Chapter 6:
Walking down the aesthetics hallway again, Cody
decided to take a look into more of the rooms to see what was so special about
the things going on here. Looking for
something that piqued his interest he came to a familiar door with a vase
inside the nonagon. Remembering it to be
a room for ceramics Cody thought it was as good a place as any to look into and
slowly pushed open the door as quietly as he could.
Insides he saw a girl who couldn’t be much older than
16 working with some kind of tools to sculpt a block of burnt orange clay. She had a hair net holding her blond hair up
and out of the way, and was wearing an apron that was stained by the clay. She held her sculpture carefully and looked
at it from all around before she looked back at a large statue of a plant.
“Can you hand me sponge and fanned forming tool
please.” She held out her hand and Cody
gawked as the plant statue unfurled what must have been a vine, grabbed the
items she had asked and then gave them to her.
“Thank you,” She went back to her working completely
unaware that someone was watching her until she leaned back and stretched out.
“Oh, hello there.
Did you need something?” The
young woman stood up and wiped her hands on her apron as she walked over to
Cody.
“Just… what the heck was that!?” Cody pointed to the strange plant sculpture
that had moved all on its own.
“Hmm?” She
looked back at where he was pointed, “You mean my golem?”
“What’s… a golem?”
“New to the sculpting arts huh?” She chuckled and walked back to her clay.
“People who sculpt use an ancient ability to bring our
creations to life. It’s called animation,
with it we can bring things to life to assist us. Pretty nifty huh?”
Cody nodded and turned around, “Yeah… Well sorry to
interrupt I was just looking around and watching when I saw that is all.”
“It’s fine, if you ever want a lesson in sculpting
with clay feel free to ask.” The young
woman waved to him as she got back to her work and Cody left.
Each door Cody looked into surprised him more and
more. Painters who could bring the ink
off the paper and form into fully formed creatures, hypnotic dancing moves that
made him feel like he was being hit by waves, a group of people working to make
blades that shimmered and caught the light in such a way that they seemed to
vanish from sight, and even a guy who was able to juggle fire balls with a
special pair of gloves. Each new art he
saw made Cody feel like he was in a dream.
Nothing he saw here was like anything he had ever seen before,
anywhere. It was beyond amazing.
After traveling down the hallway he found it to circle
around to a smaller area similar to the area similar to the area that was at
the entrance to the halls. It had a
similar glass structure on the ceiling, but this one was electrical and cast a
soft warm light over the area. Upon the
floor was a large circular rug of a deep red and on the walls were other
tapestries. Another staircase lead
further up and possibly deeper into the structure that was inside this
mountain, but what interested him at the moment was the hallway that had the
ear inside the nonagon. Down that
pathway was his supposed art of music and looking down the long hall made him
curious as to what he would find there.
Cody shook his head and blew out a puff of air to
psych himself up. He had no need to be
worried or nervous about this and he kept telling himself that as he started to
walk down the hall. He looked over each
door way at each shape; inside was a different instrument or musical note that
was shaped oddly. As he walked he could
hear someone playing a tune at each door though it sounded very muffled. He figured if all these people practiced
music then it would be easier if all the rooms were as soundproofed as they
could be.
He looked up and looked at the various instruments as
he passed each room. He didn’t know why
but he wanted to find a guitar to see what someone in this place could do. He saw a harp, what was likely a violin,
various woodwinds and brass instruments, and even drums but he didn’t see a
guitar or a piano either when he thought about it.
Looking ahead Cody could see that he was getting close
to the open area again when he finally found what he had been looking for.
“Figures it would be one of the last places I’d go
to…” Cody sighed and took a deep breath
before he turned the door knob and slowly pushed it open.
Inside was a guy in his early 20s. He had shaggy brown hair that he had brushed
over his left eye and was dressed in baggy jeans and a simple green
t-shirt. He had a guitar in his lap with
a black woven strap over his shoulder.
In front of him was a small notebook where he was reading notes and
writing down notes before he played them.
“H-hey…” Cody
waved as he entered the room and looked around.
There were shelves that had some notebooks, stacks of strings, picks,
and various other things that a guitarist could use. It didn’t have much space but it had the
stool and stand the guy was using as well as a small couch and a lamp on a
small table beside it.
“Hmm? Oh, hey
there. You need somethin’?” The guy stood up and set his guitar on a
stand before he looked up at Cody.
“Uhh… well I’m new here and to all… This…” Cody waved his finger around in the air as he
shrugged, “And well I play the guitar and I sorta wanted to see what another
guitarist could do. That Howard Nickles
guy did some pretty amazing things with his violin and I saw a sculptor that
had a large plant and had it hand her things and just painters and a fire
juggler who juggled actual fire, and I just wanted to see someone with a guitar
to see what they can do.”
