Promises

I promise to myself, I promise to the world. I will become someone who embraces the ones who were like me, someone who will save the ones who couldn't save themselves.

Her thoughts moved to the group.

Shina, I will save her from the goddess. I will support Toki with whatever he needs. I will make sure Hiwo knows he can share all burdens.

Looking up into the creature's jaws, the darkness of its mouth, a smile spread through her.

“One last time, save me.”

She closes her eyes. A loud sound penetrating the peaceful darkness. More accurately, a sound that came and went in a moment, her death halted. Nothing happened for a moment until she finally opened her eyes to take it all in.

The jaw of the creature fell to her side, it staggered back, and she was left looking at the pale yellow and silver sky above. Turning quickly, she sees two figures rush to her side.

“Ayuri, are you alright?” His grey eyes looked down from above, his black hair swaying in the wind, a bit messy from running. His uniform was fluttering all around.

A small tear left her right eye. “I'm fine.”

Without another word, she took a glance at the tent where Mio and Kazu reside.

“I'm going to check them; you keep fighting with Shina.” Her gaze turned over to her. She managed to kill four of them while abandoning her for dead; she wasn’t angry, however. Just saddened at how far she left her humanity.

Running over to the locked tent, her steps were rapid, not wasting any time before knocking on the door.

“Kazu, Mio. “What happened?” She frantically spoke, trying to regain the support of their power again.

The tent opened slowly, Kazu peeking through, seeing it was only Ayuri. He opened the door fully.

She leans in, taking in the sight in front of her. Mio lay half awake; her skin was purple all around her. There were no injuries or anything to hint at an attack on them, but Ayuri knew the poison spread was going to be her end.

“Come in.” Kazu was crying uncontrollably; his last comrade was about to die. There was nothing they could do, nothing that would let her live.

Mio glances across slowly towards her. She was reaching out her drum major stick towards Ayuri. “Take it, please.”

“Your power can't be taken. I can get Shina to do that instead,” she stated.

Mio firmly shook her head before speaking below a whisper; her energy clearly was getting worse.

“I am the non-believer in the team. I didn’t get a power myself; that's why I don't have an instrument like Kazu or the others did.”

So she just channels her magic to the stick.

“It's Symphony's way of saying I don't deserve music itself, but still try to help us get by.”

Ayuri nodded. She looked over to Kazu, who was still crying, trying to get his confirmation.

“If that's her wish, then take it,” he firmly said.

Taking the drum major stick from her hands, she took a tight grasp of it. It wasn’t light at all, unlike what she thought it would be. The silvery colour seemed to embrace her hair and eyes as if it was already accustomed to being with her.

The gold at the bottom stayed silent; there was no power emitting from it. That much was certain; however, there was clearly something that she felt when she held it. The stick didn’t have a power of its own, but it still took in Ayuri's magic from her body, transferring it around from the bottom to the top.

“How do I use it?” she said quickly, eager to help everyone still fighting.

Mio chuckled in pain, “Just let it be a part of you; let it take in your mental and your physical, your thoughts and desires. It will construct what you want if you tell it.”

She nodded. There wasn’t much time left. Mio turned over to Kazu, grabbing his arm gently, trying to reassure him, “You're going to be fine; you met some great people.”

“He can’t come with us,” Ayuri said.

Mio quickly looks over to her. There was a hint of fear towards him, not directed at him specifically, but towards what could happen.

She reminisces about the time they spent, short but sweet. She sighs out, knowing that it was better to get this out of her chest to know the circumstances of what will happen, knowing more than others.

“The goddess told me that at the end, only one can survive. I plan to tell my group, but for that reason alone, I can’t have anyone else coming; your death is certain with us.”

Mio smiled softly. “You're really a caring person, even for your opponents.”

“I don’t plan to leave with them anyway; I plan to stay here until my days end in this world,” Kazu said, determined.

Both of them look at him in shock. That was unexpected; they let him continue.

“We're all going to meet again, won’t we, Mio? In another world, perhaps.”

Mio nodded; her body was so weak it could break apart. Even trying to stay awake was getting painful. Kazu knew this and planned to at least get her a peaceful sleep.

“Ayuri, go help the others. I want to send her off myself, and don’t come into this tent anymore; don't talk anymore.” He grabbed his violin, preparing to play his final tune for her.

She leans out of the tent, and a tear forms in her eyes, too.

“Kazu, Mio. Thank you for everything, thank you for letting me take your power for the sake of others, and thank you, Kazu, for showing me there were others like me.”

The tent closed behind her, and the drum major's stick was in her right hand, waiting to be used. She looked up at the battlefield ahead, and the creatures decreased further; only four remained. It was a stalemate since they started to wait for a weakness to show due to the reduced numbers they endured.

Her footsteps walk towards the battlefield; she raises her stick into the air before slamming it down onto the grass, her thoughts trying to mimic what Mio produced before.

She sighs out before standing directly up, and her voice rises into a shout, “Come out, trombones, to my aid!”

A golden ripple leaves her stick, towards the creatures and her group. They looked back, seeing Ayuri shine a golden colour like she was transforming into something. The ripples multiplied into four, matching the creatures' numbers.

The threads escaped from the bottom, covering the ground before manifesting around the creatures encircling them, their trombones aiming towards the creatures with undermined will. Waiting for an order to appear

She taps once more onto the ground, ordering the fire. The beams from Ayuris' magic within her multiplied tenfold; her magic capacity was a high threshold, considering she could handle the power of erasing others' power.

The trombones extended out before casting out a blinding light towards the creatures. It wasn't small enough to avoid; it was consuming half their body in a pure light, the mixture of her determination and will being poured into the attack.

The creatures ceased to exist before dissipating in a mere second, leaving all of them defeated, the group instantly shocked at the new display of power.

Ayuri smiled back towards them, her warmth enveloping the fields.