Redemption
Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.
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Chapter 1: A Different Angle
Siegfried woke up on the couch like he usually did. There only was one bedroom in the apartment and Hilde needed her privacy. Okay, that wasn't the reason he gave her the room, she won it in a coin toss. The fact is; he's been sleeping on the couch since she moved in.
He walked over to the bathroom remembering the salsa that was still in his hair and needed to wash it out before it started to stink. He also needed to clean up because he not only planned to sell his gear from Nightmare today, but he also had to give guitar lessons today.
Anyways, he walked into the bathroom with a white towel and a change of clothes and shut the door behind him.
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He walked out wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans, still drying off his hair with the towel. He didn't remember the last time he had his hair cut and he was probably due for one any day now since his hair was down to his waist.
He walked over to the kitchen and noticed that he had a message on the answer machine. He pushed play and noticed that it was Hilde.
"Hey Siegfried, I know you must still be asleep, but I'm letting you know that I'll be home later than usual. I've got a date tonight so you're on your own for dinner. Bye"
Of course, that was there way of letting each other know what was going on. It was better than notes, because when they tried notes they couldn't always find them. So, just leaving messages on the phone was better because they always knew where that was.
'Hm, what time is it any ways?' he wondered to himself looking at the clock on the microwave. "9:28 a.m. wow! That's a little early for me.' He thought to himself. That was a little early for him on account that he was usually awake at nine thirty. But, considering the time he went to sleep he got a good seven or eight hours of sleep.
Well, he figured now was the time he should eat some breakfast before he did everything else so he would have enough energy to get through the day. So, he grabbed himself a bowl from one of the cabinets and a box of random cereal from another cabinet.
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It was now around 2:30 p.m. … Siegfried just got back from selling his guitar and amps. He had to admit, he was expecting to get more money for them, but his guitar was a new 2008 model and it was a lefty model. Those can't be very high on demand. But, money wasn't his reason for selling them anyways.
Now he needed to tune his acoustic and get ready for his students. He walked over to the back of the living room where an acoustic guitar was sitting in its case. He laid it down and opened the case to reveal his Natural colored Ovation L777 lefty acoustic electric guitar.
He remembered getting it after joining Nightmare to practice with, and it has been a favorite of his. Sadly he never used it on stage. Ah, he shouldn't be thinking of stuff like that. He had more important stuff to think about.
He started tuning it using the electronics on the guitar, since he wasn't all that great at tuning by ear. Last time he tried it by ear, his standard tuning was drop D, a little off, but he decided to stick with using tuners from then on.
As he finished tuning his guitar he heard a knock at the door and figured that it was one of his students. He opened the door and saw a younger girl with the top of her dark hair covered by a green beanie hat carrying her acoustic guitar in a gig bag and dressed in a green tank top, white jean shorts, and brown sandals.
"Hey Talim, you're a little early." Siegfried said to his fifteen year old student.
"I know." She said to him. "My grandmother had to go to a thing for church so it was either come early or miss my lesson." He knew she was somewhat religious, just not as religious as her grandmother. Heck, he remembered when his grandmother tried to convert him to there religion, that was the scariest day of his life.
"I see… Then we should get you set up then until the time comes." Siegfried said as he stood away from the door and let her into his apartment. "So, how have you been?" He asked her out of his own curiosity.
"I've been okay, same old thing going on. What about you?" She asked him looking back at him. "I heard you left Nightmare from a pretty reliable source."
"Amy?" He asked her knowing her and Raphael's daughter keep in touch since he teaches them both guitar.
"Yeah, she told me." She replied to his question. "She also told me that you're retiring from music."
This seemed to be a big shock for everyone around Siegfried. "Why is everyone so confused about this? Yes, I'm retiring from music. I just sold my electric guitar and amps before you got here, Talim." Siegfried pulled out a chair for Talim to sit in while he sat down on his couch.
