[ɪ sᴘʏ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ]

--the festival--

       Today was the day. The festival starts at 8 so I hurried to get ready, dressing in a white button up, throwing on my favorite yellow sweater for luck. Strapping my guitar case to my back, and grabbing my lyric book, I bolted out of the inn.

The streets were packed. Movement was nearly impossible, and I feared I was going to arrive late. At 6:30 I finally arrived. Tugging my beanie down, I feigned nervousness and walked over to join the other musicians practicing.

I pulled out my guitar, strumming a few chords and checking to see if it was in tune still. After that was okay, I picked up my lyric book and flipped through it. For my performance, I was singing 'Internet Ruined Me' because it was my younger brother, Tommy's, favorite. And I'm not going to lie, I miss the little shit.

Scanning the area, I studied the competition. I didn't recognize anyone, which was good.

The festival was being held in courtyard of the castle . King Schlatt would watch safely from his balcony, looking down apon us all. A huge stage was set up just below, where all performers would be judged by his majesty. I fiddled with my ring, spinning it around my finger idly.

Time passed way too slowly. I was anxious. I have to win. For the sake of this country, and my sanity.

It wasn't long before the event announcer stood up on the stage, saying the usual 'welcome to the festival' and all the basic stuff. My eyes were locked on the balcony, waiting for the king to arrive. It didn't take long. The announcer made his entrance as dramatic as possible, and the people cheered as both King Schlatt and his fiance Quakity appeared, waving to them all. I just scoffed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Even though I was concerned about the competition, I wasn't overly bothered. It would be a pain if I were to lose, having to find some other way to work my way closer to the king.

The festival itself was actually quite entertaining. At one point, a jester stood on the stage telling shit puns and we all got to throw tomatoes at him. Very fun.

At last, it was time for the musicians to preform. I prepared myself, practicing a few verses.

The people who went ahead of me were actually pretty good. Very talented, and it surprised me how many different styles of music were mixed up together. Over all, it was splendid. Then it was my turn. I immediately started doubting myself, which was an odd feeling for me. I'm usually very confident in my abilities.

I stood in the middle of the stage, took a deep breath, and started playing.

Just as I did before, I made my voice match the tone of the song. I grew in confidence the more I sang. "I don't know what is wrong with me"

"But I'm scared, pissed off, and lonely
I have trouble speaking to women" Some of the audience laughed at that verse, which only helped my growing confidence skyrocket.

"She's beauty, she's grace" I was really feeling the music this time. I continued, keeping the vibe of the music.

"But why don't you care?
I have spent the last ten years of my life
Making you prepared
You're political enough but not contrary
Sexual enough but not enough to scare me
Give me a reason not to be on my knees
The internet has ruined me"

Just about halfway done, I decided to ignore the audience until the song was over, genuinely scared of there reaction. "I think I might be a threat to myself"

"A threat to myself" I slowed, preparing for the final verse of the song.

"We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep on call together
We used to sleep (together)"

As I finished, the crowd erupted in cheers. It didn't tell me much though, as they had done the same for most of the others. I bowed, then headed off stage to wait for the finale. It was getting late, as the morning faded into afternoon. Time had flown by quicker than expected.

"Good job, Will!" A familiar voice cheered. Turning around, I smiled. It was Tubbo. I patted his head. "Hey little guy! What are you doing back here?"

"I wanted to wish you luck earlier, but I missed my chance. So I wanted to at least tell you how amazing your performance was." My heart actually warmed at how wholesome he was. Too bad I was here to murder the only father-like person he had in his life.

Tubbo stayed and chatted with me for a while, as we waited for the conclusion of the music concert. It took maybe thirty minutes to an hour for all the performances to come to an end. At the end, the announcer had a surprise for us all.

He walked up on stage, holding a piece of paper. "Alrighty then, musicians! King Schlatt has graced us with two surprises. The first being, instead of just choosing a winner, the king and his fiancée have chosen ten finalists to preform again!" Well, that was definitely a shocker.

"And surprise number two, King Schlatt will come up and personally pick the winner!" My eyes went wide as i swiveled my head around to look at the balcony. Empty. How had I not noticed? I glanced around and noticed other stunned. Apparently the great king didn't come down from his castle very often.

The announcer started listing names, and I felt a little more crushed as my name didn't show. To my surprise, Tubbo grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I looked down at him with a slight smile. As it got down to the last three names, the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"And the last name on the list is..."

"Will"