'Well fuck me sideways over a public park bench, the old guy got caught... why did I use that turn of phrase?,' Zhen Liu mentally griped. 'I guess on the plus side, those two are now distracted, possibly long enough to digest...how much longer by the way?'
'Its only been thirty sec-AH! WHAT THE FUCK, WHY IS MY HEAD BURNING?!'
'EASY FOR YOU TO SAY! YOUR HEAD ISN'T ON FI...why am I imagining Jin Fang in a french maid outfit now? Why is it her and Alicia, now? Why is it so detailed?!'
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Draigo looked at the encroaching Marquis with a mixture of fear and rage.
Rage from having his goal taken away from at the last minute by some crazy rich weirdo, and fear from...familiarity.
Draigo's mind told him that he had only met the Marquis earlier today, all for the sake of a weird business transaction, but his instincts told him that the Marquis was known to him even before that.
"I'd behoove you to not touch something of mine unless permission is given or I have deemed it appropriate to gift the item to you," the Marquis told Draigo as he plucked the shamisen away from the latter's reach. He began to experimentally strum the strings once it was in his hands, the sound of which stirred something in Draigo's memories.
"Wait...this...feeling...that sound..."
Draigo struggled to look up at the Marquis, fighting against the force pressing down on him. The Marquis didn't stop Draigo from doing so, rather, he watched on with confused bemusement.
"Oh? Trying to fight back against a superior opponent? Amusing," the Marquis chuckled.
"You..."
"Me?"
"It was...you...," Draigo managed to say under great strain, "You're...the reason..."
"I'm the reason? The reason for...wait a moment..."
During Draigo's struggling, the case covering his instrument started to become loose, revealing it for the world to see.
"Oh ho! Looks like I can now finish my collection! What an auspicious evening indeed!," the Marquis excitedly proclaimed as he began to reach for the shamisen in Draigo's back.
As for Draigo, he was anything but pleased...
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"Forever After"
These were the words that Draigo and Wyvara said to one another, moments before taking the step that would change their lives forever.
After bringing the materials to the old hermit, Draigo and Wyvara watched in amazement as the old man took the items and produced two beautiful shamisens.
Both of the shamisens were made of fine wood, had strings made of tiger, bear and fox guts, had brown mottled toad skin covering the bodies and the knobs for both were made of giant hornet stingers. However, what made the two distinct were the crab shells that made up the bodies.
One was a bright red and shined like rubies, ablaze with intensity, while the other was a deep blue that sparkled like sapphires under the starlight.
The two were immediately enamoured with their new instruments and thanked the hermit profusely for his aide.
The two attempted to give the old hermit the pearls and amber they had received earlier as payment for the instruments, but were refused. Instead, he made the items into matching paddles for the two to use for their shamisens.
"With these instruments, you'll be sure to dazzle the whole world with your songs...but perhaps I should first show you how to do so."
As a final gift, the old hermit showed the two how to play their new shamisens and make beautiful songs that stirred the soul and shook the heart.
Enlightened by the hermit's guidance, the two went on to become the greatest musicians in all the land and they lived happily, ever after.
...
Or at least...they should have...
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Once upon a time, there was a pair of famous musicians named Wyvara and Draigo.
Wyvara was a woman with a fiery personality and a powerful, passionate voice, as such, she was appropriately called "Wyvara the Wild" by her adoring fans.
On the other hand, Draigo was a man with a more mellow personality and a soft, deep voice. He was often referred to as "Draigo the Cool".
Now one would assume that such conflicting traits would result in a rivalry between the two musicians, but in actuality, they were very close partners(in more ways than one).
No one was sure why, but the two of them were so in sync with one another that even if one made a mistake or decided to improv a song, the other would be able to pick it up no problem.
Some assumed it was due to them practicing some kind of mind formula, others assumed it had to do with the matching shamisens the two played together and others still came up with the idea that they were actually one soul split between two people!
If one were to ask the two musicians themselves however, they would simple say, without missing a beat, "We made a promise to carry each other, forever after. Simple as that."
Whatever the reason for their synchronicity, Draigo and Wyvara were making waves in the musical world, playing for kings, nobles, peasants and beggar alike.
As far as they knew or cared about, the two of them would be playing music together, even into retirement and beyond.
But then... something happened.
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'Vaguely, just...'
'Trying to figure out the logistics of where and why I would need all of that whip cream. It's just... impractical.'
'Palm oil? Why would-Oh my...,' Zhen Liu mentally groaned as his imagination took that prompt and ran to the hills with it.
He couldn't see it(yet) but a certain entity in his head was smiling with great amusement.