"You know …" Talim starting as she sat down on the couch. "Retiring completely might not be the best thing for you. Maybe you should just adjust to something else." She said as she opened her gig bag and picked up her Yamaha F310 acoustic guitar and putting it on her lap. It wasn't the best guitar, but she was just a beginner. "For starters, you've been doing metal for seven years, right?"
"… Right." He still wasn't sure where she was going with this, but she was a pretty girl, so he figured she knew what she was talking about.
"So, maybe metal wasn't your way." Talim said making a pretty good point. "Metal is for some people, like Classical is for me and Grunge is for Amy. You just need to find what works the best with the Siegfried Schtauffen Way."
"How many people did I tell that to?" He was starting to wonder if he made it a public announcement or something like that.
"As far as I know you told me, Amy, and her dad." Talim explained plainly.
"Oh… I see." He knew he didn't tell too many people about the Siegfried Schtauffen Way. He just didn't remember everyone he told. "Well, enough chit-chat, lets get on with our lesson, shall we?"
"Yes lets, you still need to teach me the rest of Beethoven's sixth symphony…" She said reminded him of his last week promise. Obviously she was a very classical kind of girl, even though she was friends with people who liked different stuff.
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The lesson ending with Talim getting the rest of the song she wanted written down on paper, so she could practice it on her own. She wasn't perfect; she needed time to work on songs. After all, she was a beginner.
Now he had another lesson to teach and then he was done. He was now sitting at his kitchen table, looking through the newspaper for any job that he could do, but sadly he didn't meet any of the qualifications. He didn't have a college education, good people skills, or any computer skills, and so far those were all requirements. Everyone was right, all he knew was music. Wow, he was seriously screwed if he was serious about retiring from music.
Just then the door knocked and Siegfried quickly put down the newspaper. He remembered his second lesson and left his guitar out just for that.
He walked over to the door and saw two people. One person was Raphael, except he was in a business suit with a green tie, not in his band apparel, and the one standing next to him was a girl younger than Talim with her red hair tied into two pig tails and wearing a black, long sleeve shirt and tight jeans. He also noticed that she was carrying her electric guitar in a hard shell case and a Marshall MC15CDR combo amp.
"Hey Siegfried, I thought I'd say hi while dropping off Amy this time since we didn't talk after last night's show." Raphael said looking at his friend.
"Yeah, I wasn't in much of a mood to talk after that show." Siegfried explained calmly. "I just wanted to leave."
"I can't blame you." Raphael said agreeing with him. "By the way, Cervantes is hosting auditions to replace you."
"Any possibilities?" Siegfried asked not really caring.
"Not really, no one can play our songs the same way you could so far." Raphael said plainly. "But hey I did switch over to a new bass. I'll tell you about that later. Right now you have a lesson to teach."
"Yes," Siegfried said looking from Raphael to Amy. "You ready?"
"… Yes." Amy said walking into the apartment. She never did talk much. As long as Siegfried knew her, she was always the quiet type. "… Are you really quitting music?"
That had to be one of the longest sentences she ever said to him. "I was serious about it, but know I'm not sure." He said sitting down on his couch and grabbed his acoustic as she sat down on the chair Talim was sitting in before.
"Why?" There she was, back to single word sentences.
"Because music is all I know." Siegfried explained as he saw her plug her amp into an outlet. "I mean I've been doing it for seven years. I haven't been doing anything else since then."
"… Have you tried something other than quitting?" Amy asked him using the term 'quit' instead of 'retire'.
"No, but something Talim said made me want to rethink it." Siegfried said as Amy opened her guitar case and pulled out her black colored lefty Fender Standard Stratocaster. That was one cool thing about her; she was left handed like he was so it didn't make him feel so weird when he was teaching her.
"… What did she say?" Amy said to him full of curiosity.
"She said I should try doing another genre or something." He said putting it in his own terms.
Amy didn't reply at first; because she was too busy connecting her guitar to her amp with a cable. When she was done she looked at him and said only two words. "She's right."
Those weren't much for words, but it made Siegfried realize something. He really can't leave music behind. It was his hobby, his job, and it was what he was teaching to these kids. "Enough talk on the subject. How are you doing on Drain You from Nirvana?" As Talim said earlier, Amy was a fan of Grunge, so Siegfried did give her some songs from bands like Nirvana to work on.
