Fantasia

LVII

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind whirled through the corridor, ruffling their mops of hair and forcing them to squint their eyes.
"What the hell?", Brett exclaimed, tightening the grip around his violin.
"What is that?"
"I have no idea!"

The blow went as fast as it had appeared, leaving Eddy and Brett confused.
"There's never been wind before", Brett stated with a frown. It would have sounded kinda funny if the situation wouldn't be so odd.
"Did it come from..."
"Yeah", Brett pointed to the end of the hallway, "over there."
It was like they'd rehearsed it, the way how they simutaneously stood up, eyes locked to the direction where Brett's finger just had been stretched out to.
"I just came from there", Eddy stated.
"Was there like... a window open or something?"
Eddy snorted. "You mean in this dark, vast place with no exit? Bro!"
"But where would that freaking blow come from?"
"I have no idea."

Brett was the one to take the first careful steps. Eddy followed suit and together, they walked pass Bach's and Paganini's painting to the end of the corridor. Eddy motioned at the the stairs leading down.

Stairs that hadn't been here before.

"Did I miss something or..."
"Nah!", Brett breathed, his eyes wide, "That's new."
"How..."
"I have no idea", Brett mimicked Eddy's sentence from a moment ago.
Eddy glanced at him. "What you reckon? Should we go down?"
"I guess..."

Just as careful as before, like something could suddenly burst out and jump at them, they made their way downwards. Brett held his violin and bow firmly in his hands and when they reached the end of the staircase, eyes scanning a big hall they arrived at, their bodies froze.

In the middle of the hall stood a girl, not older than fourteen, fifteen, wearing a golden, floor-length dress. She didn't even bat an eye while Brett and Eddy were staring at her, like their intense glares could bring some sense into their mushed up brains. There was some object propped up in front of her, but Eddy couldn't make out what it was from the distance.
"Yo, who is that?", Eddy whispered, his right hand grabbing Brett's arm in search for safety. This was an inch too creepy for Eddy's taste, if he was being honest.
"I don't know..."
They stood there, glued to the floor. Eddy's legs were getting a cramp with how motionless he tried to be.
"Should we... get closer?", he asked eventually, to which Brett shrugged minutely.
"Maybe? I mean... what else are we supposed to do?"

Eddy felt like a five year old having to go down a dark cellar alone. The girl with her cold, unemotional look freaked him out and he could sense that she was special, someone holding a certain power, but that thing in front of her... he was drawn to it like a moth towards light. So, in the end, it was him who started to close the distance between them and the girl. Brett was right behind him, his fingers so close they sometimes brushed against Eddy's as their stiff arms swung back and forth.

"Eddy, wait!", Brett hissed when they were halfway there. He pointed at the item and Eddy's gaze followed. His breathing hitched.
"A violin!"
"How? Why?" Brett shuffled closer to Eddy, his fingers grasping Eddy's sleeve.
"Let's find out!", Eddy declared, sounding more determined than he felt. They took the last few meters until they stood right in front of the beautiful instrument. It was very similar to Brett's, Eddy managed to notice instantly. A brown chinrest and brown pegs, its varnish shimmering beautifully in the light. A masterpiece.
He forced himself to look up at the girl. Her eyes were even colder up-close.

"Who are you?", Brett asked next to Eddy, his voice steady and clear. Eddy couldn't help but marvel over his best friend's courage. Were they even allowed to talk? Ask questions? Come too close? What if she was some kind of deity with a vengeful soul, easily angered?

The first move she made was a slight raise of chin. And then, her gaze fell on the violin.

Brett and Eddy exchanged a look.
"Are we, like, supposed to take it?", Eddy whispered.
Brett looked down on his instrument. "Already got one. I guess, this is for you?"
Eddy almost didn't dare to, but his eyes searched the girl's for some sort of confirmation or permission. Was she the guardian of this instrument? Would she shoot some deadly fire if he tried to take the violin off the stand?
"What are you waiting for?", Brett sibilated.
"You sure this is not gonna be a one-way ticket to hell or something if I dare to touch this thing?"
Brett had to visibly hold back a snort. "Just do it! The violin..." His eyes softened as he said the next words, "... I have the feeling, it belongs to you."
Eddy looked at the violin again. He knew what Brett meant, for he felt the same. It was like this instrument was a part of him that had been missing for the better half of his life, even though he had his own violin waiting for him at home when he woke up again.
Eddy took a deep breath and stretched out his arms in slow motion. Warmth rippled through his whole body when the tips of his fingers touched the wood and his hand closed around the neck of the violin automatically. Eddy took it, taking the girl's silence as her approval.

He had to work hard to keep his eyes from tearing up while he marveled over the craftsmanship of the violin. It felt like it had always been his, like finally a missing part of him was returned to him, mending his heart.

"You alright?", Brett whispered,
Eddy nodded and swallowed hard. "Fine."
"And now?", Brett asked the mystery girl.
A soft breeze caught few of her strands of hair, when she finally opened her mouth and declared with a young sounding voice, which however carried a weight indicating a kind of wisdom that wasn't normal for kids her age, "Find your heart. Both of you. And then...", now, her gaze lay on Brett only, "you can go home."
Brett frowned, mouthing a silent "Home".
"And how are we supposed to find our hearts or whatever?", Eddy asked? Despite being scared af, he wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste to find out how to help Brett.
"This", she said, head held high, "is for you to find out."

That just now would have been pretentious, taken out of every wise mystery person's repertoire of seemingly-(but not really)-wise-sentences-to-say, if it wasn't for the instant understanding Eddy had that she was telling the plain truth. He looked down on the violin again. His violin.
"You think she'll say more?"
"Dunno", Eddy whispered back, "I just know we have to do everything we can to get you home."