The grumbling in his stomach occupied most of his thoughts as he made his way back to Oh-jins. He had eaten little in the way of lunch and had burned through who knew how many calories during the lesson with Salem. From what he could gather from the witch, it was late afternoon, giving him a few hours to get a snack, check in with Oh-jin and somehow wash off the ever growing funk of body odor he had accumulated over the last two days of training. As he turned down the last long corridor to reach his lodgings he spotted Cici sitting on the steps to Oh-jin's toying with his instrument.

"There he is," Cici shouted as Kopius approached.

"Been here long?" Kopius asked, coming to a stop at the stairs base.

"'I've been back and forth," the bard said with a smile, "here and there."

"Are you doing another restring," Kopius asked, gesturing at Cici's instrument.

"That I am," he replied with a nod. "Aradi thinks I should abandon the horse tail for the grafeen."

"So she's heard the song?"

"Of course, lad. She has an ear for these things."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did she like it? Like, did she cry?"

"She always cries," Cici laughed. "That's just her relationship with my music. She also said that going with the grafeen would be more impactful, given it's never been heard before."

"You're the expert. You want to do that inside while I change?"

"That was my plan," Cici replied with a crinkled nose. "Until I smelled you coming. We need to get you bathed, can't have you offending the whole village. Does the old man have a wash room?"

"I don't know," Kopius said, giving his armpits a tentative sniff. He recoiled at the smell and opted not to debate Cici on the status of his hygiene.

"No worries lad, there's a bath house not too far from here. How about we treat ourselves to some hot water before our big night?"

"I could go for some hot water," Kopius admitted. "Is it like Cawbachu?"

"Better than Cawbachu," Cici smiled as he put his instrument away and stood. "They have oils and fruit, aroma healing candles and the fluffiest towels in all the land. Any ailments will be relieved, I will promise you that!"

While the two men made their way to the day spa Cici gave Kopius a quick run down of his dealings in the village. Aside from his practicing with Aradi he had visited a variety of shops and vendors picking up a hodge-podge of items and goods. Among the many purchases he had made were the quest items Oh-jin had asked Kopius to acquire: optical quartz, cyanis, eyebright. The big man had even packaged them up and handed them to the air elemental for ease of transportation.

Another stop Cici had made was to Parva, the witch who specialized in magical trinkets such as jewelry, pendants and other small oddities. Apparently he paid a hefty sum for a necklace that would assure him a fair shot when he performed at the estate. The chain would be designed to block any magic or trickery that Parolly might try to use to cheat her way to victory. Apparently, through past negotiations, Cici was able to convince Parolly that such a device would ensure a trustworthy contest. He said Parva would deliver the item at tonight's performance.

The bath house was everything Cici had made it out to be. The aesthetics were a mixture of roman-leaning architecture and Las Vegas spa descendants; a noticeable contrast to the village itself. The men were whisked off to private rooms, immersed in a soupy vat of mud and then soaked in a fragrant wooden tub filled with water hot enough to burn away a bad attitude. The only thing missing from the entire experience was a facial wrap and cucumbers for their eyes. By the time they finished, Kopius felt rejuvenated and smelled of egyptian blue lotus oil.

"How was it my friend?" Cici asked with a wide smile as the two men met in the lobby of the spa.

"I feel like a level three princess," Kopius joked with what was likely his first genuine smile he had experienced in his whole time on Metem.

"Wait til we get to Stoneclaw," Cici said with a wink. The big man looked around to see no one was within earshot. "It's even better," he whispered.

***

Refreshed from their brief escape from reality, Kopius and Cici entered a small domed building on the other side of town. Inside was an auditorium of sorts, the kind you might find at an elementary school for a fifth grade play. There was a short stage on one side of the space, donning dull, ceiling high curtains to each side. Below the platform were a gathering of tables and chairs, enough to seat fifty to seventy-five people.

Several people were busy setting up tables with utensils, plates, flowers and other decorations. Most didn't even look in their direction when the two men stepped inside and the ones who did kindly shrugged off their existence. It was one of the rare moments that someone hadn't yelled out Cici's name and it made Kopius wonder if they were in the right place.

Cici, not one to be bothered by others, navigated the tables, hopped up on the stage and slipped off to a side exit with Kopius in tow. Behind the scenes were your standard ropes, levers, tools and decorations that Kopius would see in any given movie portraying a behind the scenes of a school play. The space was small and cramped making the two men squeeze through some sections, ducking in other situations. They walked through a door to find a well lit room. Candles lit up the space that contained a seating area, mirror that looked for make-up purposes and a table that Cici ended up sitting at.

For a short while they just occupied the room. Cici spent the time undoing the strings he wanted to replace in his instrument and Kopius was left to twiddling his thumbs and opening random drawers out of boredom. The big man seemed focused on his task so all Kopius could really do was wait it out.

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After about twenty minutes of waiting, Aradi arrived with a wide smile and smell of food. She was accompanied by one of the women Kopius had met on his first night and she ignored him with the same indifference she had before. They came bearing gifts of food and drink; the aroma occupying the room like any well made entrees should. The two women left with in the same pace they entered but not before Aradi placed a kiss on the bard's forehead.

"No small talk tonight?" Kopius asked after the ladies left.

"She'll be back once food is served out there," Cic answered while eating his meal. "Don't want the show to be seen on empty stomachs. Folks tend to get irritable."

"People get hangry here too?"

"Hangry?"

"Yeah, it's a term used on Earth," Kopius responded. "A mash-up of the words hungry and angry."

"Clever," Cici said with a nod of appreciation. "I might need to steal that."

"You do that," Kopius replied, pausing for a moment. "Anything I need to do for this musical you're about to put on?"

