Challenge #50

Noct didn't know what had brought him here. It was almost like a reflex. Or maybe he was reminiscing on happier days. Days that involved this room…a room that was closed off to him now. He studied the door, flawless and smooth under his fingertips. The scent of fine oak rolled off of it still. Noctis enclosed his palm over the doorknob, twisting it to his left until a soft 'click' made him push the door forward. He remembered doing such an action before. Many times, though less silent as he was today. Less solemn. The room he remembered was always full of light. It was spacious and luminous as the drapes were pushed aside whenever he'd enter. It was like all the good in the world, all its happiness and daylight, were contained in the very room. Where his mind wandered, his eyes followed, squinting in the darkness. The shapes of furniture—those of what he once sat on—were draped in fabric to prevent dust from settling. Noctis shook his head keep his eyes focused on what was now in front of him. The memories were happy to remember, but less so when he'd break out of them, and realize that so much had changed.

He closed the door behind him—then after a second's consideration, locked it. Trapping himself in a different world then the one lurking outside the window. Noct snapped his fingers—a swift command—and curtains drew back as though hands had groped hurriedly at the ends. Light exploded and set its brilliance on the small chamber, casting warmth on his face and sending the shadows to flee. He squinted until his vision became clear and his attention fell on a giant object, singled out from the other furnishings. A white sheet draped over it, masking its shape, and for a second it seemed to radiate a halo of its own.

Even before he had advanced towards it and clutched the fabric to tear it away, Noct knew what it was.

He hadn't forgotten.

With a rush of white, the fabric streamed by the corner of his eye. Where the sheet had became unveiled, dying sunshine played off its polished surface. It was a piano. It was the same grand piano that was so alive with life and light even when the day began to fade into night. It seemed like centuries ago now that the sky was descending into a murky nightmare called night. Despite the fact it had been forgotten for years, somehow in some way, the piano looked just as beautiful as it was when he last saw it. Its flawless exterior reflected his image like a black mirror. The years did not hinder its grandeur.

He sat down and flipped back the case that protected the black and white ivory within. The late sunshine glazed off their smooth faces making them bright as if they shone from within. They mesmerized him with their beauty. Gingerly, Noct pressed a finger down on a key and listened to its resonance pierce the quiet. He smiled—barely. It was still tuned as if it had been waiting for him all this time.

He eased himself to sit properly: feet in front, arms out and fingers stretched apart. His eyes flew to where his old music sheets had been. Of course it would be bare now. Noct's eyes lingered on the keys, trying to think of a tune that could get him stared. But suddenly, Noct felt that he didn't need to.

"Music expresses what cannot be put into words."

Or at least…that's what the old man told him…

He didn't know what made his fingers move. Perhaps the silence had become unbearable, or else…he found the key to get him started. Either way, there was no turning back. It wasn't like he had a choice to. The music had already begun. But it began very slowly, like he was hesitating and carefully placing a single feeling on each key. Its melody began to grow and quicken as like a spark that grew into a tongue of flame as he added more oxygen, more soul. An ache in his heart began to swell. It hurt. He couldn't understand why. The notes transcended through the air, piercing the silence with its sharpness and clarity. In his eyes, the reality around him changed. He felt it change like taking clay into his hands. He was molding it. Shaping it. The shadows seemed so far away, and the sunshine a bit brighter. The creeping darkness seemed to melt into the vast corners and cower back against the walls. His phantoms glided off without a trace. The dust motes that filled the air danced between the slits of twilight, spinning like small planets locked in orbit. Or like ballroom dancers who twirled beneath the crystal chandeliers. He poured his entire being through his fingertips, pushing everything knew, who he was into the black sanctuary.

If just for this moment, let the mask break. Let him be reborn as someone else with a new name, a new role. He was tired of losing more than receiving. Take the cruelty, take the malice, make it something new. Something better.

Something dripped down his face. At its touch, his fingers halted in its movements before flying off the keys to touch his face. He touched it and felt its wetness. Quickly he held out his fingers to the moonlight. What had he been expecting? Was it blood? Perhaps that would answer his puzzlement when he saw that his fingertips were clear and without a hint of scarlet. Noctis reached to touch his face again and touched the damp streaks that feel down his cheeks.

Tears?

He had been crying? Noctis smiled but made no motion to wipe the sleek trails. Maybe, he mused thoughtfully, with a rue smile. His fingers settled back on the smooth ivory where they returned to their exquisite ballet, albeit slower and smoother as if to impersonate the tears that quietly ran down his face. Somehow in the deliberate slowness, he found solace that soothed the ache in his heart. The notes that spun out of creation pierced the air. Despite its lack of a physical form, he felt strange sensations flowing into him as if the notes kissed his face in gratitude for their long awaited release. Or the harmony of the song enfolded around him in sweet embraces. How strange this comfort was. But yet...he could not resist this siren's temptation and so he fell deeper under its spell, loosing himself.

If just for one more moment, if just for tonight, let him be not Noctis Lucis Caelum.

Just.

Noct.