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As far as Silvester was concerned, yesterday was bliss. Having finally met up, him, Bambie and Nemo spent the whole evening together, enjoying their drinks at a bar, talking and having fun, celebrating Silvester and Bambie making it to the final. Nemo was as excited for them as one could be, and they all wholeheartedly hoped they'd make it to the final too, so all three of them could show Europe and the entire world what they were made of. Being together brought them hope, determination and joy – it was just so much easier to represent your country when you also had the support and company of your best Eurovision buddies.
They could have easily spent the entire night just enjoying eachother's company, but tomorrow was Nemo's big day – the second semi final. Their schedule was practically packed with interviews and rehearsals from morning to night. Thus, with much reluctance, Nemo bid their friends goodbye.
"Tomorrow's gonna be crazy for me, haha! Hope everything goes well... Either way, I should probably get going and get some good night's sleep so that I can at least function in the morning." Nemo laughed, appreciating the understanding smiles of their friends. Both Bambie and Silvester ran up to Nemo and hugged them goodnight at the same time, resulting in Nemo playfully, lightheartedly protesting and being crushed in between them. Taking the opportunity, Silvester leaned closer to Nemo's ear.
"Good luck tomorrow, cutie. Although I'm sure you'll do incredible...Let's be together for the Grand Final." he whispered to them, smiling. Silvester's gentle, encouraging words left Nemo smiling widely too, and they briefly buried their head in his shoulder as a thanks.
A few moments later, friends pulled away from eachother.
"Bye again! Goodnight and see you both tomorrow!" Nemo yelled at them, scurrying out of the bar.
Silvester could finally enjoy somewhat-of-a-day-off, taking the time to just lay in bed in his hotel room and relax. Today was the day of the second semi final, and the focus was placed on making sure this evening's participants were as prepared as they could be to go on that stage, while the qualifiers of the last semi final could take that time to rest.
Lazily, Silvester stretched out his arm to pick up his laptop from the little bedside table. He didn't feel like napping anymore, and decided he could maybe watch something or play some games.
A few short minutes later, his phone lit up, catching his attention. Silvester was surprised to see Helena, Nemo's social media manager, calling him. The three of them had hung out often enough to all become friends and exchange contacts. She was fun to be around, and super supportive.
Curious, Silvester answered the phone.
"Silvester! Sorry for the random call. I'm here with Ella, can we talk to you for a bit?"
"Oh, hi! Yeah, of course! What's up?" Silvester answered, trying to sound as jolly as he could. However, he was starting to feel slightly alarmed. Something must've happened if both Ella and Helena needed to speak to him on the day of the second semi-final.
"We've a bit of a question. Nemo told us yesterday they'd be going to hang out with you and Bambie? Did you three meet up? Were they with you?"
Silvester frowned, as questions started running through his mind.
"Yes, we did! Nemo stayed with us until around 00:30, then left us and went back to the hotel to get some rest for today. Me and Bambie stayed for a little longer." he answered matter-of-factly, although sounding more and more concerned.
"Okay... Wait, so you did not all leave together? Nemo left earlier and went to the hotel on their own?"
"Yes, they left alone."
"Goddammit, was hoping you'd have known when Nemo got to their room. But that's okay, at least we have this info now..." Helena answered, and Silvester could hear her pulling away from the phone and starting to discuss something with Ella.
"What happened?" Silvester pressed.
"Half an hour's left before the rehearsal starts, and they're not here with us. The rest of us have gathered, but there's no Nemo." Helena answered, her voice betraying worry. Silvester's heart started to beat faster.
"It doesn't seem like they've been online since around 01:00, and they're not answering our calls either." Helena added.
"Hmm... Maybe they overslept?" Silvester tried to respond half-jokingly, but he was getting suspicious and worried. It wasn't like Nemo to be late, especially for Eurovision.
"We hope that's the case. If they really overslept, we're kinda fucked." Helena sighed. "Either way, thank you, Silvester, for answering. Sorry to bother," she smiled.
"No, no, it's all okay..." Silvester responded absent-mindedly. He was worried. "Please text me if they show up or not, or if something's wrong. I just... I need to know this. And you know that."
"Sure, lover boy, will keep you updated," Helena teased and laughed. "Bye for now."
