-Chapter One: Tinted Eyes-

There were some places you just had to perform at before you became a hit. The Fan Tais Casino and Hotel was one of them, and if you were invited to perform there you were pretty much set for life. So when the Gavinners were invited to rock out at their famous week-long Artistry Fair™, not even two months after their debut, they were over the moon. No sooner did their agent clear everything with the head organizer were the boys packing their bags and rushing to the airport, all the while their agent shouting after them to wait, you guys, you don't even have tickets yet.

Her shouts fell on deaf ears. Her charges were pumped and ready for one thing: to rock.

Seventeen year old Klavier Gavin, lead guitarist, vocalist, and all around leader of the Gavinners, was particularly hyped for the occasion. After his debut as a prosecutor a few weeks prior, he was eager to lose himself in the loudness of rock and roll, to sing about love and law and chaos and order, to drown out the voice in the back of his head that grew louder every time he disappointed his older brother.

He had no idea of how loud and wonderful and real and magical his life was about to become. But you know. Looking back on it, given the choice Klavier would have wanted it to be a surprise anyway. The best things in life usually were.

It was the first night of the Artistry Fair-the opening ceremonies, if you would. The Gavinners were due to perform at around 9 o'clock, after some magic group Klavier didn't know the name of. His bandmates did an excellent job of keeping that information hidden from him. The rest of the band was celebrating their good fortune by just being there by emptying the bottle of wine their agent discreetly left behind for them before heading to the slot machines. Yes, she knew it was illegal, technically, but they were rock stars, after all, and it wasn't like they were going to get drunk off it, right?

"Right on," said the Gavinners' keyboard player August Gunner, a boy with a love of vests and dislike of sleeves. He corked open the wine bottle as drummer Plug placed five small cups on the table. "Who's first?"

"Is this a good idea? Drinking before a concert?" Their resident bassist Olldord Delire looked up from strumming his bass and watched August down a cup.

"I'm sorry, does anyone else hear the pussy in the background?" Second guitarist Daryan Crescend sneered while gesturing for August to pass him a cup. "Yo, Gavin! Get over here and help us empty this thing, will ya?"

"No, I think not." Klavier lay down on one of the beds, his head propped on his hands as he flashed August and Daryan looks of disapproval. "You realize this is the most irresponsible thing you could be doing right now? What happens if you overindulge and we have to play? What then?"

"Relax, Mom," August rolled his eyes. "This room has a coffee maker. If we 'overindulge'," he imitated Klavier's accent to surprisingly accurate results. "We can just whip up some coffee and get back to fighting form."

"I'm surprised Nina left this for us," Plug mused, cup in hand. He went to sit down next to Olldord, who scrunched his nose as the other boy put an arm around his shoulders and took a sip of wine. "Eew, this is nasty. How do people get drunk off this?"

"It's not so bad," Olldord said. The boys turned to him with raised eyebrows and he answered "Catholic."

They 'aahhed'. Plug made a face. "The priest must do something to it then, because this sucks."

"It's an acquired taste, jackass." Daryan told him. "The more you drink, the better it gets."

"It sounds as if you've done this before, Daryan." Klavier sat up and stared at his best friend. "Tell me you have not done this before."

Daryan scoffed. "Dude, I'm nineteen."

"…Which is still two years below the legal drinking age."

"Sheesh Klavier, what is your deal?"

"My deal?" Klavier whirled around to face August. "We are a teenaged law-themed rock band and three of us are drinking. What message are we sending out to the little ones out there?"

"'Little ones'?" Plug sniggered. "Dude, our target demographic are kids our age and up, and you can bet most, if not all of them drink."

"They are not enforcers of the law." Klavier insisted. "Ugh, why do I try? The only one of you who has any real common sense is- Olldord!"

Olldord put down his cup and gave Klavier an apologetic look along with a shrug. "I'm bored."

"We are in a casino! There are better things to do here than get drunk."

"Gavin, seriously," Daryan growled. "Either get a cup, or fuck off already. You're giving me a headache!"

