"To play a wrong note is insignificant;
to play without passion is inexcusable."

-Ludwig van Beethoven

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It wasn't long ago, under the starry night skies, beautiful, shining rocks had descended onto this planet.

From this rock, came Harmonia Crystals, possessing extraordinary powers. Many people from all over the world started researching it, trying to discover the mysteries of this magical rock.

However, sometime later, something else fell from the sky, a mysterious pitch-black rock, and from it, came grotesque monsters that would bring destruction to the world; the D2.

These creatures respond to music with aggression, attacking any source of music without fail.

When all hope seems lost, humanity persevered. To combat the threat of the D2, the Symphonica International Organization created powerful beings called Musicarts.

Deriving their powers from Harmonia Crystals, they bravely fought against the monsters, led by human Conductors.

Many years past, peace has graced the lands after the Sagan Armistice, Symphonica had finally been able to drive out the D2. Although the threat is not completely gone, people once again lived their lives without the worry of D2, and humanity started to rebuild society.

But the time of peace was short-lived...

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August 14th, 2047

"Maestro."

A somewhat monotone feminine voice called as she knocks on the door to a hotel room.

"Maestro, are you up?" The girl called as she gave the door a few more knocks.

"...What do you want?" A male voice finally answered back from inside the room. The tone of his voice seem to indicate that he had just woken up from bed.

"It is now ten o'clock in the morning. We have to get going in thirty minutes."

"...Fine" He replied simply and the girl walked away elsewhere.

Inside the room, the boy stretched on the bed for a moment before finally getting up and slowly making his way towards the bathroom with unsteady steps, using the wall as support so he doesn't fall over.

He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and puts on some clothes. A red bomber jacket is worn over a simple black, short-sleeved, round neck t-shirt. A pair of navy blue skinny jeans that fit nicely on his legs and a pair of black sporty sneakers completes the look.

He went to a mirror and looked at himself for a moment to style his hair. Using just a bit of hair gel, he ruffles his hair to get a slightly messy look.

After he is done. He grabbed the room key along with his car keys before heading out the door.

He took the elevator to get to the lobby on the bottom floor and he walked straight towards the receptionist.

"Hi. I would like to check out. Room 108." He said to the lady behind the counter as he places the room key in front of her.

"Your name, sir?" She asked.

"Shiranobu. Akiri Shiranobu."

The receptionist accepted the key and asked for his signature. After everything is done, the boy went straight out the main entrance and walked towards the parking lot next to the hotel building.

After walking through the row of parked cars, he stopped when he got to his. A silver Datsun 240Z.

Next to the vehicle, a girl is seen standing there, waiting for him. The girl has azure blue eyes. Her height is slightly taller than average, with long black hair going slightly past her waist with a blue ribbon tied to it. Her outfit is fairly simple, a black dress with black gloves covering her hand and black shoes.

"You're three minutes and twenty-six seconds late. Please be punctual next time to avoid unnecessary delays." She said to him and he didn't say anything as he got inside the car.

He places the key into the ignition and turned, the vehicle cranks for a moment before the engine roars into life. The girl then stepped inside and sat next to him on the passenger seat.

"Because of your tardiness, we only have five hours and twenty-three minutes left to get to our next stop." She said, in a matter-of-factly manner. "We might have to-"

"Can you just shut up for one second?" He scolded, rubbing his forehead with his fingers, clearly getting annoyed by the girl.

"One second has passed. As I was saying, we might have to re-evaluate our current route if we wish to make it on time."

The boy released a long frustrated sigh while rolling his eyes. He puts on his seatbelt before shifting into first gear and he started to drive out the parking lot and get on the main road.

(Timeskip)

"Maestro, are you okay?" Asked the girl, breaking the long silence as she saw her Maestro yawning for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes, indicating that he's tired. And the bags visible under his eyes only made it clear to her. "You didn't get enough sleep?"

He just ignores her and kept driving on the mostly empty road, with only a few cars passing by the opposite lane every once in a while.

"Maestro, I should remind you to look after your health. Sleep deprivation could hinder your performance in battle, and in turn, it will also affect me as well."

"As long as we can fight, my health shouldn't be a concern. Just do what you're made to do." He said and the two fell into silence as he drives on.

A couple of minutes later, the girl then suddenly leaned over to him and she reaches an arm out to his hair but he swatted it away.