Silvester hung up the call and placed his phone down again. He picked up his laptop again and tried to continue surfing the web, but his mind was in a different place. He was anxious about Nemo's absence, and couldn't do anything about it.
Some twenty minutes later, his phone lit up again. Nervous, Silvester picked it up.
"Thankfully they're here now, just got here, we'll try to get everything done in time. You can relax now lol" the message from Helena read. Silvester breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing had happened to Nemo, they did probably just oversleep. Feeling much calmer, Silvester returned to his leisurely activities.
Switzerland has qualified for the Grand Final.
Watching the semi-final livestream on his laptop from his hotel room, Silvester swelled with love and pride. His beloved crush, the cutest person in the entire world, was gonna be there with him in the final. Everything played out exactly like they wanted – it was him, Bambie and Nemo, ready to rock everyone's worlds.
As if on cue, Silvester saw Bambie calling him. Giddy and sporting the widest smile, he picked up the phone.
"Did you see that?! We're all in!!" Silvester exclaimed excitedly. Bambie laughed out loud.
"Yes, Nemo did so well! I'm so ridiculously happy all of us are in!" they said, giggling for a short while. "However, I didn't just call you to celebrate this. I... I don't know who else to say this to, and you're probably the only other person who would understand me. There's something off about all this." Bambie paused, and Silvester's smile turned to concern. "About Switzerland's delegation."
"W-what do you mean?"
If it was anybody else, Silvester would have probably been more sceptical, especially when the subject of the discussion was Nemo. But he knew that Bambie had a great, almost supernatural intuition and could read people well. Thus, he listened intently.
"Something's...off about Nemo. Did you notice how dark their eyes were?"
The livestream had ended, and Silvester rewinded some of the video to look at Nemo again. Bambie was right – the area around their eyes seemed much darker than usual, even with all of their makeup on. On a closer look, even their irises seemed a darker color. All of this could have obviously been explained by lightning and shading in the Green Room. And yet, Silvester continued listening.
"Y-yeah, I see it, I see what you mean. They do look a little different."
"Also, when they were announced as qualifiers, did you see how they reacted? The entire delegation? They were happy, yes, but the staff almost seemed...hesitant to congratulate Nemo? You know, hug them, scream in joy with them? They were kinda just awkwardly clapping by themselves or glancing at one another. Even Nemo seemed a little restrained today, not as hyper as I thought they'd be." Bambie continued. "Something happened today. Something's wrong. I just wish I knew what it is."
Skipping the video to the part where Switzerland got announced as a qualifier, Silvester kept replaying it, closely watching everyone's reactions. Again, Bambie had a point – Ella and Helena both seemed more exhausted or even irritated than happy. Nemo, while overjoyed, also seemed to keep mostly to themselves. The rest of the delegation would also just briefly hug eachother and then return to their seats. It was quite awkward. How could he not notice this?
Silvester frowned, his heart starting to beat faster. On one hand, whatever the Swiss delegation did or how they interacted was, obviously, none of his business, and he wouldn't meddle with it out of respect. After all, any delegation could have had a misunderstanding and an argument, especially when there was so much pressure placed on them. Nemo was the odds' favorite to win, and that sure added to the stress. Yet, on the other hand, Bambie's explanations and words seemed almost ominous. And he himself cared about Nemo. Heck, he was in love with Nemo. He felt partially responsible for making sure his crush had the best and the least stressful time. He cared so much for them that their emotions became his emotions – when they were happy, he was over the moon, when they were stressed, Silvester was beside them, empathising and understanding. And when they weren't there...
"Did Helena and Ella call you earlier today, in the morning?" Silvester asked, determined.
"No? I don't have their contacts."
"Right, sorry. It's just that they called me this morning wondering if I knew where Nemo was. Apparently they were almost late for their rehearsal, but then showed up last minute. Maybe that triggered it? They did have to rush to get everything right..." Silvester spoke.
"Huh, that seems like it could be it. It really isn't like Nemo to be late..." Bambie shared his thoughts. "Either way, I'll call Nemo and congratulate them a little later. But thanks for listening to my rambles."