"Fine!" Klavier snapped and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind him. He had a few hours to kill before he was due to perform. There was bound to be something better to do than get drunk, right?

There were, but all of them required him to be twenty one and older. Damn.

Sighing, he made his way outside the Casino, to the parking lot out near the entrance. Some fresh air might do him some good, actually. Calm his nerves, so to speak. He opened the entrance doors and was met with a gush of cold air. He took a deep breath, allowed the winds to embrace him in their coolness and drain away the last few remnants of his anger.

"…can do this…you can do this…"

What was that? The teen rock star peered at his left, where to his surprise a boy not ten feet away was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself the entire way. However, what really grabbed Klavier's attention was the downright strange attire he was garbed in.

He looked like he belonged in a carnival. He wore a blue cape and hat akin to a magician's, his cape pinned together at the front by a diamond brooch. His hair was hidden from view, aside from the two small horns which drooped down his forehead, each of them meeting at the corner of each of his eyes, but looked to be a dark brown, same as his eyes, which were narrow with nervousness and concentration.

"…so stupid…" the boy was still muttering under his breath, completely unaware of the second presence now leaning against the wall, watching him with interest. "…gonna suck…why I have to do this…"

Klavier decided it was time to make his entrance. "You alright?"

Klavier winced when the boy let out a loud shout and possibly shattered his ears. The boy was quick to stop all movement, stand up straight and tall (or short, if you want to get technical. He was about a head shorter than Klavier was), and clear his throat loudly. Though Klavier couldn't tell from the shady lighting, his face was a bright red as he attempted to save it.

"Uh, sorry! I was, I was out for some fresh air-who wouldn't be, right? It's so stuffy in there and it's a miracle how anyone can think, really, but…" The boy stammered, until he slouched and pushed his hat down so his eyes were partially hidden. "Ugh, how much did you hear?"

"Not much," Klavier shrugged. "Aside from your rather turbulent self-bashing." He was more than intrigued at this point. Ten seconds into the conversation, and this boy had yet to make any of the usual commotion most people his age did when in the general vicinity of The Klavier Gavin. He just had to ask, "Do you know who I am?"

The boy blinked. "What? No. Should I?"

Klavier's first instinct was to reply yes, you should, but he bit down his tongue. Instead he shook his head and said, "Google Klavier Gavin later, ja?"

The boy's eyebrows knit together. "Okaayyy…"

He shifted between feet. "I'm, ah, I'm Apollo." He awkwardly held his hand out for Klavier to take. Klavier did so, a bit confused as to why he didn't give his last name but overall amused by how awkwardly the boy in front of him held himself.

"Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen. Nice to meet you," Klavier translated when Apollo gaped at him. He couldn't help but laugh at the gobsmacked expression on his face. "Now, how about now you tell me what has you so frazzled?"

Apollo appeared as if the last thing he wanted to do was confide in Klavier. He crossed his arms and held his head up high. "And why should I do that?"

"You shouldn't. For all you know I'm a kidnapper trying to lure you into a sense of security."

The shorter boy stared. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's not. Tell me anyway?" And for this, Klavier slipped off the sunglasses he'd had on and slid them into his pocket, and gazed at Apollo with eyes very few were able to resist complete with a lazy smile. He was the personification of cool.

Apollo's cheeks reddened, as per the norm, but otherwise looked unaffected as he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It's stupid." He said. Klavier raised an eyebrow. "It's just…there's this show later and…it's my first time…with, you know, this…" He gestured at himself.

The blond understood. "This is your first time performing?"

"It's so STUPID!"The outburst came out of nowhere. If Klavier wasn't already propped up against the Casino building, he would have jumped back as Apollo threw his hat to the ground. He seemed about ready to stomp on it like a child, but instead he roughly ran a gloved hand through his hair. "I've only been around for like a month. Why do I even have to dothis anyway?! This is ridiculous! I could be in school right now getting an education, but instead I'm here doing some stupid card tricks! Gah!"

