NOVEL NEXT BCB Chapter 54
Once the waterworks ended and the crowd resumed a sense of composure, the performers took to the stage for a final curtain call. The hysteria returned with thunderous applause, thrown flowers and possibly an undergarment or two. The talent basked in the attention, bowing multiple times, blowing kisses and pointing to select individuals while thanking all for their love and support.
The rest of the night played out like an afterparty for a successful conclusion of a Broadway musical. There were drinks and appetizers as the musicians mingled among their admirers. They talked of composition, inspiration and execution until the subjects were all exhausted. The entire scene lacked the opulence and grandiose flavor of a New York City party but what the place lacked in extravagance was made up for in enthusiasm.
Kopius kept to the shadows for the most part. He had thoroughly enjoyed the show but felt more comfortable on the outskirts of the crowd. Internally he blamed it on his introvertism but realistically he didn't know many people. The one person he was closest with was the bell of the ball, so Kopius kept himself busy by avoiding small talk and formulating his idea into existence.
At some point Cici had snuck up on Kopius, gave his friend a head nod towards the back stage and the two slipped past the crowd with little fanfare. The two men stopped back in the room they had occupied prior to the show so that Cici could collect a few items before they found an exit out of the back. The air was fresh, clean and cold. It revitalized their senses to a certain degree. The two adventurers took a few moments to enjoy the silence. Cici drank from a waterskin, likely soothing his throat from all the talking he had just experienced. Kopius was content to be quiet until the two of them started back towards Oh-jin's.
"I think you nailed it, man," Kopius congratulated his friend with a pat on the back. "There wasn't one dry eye in that place."
"Thanks Kopius," Cici replied, his voice a little hoarse. "It went very well, didn't it?"
"It did," Kopius answered, catching a vibe that something was off. "That's what you're going for, right?"
"That it is, lad," Cici admitted without his normal degree of confidence. "That it is."
"Soooo, what's the problem then?"
"I don't know," the big man exhaled with notable frustration. "It's just missing… something?"
"Like pop?" Kopius gestured with a fist pump.
"More like vocals."
"I can't help you there," Kopius admitted. "At least not with this song, it was an instrumental."
"You have lyrics for others then?"
"Song lyrics? Oh yeah, I have plenty stuck in my head," Kopius laughed. "My problem is I can't sing worth a damn or play an instrument."
"I can do both," Cici replied with his first smile of the walk. "I have a lovely singing voice."
"No doubt," Kopius agreed with another pat on the back. "I am not good at remixes either."
"Remix?"
"Ummm," Kopius stalled for a moment. "It's where you take a song and change its tune or tempo. Or you take the lyrics and sing them over a totally different sound. Like Astral's Canon is basically a remix of Canon by that Pachelbel guy. Better even."
"That doesn't quite help me with this current dilemma," Cici pondered aloud.
The two continued their journey in silence. It wasn't until they were close to Oh-jin's when Kopius offered Cici an alternative plan to lyrics. He started off by saying he had run the idea by Yama to which she had tentatively agreed that it might work. It was enough for Cici to entertain the idea.
Kopius spent the next few minutes laying out the game plan, what it would do and why it might be the oomph Cici needed to feel confident in its success. Once Kopius had finished they sat at the stairs to Oh-jin's in quiet contemplation.
"Will it hurt?" Cici finally asked.
"I doubt it," Kopius replied with a non-convincing shrug. "Maybe a little… probably. I mean at first for sure but you'll get used to it."
"Have you even tried it yet?"
"No."
"How do you know it will do what you are saying it will do?"
"There's only one way to find," Kopius smirked.
Cici slowly shook his head in the negative without replying. When the big man kept shaking his head, Kopius could tell there was an internal debate occurring. It was clear that common sense was losing out to the air elementals' more careless behavior.
"This feels a little bit like madness," Cici finally said.
"Ahh, not even close," Kopius replied, waving away the suggestion. "Reckless maybe; we haven't even begun to touch on madness."
"Somehow that makes me feel better," Cici admitted with a chuckle. "I'm in; what have we got to lose?"
