Soon the music turned more and more upbeat and deafening screams resounded, with everyone turning their heads to the stage as they filled their mouths with food.
"FABBBLLLLLEEEEEE!! Kyaaaaa!!"
"We love youuuu!!!"
"Wook hwere Fwabbleee!!"
"HEY! Don't splatter food on me!"
"Oh sworry."
"Be my husband!!!!! I promise to feed you. Kyaaaaa!!!"
"JUNI!!"
"Goddess!!"
"Juni! Juni! Juni!!"
"Fable!"
Understandably, it was quite boisterous.
The finale among the line of fun shows was a duet of Fable and Juni, some of the biggest stars in Eden before the Apocalypse.
It was also interesting how, before performing, they reiterated that they were never a couple, and never will be. "He's like a brother to me!" Juni said and Fable quipped very quickly.
"She's like a scary snake to me!"
Everyone laughed.
Their song was a famous piece back in Terran. It won the songwriter—bless his zombiefied soul—a handful of awards. It was a lively song with a soft ballad at the bridge.
A lot of people sang the songs and even the Aborigines, who could not understand a word, hummed along.
It was quite nice and the atmosphere was amazing. Even Gill was nodding his head a bit.
But then the woman on stage set her eyes on him, staying there, before looking at the rest of the crowd. Gill didn't think too much about it and just watched.
"This next song… I want to dedicate to all those who loved and wished to love…," she said, and on cue, the music became slower. Fable played the flute in a less-center position on the stage, leaving most of the spotlight on the beautiful auburn-haired woman.
The song was a lovely ballad that spoke of a couple's life together, the endless promises, and the happy family to be built. It was a memorable and familiar song to him, so unconsciously Gill's eyes softened a bit as he listened.
It was an old song most were familiar with as well, so a lot of people sang along. When it ended, applause resounded, and they asked for more. "Encore!"
"Yes, Encore!!"
"Juni, pleasseee!"
"Hmm… well, if you say so," she said with a pretty smile, receiving hoots and cheers from the audience. "This one though, I want to dedicate to a specific person."
The woman sang another love song—but a decidedly sadder one. It started with one of happy memories, to bittersweet ones, to finally the day it ended.
/I never meant to cause you pain, but I messed up and I take the blame/
/I know I let you down and I broke your trust, I'll do what it takes to make it right. Just give me one more chance… and I'll make it right./
Gill's eyes narrowed a little at the lyrics, a feeling of dread suddenly occupying his gut.
Sure enough, as soon as Juni stopped singing—and before the applause exploded—her sights fixed on him and yelled into the cone amplifier.
"I love you Gill! Come back to me!!"
There was silence, and then a roar of cheers and hooots.
"Whooooo is that lucky bastard my goddess sang to?!"
"Wowwww!"
"Wait… boss Gill!?"
"OHH, wait! A roommate of mine is a guard and he seems to have overheard somewhere that boss Gill was Juni's ex! I didn't believe him before! Damn!"
"HOLY GOUJI BERRY!"
But all these cheers rang muted in his ears as his eyes automatically looked for another woman—a woman of unique purple hair and eyes.
His heart dropped when he saw Cassandra, who had gone completely pale, not noticing the woman on stage was the same.
…
Shortly after the end of the party, Gill found Cassandra in her room at the inn.
She was bitterly packing up her luggage. She did not halt despite the noise he made opening the door entering. It was either she was too engrossed in her task or she was purposely ignoring him.
It was definitely the latter. Although the rooms had their safety access requirements, Cassandra had fortunately allowed his access during the duration of her stay. It could've only been him or her maids who entered.
He heaved a deep breath and walked next to her. He stood an arm's length away. "It's been over between us for years."
She frowned and packed the cloth in her hand with much more force. "I saw how intensely you watched her sing. She—"
"Let me explain—"
"Go! Go away!" How she ran after him like a classless woman—how heartbroken she was now to see him watch a beautiful woman sing to him!
If he said it was a force of habit, would it make her feel better? It wouldn't!
