The song starts off slow, soft. Her left hand holds high up on the neck of the guitar, her fingers moving swiftly yet calmly between each chord.
Her bare thumb strums against the strings, giving a delicate feel that can't be achieved with a pick.
After a few seconds, the song's intro ends, and Ember opens her mouth to begin singing.
~
Is it right to lie to those you love?
Or is there only truth?
You let them fly out like doves-
Lies trained by the trouble of youth.
~
Ember's voice was amplified through the speakers, its melodious ringing seeping into everyone's ears. Even though she was singing, the first set of lines sounded like someone was genuinely asking those questions.
An unspeakable emotion traveled through her words, traveling right from their ears to their hearts.
"H- Holy shit! She's amazing!"
Everyone at the bar had their mouths hanging open after the first few lines.
~
Up on stage, it's possible to enchant,
To allure,
With your thrilling spectacle,
Countless emotions you can grant.
~
The pacing of both the guitar piece and Ember's singing started to increase, building up tension.
Her voice was emotions themselves. Even if he hadn't been able to understand the words she was saying, Elric knew he would still understand the song.
The questioning and regret in the first lines.
The hope in the second set.
And the emptiness in the third.
~
"I love you."
The crowd goes wild, but it rings hollow.
If you say it enough, does it make it true?
Those lies, will love follow?
~
Despite being played on an acoustic guitar, the beat sounded like it was originally written for something more pop-like.
Still, Ember's acoustic cover didn't take anything away from the heartfelt tune. If anything, it only helped to draw the listeners in closer.
Ember's voice settled as she reached the chorus, and the overflowing river of emotions bombarding the listeners' ears slowed.
~
A change, a scandal.
Take a break, hide away.
It may be dangerous, but this is your handle.
Grasp it, experience truth one day.
~
Elric pulled a small notepad from his back pocket and began scribbling something on it as he listened.
Originally, he thought this might just be an opportunity to strike back and annoy the WStar agency.
After hearing half of a song from Ember, he knew this was something else.
~
It's working, this web you've spun.
Your fans are cluele-
-
"Oi! Singer! I thought you were going to be decent, what's this trash?"
Just as Ember was in the middle of a verse, one of the young men sitting at the bar shouted over her singing.
Ember frowned and continued singing, but then the other drunks sitting around joined the first young man and began shouting insults at her.
Elric and Grassless both moved to stand up at the same time, but the barkeep was the one who made it over to the group first.
"The hell is wrong with you idiots? Shut up and let her sing. She's amazing!"
The young man who'd started it leaned his head forward, then spit a wad of phlegm onto the counter in front of Grassless.
"Old man, she's trash. Try comparing her with Nulstaya! This girl is a disappointment."
The drunk's words were just loud enough for Ember to overhear, and her voice seemed to sink a bit as she continued singing.
~
Lies are a game of trust.
It's a two-sided game,
Others can do the same-
For neither of your words are robust.
~
Seeing the shitty smiles on the drunkards' faces, Elric knew something must be going on.
Hopping off his stool and walking over to the group, he knocked one of them on the shoulder.
"Shithead, follow me outside. I don't want to make a mess inside the bar."
"Hoh? Little man thinks he's a big man? Bet. Let's see what you've got."
Elric and the group of drunks headed outside, followed quickly behind by Grassless, who had a concerned look on his face.
Up on the stage, Ember glanced up to see everyone walking out.
Tears threatened to well up in the corners of her eyes.
Everyone was leaving. Even her own manager was abandoning her first performance.
Her voice faded away as her thumb numbly strummed at the strings, but the tension it was building for the end of the song felt hollow.
Outside, Elric faced off against the four drunkards.
"You shitheads, the fuck was that for?"
One of them shrugged.
"Is that your girl or something? She's trash. Let alone Nulstaya, your girl can't even match up to our Angeline."
One of the men poked his elbow against their leader's side.
"Our buddy here has an actually successful singer as his girlfriend. It's only our duty to help crush useless people trying to enter the scene. The quality should be kept high."
Elric snorted in anger.
"This shithead has a girlfriend? Let's see if she doesn't leave him after I crush his face."
Elric dashed forward, throwing a fist toward the leading young drunk.
None of the enemies reacted in time and Elric's fist connected, sending the drunkard sprawling to the ground.
All three of the remaining drunks charged in toward Elric immediately after, forcing him to backpedal.
Ducking under the first blow, Elric thrust his fist into the second incoming drunk's gut, causing him to double over.
Elric tried to move to the side, but the third punch still hit his shoulder, knocking him off balance for a moment.
The enemies seemed to have some experience with fighting, as they quickly rushed forward, not giving him a chance to recover.
Two fists connected with Elric's head before he could back away, and he dizzily tried to raise his fists again.
"Now so tough now, eh boy?"
The first drunk Elric had hit was back on his feet and moving toward Grassless, who looked to be trying to join the fight.
The barkeep's punch was easily dodged by the leader, and a single strike to the gut sent him to the ground. In Grassless's pocket, his phone vibrated, a notification of a message received.
Faced with four opponents again, Elric cursed under his breath.
Inside the bar, a depressed expression hung on Ember's face as her clouded eyes scanned through the abandoned bar.
Her voice started to crack as she approached the end of the song, but she continued singing.
~
A knife, a bouquet,
Stained red.
The end of life, is this the day?
~
Outside the bar, Elric held his arms up, trying to block as many of the blows as he could. All four of the drunks were relentless in their assault, in just a few moments, Elric fell to the ground.
One of the drunk's shoes kicked at his side, and a wad of spit fell onto his jacket.
"Peh, you aren't even good at fighting. What a useless dumbass."
As Elric was laying on the ground, he could feel his phone vibrating on repeat. Faced with his current situation, though, he couldn't do anything about it.
A few more kicks struck his side, adding to the pain he was feeling.
~
There's something you need to say.
Something that can't endure any more delay.
To those two,
"I love you."
~
Inside, Ember's voice finally broke, and tears streamed rapidly from her eyes. Her first real performance here, and everyone walked out. She hunched over her guitar, unable to keep the tears from flowing.
-
"Oi! What are y'all doing?"
A large van pulled up, coming to a halt in front of the bar. A man leaned his head out of the passenger seat, shouting at the group that was beating Elric.
Two more vans pulled up beside the first one, and one of the drivers recognized Elric, who was still prone on the ground.
"That's our boy! They're beating our lucky boy Kind! Everyone, get them!"
At least ten men streamed from each of the vans, running over and surrounding the drunkards.
"What the-"
"Beat them up! These asshats must be trying to steal our boy's girlfriend!"