🎼🎶🎤
What is success?
It's not a car, a chain, or a check.
It's standing tall when you're drowning in debt.
It's telling the truth when it costs you respect.
It's showing up when there's NOTHING LEFT!
🎼🎶🎤
The more Theo sang, the louder and more distorted his voice became.
For the audience, it was shocking to see that aspiring Idol who seemed so shy and docile, with such a rough and sincere voice.
Even the show's band was shocked.
They were prepared to sing the generic pop/rock song Theo had originally submitted, but when they heard that the boy had decided to change the song at the last minute, it was a relief for them.
But listening to those vocals accompanied only by a piano, their musical professionalism wouldn't let it stay that way.
The first to lose control was a black man with a big beard, who without saying a word just started playing the drums, with deep, heavy beats.
Hearing that, a thin woman with red hair also felt something burn inside her and began to play the cello in the lowest notes, trying to keep up with Theo's rhythm.
Little by little, even without knowing the song, the band joined in, making Theo's performance even more remarkable.
The audience, who had been sitting there looking at the stage with disinterest, had now stood up and were staring at the boy with wide eyes.
The few Flares that had appeared were no longer so few, more than 40 white points of light were floating from the people and floating in front of Theo.
But despite seeing that in front of him, Theo didn't stop singing.
He was controlling the main instrument of the song, he was the one guiding the band on how to play, if he stopped now, it was very likely that the song would fall apart, so he just kept going, letting the Flare float in front of him.
🎼🎶🎤
I've made mistakes.
I've lied to myself with a smile on my face.
Pretending I'm fine, but I'm out of place.
Wishing I could vanish, leave no trace. I've carried guilt like bricks on my spine.
Blamed the world, said "I'm fine" every time.
I've looked in the mirror and hated my name.
Tried to change faces, played their game. But maybe pain was part of the plan.
Maybe falling was how I'd stand.
Maybe silence made me scream
Louder than words could ever mean.
🎼🎶🎤
When singing this part, Theo slowly lowered his voice and let the instrumental take over, showing how loud silence could be.
"Holy shit, I can feel my heart trying to jump out of my chest!" A boy said excitedly as he stared in amazement at the Flare coming out of his chest and flying towards Theo.
Next to him, a girl stood with her eyes closed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Alani had suffered from depression for years in silence, always trying to show everyone around her that she was fine, even when everything inside her was screaming for help.
Even the friends who came with her to watch this show had no idea what she was feeling.
In her mind, maybe if she came to hear Idols sing, her heart could be comforted and the pain could go away...
But at that moment, with her eyes closed and the music invading every cell of her body, Alani could no longer pretend. Each verse Theo sang was as if someone had written her pain in the form of a song.
Her breathing became shaky, her shoulders trembled as she sobbed silently, causing another white flare to escape from her chest and join the others.
🎼🎶🎤
You ever felt like your skin's too tight?
Like you're trapped in a life that doesn't feel right?
Like your dreams are bricks, too heavy to lift,
And every smile you show is just a gift...
For them. Not for you.
🎼🎶🎤
With each verse, more people stood up, touched by something they couldn't explain.
Some looked down at their chests, surprised to finally see their own Flare for the first time. Others just listened to the song in silence, feeling pain they didn't know was still there. For every verse of pain Theo sang, a buried truth resurfaced from someone's chest.
🎼🎶🎤
But I'm done playing roles just to blend in.
Done hiding storms behind my skin.
This voice is mine, this pain is real.
If you feel it too... THEN YOU KNOW THE DEAL!
🎼🎶🎤
With Theo's cry, more Flares appeared. Seventy, ninety, one hundred... The number was increasing too fast to count.
At the back of the audience, even the judges, who had previously been skeptical of Theo, were now standing.
Of the three judges, two were looking at Theo in shock, not expecting this young boy that no one had faith in to show such an... exciting side.
Meanwhile, the third judge, though surprised, had a frown on his face.
On stage, the light from the flares grew even brighter, to the point that even without Theo doing anything, that mass of light began to condense in front of him.
The light that had been white was quickly changing color... to a light gray, then to a dark gray, until most of it turned black.
Between the black, from time to time, very powerful rays of white light leaked out, only to be filled by black again.
"Theo, grab the Light!" Marcus, the show's host, said quickly, even though he had to interrupt the music for a moment.
