The Melody Starts the First Act

Manus did not wish to open his eyes; he did not want to lose the moment that he held with his Πιάνο. But the aftertaste of the music, as he continued to bask in its glow, felt exceedingly empty. He was missing an orchestra, and the academy had refused, on multiple occasions, to give Manus what he so desperately desired.

Pushing out from the piano bench in a fury, Manus burst out from the ballroom, nearly slamming the doors in the face of the blissful-faced Nova. Giving her a dismayed side-eye, Nova looked like a deer caught in torchlight before vanishing from where she floated.

This caused Manus to crack a small smile, "Well, at least she's been enjoying the show."

But Manus just shook his head, knowing that it wasn't enough to only present perfection with one instrument. As Manus dwelled on the idea of making his own violin, he looked up to find himself in reflection and couldn't but pause.

Manus, whose hair was now styled into a strong middle part and paired with long, messy bangs, had regained his former glory. Gone was the sickly-thin boy who looked to live off the coattails of a rich family, instead replaced by sharp eyes surrounded by angular features, a pointed jawline, and a body that was starting to take shape. Manus had been dedicated over the last almost two months to changing his body into something useful. Even after his body had rejected him, believing it was against its nature to be fit, Manus beat it into submission, claiming it as his own.

Wiping the sweat from his brow after performing, Manus corrected his tie, fashioned his hair properly, and donned white gloves. The gloves had been a surprise gift for him, by whom he could only guess were gifted by Nova after she heard him complain about wanting gloves. Manus rarely wore them when he played, as he loved the feel of the ivory and ebony keys, but outside was a must.

Once again able to feel dapper, Manus, with his back straight and head held high, headed on his way to what might as well have been his second home – the library. There was a seemingly limitless amount of knowledge in the library, most of it useless, but it was enough to keep Manus entertained and inspired. After all, the old and dusty books were the only thing that were teaching Manus how to use his superpower.

Though, with no one to gauge his power against, Manus was clueless on where he sat in the academy power rankings.

But speaking of the devil, Manus' favorite taunting subjects made their appearance. It was a triplet of boys who Manus could only suppose were nobles with how much they brought up Manus' lineage and how he compared to them. Whistling, one of the boys walked up beside him, hooking his arm around Manus' shoulder.

"Well, well, well… the disowned disappointment has made his reappearance for what can only be the eight hundredth time. When will you learn – you bootlicker – that you don't belong here. This is a place only meant for those with talent and y'know…" the boy chuckled into his ear, "Actual powers. But *sigh* because of those nasty old men upstairs, you're allowed to dirty our campus."

Every time this incident happened, Manus only realized one thing, that height was the only thing he remained lacking in.

"You've already dirtied enough things… I mean, with your bloodline and all," The boy continued, "But I suppose you still think you have a shot to make it in this academy. But you don't… and you never will… because you – you are worthless. Only with the powers of those on the other side can you ever actually be something. So, go ahead, call on their power again… I'd like to watch your body Pop."

"How is it," Manus escaped from the boy's grasp, "that you find any delight in repeating the same insults to someone who shows you no reaction?"

"Because when you break," The boy licked his lips, "I'll know that your death was Caused By Me… And I'd take great delight in that."

"But I feel that only works when I show som-."

"But I feel~" The boy repeats in a mocking tone while snickering to his friends.

Shaking his head in disappointment at the fact this is what the next generation was like, Manus strolled away.

"Yeah! That's Right Loser! Run Away Like A Coward!"

Turning back upon hearing their taunt, Manus barely suppressed a smile, "Run? Oh, your poor eyes, unable to track but the snail pace of a walk. I feel bad for the future descendants of your families if they'd have to inherit such… questionable eyesight. But I suppose that's not my place to judge… no, that's reserved for your cousins."

The cold dead grimace he received in return was more than enough for Manus as he left them behind.

Entering the library, his spirit held high, Manus was met face-to-face with an oh so familiar maid.

"Ah… Susan, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?"

Susan's black eyes bore through Manus as she stuck up her hand which held a letter.

"Oh," Manus snatched it from her hand, "I see that you've been delegated to this role once again."

