Purity || Nine Percent You Zhangjing

Chapter 17

Somehow those hour-long practices and overtime of singing did not prepare me for the real occasion.

Upon stepping onto the stage I could feel my legs grow weak. I stumble to my spot on the stage.

Our setup for our performance had placed Zhangjing on the piano off center on the stage. In the center is a table with a long thin wooden box. In the box is tan sand. The color of Astraea's deserts. To the side, nearly off stage sits a fan. As I stumble to my spot in front of the box I look up to see some snow machines hanging from above. My eyes land back in front of me where I realize a projector set up in front, waiting to magnify my actions.

Zhangjing places himself on the piano stool. His gaze connects to mine as he prepares to hover his fingers over the keys. Nervously, I give him a small nod.

I run my fingers through the sand, scooping it up with my hands. Some grains fall through my fingers as I lift it in the air.

The room fills with the ringing of the piano. I close my eyes trying to control my breath before my cue came. The key changes and a small upbeat starts. I open my mouth to sing.

I almost fail to start moving my hands when I realize how easy the song came out.

Swiftly, the sand in my hands flings onto the small table in front of me. The screen behind me projecting my actions on a much bigger scale. Gently, the music sways. As the music softly builds I grip more of the sand, placing it on top of the scattered ones.

Between the key changes, I catch the gasp of the audience when the sand forms and sticks together. The sand blooming into the shapes of flowers from the ground up. I toss more sand. Shaping the image some more.

My mind divides like it has been for the past month and a half. My voice quietly leaving my lips as part of my mind maintains to focus on building the imaging in front of me. The air around the sand flowing to keep the sand in the blooms.

Without notice, the music erupts like an out of tune key. My voice goes higher only to abruptly disappear and with my voice the flowers sculpted from sand. The exchange of speed and rhythm catching my breath as it has always been doing.

Like my original conception, the music only keeps building. The fan close by the stage moves but not by electricity. The machines above holding water, keeping this show decently normal for the unknown, starts up. Ice falls from above. Descending to the sand in front of me. The snow falls like a blizzard. It covers the sand. I myself could no longer see the grains of sand through the frozen water.

At the highest point of the tempo, everything stops. The rush the of music. The speed of the snow and the howling wind.

With my head down. My eyes trained on the snow. I run my hands across it, fashioning a bud. The circle of life once again breaking through the surface of the storm.

The cheers of the audience are what brings me out of my concentrated state. My eyes shift up towards the crowd. I feel a hand on my shoulder making me jump a little. Zhangjing throws me a small smile before ushering is off the stage.

"You alright?" I barely catch Zhangjing's question of concern.

I robotically nod my head as we round a corner towards the dressing room. With my eyes down and my mind off of where I was going, I no longer was watching the things around me.

I gasp loudly when a hand from behind slams me against the wall. Faster than I could process, Zhangjing now stood in front of me blocking me from the oncoming traffic. I could feel our bodies being pushed up against each other as the people from behind pushes a large drum down the small hallway.