Chapter Text
The lights constantly changed color, reflecting the atmosphere of the song playing at that moment in the stadium thanks to the soft sound of the bass and the melodious voice of the singer leading the band. It was a beautiful night despite the latent summer heat at that time and the screams of girls crying for the vocalist as well as the fury for the band in general was not long in coming.
The majority chanted the songs harmoniously, others shouted the lyrics of emotion while some raised banners and flags of the band or just their idol to whom they did not stop shouting that they loved him, some had even brought panties to throw at him while the heads of Security looked with disgust at the girls who were in the front row, wishing with all their being that the concert would end soon because of that excessive fury and the enormous work it represented.
At the end of the concert, the first thing he asked for was a Coke-Cola to get rid of himself since his manager had forbidden him to drink alcohol or smoke as an agreement to the deal. To tell the truth, Erwin Smith had done a great job helping him sober up for half the tour and he hoped he would be until the end of the contract but inside Levi was itching to get into vices again and was finding it increasingly difficult to stay clean. ; He had no choice but to vent his frustration on drills and punching bags, he often practiced with Mike and Gunther who gave him a fair fight, sometimes Mike beating him in wrestling by almost hanging him or taking him by surprise.
"We'd better find a replacement for the guitar," he began one day chatting with Smith on a break before the concert in Sina that night.Smith looked at him puzzled asking him what was wrong to which the other replied:"I can't move or jump on stage with guitar in hand, not all the time." Before this, the blonde maintained a neutral position looking at his coffee as if nothing around him existed. They were silent for a few seconds which was quickly replaced with a hint of impatience from the other.
"I'm not going to play any more guitar, hire someone or we'll just have Hange as bassist by herself -" he said disinterestedly sipping his black tea. Erwin knew that sooner or later Levi would end up doing his bidding so forcing him or convincing him wasn't going to do much good, not at this point.
"We will call an audition to see who will be the new guitarist then."
When he needed to relax he would play a little guitar and even write poems or read a book when he was alone, he even drew between trips on tour and other things but deep down he felt that jumping on stage with guitar in hand was making him hard. and they would have to hire a new guitarist sooner or later.
"Good" - he crossed his arms maintaining the same impassiveness with which he had been speaking lately but inside he was boiling with emotion and he did not know why.
He turned on the stereo by turning up the volume, taking advantage of the fact that his mother had gone shopping and that she would not return until late at night. He checked that the cables were connected in place, the camera was on recording at the height of his hands that was exactly what he wanted to show once he had finished the cover to edit it and upload it to his YouTube channel. He hit the button on his computer and immediately began to move his fingers as fast as he could to the song "The sound of Truth" by the band As I lay dying. He had already practiced this song several times before uploading the cover, once he finished recording and observing that the movement of the fingers was on time with the rhythm of the song and that only his hands were shown as he wanted, he smiled satisfied as he finish editing the final touches and upload the video to his channel which would take at least an hour to be ready since the internet was fast at home.
The audition for the new guitarist of the band was not long in coming as Hange, Levi, Mike and Erwin watched countless very good guitarists pass one after another who came with their typical long-haired metalhead look and tattoos, other punks with not so long hair and piercings and the typical black shirts with an anarchism slogan, from a classic band like Guns and Roses, Metallica, Megadeath, among many others, but nobody on the jury table ended up liking them.
"They are all so common that I get bored," Levi said after that day of auditions, which in his case did not leave him fascinated.
"Hamsel was very good, that boy did play with enthusiasm and he also did it very well, I don't understand why you didn't choose him" - Hange snapped, she was drowing a strange doodle of a boy with long black hair.
"It was because he made too many gestures with his face while he played and, incidentally, he moved his head every moment."
"It's part of feeling the music Levi, you did the same when we started in the band, don't screw me" - she stubbornly hit the table making Mike, Erwin and the aforementioned look at her in surprise.
