Ptar: Ceilus and the revolution

16. Chains

Roven walked through the streets. It was about half past seven and the sun had long ago set. "This winter! When will it end?" He thought in annoyance. "Short, cold days; who wouldn't love that? Oh, yeah, just everyone on Earth!" He was upset and there were only two people in the world who he felt he could talk to, his adoptive father, Dwart and granny Mashy. Since Dwart was occupied with some kind of detective work he refused to tell Roven about, he decided to go the remaining option. Reaching "Frames" he heard the music he could only assume was the result of Lewie and Salvad's excitement. He entered the club, which, unlike usual, was quite busy; the thing was flooding with people; to his left a group of drunk women sang, holding up their mugs in cheers; to his right people queued up to buy beverages. Had the energetic vibe allured customers? "Who cares?" Roven thought. He then noticed Connor was on the stage playing the harmonica with his eyes closed as he tapped his foot. "What is he doing here?" Roven wondered.

"Hey, you're Roven, right?" Fita asked, approaching him. She had a tray with sandwiches on her hands.

"The girl from the library, what is she doing here?" Roven was confused.

"Hello," He greeted.

"I've just become aware of the fact you and Ceilus are regulars here. Mashy needs help in the bar; can you help her? " Fita asked as she rushed to a table. "Here you go," she said when she gave the food to hungry customers.

"I can't work with alcohol; I'm underage. What is happening here?" Roven asked. The scenario was nothing short of preposterous to him.

"Ceilus and Lily brought Connor and me here some hours ago and we really loved it, so, when Mashy told us they weren't doing so well monetarily wise I decided to act in a way that would maximize their income," Fita explained.

"But, how...?" Roven tried to ask before being interrupted by granny Mashy.

"Fita, can you prepare two more sandwiches for table six?!" She yelled from behind the bar.

"Naturally!" Fita yelled. "Can we postpone this conversation?"She asked, rushing back to the room behind the bar where food was prepared.

The song that was being played was over. Roven opened his eyes. "Roven!" He yelled.

"The kid is right, look, Salvad," Lewie said. "How are you doing?" He asked.

"Huh, not great..." Roven answered.

"Hmmm, I know what'll cheer ya up! Come sing with us!" Salvad proposed.

"Roven knows how to sing well?" Connor asked excitedly.

"Yeah, the lad has tha voice of an angel! Come on, we can play yer favarite." Salvad said, trying to sweeten the deal.

"I don't know..." Roven tried to avoid playing in front of so many people.

The crowd loudly pleaded for them to start playing the next song.

"Nonsense!" Salvad yelled, getting off stage, grabbing Roven by the arm and pulling him up to right next to Connor. "Ok, Silence! Silence!" He yelled to the crowd, who slowly got quiet. "Connor, do you know how to play 'Chains'?" He asked.

"Yes," he said with a smile.

"Then, join at ma signal," Salvad told Connor. "Roven, ya know what to do. Lewie, go ahead."

Lewie started playing, setting the rhythm and a base for the music the rest could build upon. It was a simple melody; the right hand did most of the work, while his left hand used no more than three chords. Soon, Salvad started playing too; his guitar's sound complemented that of the piano. It was Roven's turn, though he still didn't like the situation, he had been forced to sing. "Someone once said, let me take your chains away. Yes, someone once told me, from up here you look frail." He sang. Salvad gave Connor the signal, having him play a solo; Connor passionately used all of his lung capacity, filling the club with music. The crowd cheered.