Tales of Harmony
Chapter One
Manifesto
"Stinky."
Keyes blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He looked down. In his left hand was a spatula, and in his right has a pan with something black in it that might have once been food. It was smoking and sizzling pathetically. The boy swallowed nervously, looked around, and in one swift motion switched the charred fish with a new, unburnt piece. He didn't have enough time to cook a whole other slice of fish, but he would have to make due.
"Let me know when I'm burning food before it's burnt, alright?" he whispered.
Mayu nodded, still covering her mouth and nose with the ends of her sleeves, her eyes directed to the charred fish slowly burning its way through the wooden counters. She was kneeling on the ground, wearing a beige sweater so big on her that it easily touched the ground around her bare knees. From the window between the kitchen and dining area of the restaurant, one could only see the top of her head from the nose up, making her appear half the size of her brother.
"Mayu, come here for a second," Keyes said. Immediately she hopped to her feet and attached herself to Keyes' side. "We're going to flash-cook this, alright? Inferno, but take it easy. O fiery light..."
She nodded again, and held her hand, fingers outstretched, above the food. She closed her eyes. "O fiery light, reveal your all-cleansing flame," she whispered.
The seafood glowed brightly for a moment before fading into the white of perfectly cooked, slightly steaming fish. Keyes took a clean fork, peeled off a barely-noticeable strip of meat, and chewed on it thoughtfully. With a shrug, he sprinkled some herbs on it, plopped a pile of rice beside it, and handed the plate to Mayu. She smiled and scurried off to the customer while Keyes slumped against the counters. "I've got to stop spacing off at work," he grumbled.
"Yeah you do." Keyes jumped and spun. Standing at the entrance to the kitchen was a large, well-built man called Al, his boss. He moved up to the boy and dropped a beefy hand on his thin shoulder. "How much longer are you gonna be moping?"
Keyes scowled and looked away. "I'm not moping."
"Being a poop then. Whatever you call it, this isn't the first time you've burnt something like that. Next you'll burn yourself and then what're you gonna do?"
The boy shrugged.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get any more out of Keyes, Al moved back to the door. "Don't mess up again, kid. You owe me," he said. At that moment, Mayu slid through the space between his gut and the door frame as if Al was simply part of the woodwork.
"Rappig sandwich. Clam chowder," she stated before sinking into her usual spot on the ground near the stove. Al regarded her for a moment, rolling his eyes with a smile, and then raised an eyebrow in Keyes direction.
"I've got it. I've got it. You can't burn a sandwich."
"I'll believe you when I see that customer stuffing his face."
Keyes glowered at Al's back as he spun out of the kitchen and sighed, reaching for the loaf of Engeve's best bread and a knife.
"Al is nice," Mayu chirped. "Funny."
"I know." Concentrate on slicing. Don't cut off your own finger.
"There was...a man today. He was funny, too. But not like Al."
"Oh? Is that right?" Alright, now where's that ham?
"Funny means laughing and funny means different?"
"Yes, at times." And cheese.
"Different man is...different. Clam chowder man."
"And wanting clam chowder makes one different, does it? I like clam chowder." Almost done...Ugh, this lettuce is a bit limp.
"Keyes is different. Clam chowder man is differenter."
Keyes stopped for a second, holding the final slice of bread above the sandwich, his face screwed up in thought. "...More different," he corrected unsuccessfully.
"He is looking for a Scorer."
Keyes slammed the slice down on the sandwich, squishing pieces of cheese out with the force of the smash. With a hurried shakiness, he scooped a spoonful of chowder into a bowl and dropped it unceremoniously onto a saucer. Mayu held out her hands, but Keyes kept the food. "I'll take these out. Show me where they go, please."
Mayu turned and walked from the kitchen, her brother following close behind with the plates in hand. She led him to a table against the inland wall, underneath a window, and took the plates from his hands and placed them in front of their respective diners. The sandwich went to a young, pale-haired and warmly-dressed man. The soup went to a taller, black-cloaked and black-haired man. He didn't look up as Mayu set the bowl before him. He didn't move an inch. Nor did Keyes.
"Umm...Thank you," the white-haired man finally said. Keyes still didn't budge, even with Mayu tugging at his shirt.
