A start of a new season. A start of a new chapter. It was an exciting summer, but I’m not getting my hopes up high for this season. Usually there’d be something that I don’t quite like happening this season.
“Yo Aether, did you know about the new urban legend?”
My friend, Telos, asked me about a recently circulating urban legend. I find urban legends interesting, so of course I had already known about it.
“I thought you already knew me well! The urban legend where at a certain time after midnight, before dawn, a person could be found standing on top of a tree branch and playing some sort of wind flute.”
“Exactly. Rumors say the melody can hypnotize anyone who happens to be walking nearby, and oh boy it sure sounds interesting.”
Urban legends like these do sound interesting to me. Sometimes I want to find out if it’s actually real, or it’s just some baseless rumor, and people just want to mess with others.
“So, want to find out?”
And oh boy, I did not expect my friend to ask that question.
“You reading my mind? Of course I’d like to!”
It’s still 3 PM though. We still have a ‘long way’ to go.
“First we need to search for more info. Where it likes to appear, when it will appear, and how the melody sounds like. I’ve read that someone recorded a video of said person with the melody, but the quality was so bad it feels like I’m back at the 90s.”
“You weren’t alive in the 90s,” I replied.
[…]
I’m back at my house. Telos tagged along with me, so now we’re going to search for it on the internet.
“Here it is, ‘Voices Among the Leaves’ is the title of the urban legend. Such a silly name.”
“Hahah, true. Although we should find the name of the ‘person’ though.”
We scrolled, opened numerous websites, watched multiple videos, but no one on the internet seems to know the name—or rather, give it a name. Every article written about it keeps mentioning the apparition as “the person,” which is kind of a bummer, to be honest.
But that means we get to name it. I think.
“We should record this and give it a name for the person.”
“Or better, we should communicate with them.”
And I agreed.
“Found the location, it’s regularly spotted near an old, big tree on Dame Street, should be easy to find.”
The ‘investigation’ seems to be going perfectly.
“Take a listen to the melody, it’s bad, but it’s audible.”
I was mesmerized with the sound. It felt ethereal, something that’s… out of this world. Like someone brought a melody from another world to this world.
“The charm of the melody is quite strong, huh. It’s like it can… change, a person’s mind and heart. A divine, empyrean melody that is blessed upon this sinful world.”
I did not just utter those words. My vocabulary isn’t that expansive, you know.
“Notice that you’re being poetic? That’s the ‘effects’ of the melody, apparently.”
This got me obsessed. We have to find the ‘person’ or ‘thing’ behind all of this.
[…]
It’s now 3 PM, and we’re walking down Dame Street to the big tree.
“Alright, I’ve started the recording. Let’s go find this person,” I said to Telos.
“Great, let’s go.”
We finally got near the tree. The moonlight, dim street lights, and… blue fireflies?
“What? Blue fireflies? Do they even exist?” My friend asked.
“That is certainly strange, but I think they do. It’s just that they’re extremely rare and unique to a certain place, I don’t know where it is, but it’s definitely not here.”
Then, I heard what we were searching for. The sound of a wind flute. And the ‘person’ standing atop the branch.
My eyes locked to… him. I can clearly see a male figure with long, silky white hair, with his eyes closed, as he played the wind flute. I checked the camera, and it’s still there. Is this an actual person?
“Hey! You over there, may I know your name?”
His eyes opened, revealing noctilucous, heavenly blue eyes. The charm of this person is extraordinary, and he hasn’t even said a word.
“The wind knows my name. Listen, and may you find the answer you sought after.”
That ‘blew’ me away. I somehow subconsciously knew his name.
“Katsura.”
That doesn’t sound right. It sounds like a feminine name.
“I know what you’re thinking. Such unfitting name. Though let it be known that I have been bestowed upon this name as a gift from God.”
He leaped from the branch, and flew down towards us. Wait a minute, I forgot about my friend.
“Telos?”
Well he… was shocked? Either way he’s not responsive, possibly stunned by his appearance.
“You’ve spoken my name. Thank you, Aether.”
Wait, what?!
“I don’t remember telling you my name. How did you know?!”
“The strings of our intertwined fate have all the answers one might seek. Although it is with pity that I cannot prolong this encounter, follow your heart, and there you may find me.”
He walked behind me, out of vision and out of the FOV of my camera. I looked back, and he was gone. What a mysterious figure.
“Aether?! Hey!”
I was shaken by my friend, who happens to be conscious now.
“You were out for so long! What happened to you?! The person disappeared just now!”
Apparently that only happened in my mind. All of it. Not even Telos knows. It is as if I was transported to another world just then. The recording was also missing, which made it even more bizarre. I felt the conversation happen, though. It was real. Now we both head back to my house, coming back ‘empty-handed.’
At least I had an experience no one has.
“Intertwined fate.” May we meet each other again.
Next Chapter: [Chapter 3]