peant

The sun was setting. The lights of the city were slowly turning on, one by one, like little stars on the buildings. The hill was still lit up, the sunrays shimmering gold on the sides of his van-home. The guitar in his hands, covered in stickers and scratches, was quietly humming the notes his fingers told it to play.

Leo looked over the city, one of many he’s been to in the past years. Concerts, festivals, late nights at music clubs. It all seemed to fuse into a colorful blur now. Sometimes the audience, sometimes the star, the songs on stage, the dancing with the fans of others, the chats with his idols and the autographs on his guitar. He sang, he danced, he played instruments. It was easy to say his life was amazing. Yet there was one thing he lacked, one concept he couldn’t grasp.

He had no friends. Close ones, none at all.

All those years ago, a young teen, he hoped that a magical realm could help him be better at friendship, to understand why and how people made friends, and why he had none. A being beyond human comprehension who could solve all his issues, it seems so stupid now. Too perfect to be true. Was it even real?

No, it was definitely real. No matter how much he doubted what happened to him then, he never let himself stop believing. Believing in the magical world, in the maestros, in the people that were there with him, and in the girl… In the girl that-

- Wooooh, this is NOT made with tourists in mind!

Leo quickly turned around, staring at the person who came up behind him with wide open eyes.

She was there. Tall, blonde hair tied into a low ponytail, green eyes and earrings sparkling in the almost set sun. The same earrings she wore then. The clock hands of the tower. Leo slowly blinked to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

- EMMA!?

Emma Cole, Fighter, nodded with a smile. Leo Craig, Streetbeat, got up, putting his guitar on the ground.

- Surprised to see me?

- Yeah like, REALLY surprised! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Where is your car?

- Wow, slow down with the questions, the car’s downhill, and hey, be nice! You know how much time it took to find you?

Leo was speechless, she was smiling so wide, she was truly happy to have found him. Like he didn’t intentionally try to get away as far as he could.

- A while! – Emma pouted. – It took a while!

- And you didn’t once stop to think why?

Emma tilted her head, confused. She was behaving so childishly, it’s like she hasn’t grown a day since they last met. Guess that’s just how rich girls are.

- I deleted all my social media, I stopped responding to “Happy Birthdays”, I left the city I was born in to roam the country in a van. Do you think finding me was the best idea?

- Well I-

- Please leave. I would prefer to be alone now.

He sat back down, turning to the city and picking up the guitar. He wasn’t sure why he said that, but as the silence settled in, it occurred to him why he never made true friends.

They felt like work. Spending time with them, putting in effort to care, to remember their likes and dislikes, finding time to talk. It felt like too much. Like he was meant for something greater than just small talk and hanging out. And other people were meant for something greater than him. Something about Emma coming all the way over here, spending hours, probably days searching, made him feel sick. He could feel her staring at his back, her presence alone making the whole area around feel different, almost otherworldly.

He couldn’t look at her. The guilt of leaving them all behind was weighing down on his heart like a giant rock. A shadow looming over his entire being.

- Well, if you don’t want to see me – There was something odd about Emma’s voice, but he didn’t turn his head. – Can I at least just tell you what I came here for?

- Go for it.

A strong gust of wind slammed his back, bright lights shining from behind, and the drumroll of a familiar melody picked up volume. The air didn’t feel like Earth anymore, not like the human world, not like anything he’d felt in so many years. He turned around, opening his mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat.

A glittering suit of white, adorned with gold and red. The lights of a giant theatre only he could see. The sign, bright and colorful, just like the day he saw it in that alleyway.

She stood there, terrifyingly tall, her body morphed into an inhuman shape. The suit reflecting the theatre’s lights, and her long hair flowing in the wind coming from the open doors. A wide smile lit up on her face as she saw Leo’s expression. For a second, the two looked at eachother, before she turned on her heel and looked into the theatre.

- What I wanted to tell you was…

She looked back at Leo, smiling wider than ever.

- I don’t go by “Emma” anymore…

A dramatic twist and a jump, the music of the theatre reaching its best part, she bowed with her feet already on the wooden floors.

- Please, just call me Balan!

Balan straightened her back, and grabbed the theatre’s doors with her giant hands.

- If we ever meet that is.

She winked, and shut the doors.