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That lesson also ended pretty well, but Amy didn't talk much after Siegfried changed the subject of him getting shaky about retiring from music. As he sat there just strumming cords on his guitar he was just thinking on what he as going to do.
He just couldn't retire and get a normal job; it's been way too long. Music is only thing he knows. The best way for him to think was with music playing, so he put down his guitar and walked over to his stereo that was sitting next to the T.V.
It was nothing special, just a five disc holder with two speakers, nothing else. Heck, he even got it at a garage sale, it was that plain.
Any ways, all he did was turn it on and it suddenly played a song that was familiar to him. It must've been one of Hilde's CDs because he didn't have a CD with this song.
The song was Come Again from the band Staind. He remembered it from when he was younger. It wasn't his favorite, so he skipped it. Now the next one really hit him. It was Staind again, but it was the song Mudshovel, one of there biggest hits. He remembered that he and Hilde kept the cases to the CD's in the stereo next to it, so he looked for the CD case to know what CD this was.
He found it under the other cases. The CD was Staind's Singles 1996-2006. Was this the type of music Hilde always listened to? He didn't really pay attention before, but know he was paying full attention.
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As he listened to it some more he was amazed by this band. From songs that made him want to head bang to the song until it was over to songs that had a soft acoustic guitar. What genre was this? He had to find out, because this was his key, this genre was what worked for him. This matched the Siegfried Schtauffen Way!!
"Why wasn't I paying attention before?" He wondered as he sat down on the couch next to his guitar.
Now it was the last song on the CD, a live cover on Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. He was still amazed by these guys and this genre of music. He was definitely asking Hilde about this when she got home.
Shockingly to him, she just walked into the door. "I'm home early. My date turned out to be another loser." Hilde explained wearing a dark blue tank top and dark jeans.
"You seem to be a loser magnet, huh?" Siegfried said jokingly.
"Shut up." She said to him as she walked towards him. It didn't take long for her to notice that he was listening to her CD. "Why are you listening to Staind?"
"What's their genre?" He asked her out of nowhere
She didn't really know where he was going with this, but she figured she tell him anyways. "They're Alternative Hardcore Rock, why?"
'That's a mouthful." He thought to himself, but now he knew. "This is what you listen to often, right?" He asked her.
"You weren't paying attention before were you?" Hilde asked him.
He just shook his head meaning 'no'.
"Yes, why are you so hooked up on this all of a sudden?" She was really getting confused by him right now.
"It's something Talim told me." Siegfried said smiling. "It's not music itself, I was just going in the wrong direction." He looked at his roommate and noticed that she still didn't understand what he was saying. "I'm not retiring from music. I'm getting another band together."
She smiled at him, but there was one little problem. "What about your gear?" She asked him, but he didn't seem to have a problem.
"Well, you still have my effects, and I have the money to buy new stuff." Siegfried explained. "I just need to find to the right stuff."
"Well, I play a Schecter bass and they make guitars too." Hilde said to him catching his attention. "The good news is that they make a bunch of their models left handed. I could take you to my favorite store tomorrow if you want."
"I want you to." He said jumping up. "Please!"
"Alright, I will. In exchange for me at least trying out for your band." Hilde said trying to make a deal with him.
"Deal." He said sitting back down and grabbing his guitar.
"Good, now let's go get some dinner, I'm hungry." Hilde said walking into the kitchen.
"I'm coming." He said as he walked over to the case of his Ovation guitar and put his guitar back in it. Right now, he was happier than the day he joined Nightmare, because not only will he might be in a band with his roommate, but he found the genre that works for him.
End of Chapter 1
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Author's Note: This wasn't the main part of the story, keep that in mind. I'm not rushing. The main part of the story is him working with his new band. Yes, Amy is also a lefty. She holds her rapier in her left hand. Siegfried found the genre of his choice, but who else shares his desire other than Hilde? Find out in the next chapter.