There wasn't much information regarding this man, everything was kept brief and tidy.
However, the fact that he existed was already enough.
Forgot his memories...Could this be Mr. Azik himself?
She started speculating and closed the book.
"Are you done?" Asked the keeper with a long breath.
"Yes, thank you."
This search was all a success! However—
"Sir, do you have any old portraits of Baron Lamud?"
"Lamud? Never heard of him..."
He started speaking, but soon stopped.
"There was a relic here, but it was not authentic. It's the face of the man you were looking for, however it caught fire not long ago."
Dammit!
"Any other way I could have a portrait?"
He grunted and made his way out of the darkness-filled room, being followed by Amanises.
Once they were back into the Archive Room, he grabbed the dossier and threw it back into place. It fit right in, like a glove.
"Hold on here, I'll be back." He grumbled as he disappeared into a dark, empty corner of the large warehouse-like area.
Amanises waited for no more than a minute before he returned.
Holding a small piece of paper, no bigger than a post-it note he handed it to her.
On said note was a hand drawn portrait of the same man she was looking for.
"You drew this?"
"Yes, now use it however you wish."
She turned around to walk back to the reception, before stopping briefly.
"You have wonderful skill, sir."
"Leave."
"..."
"Leave."
"Okay."
***
Holding onto the note tightly, but not enough to crease the paper, she made her way over to Royale and the receptionist, Sasha Birmingham.
"Found it!"
She turned to the receptionist and offered a slight bow. "Thank you immensely, ma'am."
"No problem." She spoke with indifference, turning back to scribbling something.
Amanises shifted her gaze to Royale, who nodded in return.
It was time to head back.
***
After bidding farewell to the Midnight Poet, Amanises made her way home.
She traced her steps back to Daly, who was dead asleep in her cotton sheets.
Not wishing to wake up the poor woman, Amanises undressed quietly and slipped back into bed.
She didn't sleep, and instead stared at the ceiling, speculating the appearance of the man.
Gradually, the room lit up.
Sun rays kissed the carpeted floor and tapestry, shining over the spread out Amanises.
She vividly remembered the sight from her dream, but with the heavy curtains blocking out most of the light, still leaving the room in shaded darkness.
A sudden wave of emotions enclosed her, nearly bringing the woman to tears from melancholy.
This sadness wasn't even hers.
As the ray of sunlight shined over her eyes, drawing a thin line of bright orange, sparkling tears ran down her cheeks, seeping into the covers.
***
It was time for a new day.
Azik Eggers made his daily coffee, grabbed a stack of papers and left home, heading for the University.
Although, today there weren't any lectures, he still preferred to organize his thoughts and recap for the next week.
As he made his way over, Azik was surprised to find someone near his office door first thing in the morning.
He recognized her instantly, it was the Beyonder whom he discussed with yesterday, Lady Evelyn.
He removed his top hat and offered a shirt bow by bending his back.
"Good morning, my lady. What can I be of help today?"
She raised her eyes and scanned him, before smiling and opening her mouth:
"I had another dream last night, this one didn't seem much like a nightmare."
***
Amanises was welcomed in his office, Azik,polite as always, offered to brew her some black tea.
She accepted, now cradling the cup in her hands, seating on a chenille sofa, back touching the puffy, brown cushions.
With a lowered gaze, she started to recount the contents of her 'dream'.
With a calm voice, Amanises spoke of the man, child and his wife. Not forgetting to mention the name of said person.
Azik Eggers cupped his chin and thoughtfully said: "This is similar to one of my nightmares, but there—I remember abandoning my family. Whenever I have that dream I wake up with tears in my eyes.
"But never do I recall the name of the person I dreamed about."
She breathed in and exhaled in an agonizing manner. "I see, it's just that, the man resembled you with incredible accuracy. Here, I have a drawing I made based on what I saw."
She handed out the small paper.
Azik grabbed it and threw a look. He was surprised by the resemblance. "He really does...
"How did you get this? Are you that good at drawing?" He looked up with a questioning glare.
"I can't really tell. Someone helped me draw it from memory using divination."
She knew it was possible to do this, especially if dream divination is involved.
There was no reason to hide it, as Azik already knew who she really was.
"I see..." He continued to stare, but was soon brought out from his stupor when she addressed him again.
"Mr Azik, Lamud is also the name of a town nearby, perhaps we can go in the evening and check?"
Azik nodded absentmindedly, still looking at the portrait. "Yes, we could. Thank you for your help, my lady."
"No problem." She gulped the last of her, now cold, tea and got up from the soft leather couch.
"Thank you for your time, I'll be back before 6." She dusted off her dress and left the man to ponder by himself, shrouded in his own thick thoughts.
***
I would've rather make the trip right away, if it weren't for the Tarot Gathering today.
Can't be caught lacking!
