A Musician’s Tale - Chapter 0

It was 10:00 a.m., the sun shone brilliantly, it was just another day in the city. And in one particular alley, there was a calming, beautiful, and melodious humming coming from a dark alley.

Only one man seemed to hear the humming. He was in a hypnotic state blindly following the source of the sound.

The man entered the alley, and at the end of the alley, another man with a black cloak seemed to be waiting for the one who heard his song to enter.

Halfway through, a sharp whistle was heard. It was defined, clear, and loud.

“Mister! I think you dropped something over here!” Shouted a young woman at the entrance of the alley.

She had claimed that the man dropped something but didn’t go in the alley to hand the man the thing he had dropped.

“Oh! Yes, I’m sorry” The man rushed out of the alley to the young woman who handed him a handkerchief.

“Thank you very much, young lady!” He bowed to her gratefully.

“It’s no problem” She smiled.

“I’ve never gone into that alley before. Is there perhaps a secret shortcut there?” Asked the young woman with a smile.

“A-ah, I-I honestly don’t know, I was just drawn there suddenly,” The man explained sheepishly.

“Oh, I see then, where were you perhaps heading? Maybe I could point you the way?” She offered to help but the man shook his head hurriedly.

“T-there’s no need for that, young lady, I know the way, please excuse me, thank you again!” He said hurriedly, running away.

The young woman looked into the alley curiously. “Did I perhaps interrupt something?” She said mockingly, not stepping a foot into the alley.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever met who stayed and even dared mock an assassin,” The man laughed at the end of the alleyway.

“I just wanted to see if you were actually an assassin,” Said the young lady with a smile.

“You broke my spell. I’ll see you again,” The assassin said with a hint of amusement.

“If so, then why not tell me your name?” The young lady said hurriedly.

“Kalis,” He said as he disappeared into the shadows.

“Kalis… I’ll remember,” Said the young woman as she also walked away.

The two of them met again in the park, but the young woman didn’t see his face the last time they met, so Kalis was the one who approached her first.

“Young Lady?” Kalis tapped the shoulder of the young blonde with clear blue eyes.

“Yes? Did I perhaps drop anything?” She rummaged around in her purse for a while. Kalis laughed, as she got even more confused.

“Do I know you?” She said thinking intently if she ever met a tall man with soft jet black hair and crystal ruby red eyes.

“Yes, you could say that. We met in an alleyway a few weeks ago,” Kalis said with a smile.

The young lady backed away suddenly, almost tripping behind her. But Kalis caught her quickly.

“Let go of me!” She struggled in Kalis’s arms.

He put his hand on her mouth and started humming a relaxed tune.

She struggled, even more, then Kalis let go. “Your spell won’t work on me!” She looked fearful but held her ground.

“It wasn’t for you, young lady, It was for those around us,” He gestured to the people who were all frozen in place.

The woman trembled in fear. Kalis laughed. “May I ask, What happened to the brave young lady who stood up to an assassin in a dark alleyway? I was so looking forward to seeing her again” He took a step forward testing whether she would step away or not.

She didn’t. Instead, she swallowed her fear and talked back. “A-am I your target this time?”

“Tell me, who’s coming for you?” He asked nonchalantly.

She flinched. But still held her ground. “A friend, his name is Caspian,”

Kalis sat down on a nearby bench. He gestured to her to sit down on the bench with him.

She hesitated because she wondered if Kalis was going to hurt her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, let’s just wait for your friend to come if that’s what you want. And no, you’re not my target,” He said assuringly.

She was tense but sat next to him anyway. But from a good distance, he smiled at her as she smiled back fearfully.

“I choose my targets. Do you want to know how I choose them?” He asked her while looking wistfully in front of him.

“How?” She asked curiously.

He looked at her and smiled. “The man I let get away had a wife and two children. And guess what?” He tilted his head a little.

“What?” She got a little closer to Kalis and listened intently.

“I was hired by his wife,” He smiled.

The young woman laughed hard. “Y-You were hired by his wife?” Then she started laughing again.

“Well, It wasn’t just the wife, it was also the husband of the mistress, he was the one who paid my fee,” Kalis said this with a serious face which made the girl laugh even harder.

“The wife was a Musician,” He said.

“Still, killing is wrong,” Said the young woman firmly.

“My intention wasn’t to kill, young lady, it was to make him beat himself up. You’re quite the assuming type, young lady,” Said Kalis.

The young woman turned red from embarrassment. “So… You weren’t going to kill him?”

“Nope,” Kalis popped the ‘P’ at the end.

“I haven’t done those kinds of missions for years now,” Kalis’s mouth twisted into a frown as he spoke.

“But that was only because I was forced to do it.” He mumbled to himself.

“You’ve actually killed before?” Asked the young woman.

“Yes. Does that scare you?” He asked curiously.

“I… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.” She said hesitantly.

“And I don’t blame you. I have an appointment today.” He said looking at his leather wristwatch.

“Look, your friends over there.” He put his hands in his pockets and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Called the young woman.

