The next day, Melody and Phaedra listened to Lyra play the piano for the first time, and they both agreed that the young apprentice was quite skilled, and her playing was beautiful. Her fingers drifted over the keys gracefully, her eyes closed and a calm, serene expression upon her face.

Dori walked in some time later and joined them in listening to Lyra's music. When Lyra heard her enter the room, however, she stopped playing and turned around to see who had come in. "Hello, Lyra," said Dori. "Your playing is really good."

"Thank you," said Lyra. She closed the lid of the piano and got up to stretch her legs a moment, having been sitting on the piano bench for quite awhile. "Do you mind if I go take a walk?"

"Not at all," replied Melody. "Go right ahead."

Lyra walked outside into the fresh autumn air and decided to walk through the nearby forest a little bit. She wondered if she might encounter anyone out here at this time. Just then, two girls about a year older than Lyra walked toward her. One had blonde hair and blue eyes, and the other was a brunette with blue-green eyes and a tan complexion.

"Hello," said the blonde.

"Hi," replied Lyra. "What's your name?"

"I'm Liana, and this is Alexa," says Liana. "What's your name?"

"Lyra," answered Lyra. "Do you live nearby?"

"Not really," said Alexa. "We're on our way to visit our friend Melody."

"As in the muse of music?"

"yeah," said Liana. "You know her?"

"I'm their new apprentice," said Lyra. "It's been a wonderful experience so far."

"That's great," Liana smiled.

"Do you want to walk together?" Lyra offered.

"That sounds nice," said Alexa. "Sure."

As they walked back to the Diamond castle, they got to know each other better, making conversation as though they had been friends for ages. They entered the castle and went up to the music room, to be greeted by the muses.

"Liana! Alexa!" Melody was genuinely happy to see her friends, since they hadn't seen each other in a little while. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Hey, Melody," said Alexa. "It's good to see you too."

"I see you met Lyra," said Melody, gesturing to the apprentice, who nodded. "She's a wonderful pianist. You should hear her play some time."

"That's sweet of you," said Lyra.

"We'd like that," Alexa added. Lyra walked over to the piano, lifted the lid and sat down. As she brought her fingers to the keys and began to play, Liana, Alexa and Melody walked over to sit nearby and listen just as the muses had done earlier that morning and, like before, Lyra's music seemed to speak of a never-ending love and compassion. As she slowly closed her beautiful amber eyes, getting lost in the melody, Alexa and Liana stared in amazement.

But then suddenly she stopped.

And all six of them heard a voice, echoing and melodious, yet slightly ominous. It seemed to be just above their heads, trying to give an unclear warning of some sort.

"The sweet music that brought you together shall tear you apart."

"What?" Melody asked, visibly confused. She looked around, and then turned to Dori and Phaedra. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," said Phaedra. "It sounds as if someone is trying to warn us of something."

"Has anything like this ever happened before?" asked Liana. Dori shook her head.

"No," she said. "It hasn't."

Lyra sat in silence, wondering what the message could have meant. If anything, she was hoping it wasn't anything to do with her.

Later that night, while Lyra was asleep, she dreamt of Lydia, no longer a statue, walking towards her with her flute in her hand, although in the dream, the flute looked nothing like the flute melody played. It was red, and the design was very different. But Lyra paid no attention. Instead, her attention was focused on the former muse herself. Her hair was reddish-brown, and she wore a red and black dress with diamond encrusted bracelets. Around her neck was a necklace in the shape of a snake biting its tail. Her brilliant green eyes held no expression as she approached Lyra.

Lyra awoke just then, to her slight disappointment. She had wanted to see where her dream would go, and a part of her wanted to know what Lydia's voice sounded like. and Lyra had been right, Lydia was beautiful. If that was what she had really once looked like.

Suddenly drawn to something, Lyra got out of bed, slowly and quietly, and tip-toed to the music room, careful not to wake the others. she walked over to Lydia and gazed at her for a moment, before whispering, "I promise you, Lydia, I'll find a way to break the spell. I want to get to know you. Maybe even try to make you a good person again, like how you used to be. I'll find a way."

Lyra returned to her room and tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't. She was too deep in thought about how to break the spell, and she knew Dori, Melody and Phaedra wouldn't help her. They didn't trust Lydia, and Lyra supposed they were right not to after all she had done. But she also felt that somewhere inside Lydia must lie the capability of good. She just needed to find it...