Chapter 44: Storm
Lucas's voice rang out, startling everyone in the room. Why did he suddenly say a name at random?
The teacher, who was under Lucas's eye, was also surprised. Pointing to her face, she asked.
"Are you talking about me?"
Lucas was watching the teacher's expression, a little lost for words. While everyone was still confused, he remained silent trying to understand the situation.
Although the "teacher" looked like Nicole, the agent he met at the hotel yesterday, there were some differences, such as hairstyle, eye color, the location of the beauty mark, and overall behavior.
Nicole has blue eyes, while the "teacher" in front of Lucas has emerald eyes. The location of the beauty mark on Nicole's face was under her right eye, while the teacher's was under her left eye.
The biggest difference however is the atmosphere. Nicole has a sharper and sexier atmosphere, while the "teacher" atmosphere is more relaxed and gentle.
'They are different people.'
Lucas concluded after a few seconds.
'Although they are different people, they are definitely related. By the incredible resemblance, twin sisters. Is she also an agent?'
Lucas watched the teacher's movements as she approached.
"You are the new student, Lucas, right? Welcome to class. My name is Linda, and I teach music at this school. I think the principal told you before, but as you are entering at the end of the year, it will be very difficult, almost impossible, for you to participate in the activities that the rest of the students are doing."
"These are activities that are being done by the students for weeks, and as far as final grades are concerned, your sudden arrival is very difficult to fit. Especially my class. We're preparing a concert for the end of classes, and we don't have enough time to fit a new instrument, and you won't have time to practice either. So, according to what the principal has told us before, at the end of the class I will be giving you an individual activity that will decide your final grade in my class. Do we agree?"
Lucas smelled the sweet scent coming from the teacher's body, and his mind calmed. She doesn't appear to be an agent, nor has she reacted to the name "Nicole" previously. Although Lucas already knew that "Nicole" was not her real name, it also proves that the teacher is not involved. After all, if her twin was involved, she would even know the false name.
"Yes. But I'm not a bad musician. Are you sure I can't fit in the concert?"
The teacher nodded and explained.
"Normally, it wouldn't be that hard to fit you into my class, but this year the principal wants to make a bigger event at the end of classes, and asked for a difficult song that none of the students knew, not even me. We spent months training, and we still haven't perfected it, it's a very difficult song, I don't think you'll be able to keep up with the students who are months ahead of you in terms of training."
With a curious expression, Lucas asked.
"What song?"
The teacher replied while shaking her head.
"You won't know it, it's called Plea to the Emperor."
Lucas' eyes lit up at the name of the song. Realization showed on his face as he put the pieces together.
"I even know how to play."
Lucas' words surprised the teacher. Music teacher for so many years, graduated in one of the best music academies in France, she had never heard of this music, how would Lucas know? Even when she searched for this song on the internet, she didn't find any information.
The music was beautiful and perfect, which made it strange that it was not known by any of her colleagues in her profession, not even on the internet.
It even sounded like a completely new song, she has wondered several times if it was the director himself who wrote the song, or if it was someone he knew. As far as she knows, however, the director has no background in music.
"You know? I myself had never heard of this song before."
Lucas smiled at the teacher's words.
"If you had heard of this song before I would find it weird."
Among the students in the room, Marcus looked at Lucas curiously. Beside him, a pretty girl approached and whispered.
"Where did he hear this song? Did someone record any of our rehearsals and put it on the internet?"
Marcus looked at his girlfriend, Amelia, and replied.
"That's what makes the most sense. We've searched the internet before, and we've never found anything."
Where did he hear about this song? All the students had already concluded that it was either a new song created recently or a song by some unknown composer that had never been released before.
Everyone agreed that it was a good song, which created the doubt of why this song never became popular before, giving more credibility to the idea of being a newly created song.
The teacher was very curious about the music, so she pressured Lucas for answers.
"Why would it be weird if I had heard about this song before??"
Lucas, however, did not respond and simply changed the subject.