"Nah, just need to re-string Luna here and wait my turn."

"You're not the only one performing?"

"There will be a few others," Cici said with a short laugh. "No sense setting this whole thing up for just one song."

"Makes sense," Kopius nodded. "Need any more grafeen string?"

"The spool you gave me is more than enough."

"Alright, I guess I'll just wait it out then."

"You should head out front when the others begin. Get a taste for the music of others."

Kopius nodded in agreement and finished his meal. As he waited for the performances to begin, he watched Cici as he methodically strung his instrument with the grafeen wire. The string glistened in the candle light of the room like a fishing line in the morning sun. The metal was shiny as the bard pulled each string taught. As Cici tuned each chord, Kopius could hear the familiar twang of a metal string vibrating in a quiet room. The sound reminded him of acoustic rock-n-roll he would hear while his grandfather worked on various projects in his garage.

Bored, Kopius pulled the grafeen string he had in his inventory and looked it over. He occupied his brain by imagining different uses of the material. Besides instruments, the wire could be used for a number of things. His thoughts ranged from mafia style stranglings to barbed wire fences. He could use it for artistic projects, jewelry making, or creating a bonsai tree.

It also dawned on him that–though he likely didn't have enough–he could braid the material to make it thicker for a rope or a whip. Besides the lack of string to make either he still liked the idea, especially if he could electrify it. He imagined using a lasso like Wonder Women, but instead of getting the truth he could electrocute his enemy from a distance.

"That has some merit," Kopius said under his breath as he reexamined the string.

"What's that lad?" Cici asked while concentrating on his own project.

"Nothing… just wondering aloud."

Kopius pulled a yard length of string from the spool, allowing his mind to work through some thoughts. With his new spell Shock Treatment he could, in theory, push electricity through into the string. That current should be able to travel across metal with no problem. Hell, given enough of the stuff he could wire an entire house and invent the light bulb or set up a perimeter fence to keep the baddies out of his personal space. As long as the conductive nature of metal and electricity worked the same on Metem as it did on Earth, there were all kinds of possibilities.

"Only one way to find out," Kopius muttered, staring at the metal string like a man about to invent the wheel.

"You know what, lad" Cici chimed in from across the room. "It makes me nervous when I hear that."

"You hear it often?" Kopius asked without moving his gaze away from the grafeen.

"No. You're the only one that says it. You get this little gleam in your eyes like you've gone mad… or about to go mad."

"It's just something I say."

"It's something you say right before it's something you do."

"This seems safe enough," Kopius replied, more to convince himself than the bard.

"Have at it then, just don't burn the place down."

Kopius took a short breath and then uttered the words of power, "statiko-ilektri." Nothing happened. He regarded the string again, wondering if grafeen wasn't a conductive metal or if he had spoken the words incorrectly. A few minutes of internal debate passed by before he decided to give it another try. With a more forceful tone, Kopius spoke the words aloud, "Statiko-ilektri."

A blue current of electricity flashed across the string that at first caught Kopius by surprise. When the streak reached the hand on the other side holding the spool, it struck his palm like a sledgehammer. He screeched in pain as the electricity ran through the spool and then back to his other hand holding the end. It bounced back and forth, pummeling his extremities.

"Motherfucker," Kopius yelled as the current continued its loop with an unrelenting barrage of shock and awe. The muscle lock that was often associated with being electrocuted took hold. As much as he tried to let go of either end, his hands were paralyzed gripping the grafeen. The metal grew hotter with each passing moment and a bit of fear set in. Whether it was instinct, survival or both, Kopius dropped to the ground and kicked the spool free from its grasp.

Once loose, the spool shot out unraveling away from him, ricocheted off the far wall and came to a stop on the ground. The electricity dissipated leaving him more annoyed than injured. Kopius looked over his hands to see the faintest of burn marks. They too were unharmed but he was left wondering how long that would have kept going had he not been able to free himself.

"Is that what you were going for?" Cici with a laugh as he helped his friend to his feet.

"Kind of," Kopius answered. "I might have used the wrong version of the spell though."

"Maybe you should practice these things outside?"

"That's probably a good idea," Kopius agreed.

He walked over to pick up the spool. While he wrapped the loose wire back he couldn't help but laugh at the whole ordeal. Though things didn't play out how he had imagined it, the idea still worked. He could push his spell through the wire, now he just needed to figure out how to do it correctly.

Before Kopius could mull over his errors, Aradi came in to collect their plates and cups. She left the room without saying a word.

"They will be starting the show soon," Cici said as he gave Luna a final dramatic strum.

The metallic nature of the strings raced off the instrument and echoed in the small space. He plucked the chords in a few choice places, creating a melody that sounded like a scale test, or whatever musicians did to ensure their contraption was intune.

"I guess I will find a seat out front then?" Kopius asked.

"That you should, my friend," Cici agreed. "I'll be on stage soon enough. A little privacy will help my focus."

Kopius nodded in understanding. He gathered what little he had, returned the grafeen twine to his inventory and took his leave. As Kopius exited the room he saw Aradi was leaning against the wall outside.

"Thanks for the food," Kopius managed to say as he passed her.

"Thanks for the song," Aradi answered, a bit of strain in her voice behind a forced smile.

Kopius gave her a nod with a look of concern. She pushed herself from the wall and entered the small room he had just left, closing the door behind her. He looked at the closed door for a moment, wondering if he should have said something. He wasn't the greatest when it came to consoling another person, hell, he couldn't even quell his own demons. There were a few occasions he could recall when he used the right words to put someone else's mind at ease, this just wasn't one of them.

"I hope it works," Kopius whispered to the door.

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