Chapter 11: In Concert

Melia walked into the training room on the first Wednesday of November to find something quite unusual: alongside Reddel, her four personal bodyguards were present.

Aizel, Hogard, Garan, and Damil were officially referred to as "the Cadre of the Second Consort". Originally, they were the guard of the Villa of the Second Consort, assigned to Melia's mother when she first came to Alcamoth. When her mother died and Melia was relocated from the villa to a room inside the palace, they remained as the bulk of her protection when outside the palace as a royal. Despite their position, age difference, general quietness, and somewhat irritatingly overprotective attitude, she considered them the closet thing to a group of friends she could ever have.

"Hello, Melia." Reddel gestured towards the others. "I've taken the liberty of gathering some of your comrades for this session. It's going to be a little different today."

Melia noticed that many objects in the training room had been pushed aside, leaving more room to manoeuvre.

"We are quickly approaching a total of ten years of training. There remains only one thing that you are required to do in these first ten years: a simulated battle, a practice fight between you and an opponent."

The immediate thought that came to Melia's mind was that she didn't want to fight her bodyguards; they each had a certified combat level of 41, and had almost half a millennium of experience between them.

"Now, as convenience has it, this battle will be a three-on-three. You shall choose two of these warriors for your team, and the other two will be on my team."

Melia didn't want to fight Reddel either, but at the very least being on a team of three would somewhat reduce the pressure in her direction. And it will certainly be interesting to fight alongside my protectors, not simply stand behind them.

"In the interest of a fair fight, I will be restricting myself to the arts you have mastered. In addition, notice that none of us are armoured and our weapons are blunted, one of a few measures taken to place us on a more level playing field."

Melia had seen that the guards' rapiers and shields were made of soft silphwood instead of metal, but saw no difference in Reddel's staff. He must be capable of restricting his arts without changing equipment.

"Now, once you are ready, select who you would like to be on your team."

Everyone stared at Melia as she thought. Aizel's style is to attract attention and use his defences to take little damage. Hogard's style is to distract opponents and dodge their attempts. Garan's style is to attack from unexpected locations. Damil's style is to attack from afar and utilise non-damaging ether arts. I should not take both the defensive-minded ones, as that leaves me as the only attacker. I should not take both the offensive-minded ones, as that leaves no defence to protect me. Therefore, I should pick one of each. Hmmm... Not even Hogard can dodge ether arts. I should place him on the opposing team and have Damil on my team. That leaves me with Aizel and them with Garan. "I choose Aizel and Damil."

"Very well." The two chosen ones walked to Melia's side as the three now-opponents retreated to the other side of the room. "Understand that the purpose of this exercise is to introduce you to fighting on a team. Do not put so much effort into winning that you injure yourself; there is more to learn in defeat than from victory."

Melia scoffed inwardly. I may not win, but I won't be giving up. "I am ready."

Reddel brushed his mustache. "You may make the first move."

"We will follow your lead," Aizel stated. "We will act alone, but conform to your orders."

"Any strategy is yours alone to consider," added Damil. "Name your initial target, and we will begin."

Melia considered her options. The obvious first action is to raise an elemental for support purposes; I am out of range to do anything else. The question is, which elemental? It seems premature to look for healing, so should I bolster Aizel's damage or Damil's? And which of the three opponents should we target first? After a moment of thinking, she decided to summon a flare. "Focus the offensive on Garan!"

The instant the elemental appeared in the Training Staff, all the other combatants mobilised. On Melia's side, Damil cast a Just Radiance to protect the group from losing motivation early, while Aizel locked Garan onto himself and vice versa with a Duel Lock aura. On the opposing side, Reddel quickly summoned an aqua and a flare, Hogard switched to his Attack Stance to sacrifice defences for power, and Garan dashed in with a Targe Charge that knocked Aizel askew.