"What's wrong with four eyes, did you have indigestion or what?" , Levi snapped obscenely.
"The question here should be what happens to you criticizing everyone when you are not even able to run and jump across the stage like 10 years ago, you are too much of a hater and you do not recognize it."
There was a tense silence at the table that was impossible for the production staff to ignore but for fear of Levi's viper tongue they did not dare to break it. It was just the first day of auditions and they were already fighting like cats and dogs again. Erwin sighed tiredly wishing that the right person would arrive in a short time to replace Levi because if things were not the way they were, off-stage the situation could become very uncomfortable.
Carla Jaeger finished saying goodbye to the last student who was leaving to close the door behind her and head towards the parking lot. It had been a pleasant class with some girls and boys who were more outstanding than others, as she could see since the vocal quality of some was tremendously superior to that of the rest. Although for the university choir they should all be in unison singing in harmony, it was difficult forher not to feel a preference for Zaira, Sage and Robert, who of that class had a privileged voice, which caused conflict with their ethics of non-preference over any other pupil.
That day she had gone alone to give singing lessons because the rector did not ask him to do the paperwork for the kind of laws he used to dictate.
She had long since retired from stardom when she left her career as an Opera singer and a special guest to also play in the Stohess Orchestra, Utgard and if possible in the Paris Symphony Orchestra when she was much younger. Her privileged voice, although due to the ailments of pregnancy, had diminished over time, she had not lost its special touch despite the years for which the rector of the University of Shingashina Dot Pixis had asked her to teach singing classes at his faculty. And in order not to lose the habit, she accept immediately because although it is true that being a mother requires changing your scheme and schedule of life for a little one, Carla Magnolia never completely left music despite getting married and adopting the surname of her husband Grisha Jaeger or to teach his young son the benefits of classical music to the point of insisting that he play an instrument. As she drove to the market they played Dmitri Schostakowitsch's “Second Waltz” on the stereo and she remembered the first time he took Eren who was then 5 years old to audition for the orchestra. The image of those veteran musicians playing slowly thanks to the director hypnotized him immediately and he knew that although he could not succeed the first time, he would end up insisting until he was in the children's orchestra sooner or later.
In Stohess things were tense for the team who had already held 3 auditions and did not want to continue, the judges took notes but did not feel convinced.
"Ok that's enough," Levi said as he got up from his seat. "Where are you going? "- Asked Mike
"To the bathroom," he answered without further ado as he rolled his eyes and left the room. "This will take longer than we think," Mike sighed.
"I'm going to get a soda," Hange said, getting up from his seat. Mike was left alone with Erwin who took a call while he made a note of something in his notebook. "Got it, thank you,"- he hung up the call.
"It smells suspicious from here, is there a problem you didn't want to tell us about?" He asked with an accusing face while Erwin kept his impassive face looking at his phone. "Not at all," he denied.
"Ha! Don't make me laugh you know that whenever you say that something bad happens, go tell me now, I demand."
Erwin knew that if he said what was happening right now it would probably not come to pass later and even though he couldn't stand himself he left the seat taking his things to go smoke a cigarette while Mike kept insisting that he tell him to come in.
In the hallway they ran into Hange who was watching a video on Yotube and when she saw them she came to tell them excitedly: "I think we've got the new guitarist" - she showed them the video of the boy playing just showing his hands, being hypnotized by the screen until he finished the cover of something more than 6 minutes without saying anything.
"And good? What do you think? " - Hange said enthusiastically. Neither Mike nor Erwin knew where to start as the boy was very good but realistically they did not know where he came from, there were many who played as well as him and were being entered on a preliminary audition list.
"It's pretty fast and good, very good I must say" - Erwin began.
"Yes it's good but"--- Mike was interrupted by Hange.
"He also covers the bass, not only plays guitar" - she said excitedly.
"Hange you play the bass" - they said in unison.
