Author's Notes: I swear, I swear I haven't forgotten this story at all. But my day job has gotten real hectic and when I get home my brain goes "blahh." Luckily for me, I've discovered that Imagine Dragons has magical properties that help me to write. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I also hope that the next chapter goes much more smoothly. Pray with me people!
Lavi and the Beanstalk
Ch. 5 "Silver Musician"
Lavi heaved himself up onto the last ledge. He could sill hear the mysterious singing wofting through the air. Once he was on the ledge, however, Lavi's legs collapsed underneath him. His earlier galavanting had left him completely drained.
The red head dragged his tired body further onto the ledge. After some time of this, Lavi then shifted himself towards the wall. There he leans back on the gigantic inner wall.
He closed his eyes as he rested for a spell. Meanwhile he listened to the lovely singing.
The pitch of the voice sounded high but not too high. More like an alto than a soprano. And the voice was rather feminine, Lavi thought. Then again, he didn't know of any males who could sing like that who weren't 10 years old. Also, Lavi figured that the singer wasn't very old either, since there wasn't much of a timbre to the voice.
But there was something else to the voice. Something that Lavi knew there was no standard of measure for. Pain. This singer just sounded so sad. Painfully sad. And that melancholy made the singer's voice all the more beautiful.
It even tugged a little at Lavi's own heart strings. Whomever this singer was, they definetely knew what pain and sorrow felt like. Not to mention talented enough to put it to lyrics.
Lavi continued to listen to the mysterious singing. Taking in that oh-so-sweetly melancholic tone, until he heard something strange.
"Huh?" Lavi paused for a moment while he processed this new information.
"The music stopped?"
Yes, the music stopped.
"The music stopped?" He repeated. "Hey, wait a minute-THE MUSIC STOPPED!"
Lavi scrambled to his feet. He tripped over himself a few times before finally standing upright. Back on his feet, Lavi headed down the ledge and towards the direction he figured the singing had come from.
He came skidding to a halt in front of the mouse hole and lept through the opening.
This time Lavi found himself high atop on a bookshelf. He walked towards the edge of the shelf and ever so stealthily peered out into the room. First thing he noticed was that the room was empty of people. And judging from the furniture, Lavi also figured that he was in some sort of lounge or living area. But none of that was going to help him.
Lavi was starting to lose hope of ever hearing the voice again. Until, that was, he saw what appeared to be a silver. . . egg?
The red headed youth began to spy the faraway egg carefully. It looked to have intricate drawings and designs carved on it but the distance made it all impossible to discern. Lavi was now starting to think that the silver egg could've been been the source of the singing. Like some sort of music box. Although he had never heard of music box that could sing. But certainly a giant could afford such fantastical technology.
Set in his convictions, Lavi began looking for a way down into the room.
He soon found it in the very back of the book shelf's corner-there was a makeshift rope ladder consisting of yarn and broken tooth picks for steps. The corner of the shelf was hollowed out for use of the ladder.
Lavi descended down the rope ladder. Once he reached the bottom shelf, Lavi crept towards the edge. Double checking his surroundings. Okay. Coast was clear. He took off like a rocket.
Now the silver egg rested neatly on a table. A table that was practically the size of a castle to Lavi. Compared to the rest of the room though it was merely an end table that stood beside a matching chaise lounge.
The "little" table was drapped in an ornate table cloth that was hemmed with golden tassels. First Lavi began to scale the tassels by climbing up one of its woven strands. After that Lavi attempted to climb up the actual table cloth but couldn't. It turned out that the cloth was made of silk and silk was impossible to climb.
Lavi couldn't grip the fabric very well and kepy slipping. And with no foot hold, Lavi continued to fall. Still he percevired and found his saving grace in a giant hand-knit lace doiley that also ordained the little end table.
The holes and gaps in the doiley's pattern provided the eager red head with the grips and foot holds he needed. Now he was climbing up the side of the table as easily as he could with any ladder.
