Chapter 105 - One Person Concert

On his way home, Gren decided to look through the musical instruments in the system. There was really only one choice for Gren: an acoustic guitar. Electric instruments would require electricity and the guitar was the only instrument that Gren knew how to play any actual songs on. There were already instruments close to the guitar in this world so it wouldn't be that out of place either. The problem he was having was trying to pick the type of acoustic guitar that he would be using; there were small differences between them so it wasn't as straightforward as he thought it would be. Faced with the age-old problem of having too many choices, Gren picked one almost at random; only making sure that it had a similar shape to the one that he used in the past.

The guitar he picked out had six strings, an almost rectangular head with a triangle cut out of the top, and a symmetrical body. After entering the gate to the guild, Gren locked it and hung the key around his neck before creating the guitar. Strumming the guitar a bit brought about a good surprise; it was already in tune. ♫Do re mi fa so la ti do. Do ti la so fa mi re do.♫ Gren liked his current voice much better than the one from his past life and he found it easier to change his pitch and tone.

Gren didn't have much to do when he was just a child in an orphanage so he learned how to play the guitar by listening to old records and playing along. In the end, he could probably be considered decent and he never really gave up on the guitar; it was the only possession left from his mother besides the albums that she left him that used to belong to his grandfather. He never did get to meet her before she ended her own life but his entire teenage life was based on those old records from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There were times when his fingertips would begin to bleed because of how much he played that guitar of his.

"What's with all of the noise? You're going to wake the babies." Estella came downstairs while rubbing her eyes. Gren figured that he must have woken her up with his strumming. "Did you just buy that?"

"It's music. I'm just trying to remember how to play this song." It was one of the longer songs that he knew but he had played it so many times that it was engraved into his soul. "It's missing the other instruments but the song is still good to listen to with just the vocals and guitar. Want to hear it? Come on, let's go outside. It won't even take ten minutes."

"Fine. This is one of the first times I've seen you so excited about something." Was he that excited? Gren didn't even realize that he was smiling as he held the guitar. "You've got ten minutes but if you wake the kids then you need to get them to go asleep again. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. If they wake up then I'll just play a song to put them to sleep." Before getting started with his little concert, Gren built another Model 3 revolver and matching holster since his was still being used by Yasinia and he started the final research needed for the vehicles: Batteries. "Okay, this song's name is Stairway to Heaven and it's by a group called Led Zeppelin. That might not mean anything to you but I don't want to steal credit for a song I didn't write."

"Come on, just get started already. It's a bit cold out here." Gren didn't think that it was that cold so he gave Estella his coat. "Thanks, but you're still running out of time."

"Ah, you've already started counting?" Gren took a few seconds to clear his throat and get his fingers in position on the guitar. The first fifty seconds of the song were just him playing the guitar and Estella didn't seem that interested. Without the accompanying flutes it wasn't as mystifying but there was nothing he could do about that. Gren neither had the other instruments nor the people that could play them so it wasn't likely that he could ever let someone from this world listen to it in all of its glory.

♫There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold♫

♫And she's buuyiing a stairway to heaven♫

♫When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed♫

♫With a word she can get what she came for♫

Estella seemed more interested after Gren started singing.

♫Oooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooooo, ooo, ooo♫

♫And she's buuuuyiiiing a stairway to heaven♫

♫There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure♫

♫'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings♫

♫In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings♫

♫Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven♫

♫Ooooo, it makes me wonder♫

♫Ooooo, it makes me wondeeeer♫

♫There's a feeling I get, when I look to the west♫

♫And my spiiirit is crying for leaving♫

♫In my thoughts, I have seen, rings of smoke through the trees♫

♫And the vooiices of those who stand looking♫

♫Ooooo, it makes me wonder♫

♫Ooooo, it really makes me wonder♫

♫And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune♫

♫Then the piiiiper will lead us to reeason♫

♫And a new day will dawn, for those who stand long♫

♫And the foorests will echo with laughter♫

♫Ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa, ooh whoa oh♫

♫If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now♫

♫It's just a spring clean for the May queen♫

♫Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run♫

♫There's still time to change the road you're on♫

♫And it makes me wonder♫

♫Ohhhh, oh oh♫

♫Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know♫

♫The piper's calling you to join him♫

♫Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow? And did you know?♫

♫Your stairway lies on the whispering wiiiiin-ohhhh-oh♫

This was Gren's favorite part, the guitar solo. It slowly built up and led into the best-sounding vocals in the song. He didn't have an electric guitar to make the whining sound so he used his voice instead.