"I know silly, but it is versatile, also if you look at his videos on YouTube"- she said showing the channel that had many covers of guitar and bass, passing some with cello--"you will realize that he has training in classical music."
Erwin clicked on a video where he played the cello paying homage to Bach
"Impressive, right?" - She said satisfied while Mike watched the video absorbed.
"This is in the Shingashina theater "- said Erwin, observing closely-" I remember that 10 years ago there was no theater except for the main hall of Shingashina University where…" - Suddenly his mind lit up.
"Eren Jaeger is the boy's name" - Mike said looking at the name of the channel.
"Yes, he has an excellent command of cello, guitar and bass. We should write to him and ask if he dares to audition for us"- Hange said enthusiastically.
"He lives in Shingashina," Erwin reminded him dryly, "we are in Stohess."
"Surely there are trains that can bring him here" - she mention enthusiastically.
"Sure, but it is very far and the passage by express train is very expensive, I understand."
"Erwin, man, don't be a killjoy. Let Hange work her magic and bring the boy to audition, it sure doesn't hurt", said Mike putting a hand on his shoulder.
"And with what are you going to pay the passage and the stay? Stohess is expensive and we cannot afford to pay for a five star hotel."
"Ehm Erwin, I'll take care of it" - Hange said - "he stays with me and I'll make him dinner."
"We have to discuss it in a group, we also know how Levi is."
Just at that moment the aforementioned made an appearance.
"Know what? What do you have in mind?""
"Don't be rude Levi, we found a potential guitarist who also plays bass and has an academic background in classical music."
"What? Seriously?" - He said while Hange showed him the boy's YouTube channel. Levi grabbed the phone and watched several videos fast-forwarding to a certain point and then back to the beginning.
"And, what do you think?"
"Humm"
"Is that a yes or a no?"
"Tsk"
Mike intervened excitedly."We try to make him come to Stohess to audition or that's what Hange wants."
"And where is he from?"
"From Shingashina," Erwin interrupted.
"No way, that's far."
Hange, fed up with the refusal, stood in front of everyone with a serious face.
"Well, look, far away and everything, but if I can get him to come and play as well as he does in the video, you will have to give him space in our band because the people here are not very good and we are not going to go from district to district looking for guitarists when we put the tour on hiatus."
"Hange's right," Mike began.
"Well, Hange, but our staff has been in charge of bringing here different people from different districts and none of them play very well. We also don't know if that boy wants to cover as a hobby and this is full work, going on tour, traveling to other countries. Not many can keep up with the band."
"Stop being so negative and leave this in my hands that although we still haven't found a guitarist, I can discern who knows how to carry the melody with me and I assure you that very few in that room managed to do it well."
"Let's do something for the good of the band"- Erwin intervened feeling the tension of the group- "Hange write him convincing the boy to come to Stohess to audition and if everything goes well from then on we will see."
Mike snorted angrily but Hange wasted no time snatching the cell phone from Levi's hands and immediately began typing.
Eren was busy finishing cleaning his room when a notification came on the phone. For some reason, he left the covers that he kept on top of his closet to go see it, which he never did since it was to leave the cell phone in one place and not check it again for days. Most of the time he was playing on the Wii or Xbox and playing guitar instead. He unlocked the phone and to his surprise the Yotube app came out with a notification. It had been a long time since she had received any comments so he slipped into the inbox with a strange message from a certain Hange Zoe.
"Hange Zoe," he said quietly, checking the message. He had heard that name long ago but did not remember where from. He began to read the message and for some reason as the reading progressed his heart was racing until he reached the end of the reading. He put his phone aside, turned on his personal computer and looked for Hange Zoe's name on safari then his mind clicked and he realized that it was the same girl from the band "No Name", a band from his childhood that he went to see. in concert 10 years ago when he was still a child and it was with his brother at that time, Zeke. "Now I understand everything." Just at that moment another notification rang and he grabbed the cell phone as soon as possible to answer. His heart was pounding and he didn't like that feeling at all. What if it was a bad joke? He had heard horrible stories of fraud and the truth was he was not so sure he wanted to go along with it but the girl was insistent. @HanZoe: So will you come to Stohess yes or no?
