The Rising - Ennead 1

Scene 8 - Silence Before a Storm; Act 3

The [not-quite] Alchemyst
There was something weird about the two people sitting at the table near the door when we left Solly's. They were definitely not a usual couple in any sense - a Hispanic looking guy in a dark blazer and an African girl with a sharp-eyed stare.

I had mulled over it as we rattled towards the Thames in Rufus's rickety van. I eventually decided to talk it out with Mad. I don't think he's the leader, not the way the others make him seem. On the other hand I don't care much for playing leader - I'll let him keep the illusion.

Boss man brushed it off, as I expected. Mad has a lot of OK qualities; instinct is not one of them. I filed their faces in my mind, just in case.

***
We almost didn't make sound check, as it was, we didn't have much time. The first act wasn't super amazing, but they were pretty tight. A tingling pressure settles on my shoulders; nerves acting up.

I hate feeling the willies, so I break out of somber reflection and throw a jibe at Jin and Brianna and... well the rest of the crew in general.

"So... we're going on in five." I start, innocent as a lamb. Mad raises a dark brow. He's only half here - the bloke always has something on his mind.

"Bree. I know I you're probably the last person I should ask but, do you have concealer on you?"

"Huh?" she replies, distracted. Everyone thinks this is our "big break" - they really need to chill.

"Concealer, love. Jin looks like he needs it - to cover up those dark circles under his eyes. We're alternative, not stoner rock."

Jin the super-cool, master of all strings man has ever seen fit to invent. Jin didn't even flinch as he gave a single statement comeback.

"You can pass it over when you're done with it Keaton."

I smirk, the banter is easing the storm in my tummy. Brianna snickers and punches me on the shoulder. I really hate it when she does that. Bree's playful punches are heavy enough to KO grizzlies.

She goes back to studying Mad as if he's some kind of puzzle she wants...no, needs to solve. I'm not the smartest bloke around, but even I know what's going on in her mind. Pretty much everyone in the crew does, besides Mad of course; he's a bit of a blockhead.

One of the black t-shirted concert monkeys comes over to hand us our sound monitors. He signs furtively with two fingers on his clipboard-clutching hand. Two minutes. Time is moving way too slowly.

Mad murmurs something I don't quite catch.

"A little louder Boss man, unless you're speaking to the aliens in your head," Mad looks at me with a pained expression. "If you are..."

He cuts in before I can land a rather beautiful one. "Harmony. If we go in on Harmony we'll be better."

The man lives in a world of understatements. Harmony would make us right invincible more like. I'm surprised our goody two shoes leader suggested it.

I'm about to repeat what he said about 'unfair use of our abilities, regardless of freedom from vows' when I sense Harmony just at the edge of my mind.

I can't resist it. It's like a drug; trust me, I know. Harmony clicks into place like a beautiful silent song. It's not a scifi 'hive mind', but it's bloody close. The best bit is the sensations and the feeling of being part of a system - a dysfunctional system, but a system all the same.

Kyle sends me a thought on a private dream-thread. "You ok? It's not making you feel like..." I reassure my twin and smirk so he knows I mean it, kind of.

I took him and the crew to hell and back, but he's the one who had to keep it a secret from Rufus. Kyle was the one who convinced everyone to stay off Harmony till I straightened myself out, went behind my back and all.

I turn my attention back to what's going on in reality. The first band has a pretty amazing finish. It doesn't take heightened senses to tell that the crowd is in love. They even get an encore - the bastards. They don't have to try so hard to be an impossible act to follow.

Then it's our turn, the willies are getting no better. It seems to messing up with everyone else's wavelength in Harmony... and then Monica starts to sing, a solo arietta to lead into the first song - a cover.

"When you try your best you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired...

Our pianist's voice is like a crystal chime, pure and classy. The kind of voice I suppose a classically trained operatic soprano is supposed to have. My apprehension fades into the background as we fall into prefect Harmony.

The Knight Magus
Frantic I cast out with my mind, a skill that used to be way outside my path, and finally find her. "TEMI! Why did you...!"

"You were having so much fun with Dani."

I hope she's sensing my seething fury. The girl is incorrigible! I'm sure she knew that I meant for her to stay with me

I gradually calm myself. "I found..."

"August's sisters? I know."

"Really?" I ask, skeptical. Spider sometimes overestimates herself.

"Family members have certain similarities in mental signature.... Didn't you know?"

I don't reply. She's not the smug sort, but I don't like being reminded of how blunt Knight sensing abilities are.

"Where did you go?"

"I needed to scan the crowd. You haven't noticed?"

I hate it when she's obtuse but the tense edge she has to her sending brings me up short. "Noticed what?"

"Darklings. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, all around us. They are standing still at the moment, as if waiting for a signal."

A/N

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