A fascinating letter appeared on her desk that morning, delivered by some of the servants at the guild. The letter was from the Celeste Concert Hall in Iria. The letter was directed towards her and was from a woman she knew. Or from the family she knew. Generations of humans passed so quickly that she hardly noticed when a person's lifetime ought to be over. She opened the letter and read it. A grin formed on her face as she threw the letter aside and looked to the unfortunate person that had been assigned as her secretary. 

"Cancel all my appointments. I'll be busy for the rest of the day." Ciara explained as she jumped from her desk towards the door. 

"Mam you have no appointments." The secretary reminded her. 

"Oh. Well thats disappointing. I've never canceled appointments. Well I suppose we'll have to arrange that some other time darling. Maybe you'll be my next appointment?" She whispered in the man's ear before leaving. 

The man's face was a bright shade of red. Ciara loved having a secretary or two, they were so easy to tease. Her black heels clacked against the floor as she made her way down the hall to the living spaces. She stopped at one of the doors and gave it a quick but firm knock. Soon enough her favorite two artists Lan Ying and Mingyi answered the door. Ciara wasted no time in her explanation. 

"Darlings I think I've found the perfect job for you." The fae woman began, "There's a massive concert in Iria that will draw in many people. They have saved three spots for musicians of my choice. And… they've got a bit of a spiritual problem. All they know is some supernatural events are happening to their singers, specifically the women. The women singers have experienced nightmares, scratches on their bodies, and especially strange occurrences during their performances. If we don't solve this issue by the time of the concert, they'll likely have to shut down the hall."

She let out a small sigh as she remembered the rest of the letter. 

"Technically they asked for me to get rid of it. But I only know how to seduce supernatural. Not how to get rid of one." She explained, "But I figured you both will want a shot at it. I'll be coming along just to fill that third spot and to help out. The main supernatural issue will have to be handled by you two. So? What do you say?"

Things had been peaceful for the exorcist and her friend. The guild had become their home, and Lanying's unique musical style was appreciated here. When the guild master called for them, she was ecstatic. First, they were personally chosen to take part in a concert. The fact Ciara recommended them meant a lot to Lanying and Mingyi; and this was an opportunity for them to make a debut. Mingyi was a bit nervous, but he had a few compositions ready if they were going to perform together as a singular performance. The second reason they had been chosen then put things into perspective. Apparently the concert hall they would be visiting was plagued by peculiar problem of the supernatural variety. The female singers were being targeted, and the details implied some sort of malicious interference. 

Putting a hand to her chin, Lanying looked thoughtful. " I see, so that's the problem huh? I'll see what I can do, though I can't guarantee anything. Once we get there, we'll need to ask around to learn as much as we can about the supernatural phenomena. Sometimes people mistake the mundane for magic. But until we have a look, there's no way to be sure." The nightmares had her guess that it might be a vengeful spirit or a demon. Both were capable of disturbing people in their sleep, though ghosts normally weren't able to physically harm people unless under very specific circumstances. 

"Count us in!" Since Ciara was coming along, they had more hands to help in case of an emergency. "Before we go, I'll need some things: several yards of red cord and salt–a lot of it." As strange as it sounded, the exorcist had a reason for her odd request.

"I haven't responded yet so I'll send them a letter back saying we'll try to deal with the issue." Ciara said agreeing with Lanying's caution.

Then her artist mentioned salt and several yards of red cord. She already stated that seducing and having fun times with any apparent supernatural creature was not what they wanted to do. Besides, Lanying wasn't that type of person. In her mind, there was only one other explanation for all that salt and that made her even more confused.

"Are you going to eat the supernatural entity if we find any?" The fae woman asked with confusion.

Then Lanying explained what they might use it for. That made more sense to Ciara since she knew eating a ghost would be difficult and eating a demon was just a bad idea. Demons tasted like rotten meat and no amount of salt would help with that. Ciara waved over one of the musician rookies and asked them to bring some salt from the kitchen and some red cords from the material rooms.

"Since we are bringing these materials, I would suggest we use a portal for travel." Ciara stated.

