Chapter Text
Clay had mixed feelings about hospitals. On one hand he held so many fond memories like of his mother allowing him to get anything he wanted from the vending machine every time they went there, but on the other hand it was a place filled with deep seated misery.
Hospitals were always so clean, with white walls and bright lights that hurt his eyes. But he remembered a time when he had excitedly run down the halls to finally meet his new baby sister, situations like that reminded him that hospitals weren’t always depressing places.
And as he stood closely to the large window of the waiting room he watched a little boy excitedly swaying his legs off the edge of the plastic chair while an older woman, Clay could only assume to be his grandmother, read the paper next to him.
Undoubtedly they were here for a positive reason, unlike Clay.
“He’s awake now,” the nurse that was incharge of his father said, pulling him out of his little day dream. “You can go talk to him but he will be needing a lot of rest.”
Clay didn’t trust his voice to muster up an answer, so he just nodded before making his way to the room his father had been staying at for the last few months.
The sickness hadn’t been exactly unexpected, but the sudden decline in his health however was.
Clay didn’t knock, instead he pushed the white door open carefully and poked his head inside the room as if expecting anything new. Instead he was met with the same sight as always, his father laying in light blue sheets, breathing heavily, attached to endless machines that beeped in ways that drew Clay close to madness.
“Hi dad,” Clay almost whispered, only needing three steps to cross the room and sit down on the stool next to his father. He looked worse than Clay remembered, his skin was unnaturally pale, a strong contrast to the tan colour Clay was used to thanks to the floridian sun.
“How have you been holding up?” His voice was also much strainer than it used to be. Clay had endless fond memories of his father laughing and joking around with him, but one thing that hadn’t changed was that his dad never liked to beat around the bush.
“Mom is doing okay, oh and Drista won her science fair,” Clay informed him, because that was the difference between them. Clay liked avoiding the important things, and his father knew that so he just rolled his eyes at his son.
“And the school? Have you heard back from them yet?” His father tried to push him lightly, and Clay didn’t have it in himself to try and stop him, especially not since the news he was trying to withhold were technically good ones.
“They answered, and said that I can join the year as soon as I want too.” Clay felt almost defeated saying it out loud.
The thing was that his father was a musician, he had in fact gone to the best school there was, the International Mozart Academy in the Austrian Alps. Clay had basically dreamt of going there as well ever since he saw a piano for the first time. And he would have tried to get in if it hadn’t been for his father’s sudden sickness. His father had insisted on at least trying to send a letter and ask if there was any way for him to join late, and as it turns out having a dad who graduated at the top of his class was a rather solid way to get a spot.
“I can’t go, I can’t leave mom,” Clay immediately rushed out as he saw his fathers face break out into a giant grin, because as much as he wanted to make his father proud he knew he couldn’t just move halfway across the world and to leave his family behind while he chased after his dreams.
His father’s excitement morphed into a look of concentration, as if he was trying to solve a really difficult problem, and maybe he was.
“I have a gift for you, Clay, there by my bed.” His father nodded to the floor and Clay noticed the mute tote bag lying there for the first time. He glanced back up for a moment, and after getting an encouraging nood he leaned down to grab the bag.
Clay was hesitant in his movement, carefully taking the content out of the bag and with careful hands pulling back the tissue paper to reveal a book. The cover was red with the title engraved into it in golder lettering. It read: Die Zauberflöte. The Magic Flute.
“It's written in German, but I trust that you know the story. It’s a little souvenir from my time back at the academy.” His father smiled brightly, but with a certain mischievousness filling his eyes that Clay had missed seeing. It was enough for a little laugh to bubble out of him.
“You mean you stole it?” They both laughed, and for just a moment Clay thought that everything would be fine, that everything would go back the way it was. But then that moment ended, and his father was sitting up slightly in his bed.
“I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it. And I need you to bring it back.” His voice sounded even more strained now, as if sitting up was the most exhausting thing in the world. “I need you to go, promise me you will go.”
“I can’t-”
“Clay, listed, ever since I taught you to play your first few notes you have been obsessed with the notion of getting to attend the academy, you're an incredible singer and so talented when it comes to the piano and guitar.” His father had always encouraged him, always complimented him, but being told so directly was making it difficult for him to hold up eye contact, more focused on blinking away the tears.
“Clay,-” He forced himself to meet his father’s gaze, not being able to fight the tears any longer, “-when I’m no longer here, promise me you will go.”
~~
It was around six weeks later when Clay found himself hurrying through an airport in the early morning hours to try and find the train that would take him the rest of the way to the alps, dragging his suitcase behind himself.
He was grateful however, since the school required him to wear a uniform and his main instruments were the piano and his voice he got away with only one giant piece of luggage. He had heard so many horror stories of people trying to travel with a bass or instruments of similar dimensions.
Clay had to rush across platforms, barely reaching his train as he jumped in at the very last second and breathing a sigh of relief as the doors closed behind him and the train started moving.
