"You ready for this Connor?" Josh asked the boy who stood in front of him. Josh finished wrapping the last piece of tape around his arm, and he patted Connor on the back.
"I'm ready as I'll ever be," he shrugged as he finished putting the tape on his own body. He walked over to the window of their house and stared outside. There was a swarm of yellow as hundreds of Banditos stood outside awaiting their instructions.
"I'm surprised at how many banditos showed up," Josh exclaimed, running his hand through his hair. "
"I guess the message spread pretty fast, huh?" Connor looked up at Josh. He had fear in his eyes, but he knew he had to be brave for his family.
"Rose did a good job, I was fortunate to have found her in Trench." Josh walked over to Connor and wrapped his arms around the boy. It had been two days since they had escaped from the Dema headquarters, and it was spent getting prepared for the fight. They were constantly running and hiding from the Niner's that were hunting the two men down.
"Okay, grab a pile of torches and head out there and hand them to the Banditos," Josh instructed him. Connor went over and grabbed a handful of the Torches that Josh had gotten from the local wood shop and went out. Everyone looked and turned to him as he walked by handing them the torches.
"For Tyler," each bandito said one by one in a whisper. Connor's eyes made contact with each and every Bandito that he handed a torch too, and his own eyes started to fill with tears as he finally realized and understood why his dad did what he did. His music touched all these people in ways that could never be explained.
Connor walked back to the front door where Josh was standing. He wrapped his arm around Connor, and held him close as they looked out at the sea of yellow.
"For your dad," Josh whispered. Connor closed his eyes and rested his head on his body.
"For my dad."
Clancy ran down to the cell that you and your daughter was laying in and stared at you with a look of panic. She panted heavily as she was out of breath from running.. She walked over to your cell and kneeled down so she was face to face with you.
"The whole country is revolting, the Banditos are taking over," she announced.
"What? What do you mean?" you asked frantically. Clancy kept on looking over her shoulder.
"I don't have much time, but Josh sent a message out to all the Banditos across Dema, and they are revolting against-" her sentence was abruptly stopped when Nico slammed the door open and an angry Keons followed him
"Clancy!" he screamed. She mouthed she was sorry to you before walking up to her father.
"I told you she was up to no good, I'm not going to have any more of this!" Keons roared as he walked over to Clancy and slapped her cheek with the back of his hand. Clancy fell to the floor and grabbed her cheek with was pulsating.
"Clancy," Nico said softly as he kneeled down by his daughter. "What is wrong with you?" he directed towards Keons.
"You are not fit to rule this country, Nicolas. Look at your daughter. I've said this over and over again. You are pathetic."
"Are you okay Clancy?" Nico whispered to her as he held her in his lap. He ignored every word that Keons was saying.
"You can either prove to me that you are capable of being a ruler, or you could end up like how Tyler is going to end up."
"What do you need me to do," Nico murmured as he helped Clancy sit up.
"Dad?" she whispered but Nico was already turning around to face Keons.
"Take care of Tyler, I'll get her," he directed his head towards you and you sulked more into the corner that you were trying to hide in. Autumn was quivering in your arms, and you were trying your best to keep her calm.
You watched as Nico hastily walked over to Tyler's cell and held him up by his neck. You bit down on your lip to keep you from crying out, but the taste of blood soon filled your mouth from how hard you were biting. Tyler's body laid limp in Nico's hands.
Keon's walked over to your cell and opened it up. His gray skin shined under the light and his dark eyes stared you down. He grabbed your arm with a tight grip and pulled you and your daughter up so you were following him.
"Where are they taking us?" Autumn cried out. You shushed her, as you squinted into the sunlight. They had taken you outside, and it had been a while since you last saw daylight. You looked up and around you, and you were mesmerized by the buildings and pillars everywhere.
You continued following Keon's down multiple streets and corners for what seemed like forever until you started to recognize where you were being taken to. Glorious Vista, also known as the place where the Creators and Listeners live.
Keon's pulled you towards what looked like a stage, and as you got closer you recognized the other seven Bishops standing up there as well as Tyler sitting in a chair. His head was moving a little, and it looked like he was starting to regain consciousness again.
