(Disclaimer: The song used in this chapter is 'City of Angels' by Arrows to Athens. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEP6ta5SF8I)
Raven closed his eyes as his fingers began to strum the guitar.
"[Sing me a symphony~ One for the lost out in between~]"
As the melody flowed, memories he had long buried began to resurface. This time, he didn't fight them. Instead, he let them take over, and suddenly, he was transported to the past.
"[City of fallen dreams~ City of Angels~~]"
The world around him shifted to ruins, the remnants of a once-beautiful city now reduced to rubble and debris. The sky above was painted in hues of night, and he stood amidst the destruction, remembering a time long gone.
"[There was a girl with the sky full of stars in her eyes~]"
"Hey, Ven?" a soft voice echoed in his mind, pulling his attention toward a young girl. She lay on the remnants of a building, her silver hair spread across the cracked stone. Her eyes, bright and twinkling like the stars above, were fixed on the sky.
"Yes, Luna?" he replied, his voice tired but gentle, as it always was with her—the girl he had raised as both a sister and a daughter.
"Do you think a happy place exists?" she asked, her voice carrying an innocence that tugged at his heart.
"A happy place?" He was confused. Her question seemed so out of place in their dying world.
"Yeah, a place where everyone can be happy." She sighed softly, her gaze never leaving the stars.
"[She was chasing a world that was so fast it left her behind~]"
"No, Luna. That place doesn't exist here," he said, knowing the truth all too well. In a world on the verge of collapse, happiness was a fleeting concept.
"But," she continued, her eyes sparkling with a mix of hope and determination, "what if we made everyone we met happy? And asked them to do the same? Could we create that place?"
He looked at her—so full of life despite everything they had gone through. He couldn't crush her hope, not when it was all she had. "Maybe," he said, his voice soft, humoring her like he always did.
"[She ran for days but the days became years~]"
"Then let's make our own happy place!" she declared, her voice bright with excitement. He went along with her whims, as he always had.
Years passed, and they traveled together—singing, dancing, telling stories to make others smile. They became a beacon of hope in a world devoid of it. But fate, as always, was cruel.
"[Hope went away as a smile turned to tears~]"
"Hey, Ven?" Her voice was weak now, a shadow of what it once was. She lay on the ground, blood staining her once-bright eyes, her body broken beyond repair.
"Yes, Luna?" His own voice wavered, his heart breaking as he held her with one arm, trying to mend her wounds. Tears streamed down his face as he fought against the inevitable.
"Did we make a happy place?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Yes, my dear child. We made a happy place," he said, forcing a smile despite knowing she couldn't see him anymore. "Everyone is smiling, and no one is crying."
"Liar," she whispered. "Venny is crying right now."
"I'm not crying, silly," he replied, his voice breaking. "I'm just mending your wounds."
"[Now there are lines on the face of the girl with the stars in her eyes~]"
"Ven?" she called out faintly, her voice growing weaker.
"Yes?" He leaned closer, his ear next to her lips.
"Thank you… for everything." And with that, she was gone, leaving him alone once again in the ruins of a world that had already taken too much from him.
"[Sing me a symphony!~ One for the lost out in between~]"
Raven's voice caught in his throat as he sang, but he kept going, pouring all of his emotions into the song. Every note, every word was a piece of his past—the sorrow, the love, the unbearable loneliness.
"[City of fallen dreams~ City of Angels~~]"
"[Sing back the melody! a song for the hearts left in these dreams~]"
"[A voice for the out of reach~ The City of Angels~]
As the song continued, the memories flooded in. After Luna, he had become a ghost, wandering aimlessly, bringing destruction wherever he went, no longer the hopeful figure he once was.
"[There was a boy with the world in the palm of his hand~]"
Ai sat frozen, wide-eyed, her breath catching in her throat as she watched him. She had never expected this. The raw emotion, the haunting beauty of the song—it was like nothing she had ever experienced.
She had seen performers all her life, but this was different. Raven wasn't performing. He was bleeding, right there in front of her, and she felt it in every word he sang.
The lyrics struck something deep within Ai, resonating in ways she didn't expect. It was as if she was the girl in the song—yet she knew she wasn't. These notes, this pain, were not meant for her. But the emotion was so raw, so real, that it pulled her in.
Is she the one he was searching for? The thought crossed her mind as she reflected on Raven's behavior, suddenly understanding that she must have reminded him of this girl. The idea irritated her at first, but the weight of his voice and the pain woven into it made it hard to hold onto that frustration. Instead, a strange sadness gripped her, and before she realized it, tears had begun to fall, sliding down her cheeks silently.
As the final note faded, Raven slowly opened his eyes. The room seemed to hold its breath, heavy with the weight of everything he had unearthed.
Ai sat there, staring at him, unsure of what to say, unsure of what she had just witnessed.
Raven remained silent, his expression unreadable. He placed the guitar down with care, then turned away, once again lost in the echoes of his past.
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I feel like I'm shooting myself in the leg by going with the story like this but I've done it so no going back.
Let me know in the comments what you think about the chapter I did my best to transition between flashbacks and with lyrics as the BGM I hope you like it