NOVEL NEXT 57- Pandemonium Spreading
57- Pandemonium Spreading
3/1/6/4353 M.A.C - Muchiri- Ashrama - Evening
"Hey, Emi, didn't the Mistress tell you to take care of her guests tonight?"
Fabio approached Emi, who was having a drink at the bar, with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Well, yeah, but they were fresh from their travels and went straight up to their room. I was thinking of running a karaoke session when Arctic finishes his shift; tonight's performers don't need my help, and I've got to earn my keep."
"Karaoke? What is that again?"
Emi gave Fabio a judging look before chastising the frivolous-looking man.
"You know, karaoke, the sing-along I've been hosting nearly every night. You need to start watering those drinks, I swear you are pickling your brain."
Fabio scrunched up his nose, visibly offended by Emi's reprimand.
"Oh, come on, no need to get personal. I just forgot that was what you call it, no need to lecture me and call me a lush. Sharing a drink with our patrons is part of my job."
Yeah, he's got a point. Don't know why, but Fabio brings out the buzzkill in me.
"Mea culpa, I've had a bad day. Mistress told me she would intercede on my behalf with her friend if I could spot them, but I got it wrong and singled out their disciple instead. Not like I was planning on becoming a cultivator in the first place, but having an expert give Arctic and me body tempering tips would have been nice."
Fabio raised an eyebrow and took a sip from the mug that had materialized in front of him while Emi wasn't paying attention.
"Uh, I don't see you taking care of a client, so why are you drinking? Suddenly not feeling that bad about a minute ago."
"What do you mean? I'm offering you a shoulder to cry on and drowning your sorrows with you. "
"Shouldn't you have offered me the mug then? Fairly sure the sad one is meant to be the one drinking in that scenario."
Fabio scratched his head, then offered the already over half-drained mug to Emi, who looked at it with a mixture of awe and contempt.
"I only saw you bring it up to your lips once. Why is it already more than half empty?"
"See, you are being negative again. I'd say it is still nearly half full! Bottoms up!"
Emi sighed and brought out her human arms to accept the drink. She tilted her head back, opened her beak, and carefully poured the contents of the mug down her throat. Although she was rather large, as Mistress had fun pointing out, she weighed slightly less than an average woman, making her alcohol tolerance lower than one might guess.
"Well, it'll be enough to do the trick anyway. Gotta say though, your banter is getting better."
"Are you saying that I usually lack wit?"
"wait no I-"
Emi cut herself off as she noticed the slight grin on Fabio's face.
"Damn, you got me...
"Those arms of yours, though... How did you end up with such anatomically accurate human arms, with fingers and all? Almost feels like there should be a seam beneath your feathers, and that you actually are a human wearing an incredibly well-made owl costume. Wouldn't it have been simpler to mimic the anatomy of your legs, talons and all?"
Damn, is it me or is he using bigger words than normal? Also, I strangely don't feel like kicking him today... He feels less annoyingly dumb and vain than usual...
The alcohol started taking its effect as Emi started questioning Fabio's current demeanour, and the applause caused by the evening's performer finishing their set cut her thoughts short.
"Ah, my arms...Well, I was living with Arctic's tribe when I got the ability. They must have inspired me."
"Ah, but your hands seem closer to those of a human, and then there is the lack of fur."
Ah shit, he is poking holes through my flimsy narrative...Time to cut bait and bail out.
"Ah, well, the answer to that is simple. Let me explain..."
Emi looked around and spotted Arctic, telling him to approach the stage with a targeted sound that was audible only to him, her beak remaining shut.
"Sorry, seems it is time to get the party started. Arctic is already in position for the karaoke. Also, Aniya is giving me the stinkeye for keeping you away from her. Guess break time is over, let us get back to work!"
Fabio appeared mildly annoyed by the cop-out, but his frown turned into a smile as soon as Emi turned and waddled away toward Arctic and the stage.
"Something is a bit off with Fabio tonight. Can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I was able to go through a whole conversation without insulting him in my mind."
Arctic looked behind Emi, his eyes widening in surprise, and then answered her in sign language to keep their conversation somewhat private. His new trick with his fur made conversing with a stranger a lot easier. Still, anyone with good eyesight could eavesdrop on the conversation even if Emi prevented the sounds of the conversation from leaking out, so he sometimes reverted to his original means of communication.
"Which one?"
Emi raised a feathery eyebrow at her little brother's strange question.
"Don't tell me you forgot which one Fabio was after the whole kerfuffle we had on our first day."
Arctic shook his head and tried again.
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"No, I mean, which Fabio? I see two of them."