"Well, since I've delivered a letter," Susan spoke in a tired voice, "I'll be on my way."

Nodding, Manus gave a knowing smile, "You must know that I tried my hardest to not interact with you again, but it seems that fate has driven us together."

"Please never say that again..." Susan bowed and shoved her way past Manus.

"Always a pleasure." Manus returned his gaze to the letter, opening it to just find another notice from the United Front Administration about his upcoming superpowers capabilities test.

Shredding it in his hands and dumping it into the trash, Manus rubbed his gloved hands together, looking forward to what he might learn today.

--**--__***

"ПӨ ӨПΣ ΉΣЯΣ IƧ YӨЦЯ FЯIΣПD."

Aila slammed her head on the desk, attracting quite a few concerned stares. There it was again, the ever-persistent voice that had plagued Aila for nearly two months. And its words were starting to get to her. It made her question every action someone else did, helping her to realize that they'd only help minimally to receive a huge boon of help from her later. It was tiring, it made her life feel meaningless, and it made her feel alone. But Aila couldn't betray her personality that helped anyone who asked.

After all, their pain quickly became her pain.

"I ᄃӨЦᄂD ΉΣᄂP YӨЦ FIX IƬ."

"No!" Aila wept into her arms, "You can't!"

"BЦƬ IƬ'D BΣ Λ ЩΛY ƬӨ ƧΉӨЩ ƬΉΣM. ƧΉӨЩ ƬΉΣM YӨЦЯ PӨЩΣЯ."

"What good would that be?" Aila sniffed, "That'd only serve to hurt people."

"ПӨ, IƬ'D ƧIMPᄂY ƧᄃΛЯΣ ΛЩΛY YӨЦЯ FΛKΣ FЯIΣПDƧ."

"Then what would I be left with? Everyone around me is a fake friend."

"ЩΣ ЩӨП'Ƭ KПӨЩ ƬΉΛƬ ЦПƬIᄂ ЩΣ ƬЯY. ΛПD FӨЯ ƬΉӨƧΣ ƬΉΛƬ ƧƬΛY, ΣVΣП ΛFƬΣЯ YӨЦЯ ƬЯΛПƧFӨЯMΛƬIӨП, ЩΣ'ᄂᄂ KПӨЩ ƬΉΣY'ЯΣ YӨЦЯ ЯΣΛᄂ FЯIΣПDƧ."

"Is that true?"

Silence.

The voice always did this when Aila asked the most important question. The voice had said something similar before, but this was the first time that Aila seriously considered what it was saying. It was so hard to be comfortable, so hard to be free without having a single soul she knew she could rely on.

Maybe, just maybe, Aila could call on this power the voice seemed so eager to give, use it for a moment to figure out who her real friends were, and then have everything return to normal.

Aila, thinking she'd come up with this great idea, looked up to the ceiling of the lecture room smiling. As the face of the boy she'd met in the woods two months ago flashed in her mind, she harumphed.

"I'll show him… show him that I have real friends." Aila's gaze returned to her desk, "Alright voice, what do I have to do?"

Even though the voice couldn't be seen, Aila could feel its smile. A smile strong enough to make her skin crawl.

__--**--__--**___

"COME ON THEODORE! GIVE ME ALL YOU'VE GOT!"

Huffing and puffing, Theodore stood up from the dirt and charged at a rather jovial looking, extremely buff student. With his sword held above his head, the blade lit up in a familiar dim red light as Theodore struck down on what might as well have been a door that his friend and upperclassman held.

However, his blade only met with an invisible force field that repelled the rippling red aura. Clenching his teeth and straining to keep the blade lit with his power, Theodore could feel his muscles screaming at him to release the stance as the small tethers that held them all together started to snap.

"DIEURO!!" Theodore screamed as all his bodily functions began to cease.

His upperclassman, seeing that Theodore was doing something stupid again, simply stepped forward. That step, as little as it may have been, was enough for the wooden training sword to shatter.

With no blade to pump his power into any longer, Theodore felt a bit of reason return as his muscles all gave out at once. As Theodore's face lay flat in the training ground dirt, he dribbled up some of what he ate before coming to spar.