There were about hundreds of people gathering, all of them being listeners and creators that were lucky enough to live in Glorious Vista, the town made especially for the top 1%. The sound of a microphone being tested got everyone's attention and soon it was so quiet you could hear a needle drop. You stared up at the stage to see your husband being humiliated by the Bishops. You wanted to run up there but there Niners everywhere, watching you closely.
"Listeners and creators, bishops and niners," Nico boomed. "We have here a coward." He held up Tyler and the crowd all booed. You grabbed onto Autumn's body tighter, and you placed her head into your shirt so she couldn't see what was going on. You could feel her body shake as she sobbed.
"What happens when someone breaks the rules?" Nico asked and the crowd all chanted together.
"Smear them!"
"And what happens when someone breaks the rules a second time?"
"Kill him!" those two words echoed in the town and your knees become weak. You could not just stand here and watch your husband be murdered in front of you for creating music and helping people. You looked around frantically for Clancy, knowing that she would be the last chance of helping.
"This is an unfortunate day, but we have rules for a reason," Nico spoke to the crowd. His eyes kept dancing between Keons and the crowd, and nervousness filled his words more than it was threatening.
"Do you hear that?" Autumn whispered as she looked up to you. You tried to listen to see what she was talking about, and then you started to hear a faint chant coming from afar. You turned your head around and could see bright orange lights were followed by yellow coming this way.
"Banditos," you whispered to yourself.
"Connor!" Autumn squealed as she saw her brother holding hands with Josh in front of a huge crowd. Multiple people were holding torches, and it the yellow was blinding. They all were singing together in unison as they marched closer and closer to the stage where Tyler was.
"I could take the high road..." faintly sang the Banditos and everyone turned around to see a wave of yellow coming towards the middle of the arena like space. You turned around to look back up at the stage and you saw Tyler stand up from his chair and look forward. Nico's mouth was stuck open but Keon's looked angry. The other Bishops were talking among themselves as they had never seen this before.
"I'm a bandito," rang out while more than 300 people sang. The sound was enough to bring shivers to your spine. They all stopped right before the stage, pushing all the other Listeners and Creators out of the way. They continued to sing towards Tyler, and you saw him drop to his knees. You wanted to run up there and save him, but you were struck with fear so you didn't move.
"This is the sound we make..." Tyler croaked from the stage.
"Mama!" Autumn pointed up at her dad who was singing back to the crowd of Banditos. He hadn't been able to even speak for the past few days so you were in awe of the power of the song.
The crowd all started to chant 'Sahlo Folina' as they swayed together holding hands. Tyler looked up at the sky while he was taking in the music and regaining his strength. The black on his neck started to fade a little as if the music was making him not be smeared anymore. Suddenly, a group of Niners headed towards Josh and Connor and you screamed out in terror.
"Stop!" Nico raised his hand to stop the Niners from hurting Josh and the boy, and the Banditos continued to chant. Nico looked around frantically not knowing what exactly to do, but Keon's walked over and whispered something in his ear. You didn't know what he said, but you knew it wasn't good.
You watched as Nico pulled out a knife from his pocket and held it up to Tyler's throat. This made the singing stop, and it became as quiet as the night sky.
"Dad!" Connor screamed as you watched your son run to the front and push multiple Niners out of the way. Josh dropped his torch and followed after Connor but he was suddenly grabbed by Sacarver.
"No!" you screamed and you dropped to your knees. Your hand was around your stomach as you stared up at the stage through misty eyes. Sacarver dragged Josh to where Nico was holding Tyler, and he also pulled out a knife and held it up to Josh's neck. Nico looked over at Sacarver with a panicked look and stared out at the crowd.
"Please," you sobbed to yourself and Autumn was still tucked underneath your arms.
"No more errors!" Nico cried out with a piercing scream. He raised the knife up in the air and thrusted it down, but suddenly a body came barreling into him and grabbed his arm before the knife could come down. You looked up to see Clancy holding her father's hands.
"Please, stop this," she wailed. "Don't kill them just because they make music."
"Clancy," Keons walked over to her but she stood up and faced the Bishop.
"I don't care what rules you have in this country, but something you will never understand is the impact of their music," she spoke with confidence towards Keon's who looked over to Nico.
"Nicolas, what do you have to say?" he asked and Nico took a deep breath before saying what he had to say next