"It's over!" Dante fell back into the puffy leather chair with resounding satisfaction. "Thank the twelve it's finally over!" He ran a hand through his dark, wavy hair and smiled at his friends sitting around him. "I swear if I have to read one more piece of sheet music, I'll shave off my eyebrows and join the Brotherhood of Giocosca!"

"Please don't do that," said Cadence. She sat on one of the smaller leather couches, legs drawn up against her chest, eyes darting smoothly as she read from the weathered tome clutched between her fingers. "You'd look like one of the Elderari statues in the Choir Garden." She peered over the lip of the book, focusing more on his nose then his eyes. "Not a good look in my opinion."

"Come now, Cadence." Vibrata leaned over and gave the girl a soft nudge, smiling brightly beneath the strip of black cloth covering her eyes. "Dante was only joking."

"Oh, right." Cadence nodded and returned to her book.

He does have a point though." Sforza gestured to Dante's left, her slender manicured fingers speaking for her. "This year's graduating exam was a lot harder than last year. My brother and I compared notes."

"I'm sure the Head Conductor has his reasons," said Vibrata after Cadence had finished translating for her. "With the discovery our school recently made in Rhapsody, he's probably trying to impress enough patrons to fund an expedition."

"You're talking about the tower, aren't you?" asked Dante.

"Indeed," agreed Vibrata. "The one that rose up from the Melidoci Sea just a few months back."

Cadence lowered her book by a fraction. "An Elderari Tuning Tower." Her voice buzzed with excitement as she twirled a piece of her long, curly brown hair between thumb and forefinger. "There hasn't been a new one discovered in over a hundred years."

" Now, that's all well and good," Dante waved a dismissive hand as he jumped up from his chair. "But we've more important things to do than talk about some dusty, old tower. We've finally graduated! After ten years of boring sermons and mind numbing exams, it's finally over. I think this calls for a little celebration." He skulked over to one of the dressers in the cozy, abandoned lounge and pulled a drawer open.

"What did you have in mind?" motioned Sforza.

Dante turned, a large bottle clutched between his hands. " Why, just a little red wine is all."

"Just where and how did you even get that?" demanded Vibrata.

"Where and how is of no concern," Dante flicked a sly grin in Vibrata's direction. "What matters is that we can finally celebrate like real adults. Don't tell me you've never wanted to try the stuff?"

"And what if we get caught?"

"Simple," Dante shrugged. "The door's locked and Sforza already deafened the room. No one save the Head Conductor himself can hope to find us. Besides, the west wing of the Chorista has been abandoned for years. We'll be fine."

Sforza gestured with her hands. "A little wine after our exams does sound nice right about now. This is our last night together before we officially graduate."

Vibrata made a disapproving noise, but in the end she relented. "Fine, but I'll only have a cup if it's mulled first. The weather's been foul all week and I'm positively chilled to the bone."

"Way ahead of you." Dante placed the bottle on the table and rolled up his right sleeve, exposing his brass prosthetic forearm. Two sets of twelve fluted holes were visible across the metal, with another fixed to the left side of his wrist. Deftly he lifted the hole to his lips, placing the thumb of his left hand beneath the wrist, his four other fingers set over the holes. A sharp, eager tune echoed out of his forearm as he began to play and in an instant the lounge's fireplace burst into life, roaring with heat and flame beneath a small black cauldron hanging over the center.

"What a lovely shade of blue," Cadence observed.

Before too long the four graduates were sipping wine in the warm comfort of the lounge. They sat and talked as a soft bit of snowfall drifted past the window sill, casting gray light inside. Their conversations shifted between academia and personal life, sprinkled in with interesting facts about the Elderari brought up by Cadence. By the time the bottle of wine was empty, most were sufficiently tipsy enough that the conversation soon steered towards the possible future.

"I think I'd like to join the Orchestra." Dante sat sprawled out in his chair, one hand dangling over the side, the other clutching at the rim of his half-empty glass.

"I never took you for a military man," motioned Sforza, her gestures a little more sloppy now that the wine had taken hold.

"I'm full of surprises." Dante sat up lazily. "And what about you? Going to join the Silent Sisterhood once we toss our caps?"

"Actually, Professor Auditori thinks I should apply to one of the Tacet Guilds."

Dante raised a curious brow. "That's quite ambitious, at least for most people." He drained the rest of his glass. "But I've no doubt they'll accept you. After all, you're the smartest girl I know." Sforza gave him a playful leer and gestured the word 'cheeky.'

From across the room, Dante heard Vibrata clear her throat. "Well," he said with a shrug. "You're one of the smartest girls I know." He looked over to where the other two sat. "You two obviously qualify as well."

"Why thank you." Vibrata giggled, her cheeks a rosy shade of red now. She leaned on Cadence's shoulder, one arm draped over the young savant who still sat buried in her tome. "Aren't you going to ask us where we're off to?" she asked playfully.

"Knowing Cadence, she's probably going to wind up in some Elderarian city buried up to her neck in Chimes," said Dante in a bemusing tone.

"Impossible," said Cadence. "There are only twelve Chimes in existence and only four have ever been found."