Melia quickly lost focus; with five other fighters in the battle using various arts, some of which she didn't remember ever seeing before, she couldn't fully parse what was going on. Trying to find something concrete to latch onto, she ended up paying attention to Aizel. He had activated Guard Shift to block Hogard's attempt to topple him with Down Kick, and was taking the opportunity to simply eat Garan's quick attacks with it.

Aizel is defending, he won't be able to command attention for long.

The thought had no time to trail away before Hogard leapt over her with a Helm Splitter, slapping her in the head with his dummy spear. She instinctively swung her staff at him, but he easily dodged it and countered with a poke to the arm. The attacks stung just enough to be a constant irritation.

Now wholly focused on Hogard, Melia summoned a bolt and struck him with it, though he still managed to avoid the brunt of it. Damil joined in with a Force Blast, which scored a more solid hit and broke Hogard's stance, but Aizel was still locked on to Garan and couldn't follow it up. Hogard's next move was to turn to Aizel and use Inauspicious Cut, a diagonal slash that ensures the victim will receive the worst possible luck for a time.

Aizel needs healing. That's what I'm here for. Melia discharged her flare into the crowd, setting the two nearby opponents on fire, and summoned an aqua in its place. Wait, why am I only keeping one beneficial effect active at a time? She quickly summoned her other two known elementals. I cannot tell whether we are winning or losing.

The world suddenly went black; Reddel had used Hypnotise on her, and she collapsed to the floor. Damil stepped forward to assist, but Hogard got there first with a Shockwave Plant, damaging them both and scoring a rude awakening crit on Melia. Upset at herself for assuming Reddel's "don't hurt students" rule would hold in the battle, she intended to toss her bolt at him, but was interrupted when she recognised that Hogard was readying his talent art.

"Damil, prepare your Healing Wall!" Melia knew that Damil had an art that erected a barrier which turned incoming attacks into healing energy, and with Aizel about to take a lot of damage, it seemed a good time to use it. Unfortunately, Garan had broken free of Aizel's lock-on and was keeping Damil occupied, carving him up with a Fracas Cut. Unable to come up with a second option, Melia watched as Hogard laid into Aizel with Double-Edge Dance, a powerful four-hit combo attack that crit on every strike due to the target's unlucky status.

Melia suddenly felt a major pain in her back. Garan had snuck behind her with Shadow Eye, allowing her to use Back Stab for maximum effect. As she turned to face her, she then got clobbered by Volcano Kick, a highly-damaging burning axe heel stomp. Hogard joined in with a Down Kick, knocking her off her feet with little effort, which Garan then followed up with a dazing Star Punch.

"Enough!" Reddel dispelled his elementals. The victors pulled back and started helping the defeated to their feet. Melia was completely unresponsive, splayed on the floor and unable to make a conscious thought. It took several minutes to tease her into regaining awareness.

Stupid, stupid. Her first reaction upon awakening was to belittle herself. Focusing on Reddel first would have been the correct-

"Not bad for a first showing." Reddel interrupted her thoughts. "Your initial strategy to single out Garan while restricting yourself to back-line support was sound. It is merely in the execution that you stumbled, allowing your attention to be swayed too easily."

Melia had no response to this. He was right of course; despite giving the call to focus on Garan, she didn't even look at her for more than a few seconds before getting distracted.

Reddel continued with his breakdown. "Your call for aid to Damil was also very well-placed, to use a damage-absorbing art against a high-power attack. Again, only through experience can you learn to form a backup plan at the same time, so as to not waste crucial seconds. Though admittedly, in this specific situation there were very few options."

Melia nodded glumly. More than anything, she was upset at herself for not keeping all three of her known elementals active the entire time, her biggest if not only advantage over her opposite member on the other team. She sorely wanted to have another go just to see how well she'd do by fixing this mistake, but could tell she wouldn't get another chance for several months - she wasn't injured, but she was still seeing stars.