♫Aaaah ah, aaaah ah♫

♫Aaaah ah, aaaah ah♫

♫Aaaah ah, aaaah ah♫

♫Aaaah ah, aaaah ah♫

Gren was playing louder but still made sure to keep it quiet enough to not wake people. He couldn't see Estella's reaction since he was getting too much into it with his eyes closed as he imagined being on stage.

♫And as we wind on down the road♫

♫Our shadows taller than our so-oul♫

♫There walks a lady we all know-oh♫

♫Who shines white light and wants to show♫

♫How everything still turns to gold♫

♫And if you listen very ha-ard♫

♫The tune will come to you at last♫

♫When all are ooone and one is aaaall, yeah♫

♫To be a rock and not to roooooooooooooooll♫

Gren slowly winded down his strumming and finished the song.

♫And sheee's buuuyiiing a staaaairwaaay to heaven♫

As Gren opened his eyes, he saw that Estella had tears in her eyes. "Is something wrong?" Gren expected her to be clapping or at least smiling but definitely didn't think that she would be crying. "Did you not like the song?"

Estella shook her head. "That's not it. I liked the song." Gren was happy to hear that but wondered why she was crying if she liked it. It seemed like Estella wasn't going to stop crying so Gren hugged her with his free arm and rubbed her back. "Thank you. For both the hug and the song."

"Come on, let's go back inside." Gren pulled Estella inside by her shoulder and brought her back up to her bedroom. Only Cinderella and Solaire were sleeping on the second bed inside of the room. "Are Chloe and Esmeralda in Jess's room?"

Estella sniffled before answering. "Yeah." Gren thought that Estella was kind of cute like this. Gren put his guitar and armor in his own room before returning back to Estella's room. As the two laid down on the bed, Gren cuddled next to her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. It wasn't long until he fell asleep as well.

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Gren's morning routine was similar to the previous day and he helped train the women after he did his exercises. The biggest difference was that Jessica arrived in the morning. Their aim with the Mosin-Nagants at twenty five yards was almost perfect now with Yasinia's aim being considered decent with her revolver but there was no way to allow them to fire at a greater distance underground; this was already the largest room that they had uncovered. It was a large thirty by ten yard room that was originally full of rusted armor; the size and shape of the armor allowed Gren to get a good idea of what the people looked like--larger humans with wide feet and massive shoulders. Their progress in excavating new rooms was currently halted but, after Gren could figure out what was making those sounds, they would be able to continue.

After they had fired one hundred rounds each, Gren gave them a break. It really was strange though; the women using the rifles were way too good for only two and a half days of training. Gren was wondering how it took him a much longer time to reach the same level of accuracy with his automatic rifle when Jessica approached him. "Hey, Gren. I wanted to ask you earlier but what's this I hear about you singing a song for Estella last night? She wouldn't shut up about it during breakfast."

"I woke her up with my playing so I asked her to listen to a song. After that, we went to bed and fell asleep." Gren was happy to hear that people were interested in music. "Do you want to hear it?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to hear it but I was thinking about the people in the guild with little to do. Playing a song for them might help to keep them from being so bored around here." Jessica's idea didn't seem bad but he couldn't just play one song. What other songs could he play that sounded good with just a guitar? "If you're up to it then I can go spread the word and see who wants to listen to your song."

"That sounds like a nice idea. Songs are useless if there's nobody to listen to them. The more people that get to enjoy them, the better." If Gren was going to put on a small concert with just a guitar then The Sound of Silence would be a great pick but a few words would need to be changed for this world since they didn't exist in this world. "Give me a few hours to practice a few songs and I'll be ready."

