-Germany: Bonn, 1771-

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born into a relatively wealthy family. His father, Johann Van Beethoven, was a musician and so, the young boy was exposed to the art from infancy. It is said that when his mother sang to him, he would rhythmically nod his head along to the music. At the mere age of two, Johann discovered Beethoven's fascination with his musical instruments. "What's that little friend? You want to try the piano? Hohoh very well," He sits Beethoven on his knee and the boy eagerly slaps away at the keys randomly, laughing and smiling all the while, his mother gently smiling from the side. Johann looks up with a smile. "What's the matter, Maria?"

She smiles, somewhat dourly. "It's just nice to see you and Ludwig having fun together."

"Yes. Music is very fun isn't it, Ludwig?" He asks Ludwig eagerly nodding as he slaps the keys again.

However, not everything was meant to last. At the mere age of 5, Ludwig could easily find his way around a piano, plinking away at the keys with a smile, when his father returns home, hearing the music he's making. "What… on Earth is THAT?!" He steps into the living room seeing Ludwig playing away with a smile. "I see, Ludwig! You can finally reach all the keys. Why don't I teach you how to play properly?" He asks.

"?" Ludwig opens his mouth to speak when his father sits down next to him.

"Alright, my boy. Let me show you some real musical pieces. Just follow my steps okay?" He instructs and Ludwig nods along, hearing his father play. It sounds very nice. Calm but firm. Kinda like him. However, something's missing? Maybe… Ludwig reaches in as Lohann finishes playing and starts playing himself. He hits the notes exactly right but he adds a few new ones in himself which make it sound better to him. "Nonono. You ALMOST had it. Listen to the notes, my boy. Listen close and watch," Ludwig did not quite understand what his father said. Almost had it? It was music. There was nothing TO have.

However… this was it. This was the last time, Ludwig would smile while playing piano.

"LUDWIG! For the millionth time! GET IT RIGHT!?" Lohann slaps Ludwig over the wrists, taking a swig of his bottle. "TWO YEARS and you STILL cannot play? You have a talent for music, boy!" He yells, clearly drunk. Suddenly his mother grabs his arm, just as he raises it to strike Ludwig again.

"Please! Honey! Don't hurt him anymore!"

"SHUT UP!" Johann angrily swings and backhands her to the floor, Ludwig's eyes widening as he sees her fall, completely powerless the both of them. Her mother… was struck… because he can't play right! He tries to get his body to move down to help her up, but he can't get himself to stand from the seat.

"..." Ludwig plays a bit more, feeling his hands trembling with pain from the smacks and lashes he's gotten for trying to play what he wanted. Why won't he just… let him play? What's wrong with playing what he wants? Where's his REAL dad?! Where did he go!? Who is this man in front of him? He feels tears rolling down his cheeks as he rapidly takes short breaths, feeling powerless in front of his favorite instrument.

Ludwig steps into the living room, in the middle of the night, laying his eyes on the giant grand piano and he sits down. He loves playing. He loves music. He HAS to love music. He gently begins playing hoping his father won't wake up, but he's usually too drunk to wake up from the noise. He gets to play exactly what he wants here. No one telling him otherwise. But just sitting here, his hands tremble. "... ... ,,," His mother enters the room, hearing soft sobbing in between the sounds of piano keys. She walks up and turns him around, seeing her boy's eyes bloodshot red. He's cried all his tears away, trembling from head to toe. However, his grief is not subsided in the slightest as he can see the bruises she's gotten after trying to get in Johann's way today. "Oh, Ludwig. D-don't let him see you like this. I don't… I can't… there's nothing I can do. I'm so sorry, Ludwig. I'm sorry… I'm sorry," She was his mother. Why does he have to make her cry because he can't play? What was happening to his family? His life? His MUSIC!?

Ludwig was certain things could NEVER get worse. His passion for music was there… but he didn't want to play. His father even began contacting his various musician friends to train him in different instruments. The trumpet, he could play with ease. "WRONG! Like THIS!" The flute? Trivial to play. "NONONO! Geez, aren't you supposed to be a prodigy!" The violin? Not a problem to learn. "You're USELESS!" Each and every time he would be mercilessly struck for playing his own music. His mother had not seen her son smile for nearly five years. His brothers were not prodigal and were treated just fine until Johann got drunk. They all blamed Ludwig for not listening to what his father instructed. It all became too much. Crying himself to sleep every night, being struck by his teachers, and bad-mouthed to his face and behind his back. Ludwig heard his father angrily calling him. "LUDWIG! TIME FOR YOUR LESSON!" He screams and something in the boy's head snaps. He gets on his shoes and coat and he runs. Away from home. It was nothing like home anymore anyway! He got to the street, sprinting down the cold snow-covered winter street, crying his eyes out. He can't remember the last time he had enough tears to cry properly. Why did nobody love his music?