@ErenJaeger: I'll think about it @HanZoe: hurry up because we don't have time.
@Erenjaeger: Ok
@HanZoe: Is that a yes or a no?
@ErenJaeger: see you in three days.
@HanZoe: Ok, give me your number.
@ErenJaeger: we will keep in touch around here.
@HanZoe: but the wifi network traveling is terrible.
@ErenJaeger: Via Rail has built in wifi. You will know about me without problem.
Just at that moment Carla arrived at Eren's room opening the door without warning.
"Eren I need you to come down to help me with the shopping".
"I told you ten thousand times to knock on the door. You don't understand the concept of privacy from what I see."
"Oh sorry son, could you come to help me downstairs with the purchases?"
Eren sighed tired
"Not now."
"Eren!" - she said pouting.
"I'm sorry, not now."
"Please."
He put the phone aside and decided to help her.
After hours he decided to investigate the tickets from Shingashina to Stohess just to verify the rate and there was a promotion from Tuesday to Friday for only half the price with an option to pay debit or credit so he remembered that he had good money in his savings and that a Little trip out of Shingashina since he was off at the university, he would not dislike him. The veterinary school was closed for remodeling and classes had not been given again for the same. His mother had insisted on putting him to work for her from home, but Eren wanted to work and earn money for himself so he served as a waiter in some jobs for no more than three months and then helping in a car shop as well as an assistant to his father at the veterinary clinic. He decided to click to buy the ticket and that tomorrow without further ado he would tell his mother. It had been a long time since he had been around the capital and they were on vacation, so staying in Shingashina was not an option for him, he wanted to go out more for himself than to go to the supposed audition of No Name.
He took a look at his Fender Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster '50s, a new guitar that he had just acquired and decided that this was a very big risk that he did not want to take but he must have a valid excuse to leave the house without his mother sticking her nose, and how she discovered the lies sooner or later she would tell him tomorrow no matter what happened. He hoped his father would support him.
The next morning Eren prepared the table, coffee and pancakes, everyone sat down to eat happy with the classical music in the background that Carla loved so much so Eren took the initiative to clear his throat and give the announcement which was not taken in serious until he said he bought the ticket to leave that day at 4 pm on a Via Rail express train.
"What did you buy what?" - she was so outraged she stopped eating- "Eren you think you send yourself alone but I need someone who"--- was cut off by Grisha who interrupted her.
"Tell me Eren, what are you going to do in Stohess besides sightseeing and spending the money?"
"I will go to the Stohess Theater because I am going to audition for the band No Name who is looking for a guitarist.
At that Eren's little sister Isabel was moved.
"It is true, I have read that they are looking for a guitarist, they stopped the tour for the same reason."
"No Name" - Grisha said rubbing his chin- " so the band that you went to see as a child with Zeke is asking for a guitarist, right?"
That's what I just said."
"But Eren"- interrupted his mother- "who is going to prune the garden when I am not there or take to clean my car when I am busy at the university besides"-
"Mama the world does not revolve around you, please understand I have a life too."
"It's true Carla. Eren is already a 19-year-old man and needs to stay on track. I vote for him to go and try, if he doesn't stay, he already knows that he can return and stay here working with me as an assistant in the clinic."
"But Grisha you don't understand "- was cut off by Isabel."I support the motion with all violence, my little brother must leave Shingashina and take the trip of his life.""But Isabel, who is going to pick you up from school?"
"Mom, I use the school bus, Eren is always working or studying, he never picks me up, I come home by myself."
"It's true Carla, you have no excuse to keep him here." They continued arguing throughout the morning as he packed his suitcase and guitar but there was no going back. At least he would get out of Shingashina after so many years and see part of the world again.