Kit Falbo
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MwN Chapter Thirty-Four
🕑 Added 2024-08-26 15:26:17 +0000 UTCChapter Thirty-Four
The dance master, who introduced himself as Silas, worked her so hard that she could swear she could feel some of her skills advancing, but she didn’t have the attention to spare to check. Hyacinth joined in with a hopping dance before bowing out for a long nap in a shaded corner.
The dance master lamented that his student would be restricted to the square mark on the stage for the projection to work. He taught her ‘going down low and standing up slow.’ Letting her hands guide the direction of her hips. The subtle displays of hand gestures. Fine movements, big movements, then quick shaking movements like a racing heart. Silas quickly bounced from completed dances to moves she could switch to based on how the music and rhythm made her feel.
The band debated, planned, practiced quietly, and manipulated stage props. Stiriling's “Huzzah!” The patter of Grohl’s drums. Ambrosia letting loose some vocal practice. The ensemble had the energetic feeling of a cohesive group that Lord Tyler’s dungeon diving team lacked.
“That’s enough. You have enough of a gift with how your movement is incorporated into your being that I won’t be embarrassed by your performance, no matter where the music takes you. I won’t have any errors because I worked you too hard.”
“Thanks.”
“No. Let’s get you some water and food. Even if your time on the stage is less than we’ve been practicing, it is always more draining and intense with an audience.” Silas dramatically gestured towards the amphitheater with a wave of his hand.
Silas led her to a nearby food stand. He got two baskets of fried fish dumplings and vegetables and two light ciders while refusing Harmony’s offer to pay.
“Since you’re evolved, why are you in Hazeldown helping with all this?” It had become clear that Silas was past his twenty-fifth level. Not that you couldn’t be pretentious in asking to be called dance master, but Harmony didn’t think so. Ostentatious, yes. Pretentious no.
“Advancement is hard. Your actions influence the choices you have, and the choices you make influence what movies you forward. I hit a block, so I returned here where it all started. Hazeldown is a rite of passage for many of the outer kingdoms, a neutral spot where youth go and push until they reach fifteen in their class. I hoped to be inspired and guided to where I needed to be next. It didn’t happen for so long that I found myself guided to the demon brews, drowning myself as I numbed my mental faculties. Then up hops a maid onto the table fresh off work and ready to burn off the day’s frustrations. And she starts singing. She’s not a bard. She’s not a musician. Not a class or profession to guide her. Merely talent. I had to talk to her. I ended up here.”
A stray. Ambrosia has picked up another stray. Never a cat, Harmony was pretty sure the beast tamer was allergic. But that’s how she found her birds. That’s how the woman bonded with the necromancer, newly hired, alone, and disowned. If she hadn’t witnessed her friend pick up an evolved dancing master down on his luck, she wouldn’t have believed it even experiencing the woman.
“Must be fate, then.”
The dancing master laughed. Spotting the humorous sarcasm laced into that statement. “I can see why everyone covets you so much. If only I had my troupe and their resources with me. I’d show interest too. When the music starts, be proud and passionate while dancing. I’ll be in the audience watching.”
Odd man. Harmony found him perfect for the beast tamer’s menagerie, even if all her friend does is tend to him and let him back into the wild. Peeking at her status, she grinned. [Style and Grace] was up to fifteen, and several skills had advanced since she last looked.
“I’ll do my best.”
Any further attempts at conversation ended with Silas wagging his finger and reminding her now was about recharging and relaxation, not conversation. After finishing the meal, both of them gathered up a new order to bring back to the band, who they were sure had forgotten to eat in the excitement. They set up the stage in the evening light. A fabric box was constructed for Harmony to wait in. It would drop for the big reveal. It gave her the area she was restricted to for the projection.
Lines of people were starting to fill the seats as she ducked into the fabric of her area. She assured herself the crowd was for the Songstress, and she was assisting as a good friend should. Here was the illusion of being alone inside the area. She knew it was only a thick wall of fabric separating her from the band and the growing crowd. Part of being a maid was taking private moments when you could have them. Slowly she let herself into that relaxed, yet ready state Silas had coached her into.
The muffled noise of the crowd held no sense of danger, only electric excitement. Closer were the sounds of the band. Ambrosia’s voice projected above it all. “Welcome to River’s Bend! Songstress and the Flow are here to get you moving. As for our special guest, first the warm-up, and then the reveal!”
The drum started up, setting the beat that the guitar’s cords started to dance around. Behind that, the fiddle’s strings slowly built, accompanied by the natural pipes of Ambroasia’s pets.
“Rise! From below. Rise! It’s the world we know.”
