Chapter 7: The New Muse

“It’s called a guitar; Its name is Rottweiler, and it’s my life and blood.”

Adora’s tears faded away as Ashura held her lifelong friend once more. The guitar’s cold steel felt comforting to the duo as it waited patiently to be played again. Before Ashura could strum out another chord, she was suddenly snatched up by Elzette.

“O-Oi! What’s the big idea, Goldilocks?!”

“We’re going to the Music Class now! Come along, darling~!” The drill-haired girl hummed as she dragged Ashura away. The poor rockstar was ranting and raving all throughout the hall, yet the other girl didn’t seem to care. She merely waved at the passersby who watched the peculiar scene unfold. The two girls eventually found themselves before the music room; the very same room Adora and Ashura were turned away from yesterday.

“I’m… gonna choke a bitch…” Ashura panted out, energy drained from being pulled around.

“Please don’t. Miss Elzette has been really nice to us.”

“Nice?! She's been draggin' me around like a dog!”

“And what a cute little puppy you are!” Elzette interrupted, pinching Ashura’s cheek. The bluenette tossed out more swears her way before the door opened. The familiar scruffy head of hair that was Mr. Truesdale greeted them; annoyance clear on face, even with his glasses obscuring his eyes. “Hello, Professor Truesdale! I have a present for you!”

“Great, two more headaches…” The man let out a sigh before opening the door, letting the girls in. “You better have a good reason for bringing back the yapparat.” The rocker blinked at the insult, not sure what to make of it. While Elzette was talking to Truesdale, Ashura whispered over to his spirit partner, who looked down in embarrassment at the word.

“Addy? The hell’s a yapparat?”

“Oh, well… you’re not gonna like it…”

“Spit it out.”

“It’s a rodent that is known for its loud chittering, it sounds like someone who talks your ear off. Hence the name-”

“You shitty old geezer! I should kick your fuckin’ ass!” “Oh no.” Truesdale gave Ashura a blank stare before returning to Elzette.

“Honestly, I’m surprised she took that long to get it.” Ignoring Ashura’s tantrum, Truesdale began to contemplate Elzette’s account. “You’re certain about all this, Miss Euco? Call me a skeptic, but this runt over here just came into my classroom yesterday to ask about Muses, and now she is one? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Believe me, Professor, I found it hard to believe too. However, you need to see it with your own eyes. Miss Rockett~!” The blonde girl waved over to the fuming teen, causing her to perk up. “Can you summon your Focus again for me?”

“Hm? Yeah, sure. How did I…?” Ashura closed her eyes, brow furrowed in concentration as she held her hands in a guitar pose. Fifteen seconds had passed, and Professor Truesdale was going to chalk it up to a fluke, but that was when he saw it; the radiant spark of Musica crackling in the girl’s hands. With a flash of light, the empty space was now filled with the strangest instrument he had ever seen.

“What in Kari’s name…?” Cleaning off his glasses, he had to do a double take. The Focus in the girl’s hands was completely foreign to him. “What… What is this instrument even called?”

“It’s called a guitar, old man,” Ashura smirked. “Specifically, an Electric Guitar. It’s my pride and joy; I call it Rottweiler.”

“I see. Guess I really don’t have much choice then… fine. As of today, you are now a proud member of the Muse Tract, Miss Adora Rockett.”

“Hell yeah!” “Thank goodness!”

“That means we’re now classmates!” Elzette smiled, taking the bluenette’s hand. “After our main classes in the morning are done, we can spend our time here, if we don’t have any other obligations. Think of it as your second homeroom!”

“Huh? Yeah, sure. Sounds good to me.”

“You’ll be under my direct supervision,” Professor Truesdale said, slouching in his seat once again. “We’ll have many different evaluations and Muse-specific assignments for you to do during your time here. So don’t slack off. Or do; that way I got one less person to manage.”

“Professor!”

“Fine, fine. Just do what you’ve been doing and we’ll help you out however we can.” Pulling out a gold music note pin, he handed it to Ashura. “I did really mean it though. You are now a member of a pretty exclusive club. Congratulations, kid.”

x-x-x-x-x

“Hrmm… no, no, that’s totally wrong. Start over!”

“B-But we’ve been practicing for over an hour!”

“And you’re still handling the guitar wrong, dummy!”

“E-Eep!”

This was the constant back-and-forth that was going on in the Muse’s classroom at the moment. With everyone else in the small class gone for other studies, Ashura used this time to train Adora on how to use Rottweiler. And so far, there wasn’t much headway.

“How in the hell did you perform so well when you summoned it, but not now?!”