She then gave them some time to themselves to prepare for the journey. A half hour later, the salt and cords were in a bag in the courtyard. Ciara had changed into a dazzling red gown with black heels and a black choker. Her hair was down and wavy while her makeup was on point. Once Lanying and Mingyi arrived in the courtyard, she held her hand over a stone circle on the ground with a golden orb in the stone. The orb glowed for a moment then suddenly a golden portal opened up, leading them to Iria and the concert hall.

"Recently installed portal." She explained, "Anybody can use it, even if they don't have magic."

With that, Ciara stepped through the protal and arrived in front of the concert hall. The Celeste Concert Hall was a grande building made up of marble and stone. Surrounding the entire building were monuments to bards and musicians of legend along with a few heroes. The stones were cracked and worn. The statues that once shined in its perfection were missing its hands, limbs, and sometimes even its head. Yet the building was clean and upkept as much as possible. New paint covered the walls while fresh carpet covered the floor. Ciara barely got through the doorways when a young pretty woman with brown hair and green eyes approached her.

"You must be Ciara. Oh its a wonder to meet you miss! I'm Candice and I'm so glad you're here. We've been having-" The young woman began before Ciara held up her hand to stop her.

"I know of your supernatural issue. I've brought two of my best musicians and exorcists to investigate the problem." She explained, "I would like you to answer all of their questions and do anything they ask. While you work with them, I'll help organize the rest of the musicians and ensure the performance goes well."

Candice's eyes were practically shining as she began thanking Ciara over and over again. Then the music hall owner turned to Lanying and Mingyi with admiration in her eyes.

"It's an honor to be working with you. Please follow me!" Candice practically exclaimed.

The young woman then lead the two further into the hall.

Naturally most people would have questions as to why she needed two seemingly unrelated items. Lanying saw Ciara's confusion and quickly explained. "No no, it's to make spiritual barriers to restrict movements. I'll need to purify the salt and consecrate the cords before they can be used. Purified salt is harder to come by in large amounts, however I can make it with the right procedures. The cords will have wards hanging off of them in case it's a demon we're dealing with. The salt will be used to restrict access and create safe areas if the cause is an earthbound spirit." As Ciara arranged for the salt and cords to be brought over, Lanying and Mingyi packed up their instruments and additional materials needed for the exorcism. Most of it was paper and ink, to create the warding talismans. When everything was ready, the fairy woman activated a strange device which led them directly to the concert hall. Lanying watched the portal open with great interest, taking note at what Ciara said about how it could be used.   

The concert hall was incredible, just as luxurious and upscale as the guild itself! She could feel the creative atmosphere looking at the almost life-like statues decorating the perimeter. Mingyi noted the hall had seen better days, as the statues were damaged and noticeable wear was present. Utmost care had been spent to ensure the interior was maintained however. As they trailed after Ciara, they were met by a rather flustered woman who the fairy had to stop before she got too carried away. Lanying and Mingyi exchanged glances as they were welcomed by Candice, and Lanying shook her hand. "I'm Lanying and this is my assistant, Mingyi. It's great to be here! This is the first time we've performed in a real high-class establishment." Mingyi gave a polite bow in turn. The fancy tea houses were just country inns compared to this.

While they walked, Lanying took the lead in asking a few questions. Mingyi was observing their surroundings for anything his companion might overlook to bring up later. "So I heard you've been having some unusual phenomena around here. Do you know when they started? It'll help if we can work backwards to see what caused this." The exorcist assumed Candice would mention details on the strange happenings as they talked. 

"Yes of course!" Candice said, regaining her composure, "It started about six months ago on the sixth day at six pm. Or at least that's when we first noticed something was wrong." 

She showed them through the main entrance room. It was a grand room with a painted ceiling to replicate the sun and clouds during a partially sunny day. In the center was a golden chandelier with tiny little crystals attached to the bottom of the light. The floor was covered in decorated tiles while the edge of the room had red pillars holding up a balcony that looked over the entrance room. There was plenty of space for a crowd of people to spend time talking and buying tickets before entering the main theater. 

"We realized Alice, one of our performers, had received several scratches on her back after performing." Candice explained, "Her performance only involved piano but we wondered if she received it beforehand so we did nothing. And then a few of our performers began having nightmares about dying in the concert hall. Then one of our chandeliers almost dropped on a singer while she was performing. It missed her luckily." 