His father hated his music, and his teachers equally, his brothers blamed him for everything, and his mother was too scared! Was he THAT worthless!? He slips and scrapes his knees but simply stands, wiping his frozen tears, and keeps walking, until he finds a tree close to a fence, sitting down and burying his face in his knees. His father is going to be so mad when he returns home… Why would he do such a stupid thing?

However, that is when Ludwig met… him.

Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was simply randomly walking to his home, stops as he sees the little boy crying. He stops and kneels down in front of the boy, Ludwig tensing up thinking it was his father. "Hey there, kid. What's the matter?"

Ludwig opens his mouth to speak, his lips trembling, his voice getting stuck in his throat. "..." He can't get the words out. He fully expects the man to leave when he won't talk to him.

However, much to his surprise, the man sits down next to him. "That bad huh?" he says leaning his head back against the fence. "Your parents?"

"..." Ludwig nods very slightly. To some it could easily just have looked like a shiver from the cold.

"Yeah. Family is difficult. You live… near here?" He asks glancing down at the boy

"!?" Ludwig tenses up, quickly shaking his head. An obvious lie.

"So you don't want to go back?"

"... ,,," Ludwig hides his face between his legs and shakes his head.

Christian sheepishly smirks. "I'm not going to force you back, but you do need to go back eventually and face the consequences. That's just… how the world works," Ludwig starts shaking a little. "Not right now. But… tell you what kid. Come on. You can stay at my place for a little while, while you build some courage. Sound good?"

Ludwig had been told to not trust strangers, but simply seeing the man in front of him smile down at him made him trust this person more than his own parents. At least in that single moment. He grabs Christian's hand and follows him to Christian's quaint little house. He looks around, his eyes blank. "... ..."

Christian kneels down in front of him. "Alright kid. Let's make a deal. I will let you stay here until the evening. Then you go home. Deal?"

"!? ... ..." Ludwig nods a little.

Christian makes him a little food, finding Beethoven's eyes drawn to his small piano in the corner of the room. "Oh?" He walks over and opens it up. "You play?" He asks and Ludwig nods hesitantly. "Then why don't you come over here and show me what you've got?" Ludwig freezes up from being asked to play. Christian starts playing himself. His music is wild and... chaotic, not at all like what his father plays!

Ludwig gets off his chair and pulls it up next to Christian. "..."

Christian smiles down at the boy while he plays. "Come on then! Let's see what you can do," He gives Ludwig the stage, and Ludwig tries to replicate the piece Christian just played perfectly. "Nooooo no no," Ludwig's face goes pale as Christian seems to realize. He gently reaches forward to assure Ludwig that it's alright and Ludwig falls off his chair, crawling back, tears filling his eyes as he shields himself, shaking all over. "H-hey what're you-?" He pauses a bit before it all clicks in his head. "Kid… your father… because of... your music?" He asks and Ludwig nods gently not wanting more trouble. "L-Listen kid. I'm not mad that you're playing MY music wrong. Come on. I'm not going to hit you. It was... something else." Ludwig slowly inches himself onto his chair again, looking up at Christian with wondering eyes. "I'm a little mad that you tried to play MY music. Play YOUR music. How else can you be satisfied with what you play after all?" he says with a smile and Ludwig slowly sits down and starts playing.

"... ... ! ..." Yes. Just like this. A melody he's never heard before. It all flows from his mind into his fingers and he suddenly hears Christian joining in with some of his own, making him look over in shock. "!?"

"This. This is music. This is what music can do when two people play together. Don't you think so? Music is like a language you know?" He lectures. His voice is so soft and kind. Yet Ludwig cannot for the life of him find it uplifting. "We might not be able to talk with words, but…" He frowns a little. "But I can understand somewhat how you're feeling from the way you play. You're scared, sad, a little angry. It's only natural. Don't worry though, kid. You can come by whenever you want. I'll even teach you a thing or two!" He says with a bright cheerful smile.

Ludwig raises an eyebrow a little. "?"

Christian laughs a bit. "Nonono. Just from hearing you play… I can't teach you a single thing when it comes to PLAYING music but… you know… the best way for others to understand your music is to… compose?" He points to the musical papers in front of them. "I can teach you that. How does that sound?" Ludwig's expression doesn't change, but he looks down at the keys and, with a single quick, light press, Christian laughs. "Yeah, that's right! Sounds pretty fun doesn't it?" Ludwig nods. It does sound fun. So why doesn't he feel like smiling?