Damn it, who fed booze to my little brother while I wasn't looking!?
Emi was about to give Arctic a stern talk about the dangers of alcohol and how it could mess with his growth and his brain, but Arctic saw it coming and decided to physically turn Emi's head so she could see where she had come from. As she had expected, she saw Fabio still sitting at the bar, but then her gaze passed him and she looked further into the room, a seemingly impossible sight registered.
What the actual...?
A second Fabio, one arm up in the air, the other outstretched toward the floor, walked down the stairs that led to the private rooms. He continued stretching while letting out a large yawn, but he froze as he reached the landing, coming face to face with his doppelganger sitting at the bar, a shit eating grin on plastered on the imposter's face. Emi watched the two have a short conversation that ended with the imposter slipping an item into Fabio's hand before going up to the private rooms, a new mug in hand.
Don't tell me! Did I just get tricked by the cultivator again? Maji de!?
One failure had already irked Emi, but being fooled a second time did not sit well with her. She turned to Arctic with a defiant expression.
"I need to release some pent-up emotions, forget about the karaoke for now, I'm gonna let loose."
Arctic stepped back, fear apparent in his eyes. The last time he had seen his big sister with that kind of expression was when she'd used all her powers to reprimand his tribe for how they'd treated him, but this time, it was purely filled with annoyance; not a trace of compassion to be seen. Emi stepped onto the stage and made a node appear next to her, injecting nearly half of her energy reserves into it.
Mostly showed them pop, variety, and folk songs so far, but tonight, I need to rock out a little.
The sound of an electric guitar being strummed open-stringed blasted out of the node, louder than any sound she had produced in her performances thus far; loud enough that passersby walking past the entrance had a jump scare.
"I Wanna Rock!"
The musical track kept blasting out of the node, still growing in volume, and all the patrons stared wide-eyed at Emi, headbanging furiously as she waited for her cue to resume singing. They were intrigued by the owl's strange dance, but even more so by the loud and foreign sounds. The building, having not been designed for performances exceeding a hundred decibels, allowed the sound to bleed out and travel to neighboring streets, attracting more spectators by the second. A few seconds of instrumental later, and Emi opened her mouth again, her voice loud enough to pierce through the music, vibrating the walls and patrons' glasses.
"We're not gonna take it!"
Emi let her anger at being fooled yet again fill the music, then injected the irritation caused by the Mistress giving her a task that she knew was above her abilities, and finally a touch of indignation at being made the butt of a joke.
As the song continued, the crowd kept growing both in size and in rebellious energy until people sitting at the tables were forced to stand up to increase the standing space as some patrons recklessly flipped the tables to line them against the walls. The mistress immediately ran down the stairs and tried to yell at the crowd, but the music was so loud and energetic that her words got lost in the chorus of the crowd, who were now singing along to the song and adding to the general volume. Emi saw her trying to make her way toward the stage, but the crowd had turned into a mosh pit, and the mistress kept being spat out of it, no closer to the stage than she had been when she'd entered it.
If she had been sober and calm, Emi would have immediately toned down her performance. Still, this particular song, combined with the half-mug of alcohol and her heightened emotions made her continue with renewed resolve. Had she known of the rowdy crowd forming in the street outside, she might have toned it down anyway, but at that particular moment, she started losing herself in the performance as it resonated deeply with her emotional state, the music carrying all of it to her listeners. The emotions started spreading like an infection as one aura after another started mirroring hers, each listener imagining their own slights. Then, [Reciprocal Empathy] activated and Emi was rushed with all the crowd's emotions.
Gahhhhh!
Overwhelmed by the crowd's emotion, Emi directed them back into the music, riling up the crowd even more than before. At first, it seemed that a couple of chairs breaking might be the only price to pay for this performance, but feeding the crowd's emotions back to them had been a grave mistake, and they gradually became increasingly destructive.
A couple of fistfights broke out in the mosh pit as emotions ran high, but instead of putting a stop to them, Kshatriya Aniya entered the fray and started dominating one fight after an other, knocked out patrons falling to her feet one by one as Fabio cheered her on, an ecstatic smile on his face.
To the side, another group of patrons had jumped over the bar and was in the process of throwing bottles of alcohol into the crowd as Arctic did his best to get in their way and catch them in a scene that was not unlike the children's game called "monkey in the middle". He did manage to catch a few, but most were lobbed high enough above his head that he could not jump high enough to reach them.
Outside, a similar scene of wanton, emotion-fueled destruction could be seen as city guards approached, blowing into their whistles and struggling to make their way through the dense and rebellious crowd surrounding the source of the commotion, unaware that their Kshatriya was currently the star of the ongoing battle royale taking place inside.
