Magic Mêlée Music: I - Magic

The train pulled into the station, and when it had safely stopped, the conductor ordered the doors to be opened and the students poured forth, filling the station with their chatter. All wore matching uniforms, though the more decorated they were the higher a year the student was. All carried or dragged or lugged instruments behind them or on trolleys. A banner dangled from the ceiling said, “Welcome to Valeblade Conservatory.”

Several of the faculty watched the students exit the train and meander their way toward the school. A cheery fellow standing next to a wraithlike woman with a stitched-closed mouth stood there to greet the first years.

The cheery fellow called out in a booming voice. “First years! Gather by us, please!” The woman with the stitched-closed mouth held a sign indicating as much as well.

The smaller students, all first years, all wearing the traditional beanie that set them apart as first years, gathered below the cheery fellow.

“My name's Glas Armonica,” he said. “And this here is Calliope Eftérpi,” he pointed to the woman beside him. “She doesn't talk much, so you'll have to excuse her if she doesn't answer you right away.”

An older student with a guitar case and a very confused expression milled through the crowd of students.

“You there,” Glas said. “Come over here.” The student walked over to him. “I know you're not a first year,” he said. “But I can tell you're the transfer. You stick with us until after orientation. What's your name?”

The student looked around at all the other students. His gaze drifted across the sea of heads just above his waist, the first years surrounding him like a small army. Then his gaze went from Glas to Calliope. The stitches across her mouth set him back. “Oh,” he said, realizing that he had just been asked a question. “Kenichi, sir. Kenichi Chozen.”

“I never had a knack for names,” Glas said. He elbowed Calliope. “She, though, never forgets a thing.”

Calliope nodded.

Once all the first years were gathered around Glas and Calliope, the cheery man led them into the school. The building itself looked like a defunct castle with several wings, and parapets pointing to the sky. Kenichi strapped his case to his back and followed, standing almost twice as high as the first years.

While they walked, one first year bumped into him. Kenichi looked down at him. The first year was smaller than the rest. He had nut-brown hair, and from his forehead budded two small horns. Also, he had goat legs. He carried a piccolo in a case at his side. “Hello there,” Kenichi said.

The little creature said, “Hello. I'm Hurdy. Can you help my brother?”

Kenichi looked around the crowd, trying to figure out who the brother might be, looking for another set of horns and goat legs. “Sure,” he said. “What sort of help does he need?”

“He needs help with his instrument,” said Hurdy. “Come on, I'll take you to him.” He reached out his little hand and took Kenichi's. Together, they peeled away from the crowd when Glas’ back was turned, and he was talking about the balustrades and murder holes of the school.

Hurdy led Kenichi back to the train station, where another goat-legged horned figure was, looking like the twin of Hurdy. He was struggling with a case the size of a coffin. “Gurdy,” said Hurdy, “I found someone to help.

Gurdy looked at his brother, then at Kenichi, then nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “You're the new transfer student, aren't you?”

Kenichi nodded. He found the handle of the case and tipped it so it was on its wheels. “What instrument do you play?” he said as they made their way back to the group of first years.

“Contrabassoon,” said Gurdy.

Kenichi looked at the small creature and smiled. “I guess we can't help what we're good at, right?”

“Right,” said Hurdy.

The first years had moved on into the school, so the three followed them inside. They were at one end of the foyer, admiring the paintings of past headmasters, while Glas expounded upon their accomplishments.

“I don't mean to be rude,” Kenichi said. “But are you fauns or satyrs?”

Hurdy jerked a thumb to his chest. “I'm a faun,” he said. Then pointed at his twin. “He's a satyr.”

“No,” said Gurdy. “I'm the faun. You're the satyr.”

Kenichi chuckled as they rejoined the group. “And that takes us to the current headmaster, Maestro Lysandro Arclume.” He pointed to a portrait of a serious looking fellow leaning against a sword. Beside him sat an open book full of runes, and laying on the table was a mandolin. “He oversees operations at Valeblade.”

Glas led the students into the building proper where he discussed the architecture of the school, but also how classes were structured.

Kenichi tried to follow along with the infodump, but with Glas’ enthusiasm and the unfamiliarity of the environment, his head was swimming.

“Are you the Key?” a voice said directly to him. He looked around for the source of the voice, but saw nobody. Then he noticed Calliope looking directly at him. “Yes,” the voice said. “It's me. They sewed my lips shut because my magic was too strong. But enough about me. Are you the Key?”