"While this has been a short session, I believe enough has occurred that we wrap it up here." Reddel produced some fudge from his vest and handed it over. "Go take a rest."

Still a bit sour, Melia reluctantly made for the exit, turning back to see her bodyguards enter a discussion with her instructor. Probably comparing their own notes. They must train against each other like this all the time, it had to have been just another sparring match for them. Why can we not practice against the weaker creatures of Eryth Sea instead?

It was bright and sunny but somewhat cool outside as Melia transported to the Wairuha District for a January excursion. The Wairuha District was mostly greenspace with the occasional small shop, and contained the bulk of Alcamoth's parks. Given the unusual freedom to choose her destination this time around, she felt inclined to go somewhere she hadn't yet been on an excursion.

Upon appearing in the district's transport hub, however, she immediately believed she had been sent to the wrong location. The place was an absolute zoo, far busier than she'd ever seen the public, with everyone seemingly moving in the same direction.

What is going on here? She slithered her way through the crowd to lean against a tree, away from the commotion. Some planned event must be transpiring.

Melia considered simply returning to the palace and taking her excursion elsewhere, but was highly curious about why a park would be so busy. It would be difficult to tell what exactly was happening without going along with it.

She shrugged internally. Why not? I had nothing particular in mind anyway. She started to follow the crowd, still attempting to keep elbow room as possible.

It did not take long to find out. A stage had been set up in Kapako Park, with large signs hung on the ether lamps advertising a charity concert by "Lemon Jam", set to begin in half an hour. Knowing nothing about Lemon Jam, Melia took a free pamphlet from someone standing at the edge of the path.

=*= ABOUT LEMON JAM =*=

Lemon Jam is a high-power blend of two of Alcamoth's top-tier groups: O-Zone and Gear Up. With nine of the city's best talent on display, prepare to have your ears crushed by the sweetest tunes ever assembled!

~=~ O-ZONE ~=~

Guitar: Papel "Crank" Vermillion
Do you like shredding? Of course you do! This mean 'n' lean machine will have you wondering how his fingers move that fast.

Keyboard: Oosa "Blaster" Doe
Using his versatile instrumentation for full effect, this crazed kook tickles the ivories like your mom's feathers. No offence.

Guitar: Apollo "Torch" Sulph
Who says bald people can't tear it up? Don't fret if his frets catch on fire from his strummin', it's part of his jam.

Bass: Travis "Smooth" Mackilt
The coolest of cool cats. It's said his basslines can calm any raging beast, if he could ever get his amp set up properly.

Drums: Vani "Roller" Effblov
This high-calorie beefcake will give you the beat until your limbs fall off. And that's not even counting the solos.

~=~ GEAR UP ~=~

Keyboard: Dell "Keys" Kweston
There ain't one of the 88 keys that this guy hasn't pinned down. Don't question the single glove.

Drums: Horf "Backbone" Hussels
He's not flashy, he's not larger-than-life, and he's not first in line for autographs, but damn if he doesn't get the job done.

Guitar: Spec "Pick" Shinner
A tried-and-true professional with incredible success to his name. You say he's washed-up? Didn't think so.

Bass: Spab "Slick" Shinner
This is one younger brother who's not afraid to mix it up. Be ready for his bassline jams, or you'll be pudding on the floor.

Melia turned over the folded paper to see a group shot. So they're two metal bands playing together? This should be...interesting. Comfortable in classical music, she had never attempted to expand horizons to more "topical" genres. However, she had been on somewhat of a rebellious streak for the past few months, using her excursions to try unusual foods or visit places she'd never been before. Experiencing a new type of music couldn't be much different.

The crowd started filtering through a series of makeshift entrance gates, drawn out with portable barriers. Signs posted said that the minimum charitable donation to enter was 5G, and that all proceeds would go towards homeless services. The logos worn by the ushers were of recognisable organisations that proved legitimacy to the claims.

