Chapter 157: Spirit Orchestra, Part One

{June Dahlia}

A lit cigarette rested between June's fingers, unused for the last minute, nearly forgotten. The singer's sharp eyes watched the buzzing city of Libera from her vantage point, the second-floor balcony of the very building she would be performing at in a few days. Below, she could see dozens of people wandering from one place to another, their greetings, chatters, and laughs filling the air with a busy, but joyous atmosphere.

The sun peeked just over the horizon, and soon the night would embrace the city as was indicated by a sudden chill in the air that had arrived an hour or two early. That made June want to enjoy these few moments of warmth she had left. Once they were gone, all that would be left were cold nerves and an uneasy heart. It was damn near shameful. June had never been the clingy type, and she didn't want to start being such now, but at the same time, she couldn't help but worry that her last meeting with the current object of her interests had gone sour.

It didn't help that she couldn't quite remember the last few minutes before that girl left. If she did, maybe she'd be feeling a little more relaxed right now.

[... Maybe I should just try to reach out to her,] she wondered. [Did I scare her off somehow?]

At that moment, the glass door leading to the balcony, a few steps away, opened and a man dressed in a suit walked out. June flinched. Slightly startled, she turned toward the intruder but quickly smiled when she saw her bandmate, Ross, approaching her table. He was a thin, tall, dark-skinned man with a thick mustache and slick, borderline greasy, black hair. His kindness and skills with a saxophone more than made up for his questionable taste in haircuts.

"Sorry, June," he said. "The line didn't move as fast as I thought it would." Ross then placed a pair of glass cups filled with crystalline red liquid down on the table.

"It's alright," she replied, waving a hand dismissively with a slightly drier voice than normal.

"Cheers," Ross said as he took one and raised it up. June did the same and then they let the cups hug it out for just a moment before they both took a sip. The sweet drink slid down June's throat in a manner that relieved her a little, and she tried to let that anxiety out through a breath, exhaling slowly.

Ross leaned back a little in his chair and the two briefly fell into a comfortable silence as June watched the citizens of this colorful city below. Her smile gradually faded away which may have tipped Ross off to her present state.

"Nervous?" He asked with a sympathetic tone.

"... Yeah," June nodded as she gave a low chuckle. "You could say that."

[Can't exactly tell you why, though,] she thought. [Or, well, maybe I could, but I'd rather not. I'd like to keep Xhez as a precious little secret, for now,] she added, holding back a smile. [We'll see where that goes, though. Unless it's already over, but, well... Maybe it isn't.]

"It'll be fine," the man quickly moved to calm her down, speaking with a soft tone as he looked into June's eyes. "It's just another performance. We've performed in back alleys, secret bandit hideouts, and whorehouses. This is nothing."

"Performing in that whorehouse wasn't nerve-wracking, it was fun," June quickly contested with a smirk.

"You've got a point, but, you get the idea," he countered. "We've been through a lot of real 'hairs-on-your-arms-standing-up' type of shit, alright? This is nothing."

Honestly, she agreed.

A part of her knew she should likely be a little more excited about this. It was, after all, Silk Touch's biggest show... ever. It was the culmination of everything they'd been working toward for the last five years. The reward for putting up with shady managers and even shadier listeners as they traveled from one small village in the middle of nowhere to another.

And, yet, June couldn't muster more than a light smile when she thought about it. She couldn't tell why, but it didn't feel too different.

"Don't worry," June moved to reassure Ross as she raised her cup. "I'll do well as always. You can count on that. Anyway, what about the others? Are they still seeing the sights?"

"Yeah, we'll have to be pulling those degenerates kicking and screaming from the bars before our set," Ross stated. "Let's hope they aren't too drunk to play their instruments."

"Music is second nature for them," June said, in their defense. "I don't think a level of drunkenness where they couldn't perform anymore exists."

"I'd prefer it if we don't test that theory at all."

"I'll let them know, then, not to get too hammered. How's that?"

"That would be nice."

On that note, June's body finally released some of the tension she'd been holding, though she still wondered about that friend of hers.

[... I'll send her a letter tomorrow morning,] she concluded. [If she wants to tell me how she's not interested anymore after that, then whatever. I didn't get to where I am today by sitting around and not trying, though.]

---

{Xhez}

"So... You're a sprite," Eve stated.

"Don't say it so loudly," Maria scolded her at a lower volume than Eve had just spoken with.

"Sorry, sorry... But, really?" The fairy asked, looking at Xhez with wide and nearly sad eyes. "This whole time?"

The group was walking back to the Academy from the train station. It had taken almost the entirety of the evening to get back to Libera from Cradle, and now that they were here, Xhez genuinely felt more at home. Not completely, of course. Her true home would always be the wilderness, but, here, within the walls of the first bit of human civilization that she really got to know, she felt like she had more of a grasp on things.

The things she'd seen at Cradle were just a little too perplexing, after all.

Thanks to that slip-up at the train, they ended up having to explain Xhez's nature to Eve. Rin spent the better part of an hour explaining everything the girls had gone through, eventually arriving at the present day. Eve had accepted it all rather quickly, Xhez felt. But she'd maintained a highly pensive expression ever since.

Now, she suddenly asked about it again, even though Xhez thought she'd already internalized the revelation. Apparently, she was mistaken though.