Kenichi opened his mouth to respond.

“Just think your answer loud enough and with intention,” she said into his mind.

“I'm not sure what the Key is,” he thought-projected to her. “But if it means I have to defeat a dark wizard or something, I'm your guy.”

Calliope nodded and smiled, an almost painful act considering the stitches. “Good,” she said. “Come see me after you've settled in.”

He nodded.

Meanwhile, Glas continued to expound upon all the minute details of the objets d'art in the hallways before leading them into the auditorium. They passed a series of medieval illustrations of rabbits playing instruments, carrying staves, and bearing swords. From the instruments they were playing were little white wisps, as if they were speech bubbles or ghosts. Near the back was a large storage closet, and each student put their instrument on one of the shelves. Kenichi lugged the contrabassoon case and plopped it on a shelf beside Hurdy's piccolo. Further down, there was a place for his guitar. After that, Glas had them file into a row of seats near the front and have a seat. Kenichi stood out among the first years, his head towering above those around him. To either side of him sat Hurdy and Gurdy, their goat legs swaying impatiently as they waited for the rest of the students to file into the auditorium.

The room was filled with the indistinguishable noise of conversations layered upon one another. The other students, by year, filed in, taking the subsequent rows, until they made it to the very back of the auditorium. Then, the teachers, instructors, and faculty came in and took their seats in the front row. Kenichi saw a variety of teachers. Some looked like tortured musicians, some looked like half-mad mages, and some looked like battle-hardened warriors. They were an odd mix of people.

Once everybody was seated, the house lights dimmed. This had a natural silencing effect on much of the hiss of conversation that had been happening before, and the room was shrouded in both darkness and silence. Then, a lone spotlight lit the stage. A man stepped from behind the curtain, into the spotlight. He was a skinny man in a tuxedo. He had a long, grey beard, and his long, equally grey hair was held back in an elegant ponytail. He wore rectangular glasses that rested over a beaklike nose, and had sharp eyes that seemed to be able to peer through the darkness and see each student and faculty member seated there.

“Welcome to Valeblade Conservatory,” he said in a voice that was both ancient and powerful. “For those of you who are new, I am the headmaster, Lysandro Arclume. You may have noticed I look nothing like my portrait. That is because I took my headmaster duties so seriously that I never posed for the painting, so the artist did his best.” He laughed. “I do not expect any student to do anything that I myself would not be willing to do,” he said. “So I live my life by example. Remember that.” He looked directly at Kenichi when he said this.

After he gave his keynote speech, a fussy woman with a hair bun and cat-eye glasses replaced him on stage. She went over all the new rules for the new year and highlighted some key rules, especially for the first years. Everybody should have gotten a student handbook for the year, and she expected them to read it, understand it, and comply with it.

After a few more quick speeches by different department heads (Spellcraft, Swordsmanship, and Symphonics, though when Calliope gave her speech on behalf of Spellcraft, it was actually delivered by Glas) they were dismissed. Kenichi stood from his seat and amid the crowd of first years, looked for Glas or Calliope to show him where to go next. Instead, a rugged, shaggy-haired guy about the same age as him tapped him on the shoulder. “You're the new guy,” he said.

Kenici turned to face him. His hair was a burning forest of red, and his skin was pale and freckled. He had the wiry look of youth about him, but the ropes that were his muscles were taught like ship rigging. With the crazy gleam in his green (but not the same green as Marumi's) eyes, he was the sort of person who, at first glance, you might think was an easy target for bullying, but on a second glance, might rip your pretty little ears off and feed them to you if you dared to test your theory.

He held out his hand. “Magnus Holling,” he said.

Kenichi took his hand and gave it a shake. “Kenichi Chozen,” he said.

“What do you play?” Magus said.

“Guitar. You?” Kenichi said, seeing the potential to jam with his new associate.

“Bagpipes,” Magnus said.

Kenichi nodded. “Nice,” he said, not knowing what else to say.

“You're my new roommate,” Magnus said. “Come on, I'll show you the room.”

He followed after Magnus, leaving behind all the first years and stepping deeper into a sea of uncertainty.

“What happened to your last roommate?” Kenichi asked, half-jokingly.

“He left the school after his ears fell off,” Magnus said as if this were a perfectly normal thing to happen.

“Oh,” said Kenichi.