Suddenly, an idea came to me. I pulled Willow by the scarf so I could whisper it in his ear.
“Hmm…” he pondered, leaning back against the fountain. “Are you sure it will work?”
“I know it will. I’ve been testing my power non-stop for the last few days.”
“What are two going on about?” Sharp interrupted.
“A way to improve our performance,” I explained. “My voice can’t be heard in the Unseen Dimension, but I can still make noise. I think the audience would be able to hear me play the gourd invisibly, at least if I start with the percussive.”
Willow’s eyes illuminated. “You’re a mad genius, Badger! We’ll need to adjust the plan a bit, but we’re not out of time yet!”
The other two agreed with this new idea, and we figured out the blocking in time for the sun to kiss the horizon.
“Places everyone!” Sharp commanded, and we dispersed to different sides of the fountain.
Once I was sure no one was looking, I disappeared with the orchestra gourd, and discovered the Unseen Dimension was brighter than the day. Every soul of every person in Summit Town created a mess of multicolored lights, a spectacle of humanity’s beauty.
Willow was the brightest soul in the crowd.
I played the first notes, and all the souls reacted in different ways. Some changed colors, while some became brighter or dimmer. Many of them moved about, looking for the source of this strange new noise.
The soul of my City friend flipped onto the lip of the fountain, a pleasant melody created by her instrumental bone-blades. It was a thin weapon, a short kind of rapier made with dull bone on one side and deadly sharp silver-steel on the other. Certain points in her armor corresponded to certain musical notes. Centuries had passed since any war on the Vast United Continent, so the term ‘Warrior’ had lost the violent connotation in place of a more whimsical one.
A blinding light jumped out in front of us, all the way to the top of the fountain. I gasped, forgetting I was supposed to be in the middle of playing an instrument. Willow’s soul was now twice as bright, putting all others to shame. He sang like dripping honey, and for a moment, every soul connected.
“Can’t move on, can’t move on
‘Til the sun
Goes Down.
Can’t go home, can’t go home,
‘Til the sun
Skips Town
Can’t go out, can’t go out,
When the sun
Can See.
Cause the sun, cause the sun,
Is in love
With Me.”
My solo followed this verse, the perfect time to reappear. This trick, combined with my masterful musical prowess, gained a flurry of applause from the growing crowd. Sharp and I danced in a circle around the fountain. Much to our delighted surprise, a pair of City Warriors with similar percussive armor began to dance and play to the same tempo.
Piranha's voice was less like honey and more like a roaring river, but no less captivating. They joined Willow at the top of the fountain and sang the next low and jaunty verse of the song:
“See the moon, in the sky,
With her pale pink
Cheeks
O’er the grass green horizon,
Her eye line
Creeps
Oh the moon with her lies.
But they must be
True
Cause the moon, cause the moon,
Is in love with
You.”
The crowd sang along to the popular tune in chaotic yet riveting unison. When the song finished, Summit Town broke into applause, but the four of us had already blended into the crowd and made a surreptitious exit.
“Did you see the look on their faces?” Pir squealed as soon as we left the town square. “It was like they’d never seen Lucent before!”
Sharp twirled her swords in smooth, practiced circles. “Those City guys were total pros. They knew all the notes and everything!”
While the three of us babbled about our performance, Willow led us back to the inn, a serene smile on his face.
“Tell me, Willow,” I asked when I caught up with him. “What do you want to accomplish with these performances?”
His eyes twinkled. Sometimes he was immature and reckless, yet there was something old about him too, as if he had access to some wisdom from an ancient time. The light around him grew, his soul leaking into the real dimension.
“Joy and pain exist in equal measure,” he said, voice distant. “Both are in a constant moving balance. I reject this idea, and I will proceed to crush the pain and fill the world with overwhelming joy.”
Sharp held her hand up to hide an obvious smile. She was at odds with him most times, but deep down I knew she found him endearing.
“Maybe you can’t experience joy without pain,” she suggested.
“Maybe you can.” He shrugged, and the conversation was over, the last of the sun sinking below the sky.
Chapter Five