“Heh, another guitarist huh? Most people tend to favor smaller instruments
that are easier to carry around, around here but I like it even if it is
harder. Better than the harp, though
that’s mainly used for healing music and inspiration and not attacking like
most people tend to focus on. But I
guess I’m getting off subject did you want to know something specific?”
“I guess I just want to see what it can do and see
what I’m able to do. I’m completely new
to all this so I don’t know anything about what I can do.”
“Well all our abilities are pretty much the same it’s
just a matter of what we’re taught. I’m
a musician but if I was taught how to I could create sculptures or paintings to
inspire and attack. It just happens that
I’m naturally good with a guitar and so that’s what I focus on.”
“Yeah… about that.
I saw people bring pictures to life not to mention that statue, just how
do they do that?”
“It’s our bloodline, our blood and genetics have a
special something about them that gives us these special powers. We can put a piece of ourselves into our
mediums and create effects based on our intents. In the aesthetic’s case they tend to put a
bit of their blood as well as part of their spirit into their things. Doing that gives their works life and they
can use that to do things with. Breaking
the sculpture or destroying the painting destroys the being but that’s pretty
basic. We just have a special power in
us. We can inspire people in a way that
other people can’t and we can use art in ways no one else can. You’ll learn how to do some pretty special
things too when you learn some special songs.”
“Special songs, huh?”
“Yep, over the course of our existence many of our
founders have written songs that can do amazing things. They started off simply, chasing away fear,
making it rain, and such… and when the Silent came into being they started to
make songs that could attack, break stones, cut things, cast illusions, and
such. I’m currently working on a song
that can create a strong blast of air that was written during the exploration
age when ships had sails. I think it can
be useful if played in conjecture with some other songs.”
“Do you mind if I…”
Cody pointed to the guitar with a smile and the young man nodded.
“Sure, go ahead, and hey man the name is James. You need any help around here you just ask me
and I’ll do what I can.” He chuckled and
held out his hand which Cody shook in a firm grip.
“Cody, and thanks this is all just really new to me
and I kinda miss playing a guitar I haven’t practiced in a few days.”
“Heh, try going for a week without playing, it will
just about drive you to conducting a symphony in your head. If we don’t express ourselves we tend to get
all our ‘inspiration juice’, as some of the people here like to say, backed up
and when it gets out… well things can be a bit intense.” He smiled as Cody put the strap of the guitar
over his shoulder and picked up a pick.
“Sounds like this place can be a little crazy,
huh?” Cody placed his fingers along the
frets and started to pick at the strings in a simple scale to get his fingers
limbered up.
“Ehh we’re all a bit crazy but we mean well and it
sure can be interesting. We’re all good
people though and would do anything for each other. We’re like a big family here. The whole Organization is just like a really
large extended family.”
Cody nodded as he started to play a song he had heard
on the radio a few weeks ago. It wasn’t
any really special song, just some pop song that would get to the top of the
charts and then quickly fall again.
Played with a guitar though it actually sounded a lot better and on this
one especially. The guitar had smooth
strings that were so closely wound it was nearly impossible to see the grooves
between the threads. The wood was a fine
smooth feel and there was a light varnish on it, just enough to protect the
wood and give it a slight glaze. The
sounds it produced were beyond what Cody had heard before from his old guitar,
but this one sounded almost exactly like the one he had played in Howard’s
store.
“Did that Howard guy make this guitar for you?” Cody looked up from the guitar as he
continued to play as James stood before him with his arms crossed.
“Nah, he didn’t make it for me, but he taught me how
to make one for myself. He said that
this is actually one of the most impressive ones he’d seen a student of his at
my age make. Most take years to get as
good as him but he thinks I could be making guitars as good as him and more in
just a few more years.”
“So… You want to teach me one of these songs in this
book of yours? I mean what’s this ‘Bolero
Blast’ here?”
James got a very wicked look on his face and chuckled,
“Oh man… That’s a good one. It can make
a small combustive blast that’s like a small explosion. Good for making a distraction and for
starting fires. Also handy to knock
people away and cause some serious harm too, but maybe we should teach you
something simpler and less deadly for a first timer, huh? After all you don’t even know HOW to cast
these songs. Playing them just straight
up won’t actually do anything unless you know how to really use your power.”
So for the next several minutes James taught Cody the
basics about putting a bit of his spirit into the special songs he would
play. After he was taught how to put his
spirit into it he tried a simple song to blow wind. James told him that the fiercer he played and
the stronger emotions he felt then the stronger the effects that would
happen.
To demonstrate the point James played that same song
seeming calm and produced a gentle breeze.
Then he took several deep breaths and got a very angry look on his face
as he started to play again and a much stronger blast of wind hit Cody hard
enough to push him back a few inches.
