#heclingmuzik o1

[ngdays]

Sundown, Archimedes. It felt like he'd both just been here yesterday and all of five years ago — like his feet should know where to go, but they kept getting mixed up in unfamiliarity. In Akira's defense, whenever the hell he'd been here last, this museum wasn't a thing. At least, he'd never heard of it.

Ready to retire this reason for the scowl on his face, he stopped his meandering and fixed his gaze on a girl by her lonesome. She looked anything but lost, which made that one of them. Maybe she could make it two.

"Hey," he spoke up from under his hood, only lowering it when considering his general presence could come off as more threatening than he intended. Scaring her away would leave him with zero answers and enough breath wasted.

"Uh, you ever hear of a 'Tempus Museum'? I'm looking for it."

@heclingmuzik

[sunliteve]

"You will, as long as you have the drive," he answered after pulling his lips away from his own water bottle. "And I can sense that drive in you."

Not that he really had to sense anything when she had already demonstrated her dedication to running her own agency.

"Mm-hm, wonderful☆ How are you feeling now? We can leave as soon as you're feeling steady on your feet."

The water bottle is almost empty after she's downing the liquid and feeling refreshed. Ismael wipes at the corner of her lips and laughs softly, "I hope that I get there too. It was fun for sure." Having focused on hiyori after the initial fright certainly helped her feel less scared.

"Thank YOU." If it weren't for him, she'd probably give up on the performance! "You know, after all that nerve, I could seriously eat. I think this does call for a celebration."

[thrillingtremors]

@heclingmuzik // event starter call.

when the snow began to fall, and the landscape turned to blinding white, danny didn't have to think for very long to realize where the mist had led them. a pity, that he didn't have any layers beyond the thin jacket he'd been toting about the island just to have extra pockets. the cold likely wouldn't take long to eat at them both, but there was a fire inside the abandoned ski lodge nearby - it would have almost been inviting without the gleaming instruments of death sprouting from the ground sporadically that immediately cued one in that this place was not what it seemed.

'if you see anyone else besides me, just run.' this was beginning to get tiring, but danny had already realized that if he was forced to play on the other side of the field, then it was better to have someone to work with that was moderately prepared. 'i don't hear anything yet, but...' the quiet that had settled over the area despite the falling snow made him nervous, and danny was not the type of guy who did being nervous. no - there had to be someone watching them already.

[eusarca]

“IS-MAE-L!” One lovely spirit briskly closed in from across the shiny street.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN”

Sounding so indignant and concerned at the same time had to count as a skill.

@heclingmuzik​

[fellstcr]

⚔️ // there  were  some  times  on  occasion  that  students  would  demonstrate  their  extracurricular  activities  and  hobbies.  not  by  force  ,  and  often  not  for  need  of  tutelage  ,  but  out  of  an  eagerness  to  share  their  gifts  with  others.  it  was  a  bit  strange  at  first  ,  byleth  had  thought  ,  for  any  of  the  students  at  garreg  mach  to  want  to  show  her  their  hobbies  and  passions.  at  the  time  she  had  largely  considered  herself  strictly  a  teacher  of  the  combat  arts.  but  hearing  the  sweet  ,  light  notes  of  a  violin  playing  in  the  distance  reminded  her  fondly  of  the  memories  she  had  made  simply  by  allowing  her  students  to  share.  she  had  only  to  listen  to  them  ,  and  now  she  found  herself  doing  much  the  same.

          she  had  followed  the  sound  to  the  roots  of  the  gargantuan  tree  she  had  observed  from  her  bedroom  hours  before.  although  it  seemed  plenty  others  had  a  similar  idea  ,  and  maybe  eventually  went  on  with  their  days,  beneath  the  tree  byleth  remained  and  there  she  would  stay  even  when  the  last  notes  finally  faded.

“you  play  beautifully,”  she  piped  up, “i  wish  i  could  give  you  gold  pieces  ,  but . . .  i  don’t  think  those  came  with  me.”

@heclingmuzik​ / starter call !

[princevirtue]

@heclingmuzik  // starter call!!

♚ : she’d continued on her trek to explore this island from top to bottom, and to spare no attention to detail along the way. this cotes ward had been different once, that miko remembers, but it’s so faint in her memories these days that it is easier to pretend she’s unable to recall it at all. the mind seems to work differently upon repeat visits here, she suspects, but that’s a line of thought to pursue another day.

for today, her focus is the little village on the south side of cotes. there are supposed to be creatures akin to fairies that dwell here, and she’s wondered for a time if they’ve any connection to gensokyo. the chance is slim to none, but she simply cannot pass up the opportunity. as she approaches, there is a sound on the wind - clear as a bell, and ever-rising and dipping evenly in pitch; someone is singing. miko doesn’t recognize the tune, but then again, she doesn’t recognize a lot of things from the modern era. it’s a pretty sound nonetheless, and pleasing to her over-sensitive ears.

on the final leg of her journey, she spots them: a young woman, encircled by a loosely gathered group of pixies. they do somewhat resemble fairies, a fact duly noted for later. they also appear to be entranced by the song being offered. miko does her due duty and stands quietly, observing. at the end, she offers a few claps of subdued applause. certainly this is someone with enough talent to truly perform upon a stage, that much she can garner.

