“Anton’s the one,” Roy whispered in Emil’s ear. “He just quit his current band and he’s the best singer at our college, maybe in all of Portland.”

Emil has no doubt about Anton’s ability. The multitude of light weaving around Anton and the way so many of these threads reached out into the crowd was evidence enough.

Emil knew that in his previous timeline Anton would be globally famous. He was recognized by audiences as an amazing tenor. Journalists would write about him as a cross between Bono and Jeff Buckley. Like Bono, Anton was a powerful rock vocalist, who could easily belt out the high notes without losing any vocal strength. And like Jeff Buckley, possessed an extraordinary vocal range, able to reach the highest of notes by sliding smoothly into rich falsetto melodies.

In the previous timeline, all the major music labels would start a bidding war based off the songs recorded on his four-track demo. He would sign with Interplanetary Music Group, achieve multi-platinum sales with his first album, and sweep many of the newcomer awards. And this was all before Anton turned 22.

However, Anton was not only famous but also infamous. Emil knew how Anton’s life would unfold. He was quickly labeled by the press as the “bad boy” of American rock music, and he dove headfirst into that persona. Drugs, gambling, alcohol, a string of broken relationships with lovers, managers, bandmates, producers, and pretty much everyone in the music industry.

He would rapidly become vindictive and vengeful, attempting to drag down anyone that he perceived had ever wronged him. The once bright shooting star, burnt out like a supernova by the age of 25. 

After Emil watched Anton go through a few songs, Anton finally announced that the next one would be his final song. It was a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” Emil thought that normally it would be a very cringe-inducing song to cover, but for some reason, the care and skill put into the cover was utterly convincing from the beginning. There was no irony in Anton’s rendition, it was completely captivating.

Emil wondered if he could change Anton's path. Perhaps the problems that Anton would face in his career, was that he didn't have people he could trust in his life. What if Emil was part of his musical life, what he was part of the same band as Emil. After all, Emil had already linked up with two other geniuses--Natsumi and Roy--whose fates had ended in catastrophe in his previous timeline.

Despite the possibility of these "bad ends," wasn't Emil also trying to change Natsumi's and Roy's destinies with this band? Wasn't he also trying to redeem his own possible destiny with this band? 

That's why Emil found it strange that he didn't feel the same feelings that he did with Anton that he did with Roy and Natsumi. He didn't have that immediate drive to build a connection with Anton, to play music with Anton. Emil just couldn't shake that feeling even as he watched Anton finish his song. 

The threads of light surrounding Anton were shimmering and glowing. The crowd was enraptured and the lines of light connecting each individual listener to Anton remained thick even after his voice and guitar stopped resonating.

As Anton began packing up his guitar, he was immediately surrounded by a small crowd. Emil noticed that he was especially popular with women, who were fawning over Anton's recent set. Roy nudged Emil and gestured with her head that they should hurry and approach Anton before it is too late. 

"Should we wait for Natsumi?" Emil asked as he searched for their missing companion.

"It's alright," Roy replied, "Natsumi already knows how good Anton is, and would probably say something annoying if they were around anyway."

Roy then forced her way toward the front to talk to Anton. Emil followed quickly behind her. Unfortunately, by the time they had reached the makeshift stage, Anton had already moved on to some other part of the house. Out of the corner of his eye, Emil noticed a crowd of hangers-on moving toward the front porch. 

"I think Anton went to the front porch," Emil said to Roy with a gesture.

"OK, let's go," Roy replied quickly heading to the front.

Just as Emil was about to follow Roy, he heard the light yet confident fingerpicking of an acoustic guitar. 

Emil turned around and was suddenly struck with deep crimson rays of light.