Inferno: Part Two

      "What's going on here?"

      They turned around, obviously surprised. Kyriio, thankfully, explained, "Well, to help me raise money for my drum kit, Zarath promised to help me invent some candy to sell."

      "Ahhh…so what caused the explosion?"

      Zarath answered readily. "Well, the amount of Slothite and Neopium used caused an unstable compound, but I figured the cocoa powder would help to balance it, but it obviously it didn't work."

      I stared for a moment. "Rrrriiiight. So, umm, just be careful with those chemicals, alright? And make sure it's safe to eat them. I don't think there are many people who would enjoy eating Slothium or whatever."

      "Oh, don't worry about that," Zarath chimed in. "They're only meant to help fuse the ingredients. The cooking phase should burn them out, and if that doesn't work, then their effects will be disabled during refrigeration."

      "Okay then. Remind me to get you to explain that in more understandable detail one day. So, uh, what exactly are you making?"

      Kyriio seemed excited that she knew something and butted in before Zarath had a chance, "Peppermint fudge topped with Kyrii Cracker crumble!"

      I nodded, but I'm sure my face gave off pure bafflement. Seeming to ignore that, Zarath turned to look back at his lab. "The smoke's cleared out. We're going to go back in and work on the fudge again, okay Arula?"

      I nodded and walked back inside before I was attacked by more scientific terms.

     I headed back for the kitchen, prepared to unroll the day's issue of the Neopian Times. Walking by Nagru's room, I could hear him playing the guitar. I was so glad he was enjoying it. Walking by Ledra's bathroom, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Overcoming the falling of water from the shower, a melodious voice reached me, causing me to pause and listen. As I would have expected, Ledra's deep voice put her down as an alto. I was an alto too, albeit a rather bad one, so I smiled inwardly at Ledra's talent. I waited for her to finish the song before walking away. It was odd; as far as I could remember, I had never heard that particular song before.

      I read the entire 'Times' from start to finish, and returned to my room to take a nice, long shower and get dressed for the day. I wrote in my journal for a little while before returning to the living room, from which I expected to see my pets playing in the back yard. No one was there. I waited for a while, but there was no movement. I even swept my eyes over the garden gnomes suspiciously.

      I stepped outside, ready to search the entire garden for them, but as soon I had opened the door I didn't even need to bother. I ran over to the entrance room and pulled back the curtain. Sure enough, there were all four of my pets, stationed by the sidewalk. Ledra, Zarath, and Kyriio were positioned behind a table, selling the candy to passers-by. Nagru was standing off to the side playing his guitar with his favorite black hat lying on the lawn, collecting spare neopoints. I walked out onto the lawn and joined my pets.

      "How's it going?" They all beamed at me. Nagru's hat was filling up quickly and three empty boxes, which I'm sure had contained fudge at one time, sat behind the table.

      "It's going great!" Kyriio shouted happily, "If we just finish off these last seven boxes, I'll have enough to buy the drum kit, even with the money split four ways!"

      I knew they couldn't have been working long so their progress was certainly commendable. Nagru added to Kyriio's excitement, "Kyriio, I don't need one fourth of the profits. I'm just going to take half of what's in the hat. The rest is for you three."

      Ledra picked up a full box. "Hey, Arula, I'm going to take these to Lupes Inc. (our guild) to see if anyone wants to buy some. Is that okay?"

      "Yeah. Well, keep up the good work everyone!" I walked back inside as Kyriio and Zarath turned to help another three customers.

      Later that day, as I was taking a much needed nap after cleaning the house, I was woken by three knocks at the front door. I got up, yawned groggily, and opened the front door.

      "Delivery," sighed the muscular bori. "Sign here." He indicated the proper line as he continued, "where do you want it?"

      I started to ask what it was he was delivering, but I looked at the boxes piled up on the front porch. Each read, "The Neopian Music Shop". I handed back the bori's tablet. I showed him Kyriio's room, and he dropped off the boxes.

      He walked away with a simple, "Thank you, madam."

      Only a few minutes after he had strolled off Kyriio and Zarath came walking jovially up to the house. Zarath was holding two bulging shopping bags, one in each paw. It was obvious that he was struggling, much to Kyriio's dismay, who was eager to get back home to her new prized possession.

      As they entered the front door Kyriio lost all obligations to stay back with Zarath and ran to her room. I heard squeals of excitement as she saw the boxes and began to unpack them.

      "So what did you get, Zarath?" I asked, taking the bags from the exhausted zafara.

           He smiled at me, the most excited he had ever looked since we had finished building his lab. "Well, I got a harmonica and a washboard. That's what's in that bag," he pointed to the smaller of the two. "In the other is a lot of books on how to play them, and on music theory, and all kinds of things! Now if you'll excuse me, I'd really like to start reading them. I'm going to teach myself harmonica."

