In the center of the lost city, sat a pedestal enshrouded in a thick, dusty light. The light seemed to emit from darkness itself and was the result of a persisting magic immune to the aging of time. Upon this pedestal was a golden flute, glistening in the limelight and whispering murmurs from voices of the past. Lovely, enchanting, and the most elegant piece of instrument any bard had ever seen; it was truly the goldwind blower of the sun. The treasure's resting place was quite obvious, yet it remained untouched for centuries simply because of the city's location. Only a few of the elder deities knew of its existence, even fewer its purpose, and even fewer than that, where it lay dormant.
Xinyu and Musique had searched for what felt like weeks, and when they'd finally made their way to the innermost part of the ruins, they stood beneath the stairs to the pedestal of fate's instrument. They both knew in an instant that the device before them, bursting forth with magical power and mysterious winds, was the treasure that they had sought.
Quickly, they raced up the chipped steps and stopped before the instruments stage, gazing in awe. They were the first mortals to ever lay eyes on such a precious artifact.
"So this is what we were looking for? Hao! What beautiful piece!" Xinyu said.
"Yeah, it is," Musique agreed. He began to reach his hand out, but could only do so slowly in the presence of magnificence. An invisible force pushed back on his hand, but it was gentle enough to surpass. Then, just as the tip of his finger was upon the gilded flute, a deep and rich voice filled the spacious air with booming echoes. It spoke in modern words so that the two travelers could understand the message.
"You who seek the phoenix flute, heed my words: this instrument hails from the original world, a time before the gods, and has persisted through the ages for a single purpose: to fight against the evil being known as fate. Although it was once a powerful weapon brimming with the essence of life, it is now left with but one use."
"Who are you?" Musique managed to ask.
"I am the spirit of choice, the opposing side of fate," the voice said. "Musique of Kitsune's Mountain. I leave this flute in your care, so that you may one day use it to give rise to a nameless warrior. Learn their name, and they will save this world from its fated end."
And then, the voice faded to naught. Musique tried asking a few more questions, but to no avail.
"It seems like the voice is gone," Xinyu said. "It is best you just grab the flute and worry about the details later."
"Yeah, you're right."
Musique took up the golden flute and held it firmly in his hand. The voice was vague, as prophets always were, and he had no idea what to do with it. It felt warm in his hand, despite the coolness of the underground air, and seemed to emit a faint glow where he touched. He didn't have time to ponder it because the whole city began to shake and shiver violently. The magic that had held the sandy ceiling overhead was gone, and thus the surface began to rapidly collapse all over the lost city.
"What do we do?" Musique asked in a panic. He didn't know the flute was the thing keeping the place intact. Had he been aware, he would've tackled the situation much differently.
"Do you trust me?" Xinyu asked, trying to put on a handsome face as she held out her hand. In the end, she couldn't help but look cheesy.
"No!" Musique exclaimed. He was in extreme panic mode. "You're the one who dragged me down here thoughtlessly! You're the last person I trust!"
"Then take my hand! I will teach you," Xinyu said, grabbing Musique's hand even more tightly than before.
"Is there something wrong with you? Did I make a mistake? Did I even have a choice?" Musique said, ready to weep. There was indeed something wrong with her, and they were going to die– that's all that ran through the poor boy's mind as Xinyu began to unveil her magic. Before he knew it, he was being dragged through dirt and stone at breakneck speeds.
"Together we shall upheave the earth and free ourselves from this sandy grave!" Xinyu proclaimed, holding Musique close as they tunneled through the dark, sandy gravel. The avatar of Tudi, Lord of Soil, and his mighty shovel of divinity, dug the path ahead of them. The glowing, glorious god clone moved his arms at such a speed that they could not be seen, and it was as if they were swimming through the abyss of ground. A strange force pulled Xinyu right behind the divine digger, which is why she held Musique with such a tight grip that it left purplish bruises in his fair skin. Bits of dry limestone and dirt flew back into Musique's mouth and eyes, causing him to wince. He dared not struggle, however, for if Xinyu were to let go, the tunnel would collapse upon him and create a dark, airless tomb for which his skeleton would never be found.
It all happened faster than a flicker of a candle wick, and when it was over, they erupted from the ground, plummeting into the dry, sandy lands with a crash. The glowing avatar of Tudi vanished when they arrived on the surface, and both Xinyu and Musique lay in the rubble, staring at the night sky where the moon shone with hope, its coolness easing their shaking bodies. Starlight illuminated them and let them know they had survived, although Musique's livelihood had not.
