Summoning Woes

One Shot 3 - Ephemeral

Note: This is a stand alone story tied together with the chapter "Entrance". Again, this is meant for pure comedic purposes without any true plot behind it. For the actual story, please proceed to the chapter "Loom".

Seria’s leadership was undeniable. She was able to command the entire band without having to use fear as most other leaders that Klavier knew would. However, she was often quite unreasonable with her orders, going as far as spending the entire day in the room with little or no breaks in between the varying sessions. But such a trait was already predicted since Karl warned him of this before he signed up for the collaboration. She hated being ill-prepared for anything and would do everything in her power to avoid that trap.

On the day of the school festival, all but Klavier was ready for the event. He didn’t have the formal wear that Seria required him to be in, adding to the headache that he already had since he was on low budget in the first place. Then again, Karl saved him once more, allowing him to borrow one of his tuxedo suits along with a plain red tie and a set of gold cuffs to be worn on the wrist.

Darkness enveloped the sky as day gave way to night. The crowd was starting to amass in the auditorium, turning on the pressure on the small group of performers. Not all were comfortable at the idea of being watched. Klavier spent more of his time cleaning up his own physical image, using it as an excuse to his panicking subconscious to calm down. A little bit of preparations for the presentation wouldn’t hurt, after all.

“Psst, Klavier,” he heard someone whisper right behind him. “Over here!”

He turned around, staring right back at a set of giant red eyes with a half-black, half-white sclera.

“Waah!” he bounced away. “Too close! Too close!”

“Oh! I’m sorry!”

“Zellha, can you not startle me like that?”

“Sorry!” she grinned. “I just wanted to tell you, go out there and do well, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“While you and your friends are distracting them, I’ll go and sell my lemonades. I bet it’ll be a hit.”

“Just don’t do anything funny, please. I’m already in enough trouble.”

“No worries,” she winked as she hopped away, turning heads as she moved past the others.

“Okay guys,” Seria rounded them up. “Today’s the night. We’re going to show them who we’re made of!”

“But captain,” one of the members said. “It’s my first time in front of so many people…”

“Deal with it!”

“But…”

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen,” the emcee’s voice boomed over the speakers outside.

“Get in position!” Seria whispered loudly as the group scattered. “You’re first, Klavier. Go pull a leg.”

“Sure.”

“...without a further ado,” the emcee said. “Let us welcome the school band!”

It was like he stepped through a shroud - the light beamed down on him wherever he went the moment he stepped out of the backstage. He could see almost nobody in front of him; all he heard was their small chatter before they entered into a welcoming applause. He bowed briefly at them before he took his position on the grand piano that dominated the stage space.

He pressed down the first note, digging into the memories when he first summoned both Michele and Zellha. It wasn’t as smooth as he wished it to be, but it was perfectly fine with him since they eventually got along. The introductory piece seemed to be doing its work; the atmosphere in the auditorium started to lighten up as the song yawned into completion.