The priestess of Endymion reaches out her hand to brush away a corner of the fence running around the burdenbeast pasture, pulling out a few overgrown blades of grass, revealing a harp built into the fence itself.
The simple instrument has nearly become one with the pasture. Not far away, the burdenbeasts leisurely munch on the radishes the priestess had brought along, humming in satisfaction.
Titi
...Its coloration has darkened, the paint on the base is mottled, and while the decorative elements are still there, their surfaces have burdenbeast bite and hoof-polishing marks. The whole thing looks like an ornament in the corner of the field.
Titi
I shouldn't question you... but this... I find it rather hard to believe...
Kassandra
You are a specialist in your field, and no doubt have a repertoire of techniques and standards to confirm it. You may examine it in detail.
Titi
If you say so. The wood used for the harp's body is definitely from the firs that grow near the site of old Athenius. As for its design, it's simpler than the one I brought.
Titi
The strings are far too new, though. These are metal strings, only popularized in the last few years...
Kassandra
The original strings snapped a long time ago. I replaced them recently.
Kassandra
I had also tried using traditional beastgut strings, but... No matter the type, the result was always the same.
Kassandra
Legend has it that the day Old Athenius fell, Kereseira's harp fell silent, never to sound again.
Kassandra
Metal, beastgut, once a month I would come here to try and play it, but I could never make it sing again.
Titi
...However you put it, it's the harp Kereseira used—
Titi
Assuming what you say is true...
Titi
The Sargonians aren't occupying Minos anymore. Why keep it hidden in a field?
Titi
Why, when I suggested holding the ceremony at the First Temple, no, even before that, when the Astynomos agreed to conduct the exchange for this relic—You're a priestess, you must have known.
Titi
Why didn't you bring it out earlier?
Kassandra
A harp that doesn't sing is merely a beautiful piece of wood.
Kassandra
It can be a fence in a field, or a toy for the burdenbeasts, but what it cannot be... is the centerpiece around which to gather everyone together for a ceremony celebrating the completion of a temple.
Titi
This makes no sense. Even the fake we brought plays notes that move the soul.
Kassandra
Which is why it is merely a fake. As for the harp before us, if you don't believe me, try it for yourself.
Titi
......
Kassandra
You may touch it. No need for reverence. I understand your hesitation.
Kassandra
If you can make it sing... If you can create a miracle, then you may consider it the harp you brought along, and use it to complete your trade.
Kassandra
I make you this promise, as the current keeper of the harp.
Titi
I... Sorry, but I've got one more question: why me? Sure, I need the real harp, but the First Temple also needs it...
Kassandra
I am a priestess of Endymion Temple, Kyría Mashayer.
Kassandra
We are the hierophants of revelation. For the people, we interpret dreams, decipher visions, and divine the future.
Kassandra
Sometimes, we will offer some comforts of our own accord, but most times, we will be passive, deferring to established facts and heroic wills.
Kassandra
Words flow from my lips, but they are beyond my control. Like how the things appearing before my eyes are not necessarily a pleasure to see.
Kassandra
We might call coincidence fate, but when true fate approaches, all our witticisms and pontification lose their meaning.
Kassandra
Do I have the power to allow the sun to shine, the rivers to flow, to dictate all from high to low?
Kassandra
You carry the harp of Kereseira—counterfeit though it may be—and it has appeared in Athenius. This can only be an omen. The events of the past few days stand as proof.
Kassandra
But what is most important is your character. It is because it is you, and not your fellow countryman, that I expect your spirit to resonate with the harp.
Titi
...I...
Kassandra
First, try singing heroic odes to it. Try playing it. Give your heart to it, and speak to it.
Kassandra
Then, perhaps, you really will be able to make it sing, and bring about a miracle.
She's finally gone... All that mysterious claptrap, sheesh...
Titi
......
Mio
What, ready to play already? You really believe her?
Titi
She is a priestess of Minos, and Pallas's friend. I doubt she'd lie to me about this.
Titi
Also... If we really can bring the real harp to the ceremony at the First Temple... It'll sure beat running all over Terra with a fake harp strapped to my back.
Titi
It doesn't really matter if this is the 'true fate' the priests speak of, or if it's some kind of test from the Minoan people, but I have to give it a try.
