Lysander was normally a calm person, anyone who met him could easily agree that he was a gentle soul. He seemed to have an endless amount of patients and reserve to him. The chance in the semi-final, only tomorrow afternoon, was slowly looking worse. The awkward morning after of Candy and Castiel sleeping together proved to be a massive distraction for Castiel. As Lysander had been informed, both of them needed to be able to perform flawlessly. Guitars weren't common in religious music, and Lysander had managed to find a piano piece that should sound good on a guitar. They managed to get through it once without Castiel having to look to the sheet. Lys had been patient the whole time understanding that his friend just couldn't learn a whole new piece within a day. It was promising that he managed to get through it the one time, but Lys knew that their only hope was for Castiel to practice all today and Lys was going to have to nail his vocals. What pushed him to his limits now was the missing Candy and now Castiel disappearance.

According to Rosa Candy was fine, she had come in before the duo returned from the bar. She left a note that morning saying she had gone out to practice and would be gone all day again. Castiel hadn't taken that well, he had desperately wanted to talk with Candy and this game of hide and seek was a distraction. Lys still had some patience left and decided to practice to his friend returned. So he practiced, and practiced, and practiced till he felt that another moment singing would leave him mute. Lysander checked the bars, thankful no one had seen Castiel, and some hope bubbled in him. Maybe things had worked out, maybe Castiel was working on his guitar, maybe they could win. Still, in the back of his mind, he felt a bit uneasy, and that nagging wouldn't end until he found his friend. Remembered that Demon was good at tracking, Lysander went back and followed him to the center of the kingdom.

Demon ran up and jumped onto his seated master, a wave of relief passed over Lysander as noticed the guitar. "Demon how did you get?"

"I needed some way to track you down." Lysander voice called out catching his friend's attention.

Castiel smiled and got to his feet in a casual tone he asked, "Lys buddy how are you?"

Lysander wasn't as friendly, "Where have you been? I pray you at least have been practicing."

"I actually have been practicing." Castiel was surprised at his friend's attitude.

"Don't worry I'll vouch for him." A blonde woman with cropped blonde hair stepped into view. She moved to Castiel's side, who wrapped his hand around her waist.

Lysander eyes moved from Castiel hand to the woman's face. "I'm sorry who are you?"

Lysander hadn't meant to sound so rude, but Amber took offense, "My name is Amber, Castiel and I are old friends. We grew up in the same village, my father is a nobleman, and his is a merchant."

"Crazy thing is when I went this morning we bumped into each other. I told her why I was here, and I'm playing for her the song as a sneak preview."

"Castiel may I speak with just you for a moment. It regards our current situation." Castiel looked pained as if he were going to whine about the situation. Instead, he let out a sigh and followed his friend a few feet away.

"What's wrong?"

"What the hell has gotten into you? You know this whole thing is wrong!" Although he was whispering Castiel could tell he was restraining himself.

"We're just catching up-" Just as quickly as Castiel tried avoiding the question Lysander stopped him."No just no. You mentioned Amber before, but you were always annoyed."

"Things have changed Lys, I don't know what to tell you. I just feel like I should give us a chance. Candy sure in hell wants nothing to do with me."

Lysander was simply stunned, "Have you actually spoken with her?"

"No, I never found her." Castiel let out another sigh before he snapped, "Listen if she was so intent on being with me wouldn't she have come back by now and made an effort to talk with me. I bet you she hasn't been back to the apartment yet."

Lysander grit his teeth, "I can't stand to look at you right now, you blind fool. This all is going to end badly Castiel, so help me."

"Get off my back about this, I promise I'll be ready for tomorrow."

"I wasn't talking about the competition. This is exactly what I mean by blind." A quiet fury burned in Lysander's eyes as listened to his friend's stupidity.

Amber's squeal tore the duo attention away from one another. Demon knocked Amber down and began licking her face, and the latter didn't look pleased. Castiel had to tear Demon off Amber and once the licking stopped Amber began to pout. "Ugh, I'm covered in its slobber. Castiel would you mind walking me back to my apartment? I need to wash my face as soon as possible, I'm afraid of where his tongue has been."

"Sure." Holding his hand out he helped Amber get back onto her feet. He then turned to his friend, "Lys if it makes you feel better I'll come right back and practice till I fall asleep. No bar for me tonight."

"Fine." Lysander took his leave calling Demon to follow his leave.

He couldn't believe how odd Castiel had been acting, what was with him and girls from his past? Eventually, a familiar ache of hungry crept up on Lysander, looking at the sky it appeared that dusk was setting in. He couldn't be sure how long ago he eaten and stopped at the first promising place. Lysander had almost missed the restaurant had it not been for Demon wondering closer to the building. Lysander grabbed hold of the dog before he got himself into trouble.

"Hello, there table for 2?" A perky waitress asked as she finished writing down another diner's order.

"I beg your pardon?" Lysander didn't notice her attention turned to him.

"For you and the dog. You'll have to sit outside."

Taking a moment, he thought about how hungry he would be when he got back, and the tiring day he had. "Thank you, yes."

Lysander ordered himself and Demon a meal while waiting he pulled out his notebook. He had written down the lyrics, and although he couldn't start singing them aloud, he could hum the tune while he waited. He was so focused on his music that he failed to notice Demon leaving his side to nose over at the stranger's food beside him.

"Excuse me boy this my food. You have to wait for yours." Lysander turned his head to see who the man was talking to.

Lysander snapped up in attention, "Oh I'm so sorry about him! Demon, no! That is not how you behave."

Demon back away and his ears slumped, he sulked back to his spot under Lysander's table. The man them watched curiously, "Demon is an interesting name, especially coming from a man who's humming a hymn."

"Ah well to be fair he's not my dog, and I am not as religious as I may seem. I'm Lysander Ainsworth." Lysander didn't really know why he was blushing as he met the stranger's deep green eyes.

"Nice to meet you Lysander, I'm Joji." He told Lysander with a playful smile, he turned to better face Lysander. "You here for the festival?"

"Yes my friend, the owner of this dog, and I came to enter the competition. I'm just practicing a little bit for the semi-final."

Joji nodded his head slowly, "I could tell you weren't from the kingdom."

"I typically don't seem to fit in wherever I am."

"Uh, I didn't mean to suggest you stuck out in a bad way. You seemed more reserved than most people from here are-" Joji stopped himself and took a long deep breath."In this kingdom, there is a lot of great entertainers and to stand out a lot of them tend to make it known how 'good' they are."

"Well I didn't come here to be 'known,' I came to prove to myself that my voice and lyrics matter and people will listen."

Joji leaned back into his chair, he spoke softly that only Lysander caught it as the waitress brought him his food."I'm certainly listening."