Cry of the Forest

On the top floor of the castle, one could hear the sound of something banging against the wood. Outside the top chamber of the castle, empty knights of armor remained present.

There were a few candles stuck in chandeliers, however, they were not lit up, to be exact... they were lit up but every time the banging sound came, the light would disappear.

It was blinking similar to a disco light.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

*Thud!*

That was the last sound coming out from the chamber. The candles stopped blinking and stayed still as if they always were.

Slowly, energy started to burst from the surroundings. Frost grew over the windows, slowly the entire window turned pale white.

*Hup! Khuff! Hup! Khuff! Hup! Khuff! Hup! Khuff!*

Thorns of ice pierced through the innermost chamber and continued on until the entire hall was covered with ice thorns.

*Shhhhh....*

The candles lost their light, it would give one a feeling of all hope dying out, dreams flickering into nightmares.

Dark green roots with sharp thorns creaked around the spikes of ice. Slowly but gently, flowers started to bloom as the frost in the hallway increased.

Hydrangea, dahlias, and alstroemeria started to grow on the thorny stalks. Snow and ice crept onto the core of the room, making the gloomy room covered in ice and flowers.

It was gloomy, sad yet beautiful. It felt like as if they were crying. Their cry was in line with a soft hum of a woman.

She stood beside a banyan tree gazing over a sparkling golden-colored river covered by fog. Tree leaves fell on the ground, withered and withered. As time passed, the entire ground was covered with them.

The leaves disintegrated as more time passed. Finally, the tree started to wilt, slowly it grew weak and ultimately died.

In place of it, a new plant started to grow, it didn't take long for it to grow up and become a magnificent tree. It would glow brightly virescent just at the edges of the trunks, bringing a luminescent view to the foggy surroundings.

Slowly it too wilted.

The only thing constant, unmoving, still, eternal was the young woman who stared at the river.

A single droplet of golden water flowed from her eyes and joined the river.

Eternal is not the river of time nor is it the water of space inside but instead, the lady who sits beside it.

~

Rael could feel the chill in the air, he glanced back at the castle from where the malevolent energy flowed.

He frowned a bit, his finger involuntarily touched his chin as he went into contemplation. Aside from the dark energy, he could feel the wails of other evil energies although they were extremely small compared to the one flowing from the castle.

"Hmmm...." Rael walked forward towards the evil energy in the direction of the castle.

Wisps of black and purple light flowed in the air, forming whats seemed like a phantom. Phantoms are chunks of mana that have gained sentience.

The wisps were not mana nor were they any different kind of energy. Rael stopped tapping his chin and looked at the wisps forming near him with calm eyes.

The ball-shaped lights around him were souls, pure souls. Then this meant that the wisps were corrupted souls that even after going through the cleansing of [Samsara] had not gotten fully cleansed.

This happens when the emotions of hate, anger, sadness are too strong. All the negative emotions that inhabit the soul.

When they survive [Samsara] and go to the next stage, they can't reincarnate due to their soul being corrupt and simply roam around in the [Mirror Realm of Death] as wisps of negative emotions.

Popularly known as, Ghosts. Sometimes there are instances of Ghosts escaping the [Mirror Realm of Death] due to power imbalance.

After escaping, they gain sentience when causing mayhem and their negative emotions get stronger directly proportional to chaos energy, ultimately becoming Devils while remaining Ghosts.

Rael looked at all this with an indifferent gaze, it was like as if he was looking at insects not worth his time.

He had reverted to how he used to be in his first life. He was complete in every way after his Soul getting filled.

His silver hair had gotten slightly longer compared to before. His violet amethyst eyes gleamed in the darkness like two gems of absolute nobility as the wind fluttered around him.

A few souls revolved around him, shining like balls of light, dazzling like the stars. His flawless, dangerously perfect skin seemed reminiscent of the moon before them.

Stretching out his hands, a slightly nostalgic smile crept onto his face.

He muttered in a low voice.

"Crisez Vilzi."

For a second it felt like the world stopped moving. A bright light exploded, the world trembled. Rael stood alone even the souls started to run rampant.

The next second a grand piano appeared in mid-air. It seemed ancient, its white and black keys seemed polished and reminded one of the clear skies.

The wood was dark brown. It seemed like a typical forest wood however it excluded an aura that didn't make one take it carelessly.

