[i]Thrummmmmmm.[/i]

The electric guitar is an instrument sacred to Zeus of the Thunders. When Redana strums the ancient instrument, her riff is the sound of building thunder, her scrape of the strings the sound of the thunderbolt striking home. How did she get it? Good question. All eyes were on the performance; for all we know, her father slipped it into her hands.

The floodlights snap onto the figure of the imperial princess standing tall[1]. Under them, her face is in shadow, save for the cold blue fire of her Auspex. And under her fingers the strings scream. The storm builds and builds, and there’s an anger there, expressible only through the medium. A defiance. Her mother might not be in the stands, but she plays like it’s Nero sitting in the royal box.

She doesn’t sing about the king of diamonds, the king of spades. All of her focus is laser-keen on the strings, on not making a single mistake, on matching the energy of eight atomics with nothing more than the feedback whine and the incredible building speed.

A speed, in fact, that calls for incredible vocals, words spat out like fire, words to match what Redana Claudius is laying down.

Bella might be able to do it, if somebody shoved a mike into her hands. But not Alexa. Redana has miscalculated, overcome by fervor and the rush of the moment. This won’t play out the way she hopes— but let’s listen anyway to that rock-and-roll heart.

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[1]: this is a figure of speech.

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[[b]8[/b] on Keep Them Busy. Redana will face retaliation, but creates an Advantage for Alexa. One that Alexa’s gonna botch. Redana also burns her second Obol as the price of invoking the gods and the power of rock.]