His heart broke at her reddish eyes and he just wanted to simply dip his head to capture her mouth instead of explaining.
And he did.
Slap!
"Do you think a kiss would make me forget?" She yelled, "Did you think that because I love you, you can just do whatever and I will not mind?!"
To think she learned this from that woman—
But it didn't matter: Because she was right.
She didn't deserve this!
"You're too arrogant!" She spat, pointing at the door with teary eyes. "GET OUT!"
______
The next day, forests East of Altera
"Help! OI—HELLPPPP!" Baron yelled, with a monster's smelly mouth near his face. He squeaked like a pig and it was only now that Gill's attention was taken back.
Gill shook off his distraction and threw a lava ball at the monsters. It roared loudly in pain, soon becoming debilitated enough that the civilian team killed it with relative ease.
"Gill, I know your love life's a bit messy right now, but I don't want to die!"
Baron yelled, unafraid. He was a man who had been doing business for years. Not to mention, next to Althea, he also held a huge pie in the economy of Altera.
Most people may be intimidated by Gill, but he wasn't.
Hey, especially when he found out about the interestingly messy love triangle this guy was currently embroiled in.
'He's no mythical vampire with an acerbic tongue! He's just like us!' he had said to his cousins when they found out about this tea-worthy news.
Gill was obviously guilty, and Baron definitely hit home with his guess. So instead of a snide remark, Gill actually apologized to him. "Ah, sorry."
Baron almost fainted.
Ah, he made the acerbic vampire apologize!
He would treat his people to some barbeque later.
His cousins Bianca and Joe, who were training with him, couldn't help but poke him with their elbows. "Should you annoy him so much?"
Who didn't know how this dude destroyed people with his words?
There was a girl who wanted to date him, and he told her bluntly that she was ugly. That girl cried for days.
Baron, however, was unfazed. "It's fiinneee."
He turned to look at the aforementioned man and almost laughed.
"Look, look!" He whispered to his cousins, pointing at the handsome Gill staring into nothingness. "He's in a daze again."
…
As soon as there was no danger and there was no fights, Gill's mind immediately floated to the events of the previous night—replaying, wondering what he should've done differently.
He admitted that he was very bad at relationships and he truly liked Cassandra and did not want to end things with her at all.
He should've held on her shoulder and stayed, no matter how much she yelled at his face to buzz off.
He should've looked her in the eye and explained. Women tended to overthink things—he should've explained more rather than shut the conversation with a kiss!
If anything, that might've made it worse! But could he be blamed? If it was the other way around—if he was the one kissed—he'd have definitely lost a lot of his anger!
But… he shouldn't have thought that way. He shouldn't have made assumptions about her—not only was she a woman, she was a woman from another world.
He should've understood there was still much to learn about her.
…he should've known what could hurt her, instead of thinking she'd be fine with whatever he gave her.
He should've told her: the first song Juni performed was my parent's favorite song.
His father often sang that song to his mother when he was still alive. It was always played during their anniversaries and birthdays.
He should've admitted to her that looking at Juni reminded him of his happy, innocent, youth… which was something he unconsciously gravitated towards after all this chaos.
But… that was like watching a show from one's childhood—a little nostalgia for his past. That meant nothing else. It was like smiling at a childhood show because it reminded you of the carefree times back then, but it didn't mean he would give up everything he had and achieved to return to those times
Most importantly: He should've told her… that their lives was still so long—still a hundred years more at least—that he wanted to try exploring more of it with her.
But it was too late, because Cassandra already ran away to Ferrol.
...
____
Announcement (Feb 22 2024)
Hi guyss I dunno if you noticed but, for now, I wouldn't be doing the update reduction to 5x/week!
Why, you ask?
Because you angels are too awesome!
Despite my lowered update rates from last year's 14-16 chaps/week to this year's 8-10chaps/week I'm still getting so much support from you! I still get golden tickets and still achieve some win-win/privilege goals (though the ranks have understandably lowered a few).
So... Thank you!
Because of this, for as long as I can, even if I have to crawl-type, I will NOT be reducing the updates any less than now.
Love you, Alterans!