Once he reached the top, Lavi heaved himself up over the edge for what he hoped was the final time.
At long last he reached the silver egg, but now what? Just how in the hell was he supposed to open the darn thing? Even if he knew what to do, he still couldn't reach or lift the egg.
Lavi screamed out his frustrations.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! TH' HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!" The impechulant youth stormed over to the silver egg and kicked its stand.
Bad idea.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"
A way bad idea.
Lavi fell back onto his bum. Where he took off his boot to examine his throbbing big toe. Nothing was broken but Lavi's toe was already starting to swell and redden.
"Ya stuid egg, lookit what you did to my foot!" Lavi scoffed. "And look at me for getting all worked up over nothing. Ya hear me? NOTHING!"
Lavi chucked his boot with a mighty force. The boot made a most beautiful arc as it soared through the air. However, the boot's trajectory stopped when it collided with the silver egg. Making a lovely "tink" sound when the two connected.
The boot fell back to the ground, err. . . table, and so did Lavi's spirits. His head hung low as his spirit continued to drop. Nothing was happening still. Lavi had spent the entire day exhurting his body to its limits. While he had enjoyed aimlessly exploring the castle earlier, Lavi found it more than a little disheartening when he couldn' reach his goal of finding the mysterious singer.
It was looking like all of his effort would be for naught. Or so he thought.
Suddenly the egg came to life. The silver egg stirred awake with clicks and whirrs. Lavi slowly stood, staring in disbelief as the egg began to move.
The shell of the egg split open just like a blossoming flower. A dazzling light poured out from the egg. Lavi sheilded his eyes as he slowly approached the device. He could just make out the form of a person sitting in front of a large something.
Just then the sound of piano keys chimed out. The notes came soft and suddenly, like a gently trickling rainfall. Lavi then gasped. "The music," He recognized the melody almost instantly. It was the same song he had heard earlier.
As the lights dissapated, Lavi could at last see the singer. There sat a pure white figure, unmoving on a bench before a small grand piano. Lavi could hardly believe his eyes as he drew closer.
The singer was a young teenager with translucent skin, snow white hair, and silvery eyes that were fixed solely on the piano before her. Lavi gazed on in wonder at this girl. Even her long eyelashes were the same shade of white that her hair was. Lavi had become so transfixed with her beauty that he never heard her take in a breathe.
And she sang:
"So as the boy fell to sleep,
"The fire in the ash engulfs the air.
"One, by one...
"What rises are the faces of my beloved ones.
"What trickle down to Earth are the thousands of
"Dreams... dreams..."
Her voice rang throughout the room. Sweetly sad and dripping with powerful emotion. Lavi continued to listen until the song played out.
By the end of it, Lavi was mesmerized by the girl-just like how she was with her piano. He now stood a hair's breadth away from her. With one hand propped on the piano, Lavi crouched his back down and leaned his face in so it would be closer to her's.
Lavi stood there, drinking in her gorgeous radiance. Never noticing as the girl's breathing began to quicken. A small but long moan, that went unheard by Lavi, escaped her throat. The girl's shoulders shuffled as her eyes began to blink rapidly. Her eyes slowly came into focus.
The pale teen sensed an unfamiliar presence. Fully awakened from the spell, she turned to see Lavi. Who was so close to her now that he was practically exhalling his breath right into her own mouth. She screamed. And Lavi let out a yelp in surprise.
The girl immediately jumped up and ducked behind the piano. Lavi followed her, doing his best to calm her down. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you."
"Wha-what the hell are you doing here?" She asked breathlessly as she continued to back away from Lavi.
The young red head blinked in surprise when he heard her curse. Apparently there was some bravado packed within her lithe frame.
"I just wanted to hear you sing. That's all." Lavi explained as he slowly circled her around the piano.
