Fan Fiction ❯ Chao Music ❯ Moving ( Chapter 16 )

 

A/N: I'm so glad this fic is almost over -_-

 

A Review!

 

To ficmaster: You didn't make me mad! (smiles) Just try not to do it anymore, OK?

 

Yay we get serious now! Enjoy!

 

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Chapter 16: Moving

 

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” shouted Julia, not believing what she just heard.

 

“Yes…” said Ima, looking down sadly. “We're leaving tomorrow.”

 

“But why?” asked Neil. “Why can't you just stay here?”

 

Ima looked at Neil with sadness in her eyes. “My mother gets very lonely up in Canada. She lives way up north in the Canadian Shield, where there's still some stuff to get by on. But nobody else lives over there, and with these probably being her twilight years, she wants me and Alex to come live with her.”

 

“Why can't your mother live in another part of Canada?” asked Julia.

 

“That's where she was born, and a lot of stuff in her life happened at that same house. She wants to stay there with her life.”

 

“Does this mean we're going to have to move also?”

 

Ima shook her head. “Oh goodness, no. You'll just have to get with another publishing company and a new manager.”

 

“But we can't just get a new manager!” shouted Julia, on the verge of tears. “There's no one that we could get to replace you! No one!”

 

Ima began to tear up as well. “I'm sorry Julia, but life isn't exactly fair.”

 

Julia just stared at Ima with huge, watery eyes, then turned around and ran back into the house.

 

“JULIA!” shouted Neil.

 

“It's OK…” said Ima. “She should be mad. I should've told you earlier.”

 

Neil looked over to Ima. “You found out today.”

 

“Oh yeah…”

 

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“What do you mean their leaving?” asked Skippy. “Couldn't Ima's mom just come down here?”

 

“No,” said Neil. “It's a long story, but she can't leave her house.”

 

Raven moaned in sadness and put her hands to her head. “Now I know how the Beatles felt when Brian Epstein died.”

 

The two boys just looked at their drummer in confusion, then got back to the topic at hand.

 

“Isn't there some way we could convince her to stay?” asked Skippy.

 

“If it was just friends she was moving in with, then probably. But this is her mom we're talking about!”

 

“But we have to have Ima here,” said Raven. “She's the one that got us into the music business in the first place. In a way… we are like family. You, me, Skippy, Julia, Ima, Alex, Iyou, Kryptic… One big family that….”

 

“Too dramatic,” said Skippy.

 

Raven zipped it.

 

“I just wish there was something we could do,” said Neil, putting a hand to his forehead.

 

“Apparently there's not,” said Skippy. “Who knows? This might be the best thing for Ima. And it's certainly a lot better for her to take care of her mom instead of a band. With a mom you can get so much more.”

 

“Maybe you're right,” said Raven.

 

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“We'll write to you all every chance we get,” said Ima, helping Alex put the last bit of luggage into the back of their van. Moving trucks would be taking care of the rest.

 

“OK then…” said Skippy.

 

The four Chao watched as their friends got into the van that had taken them to the recording studio for their very first time. They could remember that trip very well… Ima speeding down the road and blasting music out of the radio.

 

“And we'll buy every CD you make,” said Ima, looking at the band one last time. “That way, we'll be able to tell who did the better job!”

 

The band could tell that was an attempt to get the band to cheer up, but no signs of laughter could be found.

 

The moving vans in front of their van honked, signaling that they were ready to go. Alex honked the horn on the van.

 

“We've got to go now,” said Alex. “Take care, alright?”

 

The moving vans in front of them started to pull out, and slowly the brown van came to life and followed, leaving the band to wave in a cloud of gray smoke.

 

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“Julia…” said Raven, looking at the bassist with concern.

 

“What?” asked Julia, looking up from a bowl filled with chocolate pudding.

 

“That's the eleventh bowl of pudding you've eaten since Ima and Alex left. Now you've got to stop eating so much! You'll hurt yourself!”

 

Julia shoveled another spoonful into her mouth. “If you think I'm eating because of sadness, you're wrong. I'm a growing girl.”

 

Raven noticed scattered banana peels on the floor.

 

Skippy walked into the room, staggering and looking a bit spooked.

 

“Are you OK, Skippy?” asked Raven, noticing Skippy's nervous look.

 

“Yeah,” said Julia, dipping a banana into her chocolate pudding. “You have been acting kind of weird lately.”

 

Raven glanced at Julia in the corner of her eyes, then turned her attention back to Skippy.

 

“I just got a call… from a publishing company…”

 

“Yeah?” asked Raven, filled with hope. “Do they want us?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“GREAT!” Raven looked at Julia. “STOP EATING! WE FOUND SOMEONE!”

 

“YAY!” shouted Julia, throwing the banana into the air.

 

“So?” asked Raven, looking back at Skippy. “Who're we with?”

 

“…Apple…”

 

“Apple Records?” asked Raven, a little confused. “But… isn't that in…”

 

“England?” interrupted Raven. “Yeah…”

 

“So… what are you saying?”

 

“We have to move…”

 

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“But what if I don't want to leave Minnesota?” asked Neil. “This is where I've lived all my life!”

