“We’re almost there!”

Cantio makes a decent damsel. He doesn’t put up much of a fight, especially when he goes willingly with someone he trusts. It’s been quite a long journey though, for which he’s had his vision except for today. The very last day however involves being blindfolded and led along by Astrid and Blue Raspberry. Both of them have traveled with nothing short of childish glee, which is easy to pick up on through the magical matching earrings Astrid made. They’re scheming, but it’s hard to tell exactly what they’re scheming about or why on earth they dragged Cantio all the way to the Zeinavian coast.

By sunset of blindfold day, they’ve traversed by foot, by cart, and by flight with Astrid carrying her dad and Blue Birdberry flying alongside her. The air is simultaneously dry and humid, with the taste of sand and salt on it. Water crests below them as they fly, and when they land, it’s obvious that the sound of waves crashes against a beach. A gull screeches above them.

Leading Cantio by the hand, Astrid walks along the beach and around a massive island villa until she reaches a path deeper into the island behind the villa. It’s a bit treacherous, but she is sturdy, and like Cantio supports her, she supports him. In this case, it’s more physically supporting him than emotionally supporting him. Finally, they ascend a sturdy set of stairs and walk for what feels like fifty paces before Astrid stops Cantio.

“Alright, don’t move,” Astrid says. “Wait just a couple minutes. I’ll tell ya when ta take the blindfold off.” Wherever they are, the acoustics sound great. Something shifts on the ground beside his feet, a gentle clatter, as Astrid sets his violin and bow on a stand beside him, procured from Blue Raspberry’s insides, of course.

Astrid grins over at Blue Raspberry and jumps off the stage to rush to a seat near the front of the amphitheater. Specifically, it’s Bellighul’s amphitheater outside the Villa of Lost Souls. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around to ask permission to borrow it, so she asked Kamille, and with only her permission, she made a plan with Blue Raspberry to bring Cantio here. Somehow in that time, the amphitheater was decorated as if hosting a brilliant performance. Whether it’s always this ornate (which is likely the case knowing Bellighul and knowing Jacapo…) or not, it looks ready to host a swath of guests.

Except today, there’s only a handful of guests. Astrid’s dressed in a cute little sundress she and Kamille picked out together while shopping. It’s the nicest clothing item she owns. Of course, she made sure Blue Raspberry and Cantio were also dressed well. In fact, she told Cantio they were going somewhere fancy and made him decide on their outfits.

Astrid focuses the magic to summon forth Melodia, who manifests in front of her and Blue Raspberry and takes in the scene with an amused smile. The specter’s been expecting this. Then she releases Charles and Spicy Pawsage from the special pocket dimension. Spicy Pawsage lets out a short, excited bark, glad to be out in nature and in a place that feels familiar to him. After all, this is where Bellighul gifted him to Astrid. The Blixtbot^TM and pup each take a seat.

After taking a deep breath, Astrid summons forth as many replicants as she can manage. Each replicant then creates more replicants, until she and the replicants are all at their limit. Twenty-six of them in total, jokingly named Astrid-Zstrid. They all file into seats, little excited pitter patters of feet.

Gathering her breath and trying to contain her excitement, Astrid looks at Blue Raspberry to make sure they’re ready, then she shouts to Cantio. “Alright, open yer eyes!"

Blue Raspberry was excited as they sat down in the seat next to the real Astrid, between her and Bstrid. It was a little freaky to see a crowd of almost entirely their friend, but that wasn't what the ooze would be looking at anyways. They were sitting at the front, looking straight at their dad who was about to play for them all.

Their clothing looked great, the fanciest the ooze had ever dressed. The dark blue suit over the stark white dress shirt matched their electric blue hair and eyes very nicely, and it had been specially tailored to be the perfect fit for them. Cantio had helped them pick it out and get it fitted. Blue had had no real experience with clothing before. Just another way the Tiefling had looked after them since they'd started living together with him. The only thing was that they didn't have their hair or eyes at the moment.

Sitting in the crowd, the ooze was in their natural form, a faceless blue blob. They kept their body the right shape to have the suit still fit perfectly, not wanting to waste any of Cantio's help, but the skin tone was gone, replaced with the blue goop. They weren't afraid at all of Cantio seeing their real self just like they wanted him to not be uncomfortable around them, to not have to feel like he had to wear his mask at home when they were around. They were family.