"Everything," Kopius answered in a calm, non-chalant fashion.
A short silence entered the conversation before being whisked away by full throated laughter from both men. It cut through the unspoken tension of what lay ahead of them, giving both a moment to relax. Once they finished, Cici took his leave and Kopius entered Oh-jin's lab. They both wanted a proper rest for their last night in Ashes & Embers.
***
The next morning came and went in a blur. Kopius woke up to find Oh-jin meddling in his lab and a dry breakfast ready for consumption. Talk was light as the old chemist tinkered on his project and Kopius went through his normal morning transgressions. After he was able to shake off the lingering sleep, Kopius opened the door so that Cici wouldn't have to wait outside when he arrived. He also produced the goods that the bard had gathered on his behalf and handed them over to Oh-jin to complete the quests.
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{NX: Requested Goods- Cyanis and eyebright +XP}
{NX: Requested Goods- Optical quartz +XP}
Kopius kept his user interface open when he handed over the items to get an idea of how much the XP would move the needle on his experience slider. The bar barely moved when the notifications came in and he silently re-lamented about the absence of numbers. The books Oh-jin had given him to read regarding the subject were vague in their explanation as well. They simply hinted that there was no specific standard for progression as some people needed more exposure to level up and others less; even if they were the same level. Apparently this helped in stopping individuals from trying to cheat the system.
Oh-jin had little to add to the subject of getting Kopius home. He had discovered a few quest items that Kopius would need to seek out but wouldn't elaborate until the latter achieved his Form. The old man's advice was to reach level twenty as that was a threshold the air elemental would need to take on these particular quests. Part of Kopius felt the chemist was stalling for time or didn't actually have a way for him to get back home. Instead Oh-jin was distracting him with filler to keep him busy.
By the time Cici arrived with his morning libations Kopius had given the old man a run down of the last two days' events as well as restocking all the potions that he had gone through. There had been a brief lecture pointing out that the vials didn't grow out of the ground and unless Kopius wanted his supply of feel good juice to disappear it would benefit both men for him to bring the empty ones back. Kopius listed off his excuses as to why he hadn't returned with the used vials but Oh-jin shooed the explanations away. Apparently running from a psychotic rock golem was not a viable rationale.
Before Kopius and Cici took their leave, they gave Oh-jin a run down of their plan. The old man was impressed by their ingenuity. He asked a few specific questions for clarity as Kopius had used a few Earthy terms that needed further explanation. Oh-jin also warned the two that if Cici were successful with his performance, it was unlikely the lady would allow them to live with the knowledge of how to defeat her.
"Whatever cosmic horror this Parolly Sistain turns out to be," Oh-jin warned in his high pitched voice, "I would be willing to wager she will not let you simply leave."
"Oh," Cici laughed with no joy, "There will be a fight."
"It won't be just her, boys," the chemist added. "Anyone loyal to her will step in and if she has some kind of hoarded mind control over all the men she has collected, they will be forced to defend her as well."
"I have an idea to buy us a few moments alone with the lady," Cici replied with confidence. "The auditorium that is played in has only a few ways in and out. The building is a large dome with high walls and an open roof. If we can get those doors barricaded, it should give us the headstart we need."
"I suppose that will be helpful," Oh-jin replied after a thoughtful pause to tug at his goatee. "But once your time is up, what then? How many might you have to contend with?"
"Too many for the two of us," Cici admitted. "The place is occupied by at least two or three hundred–"
"What? What do you mean two or three hundred?" Kopius blurted out, cutting off the bard
"I have it on good authority," Cici answered his friends with a gesture that asked for calm. "That once Parolly is dispatched, whatever control she has wielded over the others will end with her."
"Good authority?" Kopius began to protest before Oh-jin spoke up.
"There is merit in what he assumes," the chemist declared. "Much the same as spell being cast continually, if the caster is dead there is no more mana being pushed. It effectively ends the magic ability to exist."
"What if she's not the one casting it?" Kopius pointed out anxiously.
