Sunlight spilled through the curtains, falling onto a pair of soft hands, as they gently pressed the black and white keys.
A melody composed, clean and clear, as if it had traveled from skies far, far away.
The music portrayed a story.
There was a white castle among the clouds, as if it was playing hide and seek, it would sometimes appear, then fade when no one expected it to.
People long wondered what secrets reside in the sky city, children fantasise about it. But as the melody unfolded, the audience were told, a little girl had lived inside the castle.
She was lonely. The castle in the sky, though beautiful, was the cage that had trapped her.
One day…
"Oh, is that you, Aurora?"
Clara paused her movement, the melody faded, the story of the little girl and her castle had disappeared.
"How could you tell?" Aurora walked into the room.
He was just about to leave the campus, when he heard a beautiful story portrayed in the air.
"Secret." She smiled faintly.
"If you tell me what the bet with your friend was, then I can reveal it to you."
"I thought that was agreed for if you teach me this instrument, but I have yet to become even a fraction of a novice" He stood next to the girl sitting with palms in her laps.
"May I?"
"Yes, please."
So he sat down on the other end of the piano stool, waiting for the next instruction.
"You don't have to be too fixated on becoming better, Aurora." Clara offered a warm smile.
"Learning an Instrument is like running a marathon, it's about the long run."
"Besides, have you been practising on your own?"
"A shame." Aurora shook his head.
"I was too lazy."
"Hehe." Clara chuckled sweetly.
"I appreciate the honesty."
"Why don't I teach you a piece today? Then you can practice on your own."
"Is that the one you were just playing?" Aurora asked curiously.
"Yes, this piece is called [Sora], I named it after my core Instrument."
'What?'
As the girl began playing, and the melody of a little girl and her white castle reappeared, Aurora's eyes had widened.
Not because he was shocked to hear that Clara, though so young, was able to compose a music piece of her own. But the name of the Instrument [Sora], was the one he found most intriguing.
There was an Angel at his time named Sora, she wielded the Strings of Hope. An Angel could only live up to twenty thousand years, so her name was supposed to be forgotten in the long river of history.
Anyone could give a name to their Instrument, but to "coincidentally" name it after that holy Angel…
'Could she perhaps have met her…?'
He stayed silent, peacefully immersed into the music.
Even after she finished, the two stayed in silence for a long while.
"...Aurora, will you be attending the student admission exam on Tuesday?" It was Clara who broke the silence first.
The young man did not say a word, he looked at her, wondering why the topic had suddenly shifted from music to admission.
As if answering his question, Clara continued hesitantly.
"If so… do you want to be my partner for the group task in the exam…?"
The girl clenched her first tightly, her head lowered, with her shoulders trembling faintly.
'Just what had she been through…'
Seeing this, Aurora doesn't know what to say. When he first met her the other day, he was surprised to see a blind girl studying in this institution. Without sight, it would be infinitely harder to become a String Master.
So naturally, he expected that she would encounter some hardships.
But anything was possible, and of course, blindness can be cured. Aurora was certain, if he had reached stage II for [Kuro], then he would be able to use some better spells to cure vision impairment.
However, this was different.
'She is cursed, a strong curse.'
Yes, indeed she was. The young woman was cursed by a power so great, Aurora was confused, why anyone with such a potent curse technique would target this poor, innocent soul.
That curse placed upon her was the reason for her blindness, luckily, it did not affect her Instrument or her health overall.
But, unfortunately, Aurora was the one who recognised this curse, and acknowledged the exquisite craft behind it. Thus not only he couldn't lift it off in his current stage, the other professors might be powerless against it as well.
However, he suspected that Clara already knew the reason behind her condition. She looked to be rich, therefore her family must've tried everything they could, yet still no results.
Since she didn't want to talk about it, Aurora kept quiet about the topic too.
"Pardon me, I thought you were already studying at the academy."
"Huh?" Clara looked confused, then realised something.