"What?!" The girl's silver eyes went wide. "No. Stop. Just, stop." She made a gesture with her hand, motioning for Lavi to stop. The silvery youth turned towards her piano and placed both hands down in its lid. Lavi watched the girl shake her head as she anxiously shuffled her feet. She was contenplating his words. "Listen now, yo-WAHH! And stop trying to get close to me already!" She screamed. Instantly jumping back when she found Lavi invading her personal space again.
"I can't help it. You're so beautiful." Lavi mentally slapped himself. Kanda would've rightly killed him for saying that.
"Are you crazy?" For some reason the girl looked livid when she heard that.
"But you are!" Lavi insisted. "I mean, you look like no else I've ever seen before. Your eyes, your hair. And with those clothes you look just like a fairy tale princess although your missing-"
"STOP!" She screamed.
Once again Lavi was taken back by the girl's gusto. But Lavi was secretly glad that she stopped him before he said anymore. Lavi didn't know what was wrong with him. He had been perfectly smooth with Rinali. The only problem was Komui's untimely interuption. But now he was doing everythig wrong. He hadn't even introduced his name yet. And the words were spewing from his mouth like a bad fish dinner.
The girl took a few breathes before starting again. "Okay. What're you doing here and how did you get here?"
"I um, uhh, through the mouse holes. If that makes any sense." Lavi decided it was best if he only said what was needed to answer her questions. Specially when the girl was looking ready to punch him.
"Mouse holes? Wait, do you mean Helveska's tunnels?"
"Uh, sure." What ever a 'Helveska' was, it must've been important, Lavi figured by the girl's reaction. She seemed very excited.
"Right. Right." The girl clapped her hands together. "So, how'd you even find this place?"
"You're not going to believe me." Lavi's throat went dry very quickly. He knew the truth wouldn't be easy to swallow.
"Have you looked around around us yet?" The girl scoffed as she gestured to their surroundings. "You can't shock me any more unless you were really trying."
Lavi took in a deep breathe before replying.
"I climbed up a magic beanstalk."
"WHAT?!"
He knew it.
The girl looking ready to chew him out. Lavi watched the girl's earthreal features turn dark as she was preparing to hurl curses at him. However, her fury was short lived as a dreadful rumbling shook the air around teens and even the air withing their lungs.
"WHAT IS ALL OF THAT DAMNABLE NOISE!"
Lavi's heart began to play "The Bells of Saint Mary." He turned to the girl to see her translucent skin turn ashe gray and her eyes had grown wide with sheer terror. Lavi followed her gaze towards the open door. He could already hear the heavy footfall race towards them. Was it finally going to happen, Lavi asked himself. Was he really going to meet a giant?
"Get out of here! Hurry!" The girl screamed. Pushing Lavi out of the silver egg.
"Not without you I'm not!" Lavi turned around and grabbed the girl's wrist. He was ready to jump with her in tow but she wriggled free. Lavi turned around and looked at her dumbfounded. Why she wouldn't leave?
"I can't." She said with her face scrunched up like she was in some sort of pain. The girl then stepped forward and raised her hand. That was when a strange wall of light appeared and pushed the girl's hand back. Lavi couldn't believe it. This poor girl was completely trapped within the egg. The girl shook the sadness off of her face and shouted to Lavi again. "You really need to leave! Now! Go! GO!"
Lavi hesitated. No way he wanted to leave her there but he knew that there weren't any other options. So Lavi gritted his teeth and lept out from the center of the silver egg.
He continued down the table and across the room back to the book shelf. It was then that Lavi stopped his retreat and looked back to see that the silver egg had already closed itself shut. And just like that the girl was gone again.
The foot step's of the giant were now reverberating through the open door. Feeling his heart quicken from fear, Lavi scaled the yarn ladder in record time. He continued through the inner workings of the mansion walls and made his way back out into the bleached white garden where he climbed down the giant beanstalk.
P.S. I just wanna say that Lavi has some damn impressive stamina. Oh. And the next chapter is called, "Fretting and Poor Decision Making".