They waited, their hands on their lap in front of them as Astrid told Cantio to open his eyes.

“O-okay!” He agrees; although it comes off as more as a squeak than a statement from the blindfolded man. He’s been blindfolded for how many hours now? The first part of the journey he didn’t mind too much; it was just a pleasant travel towards the Zeinav Desert, trying to decipher exactly why Astrid seemed as gleeful as she was. The earring she made for him buzzed with a kind of innocent, but mischievous childish glee; and likewise, Astrid probably felt his confusion.

Now, she probably just feels his mild terror while he clings to Astrid like a frightened feline; it’s not that he’s afraid of heights, it’s just that he’s blindfolded and also definitely afraid of being dropped at this height, who is he kidding? Not that he thinks Astrid would drop him, but it’s simply the principals of being unable to see while being carried through the air that makes his stomach drop. Gods, where are they? How high up are they? Is Blue even still here? Also is he this light, or is Astrid just really strong!? Since when!?

…Well, actually, since always: distantly, he recalls the first time she held up her weapon without ease; a weapon that Cantio has issues picking up just to clean beneath it at home.

The tiefling blinks in the darkness behind the blindfold, his head tilting slightly when he hears the caw of a seagull. Is that Blue Birdberry? He’s not sure. He can’t recall heading towards the coast; but that was definitely a seagull, right? Suddenly, there’s a sturdiness and a jump that tells him Astrid’s landed; it propels his stomach directly into his throat— but oh thank the gods— sweet land.

As Astrid releases him and takes his hand instead, he breathes a nervous chuckle, “This really is a long way to go, isn’t it?” He muses; he can taste the salt in the air. Beneath his boots, he feels the tell-tale shift of sand crunching beneath, “Is Blue still here? They’re being unusually quiet.” Cantio proceeds to nearly fall on his face upon reaching the staircase— but manages not to deck himself while he uses Astrid as a support to carefully climb up the stairs.

Eventually, Astrid stops him; Cantio laughs sheepishly. “Astrid?” He remarks, looking around blindly in vain for the girl; he’s able to pinpoint her voice, carried in a way that sounds somewhat different than usual. “Uh— sure! Okay.” He agrees, holding his hands patiently in front of himself, Cantio simply responds to sound; the gentle clatter causes him to tilt his head slightly, and the muffled pitter-patter causes him to furrow his brows— until Astrid shouts at him to open his eyes.

He laughs, “They’re already open! They’re just covered—“ He removes his blindfold while he speaks, glancing out towards the auditorium— and immediately freezing. Golden eyes widening, the blindfold drifts from Cantio’s frozen fingers like a fallen leaf. A sharp wave of anxiety pulses through the earring that Astrid had made for him as he registers the amount of people here— but it starts to lessen when the tiefling realizes exactly who the crowd consists of— until the anxiety becomes only a buzz amongst the mash of confusion and uncertainty. “W-wait… what’s going on?” He laughs sheepishly, his eyes flicking between multiple points in the audience; there's a small spike of nervousness when he realizes that Melodia is here.

Then, he settles briefly on a blue blob— standing out so sharply in contrast to Astrid’s replicants. “Blue?”

Every single Astrid in the crowd buzzes in their seats. Legs kick; shoulders wiggle; their grins are expectant. Clearly they’ve been plotting something for a little while, and this is the culmination of the secret plans.

The main Astrid, mastermind and conductor of this comedy, stands in her chair and places her hands on her shoulders. Her smile radiates confidence. “Do ya know where we are?”

Cantio, on the other hand, does not. His golden eyes glance around wondering how on earth Astrid managed to rent out an establishment like this. “N-No, I can’t say that I do,” he stammers nervously.

Astrid’s hands motion all around them to the extravagance of the outdoor theater. "This is the amfart-tea-eater at the Villa of Lost Souls!" Melodia stifles a giggle beside her. How many times has she tried to say that accurately and still messed it up?

Cantio chokes on a laugh, "The... the what?" Though he's smiling, he looks around nervously before registering the second part of her explanation. "Ah— wait, Bellighul's Amphitheatre!? What are we doing here!?"

