Luck and Star were seated at the kitchen table when there came a knock at the door for the second time that day. Luck left Star to finish her Scaccia while he checked on who was there.
Standing at the front door were Berga and Keith. Luck felt relieved that it was only his brothers, but also a little curious as to why they were visiting.
"Kate and Kalia were here earlier," Luck commented, letting his brothers into the apartment.
"I know. Kalia wouldn't let me in the kitchen at all this morning," Berga grumbled. When Kalia got something into her head, you stayed out of the way or go run over.
Keith removed his hat and handed Luck a rolled up paper he had under his arm.
"You went to the Daily Days?" Luck inquired. Keith nodded.
"Star, it's-" Luck began, he wanted to let her know who had just come into the apartment, but Star cut him off.
"It's your brothers, I know," Star's voice echoed out of the kitchen but she could not been seen from where Berga and Keith stood by the front door.
Star was always doing that, making remarks about who had arrived or left, or where someone was, without looking up, or even making these statements from another room, from which the person she was speaking about could not be seen. Needless to say, it made some uncomfortable, including Berga, but he tended to ignore this.
"Yeah, those newspaper people weren't much help this time," Berga grumbled, completely ignoring the fact that Star had spoken at all. "Claimed we knew more about it than they did!"
This information surprised Luck greatly. The Daily Days could always be relied on for accurate information… for a price. It had never been a matter of the information not being available, but rather what you could and were willing to pay for such information.
"Well, it can be safely assumed that whoever we're going up against, they are competent Magicians. Avoiding major detection by average humans would be child's play," Star commented from the kitchen.
Again there was an awkward moment as Star mentioned magic again. Luck had accepted Star's strange abilities, but Keith and Berga seemed to function more on the 'if I ignore it maybe it'll go away' principle. Well, Berga at least. Keith seemed to just accept the strange things going on as a reality that just needed to be dealt with. It was a little hard to tell with Keith, given his usual, stoic nature.
"So if these people are playing hide-n-seek, how're we supposed to find 'em?" Berga asked.
Keith gestured to the paper in Luck's hand. "The map…"
Luck glanced at the paper again. It did indeed look like a rolled up map. With a wave of his hand, indicating his brothers should follow, Luck led them into the kitchen. Star had finished eating and placed the dishes in the kitchen sink. She was just settling back down into her chair when the three of them walked in.
Berga and Keith glanced at Star, and then promptly looked elsewhere. Slightly confused, Star glanced at the nightgown she was wearing, and then back at the two brothers, visibly annoyed by their attitude that she was somehow inappropriately dressed for receiving company.
Luck followed behind his brothers and, for the first time that day, it dawned on him that Star was only in a nightgown. He quickly wondered if Kate had put a house coat in the bag as well, but the look on Star's face said that the suggestion that she 'cover up' would be met by significant resistance. He had learned that there was a culture gap of seventy some odd years between the two of them, and that Star became extremely irritable when someone made a comment about her gender or dress.
"Perhaps this could help," Luck suggested to Star, walking over to the table and unrolling the map for her.
Star leaned over, curious. The map displayed a bird's eye view of the waterfront, particularly the warehouse area where they had their previous encounter with Gustavo and his magical friend. On one corner of the map a black box was drawn around a small pier that jutted out into the river with one small warehouse and a small cluster of miscellaneous administrative buildings.
"So, what's up with this place?" Star asked, tapping her finger on the edge of the box and looking at the brothers expectantly.
"It's weird. They say no one has been down to that end of the shipyard in a couple of months. People have tried but they just… just… don't…" Berga was fumbling for the right words to describe the strangeness associated with the demarcated area.
"They forget and just leave," Keith elucidated.
Star glanced at Keith for a moment. That was the most she had ever heard him speak in one go. She then turned her attention back to the map and studied it for a moment.
"Well… that seems about right," Star murmured to herself, tracing the outline with one finger. "It's much easier to use a confounding spell than to put up a barrier or post guards. Keeps people from noticing anything too strange…"
Star felt eyes on her and then looked up. Keith's expression was neutral, Berga looked uncomfortable at the mention of magic again, and Luck just looked curious.
"Basically," Star began, leaning back in her chair and gesturing at the map. "If anyone gets too close, they forget what they were doing there in the first place. Or remember something that seems more important. After all, having people just forget that the place is there works out much better than having people walk into an invisible wall. It's also much less noticeable too. If I had to guess, I'd say this is where our adversaries are hiding."
"But if anyone who gets close gets… forgetful… then how could we get inside?" Luck asked. Despite the magic he was still a pragmatist.
"Well knowing that it's there is the first step," Star answered. "If you're expecting the effects, you can recognize when they are happening. This spell works by catching people unawares. Singularity of purpose also helps. That area would be the only reason we are going to the shipyard at all, so deterring us would be a lot harder. And the most important part is that these spells typically work like a one-way mirror. If you're on the outside, you feel the effects of the spell, but once you pass the boundary line and are on the inside, then you aren't affected at all."
Star glanced around to make sure that her explanation made sense to those there.
"But what if this… spell… doesn't work like that?" Luck probed.
Star let out a snort of laughter. "Then it would be pretty hard to get anything done! If the spell affected people on both sides of the boundary line, then those inside, the ones who want to avoid being bothered, would forget why they're there too."
"I see…" Luck murmured. So once they got through… then what? What else would be waiting for them inside?
Star noticed Luck's uncertainty.
"There is a way I could get a rough idea of what else is on the other side of that boundary line," Star said quietly. "It might take a little bit of preparation, but it's definitely doable."
