Divine Idol 11 - Tied in Flames

Theo thought about a random door and followed the path that led there.

The path was like a small labyrinth with a line on the floor that he had to follow, probably so that it wouldn't be clear which door was connected to another.

After walking a few meters in random directions following the line on the floor, passing curves and other doors, he saw a different door and opened it, finding himself in a strange room.

The room looked like it was straight out of a movie.

There were translucent red curtains that let the light in softly, cushions scattered across the floor in shades of wine and gold, a glass table with white flowers, wine and cookies in the center and even a small heart-shaped sofa against the wall.

The atmosphere was too romantic to be a coincidence...

'Apparently I got the “romance” theme for the song I'm going to have to make...' He thought to himself, that was an easy theme considering how many good romance songs there were in his other world.

While he was still observing the details, the door at the side of the room opened and his double appeared.

Surprisingly, it was Sofia.

She walked in, swinging her long hair confidently and looking around curiously.

“Figures... of course I was going to stick with that theme...” she said with a smile, thinking about the coincidence. Crossing her arms, she commented, looking around and at Theo. "Romance, huh? Looks like they want to see our chemistry."

Theo laughed softly, putting the guitar he had brought on a sofa and looking at Sofia. “I think I was lucky to get a good partner for this song, it would be hard to do a romance song with a partner like Ace.”

“Don't be modest, chico.” Sofia retorted, approaching the glass table and holding back her laughter. “I think the public would love to see this alternative romance between you haha.”

Theo also smiled and looked around for instructions.

Sofia also started looking around, used to looking for the instructions that the organizers hid in the backdrops.

This was one of the dynamics that the show had, all the participants had the same amount of time to complete the episode's challenge, but first they had to find the clue in the room.

Theo was at a bit of a loss when looking for this, since the old Theo wasn't very good at it, he didn't get any very useful experience in this area.

But fortunately Sofia was good at it. After walking around the living room, running her hand along the curtains and tapping her fingers on the table, she bent down by the heart-shaped sofa and pulled out an envelope hidden under a cushion.

“Found it!” She said with a satisfied smile, showing it to Theo proudly.

She unceremoniously opened the envelope and began to read aloud. “Congratulations on finding the envelope, I hope your search experience is as interesting as the ROMANCE you're going to write, for this challenge you'll have 2 hours, good luck.”

Seeing that the envelope no longer said anything important, Sofia laughed. "Well, it's not like we really needed the envelope to tell us that our theme was romance, right? I think that was already pretty obvious."

“Yeah, it would be weird if our theme was punk rock.” He replied.

Taking a seat on the sofa in front of Theo, Sofia asked him with interest. "Let me guess... if the quality of the music you've shown so far is anything to go by, you're more the type to write sad lyrics, aren't you? How would you feel about making a romantic song?"

Thinking about what he had shown so far, Theo agreed with her deduction. "Yeah... kinda. That's really the style I like best, but I think making a song about romance won't be too far out of my comfort zone, considering that most of the time romance is sad."

Sofia raised her eyebrows and looked at him with interest. "Are you thinking of making it about someone suffering for love? That could be interesting..."

Although she was curious, Sofia still didn't trust Theo, since the quality of the songs he had shown her so far was far below her, but she had to admit that the confidence he was showing her so far was slowly changing her perception, all that was missing was concrete proof.

And to quench her curiosity, she decided to give Theo some rope and let him prove himself.

Since this style of music was her comfort zone, even if he made a terrible song, she was confident in editing his music so much that it would be good in no time.

“So tell me, what are your plans, chico?” She asked.

Hearing the Spanish words coming out of her all the time, Theo suddenly remembered a song.

'I think Tied in Flames could fit in here very well... right?' He thought in surprise, analyzing the lyrics again.

It was a song from his previous world about a couple who still loved each other, but the man decided to end the relationship because they weren't good for each other together.

The problem was that despite breaking up, they still couldn't forget each other, and the song sang about what it was like to deal with that feeling.

It was a very successful song in his former world, charting in the Top 1 on Spotify for several weeks.