An innocent expression plays about Astrid’s face as she shifts her weight back and forth between her toes and her heels. “Weeeeell, I know how much ya wanna play at a prestigious venue, an’ grandpa Bellighul’s mentioned wantin' ya ta play here before…” Her eyes cut to Cantio as if she is the most brilliant schemer on the face of the planet. “So I figured why not get some practice in!”

She motions around to everyone sitting in the audience, ready to watch Cantio perform. “No masks, no hidin’, no reason ta be nervous. Just our family as yer practice audience. We’re supportin’ each other, ‘cause that’s what families do, right?”

Blue gave Cantio a wave as he spotted them in the crowd. They'd have smiled too if their face wasn't just a smooth blue blod with no features, no mouth. It was a bit nerve wracking. They were happy Cantio had recognized them so quickly, it wasn't surprising since they were the same color that their hair and beard always was and they were wearing the clothing that Cantio had made just for them, but it was nice to feel like he actually saw them.

He could see what they really looked like. No mask, no hiding. Not the humanoid face they'd made for themself as a disguise to help them blend in and allow them to freely walk around without their armor on without fear of people seeing an ooze.

"B- break an egg, dad!" Blue called out with a thumbs up. They'd heard breaking an egg was a saying on a stage for good luck, or something like that. They didn't even realize they'd just called Cantio "dad" in their nervousness.

“Practice?” Cantio repeats, brows furrowing; from the corners of his eyes, he can still see the crowd; and even though he knows it’s just Astrid, Melodia, and Blue— the sight of filled seats and so many eyes still causes a nervous fidget in his hands. He twists the hem of his overcoat, blinking in surprise when Astrid mentions playing without his mask. He purses his lips, the tip of his tail flicking back and forth with a nervous edge, as she tells him that supporting each other is what families do.

Right?

For a moment, it leaves Cantio speechless; he looks to Astrid, brows furrowed slightly, before he hears Blue calling out from the crowd. He blinks, looking at the ooze with wide eyes; and the bard chokes up a little. “Did they just call me dad?” he muses beneath his breath; his fingertips rest delicately against his collarbone in dainty surprise.

Right… right, of course.

They’re family, and they don’t need to hide from one another… right? Is that why Blue has come like they have? A warmth washes over him at the gesture, blooming in his chest— the fact that they trust them enough to… He blinks at Astrids A-Z, Melodia, and Blue in the crowd; his vision grows a little fuzzy. “Wh… huh… you all planned this?” He finds himself choked up; and he reaches to rub beneath one of his eyes.

He blinks a few times, sniffling while he looks at —

— wait, shit, now he can’t remember which of the Astrids is the real one —

— but he bubbles into a sheepish laugh when he realizes he can’t find her through the tears.

This is absurd!

So sweet, but absurd; he’s touched by the mere idea that they’d go through the trouble. That Blue would show up fearlessly as themselves. That Melodia would come. That Astrid would plot this whole thing with the two of them; and use her magic and energy to fill more than half the chairs of the Amphitheatre with… herself.

It’s more than anyone’s ever done for him when it comes to his fault— except for one stranger who handed him a mask and a little advice so long ago—but this… this means more, because it’s family. Maybe not the one he used to wish would understand; the words of support don’t come from his mother, nor his father; they don’t come from his teachers or his peers.

The gestures and words of support come from the people who he’s chosen, and who have chosen him; and no matter what happens here, they’ll still be there. Even if he freezes up on this stage, right now.

That’s family at the end of the day, right?

He sniffs, clearing his throat as he reaches up with a swish of his tail and unbinds the ribbon holding his mask to his face. “You know I haven’t played for a crowd without this since I was like… ten?” He remarks, his voice thick with emotion as he removes his mask and stares down at the tips of his boots to gather himself. He clears his throat again, setting his mask on the floor next to him, and reaching for his violin.

He takes a deep breath as he stands up, looking out to the crowd that consists of… just his family. “Well, I... I didn’t really have time to put together a list for a performance… any requests?”

Watching Cantio process everything laid out before him, Astrid continues to give him a confident grin. She knows he can do this. He plays at home. He doesn’t wear his mask at home. This might be a huge stage and a seemingly large crowd, but at the end of the day, it’s just their family. Weird and mismatched as they all might be, they're perfect for each other. They stick together because they want to, not because they're obligated to. 

