Discordant Harmony

"So who is this the guy we're heading too?" "It is a guy right?", Alec questioned outloud.

Alec, Nera, and Charlotte were currently walking through the empty night streets of the thirteenth district. Many of the buildings were run down or barricaded. It was even worse here then where Alec stayed.

"Yeah, he owns an item shop here with all of sorts of junk. He also does mechanic and blacksmith things too." Nera responded.

"A real jack of all trades, huh."

"Pretty much, that's why almost everyone in the thirteenth goes to him for that kind of stuff, even me."

Alec stared at her black and white hair remembering the metallic ears that he had caught glimpses of before and wondering if this person they were going to see had anything to do with them.

"He's mega annoying but he hears a lot about what going on around here and knows a bunch about magic and Wraiths, so he's probably our best bet to figuring out what Tree Stump's deal is."

"Tree Stump? Who is that? Wait, you're talking about me aren't you?" Charlotte pouted at Sonata who turned her head away from her.

"Well, my name's Charlotte Adlen if you didn't know already, hmph." Charlotte made a weak attempt at sounding angry that fell on deaf ears. Her voice was as light and meek as it ever was.

"Yeah, I know it is. I just like giving mega cool nicknames to everyone I meet. Isn't that right Mr. Mummy?"

"Mr.Mummy?" Alec was briefly confused as well before looking down at his arms that were firmly wrapped in white bandages. He got injured so often while sparring that he no longer thought much of his bandages and sometimes even forgot they were on him.

"I guess that makes sense. How about I return the favor, Nera, Lemme think...how about Skunk Stripes?"

"What!?"Nera exclaimed dejectedly. "How is "Skunk Stripes" a cool nickname!?"

Alec rubbed his chin in deep concentration while muttering a bunch of potential epithets.

" "Dark Light"-no, too on the nose, "Mono Chrome"-too nerdy,...maybe "Harlequinn"-no one would get the reference though, "Piano Tiles"-too lame..."

"Stop!" Nera interrupted him before he could spout off another half-baked attempt. "Those names are actually getting worse than "Skunk Stripes" and why are you so fixated on my hair? Are you being serious or are you just trying to get on my nerves?"

Alec shrugged. "A bit of both probably. By the way, how far away are we from this mechanic guy? We've been walking for at least ten minutes now."

Nera thinly smiled. "You sure do have a strange sense of humor. To answer your question, we're about halfway there so we should arrive in another ten minutes. Although, I'd have already been at the shop if I didn't have you two deadweights."

"Hey, I can be very resourceful when the moment requires. Don't you remember how I tripped you up earlier this morning or did you forget about that too?" Alec rebuked.

"Ughh, that was just lucky fluke and that's all."

"Heh."

Although he would not admit, Alec also felt the same way about it. In a real fight, he felt he was almost useless compared to the superpowered that were around him everyday, especially today. Again, he was beginning to wonder if he could actually achieve his dream.

As these thoughts weighed on Alec, the fog around them got thicker and thicker until, suddenly...

'Slash.'

Time seemed to stand still as Alec watched the crimson blood spurt out from Nera's side that had been cleanly cut open by the sharp blade that had emerged from out of the fog without warning. It was as if he could see every droplet of it that came from the wound, but somehow his mind still could not accept what was happening so vividly before his dark brown eyes. In the corner of his view, he could make out Charlotte frantically hurrying towards them.

"Harpist Craft, 2nd Song - Hymm of Restriction." A somber voice resounded in the night followed by a melancholic melody.

This melody was accompanied by black lines of musical notes that emerged from the mist and flew through the air as if they were written on it with ink. They circled around Charlotte and stopped her in her tracks. Within the ring of staves, her movements were completely halted. Her entire body was petrified in place as though cast in iron.

In a single moment, everything had taken a turn for the worse.

"Nera!!!" "Charlotte!!!" Alec shouted desperately at the two hoping they were alright. He was on the ground with Sonata holding her in arms. She had her hand pressed against her wound trying to keep the blood from spreading. The young woman had a pained expression on her face but she didn't seem to be in any critical condition.

Alec could not be as sure about Charlotte however, her body was still frozen in the same position of running towards them, but when he looked closer, Alec could see Charlotte blink her eyes and examine what was going on around herself. It also did not appear that the magical spell cast on her was causing any actual harm to her body.

"whew." Alec allowed himself a small sigh of relief but this brief solace did not last long as two figures exited from the thick fog.

The first was a tall man wearing a suit of knight armor and wielding a large ax. He nonchalantly swung the blade to his side flinging off Nera's blood that had coated it. The sight of this was enough to make Alec's own blood boil within him.

"Bravo, Ax! We were able to secure our main target and take care of one of her accomplices in one go. Talk about killing two griffins with one stone." The knight's associate congratulated him as she walked out of the fog beside him.

The second figure was a woman of average height dressed in a black hoodie and pants with white musical lines scrawled all across them messily. She whistled exaggeratedly as she twirled a small golden harp on her finger. Her nails were painted the same onyx color as the strings of her instrument.

"Couldn't have gone much better if do say so myself. Well, the guy's still in play, but he shouldn't be much of a problem with him being a Blank and all. Isn't that right, Ax?" The hooded woman said calmly which was completely at odds with the immense fear and unease Alec was facing.

She walked past both him and Nera and straight to Charlotte who was still bound by the mystical lines of music. Alec looked closely at the hooded woman's instrument as she passed with the footsteps of her sandals making loud claps on the street pavement below her.

"That harp she's spinning. That's probably a stylus she's using to amplify her Craft, which means she must be the Craftsman who's holding Charlotte in that spell."

The woman reached to where Charlotte was.

"Now, let's give you a closer look. This will most likely hurt a bit." Her voice was filled with sickening glee as she alluded to the pain that she was about to inflict on to Charlotte for reasons Alec had no grasp of.

"What do you want with her!? What kind of lowlives attack people out of nowhere and then treat it like it some kind of game!"

"Huh!?" The hooded woman sounded genuinely confused. "You can't be serious can you?" A quick observation of both Alec and Nera's clueless expression confirmed their ignorance to her. She suddenly burst out in hysterical laughter while covering her mouth as if she had just heard an exceptionally funny joke.

"Hehehehehe!" Wait a minute, you really don't know about the fierce struggle over the great book of Merlin, the King of Sages and the Supreme Craftsman of his age. About the Arcana Pages and the powers that they bestow upon people and the bloody conflict between those that fight over them that has been given the title of the "Astral Tome Trial"!" She spread her arms wide dramatically expecting them to be absolutely amazed at what she had just revealed to them.

"...No, that can't be true. There's no way something like that is real and why would it be here in this city of all places?" Alec replied.

"I can't believe it, if you two really don't know anything about the Astral Tome Trial then why are you both even here!?"

Alec hesitated for a moment not sure what to say. "...I-"

"Listen here, Scribbles!" Nera interrupted him as she slowly rose to her feet still clutching the wound on her side.

"I don't know about any Ashful Tomato Tile or whatever, but if someone's starts causing trouble on my turf it's my job to deal with them especially when they start spouting crap like that." Sonata glowered at the strange woman determined to face off against both the musical Craftsman and the armored man if she had to.

The hooded woman simply sighed. "I see, the both of you don't believe me even when you have two shining examples right in front of you." She pulled back her hood revealing snow-white hair, emerald eyes with bizarre spiral irises, and a strange mark that wrapped around her neck that strongly resembled the sigils that had covered Charlotte before. She touched the mark for emphasis and it started to glow with an ethereal power.

"This girl was a Blank before wasn't she? Me and her are the same in that regard. We both received an Arana Page and were bestowed with the power of Craft."

Alec and Nera were both stunned speechless, everything was starting to click for them. This strange woman and Charlotte's story matched up and the odd sigils emblazoned on them had to have to some kind of connection. Most importantly, the fabled Astral Tome was the only thing that they could think of that could cause such extraordinary phenomena as giving a Blank magical power. They were both starting to believe that what she was saying was true.

She grinned ear to ear at the look on their faces. "Well, I'm glad I was able to educate you two thoroughly. Now, it's time to get back to business." She raised her hand in front of Charlotte. When she did this, the musical lines circling Charlotte contracted around her. At the time, her arms that had been stuck in a running position were swiftly forced to her side as she was her whole body was compressed by the force of the spell. Alec could see the terrible pain she was in just from her eyes alone.

Alec got up from the ground completely sure of what he had to do.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my friend any longer. Nera, stay right there, I'll take care of this right now." He retrieved his training halberd from the satchel on his back.

"It's not ideal, but this'll have to do."

'Boom!'

Nera slammed her fist into her palm. The bleeding from the wound on her side had ceased completely.

"What are talking about Alec. I'm a Variate, you think a little scratch like this is going to take me out. If anything, I should be telling you to stay put while I thrash these clowns." She chided him.

"Hmph, If that's the case. Let's deal with them together. First, we gotta stop that woman in the hood from hurting Charlotte any further."

"Sounds good to me." Sonata agreed.

From the corner of her eye, the musical Craftsman took note of their planned assault.

"Ax, take care of them for me. You'll make sure they don't interfere with my inspection right?" With one hand, she strummed her harp and the strings turned a dark crimson accompanied by a haunting low note.

"Harpist Craft, 3rd Song - Hymm of Fortification."

Four red musical staffs materialized in the air around the harp and circled around the armored man called Ax's arms and legs. The warrior proceeded to raise the weapon that was his namesake, ready to take on both Alec and Nera.

"Yes, Madam Harp. I'll carry out this task you've given me." A deep and stern voice emitted from the warrior's helmet.

In response, Alec and Nera glanced at each other from the side then charged right at the enemy in front of them.