3. Scale
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
It starts with the tonic.
The tonal center. The point at which the whole structure depends. The note forever referenced by the rest. In solfeggio, it is do.
The tonic of her heart had always been to support others. That her life - her very aether - was for everyone else.
This was her do. The center of all she did.
There’s the portal…
Then, the supertonic.
You never end on this note if you want resolution. It is tense. It is aural unease. It crawls through your chest and halts your voice.
She’s too close to it…
Next, the mediant.
This was the point of no return. The point where one knew what the key was.
She’s struggling-- they’ve snared her!
This was a minor key.
There was no going back.
And then the subdominant.
The key could still change. It could modulate. It doesn’t have to continue this way. It doesn’t. It doesn’t!
I have to do something. I have to do something! But it hurts. It hurts!
The dominant.
This was the next strongest note. The next best tone. The tone that held up the tonic. Reinforced it. Supported it. Songs that alternated between the tonic and the dominant were some of the most powerful a bard could sing, full of triumph and glory.
It’s enough to lift a soul out of dire straits…
But it’s also just unstable enough… teetering on the edge of victory or loss...
I just… have to pour all my aether into this last shot… maybe I can break the portal. I have to try. I have to try!
Then the submediant.
In a minor key, this is where the melancholy lay. When it ends here, you feel a sense of suspension.
Of ‘what now?’
Its cadence is deceptive. It lies. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to be left with this note. To be left hanging.
They took her. They took them. They’re gone.
What the hell do we do?
The penultimate subtonic.
It leads home. But it doesn’t feel complete. It’s missing something. It’s tension, pulling at your heart. And you feel it grow stronger the longer it’s held.
"Explain to me why we don't take that tool from him and chase them down."
"...he's an informant, Ayla can back me up and Natsumi too. If they're going to play long con, we should keep playing long con too."
"He can continue to get us information this way."
"Is information more important than going after the people they just took from us?"
"Why are we letting them go? Why aren't we chasing them? Why are we letting our friends go?"
"Impulse isn't a pretty look. Ayla is hurt, we've extended ourselves decently already, we know they aren't going to die, we have heard of the facility they're probably holding up in..."
And finally… the tonic.
The tonal center. The point at which the whole structure depends. The note forever referenced by the rest.
Finally home. Finally centered. Despite the tension in every ascending note.
She had to be strong. She had to support the rest.
Despite every nerve of her body screaming out, seared beyond mental comprehension.
This is her do.
The very purpose for her being.
And she was resolved to see this through, for the friends she lost.