"What are you doing?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"Fixing your hair."

"My hair is fine."

"I think you'd look better if you comb it."

His eyes widened for a moment as she said that, recalling a memory.

(Flashback)

"You look good with your hair done, Akiri." A female voice said. In front of him, is a girl bearing similar resemblance to the girl sitting next to him, having a sweet smile on her face.

(Flashback over)

"Maestro?" Her soft voice snapped him out of it and he briefly shook his head side to side, as if pushing the memory aside.

"Shut up. And don't talk about my hair again."

(Timeskip)

A few hours later, they have arrived at a small town to rest up before heading off again.

However, as they were searching for a place to rest, they noticed that the town is completely barren and quiet, not a single person is seen outside.

"What the...? Where're all the people?" Said Akiri, confused at the lack of activity in the town.

He kept driving until he came across a bar that seemed to be open and he stopped the car in front of it.

"Fantaisie. Stay in the car. I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Understood." The girl, now known as Fantaisie obeyed as he got out of the car and walked straight into the bar.

"Welcome." A man from behind the counter said and Akiri walked towards him and sat on one of the stools. "You're not from around, are you?"

He asked as he pours a drink into a glass and slid it across the countertop to him.

"Yeah. I'm just passing by." Akiri replied as he looked around the place. Despite the space being small, the atmosphere doesn't feel cramped, rather, it feels cosy and homey with the warm lights. There were posters of old bands and artists hung on the wall and there was a vintage vinyl record player, dusting in the corner of the room.

"Passing by, you say? Where are you headed?"

"New York."

"I see. That's quite a long way."

Said the man as he pours himself a drink.

"It's quiet here. Where is everyone?" Akiri asked before taking a sip of his drink while the man did the same before answering.

"D2."

"D2, huh?"

"Yeah. They seem to have taken a liking to this town and nested here." The man said before taking another drink and slamming the glass onto the countertop once he is done. "All of the people here stayed in their homes since then. They only go out to buy food and stuff every once in a while." He said and he turned around.

"Is that so?" Muttered Akiri as he places a finger on his chin and started to think.

"The fastest way to get rid of them is to lure them with music, get them into one spot and eliminate them..."

He thought to himself and he turned his head to look outside through the window.

"I really don't want to do this... But if we want to lure them, I guess there's no other choice..."

He released a long sigh before placing his glass on the countertop and looking back towards the man.

"Do you have any musical instruments I can borrow?" Akiri asked the bartender who was now wiping a glass.

"There's an old piano downstairs. Why?"

The Maestro then stood up from the stool, tugging his jacket.

"I'll deal with it."

(Timeskip)

Came nightfall, they had an upright piano set up in the middle of an empty intersection of the street.

Sitting on the padded stool, Akiri stretches his fingers before putting them on the keys. He kept still for a while, staring at the black and white piano keys, having second thoughts in his head.

With a deep breath, he mustered up the courage to start playing. Nocturne Op.9 No.2 by Frédéric Chopin.

The sounds of melody echoed all throughout town, some of the residents were surprised to hear something they haven't heard in years; music.

High on the rooftop of a nearby building, under the shimmer of the moonlight, Fantaisie stood watch as her hair was blown to the side by the gentle cold breeze.

A few moments later, a loud roar was heard as she looks ahead to see a single D2 charging towards the source of the music in rage.

It had a large body, closely resembling an ape or gorilla, with its arms longer than usual along with long sharp claws.

Back on the ground, Akiri kept his fingers moving, hitting the correct notes, keeping the right tempo to not mess up the song despite the threat of the D2 fast approaching him every passing second.

While keeping his right hand moving along the keys, he then held his left arm up and it suddenly disappears completely with a flash of blue light.

At the same time, Fantaisie stood up, and with a flash of blue light, her looks had changed slightly, and her azure blue eyes began to glow as blue petals appear around her.

She then reaches out her arm, and manifests a black and blue scythe out of thin air into her hand and she twirled it around.

She looks down and saw the monster pouncing straight towards him, outstretching its claw.

Just as the sharp claw was about to impale him, the monster was stabbed by Fantaisie dropping from above, her glowing blue scythe piercing its core deep inside, killing it instantly before landing on the ground.

"Maestro. There is more incoming." She said to him as many more of the same kind of monsters appeared and surrounded them and Akiri narrowed his eyes as he stopped playing and stood up.