This is a worthy cause; I shall make a large contribution. Melia reached into her bag and grasped a large handful of cash. She was allowed to keep any leftover money from her previous excursions, which had started to burn a hole in her pocket with nothing to spend it on in her daily life.

The usher at the gate blocked Melia's deposit into the box he was holding and counted it out, trembling in shock at the large sum as he did so. "T-that's 3465G. A-as thanks for your g-generous deposit, y-you have been g-granted front-row billing." He handed her a lanyard with a green card attached to it that read "3,000+" and directed her towards a path that lead almost straight to the stage.

"...er, thank you." Melia would have preferred to remain near the back of the mass of people, but it would be far too rude to turn down the offer. She put the card around her neck and cautiously made her way towards the stage.

The front of the crowd had a cordoned-off section at the front for the top donators, about three rows deep, with about three dozen people already present. She positioned herself about halfway between centre and left stage and started waiting.

The crowd continued to thicken as it poured in. Melia started getting a little uncomfortable with standing close to so many people at once, especially as the majority of them dwarfed her. Looking up at the stage, she noticed that while there were two drum kits set up, only one of the two bands currently had the rest of their equipment on stage. I suppose they will be doing some individual pieces before combining later on.

She then turned her eyes towards the audience. She couldn't see much of the "cheap seats", but those who were pushing to the front were almost exclusively adolescents, likely diehard fans with little money, with about an even gender mix. Pretty much everyone in the top donators section seemed to be young adults, none younger than eighty-five. She noticed that most of the top donators' cards read "250+", with a few "500+"s and "1,000+"s scattered around.

...I hope I am not the only 3,000. Somewhat embarrassed, she flipped her card over so only the blank green side was showing.

At exactly one o'clock, the members of O-Zone appeared onstage. Crank, the shortest, grabbed the mic at the front of the stage.

"HEY ALCAMOTH, ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!"

The audience erupted. Unprepared for the sheer volume, Melia reflexively leapt into the air and had trouble staying on her feet on landing. Is this whole concert going to-

The thought was crushed by the band's opening riff. It was indeed just as loud. Melia could feel her wings going haywire as if trying to escape; she had successfully learned to manipulate them when still, but not yet how to stop them from moving. It felt like she was being immersed in a pool that was full of sound instead of water.

As the song progressed, Melia's ears slowly became accustomed to the massive amounts of volume being pumped out by the band. While it was still mostly uncomfortable, it started to feel more like music than just straight-up noise. Nearing the end, it even started to feel enticing, the feeling of discovering something both similar to and different from an old favourite.

With the first piece done and the audience cheering, Melia took a look at the program hidden within the pamphlet, listing titles and overviews for the songs to be played.

O-Zone

Big Top Bop - The circus is in town, and it's gonna put you through the ringer.
King of the Kuppas - What if the emperor was a tyrant? And a turtle? Well you'd get this.
Metal Melee - The world's first rap battle between two rival blacksmiths.
Mute City - In a world where music is against the law, one group - a cheap self-insert of us, FYI - must make a stand.
Lightning Battle - The mighty Kor is mad, and he ain't lettin' no one escape his personal brand of justice.
Giga Baby - If you're going to be genetically enhancing critters, try doing so on the ones that aren't already dangerous.

Gear Up

The Rusty Bucket - All aboard the biggest heap of trash to ever set sail. Destination: a toxic harbour for it to decompose in.
Native Phrygisian - The last of his kind to live in the most frigid reaches of existence has a chilling tale to tell.
Western Valley - Suffering through the blistering sun and freezing nights, one tribe of the desert dreams of the green fields of its neighbour.
2 Wily 4 U - In an arms war between two brilliant inventors, who's really the good guy anymore?
The Square of Zero - The infinity of numbers points towards two fates, neither of which are particularly beautiful...
In The Final - It's the end of the world, and our only hope is our worst enemy.

