A Clue

“It's not here!” Lana complained.

“Of curse not,” I said, thumbing through one of the books littering the ground of the old store.

It seemed to have been abandoned a while ago, and all that was left was dusty old merchandise strewn about the place. Lana had checked the covers of every book there, but the Bleeding Crest was no where to be seen.

“What do you mean, 'of course not'?” she demanded.

“Jack said this was a 'former' location of the Bleeding Crest,” I said. “So, it must have already been relocated. The best we can do right now is look for clues on where it might have moved to.”

“This is stupid!” she snapped. “How the hell are we supposed to do that!”

“Check in the office,” I said. “There might be some documents left.”

“Why don't you check?” she demanded.

“Reading,” I said, turning a page in the book.

“Oh, please,” She scoffed. “What about that book is so interesting? It's not helping us find the book we actually need, is it?”

“I dunno,” I said. “It's all in Italian.”

“Then WHY are you reading it!?” She said.

“Dunno,” I said.

“Could you maybe put it down and help me?” she said.

“Well,” I said. “The way I see it, I don't owe you anything. So I'll get to helping you out in a bit.”

“I think you owe me plenty!” she snapped. “Remember the first time you met Dawson? He almost killed you, and if it weren't for the Red Cap, he would have succeeded!”

True enough. I kept quiet and let her continue.

“And when you called out the Wooden Girl just a few weeks ago,” she said. “The Red Cap helped you escape from that, too!”

This was going well. If I played the right cards, I could get her to open up.

“And what about your fight with Red Daniel?” she said. “Your right arm was jacked up beyond repair, but she managed to fix it so that you could fight on even ground. And none of that would have happened if I hadn't infected you with her!”

I slammed the book and glared angrily at her. Time to corner her King.

“Look, I never asked t be infected with the Red Cap!” I snapped.

This really pissed her off, and without thinking about it, she snapped back with “Well neither did I!”

Exactly what I was hoping for. She seemed to immediately realize what she had said. Her eyes widened in shock and she took a step back. I let out my breathe and calmly placed the book down on the shelf beside me.

“Continue,” I said.

She hesitated. Completely understandable. But after some short silence, she finally spoke.

“I didn't asked to be a Vessel,” she said. “I didn't know what was in that glass my friend gave me. He just said to drink it. That it would make me feel better.”

“Did it?” I asked.

She shuddered, it what must have been a mixture of fear and pleasure.

“Oh, god, yes,” she muttered. “It was weird, but I loved it. The feelings it gave me... the feelings it took away... I got lost in it...”

I had heard a similar story from Red Daniel. The way the Red Cap operates is by bringing out the darkest desires in a persons heart and suppressing things like guilt or shame that would hold them back. Lana had gone through the same thing I had in another world. Well, maybe not the exact same thing, but something close...

“Is it better like this?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, but I think I might have heard some doubt there. “To be able to do what I want, when I want, without it weighing on me... It's perfect.”

“And you wouldn't go back?” I asked.

“Of course not,” she said. “There'd be no point. I've come to far to turn back.”

“If you say so,” I said. “Thanks.”

She blinked in confusion.

“Thanks for what?” she asked.

I turned to the office and started walking toward it.

“For telling me all that,” I said. “I was wondering how long it would take to get that backstory out of you.”

“You tricked me!” She snapped.

“Yep,” I said, turning back to her and shooting a grin. “And you totally fell for it.”

“You're a dick!” she said.

“Whatever,” I said, opening the door and looking inside. “Looks like it's been cleared out in here.”

“Then now what?” She asked.

“We keep looking round the main area,” I said. “I doubt Jacky would have pointed me this way if there wasn't a breadcrumb or two somewhere to lead me in the right direction.”

“Ugh,” she whined, slumping to the ground. “This is so dumb!”

I started to pick up and examine random stuff on the ground. Nothing seemed to stick out.

“You have a family?” I pried.

“None that would miss me,” she said.

“You sure?” I asked.

“If they saw me know, they'd hate me,” she said.

I shot her a glance.

“You don't know that,” I said.

She glared at me, clearly pissed off. It was hard to notice in the dim light, but her hair seemed to brighten a bit, almost to a natural shade of red.

“After everything I've done, they would,” she said.

“Oh really?” I asked. “Is that what you really think?”

“Shut up,” she said, and her hair darkened again.

Whatever. I had gotten enough out of her. Personally, I find it easier t work with servants when I understand them a little. I had learned a bit of Lana's past. That was enough for now.

I kept searching. After a while Lana got up to help too. It took a while before I finally found something.

“Oh shit,” I muttered, and my fingers found the engraving in the floor beneath one of the shelves.

“You find something?” Lana asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

I couldn't really see it in the shade, but I could clearly feel it. A spade, a diamond, a club, and a heart, all arranged in a circle. The symbol of the Game Master.

“I need to make a call,” I said, getting to my feet.

I stepped away from the symbol and pulled my phone out. Tony picked up pretty quickly.

“Hey, man,” he said. “Find anything?”

I told him what I was uncovered. He seemed just as worried by it as I was.

“So, you think the Game Master took the book?” he asked.

“He might have,” I said. “He did have his own magic library, according to Estren.”

“So how do we get in?” Tony asked.

“I dunno,” I said. “We can try getting in touch with Abby, I don't know if he'll help on this one.”

“Worth a shot,” Tony said. “You need your sword back?”

“It couldn't hurt,” I said. “Speaking of, how's Drake?”

“Beta picked him up,” Tony asked. “Didn't say anything about Kay, but I'm sure he read my post.”

“Alright,” I said, as the familiar feeling of Burner's sheath found it's way into my hand. “Keep me posted.”

“Will do,” Tony said.

And that's how my day went. Hey, Abdalin. I know you're reading this. Get over here. We need to talk.