Song of the Piper

::36:: Machinations in the Heavens (Part 1)

Music is Hearts of Stone, composed by Marcin Przybylowicz. Play it!

Media: Heidelberg's castle.

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So began the tedious task of wading through Lord Himmel's memories and altering each and every single one of them. Actually, it was more of blurring the memories, instead of giving a clear, sharp image in place of the real one. Each time, each memory alteration took something out of Elise, and by the time we were approaching the moment where Lord Himmel first took up residence in Heidelberg, she was so gaunt and pale that she only looked slightly better than the husks that had their magic drained out of them.

We were following Lord Himmel through the streets of Heidelberg. Elise strained her eyes into the distance, and she was leaning on Heidi and me as much as both of us were leaning on her. The good thing was that nothing could stand in our way. Literally. We didn't need to move aside; just keep heading in a straight line, and let everything pass through us.

"Are you all right?" Heidi asked for the umpteenth time, the question directed towards Elise.

And for the umpteenth time, Elise answered, "I'm quite all right. Let's keep moving."

I wanted to make her stop and rest. There was the wound that Heidi had no time to tend to either. I eyed her waist; it seemed fine. I knew that she wouldn't listen to me anyway if I told her to take a break. So I clamped down on my concerns and did what she told us to do: keep moving.

Lord Himmel led us towards one of the main streets in the city, and there was quite a crowd gathered there. We moved right in the midst of the jostling and the shouting and the merry-making, arching our necks to get a better look at what was going on.

Or rather, who.

A carriage was coming down the road, a silver gryphon emblazoned on a red shield painted on its side. Its windows had been rolled down, and the occupants were waving their hands at the people. The common folk seemed pleased enough at the Himmel family's presence, and I gathered that they were rather well-like.

"You traitorous bastards!" shouted a woman, stepping right into the middle of the street. Her dress was in tatters, but it looked like it had seen better days.

Well, perhaps not all liked the Himmels.

The carriage door swung open, and a man in a fine leather jerkin and silken hose leaped down. He had a fatherly, kindly face, the sort that you wouldn't hesitate to tell your deepest, darkest secrets to. He walked towards the woman. "How may I be of assistance, ma'am?" he said, voice calm.

"You sick bastards! Daring to question what wrong had been done to me?" The woman had an untamed quality to the way she spoke. "My Sigurd, of course! My poor, poor Sigurd, taken away by your men only to have himself killed!"

The name seemed to ring a familiar tone in the man's head. His expression darkened. "There was nothing we could do," he said quietly.

"Of course there was! You just didn't bother trying!" Spittle flew from the woman's mouth in her rage. "My only son—and you took him away from me."

She broke down at the last sentence, wailing and screaming and refusing to remove herself from the road. Everyone was watching the scene with interest, Lord Himmel especially. The Pied Piper. He didn't look out of place in his workman's tunic and breeches, but he looked odd to me. I supposed that I just wasn't used to seeing him in peasant's clothing.

The original Lord Himmel took another step towards the woman. "I'm sorry, but there was nothing we could do. However, if I can make it up to you in any way..."