Lemon Jam

Intruder Alert - Now we can't have anyone stealing secrets, can we?
Castle of 8 - Trapped in a maze of no logic, where floors, walls, and ceilings alike lead everywhere and nowhere, the only way out is in.
Taboo Emissary - Representing nothing, he wishes to destroy everything - and so everyone must stop him.
The Chase - Their monochromatic oppressors on the run, the Colour Revolution seeks to finish the job.
Together We Ride - There's only one way to make friends in this biz: rock out hard with 'em.
Fourth Destination - Comrades through space and time, none can keep their awesomeness apart.

Unsurprisingly, nothing on the list was familiar to her. She noted a strong contrast between the descriptions of the two groups' songs, with Gear Up's compositions reading as more serious and philosophical than O-Zone's flippant informality.

The concert progressed. With each song played, Melia felt slightly more at ease, starting to actually enjoy the music despite its brashness. It didn't really feel like the kind of thing she'd want to take in again in the future, but it felt worth staying for the whole thing.

Once their six songs were completed, O-Zone left the stage as Gear Up took it. The shift in tone was even starker than the program implied; while various segments were still in-your-face and overpowering, on the whole they were far more cerebral and laid back. Melia found herself unconsciously bobbing to the beat halfway through the third song, which would have been embarrassing had she not considered it made her fit into the crowd more and not less. The realisation lead to her awkwardly mimicking the movements of the surrounding crowd, which eventually got smoother and unhooked a deeper connection to the music.

When the two bands combined to start the last third of the concert, the tone changed again. The two drummers traded duties between the drum kit and other percussive instruments, while the keyboarders emulated reed and brass sections to produce a more epic and orchestral sensation. It was hard to tell they were two different groups performing together, and not a single band of nine.

With the final song complete and the audience going wild, Crank took the mic again.

"So y'know what it's time for now? WE'RE CALLIN' TODAY'S TOP DONATOR ONTO THE STAGE!"

Despite this newest surprise having pretty much nothing to do with them, the crowd let off the biggest cheer yet for this piece of news.

I wonder if this was announced beforehand? Melia wondered. There certainly would be more donations if it was known in advance as opposed to...no. The realisation bubbled up that there was a very good chance she was the top donator, having mindlessly given three times more than anyone else she had seen. No. No, no, no no no, nonononono. If there was one thing she wanted to stick to on her excursions at all costs, it was to avoid standing out.

I have to get out of here. Abandoning the pretense of respect, she started hurrying her way towards the side of the crowd where she originally walked in from.

"Ah, perfect timing." The usher she had originally given her donation to was coming down the aisle. "Was just about to fetch you. Thanks for making it easy; next below you was a three-way tie."

Melia's mind froze up. It was much harder to abandon respect and escape when someone was looking directly at you.

"This her? Groovy." Keys had descended from the stage and was standing opposite the usher. "C'mon lassie, let's get you in the spotlight."

This was the last thing Melia wanted to happen. She stood rooted in a daze for what felt like minutes though was only seconds before Keys grabbed her hand and gently pulled her along up the stairs.

The audience exploded yet again upon seeing the top donator on stage. Directed to shake hands with the bands, Melia floated along almost unconsciously, unaware of the short blurbs they were saying to her and so red in the face it felt like it was on fire. The next thing she could parse was called by Crank to the audience.

"So to the tune of three and a half thousand schmuckers, let's give it up for MEL!"

Melia didn't recall giving anyone at the concert her name, but she must have at some point, probably when stumbling through the handshake line. Still massively embarrassed but at least trying to look alive, she forced a half-smile as she looked out across the audience. Being presented to a huge crowd was nothing new to her, but it was a far more harrowing sensation to do so without a mask to an audience cheering for her instead of against her.

"Now comes the fun part!" Blaster came forward holding a bass guitar. Its white body was wing-shaped, with a jet black neck and strap, silver frets, and gold-coloured strings. The body was signed by all nine musicians. "As massive thanks to your massive donation, you get THIS one-of-a-kind beaut! Don't you be abusin' it!"