"Great. I'll go talk to some people and get everything set up. In four hours, I'll come and get you." With Jessica going off to prepare things, Gren had some preparations of his own to make. Unfortunately, Space Oddity would need to be scrapped since none of it would make sense to the people of this world.

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When Jessica came to get Gren, he didn't expect that he would be brought outside. Jessica had a bunch of crates stacked up in front of the guild and almost everybody from their guild was standing in the alley with only the four still on a mission, the two pregnant women, and the three knights being missing. He did say that it would be better if more people got to listen to the song but he wasn't expecting this!

Gren was brought up to the top of the crates as Jessica gave everybody a quick introduction. "Thank you for joining us today. The Flours Mercenary Company has decided to put on a free show for anybody interested in listening. Please keep to one side of the road so that you don't block traffic and don't touch the crates." Jessica pointed to Gren with her hand before continuing. "This is Gren and he'll be playing you some songs."

Actually being on stage was different from just imagining it but Gren was already used to being in front of an audience; even if that audience was usually made up of his co-workers working on the set with him. "Thank you for coming to listen to my music. I'll start things off a bit slow with some Kansas. This is Dust in the Wind." They wouldn't know what he was talking about but the great groups that performed these songs deserved their names being shared.

As Gren began playing Dust in the Wind, he could see some people leaving while others would join in front of his stage to listen. The crowd slowly grew until the end of the song where he slowed down and bowed. Seeing people cheer him on and enjoy the music was a great feeling since he never got to see the reaction of people watching his performances on Earth and he didn't play the guitar in front of others as an adult. "Thank you for listening. My next song is called the Sound of Silence and it was originally performed by two people called Simon and Garfunkel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do."

♫Hello darkness, my old frieend♫

♫I've come to talk with you agaain♫

♫Because a vision softlyy creepiing♫

♫Left its seeds while I waaas sleeping♫

♫And the visiooon that was planteed in my brain♫

♫Still remaaains♫

♫Within the sooound of silence♫

♫In restless dreams I walked alone♫

♫Narrow streets of cobblestone♫

♫'Neath the halo of aaa street laaaamp♫

♫I turned my collar to the cold and daamp♫

♫When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a magic light♫

♫That split the niiiight♫

♫And touched the sooound of silence♫

♫And in the naked light I saw♫

♫Ten thousand people, maybe more♫

♫People talking withoout speakiing♫

♫People hearing without listeniing♫

♫People writing soooongs that voices never share♫

♫And no one daaaared♫

♫Disturb the soooound of silence♫

♫Fools, said I, You do not know♫

♫Silence, like a cancer, grows♫

♫Hear my words that I might teach you♫

♫Take my arms that I might reach you♫

♫But my wooords, like sileent raindrops fell♫

♫And echooed in the weeells, of silence♫

♫And the people bowed and prayed♫

♫To the magic god they made♫

♫And the sign flashed out iiits warniiing♫

♫In the words that it waas formiing♫

♫And the sign said, The words of the prophets are written on underground walls♫

♫And tenement halls♫

♫And whispered in the soooound of silence♫

Both of those were slow songs so it was time for Gren to speed things up a bit with a song that sped up as it went on. After introducing it to the crowd, Gren began to play. This was now his second time performing Stairway to Heaven in this world and the crowd seemed to love it. Gren's brow was covered in sweat by the time he reached the finale and whispered the final words of the song. It was fun to sing but took a lot of stamina to sing while staying active on stage to give people a better show.

"Now that we've gotten sped up a bit, here's my final song for the day. This is Land of Confusion by Genesis." Gren started the more upbeat guitar strumming before singing.