The other man took a spoonful of the chowder, gulped it down, and set the spoon aside. "Are you a Scorer?"
"I'm the cook," Keyes replied.
"My compliments, but I want a Scorer."
"There aren't any anymore. The Score is gone."
Although his hair covered his eyes, his mouth was perfectly visible and it curled then into a sick grin. "Is it now? If there is no music, then why is there an orchestra?" He stood and dropped several Gald on the table. "Ginji. Come. We had best be going."
"Y-yes sir!" the white-haired boy stuttered, grabbing the remains of his sandwich. "Thank you, it was a very good meal," he said to Keyes as he hurried out the door of the restaurant. The taller man remained for a moment.
"It's going to rain."
Keyes looked out the window. It was the nicest day of the year, a cloudless, temperate day. Even the sea over New Hod looked pleasant. He wanted to shoot an accusingly bemused look at the man, but he was already gone. Keyes stared at the door as if daring the two to come back, but they didn't. He scooped the Gald from the table, pocketed it, and took the plates as well.
"You were right," he muttered.
"Mm?"
"He was differenter."
Night had fallen, covering Grand Chokmah in a half-darkness. It was never truly dark in the capital. There was always some light on somewhere, and that light bounced off infinite water droplets in the ocean air and lit up the misty city. It was easy to drown in Grand Chokmah, and one didn't necessarily have to be submerged.
It was particularly misty that night. Patches of mist soaked the streets, flooding into cracks in doors and windows. Keyes could barely see his hands, let alone Mayu. She had left the house at some point, and was now out in the city somewhere, all alone—or worse, with someone. Keyes cursed and ran a bit faster, looking into every alley and port he passed. She had to be there, somewhere! If only she wasn't so quiet...
And that sickness...Why had she left?!
More running...It felt as if he was running without end. All of the houses looked exactly the same as the last.
How long had he been running, anyway?
Finally, he had to stop. He doubled over, his lungs aching for a little water-free air. As he gasped for breath, a little rock rolled to a stop before his shoes. He looked up.
Mayu was there, staring at him. At her feet...
Keyes snapped awake soundlessly. All he could see were words, and a lot of them. It took him a second to realize that he had fallen asleep with a book on his face. He lifted it off and set it aside.
It was that dream again. It was a lucky and rare night that he didn't have the same one. It had been five years, hadn't it? Why couldn't he just have a normal dream for once?
"I still remember..." he murmured. He was sitting in a chair next to Mayu's bed. She was peacefully asleep, her face buried in her thick hair and her arms wrapped around a rappig doll. A slight smile crossed Keyes' face. He leaned over and, gently, kissed her on the temple. She didn't stir at all, so he moved away and out of the room and to his own, where he kept a small library. He found the hole on the shelves and tucked the book back in. It was another book on Fonic Artes, one of many that he kept and read frequently. Mayu was a genius at Fonic Artes. He, on the other hand...Well, he could use them, but he was no where near as talented. He took more after his father. What artes he knew were just a result of teaching Mayu the incantations.
He looked outside. It was dark, but it still wasn't raining. It was only a little misty, like always. That guy in the restaurant was officially a loon. He must have been, to ask for a Scorer. If any Scorer was still around, Keyes would already know about it. He would have already asked him for a reading, but the Score was gone. It had been for five years. Some had even tried to read it, but the most any seventh fonist could do was fake it. Lorelei had left the core of Auldrant for good and took the Score, and the future, with it.
What about us? Keyes thought. What about those who still need the Score? It was only by luck and the kindness of the Malkuthian people that they had gotten by for so long. If the Score was still around, they would know exactly what to expect, and they wouldn't have to live in fear of the future anymore.
Keyes dropped onto his bed, ignoring the covers. It was too early to do anything, but too late to fall back asleep. Instead, he just laid there and stared at the ceiling.
Soon enough, the sound of rain hitting the roof reached his ears.
So it rained after all, he mused. The man was crazy, but he was good at predicting the weather. Then again, the ocean brought in all sorts of unexpected storms. Maybe it wasn't so much a prediction as a little bit of luck.
Keyes rolled out of bed again and glanced out the window. Something was wrong...The rain was...
...Glowing red?
