Best Friends

From the perspective of Narcissus Bianchi.

Finding Chase was easy. I only had to message Jaeger where Chase was. In my message I also asked what Chase looked like.

Jager's response: "He was last seen in East St. Louis. He has silver hair and crystal-blue eyes. Hard to miss him."

Now, what I had to do before arriving in East St. Louis was the hard part--that consisted of taking a trip to Lorain, Ohio and reviving a witch from the 1800s and getting her to join me on my mission. Janice, the Witch of Lorain, made a deal with me. She could have her freedom if she served me until either I completed my mission, or I failed my mission. Janice was easy enough to get along with, as long as I didn't talk her head off. I didn't mind the long periods of silence, but I'm a man who needs conversation every so often--or I go insane. Literally. So, on our way from Lorain to East St. Louis, I tried to converse with Janice about her life in the 1800s. Let's just say her life back then was… bleak.

After that, I just shut my mouth.

We both arrived in East St. Louis. I parked the 30 year-old silver-toned sedan in an abandoned dark alley so as to not draw suspicion.

Janice and I left the car and we walked around. We blended in with the Prometheans exceptionally well. We visited a number of different localities within Promethean Territory, and we had some modest fun while doing so. Janice began to let her guard down and open up, and I did as well. I began to like Janice quite a lot as we perused the different shops and stands lining the street around which Promethean Territory was built: Promethean Street. Alas, we were not in East St. Louis on a date, nor were we there for fun and games. We were here to capture Chase alive and take him back to the Onyx Palace.

The next step was to figure out just where Chase was among thousands of Prometheans. Chances are he had visited one of the local shops, and, if so, I could extract information from whosoever was working there. So I asked each shop owner we came across if they had noticed a silver-haired blue-eyed vampire. We had visited about a dozen or more shops before we found the one shop with the one person with the information we needed.

Janice and I entered Chad's House of Jewels and Spells. We casually walked up to the counter, behind which Chad, the only person around, sat on a stool, his face glued to an old magazine from two decades ago. Chad didn't seem to notice us until I whistled.

"Oh, hello there. I'm truly sorry. This Better Homes and Gardens magazine is truly interesting. How may I help--" Chad stopped mid-sentence. His blind eyes noticed something about me, I could tell. "You. Your aura is putrid, darker than black. Necromancer!"

Chad jumped out of his seat and attempted to flee. Janice stopped him with her telepathy, then she forced him to sit back down. Chad's face was full of fear as I drew even closer to him as I ducked and hovered my head over the glass counter, my face inches away from his.

"You must be Chad. I'm Narcissus. My friend here is Janice. We're looking for a fledgling recruiter. His name is Chase. If you've seen Chase, please, tell me. It's vital that I find him."

"What business do you have with Chase?"

"I'm on a mission," I said plainly. "I know you've seen Chase, so you can't lie to me. When was he last here? Where did he go?"

Chad began to panic as a bead of sweat trickled down his wrinkled forehead. "Uh…" Chad gulped. "He was last here a few hours ago. Please don't hurt him. He has a good soul."

"A good soul?" I chuckled. "You didn't mention where he went. I must know where he is right now, or I'm afraid you will soon be short one finger." I pulled out a dagger from its black leather sheath attached to my waist, and I brandished the dagger with its onyx-studded hilt and serrated blade. I then grabbed Chad by his left arm and I yanked his arm toward me, then I slapped his hand down on the glass counter. "Tell me exactly where Chase went."

Chad panicked even more, his breathing fast and heavy. "He's somewhere in Promethean Territory. His friend mentioned that they were going to Chicago. It's been only a few hours since I saw them. Chase can't be too far. I'm telling you the truth."

I turned to look Janice in the eye, and she nodded, so I turned back to Chad and I pleasantly smiled, satisfied with the information I was given. "Thanks for cooperating, shaman."

Chad smiled weakly as I released his left arm and Janice freed him from her telepathic control. I then sheathed my dagger. Chad was clearly reluctant to run away as he rubbed his left arm. He looked at Janice and I as if we were crazy.

Since I was there, I looked around the shop, admiring all the trinkets and jewels and surplus of magical items. Chad was clearly a collector of all things rare and mystical. I had brought a stash of cut emeralds with me in a pouch tied around my waist--I knew beforehand that I would want to shop around Promethean Territory.

I set my eye upon a lustrous trillion cut onyx gem set in gold and attached to a gold chain lying flat under the glass counter which Chad stood by. I pointed toward the necklace. "You see that necklace there? Can you get it out?"

Chad nodded fiercely and at once he grabbed a key from his pocket and unlocked the glass display case. He reached in to grab the necklace I asked for. He then laid the necklace on the glass counter before me. "This is a--"

"I know what it is," I said. "It's a soul prison. How many emeralds for it?"

Chad looked me up and down, not quite able to figure me out. "For you? It's free. Take it and leave. Please."

I smiled in jubilation. "Really now? I can have it for free? Wow. Thank you so much." I grabbed the necklace and I put it around my neck. The necklace felt just right, as if it vibed with me.

Janice was ready to leave, standing by the front door, her hand wrapped around the door handle. "Ready to roll?" she asked.

I nodded in response.

I waved goodbye to Chad. "Thanks again, shaman. Take care."

I was partially sad that I had to leave--the shop itself was a magical place. But I had a mission to accomplish.

Janice and I walked out of the shop together with Janice leading the way. The time on my cell phone read 11:24 P.M. 36 minutes till midnight.

The moon shone through the dense clouds rolling in from the west. The weather was fair and pleasant, for the moment.

"Where to next?" Janice asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I dunno. But if we must draw out our target, it won't be hard. The way I see it, if we cause a little chaos, Chase will show up. But before we do that, I see no harm in walking around with you."

Janice smiled in response, the first genuine smile I had seen from her since I summoned her from out of her fenced-in grave. Is she actually warming up to me?

I held out my hand and Janice looked at it for a moment, then glanced back up at me with a puzzled look. I shrugged my shoulders. "It couldn't hurt," I said.

Janice finally took my hand and we strolled through Promethean Territory together, examining all the pretty lights and fantastic sounds and wonderful sights to be held on the last day of the Festival of Wizards.