Christian went home with Ludwig, and explained to his father where he had been and that he would be coming over to be taught 'proper composing techniques'. This made his father quite boastful of his boy's talents which in turn made Ludwig a little uncomfortable. He never spoke so highly of him in private. As it was part of his musical education Lohann saw no issue. When they came to Christian's house, the two would spend all day together learning a LITTLE composing. But mostly they would sit at the piano and play together. Ludwig would silently play his music while Christian would do his best to cheer him up, enthusiastically teaching him to write the various notes and striking away at the keys with wild and chaotic abandon, creating truly unique sounds Ludwig never even thought possible! There was not a single moment where Christian raised his voice at him. He was so kind. So happy. So full of energy! He was really amazing and helpful! But… Ludwig didn't want to smile... It made him sad that he didn't want to smile. Christian deserved to see him smile! He was doing so much to cheer him up...

The two are sitting and playing the last piece of the day, Christian eagerly tapping away when Ludwig stops. Chrisitan looks down at him a little confused. "Hey, Ludwig. What's the matter? Are you okay?" With a single tap of a note, Ludwig gestures no. "Hey now, what's wrong?" Christian gets down on his knee in front of Ludwig's chair. They're made a bit of a system for talking using the piano. Ludwig feels his eyes welling with tears again. He presses down on a few keys.

'Sad' it means.

Christian looks back at him. "Ludwig. It's okay. It's alright to be sad. What're you sad about?"

However, Ludwig simply presses the same keys again. Sad. And again. Sad. Sad. Sad. Sad. He switches his grip trembling with emotion. Why? Why? Sad. Why? He looks at Christian with teary eyes. Why is he so sad? Even when he's with Christian. It's supposed to be his escape. The place he goes to be a kid. To enjoy himself. Why is he still sad!? Why can't he smile?! What's wrong with him!? 'Sad'. 'Sad'. 'Sad'. he can't keep his tears in, as they roll down his face uncontrollably. He's never cried in here. Not since the day they met! But he's just…

Suddenly Christian grabs hold of Ludwig rather roughly and Ludwig tenses up looking him in the eyes for once as Christian's eyes also start tearing up. "You're… sad that you're not happy when you're here?" He asks and Ludwig nods, dripping tears onto his pants. "Oh, Ludwig. Y-you're… you've been through a lot. You've taken so much in. Of course, you can't be happy right now!" He suddenly hugs him tightly. "Just because you're not happy when you're here… that doesn't disappoint me. I just want to give you positive experiences. Okay? Now listen here… and listen close Ludwig van Beethoven," He holds him out at arm's length again. "You're not happy right now. You might not be for a long time. But you've got passion in there," he pokes Ludwig's chest. "Otherwise… you wouldn't want to play," he gestures to the piano. "But all you want to do when you're here is play! I KNOW it's not for my sake! It's certainly not for your father's sake. It's only for yourself. So don't ever stop. Don't stop doing what you want. And don't stop trying to be happy! Never stop searching for a happy moment. Even if it's just ONE day! A MINUTE! A SECOND!" he feels tears streaming down his own face. "It's not going to be as trivial as cheering up! Don't do it for me! Do it for YOU! Do you understand me?" Ludwig looks completely stunned, the two of them feeling frozen in time. "Can you do that, Ludwig?" He asks and Ludwig forces a little smile, nodding and reaching up, patting Christian on the head very gently, the grown man falling into him and tightly hugging him. "Never… EVER… stop searching for it. You deserve to be happy, Ludwig. You're such a nice kid. You deserve to be happy…"

-Present Day-

Beethoven glares Sett down, his bun completely undone, hair falling on his face. "... !.!.!" Beethoven pushes a large metal chunk off the divine grand piano which fell onto him, straining to do so. "!.!.!" Not yet. He hasn't found it yet. The moment. Sett looks on curiously as Beethoven walks around the piano almost angrily, limping the whole way as he grabs hold of a leg and pulls it around, Sett realizing how he survived the fall.

"The piano…" Beethoven gently pats the top of the piano as if to thank it, as he gets it into position. "It didn't break. KYAHAHAA! It didn't break! It made a little cave! HYAAAAAAAHHAHA! That's AMAZING!" He calls out as he notices Beethoven's limb. His leg is broken… "Didn't block all of it though…" he looks curiously as Beethoven angrily falls onto a metal block which is rather perfectly shaped for him to sit on, grabbing his broken leg and straining it into place. He tries the pedals on the bottom of the piano and grits his teeth.

"!" He angrily raises his fingers.

Sett laughs a bit. "Those are broken too!" He laughs as Beethoven slams his fingers down on the keys dramatically, the noise vibrating through the air, sending the remaining pieces of his broken orchestra rolling and tumbling aside from the explosion. FINAL VERSE: GRAND PIANO SOLO! Not yet! Find that one happy moment! until then! DON'T! ... EVER! ... STOP!

Sett smirks as he raises his hands. "Alright human!" Sett's sand begins to form into the blades again. "Let's play!"