‘that is quite the voice you have, miss. i wonder if the rest of the audience liked it?’ she’s surprised at her own uncertainty in reading the emotions of the pixies, but it must come with the strange territory of being cut off from her own powers.

‘my apologies if i interrupted an important transaction, of course. i have been told i’ve not the finest sense when it comes to timing.’ she doesn’t know what these creatures trade for their supposed wares, but song makes as much sense as anything.

[byabhainn]

@heclingmuzik

      ✛ ❝ Oh, it’s just something I found and tried to spruce up so I could keep practicing, ❞ the brunette now says, giving her violin a short glance before closing the lid on her case for it.

      ❝ I’d really like to buy a new one honestly, but... Well, I can’t right now, ❞

      ❝ --Anyways! You play, too? ❞

[veternosamente]

@heclingmuzik​

     – [ ♠ ] ; ❝ … Where did all these old preschool pc games come from? ❞ the blonde idly wonders out loud, holding a familiar game from her childhood within her hands. While she hadn’t expected to browse a thrift store on this particular day, she simply couldn’t resist walking inside and taking a look when she walked by it a while prior to this moment.

     ❝ I mean, I’m going to buy this regardless… But still, ❞

[feralcutting]

    @heclingmuzik​​ !

             “  ーwhat?! you wanna fight?!  ” he barked at a stranger aside, upending a trash can and littering its contents onto the pavement, “  i saw it firstー get your own!  ”

       what the hell were they giving him that look for? these things were a reliable source of food. it wasn’t his fault they were too stupid to figure that out.

[sunliteve]

"Not fear, at the very least. These days, I feel anticipation, excitement, the pressure of the audience's expectations... many wonderful things."

Taking the offered bottle, he smiled at her encouragingly. "Thank you. And you're welcome — well done taking your first step! Should we celebrate? If you're hungry, taking care of that is one more way to recover."

"I guess having performed so much, you really don't feel it much." Or maybe he felt the nerve, but the feeling of performing in front of people was all too exciting. So much so that the feeling of negativity was washed away. The thrill was too great.

"You're right. I wouldn't wanna dydrate." Okay. She grabs two water bottles from the small refrigerator and hands one refreshing bottle to Hiyori.

"It's one of the things I'd like to overcome," she says with a smile. "This is the first step so thank you Hiyori!"

[sunliteve]

"Hm, I would say so. It was so long ago now, but the first time I performed for an audience was a completely different beast from performing for family." He claimed a seat, fanning himself with his hand with a satisfied look on his face.

"That first successful performance, imperfect as it was, was a thrill that made choosing to keep performing the only choice I wanted to make!" A thrill that persisted, keeping him on the same path even when faced with the negative impact of his passion at the end of his Yumenosaki days.

"If you manage yourself well, you won't feel the negative effects for too long. I'd at least recommend hydrating as soon as possible."

And Ismael chooses to hold on. She knows that if she were to let go, she wouldn't have that kind of energy to leave the stage. Thank goodness Hiyori helps by giving her the choice and when she doesn't let go, him moving allows for her to follow suit.

The little pep in his step has her giggling just a bit. She'll have to tell Sal all about this. About how she got on stage and performed with someone else and how much fun she had. Or...maybe he was in the crowd of people?

"THAT was amazing." She finally says once they're back inside. She releases his hand, her own sweaty from the nerve that she felt. Placing her violin down, Ismael exhales, "Buuuuuut it was also really scary. Hey, did you feel this way when you first performed ever?"

[sunliteve]

"Of course! Thank you for a fantastic accompaniment~" he said at a volume meant only for Ismael, supporting her through their firmly clasped hands. The bonding power of a grand stage made it feel natural. "You can hold on or let go whenever you wish."

Graciously, he then moved to head back into the colosseum room they were allowed to prepare in. There was a pep to his step generally indicative of a performance he felt he was proud of.

Inside, he became more casual than he'd been since before their final preparations. "Mm-hm, I believe that went well! Now that's fair Hiyori♪"

Part of her is REALLY glad that the performance is over, but the other part knows that she will start to feel like complete spaghetti the moment she begins to move to take her bow. SHE does almost--almost fall to her knees, but she uses that opportunity to take her bow to the audience as well.

While the battle has intensified, it will only be a matter of time shortly before the battle is finished.