“Of course stronger emotions produce stronger results
you don’t have to be angry or anything, but being angry makes for a strong
song.” James continued to play a small
scale and handed it back to Cody to practice it some more.
The two talked about their skills and James continued
to show him a few songs. Cody felt
actually happy about being able to play again and it made his soul a bit
lighter to have someone who could relate to.
“You’re doing real good with this song, but what about
your own songs? Surely you’ve composed
something good right?”
“Heh, I’ve written some songs, but they’re just songs
nothing like this. Just songs to
entertain people and I guess ‘inspire them’ too though I’m not so sure how I
did that.”
“Man, just by playing we inspire people, that’s our
most basic power.”
“Yeah, I know just about everyone I’ve met has said
that.”
“Well it’s true, but that doesn’t really answer my
question. What kind of songs have you
written before, you got a book with your stuff in it?”
“Yeah, I guess…”
Cody took the strap off from around his shoulders and set the guitar
down, “It was my dad’s book that he used to write in before he died. I just use it now and write my songs in
it. Mainly some country and a bit of
rock music I guess you could call it, but it’s just all pretty basic.”
“Still though, you’ll have to show me some of that
music later. Right now though…” James brought his arm up to look at the watch
he was wearing on his wrist, “It’s time for dinner and if we don’t get there
quickly we’ll miss out on the good stuff.
And I do not want to fight Hannah for the chicken leg again… that girl
can make a mean ink dagger from the playing cards she’s made.”
“There’s a… woman who can make daggers from playing
cards?”
“Man… The things we can do here will blow your mind. Just do your best tonight and maybe you’ll
score some of the good stuff.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Dude… It’s part of the training here, we fight for
our supper.” He grinned and started to
walk out of the room, “Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘food fight’ I’ll
tell ya that much.”
A sudden fear came to Cody as he followed James down
the hall and down the stairs from the Foyer. This
place just kept on getting crazier and crazier and he honestly wasn’t sure it
was a good idea to stay here. They
walked down the long flight of steps into yet another foyer that split off into
three more hallways.
“Down this hall on our left here are the smiths and
workshops. That’s where we make our
inks, instruments, weapons, etc. and on our right leads to the kitchens and
mess halls. There are rooms for people
down here too but most people use the bed rooms above the art hall. I guess most people just feel higher up
inside the mountain. Me? I just find a place to lie down and that’s
where I sleep for the night. I put my
stuff in a room upstairs but that’s just to store the few things I own; I don’t
stay there a lot.”
“Makes sense I guess…
So just what kind of fighting do you guys do for food here?”
“Oh you’ll see…”
James chuckled and pushed open a door to a long dining hall with a table
that went for nearly 30 feet. The room
was sparsely decorated, with only some instruments hanging from the walls and a
few sculptures placed in the corners. Sitting
around the tables were dozens of chairs and people were sitting around them
waiting for the food. Looking around
Cody saw Vince and Marci who waved him over to where they were sitting and Cody
and James both walked over to their spot and sat beside them.
“Good to see you guys here on time. Dinner should be served here in the next few
minutes.” Vince sat back and stretched
his hands above his head popping the knuckles in his hands.
“Just watch out for Carl there,” Marci pointed to a
large Hispanic man who seemed to be in his early 30s and had the hair on the
side of his head shaved but a strip of hair from the middle of his head flowing
back and tied back into a braid, “He’s got a some small bug sculptures he’s
made from metal that are quite fast and the pincers on some of them look quit
sharp so watch your fingers.”
“Is fighting over food REALLY necessary? I mean aren’t you guys all on the same
side? Why fight?” Cody looked around at the various artists
around trying to remain calm despite the fact he had seen several people who could
do very dangerous things with something as simple as a piece of paper and an
ink pen.
“It’s a matter of survival, Cody, we are always
training. The Silent are relentless in
their goal to kill us and all that we stand for; besides this sort of thing can
be really fun sometimes.” Vince smiled
and pulled his arms across his chest, stretching out.
Cody just looked around some more as he saw everyone
seeming to prepare for dinner when a loud gong startled him. He looked over as some doors opened up and
some people started to walk in. Leading
the people was a older man of around 40 years old, he had an eye patch over his
left eye and a scar going horizontal over the left side of his face. He had a small piccolo in his hands that he
was playing a melodious tune on. Behind
him were plates of various dishes floating in midair. Various types of fish and parts of chicken were
on many plates, pastas and sauces were on others, and a roasted duck followed
up the rear. As he walked around the
tune continued and the plates sat around the table.
Next a strange white octopus that had an actual black
outline walked in carrying various plates of vegetables, salads, and soup. Seeing the amazed look on Cody’s face as an
woman in her 30s walked in behind the creature carrying a couple of pitchers
filled with drink.