Sure, Theo knew how much money was spent on promoting this song, considering that the two original singers were the label's cute, up-and-coming singers, but even disregarding that investment, the song was very good.

The problem for Theo was that it was a song that really marked him, because he had been through a very similar situation personally!

Because of his dream of being an artist, even though he was banned, Theo still insisted on pursuing that dream for more than 20 years, and in that time he met several women.

One of them was a barmaid who liked his music and always asked him to sing romantic songs.

Little by little, they developed chemistry and by the time Theo realized it, they were already dating.

But their personalities didn't mesh well: Theo was more of a rocker, while the girl was more of a romantic, Theo didn't care much for luxury, while the girl loved going to fancy places, Theo loved extreme sports, the girl liked going to the movies.

When it was just the two of them in an exciting or romantic moment, they got on very well, but when they had to decide anything together, fight after fight broke out, causing Theo to decide to end the relationship even though he still liked the girl.

And ‘Tied in Flames’ was a song she loved to sing with him.

He even tried to think of other songs, but once Tied in Flames had crossed his mind, Theo couldn't think of anything else.

So he agreed to sing it, there was just one problem.

‘I'm sure this song would go down very well on the show, but how would I simulate creating it?’Theo asked himself, frowning.

'What's the matter, chico? From the look on your face it seems like you've had an idea?" Sofia asked with interest, taking a sip from the glass of wine she had poured herself at some point.

Seeing another glass on the table, Theo smiled and took a sip too, sitting down next to Sofia.

“I've come up with an interesting idea, I'm just thinking about how to put it down on paper.” He said thoughtfully, taking a small sip of the wine.

Sofia raised an eyebrow and asked. “And what does that idea look like?”

“Considering that my style is more ‘sad’, I thought of making a song like a conversation, where a couple, or in this case, an ex-couple is talking about their break-up.” Theo said.

This got Sofia really interested.

“Ohh, that sounds like a good idea, what else have you thought of?” She asked, moving a little closer to him on the sofa and looking at him with her eyes shining.

“Imagine a couple who had a toxic relationship...” He said as he picked up the guitar and began strumming a melody close to the song's original tune. “This couple fought a lot, disagreed a lot, and didn't know how to solve their problems... until one of them couldn't take it anymore and decided to break up, even though he still loved the girl.”

[For greater immersion, search for “Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello - Señorita (Official Instrumental)” on Youtube!]

🎼🎶🎤

I tell myself that I don't care,

That walking away is easier than staying there.

But every look you give cuts too deep,

Loving you feels like losing sleep.

🎼🎶🎤

Hearing Theo sing this, Sofia's eyes widened, shocked that in just a few seconds he had already managed to start writing a real song!

Her mind quickly got to work and she thought about what he'd said and how she could complement it.

🎼🎶🎤

Dices que no quieres más, que ya terminó... (You say you don't want more, that it's already over...)

Pero tus ojos dicen lo contrario, amor. (But your eyes say the opposite, my love.)

Why do you push me, then pull me near?

Es un tormento que yo no quiero, pero no sé salir de aquí. (It's a torment I don't want, but I don't know how to get out of here.)

🎼🎶🎤

Now it was Theo's turn to be shocked, looking at Sofia with wide eyes.

He had copied the song from the other world, but surprisingly, Sofia had sung the lyrics in a way that was very similar to the original, or even a little better!

Excited, Theo continued and Sofia sang along.

🎼🎶🎤

Theo: I don't want your love, it's Tied in Flames in my veins.

Sofia: Pero lo necesito, aunque me cause dolor. (But I need it, even if it causes me pain.)

Theo: Every touch just ties me tighter in chains.

Sofia: Tus cadenas me queiman, pero aún pido más calor. (Your chains burn me, but I still beg for more warmth.)

🎼🎶🎤

Without him realizing it, Theo even stopped pretending to be looking for the rhythm of the song and started playing the original version on his guitar, enjoying the moment.

As the two sang, they didn't notice that the small sword hanging from Theo's belt and the whip around Sofia's waist began to glow.