Crescendo

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Trivia:

• Natural born singer – a prodigy
• Hears music within everything
• She sings and occasionally uses wing flaps as beats
• Can sing very high notes and can sing very loudly
• She is unaffected by the weight of her destiny. For her, it is another opportunity to sing
• She is an excitable and carefree soul and loves to perform
• Her favourite genre of music is musicals

An egg crack. A soft chirp. A wing flap. One, two, three. One, two, three.


Since the day Crescendo cracked out of her shell, noise poured in all around her. Except she would not describe it as noise. Every sound she heard was a beat to a song engraved on her soul. She was joyous and excited to perform the music she heard. She hoped to spread the song as far as she could.

Like all her siblings born for the Song of Hope, Crescendo is a natural-born singer. It was a talent given to combat a great evil: the Song of Despair. This fate would frighten any youngling, but Crescendo saw it as another opportunity to sing. Singing came to her naturally. She could sing for hours on end without getting tired. Her mother warned her to not make light of her destiny, but what is life without a bit of carefreeness?

Memoria and Tephillah named every hatchling after a musical term. Crescendo got her name since she was born an imperial amongst faes - she was huge. As she grew, her name became even more fitting: she had a knack for reaching high notes loudly. All the siblings had a role to play, and Crescendo flaunted hers proudly.

When the time came to perform the Song of Hope, Crescendo was prepared (and perhaps a little bit excited). She had been practising singing in preparation for this day. Her vocal cords were more flexible, and her lung capacity had increased. Never before had her skill been as perfected as it was now. She was ready to fulfil her part in the Song of Hope - a song that would go on for hours.

Crescendo stepped onto her pedestal. It was to be the centre point of her performance. Soon, her parents would confront the foretold Song of Despair, and she was ready to do her part. She could hear her siblings start the song. Her section was approaching fast. Crescendo took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the strength of the notes she would sing. She spread her wings and flapped them loudly, indicating the start of her performance. And when she released the first note, she saw blue magic pour from her to form the protective dome against the Song of Despair. It was an awe-inspiring sight, motivating Crescendo to give her best. She sang about the music around her, and she sang of hope.

Crescendo's eyes felt crusty from the dust clinging to her. Where was she? Why was it so dark? The last thing she remembered was singing. She must have blacked out at some point. Perhaps her mother's warning wasn't as foolish as she first thought. She lifted her head weakly and looked around. It was very dark; she couldn't see far. Where were her siblings? Did the song succeed? Did her parents stop the origin of the Song of Despair? She tried standing, but her legs gave out, and she became one with the dirt. It seemed that walking wasn't an option for her. She would need to call for help.

"Mom, Dad, Allegro, Andante, Accelerando, Atonal, Capriccio, Chorale, Concerto. Are any of you there? Is anyone out there?" Crescendo felt the words on her tongue, but it never escaped her mouth. She tried calling again, but only silence followed. Panic rose from within her. Her voice - the only thing she had ever known - was failing her. She can't speak; she can't sing. What was she to do?

Tears filled Crescendo's eyes. She had never felt so utterly defeated. Her previous confidence shattered, and despair filled her heart. She closed her eyes, willing this to be a nightmare. She would wake up by her family, and her voice would be back. But salvation never came, and eventually, she drifted into sleep.

"A hatchling broke free from her shell~"

Crescendo awoke to the sound of singing. It was soft, but it sounded familiar.

"And with music, despair shall be felled~"

Crescendo looked around for the source of the singing, but the darkness gave away nothing. She tried standing again, and now, her legs could support her. She set off in the direction of the singing.

"Young. Strong. She knew all along, with song hope she'll tell~"

As she got closer to the source of the music, Crescendo could see a glow piercing the darkness. The glow grew and grew till it formed a wisp. The wisp was bobbing while singing of hope. Crescendo's chest tightened as she recognised the song: it was the song of her destiny, and the voice singing it was her own.

Crescendo tried to yelp in surprise, but the soundlessness of her yelp was deafening. Why was her voice embodying a wisp? One that floated peacefully - a contrast to the surprise she was experiencing. Either way, instinct told her to approach it. She moved closer and hovered her hand next to the wisp. It shuddered and flew closer to park next to her face.

"How strange," Crescendo said and jumped when her voice echoed out of the wisp. "My voice? It seems to echo what I'm saying, except with my voice."

"I've been wondering what happened at the Song of Hope. Did we succeed? What caused my voice to separate from my body?" Her words slithered through the thick dark. At least she finds comfort in the return of her voice, albeit a strange return.

Determination filled Crescendo, and she set off further into the dark. She has her voice, but she still needs to find her family.


Post story notes:

• Eventually, Crescendo found her way out of the dark pocket she was in. Later, she discovered that she had been trapped within Purgatory
• Stumbling out of Purgatory, Crescendo was face to face with the Clan of the Midnight Scythe
• The clan was surprised to see her voice separated from her body. They led her to a doctor that could help. The doctor recognised the case. She told Crescendo that she was lucky to have found her voice this quickly. Since Crescendo escaped from Purgatory, the doctor presumes that she and her voice-spirit appeared there after something occurred. She cannot say what that something was
• There is a way to restore Crescendo's voice, but her voice will never be the same again. She has to choose between talking and singing through the wisp, or whether she wants a weaker voice for the rest of her life
• It seems the cost of fighting the Song of Despair was her voice. She lost it during the battle (it was stripped from her)
• It seems that the cost of her destiny was the thing she loved the most
• For now, Crescendo uses the wisp to communicate as she decides which road to walk

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