As she was speaking, Candice showed them to the main theater. It was massive with a fancy rug as a floor. The walls were decorated to look like the night sky with a thousand dazzling stars and two beautiful moons. The doors to the theater were grand and the area before the stage was covered in chairs for an audience. The stage itself was made to let everyone hear the music and had more than enough embellishments surrounding the edge. A large box was shoved in the back of the stage with the mentioned broken chandelier. 

"People have also been seeing things in mirrors and on the stage. Some say its an angel of music while others claim it was some sort of monster. So, can you help us?" Candice asked turning to the both of them, "I'd hate to have this theater shut down. We aren't doing as well as we'd like, financially speaking. The theater has been in my family for generations but over time the building has worn down. If people hear we have supernatural problems, well I think that just might shut us down for good." 

A deep sadness showed in Candice's eyes as she spoke about the concert hall. The hall owner knew that everything would come to an end eventually but she wanted to keep the hall going for as long as possible.

"I could remember when I pretended to dance through these rooms and sing on the stage as a little girl." She mentioned in passing, "The hall used to be filled to the brim with music, people laughing and crowding around to hear whatever new song was made by the best of the best. The costumes, the lights, and the music. It really made this place seem so magical." 

She placed her hand on one of the walls, as if she was remembering how they felt when she was little. 

"I knew Ciara wouldn't want to see this place go to waste either, considering she helped my great great great grandmother when the hall was first being built. Practically funded the entire construction project." Candice said, "Sorry, I'm getting off track. Did you need to know anything else?" 

Lanying nodded her head as she listened to the concert hall owner. "I see, I see. Having the number six present three times in a row is considered an extremely inauspicious omen in other lands." While her street urchin background meant she was practically illiterate, when it came to subjects related to exorcism–she was quite knowledgeable. Mingyi and the exorcist followed Candice into the main entrance room, their attention immediately drawn to the chandelier. The young man marveled at the sheer size and the cost that must've been paid in order to commission it, while Lanying was noting the fresco on the ceiling. The fact something so heavy was staying aloft so high up was a miracle in of itself. The following account of the hall's string of strange phenomena began to form an unsettling pattern, almost ending with someone getting killed by one of the sparkling chandeliers.

The theater was lovely, and it was clear there was a celestial theme going on. The architecture of the room and the arrangement of the seats would ensure everyone could have the same experience no matter where they sat. The exorcist and her companion naturally were interested in the large box containing the remains of the chandelier that nearly took the life of a performer. It was an instrument of attempted murder and might have some traces left from the perpetrator, hopefully. As Candice finished her summary of the Celeste Concert Hall's events, Lanying made a face at the mention of apparitions and mirrors. "I might not be an expert on foreign supernatural entities, but I'm pretty sure an 'angel of music' wouldn't try and commit murder." 

An important detail Candice mentioned was that this concert hall had a very long history, so very long that the exorcist had lost count after the second 'great' before 'grandmother'. She began counting on her fingers in an attempt to keep track of how many generations they were talking about. Her eyes lit up as if she had an epiphany, taking a few moments to rein in all the thoughts running around in her head at once. "Six! The key is the number six!" Lanying began to make wild gestures. Mingyi was completely lost. "Six, what about it?" The dark-haired woman grabbed her companion by the shoulders, causing him to stiffen and his ears to go slightly red.

"It's a sign–a clue to what's causing this! Numerology is a very obscure and ancient practice of divination that correlates number with coinciding events. It's present in almost every culture, though typically in the form of superstitions like lucky numbers and unlucky ones. But more importantly–the repeated use of this number means this is no coincidence. Candice is the sixth generation to own this hall, and the timing of these strange events happen to fall on that number too. There's something fishy going on here, and it's no accident."

Letting go of her friend, Lanying went over to Candice with beaming eyes. "Miss Candice, I need you to tell me everything you know about your family and this concert hall. Also I need a map of this entire building marked with the places where people saw or experienced something supernatural." Looking the hall owner straight in the eyes, she said: "This is something that only you can do. I'll do everything I can to save this concert hall, I promise!" Once they had a floor plan of the Celeste Concert Hall and some background information on Candice's ancestors, it was time to investigate those places and the broken chandelier. 

"Well, I can get us the map. Then I can tell you everything I know!" Candice agreed.

