"Nothing could escape from your eyes, Mister Wagner." Vaterian's eyes gazing across the theatre, old memories strike him hard. "When I first meet you, Mister Wagner. You stood right in my current position, asked my teacher gave you a chance to perform. You were such an ignorant and ego back then, that I didn't expect you to be so sharp."
"We knew you since you were 4, it last for 4 years until we were forced to leave, we stayed with you during the toughest time. Why did you think you could hide anything in front of us?" Wagner held Vaterian's hand tightly. He stared at Vaterian hoping that Vaterian will look toward him, but it never happened.
"Yes, why would I? Maybe I just get used to it, the world just forces me to do that. I had no choice." Vaterian's dived deeper into his memories, he froze like the time around him had stopped until Wagner dragged him back to reality. "The thing happened to…Ilse was a tragedy, same for that thing happened after it. However, you should just let it go, revenge was a path without an end."
Wagner tried to hug Vaterian, but Vaterian violently pushed him away, he grabbed the musician and yelled at him "You never witness your family die before you! Neither do you suffer from the murderer running away in front of you! And you fucking told me to let it go?"
"Let go of Him!" The member of the orchestra put down their instrument and tried to stop Vaterian, but before they even stood up, they were being stopped by Wagner, "Stay back!". The interruption from those people didn't cause Vaterian to instantly let go of Wagner, but they did make Vaterian calm down.
"Help me or not? Give me the answer." Vaterian slowly let go of this middle-aged man, Wagner didn't surprise about Vaterian aggression, he had already foreseen it. "I already knew you seeking for vengeance, I just try to pull you back as an elder. I never said no to your request, neither this time."
Vaterian slowly loosens his grip after hearing Wagner's response, he opened his lips and said, "I would never give up, Mister Wagner. Even I need to pay my life for it, I would still hunt that bastard."
Wagner looked Vaterian in his eyes, the iconic gold spark from the blue eyes showed his determinations. "Seems like I didn't have the chance to bring you back, Vaterian. I hope we could go back to the good old times, back to the time when you were still a toddler. So, what did you want me to do?"
"Give me an opportunity, an opportunity to meet Friedrich. I had something need to pass to him, ideally today." Vaterian said his request to Wagner, who raised his brown after hearing that.
"Although it's normal for my students to meet each other, but as my concern, that you are no longer allowed to meet him since the treaty of Hohenberg. I might lose my life for allowing that to happen even in the furthest city away from Talismania, and now you want me to let you meet with him at the most glorious building in this city?" Wagner whispered beside Vaterian's ear; he didn't hope anyone heard that.
"But you didn't report me of appearing in this city, Mister Wagner. If you put your life above our bonds, you already reported me to the grand duke since your eye glance through my face. You might even get some reward from it, but you don't. You risk your life to meet me, right?" Vaterian knew Wagner already made his decision since Vaterian reveal himself.
"Smart, as always. You have always been the best student I have ever seen, that's why Friedreich always tried to keep up with you, I hope you didn't waste your time in the military academy by just studying. Come here, let me see how well you could handle this lady, I will make my decision based on it."
Wagner walked toward a piano, he opened the cover of it, his fingers touched through those keys. He could still hear the notes sounding beside his ears from 10 years ago, from no one but the teenage boy standing in front of him, who used to be a toddler.
"This gave me so many nostalgias, I even need to climb up of this chair at that time." Vaterian slowly sit in front of the piano, he stared at those keys for seconds until he made his move.
A shocking voice spread across the hall, followed by chaotic noise and lightning-fast notes, his fingers flying across the piano in incredible precision and accuracy. Wagner knew what he was playing, [Totentanz]. A piece composed by Vaterian's teacher, Karl Liszt, originally it was an orchestra piece, but his teacher always found a way to transcribe it on piano.
Listening to the notes, Wagner knew the child who used to play [the variation on twinkle twinkle little stars] joyfully in front of him was long gone. The boy already lost his naiveness and optimism, now filled with desperation and hatred. The music played by the boy pounding Wagner's ears and heart, the dance of the death appeared around him and dragged him into the abyss. A tear appeared in Wagner's eyes.
"Stop it, Vaterian." Wagner ordered Vaterian to stop, who stopped instantly after he heard it. "I will give you a chance to perform this piece in front of the audience. Friedrich will meet with you, he always wanted to meet Liszt after the treaty, he still felt guilty about his family's neutrality in the bloody civil war. He wants to explain to his teacher that he had no power to manipulate his family's decision, by playing this piece he will think, it was Liszt playing on the stage."
Vaterian stood up, hugged Wagner tightly, and thanked him, "Thanks for your compliment, Mister Wagner. I was still far away from my teacher, I was nowhere closed to him, but I will work harder. It wasn't Friedrich's fault; I believe teacher also knew that. He left just because he couldn't accept the reality of his class will no longer be there."
Wagner hugged Vaterian back, tears non-stop falling from his eyes, the sound of his sobbing spread around the hall. No one can stop the tide, everyone is sitting on a boat without a sail, nothing they could do when the waves strike them.