Emi was nearing the end of the song, getting ready to launch into "cherry bomb" as her second number, when the fake Fabio rushed down the stairs, his body looking fitter and stronger than before, but his face still looking the same. Fake Fabio did not go down to the landing but instead leaped onto the crowd, running across patrons' heads at incredible speeds as if they were stones breaching a river's surface, somehow getting across to the stage without breaking a single neck in the process. Emi was too caught up in the self-reinforcing loop of emotions to care and opened her beak to start on her second song as Fake Fabio swung his arm wide, slapping Emi hard enough that she staggered to the side, her head spinning.
Oh shit...what happened? Did I just get hit by a truck?!
The slap had managed to snap Emi out of her trance, and although it made her disoriented for a couple of seconds, what she witnessed as she regained her bearings sent her reeling once more. She started to panic as she took in the mayhem unfolding before her, but then she noticed the doppelganger standing next to her.
"Did I do that? Crap! How do I undo it?"
"How should I know? It is your Ability after all. Does it only cause people to riot, or can you induce other emotions?"
Emi felt like palming her forehead as Fake Fabio's answer led her to the obvious solution.
Shit, I need them not to fight against it. People were eager to join in the fun and got caught up in the rebellious vibe... What song and emotion can I get them to accept and get swayed by?
"Give me a second, gotta think it through."
A lullaby or other calm song wouldn't work; they'd probably just resist it and keep going as is. I need to try a different tack. Something that will make them want to join in, instead of continuing the riot...Something that will cut through the carnage and grab their attention...Oh! I know!
Emi straightened her back and topped up the node before getting in position once again, nodding at the Fake Fabio. Her beak opened wide as a resonating and manly voice escaped it.
"Day-o, day-ay-ay-o"
A significant portion of the crowd suddenly ceased their activities and turned toward the stage.
"Daylight come and me wan' go home"
Emi continued singing with Harry Belafonte's voice as the patrons slowly lowered the bottles, chairs, and other random items they had been brandishing as makeshift weapons. The atmosphere gradually shifted as the patrons looked around them, slowly realising what they had just been doing.
"Stack banana 'til the mornin' come"
A few patrons started picking up shards of glass from the floor while others did their best to put the surviving chairs and tables back into place.
"Come, mister tally man, tally me banana"
Great! Seems like the campus bar's closing song does the trick, no wonder they played it every night.
The peppy beat of the song sucked people in as the melody and words sapped the anger away from them, replacing it with an urge to get home and into their beds, as if they'd just finished a double shift.
"Daylight come and me wan' go home"
Kshatriya Aniya looked at the many knocked-out customers carpeting the ground surrounding her, and a panicked expression quickly replaced the one of violent glee she'd been displaying mere moments prior. Arctic dodged his way to her, and the pair started sitting the poor wretches up against the wall, making sure none were in critical condition or choking on their blood or vomit.
"Daylight come and me wan' go home"
The crowd that had been amassing outside gradually thinned out, allowing the town guards to enter the pleasure house. The highest-ranked one of them took a deep breath as he was about to berate the instigators, but Kshatriya Aniya put a hand on his shoulder and whispered into his ear.
"Uh, right. The commotion seems to have died down, and the Kshatriya says she is going to handle things, so let's go back to our patrol routes."
The guards spun around and left to return to their duties, as Kshatriya Aniya wiped her brow, thanking the ascended ones that her subordinates had not noticed her part in the carnage. Had they made their way in a single minute earlier, they would have seen her standing tall amidst her many victims, and it would have been difficult to talk herself out of the situation.
Emi's song came to an end as the Mistress made her way up to the stage, a vein bulging on her forehead as she glared at Fake Fabio and the oversized owl cowering before her.
"So, Emi, anything to say before I tear you a new one?"
Oh lord, I might be fu-
Fake Fabio made his way between Emi and the mistress and raised a hand.
"Parv-, uh, I mean, Mistress. I am partially at fault here as well. I riled her up and got her somewhat drunk before she went up on stage. It is only fair that I share in the consequences. Plus, Emi seems interesting, so I decided to take her as an apprentice if she is up for it; it would be better if you didn't permanently maim her tonight."
Emi started smiling at the news, but the Mistress's following words chilled her blood and froze her expression in place.
"Alright then, I'll punish you just as much as I punish Emi, I'm livid enough to give a double serving!"
Emi and Fake Fabio locked eyes, a nervous anticipation filling their gazes.
At least I won't be suffering alone...