“Y-You’re putting me under a lot of pressure, you know!”

“And Elzette wasn’t?”

“T-That’s not it! I just played from my heart and, umm… uh…”

“What?”

“...I don’t think I was playing the guitar at the time. Ashura, were you playing it while I sang?”

“I-” Ashura went silent, getting into a thinking position. Adora could’ve sworn she saw smoke billowing from her sapphire-eyed copy as she contemplated things. Her head jerked up, remembering the incident. She clasped her fist into her palm as she seemed to remember. “Maybe!”

“What do you mean, ‘maybe?’”

“I mean that when you summoned Rottweiler, I think I kinda sorta hopped behind the wheel with you. Unconsciously, mind you! It just happened that way!” Adora gave her copy a deadpan stare, which flustered the rockstar. “Argh, whatever, doesn’t matter! Point is, I think when I jumped into your body while you were playing, we synced up somehow. You sang and I strummed.”

“But how does that even work? Every time one of us tried to go into the body, the other was always kicked out.”

“I’m thinkin’ it might have something to do with that Musica shit we got ourselves into. Some weird magic stuff is probably letting us get in sync with each other only when we’re playing something.”

“I think I get it? Then if you don’t mind, would you like to test it out now?”

“Oh? You got a song in mind?”

“Hmm… yes, I do. I-I haven’t written it down or anything, but I have it in my head!”

“Then how the hell am I supposed to keep up?!”

“Because it’s a song about you, Ashura!” This declaration made the rockstar’s eyes widen. He watched as Adora blushed a bit and twiddled her fingers. “We have only been together for a short time, yet you have helped me out a lot. So I began to think of a song that reminds me of you. It is a bit childish, but it is the only way I know how to give my thanks. Although, it hasn’t been finished yet…”

“...” Ashura was silent for a bit, crossing his arms. With his eyes shadowed by his bangs, Adora couldn’t get a good read on his emotions. But then he rose up, face beaming with excitement. He shot her a sharp-toothed smirk as he went to face her. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s rock! If you can’t think of more lyrics, I’ll make some for you!”

“A-Ah…! Yes!” Adora stood up, readying Rottweiler once more. Ashura hovered right behind her, arms overlaying atop of hers as he got ready to strum. Taking a deep breath, Adora let out a howl from her heart, and Ashura followed suit.

“HEEEEY, YOU REALLY DON’T GET IIITTTT~!!!”

x-x-x-x-x

Felicia watched from a distance, observing her young master’s mood swings throughout the day. She initially started off as a kind and sweet girl like how she usually was, when suddenly she shifted into an abrasive tomboy. It worried her how easily that change happened, and how fast it would go away. The most unnerving part was Lady Rockett’s eyes changing from the proud ruby color that their House is known for into a deep, sapphire one.

She took notice of her liege whispering to herself, or talking to someone who wasn’t there. This behavior definitely was not normal, and a rather large fear came to her mind; Her Lady had been possessed by something. As much as she wanted to admit otherwise, the evidence piled up too much in favor. But what could the purpose of this spectre be? Before she could continue questioning, the door to the Muse’s classroom opened.

“That was too intense for me… yaawwnn~” Adora exclaimed, exhausted from her jam session kicking in. Felicia waited with bated breath for her Lady to open her eyes, afraid of seeing blue and not red. Ruby eyes opened up, blinking away sleep as they landed on the maid. “Oh, hello Felicia! Is it time for us to go home already?”

“Yes, indeed milady. Come along now.” She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as the young girl followed her out the school.

“Why are you at school to begin with, Felicia? You don’t normally follow me…”

“I was asked to escort you home today, by orders from the Master. Think nothing of it, milady.”

“I-I see…” It hurt her to lie to Adora, but she could not let her know that she was spying on her all day. The girl would be too upset by the news, regardless if it were for her own safety or not. As they passed through the courtyard, Felicia could feel a set of eyes boring holes into the back of their heads. She whipped around and found herself staring at another student.

A boy in Adora’s year it seems, with dark skin and a braided ponytail. He held his head in his palm as he lazily watched the two girls pass by, his lilac eyes looking bored. But she could sense it; underneath that pretense of boredom, therein lies a predator that had found its latest prey. Felicia held Adora tighter as the two of them made it to the carriage, getting ready to go home. Unbeknownst to her, another person also noticed the boy.

“That kid was starin’ right at us. I dunno why, but…”

‘I hope that boy will not cause any trouble for Lady Adora, I cannot put my finger on it, but…’

“He has an interesting look in his eyes, that’s for sure.”