"Uh, yeah," Rin answered as they arrived at the Academy's gates. "But, people still don't know, so, uh, let's not talk about it from here."

"Right..." Eve muttered. Xhez could feel an aura of disappointment surrounding the fairy. She hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Xhez being a sprite. Her own disappointment would be unmatched if that was the case.

Still, they went back inside the academy with their bags and that one spellbook in Rin's hands. Xhez wondered just how much more time her illusion had left after so long spent under the sun. She could feel it wouldn't be too long now before it ran out, though.

"Hey," Elisa said to them, and the girls all turned toward her. "I gotta go check in with my family. Could you take my stuff back to our room?" She asked Rin.

"Sure."

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"Thanks. It was fun," she said to everyone, "maybe we could go out on a longer trip one of these days."

"I'll ask," Maria replied, in agreement. "Can't make any promises, though."

"Alright. See you tomorrow," Elisa told them, waving a hand as goodbye before turning and walking away.

As they went back inside, Maria and Eve both excused themselves, leaving Rin and Xhez to head back to their room on their own. Eve's disappointed expression stuck to the front of Xhez's mind all the way until she was back on Rin's bed, sitting down next to the adventurer.

"So," Rin said, smiling at the sprite. "Let's see this new spell."

"Right!" Xhez quickly perked up.

Rin opened the book and quickly flew over several pages, before stabbing her index finger at the one that described the spell she'd talked about.

"Here," she said, pulling the book closer for Xhez's eyes to see. "Shapeshifting."

"How does it work?" Xhez asked.

Rin brought one of her knees up to let the book rest on it.

"So, the spell we've been using so far changes your body's different colors," she explained. "But, your body is still the same. Your hair is still... whatever your hair is, but black. Your skin looks like regular human skin, but it's actually a little slimy, understand? This changes your body entirely. Well, on an illusory level," she added. "You can make your hair look like mine, but if someone tried to touch it, it would still feel like your normal hair. And you can give yourself nails, but if someone tried to touch your fingers, they'd feel that you don't have any. That sort of thing."

"Ah, I see, so it is still only a visual change?"

"Yeah. After all, it's still just Illusion stuff. If we want magic that actually changes you, well, I don't think even the Mages Guild would have that sort of thing."

"I understand," Xhez replied. She then gave Rin a warm smile and said, "I appreciate how you're always looking out for me. Thank you."

"Heh," Rin giggled a bit, the tips of her ears turning a slight red. "I'm just... doing what anyone would do."

"If any human would care for me this much, then it says great things about humanity!" Xhez replied. "Unfortunately... I don't know whether that is true or not. So, yes, thank you."

They looked into each other's eyes. The connection between them felt as strong as ever, and Xhez was glad that even if a large part of humanity seemed to be okay with some highly questionable practices, like what she saw at Cradle, she still had Rin by her side, to fall back on.

"... How about we try it out?" Rin asked, then. clearing her throat.

"We should," Xhez agreed. "Let me look at the spellsign for a bit."

"Alright."

Xhez did just that, taking the book in her hands as her disguise timed out and faded away. Rin got up and locked the door, just to make sure no one who wasn't in the know interrupted them and went back to her bed as Xhez's eyes took in the spell's design.

This particular design looked like an eye but with many different shapes within its pupil. Without pushing her Spirit to her fingers just yet, Xhez drew the spell in the air, getting a feel for the motions.

She was slightly distracted, however, when Rin rested her head on the girl's shoulder. It was quite a bit like when she'd done so on the train, only, she wasn't asleep this time.

"... I'm so tired," Rin let out with a gravelly voice. Xhez laughed, putting her eyes back on the page for a moment.

"You can go ahead and sleep. If you want to," Xhez replied.

"And miss your first attempt at this? Nah," Rin replied. "I want to see that sprite talent at work, ya know?"

"I hope I will not disappoint, then."

After a while, Xhez believed she was ready. She stood up, placing the book atop Rin's drawer while the adventurer took advantage of the newfound space on her bed and laid down.

The sprite then pushed her Spirit up to her right hand and lifted it up in front of her, before she began drawing the spellsign in the air. Maybe it was because of the amber eyes that awaited the result eagerly, or maybe it was because Xhez was feeling particularly good tonight, but she managed to get the spell off on her first try.

If it worked anything like the previous spell she used, Xhez figured she would have to imagine what she wanted to look like. She went with the same general appearance as her usual human self, black hair, amber eyes like Rin's, and pale skin. However, she added in the missing pieces from before. The thinner, more plentiful hair of a human, along with those nails and the like.

The result was that when she was finished, she looked down at herself and saw a human. No trace of her sprite body was there, anymore.

"Wow..." Rin said, her eyes gleaming as she sat up and walked over to Xhez. "You look great!"

At that, Xhez looked up and smiled.

And then her spell timed out.

"W-What?" Rin asked.

Xhez looked down at herself, feeling a wave of tiredness hit her like a slap in the face.

"I... I think I just wasted what little Spirit I had left," the sprite replied. "I might need to, ehm, 'head to bed early', as you say."

Rin blinked a few times.

"Y-Yeah, go ahead."

And, with that, Xhez's day came to a close with a smile and an optimistic heart.

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