The Music Box

     Elon was an introvert. He vastly preferred his alone time to whatever the heck was happening right before his eyes. He resisted the urge to groan as he watched the other captains gallivant around like fools.

     He hated the captain meetings.

     They never liked him. He was the bad captain. The villain. He stuck out like a sore thumb. He, in turn, wanted nothing to do with them and he wouldn't even be here if not for the old Koi. Honestly, if the old Koi was so fond of these things why not just become the actual captain of team Maraqua? He was already captain in everything but name.

     Elon grumbled to himself. This was a perfect waste of time. Especially now that he was in such a bad mood.

     No matter how hard Elon tried he couldn't get his music box to play anymore. He might have broken it even more in his panicked attempt to fix it. It was upsetting and it was upsetting that Elon was so attached to the thing in the first place.

     It was just some music box Filo had given to him years ago. It was not like it was important.

     Just as that thought crossed his mind Elon felt like he'd punched himself in the gut. It felt wrong to even think like that.

     He loved that darned music box way too much.

     His only consolation was that none of his teammates had noticed his distress, not even Tonie who Elon was convinced had eyes everywhere and knew everything. Elon stopped his train of thought. Tonie's silence was suspicious in and of itself.

     Before Elon could think about it anymore he felt a pat on his shoulder as the team captain for Meridell sat down next to him.

     Ever since the first cup the teams of Maraqua and Meridell had gotten along well. One would think the two were bitter rivals based on the teams’ very first match against one another, but no. They worked together frequently and stuck together.

     Windelle and his predecessor Sir Freidl were the only captains Elon really could get along with. They respected his need for space and they never nagged at him. Sir Freidl had been especially good to him. Elon honestly admired both of them. Not that he would tell that to anyone.

     The Wizard grinned as his eyes met Elon's.

     "Hi there, grump," he said jokingly. The Wizard always called him a grump, but Elon always surprised himself by how much he didn't mind. "Keeping everyone away with a ten-foot pole today?"

     Elon raised an eyebrow. "I always keep those people at a distance?" Surely there was no difference there.

     The Wizard tapped Elon playfully on the nose. "Not like this you don't." he said. "You're giving off this aura today that says 'come near me and I'll end you'." The Wizard chuckled at his bad joke before becoming more serious. "Is something up?"

     Elon swatted The Wizard's hand away and bit his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to say that he was perfectly fine, but couldn't bring himself to say those exact words. He closed his mouth again and looked away. Why did everything have to be so darned difficult these days?

     "Elon?"

     The tone in The Wizard's voice was making Elon feel guilty, even though he had no idea why. He was feeling trapped and he hated how his entire body behaved when he felt like that.

     Tense.

     Nauseous.

     Hard to breathe.

     An overwhelming urge to cry.

     Elon, however, shoved all those feelings aside and instead he did what he always did back when Filo was hitting at his rawest nerves.

     He ran away.

     Ignoring Windelle's call for him to wait, Elon rushed out of the room. Not that he really knew where he was going. It's not like he wanted to go to the Maraquan base. He would no doubt be bombarded with "what happened?" and "are you all right?" and he had no desire to deal with that. "I overreacted" and "No" were both answers that would put him in a way too vulnerable position. That's the last thing Elon wanted.

     He was forced to a halt when The Wizard grabbed hold of his right arm, his scoring arm. That Techo was always faster than Elon expected him to be. He said nothing as the other captain caught his breath.

     "Elon, what happened?"

     When Elon didn't say anything The Wizard grabbed him by the shoulders and forced eye contact. Elon was quick to break it however.

     After a moment that probably felt much longer than it actually was Elon spoke.

     "It's nothing."

     "Yeah, forgive me my friend, but I don't believe that."

     Elon's face flushed as he looked down at his feet. He felt childish, but what else was he supposed to do? Have a breakdown over a music box?

     "It's dumb."

     The Wizard finally relaxed his grip as he led Elon further down the hall they've stopped in. Thank Fyora that no one else was there. He didn't need the rumour mill to start going on top of everything else.

     "Why does that matter?" The Wizard said. His experience as a leader was showing. The differences between the two of them were like night and day. Elon briefly wondered if it was because of Vitri that The Wizard could be so incredibly patient.

     Ignorant to Elon's thoughts The Wizard prodded again.

     "It's clearly upsetting you."

     They came to a stop in front of the Maraquan base and Elon felt his heart race. He really hoped that the rest of his team was somewhere else.

     Elon opened his mouth and words dropped out before he could stop them.

     "As long as you don't tell anybody."

     Elon's entire body froze, but The Wizard laughed. His stubbornness had paid off so it seemed.

     "Do I look like a tittle-tattle? I thought you knew me better than that!"

     With some hesitation Elon slowly opened the door and The Wizard invited himself inside. It was completely empty much to Elon's relief. Wordlessly he led the Wizard through the main room and to his plain bedroom.

     Carefully Elon stepped around the bed he'd been sleeping in each summer for well over a decade and made his way to the bedside table. His music box was just where he'd left it. It almost looked like it had died.

     Pushing that painful thought aside Elon picked up his treasure and showed it to The Wizard. "This is my music box," he said. His voice was hardly even a whisper. "It broke yesterday. After the match."

     The Wizard sat down on the bed and held out his hand. Elon, after some pause, handed over his treasure.

     Elon sat down as well and wrung his hands as The Wizard looked over his music box. The white Techo frowned as he did so. He wasn't comfortable showing it to anybody, but if it was The Wizard it might be okay.

     Hopefully.

     "So it broke yesterday afternoon?" The Wizard asked looking over the maractite wind-up key. Elon swallowed hard and nodded. "It was a gift," Elon said quietly. With some hesitation, he added, "From Filo." Much to Elon's surprise The Wizard didn't seem shocked by the idea at all. He simply gave an interested "Oh?" and kept looking at the music box.

     Eventually The Wizard put Elon's treasure back in its place. "I'm sorry, Elon. I don't know much about music boxes or anything mechanical for that matter." The Wizard's shoulders slumped in defeat.

     Elon was disappointed, but he hadn't been expecting much either. Elon's music box was one of a kind. The Wizard straightened himself up.

     "We better ask around to see if anyone knows any craftsmen or women for that matter!"

     Elon was so deep in thought he almost didn't register it at first, but when he did his head shot up.

     "What do you mean, 'ask around?'" Just showing it to someone he got along with decently was hard enough. He had no desire to wave his music box in front of strangers!

     The Wizard jumped off his bed and clapped his hands together.

     "I mean we asked other yooyuball players if they know anyone one who's good at this sort of thing."

     Oh no.

     Elon felt his throat tighten. He wasn't good with other people. The idea of showing this side of himself to all the people who already had a label for him in their minds...

     Just the thought was terrifying.

     Elon felt The Wizard's hand on his shoulder yet again. "How about I poke my nose about more discreetly?" Elon took a deep, shuddery breath and The Wizard carried on. "We can go together if I find anything, ok?"

     "Would you really do that?" Elon asked and almost immediately. The Wizard cracked a playful smile. "Of course!” he said, “You're my friend after all!"

     Elon was surprised, but at the same time he wasn't.

     Unlike him, The Wizard was a good person.

     Suddenly Elon heard the door to the Maraquan base open and Barit and Oten's voices along with it.

     Elon looked over at The Wizard in panic, but Meridell's captain didn't seem perturbed at all. He gave Elon a thumps up before heading for the window.

     "The Wizard always has a plan my friend." he said. His cockiness was showing yet somehow Elon had a feeling he could trust the Techo.

     He looked over at his music box, silent as a grave.

     It's not like he had much choice in the matter.

To be continued…