"You know, I may seem reckless, but when you are with me, you never have to worry," Xinyu said as she sat up, crossing her legs. "That is because I will always try my hardest to protect the smiles of those behind me."
Her words fell upon deaf ears, because Musique had already passed out from the fright of near dying. Xinyu herself was quite tired, so she decided to take a brief nap as well.
"And as long as this world smiles, I will have something to protect," Xinyu said, dozing off.
It was much more than a nap, however, for when they awoke, the sun was already overhead. Musique was sitting up, cross, gazing at the golden phoenix flute. Sleep seemed to have wisped away his fears from before, and he was utterly enthralled in the treasure they had stumbled upon. The secrets the instrument held in its perfectly crafted holes were tempting to explore, but what inhibited him from blowing into the instrument was the lost city's warning: It is now left with but one use. If he wasted the chance haphazardly, humanity could very well fall, and it would be all his fault. He had no idea of the flute's purpose, and there was no way to go back to the lost city.
"Hey," Xinyu said. "What is this flute supposed to do anyway? If it will save humanity, then surely it is powerful? You should play it!"
"Absolutely not!" Musique said. "I have no idea what it does. I'll have to go back to Kitsune and ask her."
"Oh? You know where she is?" Xinyu asked.
"Of course. Where she always is, Kitsune Mountain," Musique said.
"But she was not there when I visited. It was only a projection. She said her true self was somewhere else."
"She was not there?" Musique asked worriedly. "She's never left before, so I don't know where she could possibly be. I guess I've no choice but to follow her instructions and head to Kalahari…"
"Kalahari?"
"Yeah, it's a major Southland trader city," Musique said. "Kitsune told me to wait there once I had the artifact. I would have preferred to go back home first, but I guess I don't have a choice."
"Then to Kalahari we will go!" Xinyu said.
"Thank you," Musique said. "But you've helped me more than enough. This is something I ought to do myself."
"Nonsense!" Xinyu said. "I said I would protect you, and my word is good."
"But Kitsune told me things would get dangerous soon after I found the city," Musique said. "I couldn't possibly burden-"
"Feihua! It is no problem for me!" Xinyu exclaimed. She grabbed Musique's hand and gripped it tight. "You are in my care now. I will protect you from here on out!"
"But why are you so intent on helping a stranger? Why are you being so nice to me?" Musique asked.
"Because… I can never turn down someone with such a cute face!" Xinyu joked as she pulled him along. "But more than that, there is something I wish to see bloom before it is too late."
"You should really run away," Musique murmured under his breath. His face was somber, but he knew there was no reasoning with the girl. She was the most unreasonable person in the world, after all. Even if a god appeared before her, he knew she wouldn't run. Not if there were lives at stake. He was unsure about her at first, but after traveling with her, he knew that she was the one Kitsune spoke of.
The more Musique was mesmerized by Xinyu's smile while she dragged him across the desert lands, the more he wished she didn't have to die. The aching pain in his stomach grew as he realized her fate was approaching her soon. She may have been stronger than any human, but her body was destructible, unlike the gods.
Kitsune's prophecy spoke of a girl who would die in a beautiful, yet tragic way. The undefined death would be grand, but accomplish nothing other than heralding the world's end. Such is why they sought a way to save her from a fate that denied her the chance to see the seeds she planted bloom. If they could convince her to run across the sea beyond destiny and the heavens, then she could survive. She could fight. But if she died, then nothing would change. The god would descend, and humanity would inevitably end thereafter.
"Xinyu…" Musique said. "Are you willing to die for your dream?"
"Of course not," Xinyu said. "Why plant the seeds of a peach tree I will never see bloom?"
"So if you were ever against something you couldn't beat, would you run?" Musique asked.
"Probably," Xinyu said. "I am not under that. As long as I can see my greed bloom, then I will do whatever it takes."
"But what if it was between preserving your own life and protecting what you love? Then what would you do?" Musique asked.
"Are you speaking of Kitsune's prophecy?" Xinyu asked, laughing.
"Yeah."
"Do not worry about it," Xinyu said. "If those are the only two paths in front of me, then I shall just have to pave another one to my liking."
Musique looked at her and felt nothing but despair. Her words were cushy as always, but lacked truth. Paving another path simply wasn't an option. Fate, a strange force, was an innate property of all magic. Nothing that had magic within was exempt from it, and thus, the only way to subvert it was to go where it didn't exist. To the Moonless Terra. Such was the only place that could save her and her dreams.
It wasn't about how much power she had or the willpower she possessed. Her fate, and the fate of the world, would ultimately rely on her willingness to sacrifice her ideals.