"Anytime, dear! Honestly I believe what you say, the way everything played out is actually kind of strange... But yes, I'll call Nemo too. And maybe Ella and Helena as well, just to check on them. Let's talk later. Bye." Silvester responded and hung up the call. He got back to the livestream and kept rewinding parts of it, frowning, observing Nemo.
Baby, what happened? Please be okay...
The chilly morning winds blowed in Silvester's face as he rushed through the city. He had agreed to meet Helena and Ella in one of the cafes near the hotel. While already fairly concerned about the whole situation with the Swiss delegation, after last night's talk with Nemo he was certain something was going on. He needed to hear from these two.
His call with Nemo might have been among the most awkward of their interactions. On the surface, Nemo seemed to respond like they normally would, thanking Silvester for the congratulations and expressing joy. However, while they would normally be quite talkative with eachother, this time Nemo seemed particularly private and closed-off regarding everything outside of their semi-final victory. Brief, at times even dry answers. Few jokes, no playful banter and flirting and sweetness that they were both used to. In fact, it may have been one of their shortest calls, leaving Silvester anxious and hollow.
Something's wrong with Nemo, Bambie's voice rang in his ears, and he could no longer deny it.
He was joined shortly by Helena and Ella in the cafe. Helena shot him a look of sadness, and briefly hugged him. Ella, meanwhile, was clearly sleep deprived and stressed, looking as if she would burst into tears at any moment. Empathising with Nemo's caring sister, Silvester did the next best thing he could think of and tightly hugged her, running his fingers through her hair and comforting her. The group absent-mindedly ordered some coffee and sat down – their morning rituals were far from their concern.
"Yesterday was awful," Ella began quietly. "I don't think I've ever seen Nemo be this... This..." she paused, thinking of a word to use. "This...pushy? Passive-aggressive? Ignorant? I don't know. Throughout the entire day, no matter what we did, everything seemed to be a problem to them. We're not being fast enough, careful enough, obedient enough... We got in the way, the performance suddenly wasn't good enough... They just exploded, and obviously we had no time to change anything anymore," Ella spoke, fighting back her tears. Helena placed her hand on Ella's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"They would constantly walk around cursing and muttering something under their breath. I was just trying to understand if maybe they were stressed about the performance, about the odds, something. Anything. But anytime I'd try to ask they'd push me away, telling me to mind my own business. That's..." Ella paused and buried her face in her palms, struggling not to cry. "...I don't even know if that's my sibling anymore. I haven't seen or spoken to them since yesterday. I'm scared."
That's not Nemo. My Nemo would never treat their family this way. My love, what happened? Silvester thought to himself, and Ella's sorrowful look sent a twinge of pain down his heart. He gently grabbed her hands from across the table.
"We... We have to figure this out. This cannot be Nemo. Nemo loves you so much." he spoke, trying to reassure her. And, well, it was the truth.
"It wasn't much different for me," Helena began. "We were constantly arguing about schedules, what to post online, even the most minor things. They really did act like a completely different person. The energy was just way too serious. Which I could explain if it was somehow building up to that, if we had noticed any signs, but no. The day before they were as sweet and joyful as ever, excited to perform and spend time with us. Yesterday, however, that was all gone."
Silvester was about to respond, but then, as if on cue, Nemo entered the cafe. They looked so frazzled and upset, and their eyes looked even darker than they did yesterday.
Where are you, Nemo? What happened? Let me find you again...
Exchanging a brief glance with Ella and Helena, who had also noticed Nemo arrive, Silvester stood up. "I'm going to try and talk to them."
Silvester tried to seem as calm, nonchalant and chipper as he could when he approached Nemo.
"Hey there! Good morning!"
Startled and confused, Nemo stared at him. But this wasn't the warm gaze they'd usually greet Silvester with. This was a cold stare of annoyance.
"Oh, hi. Didn't expect to see you here." Nemo responded, forcing a smile.
"Yeah, haha, just early today. Wanna join us maybe? Ella and Helena are here with me and all," Silvester carefully offered.
Nemo cast a glance at the two women and frowned.
"I'm kind of in a hurry, sorry..." they responded, grabbing their cup of coffee. They started walking away, but then stopped a few steps later and turned back to look at Silvester.
"On second thought, can we both talk for a bit outside?"
