'Look left, no one. Look right, no one. Good.'
A slim figure ran down a hallway, in a very ninja-like manor, to a room very few people knew existed in this castle. He stopped right in front of the door and looked around; making sure no one had followed him. A smirk crept onto his face as he confirmed that he was indeed alone. Slowly, with the faint feeling of excitement, he opened the door and walked in, silently closing it behind him.
I walked into the pitch black room (well, pitch black except for a single lamp in the middle of the room) and wound my way around the chairs that I knew were there. I didn't need light to find my way around this hideout of mine; I was in this room so often and for so long I could find my way without sight or even hearing.
Eventually, after taking my time running my fingertips along the fabric of the chairs in a loving touch, I made it to the other side of the room, opened a small panel, and pressed a button. Overhead lights suddenly came up, showing a large room, half filled with curved rows of chairs, and half filled with a large stage. Not just a platform, but a full out stage with lights and curtains and boom boxes and catwalks and a sound booth. It had a scrim and a psych and a mid-drape and legs and tabs and any other kind of curtain imaginable. It had at least three electric bars filled with different kinds of lights and even a fly system!
Stage left even had a small workshop where one could build set pieces; while stage right contained the locking rail and a simple light control box. A guitar case sat off stage right, just a ways in. The stage looked rather small with the mid-drape down and a single stool and microphone standing alone center stage; small, but not cramped.
"Echo..." a soft whisper broke the silence. I smiled down at my much loved guitar, not as loved as Arpeggio obviously, but loved nonetheless.
Pulling the guitar strap over my blonde head, I turned and smiled toward the house; bowing as if an actual audience resided there, not just empty seats and dust.
The lights went out suddenly and I jumped in fear (well, Zexion would argue otherwise…); a single spotlight hit center stage, directly over the stool and microphone. There was a moment of silence while I stood on stage nervously, perhaps waiting for someone, or technically nobody, to show up...
"Sing!" A voice commanded suddenly over the speaker system. They must be up in the sound booth, but with the spotlight on my face I couldn't see who was up there. Nervously, I sat on the stool and lightly stroked Echo before settling down to play. The first few cords rang out, echoing in the room, making it feel cozy and warm. I took a deep breath before opening my mouth and singing quietly, but loud enough for the microphone to pick up.
"Everyday is a struggle between what I wanna say
And what I should keep to myself
And the words that manage to leave my lips
Don't hurt me, but they hurt everyone else"
The light turned blue and faded slightly, whoever was controlling the spotlight had obviously found the cache of gels kept nearby. Most of the gels and gobo's were kept down in the workshop stage left but I kept a variety up in the spotlight loft.
"And I find myself in need of a pause
I'm not sure why, but I think that it's because
Of this desire to be what others want me to be
Which is nothing close to me
But I'll see better when the smoke clears
When the smoke clears inside my head
And I can listen when the screaming doesn't repeat everything I've said
And all that remains me and who I am at the end of the day
And this happens everyday"
My body betrayed me as tears slowly ran down my cheeks, my voice wavered, but yet sounded stronger. This new song of mine held a lot of emotion for me...well...oh screw Zexion! Emotional feelings! I can feel them...despite what they say about not having a heart, I have always felt things. Pain, anger, jealousy, happiness, love…
I let the tears fall freely, favoring the guitar over my dignity.
"Everyday is a battle between what I wanna know
And what I don't wanna figure out
And everything in between in these thoughts of mine
That you know I can't live with out
And I find myself in need of a pause
I'm not sure why, but I think that it's because
Of this desire to be what others want me to be
Which is nothing close to me
But I'll see better when the smoke clears
When the smoke clears inside my head
And I can listen when the screaming doesn't repeat everything I've said
And all that remains me and who I am at the end of the day
And this happens everyday"
There was a moment of silence after I finished my song and then a burst of quiet clapping resonated throughout the room; the echo making it impossible to tell where it was truly coming from. Whoever was in here with me could still be in the spotlight loft or they could have been right behind the psych for all I knew…
"Xigbar? Roxas? Who's there?...Axel?" I stood up nervously and looked around, trying to see whoever was there; but all I could see was the light shining in my face.
The spotlight went off with a quiet click and the woosh of a door closing told me that whoever had been here was now gone. Instead of making me less creeped out, I felt...sad; I wanted to know what they thought of my new song...
Sighing, I packed up Echo and stepped down the three steps off the stage, heading towards the exit. I stopped before turning off the lights to take one last survey of the room. Why was I suddenly being so sentimental? I've been in this room thousands of times, built sets for songs simply for my own enjoyment, painted backstage in the workshop for hours at a time, and even once put on a one-man show for Superior's birthday. It's not like these times in this room would end soon, I would be back after my mission to Hollow Bastion. I shook my head and chuckled at my stupidity; turning off the lights, I left the room.
Author's Note:
Welcome! To the Theatre Terms Glossary! For I feel like not everyone knows all the theatre terms I used in this fic :D. So for all of those totally lost by words like Scrim and Gobo, here ya go (By the way, these definitions are my own odd way of describing things and I'm describing the auditorium at my school so if you go to an auditorium and it's different then….umm…I dunno, tough.) :
Boom Boxes: Basically balconies to the right and left of the stage used to hang lights from or put speakers, or even sometimes used in the plays themselves
Catwalks: The overhead metal walkways; also can be used to hang lights
Sound Booth: Small room in the back of the auditorium with the light board and sound board
Scrim: Slightly see-though curtain; can be light to seem solid or to seem practically invisible
Psych: White curtain hung at the very back of the stage
Mid-drape- Heavy solid black curtain usually hung over Center
Legs- Curtains hung on the sides of the stage that run parallel with the Psych and Mid-drape and such. Used to block the audience's sight to backstage
Tabs- Similar to Legs but hung perpendicular, used for the same purpose though
Electric bars- Bars hung on the fly system, used to hang lights
Fly System- System of ropes and pulleys and such, used to pull in and out Electrics, Curtains, and sometimes set pieces
Locking Rail- Where the ropes for the fly system are controlled
Light Control Box- Thingy where you press buttons and lights go on and off…
House- Where the audience sits
Gels- Coloured pieces of plastic that are put in the lights to change the colour of a light
Gobos- Shaped pieces of metal to change the shape of the light
Spotlight Loft- Loft above the Sound Booth where the Spotlights are…