“That’s an ink beast.
Megan there can paint things on paper and then bring them to life. It’s useful and she can make anything from a
swarm of flies to a giant Cyclops. It’s
a pretty interesting power but it’s not exactly waterproof.” James chuckled as the octopus put the plates
around the table.
“What she can’t use a waterproof ink or
something?”
“Man, I’m joking.
The ink can only be used once and it’s only as strong as her emotional
state and the medium she drew it on.
Thus it would be stronger drawn on a stone than on paper.”
Cody nodded as a few more people came in with a few
more arts and dishes. Cody asked
questions about each thing and one of his new friends would answer him in
turn. It didn’t take a very long time
but eventually everyone sat down and Cody saw Howard walk in and sit at the
head of the table.
“Evening, everyone.
Before we begin dinner I’d just like to say that I hope you have all had
a productive week while I was away on business and look forward to seeing what
all you’ve gotten accomplished. Also,
for those of you who haven’t already realized it, we have a new member in our
order today. Please welcome Cody Ethan
Johnson everyone, and do try to go a bit easy on him tonight this is his first
dinner with us.”
The people around gave a slight chuckle as they looked
at him, making Cody blush slightly especially at the use of his full name which
never was said without Everyone was
starting to prop themselves up and it looked like they were getting ready for a
race and were just waiting for the starting pistol to go off. Cody had no idea what was to actually happen
so he just kept looking around trying to decide if he should actually get
involved in this or wait a moment to see how it went.
A sudden gong was rung and everyone sprang up and
started to battle over the food. Marci
flipped up over the table and drop kicked a man’s hand who was about to throw a
knife as she reached for her own knife that had a string tied to it and threw
it at a piece of fish before she pulled them both back to her and flipped back
off the table.
Vince seemed to take a different approach. Instead of going on the offensive he just
reached for a piece of chicken. When the
Hispanic man with the bug statues threw something at him he expected to see
blood come from him, but instead he pulled his fingers in like he was making a
fist and fabric came up from his sleeve and covered his hand. When the bug hit it, it simply bounced off
and made a strong ‘ping’ sound like it had hit something hard. With a smirk on his face, Vince continued to
grab at food trying to bring it back to his plate.
While all this was going on, James had gotten out a
small guitar from off the wall behind them and was playing a small tune. Cody looked around and saw that the various
liquids that were meant for either drink or soup were floating all around, much
like how Howard had shown Cody earlier.
James was obviously going to be taking the soup for his supper but it
seemed like the liquid was being tugged in another direction towards the man
who was playing the piccolo.
The sounds of the small guitar and the small woodwind
battled against each other in a fierce melody.
Neither side seemed to want to give in to the other, but James got a
smile on his face and suddenly switched his tune to a different melody. The soup that had been hanging in mid air
suddenly turned to ice and because it had been tugged towards the man the
chunks of soup ice flung and hit him in the head.
“OW!”
“Sorry, Nate, but maybe next time you won’t fight so
much over soup.” He chuckled softly as
he turned his attention to a piece of ham and quickly grabbed it before anyone
else could.
It seemed like it was a true battle around the dining
table. Food was flung, curses were
shouted, and meat was stabbed, though the meat was already dead. Cody didn’t know what to make of everything
and every time he tried to grab a piece of food some ink beast, a metal bug, a
blast of air, and even a large wooden pronged trident would strike at it to
take it away from him. He could see now
why they did this, as it was really a type of incentive training. If you wanted to eat you had to be strong and
good at your craft otherwise you’d be beaten out and would be left with
nothing.
It might have seemed like it was a bit barbaric, but
if they really were constantly being hunted down by this strange evil group of
assassins then they had to be strong. At
the moment though people were tearing into their meals with no regard to
manners except for Howard who seemed to be in charge of this group and most of
the food was gone. Cody looked around
but saw that most of the good stuff had already indeed been taken and still
others were still fighting for the last bits of morsels.
Cody quickly looked around and grabbed a few biscuits
and heaped them onto his plate. He next
reached for a pitcher of what seemed to be a type of sweet tea and poured
himself a glass. It seemed that while
the food was up for grabs when it came to drinks they just shared. Looking around at what was left he put some
corn on his plate and a few berries. It
wasn’t much but it was enough that would keep him from starving at least.
He still sighed as he looked at his plate when suddenly a few things
came into his view. He looked up and saw that Vince was offering him
a piece of chicken, Marci was passing him some jelly and condiments, and James offered
him a baked potato. They all put the
things on his plate or near it and went back to eating themselves. It wasn’t a very large gesture but just from
that small act alone, Cody knew he had made some good friends here, and he
hoped that in the coming days that they’d be there to continue helping him
strive forward in this crazy mess he had somehow gotten himself involved in.
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