Out of thin air, a pitch-black, conductors baton, with a blue gemstone as the grip appears in Fantaisie's hand and she throws it over to him and he catches it with his right hand.

"Concerto commence!"

At a wave of his baton, Fantaisie lunges towards one of the monsters at top speed, swinging her scythe at the D2 with all her might and slices it in half, killing it as the other creatures rushes towards her with a roar she started to engage in combat.

"A Musicart!"

"That boy is a Conductor?"

Shocked mutters we're heard from the people watching through the windows of their homes, completely fascinated by the individuals battling the monsters below.

Back to the fight, Fantaisie saw a big group approaching her and she hurls her scythe towards them. The scythe spins like a windmill and kills them all with one throw as her scythe came spinning back into her hand and she engages another one which was coming from behind.

Meanwhile, Akiri waves his baton around, seemingly controlling Fantaisie's fighting. His Musicart responds to every movement he made on the baton, following its motion precisely.

She swings her scythe elegantly, almost like a dance, every movement and steps were skillfully performed. The movement of her feet and arms combine to create a deadly performance, killing off all of the attacking D2 with grace.

She kills the last one by ducking under its attack before jumping up to slice its head clean off.

"That's all of them?" He asked.

"Negative. I sense one more incoming."

As if on cue, a ground trembling roar was heard as another D2 crashed down in front of them. As the dust clears, they saw that this creature is slightly different from the rest, bigger in size, has sharper teeth and claws along with glowing red eyes.

"Maestro. That one is much more powerful." She said as the monster released another cry and lunges straight towards her. She manages to avoid the attack by jumping high in the sky.

She twirls her scythe as she fell back down, and swung the weapon towards the creature, but her strike was halted as the monster grips her blade and sent her away with a throw.

She manages to slow her momentum by stabbing her scythe into the tarmac and landed on the ground on her feet.

She didn't waste any time and rushed straight back to the D2 and hurls her scythe towards it, but the monster swatted it away as it charges towards her.

The scythe flew back towards her and she grabs it before going low, slicing off the creature's leg as it lets out a painful cry.

"Finale!"

The Maestro shouted as he thrusts his baton forwards, and the Musicart responded, at the blink of an eye, she appears in front of the monster. Her scythe glows brightly as she drives the blade of her weapon into its chest, piercing the core and the monster bursts into a brilliant explosion, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Finally killing the D2, Fantaisie twirls her scythe around and with another flash of blue light, she returned to her normal appearance with her scythe disappearing from her hand and Akiri's arm appears back at the same time.

Cheers were heard from the people watching as a crowd came running to the scene.

"You've saved us!"

"Thank you so much!"

"How could we ever repay you?"

He just waved at them as he silently walked back towards his car with Fantaisie following closely behind.

"That was some good playing, kid."

He turns around to see that it was the bartender walking over towards him.

"Thank you." He replied.

"Although, I can tell that you're not playing with passion. Music is supposed to be played with emotion, to express the player's feelings to the listener."

"I only played because I had to. Nothing more." He simply replied before walking away. "Make sure you keep that piano. It could be useful if any more D2 shows up." He said as he got into the car and shut the door.

Akiri released a long tired sigh as he relaxes into the comfort of his car seat, feeling completely drained from the fight.

"We are two hours and forty-seven minutes behind schedule. We have to make it to the next state without any rest stops to compensate." Fantaisie informed as she got to the passenger seat.

"...Right." He replied with another sigh before changing gear and he drives off into the night, after yet another successful extermination.

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(A/N: Alrighty! I'm extremely excited to finally unveil a new project I've been working on.

Keep in mind, that this chapter is just a short preview of what I have planned for this story. The goal is to release it officially in January next year. I plan to fully work on this as a side project along with my SAO: Progressive book.

I'm trying out a new wiring style for this book. This is my first time writing this way, so please let me know your thoughts on it. Did you have difficulties distinguishing which characters were speaking? How are the action sequences? Is it hard to follow?

Any of your opinions are invaluable to me, so I would appreciate it if you leave any criticism you might have. Just remember to be respectful.

If you are interested in this book, I would appreciate it if you vote, and save it in your library and reading list, and also follow my profile to keep up to date with the status of this, and my other books.

That is all for now, thanks for reading!)