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| Thursday night, Sacher Hotel, Vienna. | ||||||
| After gathering up the items, Arden wrapped them carefully inside the butcher paper and tucked the package inside her ample purse. Mac signaled Calen they were leaving. What happened? Mac followed Arden into the lobby and nodded to the guard as they left. We should have the location as well as a password by now. Instead we have a box full of …stuff. The slightest cool breeze touched the night air. Calen was already seated inside the van and Huang closed the van door after the two were seated. The return to the Sacher was quiet, each Mage lost in their own thoughts. Once back in the girl's suite, Huang asked them to place all their items on the center coffee table, alongside the bits of words and numbers found during what Mac had officially dubbed The Vienna Romp. Oz joined them as the group sat down. Calen sat to Huang's left, his own communicator out in his right hand. Mac settled down on the floor between the table and the couch, Arden directly behind him again, both seated to Huang's right. Oz stood behind the couch as Mark moved to sit beside Arden. Johnny sat beside Calen and slouched down as Derrick joined them after procuring a bottle of water from the suite's complimentary refrigerator. "We're missing something," Arden said. Mac pursed his lips and nodded. "The Tapestry." "And that key," Derrick turned to Kyle who had just stepped out of one of the bedrooms. "We need the Tapestry and the key." "What key? What Tapestry?" The Hollow One feigned a look of innocence. He's a bad thief, and a worse liar. "Look, I know you have them. Put them on the table." "Where's the puzzle box?" Huang asked. "Oh, it's in my things," Mark said. "But I doubt we'll need it. We have what was inside." Kyle continued assuming innocence. "I don't have anything…" But Derrick wasn't having any of it. "Look, prick. Put them on the table or I'll kick your ass." Oz straightened, his arms crossed over his chest. "And I'll help." The Hollow One quickly pulled the Tapestry from his coat and the key from his pocket. They were tossed unceremoniously on the coffee table. Kyle eyed Derrick. "You told me not to take them." "I know I did. But you did it anyway." "Okay," Huang put her delicate, right hand up. "Let's just calm ourselves. There's something missing here." "I'll say," Arden quipped. "No password. No location. Smells like two somethings missing." "I have this," Mark pulled the hand-bound journal Mac had seen him reading from that morning from his suit jacket's interior pocket. "I was able to borrow this from the Monastery – it has information about the Gabrielites, who were very old Choristers." "How is that relevant?" Derrick asked as he leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his long fingers together. "The owner of the journal was thought to be a Gabrielite, but in the journal he confessed to being Ksarifai." "Holy shit…" Mac said. "In the journal he talks about his sins. He also discusses the Order and how they communicated, which was with symbols. There are four significant ones." Calen said, "I'm guessing Rose, Dagger, Thunder and Lightening and several lightening bolts." "Exactly." Arden leaned forward. "But what do they mean?" Mark shrugged. "As far as I can tell, Rose means seduction for information gathering; Dagger is the symbol for defense or cover-up; Thunder and lightening is a warning or infiltration, and three lightening bolts in succession is assassination." Huang tapped her lower lip with her fingers. "So, us finding all three like this means there is an assassination, a cover-up and seduction. " "The way it was used was like this," Mark looked at each of them. "The person ordering the assassination left the coin with the lightening bolt side down. When the assassin finished their job they would locate the coin and flip it over." He looked at Arden. "Was the coin up or down when you first saw it?" Mac looked at Arden. He had not seen the coin until she pulled it out. "Rose and dagger side up. So that means to cover up." Calen said, "It means to cover up what's inside the box." Mac started toying with the pockmarked pieces, the one found at Casada's and the one found during the romp. The two fit together. Huang took it from his hand and shook her head. "We're still missing a piece." The Chorister leaned forward and took up the Tapestry again. He gently moved his elegant fingers over the surface. "Mac." The Adept turned. "Yeah?" "I want to look at this again." "You think that thread changed from Prague?" "I'd like to see. The tug is still there, and it's definitely south east." "What do you need?" Mark reached out and grabbed Mac's arm. "I'm going to need your help, just like we did in the Dojo. I'm going to hum this time and see where it leads. I'm sure it still leads to Prague, but I want to make sure." "Hum?" "I'm going to sing a lullaby to you. I think with music maybe I'll see farther." "Uh…" "What's your focus for Correspondence?" Mac opened his mouth to say 'cell' – but stopped himself. His foci had changed since the operation. Where had his means of teleportation or communication gone? "I guess it would be my tooth." "Tooth? Okay…" Mark looked a bit skeptical. "I'm just going to touch you and see how it goes." As Mark began a German lullaby, Mac felt his eyelids close. Something tugged at him, drawing power from the center of his chest. The music wrapped around him. Unlike