“Well, today’s gonna change that, ain’t it!” Astrid says cheerfully, buzzing with excitement as she watches the mask fall away from his face. “Ya got this, da!” The rest of the Astrids all start cheering for Cantio, too. A chorus of support rises from all of them.

“Ya can do it!”

“We believe in ya!”

“Give it yer best!”

To see the lengths this girl and ooze will go to in order to support their family brings a warm smile to Melodia’s face. Her soft eyes gaze across the crowd of Astrids to watch Cantio reveal himself to all of them. What will he play? she wonders. When he asks for any requests, she speaks up, “What about that song we talked about the other evening? Lunala’s Lullaby?”

Blue cheered along too, wanting to support Cantio. It was a little strange hearing the ooze's voice coming from their face without seeing any mouth moving, the words just forming from the vibrating goop. They nodded along and cheered for had so suddenly and unexpectedly been introduced into their life, but had been so kind to them ever since they'd arrived and started living in Astrid's house together. They could understand why Astrid loved him and had kind of tricked him into becoming her dad, but it was all for the best since they'd become happy in the end. Wait, did Astrid kind of trick him into becoming Blue's dad too by inviting the ooze to live with them? Eh, who cares? It was nice to be tricked sometimes. It could lead to nice surprises, just like now.

"Oh, yeah, play that!" Blue agreed, looking over at Melodia. That sounded like a good song. They weren't sure if they'd heard it before. If they had, it would have been muffled through the walls while Cantio had practiced in his bedroom. They would love to hear it now when it would definitely sound better, in the amphitheater with Cantio playing it for them to hear.

It feels weird to stand here without his mask.

Cantio runs the pads of his fingertips over the strings of his violin, tail swishing as he smiles nervously between the Astrids, Blue, and Melodia. It’s an ethereal experience; washes of nerves cascade over him, only to be replaced by warmth and sheepishness, and repeat. Seeing the crowd triggers something in his brain, and yet, knowing that the crowd consists of his family— all of which he’s been transparent to— gives him some breadth of comfort.

He picks out Melodia in the crowd (extremely easily, given that she is an ethereal apparition amongst a sea of 12 year old girls, a hellhound, a blixtbot™, and an ooze) when she speaks up; and he blinks in surprise. Heat rises to his face at the mention of their talk the other night, and he breathes a soft laugh when Blue chimes in— even though he has no idea how the ooze is even speaking…

“Lunala’s Lullaby,” he repeats, looking to Astrid, then Blue.

He nods.

Lunala’s Lullaby is a simple song; simple enough to play on a music box for children… and certainly not the kind of piece one would play in this kind of auditorium… but that’s fine, because his family wants to hear it; and he’s happy to play it for them.

Cantio lifts his viol, resting it against his shoulder with natural ease; he tells himself that this is just practice, pursing his lips when the blurry image of a crowd— even one consisting of his family— in his peripheral sets off static white noise in the back of his mind.

How does Lunala’s Lullaby start?

The fellblood blinks a few times, staring blankly at his strings while he racks his brain— empty, and blanked— for the start of a child’s song. What’s the tune? How does it go? He played it for Melodia just the other night! Granted it was with silverware, but still, he knew it! If there’s any song he has no excuse to forget, it’s Lunala’s Lullaby!

His bow scratches against the strings when his hand starts trembling. His golden gaze wavers, the stage silent despite his poise to play; replicating a very similar memory from a very long time ago, when he was in this exact position, just… smaller…

Except…

His gaze flickers shamefully out at the crowd; it’s not full of blank scowls, or judging eyes. His mother’s not in the front row, her brows furrowed in slight disapproval, and his father’s not glancing around with an embarrassed look in his eyes.

Right, it’s just family.

He takes a breath, letting that fact wash over him, before he pulls down on the bow; the first few notes scratch and scrape in a way that makes even Cantio flinch; but after he gets over the initial hump of breaking through the pause, the sound of a jaunty, but eloquent lullaby starts to echo against the pleasant acoustics of the Amphitheatre, highlighted by small fireflies of light that dissipate from the friction of Cantio’s bow against the strings.

