The Ballad of Romance

The Fifth Song

A/N: This is for the meeting in the Sala della Musica but not as loud (background music for the first 3 min)

Tess could feel fire and ice washing over her skin simultaneously. Burning her skin then freezing it until she couldn't tell what was skin and what was pain. She felt something soft move across her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered open against the warm light. She could see a mop of messy hair leaning over her.

"Oh Tess! You're okay!" Said Tyler's voice, echoing around her skull.

"Si?" Tess managed to croak as she propped herself onto her elbow. She felt a sudden restriction and stiffened. Seconds later she realised it was Tyler hugging her. She relaxed into the embrace, patting his back gently with her free arm.

"We were worried about you, Pulcino," added Guinevere, sitting on a milking stool nearby.

"Why? What happened? How long have I been out?" Asked Tess, sitting up.

Crispino rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You've been asleep for three days. Not that it was an issue per se, as the rain has only just started to let up."

"But you blacked out after you got Tyler inside." Guinevere added. "You were playing his Flauto and managed to somehow stop him from getting a fever before collapsing on the floor."

Tyler smiled at her. "You saved my life. Mercurio slipped and I was too slow to break my fall and had you not have stopped for me I would have died and now, unfortunately, I owe you one."

Tess shrugged weakly. "I just did what was right. You'd do the same for me." She grabbed her head as a migraine started pressing against the side of her skull.

"I'll get you some water... we have plenty of it," mused Tyler, standing up and walking over to his saddle bags.

Zenzero nickered to Tess from the corner of the barn. She was as close to Tess as the rope barrier would allow her and yet she still stretched her neck towards her. Tess smiled at her, dismissing Zenzero's help. Mercurio nickered to Zenzero, hay hanging from the corner of his mouth. Zenzero gave one last stern look at Tess before turning back to eat.

"Qui, Tess." Tyler sat next to her, handing her a canteen half full of cool water. "I hope it helps."

Tess thanked him and she took slow careful sips from the canteen. Guinevere walked over and laid down a shallow bowl. It was a milky looking soup with small chunks of white meat.

"I've never seen this dish before. What is it?" Tess asked, lifting the bowl into her lap. She tasted it cautiously but her eyes lit up with the flavour. "This is amazing!"

Guinevere smiled. "That, Pulcino, is a traditional zuppa scozzese. Back home they call it Cullen Skink after the fishing village it was made in. Very popular and very filling. Milk, fish and potatoes."

Tess spooned more of the thick soup, marvelling at the rich creamy taste. "I'm definitely making this for Mama when I go home."

Tess and Tyler sat quietly beside each other on a log, perched at the top of the hill behind the barn. It overlooked open fields and, in the near horizon, snow capped mountains. They both watched the sun creep over the peaks, shining slithers of sunlight over the grassy land.

"This view is quite something." Tyler stated, placing his arm over Tess's shoulder. He smiled at her before turning back to watch the sunrise.

"Si. It's never been this beautiful at home. I wish I could just take a bottle and catch some of its warm light. Keep it in a jar on my window sill." Tess leant into Tyler shivering in the crisp morning air. "Probably should have grabbed my jacket. It's still chillier than I thought it would be."

"Well that was dumb but we have more important things to talk about. What was it that got you so worked up?" asked Tyler, looking down at Tess's dark hair.

"Remember when I was left by myself to defeat that Mostro?" Tess asked, rubbing her arm thoughtfully.

Tyler nodded once.

"Well. It was acting weird. I hit it over the head, mortally wounding it then it looked up at me. All its anger in its eyes had been replaced by fear. It laid in front of me and begged to end it's life." Tears pricked Tess's eyes as she recalled her fight. "But then when i made it back to you, the mostri attacking you could have easily overwhelmed you but they didn't. It was almost as if..."

"They were trying to keep us away from something!" Tyler finished. "But why us? What made our inexperienced butts the most wanted? And they don't seem to like Signor or Signora either."

Tess thought for a moment. "I don't know but it must be a Musiciste thing that we don't know of."

"Well," Tyler started. "Whatever it is, we're in this together."

Tess felt Tyler pull her into a hug. It felt warm, secure. Comforting. That's what she needed. She saw white flash before her eyes as she felt herself pulled away from Tyler.

She opened her eyes to see the Sala della Musica. She turned, noticing Tyler standing next to her. They held each other's gaze for a moment then shrugged. Things were weird enough as is without being thrown into an interdimensional existence.

"Apollo?" Tess called out, walking forwards. "Did you bring us here?" Tyler followed behind her, turning to take a few steps back and gaze around the 'room'.

You brought yourself here, but I had to interfere before anything worse happened.

Tess and Tyler snapped their heads above them where the orb was floating above them. The room twisted around them as they walked 'upwards' to Apollo. The orb flashed red for a moment before returning to its usual white.

"Then do you know why we are here?" asked Tyler, looking behind him, still unsure how the Sala della Musica worked.

You are confused The journey is dangerous A wrong must be righted and only you two can stop it

The room began to fold in on itself. The sound of Apollo's voice became distant and warbled.

They are not who they seem

"Who aren't what they seem?" shouted Tess reaching an arm out as darkness enveloped them.

They both blinked quickly, clearing away any after images that had burned into their eyes. They could still hear Apollo's voice advising them. They looked at each other with a shrug, unable to understand what the cryptic God was trying to tell them.

"Did you get any of that, Tessie?" Tyler asked, knitting his eyebrows in confusion. He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to remove the last remaining patch of white blur from his vision.

Tess shrugged. "You're guess is as good as mine, Ty. Apollo made very little sense."

"Si, the 'journey is dangerous' part I get. We're fighting Mostri and riding through nearly all of Italia with a handful of strumenti that are supposed to keep us safe." Tyler added, laying backwards over the edge of the log so his head and shoulders touched the ground. He looked up at Tess and smiled. "At least we get to see Roma together?"

Tess smiled back and stood up, offering her hand to pull Tyler up. "Si, that's right. We'll see Roma together."

"Alright, we should be at the foot of the mountains by dusk. It's going to get more dangerous from there on out." Crispino explained from the back of Muschetto. "We'll camp at the foot but will have to spend the night right in the centre of the Mostri nest."

"Cosa! Mostri nest? We're going to walk into a swarm of Mostri!" exclaimed Tyler, stiffening slightly in the saddle. Mercurio switched his tail slightly.

Tess gave a half hearted laugh. "Well, Zenzero, are you ready to see if the cards are in our favour?"

Zenzero shook her mane gently. Trifoglio nickered in agreement beside Zenzero, prancing excitedly. Moschetto and Mercurio nodded their heads as they broke into a slow canter towards the cold mountains.