"Maybe they're really big," projected Dante.

"No, they're actually quite small," said Cadence.

"The fact remains that you're not wrong, Dante." Vibrata gave a maudlin smile. "She may not have told you, but the University of Allegro wants to give her a full sponsorship towards their Anthropology program. She'll be studying the ruins north of the city."

"Wonderful news!" Dante proclaimed.

"Congratulations," gestured Sforza.

"It's not that impressive." said Cadence, although her tone clearly said otherwise.

"And I'm assuming you'll be joining her, Vibrata?" Dante asked.

"Naturally," Vibrata said coyly. "She can't get rid of me that easily." Without warning she reached over and promptly kissed Cadence along the temple, turning the already rosy cheeked girl into a shade of red that would have made the ripest tomato envious.

"Stop embarrassing me." Cadence sank further into her book, but that only made Vibrata giggle all the more.

 "I'm really going to miss these little moments." Dante murmured.

For a time after the four friends sat in memorable silence, the only sounds coming from the crackling fire, the rattle of glass as a stiff breeze shifted past the windows, and the occasional flutter of pages being turned. All was at rest.

Without warning, Vibrata shot up from her seat and gasped. "Footsteps! Someone's coming!"

Seconds later there came a knock at the door. For a moment the four friends sat there frozen in shock, wondering if the sound had been a shared, drunken illusion, only to be affirmed as the knock came once again.

"But how?" Sforza gestured to Dante. "I thought you said the entire wing was abandoned."

"I did," hissed Dante. "And I thought you deafened the whole damn room."

The knock came more urgently this time.

"Should we answer?" asked Vibrata.

"Probably for the best. Let me take care of it. It's not the first time I've had to spin a good story." Rising warily to his feet, Dante set his glass on the table and made towards the knocking. He stood there for a moment, his brass prosthetic hand hovering over the crystal knob, summoning the courage necessary to open the door, and then immediately regretting it once he'd done so.

Before him stood Julian Avabratta, the Head Conductor's personal secretary, his infamous frown at full mast.

"Suoni Felici, your lordship." said Dante with a slight bow. "Fancy seeing you around these parts, eh?"

The aged assistant raised a suspicious brow as he peered over Dante's shoulder, eyeing Sforza, Vibrata and Cadence, before his gaze finally settled on the empty bottle. "I take it you've been enjoying the evening, young master Dante?" Julian drolled.

"I suppose you could say that," Dante cleared his throat, realizing too late he'd forgotten to hide the wine. "And I suppose there might be a way in having you forget this little encounter?"

Julian's frown deepened further. "If I had caught you all at any other time, I would have had you scrubbing the latrines. With a jeweler's brush," he added with a growl. "But the Head Conductor has need of you four. Please, head to his office at your earliest convenience."

Without another word Julian turned on his heel and stomped away, leaving Dante to stand there dumbstruck.

"Well? What did he want? I couldn't read his lips past your thick head," Sfroza gestured.

"He said the Head Conductor wants to speak with us," said Dante as he shut the door. "And I don't know about you, but I think I could do with some air beforehand."

Thirty minutes later and the group sat wide eyed before the Head Conductor. The old man smiled wordlessly through his well combed mustache, eyeing the four of them with clear amusement before saying, "I'm very happy to see you all in good spirits."

"Your lordship." Dante spoke up first. "It was my idea to bring the wine. If anyone deserves to be punished, it's me."

"He's not lying," Cadence added.

"Cadence!" Vibrata started, but was interrupted by the Head Conductor's laughter.

"Please, don't fret over a little jubilation," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I would have gone for you myself but," and he tapped at the wheels of his chair for emphasis. "I'm not exactly good at climbing stairs these days. Hence why I sent Julian."

"Oh, well." Dante relaxed in his seat. "That's good."

"Yes, it is," the Head Conductor agreed. "But I suppose we should get down to the reason why I summoned you." With a practiced hand the old man wheeled away from his desk, moving towards one of the grand displays in his office. Sitting on a pedestal behind a heavy plate glass window was an Elderarian Chime, a small brass bell said to hold one of the Twelve Tones. "Tell me, have you heard the recent good news?"

"The Tuning Tower," said Cadence reverently. "The one that appeared in the Melidoci Sea."

"The very same," chuckled the Head Conductor, his gaze still fixed on the artifact. "And because it falls within the Dukedom of Rhapsody, any expeditions made are purely within my jurisdiction." He turned and smiled at the four of them knowingly.

"Your lordship," said Vibrata cautiously. "You don't mean—"

"Oh but I do, young miss," interrupted the Head Conductor. "I want you four to be the first to enter The Tower. As the best and brightest in the Tonal fields, it makes sense, naturally." He pushed himself forward on his wheeled chair till he sat directly before them. "So, what do you say?"

For a long time no one said anything. Dante sat gaping like a fish out of water. Sforza was rubbing at her temples vigorously. Vibrata looked as if The Head Conductor had asked her to describe the color blue.

Cadence, meanwhile, sat there smiling from ear to ear. "We'll do it!" She proclaimed. Before anyone had a chance to say otherwise.