“... Maybe he can tell me about that curse he’s holding.”

(Our story picks up right where we left off)

BOOK 2

The Ballad Of Cici Beo

Chapter 1

Kopius relaxed comfortably in a cot, gazing at his profile page for the millionth time while Oh-jin and Cici played a card game.

“...you need to understand lad, they offered a free Elsener Blade for anyone who participated!”

“Remember when I was talking about ‘reading the fine print’?”

“Yes, yes. I don’t sign every ledger shoved in my face boy.”

“You know I’m probably older than you right?”

“Do you even know what the Elsener Blade is?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“It’s a rather pricey item. Much like your pugil staff, except for cooking. It changes into anything you would need to prepare a meal!”

“Fascinating,” Oh-jin interjected.

“Don’t encourage him.”

“It was almost too good to be true.”

“It was too good to be true. You basically put up your soul as collateral.”

“I do admit that if it were a Calibrit Stone, now that would be worth a soul.”

“I doubt it.”

“Not only does it store the ingredients, it serves portions for you, it can be upgraded. That’s just the tip of the snowcap my friend, let me tell you it–”

“Please don’t, I have enough to remember as it is.”

“Fine. I recall the first time I discovered my profile too. I just played with it all the time.”

“There needs to be more numbers!”

“Are we going to talk curses or profiles?”

“Curses.” Oh-jin and Kopius answered in unison. The latter let the moment of jinxing pass as the two glanced at each other. Kopius sat up and swung his feet to the floor. After so many nights sleeping on unforgiving stone, the cot felt like resting on memory foam. His ribs were still tender but the majority of the pain had been reduced to sore muscles. The lesson he learned here was that the healing potions weren’t feel-good juices. They would stop the bleeding and mend the wound but it did not remove the residual pain associated with the healing process.

“Just so I am all caught up,” Kopius started, ”You were traveling through a town when you saw a sign, not like a ‘sign’ sign, an advertisement or billboard or whatever. It offered that blade thing just for signing up?”

Cici nodded as he drank from his mug.

“What was the prize for the winner?”

“Ah, something of significance. I’m sure it was impressive.”

“Was? I thought you still had to sing.”

“I have sung. At her estate. In her amphitheater. I gave her one of my most potent performances. Honestly, I was even impressed with myself.”

“And?”

“And nothing. It was like serenading a statue!”

“How do you even win?”

“She has to cry.” Cici answered slowly, as one does when they have replied to this same question a few times already. “You compete against the others, for sure. But if she sheds no tears, well, nobody wins.”

“You know what,” Kopius said as he stood up, ”obviously I haven’t been listening at all and for that I apologize. Can you just start from the beginning… again… please?”

“I’ll start at her estate, before I sang. Agreeable?”

Kopius gave a nod of thanks and found a place to lean.

“The estate of Parolly Sistain is tucked back in the hills just before reaching the Kaliboz Swamps. It’s a beautiful piece of land, hidden from sight but easy enough to get to. In a small valley, her property sits like an unblemished jewel. The grounds are perfectly manicured, clear water in flowing fountains, structures looking as though they are painted daily. Large bushes in the shape of animals, sprawling lawns and an amphitheater fit to entertain the gods themselves. Truly, the place is magnificent.” Cici paused his re-telling to contemplate. “Thinking on it now, that should have brought some whistles to my mind. Warnings, ya know?”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“We call those ‘red flags’ where I’m from,” Kopius offered.

“Nevertheless, the place looked like it had been plucked right out of a story or a painting. The manpower required to maintain the whole lot was equally incredible. Hundreds of men worked tirelessly everyday to keep the place primed and polished. Nary a woman on site though, another whistle missed.” The big man gave an innocent shrug and finished his morning drink.

“Mind you, I am not alone in my arrival. This is a competition after all and us Bards do enjoy ourselves a Smorgasbard. That’s a formal challenge–Bard to Bard–before you ask. For another time. Where was I? Yes, not alone. There were many others like myself; singers, entertainers, duos… even a troupe! Twenty or so in total; all of them talented…” Cici trailed off, shaking his head.

The big man would often get animated whenever he told a story; really getting into the characters. Almost like a short theatrical play. He had the ability to bring the tale to life, even if it was just some mundane, remedial task like preparing applewax. It was like listening to audiobooks, where you really enjoyed a series but are left wondering if the story really was that good, or did the orator make up for poor penmanship. Any way you cut it, Cici was not acting like Cici.

“You alright my man?” Kopius asked with some concern.

“I beat each one of them… even the troupe.” Cici spoke as though he were kneeling before a grave.

“So, you won?”

