"What are you doing back here, Nin, I told you earlier that I let the theatre staff know you were coming at my behest." Jurghdak explained to me as he left his small, personal airship so he could hobble on into the theatre in question.
"I'd rather not cause a fuss." I answered as my right foot stopped tapping the roof of the building.
"Well, you might as well come on through, then." he sighed as the door was opened up for him.
"Good luck, Sole-Composer Jurghdak." the woman at the door told him before she suddenly found herself frightened by me.
"He's with me." Jurghdak quickly told her as I ducked my head down a little to meet the clearance.
"So where am I supposed to sit?" I asked him as the blander style of the backrooms changed into lavishly decorated hallways and plush carpets.
"I arranged for you to take up one of the boxes on the right-hand side." he explained before he handed over a small piece of stone with the number written on it.
"I'll leave you to it, then." I said to him as I immediately made my way to the arranged seat.
"I'll be playing your piece first, I will." he called out as I disappeared down a flight of stairs.
"Noted." I muttered in response before I quickly entered my box after spooking some of the other people here on the way in. And, as it was an option, I turned off the lights for my box so I could stay out of the public's sight as best as I could.
"Ladies and Gentleman, it is with great honour that the Shining Mountain-Peak Theatre once again presents the greatest musician of them all, Sole-Composer Jurghdak!" a man's voice boomed before the room went into an uproar as the masked man walked out onto the stage. With a small army of various kinds of instruments floating by because of his magic.
"Thank you, thank you, you're too kind as usual." Jurghdak told him as he stood before the tamed but still rapturously joyful crowd.
"So, as we have all heard recently, there has been an abrupt change to your plans for tonight?"
"Yes," he started off with before he briefly glanced my way, "tonight, I am going to start off my series of performances with a piece written by someone I know. It means a lot to him and I wanted to let him hear it as if it was done by one of the greatest out there!"
"Well, well, we await with held breath!" the theatre's announcer said to him before he quickly left the stage.
"Let's see my embarrassment, then..." I miserably remarked as I leaned back into my reclining chair. Then, I waited as I stared up at the ceiling for it all to begin, and like what the announcer said, I did it with held breath.
"He never gave it a name himself, but, I think I know enough about how it came to be to give it one myself, so without further ado, I present to you, 'I Miss You, My Water Princess,' a song by a good friend of mine."
And as he said that impromptu name, I sighed some more as that was a rather blunt way of putting it. She really was a beautiful princess and the reference to her magic only helped to give it character. Yet, when the lights throughout the room suddenly took on a bluish hue, I sat up abruptly. The sound of moving water then filled my ears as well, but it was in a strange, foreign manner, I wasn't quite familiar with this sound.
But I knew it was water.
The music then began to play and it left me confused, it was happy and cheerful and sweet and it made me calm. If I closed my eyes, I could just barely make out her smile as she played around with her magic. It all somehow reminded me of her so much and I took off my mask just so I could see the blue light more. Just so I had those flashes of blue coming through my eyelids even as I kept them closed so I could watch the fleeting memories.
But then, the music took a sudden turn, the joy and happiness of it all just vanished and it became aggressive. The sound of water vanished and the lights started to behave erratically and my eyes shot open before I could see the inevitable. Yet, even then, I could not avoid the images of her bloodied body and I started to feel uncomfortable. I felt like I was about to break down into a fit of hysterical panic.
And just like that, the music slowed down and the lights disappeared completely until a weak blue light came back. There was a slight hint of the joy from before, but it was drowned out by the sadness and misery of it all. I felt nothing at this point because it was just how I felt every day, I wanted to see her properly again... But she was only ever there physically, it was hard to describe, I just missed her so much.
As such, I couldn't stop myself from crying like a pathetic child as the music continued to be played. Once again, the images came back to my mind, but it was only ever her in that bed, as those machines beeped. The music even took on hints of that beeping and a barely alive line appeared on the ceiling of the building. It matched her heartbeat almost exactly and amidst all that darkness, I felt like I was staring at the monitors in person...
But, I couldn't take it anymore and I moved to put on my mask again before the piece came to an end all of a sudden.
"I-I'm sorry, everyone, especially you, my dear friend..." Jurghdak admitted through tears as he tried to compose himself. But then the crowd went wild and praise was thrown at him endlessly whilst I slipped away into the dark.
Thankfully, everyone was too enthralled by the cheers and the just-ended performance to notice me leave out the way I came. Not that it was a particularly busy route, even during the final rush to get seated before the performance. I was, however, glad that the staff had also shown a lapse in their professionalism. They all wanted to watch the great man as he performed before them all.
As such, no one was watching the backdoor to the landing pad so I could get through it without issue. But, when I stepped out onto the quiet landing platform as night took over the sky I saw him, He was right there, at the very edge of the building, listening to a song I had written about the woman he attacked... And he turned around and looked at me with a solemn gaze.
"Shall we, Dance Partner?" he asked with a strange air of respect that only enraged me.
"JHURACK!"