"Oh, no. I was studying at the Junior Academy of Noctis, but I come here often because the campuses are connected."
"Even after graduation, we still have access to the facilities. For me, since no one knows me here… it felt safer."
'I guess she was bullied on the Junior campus…' Aurora couldn't help but to think about her situation, even himself, was surprised by how much he cared.
'Kael must've done something with my ashes…'
"Even though we attended the Junior Academy, we still have to go through the same process as everyone else." Clara continued.
"If we do poorly, our application will also be rejected. And if we pass the bar, our performance would also affect our class placement."
"I see." Aurora nodded.
"But I must apologise, I could not team up with other students in the exam, since I am a staff of this academy."
When Clara first heard the word "apologies", her mood instantly dropped to the bottom. Then, when she heard that he was a staff member, her expression was full of surprise.
"What? You're a staff?"
"An assistant professor, to be precise."
"BUT YOU SOUND SO YOUNG!!!"
"That's because I am."
She froze in place, her emotions were as if a rollercoaster, running up and down making her mind a place of chaos.
In the end, when things had finally settled for her, she smiled.
"Good job, Aurora." She held him softly by his palm.
"You must've worked really hard!"
"Thank you…" Aurora didn't know what else to say, and gently let go off her hands.
"What should I call you now? Hehe, I apologise for using your name all this time, how rude of me!" She chuckled warmly.
"Aurora is fine."
"...Then, Aurora." Her voice suddenly lowered, tone became more uncertain.
"Do… Do you think I could become a String Master?"
"I don't see why not."
Aurora continued, unaware the previous statement had already made the girl's eyes watery.
"From my past experiences, I've met plenty of skillful String Masters who could not see the world."
"Sure, maybe you can't learn spells without looking at the structures, but whose to say you cannot achieve greatness with Remnant Arts alone?"
"We are no different. If anything, I admire you, for you fought hard with a purpose."
"...Good job, Clara."
Aurora turned to the girl, only to see her clumsily wiping off her tears.
'What's with my speech always making people cry…'
He reached inside his pocket, and offered a handkerchief to Clara.
"...Thank you." She felt the handkerchief touch her hand, and received it.
"I—I will try my best, in the exam…"
'Not good…' Aurora frowned, then said with seriousness in his voice.
"Clara, promise me one thing: If you feel like you won't make it, never attempt to die trying; especially never place yourself on the verge of resonance depletion, thinking you'll be fine with a little remaining."
"...I promise." Clara was shocked to hear that at first, but still nodded gently.
Looking back, perhaps this was the one and only thing Aurora had miscalculated, which was he assumed everyone had known its existence, and fully understand the horror of Collapse.
'...Her trauma is too much, my words alone are not enough.' Aurora reached his hand out, and held Clara's hand gently.
The girl was stunned by the bold move, a cloud of blush rose on her face.
'I know her, I've seen people like her so ambitious… they will corrupt themselves in the end.'
'I'm sorry for doing this, but I hope you will understand.'
His soul waves became turbulent, his resonance depleted at incredible speed—
He was using [Kuro]!
The Instrument that was able to instill lies in others, he had now used it on the vulnerable girl who trusted him!
'If he was here, I would definitely get a scolding...'
Just then, the classroom door had suddenly opened.
A maid came running inside, when she saw that Clara was crying, and Aurora was holding her hands, she immediately outraged.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY LADY???!!!!"
With swift motion of her leg, she was on the coursepath to deliver a powerful kick.
Seeing this in slow mo, Aurora calmly examined:
'This won't do anything—'
The kick landed powerfully, and sent the young man flying outside with the wall blasted open.
"Molly?!" Clara stood up hurriedly, holding the angry maid back.
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Aurora was trying to help me!"
"What?"
Molly froze in place, her gaze switched back and forth from Clara to Aurora lying on the ground outside, and to the giant hole she made in the wall.
"Crap…"
In the end, Madam Renna was summoned to the commotion.
And boy oh boy, was she not pleased.