Chapter 10: The Lair of the Lyre Beast

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Adora. Now then, Let’s Get Ready to Rock, Bitches!”

With her bold declaration, Ashura swung her arm down and launched a booming shockwave, rocking the cellar walls. The Lyre Beast skidded back a few feet, completely caught off-guard by the new Muse. Shaking off the rubble, it growled before letting out its unholy rhapsody once more.

“Alright you two, I need you to follow my lead!” Ashura barked at the other Muses, who nodded. “Verso, give me a beat to rock to! Elzette, I need you to follow my flow with your violin! You got all that?"

“Of course!” Settling back into their stances, the drummer and violinist followed Ashura’s lead and began their instrumentals once more. The rockstar tapped her foot in tune with both performers' rhythm, getting a feel of their beat. Seizing her opportunity, Ashura struck. Her hand went to immediately strum at the guitar, making a cool riff ooze out from the Focus.

The other two performers caught on and immediately got to work. Verso made a consistent rhythm in line with Ashura's strumming, and Elzette backed up the guitarist's strings with her own. Within moments, Ashura managed to get all three of them to harmonize with each other. The Lyre Beast continued to roar and echo its thrashing against theirs, but the unified front kept them even.

Students watching from the room above cheered on as the trio were starting to do the impossible. The shadowy creature, determined to not be outdone, suddenly launched a tendril out, aiming for Ashura. Elzette gasped as she saw the appendage, jumping in the way and using her viola's bow to strike it away. Although it worked, it came at the cost of the bow being shattered, leaving her unable to play her Focus.

“N-No…!” Elzette began to panic. Their melody was beginning to falter as the Lyre Beast took advantage of the confusion. It raised its voice louder, causing the teens to be overwhelmed with its sound.

“DRILLS!” Ashura shouted amidst the noise. Elzette managed to whip around and face the rocker. Without warning, Ashura tossed a small piece of the bowstring, with Elzette catching it with ease. “USE THAT ON YOUR INSTRUMENT!”

“B-But how?!”

“Figure it out!” Verso shouted, drumming once more under the strain. Veins bulged from the side of his eyes as he focused hard on his rhythm. “Follow your heart on what to do!”

The blonde-haired girl looked down at the small, triangular remains of her beloved bowstring. Amidst the deafening roar of the Lyre Beast, Elzette tuned in on herself and her viola. Then, she brought her instrument in front of her in a similar pose to Ashura. Mimicking the bluenette’s actions, she began to strum on the viola, causing it to play out a vastly different tune.

Although she never heard her viola make this noise before, Elzette ignored it as she continued to play in line with her bandmates. The sounds of the viola turned from strange to refined, easing itself out the instrument and lending its power to her band. As she continued playing, a radiant light engulfed the Focus, catching the attention of all the spectators. With a powerful upswing of her arm, the noblelady cast off the light of her Focus, revealing its true form.

A gold-and-ivory Bass Guitar now filled the blonde girl’s hands, its sleek design contrasting the electrifying black-and-blue of Rottweiler. Elzette kept her eyes shut as she focused on dealing out a bassline, complementing the lead guitar. Ashura’s eyes widened in shock at the new instrument before giving her trademark grin, facing down the Lyre Beast once more.

What started as an uphill battle began to snowball into an overwhelming symphony against the monster. Every time its inky-black strings bellowed, a belt of guitar riffs stifled it. A horrid pounding from its throat silenced with the beating of the drums. The Musica flowed into the room in waves, resonating with the three students and assaulting the Lyre Beast.

Ashura delivered a powerful chorus, amping up her teammates. The crowd above were now cheering, watching as the three muses grew more and more confident in their conquest of the monster. With a final stroke of the guitar, Ashura swung her arm down violently as Elzette did the same. Verso’s final drumbeat joined their twin melody, causing a massive musical shockwave to erupt from their location.

The combined Musica was too much for the beast to handle, and with a final howl, it exploded. The shadowy substance faded into ash as all that remained was a small, white rabbit that was confused on where it was. Elzette went to pick up the fluffy creature before smiling back to her friends. They had done it; they managed to defeat the Lyre Beast.

x-x-x-x-x

“So... what made you three think that this was a good idea?”

Professor Truesdale was glaring at the three muses before him. Elzette rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, Verso simply stared at the floor silently, and Adora was nervously twiddling with her fingers. The scruffy man pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh.

“You kids are lucky the ‘Lyre Beast’ is a tool we use to test Muses. Things wouldn’t get too out-of-hand, as it had built-in safety measures to shut itself down. But what compelled you to even go and fight the damn thing in the first place!?”

