"Talk"

'Thought'

"ACK!"

Blake Belladonna fell to her hands and knees, as she was suddenly feeling extreme pain all over her body, which even caused her to cough up blood, a sight that didn't go unnoticed by the Royal Knights of Nyx.

"Bureiku?! BUREIKU?!?"

"OH LORD! Angela! She Needs Your Tea Now!"

"Cover Up The Injuries Now!"

"My Lady! Are You Ok?! Please Tell me You're Ok!?!"

Circe Lansbury, Angela Lansbury, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Orbach quickly rushed to Belladonna's side, confused and shocked at what had just happened. They did everything they could to stop the bleeding and treat her injuries, but sadly, they couldn't do much. Suddenly, they were all pushed away by a burst of black aura that emanated from Belladonna's body.

"T-They're hurting Boon..."

Blake was starting to be completely covered in black Aura flames.

"They're hurting Nero."

Which only continues to grow bigger and brighter, all the snow under and around Blake started to melt.

"AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING WITH YAMATO!?!"

And soon, Blake's Aura transformed her into her Belladonna Trigger form, which instantly melted all the snow in the area, leaving nothing but a large dry spot.

"Bureiku! Please! Your Injuries!"

Angela tried to get up and get close to her Mistress, in hopes to stop her.

"I NEED TO RESCUE MY SHADOW, MY SON, MY YAMATO!"

Blake wasn't listening as she was drowning in rage, worry, and despair. Another burst of Aura knocked the battle maid back down again.

"My Lady! Stop! You're Going To Explode Again!"

Circe was the only one to be left standing, thanks to her shadow thorns, however she couldn't get any closer to Bureiku.

"WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Blake grabs her head and screams very loudly. The sounds of her uncontrollable yelling and the intensity of her black Aura were starting to shake and break the ground underneath. This was felt by everyone, specifically:

- Nero, which was enough to wake him up from his unconscious state and look confused.

- Bianca, which caused her extreme confusion and hugged her Sammy worryingly.

- Boon, who struggles to handle all the emotions that she shared with her shadow owner.

- Agnus, who gasps in fear yet fascination.

- Both Credo and Kyrie, who were shocked to feel such a thing yet didn't know who was doing all this.

- Lastly, Sanctus, who just let out a small smirk from all this.

The raging power and Aura could even be felt outside of the island, especially by a certain blonde and red-coated figure, who was seen riding a boat and heading towards Fortuna.

"I think we've seen enough for today."

However, just as the Cat Faunus was about to literally explode, the sound of beautiful and soft piano music could be heard, which did catch the attention of the Royal Knights of Nyx, all looking and seeing that it was none other than Timothy James Curry, aka Maestro Forte, who used his powers to summon a ghostly piano, and was using it to play wonderful music on it.

"BOON!... M-My Nero!... Yamato…"

Blake at first tried to resist, as she tried to walk forward and towards the direction of her Boon, son, and Yamato, but the lovely music just cut through her negative thoughts and feelings, turning them into something more peaceful. Once all of her emotions and thoughts were basically at zero, she slowly fell to the ground, her tigger turning off, and just fell into a deep sleep. Her seems like all the stress had caught up to her, leaving her in a state of unconscious bliss.

"There's a castle nearby, that should be a good place for the Mistress to rest in."

After the crisis was avoided, Maestro Forte put away his ghostly piano and let out a huff as he glanced one last time at the sleeping Blake before turning away from her.

"Let's go."

Maestro Forte then took the lead and walked towards the castle he mentioned, his assistant Paul Reubens quickly followed after him.

"R-Right…"

Most of the Royal Knights of Nyx didn't know how to react or what to say in this situation, clearly not expecting all that had just happened. Without saying another word about it, they also just followed Timothy. Angela specifically picked up and carried Blake over her shoulder as she walked.

"Mother."

But as they walked on, Circe walked up and by her Mother, as she began wanting to speak with her.

"Yes sweetie?"

Which of course Angela was happy to listen to what her Daughter was about to say.

"How did our Lady meet this man?"

Though it seems that the conversation that Circe wanted to have was about James Curry himself, specifically about how Blake met him.

"I… Honestly, I don't know."

Though it seems that Angela didn't necessarily know how to answer that question.

"All Bureiku ever said was that she found him after he was abandoned by his last master and that she liked his music."

And what Angela did know wasn't a whole lot, and even then, it was somewhat a bit too simple and hard to believe on how or why the two met.

"I guess I can understand the music part."

Circe hums as she thought the same thing as he'd Mother, even if she understood one reason, she didn't with the other reason.

"But why would anyone abandon him?"

All Circe ever got was more questions than answers.

"That's all I've been told, sorry I can't say more than that."

Answers that Angela didn't have for her daughter, much to her disappointment. But with nothing more to say about Maestro Forte, they just kept walking either in silence or talking about something else. Unknown to them, the older gentleman had just listened and heard what they said about him, who could only think about himself and what he truly knew about why he was here.

"Hm…"

/Flashback\

"Timothy James Curry."

In the Dungeons of Fortuna, specifically at a prison cell that a younger version of Blake herself stood before.

"Or do you prefer Maestro Forte: The Soulful Pianist?"

And inside such a specific jail room was Maestro Forte himself, looking dirty and unkempt, wearing old prisoner clothes, something that made Blake frown but said nothing about it.

"What do you want, Priestess?..."

Maestro Forte didn't give so much as a passing glance to Belladonna. It seems that he no longer cared about anyone or anything anymore, which includes himself. He just sat there in his cell, waiting for the days to pass him, until he passed away.

"Well, I just, um…"

But as Pianist tried to not enjoy his self pity and misery, Blake just continued to speak to him.

"I really loved your musical talents…"

Specifically Blake talks about how she loves Timothy music.

"It helps me a lot with my stress and calms me down a lot…"

And how said music was something that made Blake feel, "Comfortable", which definitely catches his attention.

"What are you getting at, child?"

Maestro Forte looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering why she was telling him this.

"Would you… Would you be willing to work for me?"

Though what Blake said next truly surprises him.

"And play your beautiful music in my home?"

Blake, the Priestess of Fortuna, and the one who wields the Yamato blade, such an important person asking a low-life criminal, who was planning to rot in prison for the rest of his life, to be her personal music player, was definitely a very absurd experience and situation indeed.

"Please?..."

Yet, despite how crazy and illogical it was for such an important person to be asking a criminal for such a thing, he couldn't say no, especially when Blake looked at him with her bright amber eyes, which showed nothing but past suffering and sadness, and were seeking anything to help her escape it, or at the very least, temporarily ignore it.

"…"

/End Flashback\

'Blake Belladonna.'

Maestro Forte once again glanced back at the peaceful unconscious Blake that was still being carried by Angela.

'I'm sure you will find true peace one day.'

Looking at her and just imagining a version of Belladonna with her family, away from all of Fortuna and surrounded by a field of endless grass and flowers, a version of her where she's happy and smiling, free from all the pain and misery.

'And when that day comes, I'll be sure to play you a song to celebrate your freedom.'

You can imagine Maestro Forte as Blake's grandpa figure.

(Also I'll you come up with how or why Maestro Forte was in prison~)