Fuming, Apollo picked up the hat he'd thrown to the ground, jammed it back on his head, and let out another aggravated sigh. "But do they listen? No! It's all about 'upholding the family tradition' with those people! They couldn't give two shits about what I want." His voice finally began to relent, and he blushed red with either anger or embarrassment-perhaps both.

He glanced at Klavier with a semi-apologetic look. "Eh, sorry…I didn't mean to...can we pretend that didn't just happen? Please?"

Klavier stared at Apollo throughout his entire tirade and watched now with a gentle expression. "I can do that."

"Thanks." A few seconds passed before Apollo laughed uneasily. "Wow, look at the time! Show starts soon, I better be off. See you around!"

With that, he hurried back inside, his entire body stiff and his fists clenched at his sides, his cloak flapping behind him. Klavier watched him leave with a cocked head. He stayed in that position for several moments before he put his sunglasses back on, pushed himself off the wall, and followed Apollo inside.

By the time he entered inside, Apollo was long gone.

He hadn't planned to watch the show before his own-bad memories and all-but Klavier found himself in the midst of the hundreds of people clamoring about in the large stage room on the second floor of the casino, wearing a beanie he'd bought from one of the stores to disguise himself. Admittedly, it wasn't a good disguise, but he managed to hide within the dark lighting of the area.

His mind drifted towards the Gavinners. He wondered what they were doing now. Probably still getting tipsy, or maybe they were scouring the casino looking for him-they were due to perform soon, and they couldn't without him there. He supposed he could have called them, but he was still a bit miffed they were, you know, breaking the law, so he forced himself not to care and put all his attention to the stage in front.

It was your typical magician's stage. Numerous spotlights were attached to the ceiling, just waiting to be turned on and shone onto the lucky stars of the night. Klavier wondered vaguely what the stage would look like when it was his turn to perform. He itched to be underneath the warmth of the light, to have his name screamed out by the very same people he was surrounded with, the women stretching their hands out in vain attempts to touch him.

Suddenly, what few lights the stage room had was shut down leaving everyone in the dark, literally. More than a few people screamed; some out of fright but most in anticipation because they knew what lights out meant in this scenario.

And sure enough, the spotlights above the stage zapped on with such intensity several members of the audience flinched away. There was a clicking noise, and a voice boomed from the speakers placed along the walls.

"Hello, everybody! Welcome to the Fan Tais Casino and Hotel, where money and luck go hand in hand! It's that time of the year again, what you've all been waiting for: the Artistry Fair!" The audience cheered. "That's right, folks, and we've got a full house this year! From the up and coming hit band, The Gavinners-"

There was uproar of cheers, especially from the women. Klavier grinned.

"-to magicians Troupe Gramarye, this year's Fair will throw all others into the water!"

Hello, peoples! Salve-SiS here with the first chapter of a new Klapollo!

...

Yeah, you read that right. Salve-SiS. You might be wondering about the Pen Name patron electrus. Well, there's a simple reason for that. I'm only one half of patron electrus. That's right, this is a collaborative story written by me and MasterMindOfFiction! Yay! This is gonna be so weird, sharing a story like this-but in a good way. So this story is a Canon AU with one thing that's changed, which you'll find out soon enough, but for now your only clue is Magician!Apollo. Who isn't too happy about the Magician part, it seems...what's going on there, I wonder...?

I pretty much made up those three Gavinners members on the spot-aside from August, who I actually thought up of awhile back for another story. The thing about the Gavinners is that with three members not accounted for, plus at least one agent, you're bound to have to include some OCs. Hopefully they won't suck crap. Some info on the three guys: August is a Shakespearean nut, and Olldord is Irish and the next most responsible member of the band, aside from Klavier-but he's more mature than Klavier is at this point. Plug I know next to nothing about, but hopefully MasterMind can create a cool personality for him. And we all know Daryan. Ugh, I have no idea how to write him, so I went with jerk for now. He's a jerk and a future murderer, but he's also Klavier's best friend so he has to have some kind of redeeming qualities...right?

So I'll see you guys third chapter (MasterMind's in charge of the second chapter), and in the meantime, review, favorite, follow, whatever you like-but one of those three would be awesome :)