“I was told that The Lyre Beast was a monster plaguing the academy and it needed to be dealt with.” Verso stated matter-of-factly. “On my honor as a knight, I could not in good conscience let it roam free and endanger my classmates’ lives.”

“And that is very noble, Mr. De’Ondre. However, there is just one problem.”

“Hm?”

“Who gave you that information?” Verso tapped his chin in contemplation before answering.

“An upperclassman, they said earlier that only a Muse can defeat it, so that is why I rushed to become one and defeat it. I could not allow that person to risk themselves in a fight.”

“Verso. What were they wearing?”

“Our standard school uniform, as well as a golden music note pin- oh.”

Professor Truesdale groaned as Elzette stifled a giggle. He managed to catch her, however, and immediately whipped his head towards her.

“And you! Didn’t you know that a Lyre Beast test was being held for one of your seniors? Why did you go along with De’Ondre’s foolishness instead of stopping him?!”

“I… have no recollection of said test?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. You were there when I announced it.”

“I... wanted to face it as well.” Elzette relented, making her teacher let out another groan of frustration. She gave a little wink and a 'whoopsy-daisy' smile, making the man's eye twitch in annoyance. He finally turned towards Adora, who was currently trying to shrink into her chair.

“And as for you, Miss Rocket…”

“Eep!” The bluenette jumped up in her seat. “I-I-I just wanted to h-help my f-f-friends! Honest! I-I didn’t know what was going on!!”

“So you think tossing yourself into danger is the best course of action?” Truesdale’s words silenced the stuttering girl. His glasses gleamed a pure white as he looked down at her. “You need to understand something, Miss Rockett. There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. What you did today, no matter your intentions, was utterly stupid. What if that was a real threat? What if you three didn’t manage to overcome the monster? Think about your actions before jumping into things. Or else you’ll get not only yourself but others hurt as well. Or worse.

“This goes for you two as well.” Professor Truesdale stepped back to address the other muses. “You lot are just some teenagers, not fully realized Muses. So don’t bite off more than you can chew next time. Understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Adora was the only one who remained silent. Truesdale looked back at her inquisitively, only for sapphire eyes to glower up at him.

“Oi, Teach.” A tomboyish voice growled. “I think you’re missin’ something real important that happened today, too. Somethin’ you’re just casually glossin’ over, and I don’t appreciate that.”

“We did beat the Lyre Beast. We did overcome the test. Hell, Drills over there even got a sick ass Bass Guitar out of it, so what the hell man?! As far as I’m concerned, I ran down there to help my friend who I thought could die at any second! That ain’t foolish, that’s common fuckin’ sense! Why’re you only bringin’ up all the dumb shit, huh?! Can’t we ever do somethin’ and get even a lick of praise?”

“...Are you done?” Truesdale stood before Ashura, unflinching as she finished her rant. She shot an angry glare at the man and heaved aggressively. She watched as he pulled his hand out his pocket… and proceeded to ruffle the top of her head. The punk rocker was in shock, as were her friends, as Professor Truesdale gave them a shit-eating grin. “I was just getting to that, you little brat.”

“Eh?”

“While yes, you three did do something incredibly reckless for no good reason, the fact still remains; You managed to take down a Lyre Beast. That’s a feat only your seniors have managed, so give yourselves a pat on the back. Furthermore, like you said, Miss Euco here developed an evolution of her Focus, which is incredibly rare. We’ll have to look into her new instrument more, but it seems quite powerful. I am quite proud of all of you for that.”

“I-” Ashura stuttered out, face heating up as she was unsure of how to feel. She was interrupted by her bandmate’s own outburst before she could speak.

“So then... we did succeed?”

“Oh thank goodness! I was so worried our dreams would falter here, but alas!”

“But-I-you-!” Ashura’s sapphire eyes darted to-and-fro, trying to single out someone. She let out a frustrated groan before reaching out and yanking the tie of Truesdale. “Listen here, old man! Next time, lead with the good news first! I ain’t tryin’ to have a panic attack before you tell me what’s really happening!”

“Alright, alright, yeesh. Though, you needed to get some proper scolding in your head before I made it too big.” He shot his student another grin, making her even more pissed. “But it worked out for the best, right? So could you let me go already?"

“Tch, fine.” She let the man go, making him stagger back a bit. “So, now what?”

“You tell me,” The scruffy man pointed three fingers at the trio. “What do you want to do?” They looked at each other for a while. Resolve filling their eyes, they smiled and nodded in unison. Taking a deep breath, sapphire eyes turned ruby as Adora faced her teacher once more.

“We are going to start a band!”