“Yes and no.” Cici took a deep breath before breaking away from whatever far off place had his attention. “None could pry a single tear from her ice cold pours, not even yours truly. Some of these lads had me practically sobbing, their performances were so moving. Yet, one by one they were dismissed until only three of us remained. We had all performed our hearts out already and she treated them like, I don’t know, we were warming up.”

“You performed twice?” Kopius asked.

“That I did. Two songs that even a god in ear shot would have stopped and listened to.”

“Did you at least get your tool?”

“No! You get it at the end but that’s a bunch of humbuggery.”

“Please explain Mr. Scrooge.”

“If you don’t win you can never leave! Even after death. So piss on that tool.” The words cut through the air with a windchill factor. Goosebumps made a wave through Kopius’s body as if he were the one facing eternal servitude. Cici went to spit to really emphasize his point but a quick look at Oh-jin and he thought better of it.

“How are you with us then, boy?” Oh-jin’s high pitched voice asked.

“Well, I charmed her,” Cici said, collecting himself. “I tried to charm her, I should say.” There was another pause and Cici looked like he was calculating some large number in his head. “She was charmed by my attempts to charm her, not because I charmed her. I suppose that's what got me into this whole mess. Ugh, I was like a small boy asking a woman to wed…” Cici paused for a further moment of reflection. “Damn it, why must I be so charming?” This last part Kopius took as a more rhetorical question and left it in the air.

The whole story sounded like some kind of sham real estate venture where you get lured in by this magnificent “free” item or thing and then your bank account somehow gets sucked dry. There were still some holes in the story and Kopius wanted to get those filled. It wasn’t clear how the charming backfired, especially if it happened after he had performed. To Kopius’s mind, it sounded like Cici’s charm bought him more time.

“Did you charm her before or after you sang?” Kopius asked.

“Before, after, during; I’m charming in general, my friend. It isn’t always about the spells.” Cici answered with a smirk. “Before you ask an endless amount of questions let me just say it like this: For whatever her reasoning, I have one more chance to make this happen… or else.”

“They say the third time's the charm, so you have that going for you.”

“Why do they say this?” Oh-jin asked with the same curiosity he had given the F word.

“I don’t know actually,” Kopius answered. “Superstition, I guess.”

“Superstition, eh?” Oh-jin repeated as he stroked his long, wispy goatee. “That makes for a lot of turmoil in the mind.”

“Wait til I tell you about conspiracy theorists and flat-earthers. Those are some mental gymnastics, let me tell you.”

“Gymnastics?” Oh-jin half-asked.

“It's a sport.”

“Oh! Like your, what was it now, like your baseball?”

“Kind of, but no. It’s way different. It doesn’t matter.” Kopius said, waving his hands to stop any more questions. “Cici, what's your deadline? When do you have to report back to her?”

“She gave me one hundred rotations,” Cici answered. After doing some internal math, he continued. “I have twenty-one left to go.”

A silence sat in the room as the three men contemplated Cici’s predicament. Unless they could come up with some kind of groundbreaking song and/or dance, the big man was twenty-one days away from an eternity of entrapment.

Twenty-one days, Kopius repeated in his mind. Why does that sound important…

He racked his brain for a few moments before remembering: his O.B.S.E.. If Kopius was wrong about Metem being real, he would be dead before Cici had his chance to perform. It gave him a nervous pang but he wasn’t going to dwell on it, at least, not right now. Seeing that Cici had been counting down his own days, he asked him a question.

“Do you know how long we’ve known each other?”

“Well now,” Cici replied, “I would say we have been acquainted for twelve, thirteen rotations. Somewhere around there.”

“So I have about ten days or so… “Kopius mumbled to himself.

“Ten days till what now?” Oh-jin asked.

“Uh, ten days to get this man a song,” Kopius lied. “So he can practice.”

“I don’t want to drag you into this, my boy. This is an errand for fools and dreamers. After Cawbachu I was planning to start making my own way.”

For what had to be the first time, Cici’s voice had the resignation of a man already defeated. It was so out of character that Kopius felt a tinge of anger. He knew that if he was the one to uphold a positive attitude there was something certainly wrong. Maintaining the line, Kopius could handle. Keeping the team positive was more of a last resort. Additionally, the prospect of wondering about Metem alone did not sit well with his stomach. It wasn’t so much the loneliness he wanted to avoid, that was something he had come to terms with long ago. Not that he enjoyed it either, but that he was used to it. Cici had helped him and at a minimum he needed to repay the favor.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Kopius said with a smirk of his own. “You wouldn’t let a level 3 princess wander off all by herself right?”