I walk without reason, I do things without reason. It's always the same reason. A good ending always comes at the expense of another.
Alb was running, he didn't know why but he was in a dark corridor. "Hey! Anybody!" He called out. He heard footsteps and immediately tried running even more. A pair of eyes were behind him. "Don't try to remember, just forget."
Alb stood up in his head, as fast as the speed of light. "Who was that?" He thought. Before pondering more, he remembered how messy the cottage. "I should probably just clean this cottage." He thought. It was a dream, after all. Nothing to be concerned about.
"Ok! It's all done." He said, out loud. The whole place now looked shiny, and picture-perfect. The flowers outside will need tending though, so before he went out. "Huh." Alb noticed something weird about the painting. Walking towards the painting, he took it off and found a hidden closet.
"Why is this here?" He questioned.
Opening it up, he found a book and a mirror. The book had a victorian-styled cover, with purple and white as its main color. There was a red ribbon, serving as the bookmark. Alb opened it, it was a photo-book.
There were pictures of a human and Darkner. The human was female, with white hair and a plain white dress. The darkner had a more elegant, yet casual style. He couldn't see his clothes, but his white cape and black bowler were the only distinguishing features. This was the only picture. "Odd, they looked close." He remarked, in thought.
He put the book down and picked up the mirror. It was definitely from a Darkner, the black designs and use of red gemstones made it obvious. He looked at the mirror. His face reflected back at him. He had brown-white skin, brown eyes, and black hair. His ears were medium-sized, his eyes pointy, kind of like an Egyptian Pharoh, plus his nose was small. There wasn't anything out-of-the-ordinary with his face, besides his eyes. He heard a knock, quickly hiding all the hidden items, he put the painting back and opened the door.
The old Darkner was there and smiled. "Did you have a good sleep?" He asked.
"Oh, yes. I did, come in." He offered.
"I would love too, but I have to go back to the castle."
"Oh, ok!" Alb replied.
"My name is Eldolf, by the way."
"Alb! That's my name!" The old Darkner left. "I should probably try to find work." He thought.
He decided to just wear the same clothes since he didn't have anything else. Putting on his boots, he left for the village.
Reaching the village, he felt the stares. Judgy, intrusive stares. "Isn't that the boy with a girl's voice?" "Ya, it is" "Didn't he sit with the Darkners" "Must be friendly with them."
Already gossip was being spread, he saw a sign for a piano competition. "Ohhhh, your talent. Oh, and your welcome for the song."
Alb did a double-take. "How did you-"
"All I did was switch voices for that time." The voice replied
Alb now realized he didn't know he was talking too. "Who are you?"
The voice was silent for a while, then said, "Not telling."
"Ok." Deciding to question the voice in his head later, he read the sign.
Piano Competition
Play a waltz that has three variations of the same melody. You can perform a duet if you like. Winner will receive an invite as a "Guest" at the Celestial Dimension Conference. They will receive, travel accommodations, a seat in all events, and a hotel room in the conference hotel; The Dremian Remembra Hotel. Please head to the south of town, near the Tribe of Darkness's castle, if you wish to register.
Hosted by: Count Darkin Bluebell, Queen Melinda Puren, Prince Dreambert, and finally, former Count Eldolf Bluebell.
"Oh?" He muttered, reading it once more.
"What is it?" The voice thought.
Alb cringed, he didn't know why, but he had a feeling he shouldn't tell the voice about who's hosting it. "Nothing, it's a piano competition."
"Oh? Go to it, I think you'll like it." The voice suggested
Alb didn't say anything, but he couldn't deny that he was a tiny bit curious about the piano competition. "Ok, let's go." Alb thought.
"Cool, oh and you can call me, Mel, you know, just so that you don't have to be confused."
"Ok, Mel. What would I even play?"
"How did you-"
"You sound competitive, I assumed that you were going to ask me to participate." Mel stayed silent for a while, and said, "Let's go already.
The south of town was, in summary, the most beautiful area in the village. Different types of flowers; Roses, Tulips, Poppy's, in different colors; Blue, red, yellow. There was a clear stream of river-water, so pure you could discern every single feature of your face if you looked at it. Green mountains were seen from afar. But there was a black castle in the distance, even so, it had its own charm.