"Since I know the music, and even know how to play, can I fit into the concert?"
Returning to her class material, the teacher nodded easily and said.
"Yes, which instrument do you know how to play? It's going to be hard to add you, but if you don't need a lot of training, I think there's time until the big day."
Lucas looked around at the instruments and answered.
"I can play practically all instruments."
Lucas' eyes then landed on the piano and he said with a smile.
"Are you in charge of the piano? In Plea to the Emperor, the piano solo is the hardest part."
Lucas' words eased the teacher's doubts. Lucas' knowledge of the difficulty of the piano solo shows that he really knows the music.
"I had to pick up the piano since none of the sophomores are especially skilled at the piano."
Nodding quickly, Lucas looked at a young man who was holding a violin and said after looking at the piano again.
"I can play the piano."
The teacher raised an eyebrow in silence, considering a bit, and then said.
"Why don't you show us first?"
Plea to the Emperor is a song that has two solos, the violin and the piano. Between the two, the piano is the most difficult and complex part. She needed to see if Lucas really knew the song and if he could play the piano well enough or not.
"Of course, no problem."
Lucas then headed for the piano under the gaze of his classmates. The student who held the violin next to the piano was especially sharp.
'I see some hostility from him... Why? I've never seen him before.'
Sitting in front of the piano, Lucas looked again at the boy holding the violin. He looked quite annoyed.
Leaving the boy aside, Lucas watched the piano for a moment, straightened himself on the stool, and finally hit the keys. With a wave of his hands, he made unharmonious sounds come out of the keys.
Looking then at the teacher, he asked.
"Can I start?"
Lucas seemed pretty familiar with the piano from the teacher's point of view. She nodded after reaching that conclusion.
After settling himself one last time in his chair, Lucas took a slight breath and began to play.
The music started lightly. The sensation for the listeners was of being in a quiet place, in the middle of nature. The sounds of animals... Insects... The wind blowing the trees and the leaves...
The music was quiet and subtle. Students, familiar with the music, were surprised. Even though it was the same song they'd been listening to for the past few months, they felt completely different about it. Some even wondered if it was the same song they've been training with lately.
The peace of the forest seemed absolute to the listeners, they felt it would be like this forever. The forest was the world, and tranquility and peace were the law.
However, at some point, the music was slowly changing.
The forest, once peaceful, became turbulent.
The sounds, which used to be rhythmic and stable, were changing. Some listeners became anxious, they couldn't stay still.
The change was slow and no one could feel it at first. The quiet music disappeared at some point, leaving everyone baffled.
The forest was restless, everyone could feel it.
The tranquility was broken, and what was left was chaos. Feelings of panic were born in the hearts of the listeners. As if something was wrong, they felt they had to do something, but everyone stayed still, fidgeting in their seats.
Discord was in the air.
People's hearts were kidnapped.
The heavy and chaotic tone of the song rose and fell, no one knew when it was going to stop.
It was possible to feel the heavy air and the growing tension.
A storm!
With small changes, the sound would sometimes calm down a little, then burst again with full power, like a slowly building storm.
Powerful winds roared in all directions. Thunder, lightning, little by little it felt like the end of the world.
With their hearts in their throats, everyone who was seated rose. Nobody could calm down. Everyone felt that their feelings had been hijacked.
Everyone was looking at the boy at the piano playing this amazing song with a calm, serene expression, a contrast that was hard to swallow.
When everyone felt that it couldn't get any more chaotic, the sounds became truly destructive, it seemed that the devil had descended into the world, determined to destroy everything.
In the midst of this intense storm of emotions, Lucas suddenly stopped playing for a second. As if a storm had disappeared from one second to the next, time seemed to stop.
One second, two seconds.
Before everyone could react, he started playing again.
The calm had returned to the forest, the world seemed to have returned to normal.
The change was so sudden and strange that no one really knew how to react. Although the music sounded just as peaceful as before, the people's kidnapped hearts couldn't calm down.
The forest was by no means calm.
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