"Thank you, Hiyori," She says breathlessly. She'll take his hand and do another bow to the audience who are watching.

Her heartbeat throbs against her chest like a fierce drum, but she can think about everything later.

[sunliteve]

It looked like the battle planned to hang on for a while longer, but the song was reaching the end of its runtime. As much as Hiyori liked the idea of ending the fight with the last of its lyrics, it was to be expected with contenders so evenly matched. What he could do was bring his side of the performance to a flawless finish before vacating the stage for the next round of performers.

🎵 —To the glory at the edge of oblivion!☆ 🎵

While some of the audience remained locked-on to the fight below, the rest clapped or cheered for the two on stage. Hiyori waved to them, undeterred as ever by the sweat kicked up by the spirited mini-concert. He followed it with a bow he'd stepped back next to Ismael to take. If she wasn't about to collapse onstage, she was welcome to join in.

Ismael wasn't worried about how things would go. In fact, if she had to be honest with herself, amid her little panic and fear she may have forgotten what she was supposed to do. Improvising was something she was great at and Hiyori was wonderful at adding his own flare that was seamless.

Really, she couldn't ask for a better partner in this performance!

Her violin sings along with Hiyori. The roaring crowd of people watching the battle unfold below the stage blending in with the performance. This is still scary but damn does it also feel good. It's such a strange mix!

[sunliteve]

It was fun before, but it was even more so after Ismael relaxed. It was always great to perform with someone else, bringing out each others' charm points and making up for weaknesses. If at any time she needed a second to recover, all he needed to do was fascinate the part of the crowd watching them. Simple.

🎵 Danger may lie in wait for us

but we'll fight for our place in this world! 🎵

The choreography wasn't as rigorously planned as something Ibara would push onto his plate, but Hiyori had plenty of experience dancing onstage. Adding his own flourishes to make it a cohesive duo performance was as easy as breathing.

It really didn't matter huh? It didn't matter if the people were paying attention or if they were focused on the battle, the nerves and fear was all the same and it shows in the way she plays her violin. Beautifully played sure, but damn someone could mistake her for a robot with how she was moving. However, Ismael opens her eyes to check Hiyori and it's then she sees his smile and his wink and even without words, he's encouraging her. Giving her support!

Ismael smiles back. It's enough though. It's enough for her to focus on hiyori. The battle has gone intense and the strings to her violin crescendo the music up, bringing a more intense sound. She moves along the stage, dancing alongside Hiyori.

[sunliteve]

The song mixed with the roar of battle below. Hiyori was aware they weren't the center of attention on this occasion, but that wouldn't prevent him from singing as if they were. His vocals added flair to the fight and depth to Ismael's violin, and he wouldn't let the crowd forget that.

There was a slight stiffness to Ismael's bowing that he noticed, likely an extension of tension in her body. He could easily guess fear as the culprit (either of the crowd's eyes or of unexpected danger from the fight), whether that was true or not. Because she wasn't accustomed to the Yumenosaki tradition of chatting away on stage, he wasn't going to damage her concentration by trying to revive it.

Instead, he tried to draw her eyes to him by singing to her for a moment. If he succeeded, he'd offer a wink of support, brimming with courage.

🎵 And if you take my hand

we'll chase this glory to the edge of oblivion! 🎵

She gives him the same energy. Her smile is big and bright exciting but as they approach the door to stand on stage, she can feel herself wavering just a bit. Her steps feels heavy and her shoulders feels as if they are being weighted down.

On stage now, she takes note in how in place Hiyori looks. He's done this countless of times. Waving and smiling. Putting on his charms and bringing out his personality with him on stage. It's admirable.

He's ready and she sees that. Damn, okay. She can't talk big and then back out now! So, to the crowd she looks. NOPE. She felt herself getting woozy just by looking. The battle is about to begin AND it means she'll have had to start her piece. Hiyori is waiting.

The chin rest is pressed against her chin and she holds the body delicately.

She'll close her eyes and she'll pretend that it's just her and hiyori for the time being. Everyone else is not here. And tje first note to the piece starts in a slow.

[sunliteve]

"And so am I! Let's give the audience and the competitors something to remember, yes?" After a brilliant smile thrown her way, he moved for the door separating them from the outdoor stage.

Once out, he could see the rows of spectators and a group of people walking out against shadowy duplicates. He, of course, waved to any that looked his way and took his place on the stage, ready to sing after Ismael's notes began the performance.

"~♪"

"We got this!" Hiyori's confidence and his cheeriness is a nice feeling. She feels at ease and feels things are going to be okay.

She plucks a couple of strings and smiles with content, "and it's gonna be hella exciting! Remember, I'll match your beat and your tempo." She wouldn't have any problem following his lead at all.

"Okay, Hiyori! I think I'm ready.: