End of a Long Melody

Alec looked over at the gaping mouth of Harp in front of him and gleaned all the confirmation he needed that he had been the cause of the explosion of magical energy that had sent Ax careening across the street.

"Yeah...that was me! I did it, finally did it. actually used magic! This is so awesome!" He boldly raised up a fist in triumph while still resting his other hand on the axe in order to maintain his balance.

"This day is the coolest ever..."

Everything around Alec suddenly starting becoming enveloped in darkness as he started to lose his grip on the axe and it felt like he was slowly falling down into a bottomless pit while his thoughts drifted into nothingness.

"Hey, it's not over yet, Mr.Mummy!"

Nera pressed a hand on Alec's back keeping him falling over and jolting him back to his senses.

"We still got to save your friend, remember. Even though I have no freaking idea how we're going pull that off with that woman in the way."

Alec shook his head in an attempt to shake off any more wooziness and focused his attention on Charlotte who was still being restrained by Harp.

"Yeah, I know. And don't worry, I've already pulled off one miracle today what's one more."

"Huh, that line is mega too cool for you to say, but I guess confidence like that is needed in a crappy situation like this."

Alec was not sure if it was due to the sheer elation he felt after accomplishing the use of magic without a codex for the first time or the absurd amounts of adrenaline that was pumping through his veins, but he felt like he could take on anyone right now. He gripped the axe inserted into the asphalt more tightly and looked straight at Harp with eyes full of determination.

"I've defeated your minion now it's time to deal with y-"

"I'M NOT DONE YET!!!"

A thunderous shout came from where the armored warrior, Ax, who had seemingly been defeated. He was gradually getting up from the ground with no small effort and was holding his hand over one side of his helmet which had been torn open by the mana slash. Bright golden locks of hair were spilling out from it along with drops of crimson blood.

"I'm done yet..." He repeated vigorously as he finally rose himself up to his feet.

Alec clicked his teeth annoyed at the warrior's persistence.

"What is he, a wildebeest?"

At this, Ax turned his head to Alec and with a guttural voice very disparate from the metallic one he had when his helmet was completely intact yelled out at him.

"I will pay you back for this!"

"That's enough!"

Harp's voice stopped him in his tracks. She had regained her composure that she had momentarily lost after seeing Alec's display of magic earlier and her expression returned to being as bemused as it usually was.

Alec and Nera were bewildered by this sudden declaration.

"But Madam, I can still fight, I can still-"

"That doesn't matter. I said we're done. This melody has reached its climax. This girl isn't the one we're looking for. I"ve thoroughly checked enough to discern that."

Harp strummed a string on her instrument and the musical lines surrounding Charlotte faded away just as they had done before with Ax, releasing her from the skill. She instantly collapsed on the ground panting heavily. The Craftsman had confined her so tightly by the skill that she had been barely able to push air in and out her lungs this whole time.

"...Plus, there's a noisy bird flapping its wings around here, so it's best for us to leave now. Those two weren't our targets anyway. Although, they were pretty interesting, especially that boy ever there..."

Alec winced as she stared at him with emerald spiral eyes which reminded him of the eyes that Charlotte's mandrake form had right before lunging at him. The eyes of a predator sizing up its prey.

I never thought I'd see a Craftless using magic. What strange times we live in. That was a spectacular show he put on. Now, let's go, Ax."

Ax looked over at Alec and Nera one more time still concealing the part of his face that was no longer hidden by his damaged helmet then looked towards Harp and nodded obediently."

"Yes, Madam Harp."

Alec and Nera were both stunned speechless at this turn of events. Neither of them spoke at all, worried that even a single word could make the musical Craftsman change her mind about leaving.

"Ah, also we can't forget about your axe, Ax." She chuckled overenthusiastically at the obvious pun and chanted.

"Harpist Craft, 8th page - Hymn of Movement."

She traced her fingers once again over the strings of the harp and two green staves of musical notes emerged out from it. They proceeded to wrap around the ornate silver axe that Alec was still holding. Suddenly, a strong force yanked the axe out of the ground and out of Alec's hands into the air.

"Huh..."

He fell onto his knees no longer having the weapon for support.

As the two mysterious assailants turned around and begin walking into the fog they had emerged from with the silver axe floating after them, Alec could not help but shout out at their backs.

"Why did you do this? Who are you! Just what is this Astral Tome Trial about and why was Charlotte made involved in it!?"

All of his questions were answered with silence as the two disappeared into the fog. Soon, even it vanished into the night air, just as quickly as it had appeared and they were nowhere in sight.

As the rush of battle wore off and he looked over at Charlotte still struggling to catch her breath, Nera whose body was covered in wounds, and then at his own injuries, he realized just how outclassed they had been and knew that if the fight had gone on any longer, things would have gotten much worse. Not only that, but Alec also had many questions swirling in his head now and the main one was...

"...What now?"

He did not have much time to dwell on this when heard the chirping of a bird up above. He turned around to see where it was and was intrigued to see that the creature was not made of flesh but of metal and that it was being followed by three people. A large man with sideburns and mechanical arms on the left, a woman with golden skin and lines going down her eyes wearing a maid outfit on the right, and in the center was a man wearing a steampunk-ish coat and hat with disheveled hair.

Nera smirked at the strange trio's arrival.

"Took you long enough to get here. What were you doing? Fawning over some nuts and bolts again?"

The man in the anachronistic coat and hat smiled.

"Hah, You're crude attempts to mock my passionate drive for tinkering are always so humorous even in a deplorable state like that Nera, my dear girl. How are you implants holding up?"

"Nera is this the guy..." Alec glanced over at her but was she was too busy grimacing at the man's remark to notice what he was saying.

"Yes, It is indeed I." The man replied, answering the question in Nera's stead. The mechanical bird perched itself on top of his shoulder and he took off his hat revealing eyes that contained gears whirling around in them.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. The name's Walter Isaac Theologia, but I usually go by Wit.

He crouched down in front of Alec.

"Now, how would you like for me to shed some light on the peculiar events of this long night?"