Kario was now fifteen years old–and Heski was thirteen–though that age doesn't last long. That wasn't as important to them as some others, though; right now, they just wanted to enjoy the pleasure of wandering around the Oceanuris Market with Nai Idinci. The market was chatty and vibrant, with people selling goods of all kinds. There was a sculptor and grown-ups dropping off their kids near the Schoolhouse. There was a large, blocky, and white building nearby (dead of plants) and yet nearby was a botanist selling their homegrown Ziups and Ballo Bait flowers.

Lined along a cobblestone path, people lived in houses and apartments. In Oceanuris. And the Oceanuris Market that lived at the heart of the people.

"Well," Nai Idinci sighed as she and the two boys ambled through the Market. She held her basket–tall and narrow–tightly as it was filled with Pesing Pebbles. The top hatch was barely latched tightly. Idinci knew she was fortunate to have the sufficient means to take care of her two sons. After all, as someone who sewed clothing for money, she was fairly well above the poverty line.

And today, she felt generous.

"You know, Heski and Kario." She started with a smile. "For you two, I am feeling quite generous today. I have been paid well lately and I'd like to share it with you." She turned to the both of them, and grabbed out one handful of Pesing Pebbles. "Open your hands out, you two." She dropped some Pebbles to Kario, and the rest to Heski's cupped hands. "You may buy what you'd like with those Pebbles. Stay close to each other, though. And me. It's quite crowded, after all." She glanced around as people filed in and out in crowded clusters.

"Thank you, Nai Idinci!" Kario exclaimed with a smile.

"Well I know what I want," Heski stated. "The Bakery! They have amazing pastries there!"

"Alright, then. Let's go." Nai Idinci replied as the three walked in the Oceanuris Market. As Kario and Heski chatted happily, Nai Idinci glanced around the Oceanuris Market with a furrowed brow. She caught sight of a sculptor's creations getting destroyed by an angry customer, a girl watching her younger siblings walk in silence as she counted the very few Pesing Pebbles in her hand. It wasn't as bad as when she walked the streets before, however. One time she caught a man about to slit a boy's tongue (which was a boy that Heski and Kario had helped earlier that day). If it weren't for her, the boy would have indeed been tongueless.

So much injustice. Nai Idinci knew this. And frankly, she wondered if their Great–Valencia Qa–really did anything to help her people below. Frankly, she didn't know.

But it boiled her and stressed her out that her sons would grow up in this world here. She even visited Valencia many times before in the Oceanuris Throne House to confront her, not that she ever did anything about it. She always seemed hesitant and denied Nai Idinci's words.

Her son Heski always stressed the value–his value–of equality, and justice. And she was no different.

"Nai Idinci," Kario tugged at her apple-colored dress. "I'm planning to get that mini-harp over there." He pointed at a stand that sold small, wooden instruments. One of them was a miniature harp in a wooden case, light and minimally designed. "Heski and I will be right back."

"Yes, I'll follow you." Nai Idinci lightly squeezed his shoulder as she glanced behind her own. Then she turned back to her boys with a smile. "Let's go."

#

As soon as Kario, Heski, and Nai Idinci returned from the Market, Kario was eager to start playing his mini-harp for the first time. (And his stomach was happily full, too. Those strawberry jam-filled muffins were a fantastic choice for a snack.) He had never concerned himself with musical interests, but he found that music can heal others. Help them.

And that was the purpose and value he ignited. He'd seen talented artists and musicians and creators make art that brought such beauty and light and hope to the souls around them. (Nai Idinci even had a sculpture creation that inspired justice and hope.) Surely he could soothe someone with his playing. Surely, his harp songs will help someone and he'd be good at it.

Well, that's how it was supposed to go.

First, he bought some sheet music in the Market to find melodies to play. But he had no clue what the encrypted story was saying. He had no clue what a staff was, what the lines and spaces represented, what note went into the "sad face" (it's F3), and why was it even a sad face anyways? Some sheet music came with words from the lyrics of the song or a term that usually ended in "o", and some sheet music just came with weird note heads and stems–some with no stem and some with no head and some with neither.

And which note was what, anyways? He knew that the notes and keys were named after letters of the alphabet, but which one (and which order) was it on his mini-harp? He held the mini-harp in his hands as he plucked and heard each string in a great tangle of confusion.

It was a song of great struggle that rattled in his bones. But he knew that he wanted to continue helping people throughout his transient life. In many ways. That included music.

He'd keep going no matter what.