Cartalis peered at the document. “You’re sure this is permissible by school policy? Actually, a better question - you’re sure this is legal?”

Drav nodded as he lit a cigarette. It was a nice day - the sun shining, the plants green - so they could meet outdoors, but it did mean Arenya would have to ignore the secondhand smoke. She was working on homework and eating her lunch, as she had little to contribute to the meeting. Zelzad and Ya'el were busy, so it was just the three of them.

“People carry martial focuses around all the time,” said Drav. “Us having weapons on stage isn’t a big deal.”

“True, but what people carry around are concealed martial focuses,” said Cartalis, “only to be removed when modifying or testing them. Wouldn’t you say that waving them around onstage is a bit dicey?”

“We’ll talk it over with the joint. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Arenya took another bite of her apple. “What’s the sword for?” she asked with her mouth full.

“Well,” said Cartalis, “They asked for a partial invisibility spell, capable of functioning on skin, clothing, and an unsheathed sword martial focus, which tells me they’ll need them for something… Ahem. What, pray tell, do you need the blood effects for?”

“Oh, that’s for the stabbing.”

Arenya nearly spat her half-chewed apple on the page. “The what?”

Drav laughed. “Partway through the show, we’re gonna have one of our backup guys sneak onto the stage with a sword cloaked, then he’s gonna cut the cloak, stab me in the back, and take over for a couple songs. After that, I’ll get back up through the Power of Metal or something, we sing a duet while we pretend to fight, and then I kick his ass and everyone cheers for the finale. But we need the invisibility and a lot of blood. Not too much, though. We need it to look real.”

Arenya’s jaw fell. She had absolutely no words to say. A glance at Cartalis suggested she was in the same boat. Drav looked so, so… so excited. His was the face of a man who had complete and utter faith in his ideas and couldn’t wait to put them into practice.

“I…I’m not sure about this,” said Cartalis.

Arenya closed her eyes. Cartalis was livid, surely, and she was going to blame Drav, and then blame Arenya for giving them the idea to involve Cartalis in the first place. Perhaps she should back away now, and avoid the worst of it.

“I don’t think full invisibility is a good idea. Too sudden a transition might cheapen the effect.”

Arenya opened her eyes to see Cartalis scrawling tiny notes on the margins of the paper, so fast her normally perfect calligraphy started to become looser and loopier. A smile played across her face. “What if I included deliberate flaws, so that there’s some flickering or distortion?”

Drav hrmmed. “So that people can kinda see that something is there, but they won’t be able to tell what… I like it! What color should the cloak be?”

“It needs to blend in with the clothing of the rest of the group, but the clothing should contrast. What are your uniforms?”

“We don’t have any unifo-”

“That’s ridiculous! You can’t put all this effort into the cloaking but none into what you’re wearing! Your band should synchronize the outfits so that the invader is distinct. What color is…”

Arenya turned back to her homework, but she was too stunned by the increasingly excited discussion between Drav and Cartalis to focus on it much. The two jumped back and forth describing increasingly elaborate setpieces and costume ideas. Cartalis continued scribbling notes on single-purpose focuses and amplifiers to release steam or fire as they walked onstage, shift between different colors between songs, and other ideas that swiftly left Arenya in a daze trying to keep up.

“Hey, honey.” Arenya turned from the staggering display to spot Zelzad walking towards the table. “Class was such a drag today, I…” she trailed off, frowning slightly as Drav didn’t turn. “Drav!” she shouted after a moment.

Drav blinked. “Oh, Zelzad. Sorry, I was distracted. Hey, are you all right with being the Mistress of Decay on stage?” He showed her the paper, now covered in notes with no rhyme or reason to their placement, and pointed to a corner that described their newfound “stage personas”.

Zelzad didn’t even look at the paper. “I’m not going by Mistress of anything if we’re cutting all the songs that a mistress would sing.”

“Ah, I had not considered the subtext of that kind of mistress…” Cartalis thumped the back of her pen against the table a few times, deep in thought. “I had intended it to be a mere moniker for a young woman. Princess of Decay? The regal air it lends gives some possibility…”

“Queen of Decay. I’m no princess.” Zelzad sat down by the table. Two seconds later, she did a double take. “Wait, Cartalis? That was your idea?”

But she and Drav had already become distracted discussing the implications of the extended royal family.

“Uhh… What exactly spurred this on?” asked Zelzad, looking at Arenya.

“I have not the faintest idea.” Arenya suppressed a giggle, but couldn’t help but smile. “At least you and she managed to talk without any raised voices. You might want to join in their discussion, unless you want everything about the Queen of Decay decided for you.”

Zelzad grinned. “I don’t think I should interrupt them right now- they look like they’re having way too much fun. What class is… oh, applied Mana Chemistry? I was never great at chem, but since we’re here and they’re busy, maybe I can help you with…”