He ignored the looks from other passengers and slumped down on the first empty seat he could find. The sunrise was breathtaking as he saw the alps pass outside his window. Between the goodbyes to his family and the eleven hour flight he had barely had a moment of peace to just take in his surroundings.
This whole journey hadn’t felt real. In a sense that he still couldn’t fully believe that he would actually get to attend the school of his dreams. But as his racing heart calmed down slowly and he turned up the music in his headphones he let himself be genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.
He was in less of a hurry as he got off the train, the station empty except for a family and a few old people. Clay had been hiking a few times whenever they had visited family out of state but he didn't feel those places could be compared to this, the cloudless sky allowing him a perfect view of the tall mountains.
It was still early but the sun had fully risen by now, supplying much needed warmth as Clay started to wander through the old streets on his way to his new home. He didn’t allow himself too much time to explore the city however, he was already half a year too late afterall.
The school was much more a castle than the classical school building Clay was used to from the states, it sat at the top of a little mountain overlooking the city. And as Clay had to pull his suitcase up yet another flight of stairs he cursed European architecture. But it was worth it at the end when he walked down the last few metres, stopping in front of the open gate of the castle.
Above the entrance was the school logo engraved on a golden badge, the International Mozart Academy. After almost a full day of travel he was finally here.
As he entered the main building there were quite a few students hurrying around, probably on their way to different classes or so, but even with the strange looks he was receiving Clay just ignored them. He opted to leave his luggage at the entrance as he started wandering the halls to find a teacher or someone that could tell him where to go.
The entire vibe of this place was so completely different from any other school Clay had been to. The walls were made of stone and the floors of dark wood and everything looked slightly dusty but instead of seeming dirty it just looked like it was supposed to be like this.
Even from just wandering around the halls Clay could tell that this place held so much history, it was clear to see why his father had loved it here so much.
“Are you Clay Catcher?” The sudden voice made him flinch slightly as he turned on his heels, finding himself face to face with a man holding a clipboard and who was undoubtedly in charge of something.
“Yes, I’m the new student and was just looking for-” Clay started to talk, the words falling out of him as he found himself suddenly feeling out of place. The man in front of him was dressed in a full suit, and as Clay allowed himself to pay attention to the rest of people around them he noticed that the students were also all in uniform while he was still in the hoody and sweats he had been wearing for the last 23 hours.
“Good that you finally arrived, I’ll show you to the principal.” The man didn’t even care to let Clay finish, instead just starting to lead the way.
The eyes that followed him never disappeared, and Clay started to regret not having changed into the uniform before, or at least into anything more acceptable. He really should have expected this.
They passed a library of some sorts and as they walked by Clay couldn’t help his eyes from getting caught on one book shelf in particular. It had a clock built into the dark wood that gave off a loud ticking sound every time the pointer moved forward. The real thing that caught his attention though were the books.
All spines were made of red leather with golden lettering but as Clay wanted to step closer to read what books they were he heard the older man call for him to keep moving. He would have to check them out later, for now the most important thing was to get his dorm keys and finally change so he could at least blend in.
“Here we are, Principal Baumgartner will explain everything you’ll need to know.” The man left Clay standing in front of a tall wooden door, the blond taking just a moment to fix his hair to at least seem a bit presentable before finally knocking.
The sound echoed off the stone walls of the hall and after another moment Clay heard someone calling him inside.
“Oh! You must be our new student then.” Clay was greeted as soon as he poked his head through the door. Principal Baumgartner stood by one of the large windows that had a clear view of the Alps but also overlooked the town below. He smiled slightly at Clay as the blond closed the door and walked further into the room.
The office was just like the rest of the castle Clay had seen, old but very elegant. The most modern thing in the room must have been the desk with a computer on top, although Clay was sure that the computer as well had to be at least ten years old.
“Please, take a seat, Clay. You know, normally we wouldn’t take students this late into the year but considering the circumstances we thought that an exception was more than justified.” The principal had started walking up and down in front of the desk, pausing shortly. “My condolences.”
Clay didn’t answer, just sort of nodding. He had gotten used to being pitied by older people by now.
“You know, even though I graduated a good few years before your father, I still got the chance to hear him sing, right here, in these halls. He really did have a wonderful voice, but don’t let that deter you. You wouldn't get far with just talent, you will have to work hard. And that's exactly what the International Mozart Academy is here for, to help you explore your full potential.”
“But I don’t want to bore you, the only thing you really need is this, the school regulations.” A kind of pamphlet was handed to him, once again the school logo on the very front and as Clay let his eyes wander over the first few pages he came to realise that it held the dress code and all other school rules. “The only way to achieve greatness is through discipline, I recommend you to make yourself familiar with the rules as quickly as possible. Other than that I wish you good luck for the coming year.”
Clay tried not to feel overwhelmed. Even if there were a few new rules he would have to get used to he knew that he could do it.