The Never-ending Symphony

  Roa woke up with a jolt. His whole body was trembling. His eyes fluttered open as he noticed the vibrations in his hand, shaking like the ground he was lying on. Staring at the sky, he noticed long swirling clouds following along with the pulse. He stood up from the cold, bluish dirt, as pebbles bounced up and down around him like grasshoppers. In the distance, giant bdes of blue grass swayed in harmony with the unseen melody. The bass throbbed, a deep, visceral pulse that seemed to rattle his very bones, so powerful that Roa swore his brain hopped around inside his skull. Where was he?

  Some notes hit so profoundly they forced his eyes to roll back, leaving him gasping as a sense of pleasure made its way through his body, covering his skin with goosebumps. The ndscape was strange, starkly different from the previous one he had traversed for so long. There was no sun, but there was light nonetheless, as a strange hue lit up the cobalt-colored sky. Everything was synchronized to the tune—everything. Even the water drops, jumping up and down in a puddle, seemed to be dancing along.

  “Rosso,” he muttered, his voice swallowed by the omnipresent sound.

  He turned, scanning the horizon for his friend. No sign of him. He remembered Professor Zu's warning. His trembling hands shot to his ears, fingers fumbling to check for the plugs. Relief swept over him as he felt them on his fingers. Even with them inside, the music seeped through—muffled, yet relentless.

  "The next Exit will be within viewing distance," her words echoed in his mind, as he tried to concentrate through the vibrations.

  There seemed to be no life in this pce. The ndscape was dotted by oval-shaped rocks sticking out of the nd. Embedded in each were speakers of various sizes, throbbing and shaking in unison. The rgest of these stones loomed ahead, a colossal formation the size of a hill. Everything—the clouds, the grass, even the air—seemed to pulse toward it, as if lured by some magnetic force. Roa felt it too, a tug in his chest drawing him closer.

  Then, he saw her. Upon the immense rock was the silhouette of a woman who sat levitating cross-legged upon it. Bobbing her head up and down, her long hair flowed outwards, swirling like a long veil in water. Roa squinted, his vision blurred by the unrelenting vibrations. His hands shielding his face, he tried to focus his eyes, when cold fingers suddenly reached inside his ears from behind.

  The plugs were yanked free. The music smmed into him like a tsunami, deafening and all-consuming. Roa clutched his head, a sharp pain exploding in his ears as he fell to his knees. He spun around, panic fshing across his face, only to meet a familiar grin. Rosso stood there; his missing incisor gleaming as he ughed like a maniac. He threw the plugs with a flick of his wrists, and danced around the boy. By the time the Earthling threw himself desperately on the ground to reach either, the beat dropped; a beat so sublime that his whole body felt like it melted with it, along with any sense of control. The pulse was so thoroughly encompassing that he stopped thinking of the plugs, of finding the Exit, of Earth, Eray, or anything else for that matter—and instead, began focusing on the music, feeling it. His legs began to move of their own accord, joining his friend in dance; the melody weaving through his muscles like a puppeteer pulling on the strings.

  At first, the euphoria was indescribable. He had never felt anything like it before. The music wasn't just in his ears—it was inside of him. He couldn’t help himself. He danced with his friend to his heart's content, ughing and yelling things at each other neither could hear. He had never felt so blissfully alive before. However, as the hours dragged on, the bliss began to falter. Roa felt a warm trickle of blood slide down his nostril. His throat burned, and his legs ached from the relentless movement. His ears throbbed, the pain sharp and unyielding. He could not catch his breath, and no matter how much pain he was in, he just—could not stop. He couldn’t say no to the rhythm.

  "We're in danger!" he screamed, his voice hoarse and breaking.

  Rosso didn’t respond. His eyes rolled back, his body convulsing with the beat. Roa colpsed after around ten hours, consumed by the music, his mind now complete mush. He y there, the cold ground pressing against his cheek, his strength drained from his body. He had no idea what happened to his friend at that point, or how much time had passed. He felt alone again. With the st drop of strength, he flopped his hands forward, his arm nding in a puddle. His eyes shot open. He grabbed some mud out of it and stuffed it in his ears. The music dulled instantly, repced by a muffled silence, and the loud ringing of his battered eardrums.

  When he regained his senses, crity crashing through the haze of exhaustion, he spped more mud into his ears, further muffling the relentless rhythm. Blood covered his chin and neck in drying streaks; he tried to wipe them with trembling hands. Beside him, Rosso twitched to the beat, unconscious but strangely synchronized with the sound. He applied the same treatment to his friend, sticking his index fingers in his ears. Leaning against Rosso’s limp frame for support, Roa fumbled into his pouch, hands trembling as they searched for anything useful. His fingers brushed against something smooth and cool. Yanking it out, he saw a gleam of metal before it slipped from his grasp, nding on a nearby rock—it was the little teaspoon the old dy had given him.

  The music stopped.