Cry of the Forest, also known as, Crisez Vilzi in fairy language. A Mythril Grade Artifact, one of the best pianos in existence if not the best, directly made from the sacred wood of the 'Word Tree' [Yggdrasil].

A warm smile broke out on Rael's face as he stared at his piano. He always wanted to summon it but couldn't because his soul wasn't complete.

In fact, summoning it even now depended heavily on chance due to his original soul bond with it fading.

It all depended on Luck.

Sometimes Rael wondered if Lady Luck too was f.u.c.k.i.n.g. with him. Until his third life, all he had was bad luck.

Rael shook his head.

"If they f.u.c.k. me, I will f.u.c.k. them back."

His fingers roamed around the piano's keys and his legs towards the pedal. His face frowned and his eyes opened wide.

Rael's expression was ugly at the moment. He didn't care about the ghosts rushing towards him. All he cared about at the moment was his piano.

His fingers touched the keys again and played the keys in B major scale that turned faster as time passed. If one heard the tune then they too would feel scared. The anger emanating from it was fearsome.

Even the ghosts and other malovent energies, spirits felt the emotions flowing in the air and stopped still. Although Rael's face didn't show anger and was expressionless, the cold glint in his eyes didn't lie.

Rael smiled maniacally as if laughing at himself, self-deprecatingly. He muttered something under his breath as if not able to believe himself.

"Someone.... used my piano. Someone.... touched my piano with dirty hands."

His finger trembled then he sighed, controlling all his emotions as the anger tune changed the tone to g major.

"It seems that the person tried his best to play but couldn't because of my Ezzi rejecting the person and seeing the condition of the piano. It seems that the person then tried his best to burn and break it.... and then ultimately locked it in a room to not let it ever be able to see the light of the moon."

Rael was genuinely angry. The person dared to touch his piano and then even confine it. Originally Rael found the wood near the part of the World Tree that connected the entire Fairy Realm to other realms.

World Tree was impossible to cut. Many had tried before. Somehow Rael managed to found a broken part near it.

He personally instructed the best craftsman to make a piano out of the wood. After they were done making it, he cut their hands, cut their tongue, and gouged their eyes.... at least he wanted to but he didn't.

As for how they crafted it. Since the wood was indestructible, they had to bang the wood against the World Tree again and again to give it shape, etc.

It was an ingenious idea. If nothing can break then it's the source that can break. The wood of the world tree can solely be broken by another piece of the world tree.

Fairies inherently are a fairly peaceful and naughty species except for the ones who are born with higher negative emotions.

Even if they leaked it, Rael would mind as long as no one outside the Fairy Realm would know. The wood of World Tree is the rarest material in the entire ominerse and all dimensions.

It could be said that he is the only person in existence to have the wood of the World Tree. The wood is so special, that alchemist all around would castrate themselves to have it, the god emperors would be ready to gift all the females in their lives.

Everything just for a piece of wood... that Rael turned into a piano.

The wood contained the level-up attribute. It would be as strong as the user using it. There are many more abilities that it could have but Rael handy discovered them all.

Currently, all he could do was make everyone feel the purest music. However, that didn't mean it was useless.

Music can make boost a person's morale, make him feel as if a god, and at the same time can make him feel as if an ant.

Music that is given sentience and emotions is even scary. Rael literally would give life to his music even if one is deaf, he would still be able to hear it.

In a way, Music is the strongest weapon in the world.

Rael closed his eyes, his fingers started to move around the keys of his piano. However sound refused to come how he wanted it to come.

He could feel the emotions of his piano itself. The piano was angry at him for leaving him for long and at the same time missed the touch of Rael's heavenly fingers.

The piano itself had sentience. Although it couldn't speak, it could convey its emotions. Rael had cherished the piano his entire life and had brought it up as if it was his child.

Lightly Rael whispered while playing the keys.

"Don't worry. I will never leave you again."

The piano stopped crying. The air around it changed. Rael pressed the keys again and said in a soft tone.

"Thank you Ezzi."

In the serenade of the black, the clouds shifted revealing the millions and billions of gems glowing genially.

Monochrome musings, the stars were a choir; they were lights that sang in infinite patterns and the souls were similar deep silver ballerinas, turning pirouettes with perfect form.