Kalis stopped and turned his head a little. “Yes? Young lady?” He asked.

“A-Aren’t you going to ask my name?” She said, hoping that he would.

“I’ll know your name only if you want me to. Do you? Young lady, if so then you have to say it now.” He said taking his ringing phone out of his pocket.

“Cannon. That’s my name.” She said confidently.

“Cannon… It’s an interesting name. It suits you.” He said then snapped his fingers.

The people started moving, unaware of what just happened. “Cannon! Are you okay? Where is he?!” Caspian looked around frantically.

Cannon grabbed Caspian’s hand tightly. “It was a false alarm. He didn’t hurt me.” She said looking straight into his eyes.

“But he was here.” Caspian gently took her hand and held it worriedly.

“Cannon, listen to me, he’s dangerous, and wanted for 18 counts of murder. Don’t get close to him.” Caspian was a police officer and a musician.

“He’s different from what you told me about, maybe he’s just misunderstood-” Caspian cut her off angrily.

“Cannon! That’s enough! Don’t get close to Kalis, just because he didn’t hurt you doesn’t mean he hasn’t or doesn’t hurt other people! It’s illegal, Cannon, and it’s not right.” Caspian was like Cannon’s older brother.

“…” Cannon didn’t answer. Caspian sighed.

“Just promise me you won’t meet him again.” Caspian begged.

Cannon whistled sharply and sent Caspian flying to a nearby tree. “Caspian, I think you’ve forgotten who protects who in this relationship!” Cannon’s eyes glowed a deadly dark blue.

It was true that Caspian had forgotten about Cannon’s gift. She helped him up and glared at him.

“Don’t worry, if he dares try and touch me, I’ll give him to you with a big red ribbon, if ever I get too bored.” She laughed seriously.

Caspian had forgotten this side of Cannon, the real Cannon De Lorre. She had two sides of her name.

The beautiful melody of Cannon in D minor and much more power compared to a deadly cannon. If ever you were hit by that Cannon, you wouldn’t be able to get back up in one piece. You wouldn’t be able to get up, period.

After this Caspian was still worried but let her do as she wished. She and Kalis met each other many times after that.

After a few months, Cannon introduced Kalis to her sister Alodia De Lorre and Caspian Ashford.

At first, Caspian freaked out and almost imprisoned Kalis. Until the truth came out.

“So you’re telling me that there’s an underground organization of aware musicians, who kills anyone who’s against them?” Caspian repeatedly rubbed his temples.

Kalis nodded nonchalantly. “You do know how crazy this sounds right?”

They were in Cannon’s apartment in midtown.

“Kalis is telling the truth!” Cannon puffed up her cheeks while hugging his right arm.

Kalis pets her head gently. “Ahem, may I remind you there are single people here,” Alodia said with jealousy.

“Oops, I forgot you are single, big sis,” Cannon said smugly rubbing in the fact that her and Kalis were already a couple.

A very very loving couple at that.

“We’ll investigate it.” Said Caspian trying to hold back Alodia from punching Cannon who was rubbing her head affectionately on Kalis’s arm.

“Just don’t get caught,” Said Kalis, rubbing under Cannon’s chin.

Cannon was almost purring.

“You guys are so sweet you’re giving me a toothache.” Said Caspian.

“Forget a toothache I have stage 4 diabetes.” Commented Alodia.

“No need to be so bitter, big sis,” After that everyone got along well as if nothing happened.

Five years after that Cannon was 24, Kalis was 28, Caspian was 26, and Alodia was 25.

The police had found out about the underground organization but had decided to not make a move yet.

Cannon and Kalis had been together for 6 years.

Including the 5 years, they were married.

And 3 years for Alodia and Caspian.

Cannon had given birth to a boy that looked exactly like his father.

And Alodia was 7 months pregnant with her first child.

Then one day while Alodia was doing her violin concert the whole opera house fell.

Alodia didn’t survive, neither did her baby.

“Kalis!” Cannon had come from the hospital after they pronounced her sister and niece dead on arrival.

“Is it true?” Cannon was holding her son Jasper by the hand with tears in her eyes.

“What’s true, Noni?” Kalis said, reaching out to Cannon.

Cannon slapped Kalis’s hand away.

“Kalis! Is. It. True?!” Cannon screamed.

“I don’t know. Cannon just listened-” She cut him off.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?! Yes or no Kalis!” Then Kalis started humming.

Cannon knew that his hum wouldn’t affect her.

“Jasper, don’t take your hands off of your ears okay? No matter what.” Jasper covered his ears and nodded fearfully.

Jasper wasn’t a musician so he was vulnerable to Kalis’s hum.

“Kalis! That’s enough!” But Kalis wouldn’t stop humming. The ground started to shake.

Cannon started whistling to stop him.

But Kalis’s hum only got stronger and stronger.

He managed to knock Cannon to the wall.

“Mommy!” Jasper took his hands off of his ears and tried to run to his mother.

“Jasper, no!” Jasper suddenly stopped, his eyes dilated.