She left for a moment then returned with a worn and withered map of the concert hall. The concert had a large reception room, a major theater/performance area with two minor theaters and a practice room, a changing room, a storage room, the main office, and the break room. Every place that showed signs had been circled. The practice room, changing rooms, break room, reception, and the major theater had the most visible reactions. But the storage room and the other minor theater had no interactions. Each 4 rooms circled around the major theater.

"The main office is locked. It's been locked ever since Lilith, the first owner, died." Candice explained, "Her husband locked it after she died, out of grief I suppose. Her daughter never felt like opening it up apparently and it's kind of been a tradition to leave it alone ever since."

Candice then gave them a short description of the family that she knew of. She described her grandmother, mother, great grandmother and that was as far as she could go from personal memory or the stories they told. Every single one of them was a wealthy owner of the hall and always had the hall packed with people. Each one of them could perform with some enchanting song and bring in famous or powerful people from around the world. In fact, it was a tradition for the head of the hall to be a singer as well. It was only Candice who changed up that tradition by refusing to perform. As for any strange occurrences, it only happened recently.

"I don't know as much about Lilith but you might want to ask my great aunt Goldie. She's known the hall for the longest and knows more about its history. You also might want to ask Miss Ciara, since she was the one who helped fund the place when it was first made." Candice suggested, "You'll find her knitting in the break room."

Lanying and Mingyi studied the map carefully, albeit for different reasons. There was an interesting pattern on which rooms had the sightings and their location. "So the only places where nobody saw anything were the main office, storage room, and the minor theater."  The exorcist muttered to herself, rubbing her chin. All of the previous owners of the Celeste Concert Hall had taken an active role in performing, save for Candice. Lanying didn't feel it was a coincidence that the strange happenings didn't start until now. Fortunately they could ask someone about the first owner, Candice's great great great grandmother. Mentioning Ciara also reminded Lanying she needed to ask her a few things too. "Perfect! Looks like we've go a lot of work to do. Oh, before you go–please wear this!" Lanying fished out a lovely decorative knot bracelet and handed it to Candice. "Fasten it to your wrist, and keep it on for the rest of the night."

She then took out more copies of the trinket and pushed the handful at Candice. "It's not much, but think of it as a goodwill present from me to everybody here! Hand this to all of the singers and people who work here, and make sure they wear them. I read somewhere that these bring good luck." Mingyi raised an eyebrow at that. Anyone who knew the exorcist personally would note that Lanying reading anything was a rarity in of itself. "Alright, let's go see Mrs. Goldie! We should pay our respects to the elders and hand them a gift too." She winked at her companion. It took him a few seconds to catch on, but Mingyi played along with her act. "Hm–oh! Yes, you're right. Thank you for showing us the map and telling us more about the history of your family and the hall Miss Candice." With a polite bow, the young man was then pulled away by his friend towards the break room.

There must be some reason why Lanying was intentionally hiding the fact the corded knots were warding charms. When it was just the two of them, he leaned over to whisper. "When did you make all of these?" Lanying continued to walk briskly, a smile on her face. "A little here, a little there. Sometimes I get bored in between studying and practice." When the arrived at the break room, Lanying knocked loudly before opening the door. "Hello~ Is a Mrs. Goldie here? Your grand niece told us you were here today. We brought you a gift!" 

Candice took the bracelet with an uneasy smile then nodded to Lanying. Then she was handed more copies and a look of stress appeared on her face.

"Will everybody need protection? Is it that serious?" She asked with a concerned look as she quickly placed the extras on the nearby table to sort out later.

Once Lanying told her it was to be handed out to all of the singers and workers, she nodded diligently. When they left her, she raced off as quickly as possible to bring everybody to get one of the bracelets.

Meanwhile, in the break room, an old woman with curly white hair and brown eyes looked up from her knitting. The break room was simple, a medium-sized room with some tables and a counter in the right side corner for food or water whenever the performers needed it. On the old woman' lap was a sleeping brown tabby cat who was purring and occasionally pawing at the orange knitted sock the old woman was making.

"Eh? A gift? Well, come on in dear!" The old woman insisted, "And close the door behind you. I don't want a draft in here. Now, what did you two dears need?"

She listened and more importantly received the gift then paused for a moment. Then she gently placed her work down and her cat as well, who complained loudly at the removal.

"Oh hush up Dixie! These young folks want to learn some history and I'm not about to deprive them of knowledge!" Mrs. Goldie insisted as she went through her large bag next to her chair.

