Songs of the Sky

Chapter Thirteen

Our footsteps echoed around this cold and dark tunnel. Banjo was walking ahead of us, holding a kerosene lamp that served as our only light as we walk our way through this long passage that seems to last forever. Finally, through the faint light coming from Banjo I could make out a large wooden door ahead us. That must be it.

After our meeting with the king not too long ago, Banjo gathered us on the main hall as Brio told us what happened. After they heard that a culprit was caught, Brio quickly made his way to the police station to free the man from the possession of the dark spirit.

Since their power of protection weakened around Cradle, the only thing they could do for now was to force a dark spirit out of a possessed person with their ring. It's one of the ring's power and they don't have to use a Melody in it. But it's a lot of work and its troublesome, they told me. Would they wait first for a crime to happen before doing something?

After doing his job, and Brio was about to go back to the castle, he encountered someone in the street that caught his attention. As he walk past them, they started murmuring.

{"Isn't that the ring?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"I wonder how much that cost, do you think he's living luxurious life now?"

"Silly, he can't possibly become that rich with just a single ring."

"But, that ring was really a real deal."

"Who knows, I don't care about that guy. Let's not talk about him anymore."}

Brio was able to catch the man but the young one escaped. He brought the man to the dungeon in which we were headed now. The dungeon was located behind the main castle, hidden on the woods, in which you will find a metal door that leads underground.

The only Songs who were with me right now were Apollo, Banjo and Brio.

"We're here." Brio said as we stopped in front of the door.

A loud sound echoed as Banjo opened the door in front of us. He  glanced at us before stepping inside and we followed behind him. I shivered as the cold enveloped us. It's colder here and I was only wearing a school uniform, which doesn't help. I jumped as I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Sorry, young lady. We don't have something to offer you in this cold. We didn't bring our jacket with us." Brio sighed and I hastily waved my hands at him.

The guys with me were only wearing simple shirts and pants.

"No, it's okay. No need to worry about me."

Apollo shoot me an apologetic smile and I felt a pang in my chest. I haven't realized until earlier that I was already crushing on him and mistook his kindness towards me as something more.  My own expectation has brought me disappointment that whenever I see his face I still feel the little pain. It's just a crush, so it's not that troublesome, I guess.

Once we reached the dark cell, I could make out a silhouette of a man sitting on his bed. The flicker of light from the torches on the wall let me have a glimpse on his profile. He has long messy dark hair and a moustache. He's body was kinda big that gave him a scary demeanor. How on earth Brio caught this guy alone?

I glanced at Brio and he gave me a small smile.

"We're here for questions." Banjo stated coldly.

The man doesn't moved an inch and kept his eyes on the floor. I saw Banjo frowned and cleared his throat.

"We're here for questions." Banjo repeated in a firm voice.

The man turned to us, his eyes landed on Banjo.

"What do you want?" He growled.

Banjo pushed up his glasses and glared at him. As he did so, his blue eyes glinted in the dark and the man shifted on his feet.

"Tell us about the ring." Banjo stated and the man growled in laughter.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Banjo lifted up his hands at him and the ring glinted on his finger. The man's eyes widened and he glanced at Brio's. His mouth formed a grin and he laughed again.

"I see. So you have the same ring."

Brio walked forward and gripped the jail bar. He leaned forward as he bared his teeth at the man. My mouth widened as I watched Brio's expression. It was the first time I saw him like this, his face was always kind and smiling.

"You heard him. Tell us about the same kind of ring that you saw, you were talking about it when I found you." He growled at the man.

The man laughed again and I frowned at him. It's kinda irritating to see him laugh when nothing seems amusing. Apollo stepped beside me and my heart quickened as his hand brushed against mine. I quickly moved my hand away from his and crossed my arms over my chest. I saw Apollo glanced at me out the corner of my eyes and I returned my attention at the matters at hand.

"Fine." The man snapped. "Since I'm already in a prison, there is no need to lie, isn't it? Well, I'm a thief and we have a small group. We have this one member, a selfish one, I should say, and we call him the Killer Eye. Four months ago, he came showing off some real deal he found. Yes, that's the same looking ring you have. He said that he will going to become rich while we're still bunch of poor people. He left the group without saying anything and we never saw him again. That's when I saw the ring you're wearing." He glared at Brio. "I thought that was the same ring but it turns out it is not, huh?"

"So who's this Killer Eye? What's his real name?" Apollo asked and the guy looked at him.

"I don't know." He snapped at him.

"What do you mean, you don't know your old friend?" Banjo asked and the man bared his teeth at him.

"He's not my friend and I'm telling you the truth! We all goes by our codename and we don't tell each other our personal information so I couldn't tell you any further details about that bastard."

"Uh-huh? Not even a picture?" A teasing voice echoed and we turned our head.