"Theodore…" His friend knelt next to him, not a bead of sweat to be found on his brow, "You're impressive for a sophomore, you really are… but you must find something else other than that downward slash. It's quite restrictive."

"Vell," Theodore's cheek was smushed against the ground, making it difficult for him to talk, "It doormalee burks."

"And I understand that," Theodore's friend decided to at least give him freedom to talk as he set Theodore on his back, "But you didn't ask to spar against me just because you felt that your downward slash would work on me. You asked because you wanted to learn something new and you're failing… rather spectacularly. I mean… I have yet to see you come at me with a different move… When it doesn't work after the fifteenth time, stop trying."

"And people call you a meathead." Theodore snorted.

"No, you're just exceptionally stupid."

Staring at each other for a few moments in silence, they both burst out laughing before Theodore raised his hand into the sky, asking for help to stand. Easily picking him up like a sack of potatoes, Theodore's upperclassman gracefully stood him up.

"Thanks William, you're the best."

"I try my hardest for my friends." William gave him a wink as he cleaned up the training grounds.

Collecting his bearings, Theodore felt he could walk alone only after William had finished cleaning everything – even the wood shards that'd exploded off his blade.

"Ready?" William gave Theodore a large smile.

Nodding in response, the two headed off, talking passionately about training and where they saw their powers in the future.

"But if you want to get there…" William punched Theodore in the shoulder, most definitely leaving a bruise mark, "You have to develop something other than the downward slash. If you know it's coming, it's not that hard to block. And from the story you told like two months ago, it isn't that hard to dodge either."

"Well, that situation was an enigma." Theodore stopped him.

"Was it?" William quirked an eyebrow, "Was it really?"

Theodore opened his mouth to retort but found himself unable to.

"I mean, as I told you back then, and as I'm telling you now, you could prove that he'd dodged out of skill if you just fought him again."

"But no one knows where to find him. He just disappeared like that…" Theodore snapped his fingers, "Plus, he's got quite a few nasty rumors about him. I feel like if I ever challenged him, he'd pull some strings to have me expelled from the academy."

All William did was blink quickly at Theodore before taking a deep breath and sighing.

"We're talking about the Manus, right?" Nodding, William stroked his brow, "Manus… is disowned. He has no strings to pull. He has no friends. He has no family. He has no connections. If you were to challenge him to a duel, I wouldn't be surprised if he were the one to get in trouble instead."

"It's rather cruel to say that about somebody." Theodore scowled.

"Well, since I'm a noble, I have a bit more information than you do. And since no one has met with him, at least no one in my circle, it's likely he's still his same old self. A cocky, selfish, ugly, untalented, worthless, and downright creepy guy. There's a reason his family disowned him in his freshman year."

Theodore still felt it was wrong to talk about someone like that, but he didn't want to get William started, especially not on the nobles he felt were undeserving of their title.

Getting to a path where the two of them had to split, William stopped Theodore, "I am curious… what does 'DIEURO' mean?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Theodore answered with a bit of excitement, "Ah, it's just something that I heard the townsfolk say whenever they fought wild beasts, mainly wolves, in my village. It means 'Die a thousand deaths' as they would want the wolves to die a thousand times in continuous reincarnations to pay for their sins since their actions actively caused more harm."

"That seems... rather extreme."

"Well, of course it is… that's because it's a universal law that can be applied to every living thing from human to animal to plant. If someone or something does more harm than good, they should… DIEURO!!!"

Chortling, William broke out into a big grin, "I suppose that's fair. Then make sure to do more good than harm, Theodore."

"I'll try my harde—"

A mind-numbing sound blew through the halls, shattering all the glass-pane windows. Both Theodore and William look at one another before scouring for the source of that sound. Though, they didn't have to search for long as a golden pillar could be seen coming from one of the study hall buildings.

"Someone actually called on their power?" Theodore quivered.

"Get as many people as you can trust Theodore." William sauntered away, "We need to stop that beast."

"And where are you going?" Theodore blinked.

"To get my shield."