It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Five: The Relaxation

"Satan, why can't I get this right?!" I exclaimed in frustration, throwing the pick to the floor. Sodo just rolled his eyes and said, "I think we're done for the day."

"What? No I need more practice," I tried. He scoffed, "I can't handle you not being able to play the songs right. You only have 3 days until the ritual and the lessons haven't helped you. Its like you got worse."

"Teach me better and I'll learn better," I shot back. I shook his head, "No, we're done for today. You can practice all you want, but I'm going to dinner."

For the past few days, the practice room had basically been my room. The only times I left were to eat and go to the bathroom. I managed to find places on the walls to lean against and sleep without anyone noticing. As soon as I woke up, I'd practice. And I'd practice all day until I got tired. The constant practicing was taking a toll on me, but I didn't want to make the band look bad.

Sodo turned in his heel, not getting a response from me as he left the practice room. I sighed, looking at the time. It was dinner time, but I was too stressed to eat. The ritual was only a few days away and I still wasn't ready. I sighed, trying to play the riff for Hunters Moon again, just to end up fumbling.

"Fuck!" I yelled. I took off my guitar, setting it down as I started pacing. I didn't even hear the door open when a voice took me out of my thoughts, "Ember?"

"What?" I spat, turning around to see Aether in the doorway. I immediately felt bad snapping at him, "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. I can't play any of the songs right and I'm running out of time."

"Taking a break might help you," Aether told me. I shook my head, "I don't have time to take a break. I'm going to make all of you look bad if I can't play the songs."

"Come eat dinner and play Uno with us tonight. Take some time away from your guitar. You can keep practicing tomorrow," Aether tried to negotiate. I sighed, remembering tonight was Uno night. I had told Rain I would be there. I hesitantly nodded, "Yeah, okay."

He offered me a small smile, leading me out of the practice room. On our way to the dining room, he said, "You know, everyone's been missing you."

"I haven't left," I tried. Aether shook his head, "You kinda have. You're pulling away from us all cause of the ritual. It's nothing you need to be stressed about. We all have your back. I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I'll meet you in the practice room in the morning and I'll help you out a bit. Just please don't hole up in there all day."

"I'll still have my lessons with Sodo," I told him. Aether shrugged, "Blow them off. Spend some time with Rain or Swiss again. They miss you."

"Maybe. We'll see," I answer as we walked into the dining room. Almost immediately, Rain notices me, jumping out of his seat and rushing over to me as he hugged me, "It's been too long."

I hugged him back, "I'm sure it hasn't been that long. I mean the last time I saw you was..."

I couldn't think of the last time I had spent time with him apart from before the band practice we had and I sighed, "It has been a while, I'm sorry."

He pulled out of the hug saying, "You'll be at Uno tonight, right? It's the last one before the Ritual and we all could blow off some steam right now."

"She has to practice," Sodo called out, shoving food onto his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him, answering, "I'll be there, don't worry."

Rain looked unsure, as it he didn't believe me. I told him, "I promise. You can even walk me there if you want to make sure."

"Yeah, okay," Rain said, his eyes lighting up at the idea. I smiled as we both walked back to the table, me sitting next to Swiss and Mountain. Mountain lightly bumped my arm with his elbow as he said, "It's good to see you back."