Silvester found himself taken aback by Nemo's offer, but agreed and followed them out, signalling to Ella and Helena that he'd be back soon. Maybe they could both talk things out and figure out what was going on, and-
"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with you being around me, like, all the time basically," Silvester's hopes were immediately shattered by Nemo's words. "And you're even hanging out with my sister and social media manager now. I know, we're friends and all, but this is a bit too much. I don't know what your plan is, whether you're trying to gain popularity by hanging out with me or something, but I would appreciate it if you stopped."
Silvester winced at their harsh words. Rationality and insecurity fought in his mind at that very moment. His mind kept telling him that something was wrong and this was not his Nemo, so a cold response like this was to be expected, but the other part of him felt every single doubt and fear of his surface again. Nemo voiced everything he had thought about: maybe he really was annoying? Maybe it really did look like he was just trying to gain attention? Maybe he was too clingy or obsessive? It was like the most self-destructive thoughts of his had suddenly taken the form of the person he loved.
"Nemo, I... That was never my goal... I..."Silvester stuttered, struggling to answer. "I... I'm really sorry. If this is how you feel, I promise I'll keep away. I didn't mean for it to be like that." he spoke, fighting his tears.
"Thank you. I don't hate you or anything, just... Yeah. I do appreciate this, though. " Nemo responded with a smile that almost seemed genuine, and then slowly walked away.
Having returned to Ella and Helena, he couldn't hold it in anymore. Burying his face in Ella's shoulder, he cried. His mind told him that something was off and that he shouldn't let these interactions get to him, but his heart just longed to embrace them in the tighest most loving hug.
But that will never happen again, not after what he just went through.
Nemo... My Nemo... My love... Where are you? Who are you?
This may have been the longest day of Silvester's life. It sure felt like it.
Having returned to his hotel room after saying goodbye to Ella and Helena, Silvester called Bambie and told them everything that had happened that morning. After briefly comforting him, Bambie told him to wait for a bit and that they were going to do something about this. It sounded mysterious, ominous even, but Silvester was too exhausted to ask anymore questions.
He laid in his bed, looking at the ceiling. The Grand Final would take place tomorrow. The event he had dreamed of and worked for so long. Silvester knew he should be focusing his thoughts on that – after all, wasn't that the main goal? Wasn't that why he was here in the first place? To perform to the best of his ability and to make Lithuania proud?
And yet, at that moment, he couldn't care less about it. In fact, he almost wished he didn't have to go, or hadn't even qualified. The mere thought of getting to see Nemo tomorrow, sitting so close, yet so far from him, made his heart twitch in pain. Nemo was out of his life, right when he needed them the most. Completely exhausted and crushed, Silvester felt like he couldn't even get out of the bed.
His phone lit up, revealing a new message from Bambie. Opening it, Silvester saw a picture of what looked like tarot cards.
"The Devil and Seven of Swords," Bambie's follow-up message read. "This is not our Nemo. This is a trickery. Somebody is fooling us."
Silvester's eyes widened, but his exhaustion prevented him from coming up with anything reasonable.
"But... But that doesn't make any sense. Why would Nemo want to fool us? Who is fooling us then, if not them? They look exactly like Nemo"
Exactly like Nemo...
Exactly like Nemo...
No, they don't.
Silvester's head started spinning. The dark, shadowy eyes, the darker, although still kind of cutesy clothing, deeper voice... The differences were very subtle, but they were there.
This is not our Nemo...
Silvester sat up in his bed, gaze much more determined.
"Then we'll find our Nemo"
Silvester and Bambie had already spent a few hours following 'Nemo' around, and it was getting exhausting. This person did not seem to be doing anything suspicious, nor were they leaving the general area of the arena, frustrating both of the artists.
However, they eventually noticed 'Nemo' leaving, making their way towards a cluster of high apartment buildings. Without hesitation, Silvester and Bambie hurried after them.
'Nemo' led them from one dark, sketchy alley to another, carefully making their way towards their destination. They soon stopped by the back entrance of one of the buildings. It was a gray brick house, clearly abandoned and run down. The walls were covered in graffiti, and the main door seemed almost broken, barely hanging on the hinges.
'Nemo' however, looked down towards some stairs that seemed to lead to a basement under the house, and made their way downstairs. Soon enough, Silvester and Bambie heard a rustle of keys as 'Nemo' unlocked and opened the door, and a thud as they went inside. Unsure, the two artists carefully made their way downstairs, making sure they weren't noticed.
