Post #1913149 in Drifting to the Edge of Nowhere, a roleplay on RPG

Knell ceased her singing as soon as she heard the too beautiful voice of her dearest friend pick up volume. The song she had begun to sing was one that only she and Echo herself would know—the tune carried deeply embedded emotions within it, it was a song of old, the reflection of a nearly forgotten story to the merpeople of Oceania. It was a legend told only by the royal family now, a legend told only in the near dead tongue of the royal family. The language that Knell herself knew, and that she had taught to her dearest friend as a show of the gratitude and trust she held in her. . . . The language being something which had been designed eras ago to express the emotions a person, and to emphasize them over anything else, Knell had felt that teaching such a language to someone she held such feelings toward was the best way possible to express them.

Knell sat there silent after ceasing her own section of the ancient tune, and allowed the barest hints of a smile to creep upon her face, as she watched Echo sing her fragile heart out with that goddesslike voice of hers. Such a voice sounded beyond the realm of mortality, it sounded as if it had to be something granted by the otherworld, by gods or other such things. The voice held within Echo was a captivating one, it was something which nearly stole the better sense of the unprepared right out from underneath them.

It was something of which, Knell envied dearly. Echo was a gorgeous mermaid, beautiful with her lovely tail and even stunning as a human, even with legs, the girl possessed a build which bespoke of a natural grace within her, even if gravity betrayed that sense on land quite often. So, not only was Echo an utterly beautiful mermaid, she held the voice of a goddess within her throat, all mermaids were notoriously talented songstresses by the standards of many . . .but even among them, Echo held a voice unlike any other.

Even her own sisters couldn’t hope to compare, even if they were the pride of Oceania with their beauty and charms, not a single one of the six had any hope of ever outshining Echo in the ways of music. . . . And Knell couldn’t help but feel a tug upon her heart as she listened to the mermaid’s voice, that pang of jealousy. How she yearned for a gift like that to help her stand out against her sisters! She was the seventh daughter of her parents, a child who inherited only the remnants of what was left behind by her sisters after their births. Her beautiful and talented sisters . . . though they had been cruel to her in childhood, Knell wished that she could shine like they. She wished for beauty like theirs, for charms as theirs, something that made her special too.

All she could do was sing, and even that was nothing significant. Her voice was just as most other mermaids, entrancing and beautiful, but just a voice. . . . Knell had heard the compliment granted to her by the ninja, by the one known as Angelique after she seemed to have slipped back into her normal form. And she had heard what she had said about herself as well . . . about being an outcast to her own people. Half human and half demon, though Knell herself wasn’t quite certain what a ‘demon’ was considered to be by land dwellers. There was a definition of it among her own people, but. . . .

’Oh, it doesn’t matter. No matter what she is, Angelique seems a good enough person.’ Knell thought to herself, continuing to watch Echo sing as did many of the other Inn’s patrons.

’Looks like our dear Echo here is having a bit of fun, huh?’ Canaan mused, sounding amused.

’Indeed so Canaan—and I’m happy about that. In Oceania, she and I never got a chance to sing together or to sing within the language we shared because of traditions and law.’

’Yeah, I remember that quite well. . . .’

How could Canaan not have known? He was as much a part of her as . . . she herself was. He and she had been bound together as far back as she could remember, everything she’d ever been through, he knew. That included the times that she’d suffered by the hands of her sisters, and the times she and Echo had been torn apart because of the laws and rules.
’I truly do envy Echo for that voice of hers, and for so many other reasons. She’s truly an amazing mermaid. . . .’
’Indeed she is.’ Canaan agreed, going quite in his half of Knell’s mind. Without making a noise, Knell sighed quietly, and allowed her body to sink into the worn down sofa. She shut her eyes and just let Echo’s voice flow through her body, and she gave into the relaxation the melody was imbued with. The ancient story was a sad one, but the song itself was full of a bittersweet sentiment, one that left you wanting to both tear up and smile . . . yet it was also something which left one wanting to just relax and to enjoy life. That was something Knell had not had a lot of in the last weeks with all that had happened, the near assassination, the fear of losing her life, and adjusting to living on land. . . . All of it was not easy, and everything seemed to be passing by her so very quickly—everything was stressful and scary.

But this simple moment, just listening to the song, it was a simple joy, and a moment to relax. Though Knell knew she had to deal with the Mercenary again shortly, she would just let herself go for now, and be lost to Echo’s envy worthy voice. The people she had met today, they would be just a distant memory to her for the time being, and she would only come out of this trance if she were bothered.

Snippet #1913149

located in Gaea Minor, a part of Drifting to the Edge of Nowhere, one of the many universes on RPG.

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