"She is the one casting lad, I promise," Cici insisted.
"What about the minions?" Kopius complained loudly. "Remeber, they're not just going to stand there. How many of them are we talking about?"
"I'd say twenty or so," Cici seemed to guesstimate.
"Twenty on two?" Oh-jin interjected. "Those are not favorable odds my boy."
"We've faced worse numbers already, haven't we Kopius?"
"Those were skeletons, my guy," Kopius commented while combating a growing knot in his stomach.
"Kopius," Cici said with all sincerity as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I can go at it alone. This is my fight, I would not fault you for staying away."
Kopius looked over at the big man for several moments without speaking. He didn't pause to reflect on his decision but instead to soothe his own growing nerves.
"I got you man," Kopius finally said. "You gave me the rundown before I said I was in. We'll find a way… or make one."
"That's the spirit!" Cici cheered. "Not to rush your company Oh-jin, but if we want the advantage of the sun on our journey, we will need to take our leave."
"Of course, of course," Oh-jin responded like a worried mother. "Have some rations for your trek and when you reach Stoneclaw I will be expecting a full report! Do you remember my directions to the door Kopius?"
"Yes sir," Kopius replied as someone who had been given the directions a hundred times. He would have pointed out that once he was close enough the door would appear on his map but choose to skip the sarcasm. "Go to the northern edge of the second lake on the eastern peak and bring something to build a door if needed."
***
The pair exited the lab as well as Ashes & Embers with no other fanfare or distractions. They left the same way they arrived, paid their respects to the two statues as they passed through the chamber and found themselves in the morning sun of the vapor tree forest. The rays of light felt good on Kopius's face and skin, reminding him once again that he had spent too much time in a dark place. If ever there were a living metaphor regarding his life, this would be it.
Cici didn't stand in ceremony or engage in commentary, he pointed in a northeastern direction and stated that they had several days of walking if they didn't dilly-dally. The big man didn't use that exact phrase but the point was made none-the-less. Kopius ensured his packs, weapons and cloak were ready for the journey before the two men set out.
Over the course of the next three days the two men trekked over a variety of terrain, avoided several forest beasts and resupplied their water every chance they had. Each time they stopped for rest or rations the companions went through the process of bringing Kopius's idea to life.
There had been a few bumps and bruises, a minor explosion or two, several heated debates and one joyous celebration when they had finally figured it out. Once they had the formula down to a science they pushed at the boundaries of size and execution, going as far as to ward off a pack of kanglefangs which were basically a weird mixture of a kangaroo and a praying mantis. The noise the two men created sent them into a fleeing frenzy.
Along with the day to day minutiae, Kopius found time to utilize the Holo's he had purchased from Salem. Though he had planned to use them anyways, he was further motivated by the number of minions he and Cici were likely to face. The lessons offered a smorgasbord of stabs, thrusts and sweeping cut techniques. Each had a unique name and form, guiding the user through each phase so that the student flowed from one strike to the next.
The names reminded him of old samurai movies and Italian fencing in cinema. The Eight Cuts was a series of slashes that meant to bleed an opponent out. Empress Landing had Kopius moving around like some interpretive dancer to create the right opportunity to attack. Yet, the he spent the most time with was called Escaping the Void, as it dealt with facing two attackers at the same time; one in front, one behind.
By the third and final night it was time for Kopius to pay the piper. He had spent so much time fighting Quinn as a hologram that he almost forgot his time was up to present the defensive Drills the weapons master had assigned to him.The Quinn within the pugil staff lacked both his drunken demeanor and his general annoyance. They didn't have a back and forth like their past interactions. Kopius simply performed the Drills to satisfaction and was sent on his way with another assignment. The experience left Kopius wondering if they had turned a new leaf in their relationship.
{NX: Drills Certified}
The two friends completed a last round of practice by the fire light, both wanting to ensure they could perform their parts. The night was silent afterwards as they both were left to their own thoughts and imagination. There wasn't much to talk about, the time was upon them. By this time the next day, they will have entered the estate of Parolly Sistain with their fate in the balance.