He knew that this moment was crucial for the development of a Piece. If Theo didn't catch the light now, he might lose his chance at this Bloom.
Hearing the advice, Theo hesitated for only a second and raised his left hand.
His right hand was still playing the high notes of the song, but the low notes suddenly stopped.
Realizing this, the band tried even harder to fill the gap left in the music.
When Theo's hand touched the light, he felt something solid there in the middle.
Instinctively, he grabbed the object, which was perfectly embraced by his hand, accelerating the absorption of the lights from the audience's flares and causing the object he was holding to take shape.
In just a few seconds, a sword appeared in his hand... as if it had been forged right there, from the pain and hope he exuded.
It was a long, heavy sword, shaped like medieval European swords. The entire blade was made of an opaque black metal, so dark that it seemed to absorb the light around it. Wrapped around the blade, black chains clamped onto the steel as if trying to hold something back.
Fine, shiny cracks appeared from time to time on the surface of the sword, like veins of pure white light trying to escape from within the darkness.
[You can find a visual representation of the sword at Discord.gg/NunuXD]
Looking at the blade in his hands, Theo felt something connecting inside him, as if he had been waiting his whole life for a missing piece, and he had finally found it.
"I think I understand now why Idols call their weapons 'Pieces'..." Theo thought amusedly.
Feeling the power coursing through his body with each new Flare absorbed by the Piece, Theo smiled for the first time since he had stepped onto the stage.
But this was not an empty, confident smile, but a smile of happiness at his achievement, happy to be leaving the darkness he was trapped in, happy to see the light he had been searching for so long.
And his voice strained to show it as he sang.
His throat was already sore from how hard he was trying, but he didn't want to stop, so he kept going.
🎼🎶🎤
I used to run,
From me.
From truth.
From everything I knew I had to do.
But now?
Now I'm done hiding.
-
You wanna know what kept me alive?
It wasn't applause or a suit and tie.
It was the fire when no one believed.
It was the fight inside of me.
-
Now I rise.
Scarred, but whole.
Still afraid,
But in control. You call it damage... I call it proof.
You call it weak... I call it truth.
You call it broken...
But I call it me.
-
Yeah.
I'm not who I used to be.
But I fought for this.
And I'm still fighting... For my Hope.
🎼🎶🎤
Hearing Theo's voice fading with each verse, seeing his eyebrows twitch in pain whenever he sang a verse louder than usual despite the smile on his face, the audience was even more surprised by this performance.
This caused dozens of new Flares to appear even after the song ended, and they were absorbed by Theo's Piece.
When the last Flare was absorbed, Theo finally lowered his sword and looked at it with admiration.
It took a few seconds for the audience to understand the performance they had just seen, then applause broke out, then another, and soon hundreds of people were applauding Theo on their feet!
"Theo Black... what a surprise your 'Hope' gave us today, huh?" Marcus finally walked over to Theo while also looking at his sword with curiosity.
Theo looked up and stared at Marcus for a second before laughing hoarsely and trying to speak. "I think..."
But his attempt to speak didn't work, the words he wanted to express didn't come out, his voice was gone.
Realizing this, Marcus smiled even more and spoke. "Don't force it, Theo, drink some water, I think the audience has heard enough of your music." Then he turned to the camera and continued, taking advantage of the hook. "Let's give Theo's voice a rest and go to a commercial break, see you in a few minutes!"
Theo just looked at the camera with a slightly embarrassed smile until he saw the red light above the equipment go out.
"That's a beautiful piece you've got there, kid, I can see where that look comes from." Marcus commented with a laugh as he placed his palm on Theo's back and gently pushed him backstage. "Now drink some water and try to get your voice back as soon as possible."
Theo nodded and started backstage, only to realize he didn't know how to put his sword away.
Noticing this, Marcus laughed and explained. "For now, you can just imagine that your Piece is disappearing, that it will go inside you until you order a sheath for it, or you can do like me and imagine that it's getting smaller and attach it to one of your chains, but the blade will remain as sharp as it is now, so I wouldn't recommend the second option."
Theo intended to make the sword smaller and attach it to his necklace like Marcus, but hearing that the sword would still be sharp, he preferred to just imagine that it was being stored inside him and the blade disappeared.
"It's better to leave it inside me magically than physically..." He thought, frightened by the possibility of dying pierced by his own Piece.
But thinking about the feeling of holding the sword and sensing the power it had, he was eager to try it out as soon as possible!