The Songstress’s version of the climber’s song. It was similar to the classic love ballad and dancing or drinking songs. Every band, singer, and bard had one about leveling. When a crowd demanded your climber’s song, they’d get upset if you didn’t have one. They were never Harmony’s favorite. Give her an old-fashioned revenge tale with a beat to move to.
The love story was the next song. Stiriling’s fiddle drove the story here. Her music acted as a character to the few fainter lyrics. The last of the opening songs were a fast-paced dance beat out through Grohl’s drums and Jimmy’s guitar while the whole band yelled “dance!” periodically.
Harmony started swaying. Her performance was up next, Sila’s instruction fresh in her mind. She hadn’t rehearsed for any specific song, but the moves were there to build around any tempo.
“Now, introducing our special guest. Muse to our music. Starscape on the rise. Lady of Hazeldown. Harmony White!”
As the extended and inaccurate introduction played out, in Harmony’s opinion, instrumental music slowly beat into life, giving the necromancer something to dance to. She let her hips sway and shoulders rock as the fabric sealing her away dropped to the floor. The crowd was revealed to her.
Anxiety-induced activation of her chronostasis stat kicked in. The beginning roar of the crowd crept forward as her mind raced, slowing down the scene before her. The amphitheater benches had disappeared, swallowed by the standing-room-only mass of people that stretched and swelled up past the venue’s exit. [Mana Rotation] boosted [Poise and Bearing], letting her keep her composure. In all of it, the concert projection floated above, instruments in hand. Hyacinth sat among them oddly, but the performers made larger than life played around a larger image.
Oh no, it wasn’t an extra-tall Harmony dancing. The band’s image played around her image’s calves as Harmony’s eyes traced up the tower-sized projection of herself, Night shimmering and sparkling from its stars and shiny bits of armor. If the whole city couldn’t see this show, the necromancer was sure it was only because they didn’t look up. How was she going to make Ambrosia pay for this? She wasn’t sure, but there had to be something.
Chronostasis ticked off, and the cheers of the crowd hit her. She kept dancing. Childish revenge could wait, and she wouldn’t ruin her friend’s performance or let Silas down after all the work he put into training her. She stuck to following the instrumental beats. The Songstress started singing, and Harmony only gave the words a flicker of attention as she worked hard to maintain composure and get into a proper rhythm, even supported by skills.
A gravelly refrain pulled her attention to the words with the unusualness of it.
“... she holds our heart. From the streets to royal upstart.” Ambrosia sang.
“Our Lady Harmony White!” The accompaniment belted out with a deep inhuman reverberation.
Hyacinth! That traitor! He’d spoken through their bond a few times, and now he was talking, well, singing for the crowd for the first time out loud. Wicked amusement danced through the [Familiar Bond] at the outrage.
They were clearly having fun. Anxiety and outrage be damned, Harmony wasn’t going to let them show her up. The battle is on, and it’s too late to bow out now. The large projection accentuated the subtle movements, so Harmony focused on her dancing. She let Silas’s advice guide her on how to draw attention and evoke emotions through movement. She slipped into a trance-like state of combined song and dance.
Pretending that the songs and lyrics were not about her helped somewhat. Lies and over-exaggerations of heroics, loyalty, and beauty. A piece about her charming royalty to serve her hit a bit too close to home. Nothing outright about the prince or implying she raised the fool, stealing his corpse, but enough to make her mentally squirm. The number of songs about her was doubly impressive, considering the short amount of time needed to set this up. A few more traditional songs were sprinkled in, but they didn’t get the same love from the crowd.
Harmony watched her image explode into a swirl of rainbow light and knew the finale hit and the concert ended. While the crowd cheered, she slipped behind the stage. Her legs and arms quivered from the end of exertion. Two steps out of sight, her muscles refused to activate momentarily. Too damn close to having collapsed on stage. She found a bench and sat on it.
Ambrosia came around with Hyacinth hopping at her side. Behind her, the bandmates played some fancy instrumentals for the departing crowd. “Harm, that was amazing!”
“Did it have to be so focused on me?”
The beast tamer moved to Harmony’s side, sitting down and throwing an arm around her. Hyacinth nuzzled her from the other side. “I could joke about telling you I would use you today, but I’m sorry if this hurts you. Sometimes you’re so focused you could cut stone, but it makes you miss everything else. There’s no hiding this time, and if the world is going to see my Harm, it’ll be the best one.” Bending over, she kissed the necromancer on the forehead.
“Okay, but did you have to make me the size of a small mountain?”
“Any smaller and your personality wouldn’t have fit it. There’s an afterparty, but that might be a bit much for you. I’m sure Hyacinth can escort you back to the manor.”
“Fine.” She took the picnic basket that had her clothes in it. And put her hand on her familiar. Oh, she planned on planning some kind of revenge on her friend. But right now, she was too tired. Into the shadows, they went.