  Rosso sat up with a jolt, as if awoken from deep hypnosis. His hair sticking up and a bnk stare on his face, his arm stretched out in front, pointing at something. The silhouette levitating on the towering, oval rock moved. She stood up, uncrossing her legs, gracefully floating down. Her hair flowed behind her like a dragon’s tail, rippling and twisting, as she approached them. Three times their height, she stood towering in front, as they stared up at her, mouths open. The explorers trembled, hands pressing the wet mud harder into their ears, their hearts pounding as her golden eyes swept over them. With a fluid motion, she extended one hand, and the teaspoon and rock rose into the air, gliding into her open palm. The spoon tapped against the stone on its own, producing a single yet powerful note that reverberated across the nd, shaking the ground and sky in the process. Her eyes closed as a serene smile spread across her face.

  "We are the Grand Kami of Symphony Sublime, nd of endless song. Our name is Harmoniah, bow before us, mortals," she procimed, her powerful and beautiful voice like a chord pyed on the strings of the Universe itself.

  The two gnced at each other with fear in their eyes. They dropped to their knees, their foreheads brushing the ground. When Rosso froze in his bowed position, too weak to sit back up, Roa yanked him upright by his shirt.

  "No one comes here to disturb our sacred rhythm. No one," she roared, her voice rolling in the sky like thunder, as the two voyagers winced, palms cmping tighter over their ears with each word.

  "However," she continued after a long pause, her tone softening, "a just and synchronized contribution to the sacred rhythm, with such a—humble, yet pure instrument, on such a—crude, yet effective surface, must be rewarded appropriately."

  The two exchanged confused gnces, then something floated in Roa's face.

  "The Ocarina of Sublime. We, Grand Kami of Music, have forged this instrument with our divine hands—so that fate may bring it to yours."

  The boy grabbed it from the air, its surface iridescent and humming faintly with a magical hue.

  "This piece is unlike any other. Each note will summon a new instrument—drums, guitars, and many more. The ocarina will only produce music when all magical instruments have been called forth. Now—py for us something sublime."

  A pause ensued, as the two looked at each other. The Sunflower’s breath entered the ocarina, his fingers covering several random holes. No sound came out. Instead, a white flute materialized out of thin air in a swirl of white smoke, then tumbled onto the ground with a soft tap. The young man stood surprised, but his narrowing eyes soon shifted elsewhere, his brow furrowing. He scanned around for the Exit. No luck: nothing but giant blue grass, and oval rocks filled with speakers, jutting out of the ground.

  "Oh, Grand Kami of song, I must find the right instrument, as well as a better location for my performance to truly be—sublime" he said to the spirit, choosing his words with caution.

  Harmoniah tilted her head, her expression curious.

  "All corners of our world are acoustically precise. However—you have piqued our interest, musician. Lead the way."

  With a nervous nod, Roa began summoning instruments one by one: a violin, a trombone, a guitar, and even a piano. Each one appeared with a puff of white smoke, cttering to the ground as their steps hastened, their desperate eyes searching for the way out. The great spirit grew impatient, causing everything to vibrate more each time her voice rose, her tone growing more furious by the minute. A moment of despair engulfed the young man, but then he remembered the Gift.

  “The path to Eray—it must lead out of this world, which means that it should point towards the Exit,” he thought as he closed his eyes.

  He stuck his thumb up in the air and imagined her smiling face. A little, colorful fme danced above his thumb. The Compass worked. He moved his arm around until the fme grew rger.

  “That’s the way,” he stuck his chest out and smiled, but there was no time for celebration.

  "I have had enough of this silence. You stall. You dey my sacred rhythm for NOTHING!"

  "No, wait—I swear, it's just a bit farther," Roa said upon seeing the glow of the magic doorway in the distance.

  "Py now, or I will make you pay!" the Goddess of Music roared her final warning.

  The Jumpers stopped, nodded at each other, and with a determined look in his eyes, Roa manifested one more random thing from the ocarina—a little drum. Having never id a finger on any instrument in his life, nor possessing a shred of natural talent, the sounds that erupted from his hands—hitting the skin of the instrument like footsteps tripping down a staircase—were nothing but a chaotic mess, with no trace of rhythm or coherence to be found.

  "I will destroy you both!" the Kami screeched, causing the two to duck in terror.

  The nd around them began to shake with increasing force. An earthquake split the ground, as steam escaped from the fissures. The divine being floated up, vibrating until she was but a blur. The boulders around them began to crumble—her long screams piercing the air. The travelers’ hands shot up to their ears, covering them as they fell to their knees. They froze. Behind the horizon appeared something that terrified them—a giant creature. Its body was made of square speakers of all sizes, stacked one onto the next, forming arms, legs, a torso and a head. It was so immense that it blocked half of the sky as it rose over them. The travelers’ eyes shot open, frightened by the monstrosity. Roa had never seen anything so big before. The sound of a hundred random keys hammered on an organ erupted from the colossus, unleashing a shockwave that tore through the air, scattering dust and rocks in every direction, and sending the two Jumpers tumbling like leaves in the wind. They ran at full speed towards the Exit. The Sunflower shoved the ocarina into his pocket as he dove headfirst into the portal, while Rosso clutched the back of his shirt, tumbling in after him.