Just beside the door there was a small window. Silvester and Bambie crouched as low as they could on the ground, and peaked through. The evening was getting colder, and they struggled to stop shivering.
What they saw inside looked no different than an ordinary shed or a garage of sorts. Fairly messy, with different tools and materials laying chaotically about, some old, broken wooden shelves for storage, lit up with a simple lamp that wouldn't stop flickering. Silvester and Bambie couldn't spot anything of note that could suggest 'Nemo' of having done any sort of crime.
That was until 'Nemo' themselves walked into the room, immediately heading towards the farthest corner to their right and stopping there. Straining their eyes, Bambie and Silvester could make out an old, black couch. But there was also something on it. Something moving...
Nemo.
Their dear friend sat there, curled up in a ball, with their hands and legs tied behind their back. Their mouth was sealed with a duct tape. They had their head hung low and their eyes closed, hopeless and exhausted.
'Nemo' walked up to them. Silvester and Bambie couldn't hear anything that was going on inside, but this person clearly spoke to them briefly. Silvester winced and tensed up as he saw this person grab Nemo's tired face and then slap it across, making them fall of the couch onto the ground. It was then that both of them noticed the wounds and scars all over Nemo's legs, arms and face. They were clearly beaten many times prior to this.
Absolutely enraged, Silvester wanted nothing more than to break this window or the door, run inside there and choke this monster with his own hands. However, he knew it wouldn't be wise – they could have been armed, dangerous, and hurt Nemo even more.
After mocking Nemo some more, the person walked up to one of the broken drawers and opened it, taking out what looked like stacks of banknotes. They shoved them down their pockets, and proceeded to leave the room.
"Quick, let's go to the other side and hide behind the building!" Bambie suggested, and the two artists booked it while they could.
Only when they were sure that 'Nemo' was completely gone did they return to the basement. Silvester picked up a large boulder laying in the grassy spot nearby, and hit the one window, breaking it. Startled and afraid, Nemo looked up, only to see their friends jump in from outside.
Momentarily disregarding all safety precautions and pressing time, Silvester ran to Nemo and hugged them tightly, his heart swelling in love and relief as he could finally drown in his beloved's sweet scent again.
"Silv...? Bambie...? How did you?" Nemo barely managed to ask. They looked quite a bit thinner, and their friends deduced that they may not have had any food or water for over a day now. They had to get Nemo back to safety as soon as possible.
"Ssh, we're here," Bambie calmed Nemo down. "We'll get you out, hold on."
"What is your name?"
"Omen Mettler."
After Nemo's return, the mysterious imposter was arrested the next time they showed up in the arena. Ella, Helena, Silvester, Bambie and Nemo were both there for the questioning.
"Mettler?" both Silvester and Nemo exclaimed in unison, beyond confused.
Omen sat there on the chair, with a police officer on each side, and their arms cuffed. They looked up at the artists and shot them a menacing, evil grin.
"I'm you. A different version, if you will, but still you. The dark side of you. Or the better side of you... I should have been the one." they turned to Silvester and Bambie. "You all have one. There is another Silvester and another Bambie out there, waiting to break havoc and complete what I've started. You can be sure of that."
Silvester felt himself getting pale. He was beyond confused by this creature, unsure what to make of their menacing words. But above all else he hoped that this person will never be let free again to hurt his Nemo.
"Alright, you are all dismissed. We will take care of this."
The group left the station and slowly began making their way back to the arena and hotels. Walking close beside Nemo as he always did, Silvester couldn't help looking at them. Despite having this lookalike around for way too long, he was still beyond overjoyed to be looking at the beaming face of his real love.
"Hey, umm, Nemo? I just wanted to say that if you're ever annoyed by me being around so often, you can always tell me. I don't want to upset you." Silvester spoke, smiling. Nemo looked up at him in surprise.
"Uhh, that was... random of you," they responded, raising an eyebrow. "I'll keep that in mind. But I hope you know that I love every second with you... My hero." Nemo spoke warmly and leaned against Silvester's shoulder.
Fighting back the tears of love, gratitude and relief, Silvester laid his head on theirs. This was, indeed, his Nemo.