She managed to pull out an old family book that was covered in a leather binding with decorated flowers. As she opened the book, a pamphlet that read -Strong elderly men in YOUR area-. Mrs. Goldie quickly picked up the pamphlet and shoved it in her bag.

"Oh that's something me and the girls are going to later. Don't tell Candice, she says I'm too old to ogle men. Bah! What does she know?" Mrs. Goldie declared as she went through the pages of the book, "You know it's funny. I know more about this bloodline more than my own. I was adopted you see. Ah, here it is. The golden days of the concert hall. People from all over the city would come and see our performances. Not the same now. Though I have to admit it was always the concert hall owners who drew in the people. They would stay for everyone else of course but they always came to see the lady of the hall. We never had complaints back then, not like the way we do today."

Mrs Goldie paused for a moment as if remembering something.

"Well, there were the occasional complaints of the hall bringing nightmares or misfortune after people left but those complaints were always from the rich or powerful folk. I think they were just trying to find a way to sue us. Most people never were bothered after visiting. Anyways the oldest creator was Lilith, as you know, and then it went down the line until Candice. Lilith was married to a man named Edward and they were married happily. Until the divorce that is. It's the same old story as most divorces. Edward accused Lilith of having an affair and then the couple split. Like a banana split!"

The thought of a banana split had entered Goldie's mind and completely distracted her from what they were talking about. She sighed and placed the book down on her chair as she stood up.

"Well Dixie. Lets go get a banana split." She said before looking back to the two youngsters, "Thanks for paying a visit and giving the gift. Oh and you two should get married already! Youngsters these days. When I was young we got married at first sight. Or whenever our fathers arranged it."

The old Mrs. Goldie walked off with the brown tabby cat following her as she muttered about marriages and youngsters these days.

Mrs. Goldie and her fur baby were resting comfortably in the break room, fortunately in good health. The young woman wasted no time in presenting the decorative knot bracelet to her, when the lady requested they close the door behind them out of courtesy. "Oh!" As Lanying looked over her shoulder, Mingyi went to close it. The exorcist explained she wanted to hear what she knew about the Celeste Concert Hall and most importantly, about Lilith. Upon revealing a rather saucy pamphlet hidden in the innocent-looking family book, Lanying was completely clueless as to what it was about since she couldn't read. Her companion on the other hand was not so lucky. For once he envied the fact she didn't know what it said. There was an awkward moment as he tried to not think about Mrs. Goldie's justifications about why that sort of reading material was in her possession, and he was eager to move on.

Both of them listened attentively as the elderly lady gave them some interesting bits of information. First of all, she was adopted into the family. But more importantly, the Mister and Missus of the concert hall had a marital falling out. Having told her side of the facts, the old lady then implied that the two should tie the knot themselves, making Minygi's face flush red for a moment. "Oh, you! Have a good one Mrs. Goldie! Thanks for chatting with us!" She waved at the lady as she left the room, and at the cat too. Afterwards she paced the break room with a thoughtful look. "I wonder why he locked the office after her death." Lanying mused aloud. "Seems a bit strange to do so after that divorce." 

"Maybe Mr. Edward still held feelings for his late ex-wife?" Mingyi said. "Maybe… But it's still pretty weird, especially after he accused her of cheating. Normally when people believe they were cheated on, they wouldn't want anything to do with the ex-lover. Sometimes they'd even throw all of their things out in anger." Lanying pointed out. "That office is looking more suspicious by the minute." Now that they had some personal information about the first owners, it was time to meet with Ciara. As the exorcist turned on her heel, her companion quickly followed. "Wait–where are you going? I know it might seem strange, but we can't just barge in and violate the late Mr. Edward's final wishes!" The dark-haired woman turned around with a puzzled expression. "Mingyi, what are you talking about? We're going to see Ciara of course! She might have some stuff for us to do before it's our turn to perform!" Though she didn't enjoy teasing him like this, she understood what he was getting at. Their last and final source of information was none other than their guild master herself.

Once they found the fairy woman, Lanying waved as she rushed over. "Miss Ciara–you won't believe what we just heard!" She wasn't sure if Ciara knew about what happened between the first owners of the concert hall, but it was a good way to start off on what they had found out.