Rhap was leaning against the wall on the entrance, his face grinning. He has his long brown hair down and I stared at him. He always wear his hair in ponytail so it's the first time I see him look like this. He actually looked way more attractive this way. What am I even thinking?

"We don't take selfies, idiot." The man snapped.

Rhap chuckled and leaned out the wall. As he made his way towards us, his hair danced along gracefully and my breath was caught in my throat at the sight. Damn, why does he looked so handsome today?

"Just kiddin'." He teased the man and his eyes turned to me.

"And don't stare much, I'm getting embarrassed." He chuckled when I rolled my eyes at him.

"Hey Rhap." Brio greeted and Rhap nodded at him.

"So, this guy is useless, after all." Rhap sighed and the man glared at him.

"Then free me. I told you there's nothing more I could tell you."

"No," I said and the man looked at me for the first time.

"Mister, I want you to describe that man for me. That atleast could be useful."

The man just glared at me but doesn't say anything. I take that as a yes. Brio disappeared to get pen and paper that I could use. Thankfully, I was kinda good at drawing that my friends praised me with my skill.

After I was done sketching the description of the man, I stared at the paper. It doesn't looked perfect but the man on the paper kinda looked familiar. I frowned as I dig deeper in my memory, where could I have seen this face before?

"What is it, Medley? Do you know him?" Apollo asked and it took me a while before shaking my head.

"No, I don't know. But I think I saw this face before. My drawing wasn't that good so couldn't entirely make out this face."

Rhap snorted then turned his attention at the man. "You sure you have nothing you can tell us?"

"What, you want me to tell you about my life as a thief? I told you there's nothing to say!" The man snarled and Rhap glanced at Banjo.

"Tell that to the police." Banjo said then opened the jail bar.

He stepped inside and slowly made his way towards the guy. The man stood up with shaking legs as he glared at Banjo. The man was afraid of him, Banjo who was younger than him. It's kinda funny to see but I think I understand the man. The way Banjo carried himself was firm and intimidating. I wonder how should I be able to get closer to this guy? Not to mention that he doesn't like me from the very beginning.

"What do you think you're doing?" The man growled but Banjo doesn't response, he just kept walking towards him, his footsteps resounding around the cell.

I felt a hand lightly wrapped around my arm and turned to see Apollo looking at me. "Watch, what Banjo was about to do is to free him from the dark spirit."

"You realized, of course, that the guy was possessed, right?" Rhap said and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"How would you know that someone was possessed?

Rhap c****d an eyebrow then snorted. "Milady, look carefully at the side of his neck."

I stepped forward, trying to have a proper look but it's dark. I borrowed the kerosene lamp from Brio and held it out, pouring light inside the cell. That's when I saw a small black star tattoo on the side of his neck.

"Ah, a tattoo." I whispered and I heard Rhap roared in laughter.

"Young lady, that isn't a tattoo. That's the mark of someone possessed by a dark spirit." Brio said quietly.

Banjo pressed his hand against the man's forehead then I saw his ring sparkled. The man slumped on the floor, unconscious. Soon we watched him carried by two disciples and Brio told me that he will be given to the police.

When we exited from the place, the sun was already sinking lower to the sky and the crickets were chirping loudly in the woods.

As we arrived at the main hall, it was empty aside from Jazz who was sleeping at the couch, wearing a dark hoodie. Banjo wake him up to get ready for dinner. When Brio invited me for dinner, I declined. I told them that I needed to get home early since mom wasn't feeling well right now and I needed to take care of her.

As I was combing my long dark hair, preparing to leave, Alto's face came into my mind.

"Can I visit Alto before I leave?"

Brio smiled at me and nodded. "Sure. Anyways, you don't have to ask for our permission,okay? It's your home too so you're free to do whatever you want."

I gave Brio a smile before heading towards Alto's room. After knocking twice, I cracked open the door.

"Alto,brother?"

I saw Alto shifted on his bed to look at me. He smiled gently and his eyes shone.

"My Ley, come here."

I was holding Alto's hand as I told him everything that happened, only leaving out about me being in danger. I know my brother would only get mad and I don't want to make my brother worry about me.

When I told him about mother, he remained quiet. He wasn't saying anything.

"Would you like to see mother? I know she misses you. You miss her too, right?"

My brother's expression hardened and I frowned at him.

"What's the matter, Alto?"

"I don't wanna see her. Having you is enough. Please don't mention to mother about me, Ley." He gave my hand a squeeze before pulling his hand from me and closed his eyes.

"It's getting late, you must return home now and I'm going to sleep."

I don't understand why Alto doesn't want to see mother. Maybe he's mad at her for letting father take him away? I always get excited when I thought about us being together again. I heaved a sigh before standing up from the bed.

"Please make sure you eat dinner, okay?" I said but Alto doesn't response. Maybe he was asleep already or he just doesn't want to response. I wonder if I upset brother.