Mio
And how're you going to do that? All that 'give your heart to it', 'bring about a miracle' baloney, what's your methodology here?
Not good. No matter what I try, it only makes these dull sounds.
Titi
Is the harp's structure damaged? But this kind of hand-held harp doesn't have a sound box... The issue is probably elsewhere.
Titi
I've already tried adjusting the tension of the strings, but no effect. Could it be a problem with some delicate internal component? But I don't have any tools to take it apart, inspect it, and reassemble it right now.
Titi
*sigh*...
Mio
What a pain in the ass.
Mio
I'm thinking we go back to stealing the fake harp. Worst comes to worst, I'll help you steal it.
Mio
Stealing it doesn't mean having to traipse around Terra... Well, we can still do that if you want. We could go to your Pepe girl for some funding.
Titi
......
Titi
But now that the real harp is right in front of me, making that choice now would be like running away.
Mio
Pfah. We can call it a tactical relocation, if you prefer.
Titi
Ever since I was little... The heroes in the tales my father told me, they never ran away.
Just my bad luck, having to take part in this worthless funeral.
Impatient Noble
A useless idiot who squandered every chance the Padishah gave him. This mongrel destroyed our family's reputation.
Flippant Noble
Hey, not in front of the girl.
Impatient Noble
What does it matter? I said all that to the man himself! All he did was smile. Didn't even have the courage to talk back.
Impatient Noble
Couldn't fight worth a damn, had zero skill in managing the family estates. He said he could appraise things, but he couldn't tell good gems from bad. All he ever did was buy a pile of ancient Minoan books. Who knows if that was even worth anything?
Impatient Noble
All he did was think about useless things like that!
Flippant Noble
Maybe he had the sort of romantic soul the poets sing of.
Impatient Noble
Romantic? Save it. Would you rather have romance or jewels?
Flippant Noble
You're asking me? It's not like I'm a poet myself. To me, a giant jewel is an expression of romance.
The day my father was buried, the nobles of the city spoke ill of him in front of me and my mother.
Mother said we were an ancient Sargonian family, and that we had to maintain perfect decorum, so all I could do was maintain an appropriate expression on my face.
I knew what they said may have been right, because he was a people-pleaser through and through, someone who amounted to absolutely nothing.
But I... still didn't want to hear them judge him as they pleased.
As she sits out in the field, racking her brains, Titi falls into slumber. She dreams, a dream where she is but seven or eight.
Her father was already ill at the time. With one cold hand, he held her, while with the other, he flipped through the tome atop his knee, slowly reciting from it.
He never bought her children's books, or chose books specifically for her. He simply went with what he liked, but it didn't matter, because Titi liked those stories too.
Within those tales, the silent hero Siopi does not speak a word for thirty years, all to keep a secret. Kereseira, refusing to perform for outlanders, hangs her harp atop a laurel tree.
Perhaps it is the filter of dreams at work, but her father seems to tower over her, the slightly stooped back of her memories now ramrod-straight, his voice one of undeniable confidence.
'All of us have the chance to become a hero. When your duty falls upon you, you need only take it up with courage, Titi.'
Really? Can I? How can you be so sure?
It has been so long since she last saw her father, and she wants to ask him these questions, but it is only a dream, and it refuses to bend to her will. In the end, she could not ask what she wished to ask.
The gentle light of the twin moons falls upon the pasture, and upon the girl.
The land is painted in silver. A breeze blows, curling up the girl's ribbons, lifting the burdenbeasts' headscarves.
Even the antiquated, marred harp takes on a gentle radiance under the moonlight.
A teardrop slowly falls from the corner of Titi's eye. It rolls into the bushes, soon gone from sight.
Falling asleep after all that yammering. She didn't even wake me up. Pfeh.
Mio
It seems the little girlie needs her beauty sleep too.
Mio
Hey, what's with the crying?
Mio
You're always all about that stiff upper lip, always saying you won't cry, and now you're letting me catch you in the act? I need to keep some evidence for later.
Mio
Terminal... Photo mode... How the hell do you use this thing?
Mio
Ah, press here. Hee-hee!
Mio
......
Mio
*sigh*... Nothing interesting about a crying girl.
Mio
Forget it.
Mio
I'll help you out, you crybaby. Call it payback for the free meals these past few days.
Mio
You wanted a miracle, right? Easy as proverbial pie!