He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the rain was still glowing a molten red. He leaned in towards the window, staring at the falling fire, when a fist-sized piece fell right in front of him. He didn't have time to brace himself for the impact. As soon as that piece of molten stone hit the ground, it sent shock waves throughout the entire building, sending Keyes rolling backwards through his room. He ended up against the book shelf, his upturned legs the only things keeping the falling books from hitting anything vital. When the shaking as over, all Keyes could do was stare in shock.
Meteors. It was raining meteors.
"K-Keyes!"
"Oh, Lorelei—Mayu!" He twisted to his feet and ran down the short hallway to Mayu's room, bracing himself against the nearby walls with every meteor strike. With every strike, Mayu gave a small shriek. That was the only thing keeping Keyes from ducking for cover. After what seemed like a lifetime, he reached her room. She was still on the bed, holding the covers and her rappig doll in a fatal stranglehold. Keyes hurriedly pried a hand loose and pulled her from the bed and into the hallway and down the stairs.
"Keyes?"
"We're going into the cellar. We'll be safest underground...I think." Most natural disasters, save for floods, came with a recommendation to get somewhere low and structurally safe, but never had anyone made a safety plan for a rain of flaming rocks!
They reached the basement of the restaurant, a cellar full of root vegetables and other foods. If they got trapped down there, at least they wouldn't go hungry. Keyes pulled a couple sack of flour from the stack and placed them on the ground for use as cushions. Mayu quietly sat down on one, still clutching her blanket and rappig. Keyes sat on the other one and drew his knees to his chin, listening to the explosions and the pattering of the raining dust. What on Auldrant was going on?
"Keyes?"
"What is it?"
Mayu shuffled her feet, not looking up to answer. "You're scared."
"...Yeah. I am...But don't worry, I'll take care of you, alright?"
"...Alright...Thank you."
It was hours before the rain stopped. It was like waiting for popcorn to pop, listening for a long gap between explosions. When an hour had passes since the last large explosion, Keyes stood up. Mayu had long since fallen asleep, her youthful need for sleep overriding the noise, and was using the flour as a pillow. Her brother quietly opened the door to the cellar, before rethinking it and closing it again. If Mayu woke up while he was gone, she would undoubtedly panic. He knelt next to her and gently shook her shoulder.
"Mmng?"
"I'm going to go outside for a second. You stay here. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Mayu stared at Keyes, still in a half-awake daze, her dirty blonde hair splashed in the same arrangement it was in on the pillow. "O...kay..." And then she laid back down on the flour sack as if she had never moved.
"Did you even hear me or are you too sleepy?"
Her fist formed into a thumbs-up.
"Heh, alright. I'll be right back."
The scene just inside the restaurant wasn't pleasant. Pots and tables and chairs were scattered everywhere. The garbage—mostly fish—had spilled from its container onto the kitchen floor. A small part of Keyes' mind grimaced at how horrible the clean-up was going to be. He worked his way around the fallen tables and glass and finally reached the front door.
Outside was just as bad as he imagined. Holes pockmarked everything: the building, the road, even the ships in the harbor. Most of the holes still had the formerly-flaming rocks in them, the largest ones as big as Al's fist. A few other people were wandering around the city in a dazed state, unsure of what to do or what had just happened. Keyes felt the same.
Half-consciously, he knelt next to one of the holes and reached for the stone. He quickly withdrew his hand. The stone at the center of the crater was still radiating intense heat. Keyes looked around. There had to be something...Yes. He took a wrecked piece of a wagon wheel—probably one of the spokes—and jammed the end underneath the rock to lever it out. With some effort, the stone popped out of the hole and bounced innocently on the sidewalk it had destroyed. Keyes inched nearer, getting as close as he could without getting burnt. It had a pale opalescent transparency to it, almost like...
Keyes turned his eyes to the sky.
The fonbelt, the ring of fonstones encircling the entire planet, was considerably thinner.
The funny thing is one of my closest friends, nicknamed Asch, heard a meteor explode the day after I wrote this. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN. More coming soon, I hope. The appearance of Crazy Meteorlogical Dude really threw me off, so I'm gonna have to figure out where to go from here. I did NOT expect him to show up. Que sera sera~