PART IV — EPISODE III½: Rise of the Harmonic Order
 |
| Rise of the Harmonic Order |
Chapter 3 — Ella & the Silver Harmonica
The junk dunes of Rustville were quiet — too quiet — as Ella Tonewalker crouched beneath the skeletal ribs of a crashed ore hauler.
Wind hissed through the metal shards like the wreck itself was whispering warnings.
Rigs peered over her shoulder, servo-eyes flickering nervously.
“You hear that?” he buzzed.
Ella nodded.
She felt it.
A pressure behind her sternum.
A faint warmth in her palms.
A shimmer under her skin, like her bones were remembering a song she’d never been taught.
The harmonica.
It sat in her lap, silver and soft as moonlight, humming like it wanted to speak.
“I don’t think it’s a normal instrument,” Rigs said.
Ella scoffed.
“No shit.”
The Revealing Note
She lifted it to her lips.
The air buzzed — the entire scrapyard holding its breath.
“Ella…” Rigs warned.
“I know,” she said. “But I think it wants me to.”
She blew.
Just one note.
One clean, trembling tone.
The effect was instant:
Reality bent.
The junk dunes warped into spirals.
The stars flickered into different constellations.
Her ears popped like crossing dimensions.
And then—
A figure of light burst from the harmonica.
The Spirit Within
The apparition hovered three feet above the sand — a man-shaped being woven from glowing strings of sound.
Every inch of him shimmered like living sheet music.
His boots were old swamp-leather.
His coat was stitched from star shadows.
And his face…
His face was calm, familiar, kind — like he had always known her.
Ella gasped.
“Who… who are you?”
The spirit tipped his hat.
“Name’s Mojo DuPree, child.”
Rigs squealed and fell over.
Ella blinked.
“The Mojo? As in the Mojo? As in the legend my mama used to—”
“Stories don’t do me justice,” he said with a grin.
“Now hush and listen, because we ain’t got time to retell old songs.”
Mojo snapped his fingers.
The world went white.
The Origin of the Harmonica
Suddenly Ella was somewhere else — floating above a cosmic ocean of swirling blues and purples.
Mojo stood beside her like it was the most natural thing in the galaxy.
“This here,” he said, motioning to the glowing cosmos, “is the Blues Force — the original vibration.
Everything that lives, breathes, or gets funky comes from it.”
Ella touched the air.
It rippled like water hit by a bass note.
“But the harmonica…” she whispered.
Mojo nodded proudly.
“Naw, child — that ain’t a harmonica.
That’s the First Harmonic Key.
The very tool me and the old Order used to keep the universe in tune.”
Ella’s breath hitched.
“So why did it call me?”
Mojo looked at her — soft, sad, proud.
“Because the Blues Force chose you.”
Chosen by the Groove
Ella blinked hard.
“Me? Why me?”
Mojo shrugged.
“You’re stubborn.
You’re honest.
You feel more than you say.
And, most important…”
He touched her chest.
“…you got a cracked heart.”
Ella flinched.
“How’d you know that?”
“Only cracked hearts can hold the Mojo,” Mojo said.
“Smooth ones just let the music slide off.”
Ella looked away, swallowing.
Mojo’s voice softened.
“And child… the galaxy needs you more than you know.”
The Warning
The light around them darkened.
Mojo’s expression shifted — troubled.
“There’s a storm comin’.
A big one.
The kind that rewrites whole realities.”
Ella swallowed.
“You mean the Echo Storm?”
Mojo nodded.
“And worse — Syncro has twisted things he ain't got no right twistin’.
He’s callin’ the old guardians.
Wakin’ ‘em.
Reprogrammin’ ‘em with Dark Mix.”
Ella felt her stomach sink.
“Blind Yoda Slim…” she whispered.
Mojo looked at her gravely.
“Yeah.
He felt the ripple same time I did.
And the Warden went straight for him.”
Ella grabbed the harmonica tight.
“We have to help him!”
Mojo smiled.
“That’s the spirit — but this ain’t a straight fight.
First, you gotta learn to play the Key.”
He snapped his fingers.
The spectral world folded.
The scrapyard returned.
Mojo faded, but his voice lingered:
“When you’re ready…
blow the Blue Dawn note.
And I’ll come.”
Ella stood trembling, harmonica clutched to her chest.
Rigs crawled upright.
“So… what now?”
Ella looked toward the horizon.
Where the sky still glowed faintly blue from the Warden’s arrival.
Her jaw tightened.
“…we train.”
End of Chapter 3 — Ella & the Silver Harmonica
(Stay stoned for Chapter 4)
Comments
Post a Comment