Then his eardrums burst. Kalis immediately stopped in shock.

“Jasper!” Cannon ran to her son’s body looking for a pulse. But she couldn’t find one.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. The glass of nearby buildings broke and the ground shook violently even Kalis needed to retreat.

When Kalis left, Cannon’s scream died down into a sob.

She carried Jasper to the back seat of her car, then drove to an old opera house.

She went inside it carrying Jasper bridal style.

Inside the opera house was one man with long brown hair and gold eyes, playing moonlight sonata gracefully on the piano.

“Custodia. I’m sorry I can’t say the password right now.” Custodia was the guardian of the musician’s grotto.

A secret grotto where each musician can make one wish.

Cannon’s mother, grandmother, and others all went to the grotto to see the fairies that granted their wishes.

But if not for a wish you could just play with the fairies if you knew the secret password that protected the grotto.

Custodia looked at Cannon’s tear-stained face and the lifeless boy in her arms.

“I understand, Cannon.” Custodia played the notes on the piano and there was a door that opened under the stage in the conductor’s area.

“Thank you.” Cannon thanked Custodia, as he nodded.

When she entered she was greeted by fairies.

The fairies all gasped in shock at seeing the boy in her arms.

Cannon kept walking to the fountain in the middle of the grotto.

“Estrella,” Out of the fountain appeared a beautiful fairy with long gold hair and eccentric yellow eyes.

“I want my wish.” Demanded Cannon.

Estrella looked at her pitifully.

“Cannon, you know you can’t wish to revive your son,” Estrella said gently.

“Please, Estrella!” Cried, Cannon.

Estrella looked at the small fairies as they grew bigger.

There was one new fairy that Cannon had never seen before.

She had long white beach curls with dark crystal blue eyes.

She was breathtaking.

Then Estrella took two wooden dolls and placed them in front of Cannon.

“This is the only way to save at least a little bit of your son’s soul,” Said Estrella.

“Why are there two?” Asked Cannon.

“Because, your son was a special boy. It just didn’t show in the most obvious way.” Estrella kindly stroked Cannon’s head.

Cannon cried and cried her heart out.

“Will you continue with this?” Asked Estrella.

Cannon nodded her head.

“I’m not ready to let go.” Cannon sounded different.

Jasper’s body turned into a bright light. Estrella divided the light into two.

When the light entered the wooden dolls, the two dolls became small boys.

One with blonde hair and one with black hair.

“They look beautiful,” Said Cannon.

They looked older than the 4-year-old Jasper.

They looked like they were already 10 years old.

“Cannon, I wish for your happiness.” Estrella comforted Cannon.

“Yes. But, I want to start over again. I will not be Cannon anymore I think, Estrella, that is the only way I can be happy.” She said.

“Let me do you this last favor, Cannon.” Estrella took a wooden wand and waved it above Cannon’s head.

“Cannon De Lorre died in a car crash at 3:56 p.m. March 6.” That was today’s date and time.

“Thank you, Estrella”

Cannon carried the two boys on her own. She walked out of the grotto and all the fairies looked at her with sorrow and pity since fairies weren’t allowed outside of the grotto.

When she exited the grotto, she was greeted by Custodia.

“Cannon, let me escort you to your car.” He offered.

“The grotto’s lock isn’t supposed to leave his place.” Said Cannon kindly.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take over for now.” The pretty fairy with white hair was on stage.

She picked up a violin and started playing cannon in D minor.

And Custodia took one of the boys from Cannon. Then, he started walking out of the opera house while Cannon rushed to catch up.

“She’s playing for you,” Said Custodia. His voice was so calming and melodious.

“I thought fairies couldn’t leave the grotto?” asked Cannon.

“She may look like a fairy, but she’s not,” He said looking wistful.

“Don’t tell me that the grotto’s lock has a crush?” Cannon teased.

Custodia looked down with a slight blush.

“So what will you name these boys?” Custodia changed the subject.

Cannon laughed amused. “I think I’ll name the boy with black hair, Melodious. Melodious Heart Evely.” She looked at the boy that Custodia was carrying adoringly.

“Evely? Not, Evestone? Or, De Lorre?” Cannon shook her head sadly.

“From now on Cannon De Lorre died of a car accident,” She said with a strong determination.

“I see, so may I ask your name?” He opened the door of the backseat of the car and gently placed Melodious inside.

“… Catherine, Catherine Marie Evely, a single mother of twins,” She said, placing the boy with blonde hair inside the car.

“And this little blonde boy?” He asked, closing the door.

“Skyler Audra Evely,” She said proudly.

After that Cannon had changed her hair color to a light brown and always wore light brown contacts.

And 5 years passed…

°°°°°°°°°°°°And Cut!°°°°°°°°°°°°

A/N: Hello everyone! It was my birthday two days ago. My birthday is March 4 and this is my birthday present for you guys! Credits to my friend @zil0.6. That’s her insta thank you again for the beautiful cover! And thank you readers for reading and that’s all for this chap.

Bye bye~