Desire -

In the sudden, true silence that followed the explosion of sound, Aveline finally heard the music she had been looking for. It wasn't in the instrument; it was in the breath she took in the stillness of the aftermath. She walked out into the rain, no longer hunting for a gap in the noise, but carrying the quiet within her.

: As her skin touched the cold surface, the noise of the city didn't vanish. Instead, she heard the lute’s own desire. It didn't want to be played; it wanted to be shattered . It was a vessel of compressed sound, a billion screams of history held in check.

: Aveline could take it and flee, living in the stolen quiet of a relic that was suffering. Or she could do the unthinkable. She didn't steal the lute. She played the one note it was holding back—a sound so pure it shattered the glass casing and the windows of the Conservatory.

In the sudden, true silence that followed the explosion of sound, Aveline finally heard the music she had been looking for. It wasn't in the instrument; it was in the breath she took in the stillness of the aftermath. She walked out into the rain, no longer hunting for a gap in the noise, but carrying the quiet within her.

: As her skin touched the cold surface, the noise of the city didn't vanish. Instead, she heard the lute’s own desire. It didn't want to be played; it wanted to be shattered . It was a vessel of compressed sound, a billion screams of history held in check.

: Aveline could take it and flee, living in the stolen quiet of a relic that was suffering. Or she could do the unthinkable. She didn't steal the lute. She played the one note it was holding back—a sound so pure it shattered the glass casing and the windows of the Conservatory.