Stand by Him

𝑳𝑿𝑽 - 𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒏

「𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗」

Before I even knew it, I was following a member of the staff who led the way with a flashlight as Imperium was playing. My hands were shaky as I tried to keep my composure despite how stressed out I was. I glanced at the others, seeing Mountain already sitting behind his drum set, the girls behind their keyboards, Swiss and Aurora on their platforms, and Sodo, Rain, Phantom, and I being led to our places on the stage by the staff.

Even with the large curtain covering the stage, fans could see us from the side in the darkness in which the stage was currently engulfed. Their cheering filled my ears as I arrived at my spot on the stage, gripping the neck of my guitar as I stood straight, waiting for Imperium to finish while the staff exited the stage.

As it all fell silent, I took a deep breath, and soon enough, Sodo was playing the intro to Kaisarion. I prepared myself and placed my hands on the appropriate frets and strings to start playing. The curtain dropped, and the next thing I know, Sodo, Phantom, Rain, and I are walking towards the front of the stage, the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs as we played Kaisarion.

I suddenly realized that I was up on stage, standing next to Rain and Sodo, playing guitar with them... and not somewhere in the crowd. I had been waiting and preparing for this moment for a good while now, but it still felt unreal to stand on stage with Ghost themselves... even if Sunshine and Aether were now Aurora and Phantom, it was still as exciting.

As soon as Papa arrived on stage, the four of us stepped back, leaving the front of the stage for him. I saw him skip next to me, arriving at the front of the stage, welcomed by the loud cheers from the crowd. I went on the left side of the stage, soon standing next to Rain as our heads moved in sync to the beat of the song.

It was just the first song, but I swear, Phantom and Aurora were two balls of energy and entertained the crowd at the maximum already. Aurora showing off her dance moves and jumping around her small stage while Phantom was in his own world, interacting with Sodo or the crowd. I smiled at the sight of him and Sodo interacting, but it didn't last long as Sodo walked away from him. What did I expect...

I did my own things as well, looking at the crowd and sometimes interacting with them or interacting with the other ghouls.

As the chorus of the song came on, chills went through my entire body as I heard the ghoulette's back vocals as they sang "hypathia", along with Swiss, but his voice wasn't as loud as the girls'. Why did they sound so angelic?!

The song went on, and eventually, Sodo's solo came on. The lights changed color, and the focus was on him as he stood on his platform on the left side of the stage, seeming extremely focused. I almost forgot about playing my own parts as I was too focused on watching Sodo in admiration. I quickly gathered my thoughts, though, and put my focus back on playing as well. After his amazing solo, Sodo walked over to me as Copia continued to sing.

I didn't see him coming due to the limited vision of the mask, but I figured it was him as I felt a head on my shoulder. My body stiffened, and I turned my head a little to be able to see him before looking back in front of me, smiling as the crowd freaked out upon seeing our little interaction.

« You're doing amazing. » I heard him say close to my ear before walking away as we both kept on playing the song.

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