "You kept that all this time?"
"What, of course!" Owain said. "I have kept all our collaborations! Haven't you?"
"Well, yes," Inigo said, "I have our collaborations, and some pieces of my own, but I haven't..."
"Then its settled then!" Owain said. He rested the pages on the rack of the piano, and ran his fingers in an arpeggio up the scale of the piano. He began playing the opening notes of the first song in the series. "Come, cousin. No one can resist singing along to a song they know by heart."
"Owain," Inigo said, his face blushing, "I'm not even sure I remember the words!"
"Of course you do!" Owain said, "You wrote the first and third lyrics yourself! And for my lyrics, I saw how you looked over ever word, paired it with every individual note. You would never forget." Owain's fingers were nearly finished with the opening, and Inigo took several deep breaths in. It was clear Owain was not stopping. Nothing was physically keeping Inigo there to sing, he could leave at any time. But, pride is a powerful motivator, and as Owain began again the first notes of the first song, Inigo breathed in, and began singing a song he had written years ago, "The Answer."
"Ask me not dear what thing it is that makes me love you so,
What graces, what sweet qualities, that from your muses flow."
...
Lucina was heading down the stairs to the bottom floor, having searched the top of the building as thoroughly as she possibly could. If there was still a risen in the east wing, it was so small that Lissa with a stick could fend it off. She stepped unto ground level, walking down the hallway toward the colonnade, when she heard the sound of muffled piano playing, and a voice she could not recognize singing. Who could that possibly be? She walked toward the sound, the voice and notes giving an implication that the song they were playing was nearly ending.
Her thoughts went to her memories in the days prior, remembering with Severa how Owain and Inigo would play on the old piano. Perhaps they found one and they were playfully reconstructing a ballad or something. A small part of Lucina was angry that they would shirk their duties, but a larger part had a note of happiness. It was not often that they got to re-live a memory or act like children, so when the occasion presented itself, the opportunity must be taken.
She turned the corner just peering into what looked to be a study in remarkably good shape. Sure enough, Owain was striking the keys in a way that betrayed his lack of practice, but was still astonishingly good for someone who had not played in so long. What really caught her eye, however, was her brother Inigo. He stood at an angle, his face visible, but his attention not on her, or anything else for that matter. He stared off at the wall with a distant look in his eyes and a smile on his face as Owain began a song she had never heard before, but that Inigo and Owain had named "Love's Philosophy."
"The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix forever
with a sweet emotion;"
Lucina's eyebrows shot up, her eyes widened. 'That was Inigo's singing voice?' she thought, 'But, it's...it's so-'
"Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another beings mingle,
Why not I with thine?
Not I with thine?"
His hand extended as he sung out that last word, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She gripped the wall tightly, thinking that maybe she should let them know she was there, but she could not interrupt such a lively and beautiful song.
"See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the Earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What are all these kissings worth
If thou, if thou kiss not me!"
Lucina felt chills down her arms and legs hearing Inigo play with and stretch the final lyric to a degree she never thought possible. His voice erupted into a strong finale that gave the finished song a sense of completion. Owain's playing stopped to turn the page, when both were interrupted by the sound of a shout outside. It was Chrom, calling everyone to attention in the central courtyard. "Aw," Owain whined, "We were getting to the best song!"
Inigo merely smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder, his back now to Lucina. "It's alright, I'm sure we'll have a chance to finish another time. Maybe we can do some other songs too. It's been a long time since I've sung 'The Reign of the Stars' with accompaniment."
Owain perked up."That was one of our first! In fact, I think it might have been the second song we composed together after 'Come Spring!'"
"I think your right. In any case, let's get..." Inigo stopped talking, staring at his sister, who still had a somewhat open mouth. Lucina could not help but stare for a moment, before saying simply, "Father is calling for us," and making her way outside, an embarrassed blush still creeping up her face.