♫I must've dreamed a thoousand dreams♫

♫Been haunted by a miillion screams♫

♫But I can hear the marching feet♫

♫They're moving into the street♫

♫Now did you read the news today-ay♫

♫They say the danger's gone away♫

♫But I can see the fire's still alight♫

♫There burning into the night♫

♫There's too many men♫

♫Too many people♫

♫Making too many problems♫

♫And noot much loove to go roound♫

♫Can't you see this is a land of confusion♫

♫This is the world we live in♫

♫And these are the hands we're given♫

♫Use them and let's start tryying♫

♫To make it a place worth living in♫

♫Ooh, superman where aaare you noow♫

♫When everything's gone wroong somehow♫

♫The men of steel, the men of power♫

♫Are losing control by the hour.♫

♫This is the time♫

♫This is the place♫

♫So we look for the fuuture♫

♫But there's noot muuch love to go 'round♫

♫Tell me why, this is a land of confusion♫

♫This is the world we liive in♫

♫And these are the hands we're giiven♫

♫Use them and let's start tryiing♫

♫To make it a place worth living iin♫

♫I remember loong ago♫

♫Ooo, when the sun was shining♫

♫Yes, and the stars were bright--all through the night♫

♫And the sound of your laughter--as i held you tight♫

♫So long agoo♫

♫I won't be coming home tooniight♫

♫My generatioon will put it right♫

♫We're not just making proomisees♫

♫That we know, we'll never keep♫

♫There's too many men♫

♫There's too many people♫

♫Making too many proobleems♫

♫And not much love to go rooound♫

♫Can't you see, this is a land of confusion♫

♫Now this is the world we liive in♫

♫And these are the hands we're giiven♫

♫Use them and let's start tryiing♫

♫To make it a place worth fighting fo-or♫

♫Now this is the world we liive in♫

♫And these are the names we're giiven♫

♫Stand up and let's start showiing♫

♫Just where our lives are going to♫

The rest of the song was just Gren playing his guitar and he felt exhausted from moving around for the entire time. His fingertips hurt so he quickly healed them behind his back before addressing the listeners. "Thanks for being such a great crowd tonight. I had a great time performing for you all." Ending a show was always awkward but thankfully there was no concept of an encore in this world. "If we ever put on another show in the future, we'll make sure to announce it earlier so that everybody can listen to all of the songs."

Thanks to the mercenaries in the alley, Gren didn't have any trouble making it off of the stage and into the guild. There were some cheers from the people behind him but he just wanted to get a glass of water to drink right now. As Gren was gulping down some refreshing water, he could hear someone's footsteps behind him. "You did a good job, Gren." Turning around, Gren could see Estella in the hall next to the kitchen. "I really liked the message of that last song of yours. Improving the place you live is important and I think that music is one way to really improve this city."

"You're putting too much thought into it. I wasn't singing to give anybody a specific message." Maybe it'd be better to try thinking about the lyrics more before singing the next time. "I just sang a bunch of songs that I liked listening to when I was younger."

"You came from Newton, right? Was there a singer or musician there that would play songs for you?" Fuck. Gren would have to lie in order to get out of this one unless he brushed it off or told her the truth. The only person that knew about his past life was Mimi because it was impossible to hide things from her and he didn't really want to change that yet.

"Ah, not exactly. It has to do with my greatest secret. If I told you then I wouldn't be such an interesting person." Gren made a joke but realized that Estella didn't like it when he saw her reaction. "Sorry. I'm still not ready to tell others. I trust that you wouldn't tell other people but I can't help but think that you would see me differently if you knew it." How could you tell someone that you're not the person they think you are?

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Gren's answer left him in the dog house with Estella. She wouldn't let him sleep next to her and threatened Jessica that if she let Gren sleep next to her then she would take the kids and leave. Gren drank a bit but stopped after one cup since he wouldn't be able to think straight while drunk. Even playing the guitar couldn't fix his mood. He understood why she was mad but her reaction was too extreme.

Everything was fine for the entire day until that one moment when he blew it. Things were fine back when the two had a physical relationship but things were just getting worse lately and they almost always ended up arguing. Gren could shake the thought that maybe things would go back to how they were in that brief period of time if that physical relationship could return.

Even as the timer finished, Gren wasn't sure if what he was going to do was a good idea but it was necessary. If anybody found out then he'd probably be beaten alive by his wives. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures. Gren put on his fake beard and silently left the guild in the black of night.