Amanises now stood in front of her bed, gazing at the ticking wall clock.
It was time for her Monday afternoon 'nap'.
Daly already left to tend to her own matters, so she was left alone in the rental house, door locked for caution.
She laid on the bed, adopting a believable position and pretended to doze off.
***
She made considerable progress.
Noted The Fool, sitting at the end of the luxurious mottled table.
He summoned all present points of light, allowing the Astral Projection of each current member to appear within the Sefirah Castle.
His lips curled when He was greeted by the enthusiastic Miss Justice, she was lovely as always.
But her greeting didn't end there.
Like when Death first made her appearance in the Tarot Gathering, everyone froze mid motion.
With the exception of The World who always escaped unnoticed with his far away placement.
Justice quickly regained her composure and started to greet each member one by one, slowly introducing them to the newcomer.
The young boy was looking around with a confused gaze, his ears could hardly take in what he was hearing.
Hanged Man, Death, World, and Justice...These are their codenames?
What language are they speaking? Why can I understand it?
What are they wearing? The dresses don't look like the standard wear of the City of Silver…
Once Justice was done with her greetings, she turned to the man, seated next to the Hanged Man, with a tilt of her head.
She was waiting to hear his chosen Tarot Card.
"Uhm—uhhm!!" He stammered. "I am the Sun!"
The Sun Derrick introduced himself with clear embarrassment. His tall stature contrasted his pitched voice a lot.
He doesn't look his age at all! By the tone of his voice, the young boy should be at least fourteen! Thought Justice.
Afraid and naive. Even more so than Justice. He looks like he came from another world. Judged the Hanged Man.
Finally! I'm not the newcomer anymore! Poor lad, now all of the awkwardness has been passed down to you! Lampooned Amanises with a sadistic smile.
After each of them calmed down and Audrey finished her impression of the Sun, she smiled brightly and announced: "Mr Fool, I've brought two more pages from Emperor Roselle's diary!"
Hearing that, Amanises nearly flicked herself on the head, I didn't even look for any diary pages! Granted, The Arcanists don't even have them...
The Fool then curled the corners of His lips and turned to Miss Justice at his side.
"Miss, what do you need?"
Audrey was incredibly elated, she cleared her throat and replied in a reserved manner.
"Mr Fool, as you are already aware, I'm close to digesting my Spectator potion. I hope I can get the ingredients and formula for Telepathist!" She was ready to make future preparations, to assure her advancement.
Granted, the two diary pages could never be equal to her request. "Next time, I will bring another page from Roselle's diary and also pay a sum of money on the side."
She finished her statement and suddenly froze, looking to be struck by lightning, all while Amanises was thinking at the side.
A sum of money? What would someone like Mr Fool need with money? Granted unless he runs an organization like our greedy Leader, then maybe he would...
Audrey couldn't maintain her Spectator state from embarrassment so she added with a stammer, "That's not what I meant! Mr. Fool, what I meant is that you can determine the compensation that you'd like. Yes, that's what I meant!"
Just then, The Sun, Derrick Berg, suddenly spoke.
"The Telepathist potion formula? Telepathist that is followed by Psyche Analyst?"
Audrey looked towards him puzzledly. "You know of it?"
At the same time, Miss Justice saw a problem through her instinct as a Spectator.
The young man had used the ancient term instead of the modern one: Psychiatrist!
The Sun didn't see anything wrong with his statement so he happily exclaimed: "I can get you the formula!"
Then, he felt guilty as he couldn't provide it immediately. He tried his best to explain himself, "It's a Sequence pathway that stemmed from the Dragon race. And our City of Silver was once ruled by the Giant King's imperial household. As you know, the Giants and the Dragons are sworn enemies. Hence, the City of Silver has all of Sequence 9, 8, and 7. I have ways to get them."
What? What are you talking about? Frowned Lady Death, Amanises.
From the end of the table, an inaudible sigh escaped The Fool's lips.
Mirroring Amanises, Audrey was equally as confused and befuddled, Mr Hanged Man also tried to keep a slither of composure at the wave of information thrown at them.
Only Mr. World made an effort to look surprised as if he didn't want to be left out.
She looked sideways towards the seat of honor on the long bronze table. She saw The Fool sitting on the high chair, engulfed in thick grayish-white fog. His right arm was placed on the armrest while he leaned sideways leisurely. He showed no shock, no curiosity, no thoughts, and no doubt. He only looked at them with a smile.
He knows… He knew all of this… Audrey and Alger made the definite judgment almost at the same time.
"The City of Silver, I've never heard of this place… Where is it?" Audrey probed while Alger and Amanises listened attentively.
Little Sun looked just as confused, he was sure that—outside of the god-like Mr Fool, the other Tarot members were also Beyonders.
He had never heard of anyone outside of the City of Silver.