It’s not often that Astrid gets to see Cantio play. Usually, he’s secluded in his room when he plays; sometimes she listens in from down the hall, tinkering with something from a seat taken on the stairs. She quite likes music, having heard it for the first time while sitting outside a rowdy tavern some years ago, but she’s never had the chops to do anything musical. Finding the music in the tinkering and clanging of a workshop is fun on its own.

The first few missed notes scratch, and Cantio falters. For a moment, Astrid looks worried that he'll panic, but only bright smiles and support from her duplicates shine up at their collective father. Then he starts to play again, and a grin spreads across her face. When he really leans into it, the music seems to take off. Now he’s in his element, unburdened even by the small crowd collected in the venue. It’s fun to watch minstrels get caught up in what they’re performing, and watching Cantio is no different. 

There he is. Performing for them – all of them. A small crowd of only people who love and support him.

This is perfect.

When Cantio’s performance draws to a close with the final graceful movement of his arm, Astrid stands in her chair and starts clapping with every ounce of enthusiasm she can muster. The entire crowd of A-Zstrids collectively cheer along with her. Shooting a glance at Blue and nudging her head toward Cantio, Astrid suddenly leaps out of her chair, walking on the very air itself until she reaches the stage and throws herself at Cantio.

“Ya did it!” she cries, smooshing her face against him. “I knew ya could. That was amazin’.” It doesn’t take long for Blue and Melodia to join her on stage while the massive crowd of duplicates keeps cheering. It’s a real standing ovation.

“How do you feel?” Melodia asks with a soft smile, the same one she’s grown accustomed to giving Cantio. This time, there’s a sense of pride and recognition in her eyes.

---

Step of the Wind

Blue Raspberry clapped their gooey hands together. The performance had a rough start, but they didn't even realize it wasn't supposed to start like that. They just appreciated the rest of it, because it was a beautiful song and Cantio had played it wonderfully. They wished they could clap more, but they couldn't make a second pair of arms without messing up the nice outfit Cantio had made for them.

With a glance and a gesture from Astrid, Blue stood up and walked onto the stage with the rest of their family. They wrapped their arms around Cantio and Astrid, squeezing them both together and lifting them up off the ground while Melodia floated close by. They'd have hugged her too, but their arms passed right through her.

"Mhm, that was great!" They nodded in agreement. They'd really enjoyed the performance and were happy to have finally been able to listen to Cantio play.

By the time the song ends, the stage is filled with embers; fireflies spark against the bleeding sky and dissipate with the last flick of Cantio’s wrist. It leaves the minstrel where he is on stage; unmasked and vulnerable; blinking dumbfoundedly at the little crowd of Astrids and Blue and Melodia that cheer for him when it’s done.

It’s not that impressive of a song, but that’s not what this is about, is it?

The crowd blurs as he looks out at them, pressing a gloved palm to the side of his face, when he suddenly feels a weight crash into him. He blinks rapidly, nearly dropping both his violin and bow, when Astrid throws herself into his arms. “I…. I did…” he agrees, his voice almost sounding uncertain. “I never thought…. I would’ve never guessed…” He blinks, attempting to get himself together as he pulls Astrid close for a hug.

He looks to Melodia with a sheepish laugh, “I feel… weird?” He answers, sounding equally as uncertain as prior. He feels light, dream-like, like it's not quite real. “It feels more like a— oof!! Oh, gosh! Blue, you’re gooey.” There’s laughter in Cantio’s voice when Blue joins in on the hug, lifting them high in the air. He hugs onto the ooze in return, with no mind for their significantly more squishy form... he's still touched that Blue would put themselves in this situation just to make him feel more confident about removing his mask. “You’re so sweet; all of you, I…”

He clears his throat to keep himself from bawling. “I never thought I’d actually play on a stage without…” He looks at his mask, discarded on the stage floor sheepishly, before looking back at them. “You guys are… the best, thank you for letting me try this…” He breathes a sheepish laugh, squishing Blue, Astrid— and if he could, he’d pull Melodia into their hug.

“I love you— I really couldn't ask for a better family.”

Astrid giggles as Blue squishes them all into a hug, shrieking the ooze's name as they're lifted into the air. She can hear the pull in Cantio's voice, that he's trying to keep it together, and she's proud of him. He can feel that pouring through the earring, an overwhelming warmth and joy as she nuzzles her face into him.

"We love ya too, da."