Tale as Old As Time [Finished]

[CalamityJade]

Obsidian looked a tad bit surprised. "....huh" Now THIS brought him back. "I didn't think any of this equipment would still be here."

[yamikuronue]

Lance starts to respond, but the first notes of the piano make their way up the stairs, and he pauses, frozen like a deer in the headlights.

[accalia]

Continuing playing Echo modulates the theme once more into something mellower, something compassionate and loving, with small dark undertones and occasional bright overtones of happiness.

After about a minute of this something goes "SPANG" inside the piano and Echo stops playing, grumbling in an unknown language under his breath, to replace the newly broken wire.

"hmph. D3 this time... one hopes we don't lose too many tenor wires, there's not many replacements here."

[CalamityJade]

Obsidian noticed the look before his brain registered the sound as well. "...Lance?" Why the hell would that make him freeze? He couldn't be..."Hey, Lance. Don't space out like that. It's just a piano."

[yamikuronue]

Lance's hands ball into fists. "I'll kill him," he growls, his voice low. "I'll kill the bastard."

[CalamityJade]

Obsidian made sure he was in front of Lance. "It's a piano, Lance...he was in the middle of fixing it and I sure as hell don't know how to do so."

[yamikuronue]

"It's Muriel's piano," he snarls. "He had no right!"

[CalamityJade]

"To what, fix it?" Obsidian frowned at him. "She loved that thing, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want it to stay broken."

[yamikuronue]

"If she can't play it, it should stay broken!" As his voice rings out into the dojo, his face crumples, and he sags against the wall, his arms wrapped around his stomach. "If she can't...." he starts, his voice hoarse.

[CalamityJade]

Obsidian tried to keep a neutral face, but even he was sadden by the idea. "...Yeah...I know...But can you honestly tell me she'd want it to stay broken?" He reaches out to put a hand on Lance's shoulder.

[yamikuronue]

Lance hangs his head, letting out a soft whimper. "Sometimes I want to burn the whole house down," he whispers. "Just to get rid of the ghosts."

[CalamityJade]

Obsidian nodded. "Yeah...it's been...pretty bad. To be honest, I wanted to get all this stuff aired out so there wouldn't be so much damn silence in here...can't help but hear things where there's nothing else to hear, right?"

[yamikuronue]

"I can't forget. I can't ever forget what I did. I don't want to turn my back on it. How can... How can I be the one that survived?" He's stumbling over words now, but there's anger underneath.

[CalamityJade]

"No one is telling you to forget. But the way I see it, you owe it to them to have a good life. To make sure you're in control of this thing and that you can honor their memory...because I know who and what I am, and they were...much better people than me."

[yamikuronue]

"If I go on... I'll forget. Little by little it'll be like they didn't exist. I'll erase them. I don't deserve one minute, one second without remembering what I did."