It reminded Alb, of being scary on the outside, but having a whole new side in the inside.
"Wow. So pretty." Mel said.
Alb was about to continue walking further when he sees the stage. It was very big, big enough for a whole orchestra to fit in. Surrounding it was a stadium, it had a white floor and two symbols. One was a picture of a black heart, while the other was a rainbow heart. They were interlined, as to symbolize, teamwork.
He saw the audition chamber and went in. "Is that what you're wearing?" Mel said, stopping Alb. He looked down and took a step back.
"Here's a change of clothes," Mel said, sounding mischevious and excited
Alb was then covered in white light and looked down. He was wearing some sort of collar, with a black vest. He had black pants on, with matching black shoes. He had lace going out of him, it was as white as an angel's wings. The outfit made him look like he was from royalty.
"Well?" She said, excited.
Alb chuckled, albeit nervously. "Maybe a bit less royal?"
"True, here." White light shined again, the vest was still there, but the collar was more casual. Lace was gone too.
"Better! Let's go see."
Prince Dreambert
"Why did we ever think this was a good idea." Prince Dreambert put his arm in his face, after the break. All the performances were average and had mistakes almost everywhere. Whether it would be the wrong notes, an awful melody, or a lack of balance. The mistakes were always there.
"Should we stop? I don't think we're finding a good pianist, here." The queen said. She had a purple dress on, with purple high-heels. The dress had fancy designs on it, and at the top, had a diamond. Her hair was a neat chocolate brown, which flowed down her back like a waterfall. She had green eyes and a very pretty face.
The two Darkners listening sighed, "We can't unless we want to seem rude." The old darkner was Eldolf, while the other one was younger, though there was an obvious resemblance to Eldolf. The young Darkner had black hair and dark grey skin. He floated with his Tribe of Darkness attire, which was basically a vest with lace in it. Although, the cape looked more sinister with sharp edges at the bottom. He had yellow eyes and had a wicked mouth.
The prince sighed, standing up. His orange cape following forth. He had a pillow for a hat, black eyes wore a soft suit that had no sleeves.
All of a sudden, the door opened. "Your Majesties, there's one last performance to listen too." The royals nodded, thanked the guard, and all looked at each other.
"Let's just get this over with." Queen Melinda, said. They sat down preparing to listen to another bad performance. But, that wasn't what they heard.
ALB
"Ok, warm up and perform your waltz, when you're ready." The guard said, almost slurring as if he were drunk.
"Is he?" Mel said.
"No, he's just tired from the number of performances, and judging from his eyes, not-so-good performances," Alb remarked.
Mel didn't say anything, but Alb was pretty sure that she nodded. They entered, and saw a black piano, with white notes. The room was plain, but there was a window that he saw, but couldn't see in.
"Must be watching us," Mel said. Alb ignored her comment and went to adjust the bench.
After that was done, he sat down. "I know what I'm playing as the waltz, but it's typically done in a duet."
"Oh, ok. Here." A note in the brass area was struck. "Ok? I won't question it, but this is the waltz."
After telling the waltz's name and composer, Mel got excited. "I can do low brass, do the treble area then." Alb gave a nod, and after checking everything was in tune, started to play.
Prince Dreambert
Seems this performer knows to check before you play. And, after sitting there for a while, started to play. The beginning of a piece is always the most important, it's like a hook to the audience. "What's he playing?" The queen inquired. "It's a warmup piece, he also is doing a duet with a spirit?" The young count said. Eldolf was just in awe, this was the same human who performed on-stage, and now he was participating in this competition.
Warmup was finally finished, and now the waltz was about to start. "That warmup was perfect, but let us listen to the waltz." The prince said. Eldolf had a feeling, he would be impressed again. "Hm? Father, you seem excited." "Ho, just wait for it, my boy. This performance will be good."
ALB
"Ready Alb? I'm not going slow." "You think I was going to go slow?" It was, as if they, joined together. "Let's make this perfect."
The waltz that they were performing is called the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. It was composed by, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The one that's been playing is the Rachmaninov's arrangement.