The audience went nuts. Melia took the bass in both arms and simply stood still, very slowly re-engaging her brain.

This...this is...a reward to the top donator? Does it function, or is it simply a trophy? How am I going to explain this to-

"Hey, y'know, I've been thinking." Crank's tone of voice gave off the impression this was the start of a staged conversation.

"How can you tell?" replied Slick. The crowd laughed.

"I'm thinking, we've got a lotta dudes onstage here. And I don't recall playing that one song yet."

The audience started murmuring at the mention of "that one song". The band bought into it and started doing "pump it up" arm motions.

"Eh? EEEH? You all ready for the encore? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Melia suddenly noticed that Smooth had plugged a cord into the bass and was placing a music stand in front of her.

"Don't sweat it," he said. His voice was strangely soothing. "Rhythm's a cinch, same thing every bar, and really not many different pitches to deal with."

Wait what? You expect me to play this bulky thing? In front of...What am I supposed to do?

Like all children, Melia was taught to play the recorder between the ages of forty-five and fifty, mostly as part of developing fine motor control and lung strength. But it had been that long since she'd even glanced at sheet music, and the discrete holes of a reed instrument were far simpler than the continuous scale of a guitar string. Furthermore, she couldn't read bass clef.

Actually looking at the paper on the stand gave a slight bit of hope; fingerings and other instructions were written underneath the notes, the band clearly prepared for their guest to have never played guitar before. The notation was easy enough to understand, and the part was indeed relatively simple - eighth and two sixteenths, all the way along.

The audience had gone mostly quiet. Melia put the strap over her head and moved her fingers into position, triple-checking that she had the right fret and string, and took a deep breath. I am anonymous. Succeed or fail, it's as a nobody, not as the princess. It doesn't seem that difficult. It's the supporting bass, not the main part. It's for charity.

She started to play. The volume was even more overwhelming from up on the stage, but it also seemed more tolerable simply because she was the one controlling it. Some of the fans recognised the bassline immediately and shrieked; she managed to ignore them quite easily. After the first few repetitions of the simple rhythm got most of the willies out of her system, she unconsciously picked up speed a little bit. Despite being simple, the rhythm was quite driving.

Crank was back on the mic. "So is everyone ready for THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE?!"

The crowd roared to life. The two drummers waited for their guest to reach the correct point before bashing out a four-count, and from there the whole band exploded.

Melia was right about one thing: she was indeed just the supporting bass. The two other bass players' parts were more flourished and could easily hold the line if she was absent. But the more surprising realisation came once the melody entered full swing: she actually recognised the song. The overall arrangement was heavily munged, of course, but the melody was unmistakable. It took until the middle of the second verse for her to place it: an animated children's film from several decades back, the climax of which involved a high-stakes race across the sky through a course marked by hard-light rainbows. She knew it was a pretty popular film, but had no idea that a metal band would take a riff on its music and turn it into a song with a "down with racism" theme.

Being fully immersed into the music, the rest of the excursion melded into a blur. Once the song was finished, she shook hands with the band again, not scared stiff anymore but her head still ringing, before leaving the stage with her accidentally-obtained trophy. The crowd gave her a wide berth, with the respectful fans protecting her from the rabidly jealous ones, as she lazily wandered back towards the transport hub in a dreamy stupor.

Reappearing in the palace, Melia continued to saunter along towards her chambers, unaware of the curious and disapproving looks the guards were giving her and her new bass. Even Kallian was thrown for a loop, almost colliding with her in the hallway halfway there, with her oblivious to his presence.

"I eagerly await the tale of this new acquisition of yours," he called after her.

Melia didn't hear much more than a faint buzzing, the concert's music still repeating in her head. Her hearing wasn't permanently damaged, but it would take a few hours of peace and quiet to recover.