Friday morning I woke up earlier to dig out an instrument. It was really hard to decide, but I finally worked it down to either my sitar or my violin. The sitar is wild and exotic, the violin classic and refined. It was a hard decision, but I ultimately went with the violin. Most of the other guys in the dorm were tuning guitars or warming up horns. There were a few other violins, but I saw some cellos and upright basses, meaning that a quartet might be possible. I quickly warmed up my violin and made my way to class. As soon as I walked into Light Weapons I knew that this week was going to be way too much fun. Kids were sitting in various places aroung the room, playing and listen to music. I sat over by Dani and Lisa, who I already kneew liked classical music.
"Hi B."
"How's it going?"
"Hello Dani, Lisa. I'm feeling good this morning. You guys excited for this week?"
They looked at each other knowingly and I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong when Dani snapped her head back to look at me.
"Yeah, Music Week is usually lots of fun."
I wasn't sure if there was something I was missing, but I went ahead and started playing. Smiles lit up both of the girls faces. I played the Allegro con bria from Violin Sonata No. 1, playing quietly and emotionally. I closed my eyes as I began to drift off into the music, but soon I could hear someone laughing at me. I opened my eyes to a view of the ceiling, and I knew I'd done it again. Everytime I play the violin I close my eyes... and lay on my back. It's not a problem when I'm alone, but when I'm standing up and playing for someone, it's kinda weird. I laughed it off, but I didn't play for the rest of the period. From then on, I just started out laying on the ground. It attracted some questions, but not nearly as much laughing. During lunch, a few of us got together and played one of Beethoven's string quartets.

Saturday was a riot. No literally, a riot. At eight o'clock in the morning, music was blasted all over the school. Not pop music either, the kind of music your mom doesn't want you to listen to. I jumped out of bed, and as I threw on some pants, I could feel a buzz coming already. Then "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring came on, and me and I'm pretty sure every other guy in the dorm ran out without bothering to put a shirt. There were so many of us that we didn't fit through the door, so a few of us went right through the walls. We all went running down the halls. getting way too excited and having way too much fun. We had just made into the Main Hall when the song ended. Then "One" by Metallica began to play. I sank to my knees, losing myself in the familiar rythmn. I knew every second of the song, and soon I was only slightly concious, my mind off in its own little world. I knew that I wa on my knees, and that was about it. You see, when a normal listens to music they like, endorphins are released that make you feel good. A concert atmosphere releases adrenaline as well as other stimulants. When a flesh mage is in similar circumstances, their mind releases a huge array of chemicals that have afffects that vary from person to person. When these chemicals hit me, I suddenly became super-aware of every detail of my surroundings. A few feet a way from me, a girl was laying on the floor, moaning softly, where as the guy next to me was on his feet spinning his head wildly as if he was seeing unimanginable things. And the music, oh the music. It felt like my soul was vibrating in time with the melodies. Many songs played, and during that time I saw images, felt things that I had never experienced. As "Fade to Black" played, I felt a strange sensation begin to spread through my body. It felt like a combonation of fire and electricity at the same time. At first I thought I might be having an orgasm, but then a crushing darkness flooded me. Cold trickled down my limbs, and my legs jeked me to my feet. Suddenly, a energy filled my body, an unspeakable wildness that danced and weaved through every cell in my body. It was like I was the most hyper I'd ever been, but I was so hyper my brain couldn't comprehend it. The energy buit and built and built until I thought it would burst from me. Somewhere, deep in my mind, something gave way. I let out a feral yell, louder than even the music. People snapped out of trances to look at me, and even though I realized there were terrified of me, I couldn't stop. As the song ended, I could fell the energy leaving. When the music stopped and I gained control of my body again, I gently smiled to the people staring at me.

And then I collapsed.