Luck glanced at Star. Could she do something like that in her condition? Luck had learned by now that Star pushed herself much harder than she should, and kept her weaknesses to herself. Star might just be posturing since she still appeared to be suffering from the effects of that cursed dagger.
"Oh don't give me that look," Star shot at Luck. "I can do this. Hell, anyone with the basic know how could, Magician or not."
Luck was momentarily taken aback, but then he remembered that Star had a habit of noticing emotions in people, even if they were careful not to show it on their face. Aura reading she had called it. With a skill like that, Star might actually be able to beat Keith at poker. The though brought a slight smile to Luck's lips.
"Wait, so you can figure it out from here…?" Berga asked, looking lost.
"Yeah, although I would need-" Star's words were abruptly cut off by a choking noise. She quickly turned around and lunged for the sink, barely making it in time before she started retching.
Luck moved to Star's side, supporting her as she leaned over the sink. He didn't want to stand there feeling useless anymore, especially not in front of his brothers. The spell didn't seem to last as long as the previous ones.
"Your fever is back," Luck commented as he helped Star back to the chair at the kitchen table.
"Yeah… I know…" Star replied with weary frustration.
"Rest. We'll get what you need," Keith said. He had watched the whole event with an intense gaze. It was clear that Star was suffering significantly for saving Luck.
"Right…" Star glanced up at Luck. "You got a note pad or something? And a pen."
Luck walked over to the phone and grabbed the memo pad and pen that dangled from it on a string. He handed the pad to Star and she quickly jotted down the list of things that she needed. She tore the paper off and handed it to Keith.
"The most important thing is the map of the river front. As old as possible, but accurate too," Star explained.
Keith nodded slightly and tucked the list into his breast pocket. Then he excused himself and Berga, and left.
Once Keith and Berga left, Star slumped over the table with a loud sigh. She looked like a child's ragdoll left at the table in the middle of playing 'tea'. The only difference is that a ragdoll could not close its eyes.
"Star…" Luck said quietly, lightly placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Just give me a minute…" Star murmured.
Luck didn't realize that she had been posturing in front of his brothers. She really hadn't been up to talking to them, but did so anyway because they had information. But the thought that she didn't feel the need to keep up a façade in front of him gave Luck a small amount of comfort.
"If you're not feeling up to it next time, say so," Luck told Star. "It's more important that you get better first."
Star opened one eye and rolled a little so she could get a better look at Luck.
"It's bit of a moot point," Star muttered. "Right now it's a matter of weighing consequences. If we put off everything until I felt better, it might be too late, and then it wouldn't matter if I was feeling better or not."
Star had a point, but Luck wouldn't say that to her. He wanted her to focus on resting. Magic or not, he felt that he and his brothers could take care of themselves, at least for as long as it took Star to get back on her feet.
"I'll help you back to bed," Luck offered. "It's better than sleeping on the table."
Star let out a small snort at Luck's feeble attempt to be light-hearted. But all the same, she allowed him to help her too her feet, and support her as she made her way back to the spare bedroom. After checking to make sure she didn't need anything, Luck left Star to rest in peace.
Once the door was closed, Luck looked around his living room. He was at a loss for what to do. There wasn't anything he could do for Star at the moment, aside from let her rest. And there was little that he could do about the current situation he was in, at least until Star was well again.
Luck felt a rage slowly building inside of him. He didn't get angry very often, but when he was angry, he could be scarier than Berga. Berga's anger was loud and explosive, sort of like a firecracker, but Luck's anger was calmer and all the more dangerous. He could stay calm, which let him think, let him plan. And while he might not be able to create much of a plan right now, Luck did know that he wouldn't let any of these people live. He didn't care who, or even what, they were. Luck was going to make sure that whoever 'they' were, they would seriously regret their decision.
Night had fallen in the city. Not true night, since the sun was still balanced on the rim of the earth, but an early, artificial night created by the shadows of skyscrapers. Those on the top most floors of the tallest buildings could still see the red and purple hues of twilight, but for those closer to the ground, darkness had already fallen.
Luck was standing at one of the living room windows, watching the electric street lights flicker on, and little squares of gold appearing in the faces of the buildings on the opposite street. He watched silhouettes moved in and out of those little gold squares; normal people, going about their normal evenings. The ordinariness of it all felt foreign to Luck. He had never given much thought to the differences between him and the rest of the human race that surrounded him in this city. But now that he had met Star, he knew how much was hiding out there, just beneath the surface. As though he were looking at the waves of a sea, but for the first time knew just what sort of life lurked beneath.
With a slight sigh, Luck drew the curtains. Introspection wasn't anything new to Luck, he had always been the thoughtful type. But he had never felt so disconnected and, in a strange way, helpless. Luck glanced at the closed door to the spare bedroom. Star had been asleep since noon. She had mentioned that sleep and food were the only way she could really recover from spending her… magic. So the fact that she had slept for so long should have been relieving, but Luck felt worried. Perhaps it had something to do with the nightmare that had started his day… the dream where Star had died…
Luck shook the though from his mind and then made his way resolutely over to the bedroom door. He quietly opened the door and slid into the darkened room. The room was illuminated by the faint glow of the street lights that filtered in through the curtains. Just enough light to keep from walking into anything.
Luck quietly crept over to Star. She looked at ease for the first time since she had left the hospital. Luck couldn't help but smile a little. It looked like Star might finally be on the mend. He lightly touched her forehead with the backs of his fingers. No fever, that was even better. Finally something good was happening. Luck reached out to gently touch Star's shoulder. He decided he would wake her and see if she would like something to eat. But a strange voice stopped Luck cold.
"You look happy. Glad she isn't going to suffer any more?"