the commanding presence of Arden's voice, Mark's held a more nurturing and friendly feel. He found he couldn't resist Mark the way he had Arden that morning. Abruptly the connection ended and Mac blinked several times to clear away the fog. "Prague," the Chorister said. "But no reason why Prague?" Huang asked. "None," Mark said. "I guess we go to Prague." "And frighteningly enough this won't be the silliest thing we've done," Calen muttered. "But this isn't making any sense," Arden said. She looked at Huang. "You said we were to meet two people, Casada and Lovenstein, and they would give us the password and location. But that didn't happen. Instead we've got a bunch of things we don't know what to do with. And now Prague?" She shrugged. "What's in Prague? The two people that were supposed to help us are dead. Who else is there?' Huang shrugged as she slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't have these answers. I lost two very good agents, and friends, to obtain the data on Lovenstein and Casada. I can't believe it was all false." "Mac," Calen said. The Adept looked up at the VE. "Yes?" Oh no, now what? But the soldier's voice was calm, thoughtful. "Start looking up Crossword dictionary. Any four letter word starting with IX, any language." "That might help," Huang said. "Is there anything else someone would like to share?" "I've got boobs," Arden said. Derrick frowned at her. "What?" "I just have boobs to share." Mac groaned inwardly. Oh man… "I have something," Derrick began. "But I can't say anything with Johnny in the room." Before the singer could reply, Arden snapped her fingers at Johnny. The young man closed his eyes and slumped back, asleep. "Shit…" Mac said at such a display of power. There's much more to this witch than meets the eye. Could she do that with anyone here? The witch put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course, Shugah. I could have you any time." "Stop that!" He batted her hand away. Arden chuckled. Derrick pursed his lips. "Nice trick." He glanced around. "Everyone knows that Johnny's like, the Chosen One, right?" Most everyone shook his or her heads. Huang nodded. "I know he is especially gifted." Arden sat forward. "We know the Sphinx has a champion, but we have no idea it's Johnny." "What do you mean?" Mac asked. The Adept heard and felt a slight vibration. Huang moved to the right and fished her phone from her pants. She glanced at the read out and then excused herself from the room. "There are forces surrounding Johnny – things I can see, and I'm sure Mark can see." Derrick looked at the Chorister. Mark nodded. "Yes – it's almost like Prime and Anti-Prime going at one another." "Right. So, in the same sense, I suspect that Dorien Sterling is the opposite of what Johnny is. That if Sterling is diametrically opposed to what we intend on doing, then Johnny represents our success." "He's our Champion." Mark said. "We're assuming this?" Arden asked. "Yes and no," Derrick licked his lips as he leaned his elbows forward on his knees. "There's a spirit or Avatar-isque entity that watches Johnny and provides him with powers that any normal Mage shouldn't have." Mac instantly remembered the magic in the club, the singer's speaking of potential. This was an Avatar? "I've known of some pretty powerful avatar hosts," Derrick continued. "Those that had powers above and beyond their scope. And I believe it's that kind of relationship." "But what does this have to do with Prague?" Arden said. "Why go there? For what purpose?" Mac started to echo the witch's thoughts when large, red words began scrolling across the bottom of his optic. He sat up straight as information flooded into his view. "Whoa…" Derrick looked at Mac, as did Arden. "What?" Mark touched his shoulder. "Did you just remember a part of your past?" "No, I have names…" He briefly told them about the encrypted files he'd found in Casada's database, and how he'd started a decryption. "What did you find?" Mac looked around. "Paper? Pen?" Derrick was on his feet and at the suite's desk. He pulled out the hotel's stationery and handed it to Mac. The Adept turned the paper to his left and began to write as fast as he could as the information appeared. "Serga Demova; Prague – Buyer for Lancastrian Tapestry; Owner of Platinum stiletto dagger," Arden said as she watched over Mac's shoulder. Derrick repeated the second part. "Veronique Dupree; Geneva, potential Buyer for Dagger; owns puzzle box unsolvable; SEE SPECIAL CONTACTS." Calen leaned to the right and looked at the paper. "Fanciulla Markoni; Geneva, contact for solutions for puzzle box. Special Cases." Oz nodded. "Three more people." Mac stopped writing as his hand cramped up. He was used to typing, and even more used to his new ability to think-type. As the others began pouring over the new information, the Adept frowned as the numbers floated to his conscious. He blinked as the data fell into place. Lovenstein and Casada were two, and there were three more. Five. Five! There are only… "Johnny…" The singer seemed to stir, his eyes blinking rapidly as he pulled himself out of Arden's induced slumber. "Yeah?" "Five. There are five. We have five contacts, not two. Five." Johnny's eyes widened. He sat forward. "That's what Syd said." "Yes," Mac could hardly contain himself. "Five. That had to be what he meant." "What?" Calen said. "What?" Arden sighed. "You two are making no sense." |
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