      He took the bags back and ran as fast as he could toward his room, dragging the bags behind them. I walked back into Kyriio's room. Everything had been unpacked, and pieces of boxes were strewn everywhere. She sat admiring every drum and every stand upon which it would sit. "Well…?" I asked expectantly.

      "Can you teach me now?" she pleaded. "Oh yeah, Nagru told me to tell you he and Ledra were going to hang out at Lupes Inc. until dinnertime. Sooo…I have the drums. Now what?"

      I looked at the drums, placed randomly on the floor. "I guess we should put it together now." This was met with eagerness. Kyriio ran up to get a Jazzmosis album, and we set up Kyriio's drum kit according to the one that was on the cover. After about thirty minutes, we were done.

      Kyriio ran up to the drums and sat down behind them, drumsticks in paw, and looked back at me, truly excited. "Now what?"

      "Umm…well, I guess you just hit stuff now…" Sometimes I wonder why I have to open my big mouth. This, my friends, was one such occasion.

      Kyriio's drumsticks fell heavily in random places, creating an awful amount of rhythmless noise. "Okay, okay!" I yelled above the din. "That's enough!"

      "How was I?"

      "Umm, great. But let's try something else. Hit each drum a lot, one at a time, gently," I added as the drumsticks were being raised high above her head, "and figure out what everything sounds like. Then listen to a cd and try to copy the drummer."

      Kyriio nodded and hit each drum numerous times, seeming bored with the idea of calmly tapping the drums. I was just about to start playing the cd when Zarath poked his head through the doorway. "Hey, I bought this for Kyriio. I thought it might come in handy." He walked up to me and handed me a book.

      How to Play the Drums: A Beginner's Guide. I flipped through a few pages, scanning over the content. Relief flooded over me; at the very least, I would have a guide to help me teach Kyriio. I thanked Zarath and he went back to his lab. From then on, I gave two lessons a day - guitar to Nagru and drums to Kyriio.

      One day, about a week after Kyriio had started drums, I was working in the gardens outside. My pets were upstairs in the playroom, avoiding the midsummer heat. I smiled as I patted the last of the dirt holding the Sponderolas firmly in place. Ledra came up behind me. She watched as I worked for a minute before speaking.

      "Hey, Arula."

      "Hey, Ledra."

      "They're thinking of starting a band. I want to join, but I don't know what I can do…" I looked up at Ledra, who was staring at the Sponderolas sadly.

      I smiled, remembering passing Ledra's bathroom while she was in the shower. "Well, you could always sing."

      She gazed at me in mild shock. "You know I don't sing. I was hoping you'd help me pick out an instrument. I don't want to play the same thing as anyone else."

      I looked back at the Sponderolas, trying to hide my obvious disappointment. "Well, we aren't doing anything today. We could all run by the Music Shop."

      Ledra nodded happily and walked away. I brushed some dirt around the garden to even the surface before following her.

      We arrived at the Music shop an hour later. Nagru was eyeing up some guitar cleaning kits while Kyriio evaluated different drumsticks, looking hopefully at the multicolored ones. Zarath was across the store, looking through the books for any useful ones he might have missed previously. I followed Ledra to the wall of instruments. Her eyes brushed over all of the guitars as she walked farther down.

     I noticed her eyes falling to rest on a bass guitar. She looked over the sleek curves, the black sheen, the simplicity of only four strings. The shop owner also noticed and came up to meet us. "Ah, yes. The bass guitar. It's simple to play, leaving plenty of room for concentrating on singing."

     Ledra tried to hide it, but I still managed to notice as her eyes lit up. "That's what I want."

     By now Nagru, Kyriio, and Zarath had joined us. They were also looking at the bass. The shop owner smiled. "Well, that bass guitar is thirty thousand. It's a very fine instrument."

     Ledra opened her wallet hopefully. Her face fell as she counted the neopoints. "I only have fifteen thousand…" The shopkeeper looked at her, apparently upset at the loss of a day's customer.

     "Wait," Zarath reached into his back pocket. "I have three thousand you can borrow." He handed over the money.

      Kyriio ran up. "I only have two, but it'll still help."

      Nagru was also rummaging through his wallet. "Here, I have another three with me."

      I smiled warmly at the generosity of my pets. "Well, that's only twenty two, but I have eight thousand you can borrow." I handed her my neopoints.

      Ledra must have been the happiest gelert ever to walk the face of Neopia. We walked home, Ledra carrying the case containing her new bass guitar. That night, the band was formed.

To be continued...