Perhaps that's why their clothes and way of speech looked extremely strange to him.
He harbored some doubts at first but now it was confirmed.
None of the other members were from the City of Silver!
"Huh? Which city-state are you from, then?"
Could he be from another world? Amanises started pondering. Like the way I was pulled here... Could he also be from a parallel dimension???
A strange sense of hope caught aflame in her heart again.
She hoped that the other members would answer, but they all kept quiet.
Instinctively, she remembered a policy of the Tarot Gathering.
'Do not inquire about the place where the other person lives, unless you want to share your location too.'
So she, along with the other members, kept their lips tightly pursed, leaving Little Sun to fend on his own, not knowing what he did that caused the others to keep quiet.
Not wishing to extend the awkwardness, Derrick started speaking again. "I will try to get the Telepathist formula as soon as I can, but I would like to use it to exchange for the beginning of the Sun pathway potion formula."
Sun...Sequence 9, Bard—Is he not also a Beyonder? Is he like me, a normie, when I first joined?
"Sun pathway? Sequence 9 Bard?" Alger voiced out his thoughts.
"Probably, I don't have the information regarding it." Answered Little Sun while scratching the back of his neck.
Bard... The bard sequence wasn't available for her, however once she checked the Tingen Archives, Bard was listed as one of them!
It didn't seem like Miss Justice would be able to give it now, but Mr Hanged Man could acquire it easily.
So, she opened her mouth and shouted.
"I can offer the Bard potion formula!"
Uhh...
Three voices spoke in unison: Amanises, The World and... The Fool?
What do I do...?
She wanted to help Justice and Little Sun, of course this could earn her, either a favor or a quick buck, but she wasn't aware that Mr World and The Fool would actually offer too.
On the other hand, The Fool looked at The World sharply, as if he wasn't expecting him to say anything for that matter.
I don't know the formula right now, I can get it but it would take a while. I'm sure Little Sun wants to know it as fast as possible...
The Sun Derrick was stunned, he didn't expect that the three members would make an offer so eagerly.
He felt a strange warmth in his chest.
The World cleared his throat and said: "I'm sure Miss Justice doesn't have the formula, however I know it by heart. If you're looking for right at this moment I could offer it for you immediately." He spoke evenly, as if he was already sure he would be chosen.
Once he was done The Fool spoke after him. "I also had the same idea, since I was already in this transaction with Miss Justice, I thought that it would be better for me to give the formula.
"That way, this could be a simple three-way transaction, and would not implicate other people." He put emphasis on the world 'people' while looking at The World, as if he was speaking to him using only the tone of his voice.
Everyone then turned to Lady Death, who shrunk back in her seat. "I-I know where I could get it! It wouldn't take me more than a day! But since I don't have it right now, perhaps Mr Fool and Mr World are more suitable..." Her voice trailed off.
Miss Death is incredibly embarrassed, I feel bad for her, I'm sure she wanted to help too... Pitied Justice Audrey in her heart.
Why are you pitying me! Cried Amanises, she was really ashamed of even thinking of that damned offer!
With Death out of the question, The World and The Fool seemed to be locked in a staring contest, soon enough, The World chose to forfeit.
"I will give The Sun the Bard formula. The Sun will pass the Telepathist potion to Miss Justice as soon as possible. Try to get it done within the next two Gatherings. Miss Justice, please pass me the new pages of Roselle's diary. Then, the deal is done." Said Mr Fool with a smile.
Justice thought about it and it made perfect sense! With the law of equivalent exchange, everyone here will get their win!
Except The Sun, who was on the losing end a little, but he simply made a promise for now.
"When The Sun will be able to provide the Telepathist formula, Miss Justice or I will provide him with compensation. Granted, this must be different from the usual transactions as he might not necessarily be able to receive cash or ingredients for the time being." It seemed like Mr Fool was on the same wavelength as Miss Justice.
I am not yet ready to give out my honorific name for them to accept and give out a bestowal. I'm sorry, but you'll have to deal with this for now. Lampooned The Fool.
Might not necessarily receive the compensation… Where exactly is The Sun? The Southern Continent? Alger suddenly creased his eyebrows.
Audrey also started questioning the origin of The Sun, but she quickly came to her senses. "I have no objections!"
Little Sun Derrick, happy that he might receive the potion formula shook his head too, "Neither do I."
I do! Wanted to shout Amanises, but she kept her lips tight.
Alger and The World kept quiet too.
The Fool clasped his hands and summoned a goat-skin parchment, which was inscribed with the Bard potion formula, which he ultimately sent to The Sun.
Derrick creased his brows a little, but softened them just as fast.
The Fool tried his best to localize the name of the ingredients for him.
Audrey looked at The Sun who was memorizing the formula, then she quickly willed the two pages of the diary that she had memorized.
In a flash, the pages appeared in The Fool's hands.