 

“Apple is the only record company that'll take us, Neil!” said Raven, getting a little frustrated. “All the other companies don't think that we're good enough!”

 

Neil opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get the chance when Raven interrupted.

 

“And this certainly isn't something that should break up the band.”

 

Neil sighed, not knowing what to think.

 

“We'll have fun in England! And besides, think of all the great rock stars we can meet!” Raven began counting on her fingers. “Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Robert Plant…”

 

“Yeah…” Neil looked around. “I guess it's the best thing to do. I'll miss this place a lot, though.”

 

Raven nodded and looked around the neighborhood. “It's not like we're not going to be allowed to leave, though. We have enough money to fly back her as many times as we want.”

 

“Sure.”

 

“And in England, we could each buy a beautiful estate with fountains and gardens and servants and stuff.”

 

“We're not that rich.”

 

“We maybe, though. The American dollar is worth more over there, I think.”

 

Neil shrugged. “Whatever.”

 

Raven watched as the rhythm guitarist walked into his house, shutting the door and locking it.

 

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“This is it…”

 

The four Chao stepped out of a black limo in front of a large mansion that appeared to be custom made. The mansion itself was built out of white marble, supported by pillars in the front. At least over twenty windows decorated it. The large, lush yard in front of the house was accompanied by rose gardens with different colored flowers, a single circular driveway that was obviously used for driving through, and several marble statues.

 

Julia looked at Raven. “This is what you bought with our money?”

 

“Yeah. Isn't it great?”

 

“It is.”

 

The four Chao walked up to the front door of the house, ready to take a look inside. Before they could put a hand to the door handle, the door opened to reveal a tall butler in his mid seventies.

 

“Good evening,” said the butler. “I'm Frank Mercury, and I'm going to be your butler. It's very nice to meet you. Would you like me to take your bags?”

 

Before the Chao could answer, Frank leaned down and picked up the four carry-on bags. Iyou and Kryptic would arrive with the rest of the stuff later.

 

“Please, come in.”

 

The four Chao looked at each other and shrugged, taking a step inside.

 

“Wow…” said Skippy, looking all around.

 

The entry was covered with blood-red carpet. At the northern end of the room, there was a tall staircase that branched into three directions: left, right, and continuing upwards. Before the staircase could continue upwards, there was a space in between the two stairs that would be the size of a normal bedroom. This area was covered with the red carpet as well. On the left and right side of this space there was two doors made out of different materials: two made out of black granite and two made out of white marble.

 

“On that small landing over the first staircase is where your rooms can be located,” said Frank, already walking towards the staircase. “Once you settle down, I shall give you the tour.”

 

The four Chao made their way up the staircase, ready to find out what their rooms would look like.

 

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“And here is the lounge,” said Frank, opening a door to reveal a small bar-like atmosphere.

 

“From the looks of this place, we have enough places to relax,” said Raven, excusing Frank from the tour.

 

“This place is so… spooky looking,” said Julia, looking around at the paints on the walls. “I feel like it's haunted.”

 

“It's not haunted,” said Neil. “Besides, we're going to be staying her for the rest of our musical career, and then some.”

 

Skippy looked at his watch. “Should we be meeting with Apple now?”

 

The others shrugged and made their way down to the entrance… if they could find it, that is.

 

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The four Chao burst into the small recording room.

 

“Sorry we're late!” shouted Julia. “We got lost in our house!”

 

The four looked up to find a man messing with amps and such. Apparently, he hadn't heard a word they said.

 

He finally turned around and noticed the Chao there and smiled. “Ah! You must be the “Plastic Spoons”, eh what?”

“What?” asked the band.

 

The man shrugged it off. “Never mind. Are you knew to Apple?”

“Yeah,” said Skippy. “Didn't you get our letter of acceptance?”

 

“No…”

 

The four Chao could feel themselves get frustrated.

 

“Oh wait! You're the ones that wouldn't get excepted with any other companies!”

 

The Chao lost their frustration and nodded.

 

“Well in that case…” The man walked over to a small stack of papers and picked them up. After filing through them with his thumb, he picked one and pulled it out. Then, handing it to Neil, he said, “We've got some small… `requirements'.”

 

Neil looked at the man in confusion, then looked down at the paper.

 

The Plastic Spoons are to have a five-year contract with Apple Records. After five years, the Plastic Spoons must leave Apple Records. The only way for this contract to be released ahead of time is the breaking up of the Plastic Spoons.

 

It is also important that the Plastic Spoons finish their songs for their album by the proper deadline.

 

“So…” said Neil, finishing the paper. “We have to stay here for five years?”

 

“Unless if you break up, yes.”

 

Raven glanced at the paper, then at the man. “But… we've never had a contract before. We've never even had deadlines before!”

 

“At your company, sure. But this is a different company.”

 

The man extended a hand and smiled. “By the way, I'm Charles Monighan, you're producer! It's going to be great!”

 

Neil smiled dimly and accepted Charles's hand. “Yeah… A blast.”

 

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Well that's the first chapter of the seriousness. The others should be a bit longer, maybe.

 

See you then.