Chapter Twenty-Two
Victor wakes up and stretches, as it’s a brand-new day.
He walks over to open the curtains and sees that his room faces Lake Biwa, which reminds him of his last visit here.
Victor knows he is in Otsu, just outside of central Kyoto.
As he takes in the beautiful morning view, he hears Leo knocking to come in.
Victor smiles to see Leo, mainly because Leo has coffee.
“How did you sleep last night?” Leo asks as he hands Victor his coffee.
“Okay, I guess. I had trouble sleeping last night after I read the cards,” Victor responds before sipping his coffee.
“I could hear you crying last night,” Leo comments over the rim of his mug.
Victor looks up from his mug. “I was crying?”
Leo nods. “Yes. Whatever you were dreaming about made you sad. I wanted to crawl into bed with you and hold you, but I didn’t know if it was appropriate.”
Victor hides his disappointment. Regardless of what’s going on in Leo’s life, he would have enjoyed having Leo cuddled up with him. “If I was dreaming, I don’t remember what it was.”
“We can do a spell to find out,” Leo suggests.
Before Victor could respond, there’s a knock at the door.
“If it’s that maid, I’m going to scream.” Victor opens the door and sighs, relieved that it isn’t the maid. It was just the bellman bringing in breakfast.
As soon as he was about to close the door, someone’s cheerful voice rings through.
“Good morning, Darlings,” the maid sings.
JESUS H. CHRIST! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! is all Victor screams in his head. Leo cannot hold it in and bursts out laughing, almost tripping over a chair. He doesn’t have to hear what Victor is saying in his head. It is written all over his face.
“I can’t stay long,” the maid says as she proceeds to the bedroom.
“I’m here to pick up your suits and get them cleaned before you meet with Ms. Yamada this afternoon.
” She grabs Victor’s suit and is about to walk out when she stops in front of Victor.
“There is one more thing . . . “ She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a cream-colored envelope with a green wax seal. “ . . . this came for you last night.”
She hands the envelope to Victor. “I was going to slide it under your door, but I wanted to make sure you got it personally. Something told me that it must be handed off to you. It feels very important. Make sure you read it right away, okay.” The maid and the bellman exit, leaving Victor puzzled.
Leo walks over and examines the envelope in Victor’s hand. “This envelope looks old. The paper is yellowed.”
Victor sets down his mug and holds the envelope in both hands. “Who would send me a letter sealed with wax?”
Leo drops the mug when he notices the seal.
Victor jumps back just in time before his feet are covered in ceramic and hot coffee with cream. “What’s the matter? What did you see?”
Leo starts tapping his finger rapidly against the seal. “This . . . this seal. This emblem. It belonged to your grandmother.”
The color drains from Victor’s face. “W-w-what? How do you know?”
Leo takes a slow breath, trying to keep his composure.
“I’ve never met your grandmother, but during my studies as a young warlock, I was fascinated with symbols and their meanings.
Every superior would use a known symbol or create one for their coven, and they had a seal made for them.
And this symbol was from when your grandmother was a superior of her coven. This is her seal!”
Victor’s hands shake, not knowing what’s inside. “What if someone else used my grandmother’s seal?”
“It’s very unlikely,” Leo responds. “Your grandmother’s coven changed their emblem when your grandmother went into hiding almost 50 years ago. Every seal would have been destroyed.”
Victor’s legs go weak as he walks over to the couch and sits down. He keeps looking at the envelope. After a few moments, he licks his lips and takes a deep breath. “You open it,” he says, holding out the envelope.
Leo holds up his hands, “No, no, no, this letter is for you. And isn’t it illegal to open someone else’s mail?”
Victor rolls his eyes before he closes them and takes a deep, shaky breath. He looks down at the seal and carefully opens the envelope. When he looks inside, there is only a single tarot card. He pulls the card out and looks at it.
“What is it?” Leo asks with curiosity.
“It’s the “King of Swords,” Victor answers.
“I’m not familiar with tarot. Is it a good or bad card?” Leo questions.
Victor tilts his head as he studies it and ponders before he answers Leo.
After a short moment of silence, Victor says, “It suggests that you should remain open to your current situation. Truth must be established by sticking with the facts handed to you. The king’s intellectual power implies that you need to use intellect to make your points across to reach your goal. ”
Leo looks confused. “Translation.”
“Listen to the facts, and you’ll find the truth.” Victor sits back in his seat. “Why would my grandma save a card for me before I was born or as a child, only to have it sent to me now? In Japan, of all places.”
Victor stares at the card some more. Tears begin to build in his eyes.
He starts to breathe heavily. With a loud groan, he tosses the card and envelope across the room.
“What the fuck are you trying to tell me?” He bends over and rests his head in his hands, covering up that he’s crying.
“I’m thirty-fucking-two-years fucking old,” he says, muffled in his hands. “Why am I acting this way?”
Leo sits beside him, rubbing his back. “Shhhh, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’ll figure this out. You’re smart, and you understand Tarot. It’ll come to you. You’ll see.”
Victor sits back up and wipes the tears off his face.
His breathing is still shaky, and he tries to take deep breaths to help him calm down.
After a moment, he clears his throat. “We need to eat before our food gets cold,” he says, getting up from the couch and walking over to the dining table.
Leo looks worried as he watches Victor. “Are you going to eat?” Victor asks when he sits down.
Leo stands up and smooths out his robe. “Yeah.” He takes a seat, and they eat their breakfast in silence.
It’s almost midday, and Victor is looking himself over in the mirror.
He starts putting the finishing touches on.
A wooden box Victor bought to hold all his artifacts sits on the dresser next to his other larger artifacts.
He opens it and puts on his watch, ring, bracelet, and tie clip.
The dagger goes in one inside jacket pocket, and his silver card goes in another.
His silver card.
Where’s the card? Victor starts to panic. He looks all over his room. “Leo!” Victor shouts as he drops to his knees to look under the bed. Leo comes rushing in. “What? What happened?”
“The card Superior Charles gave me. I can’t find it!”
“It has to be around here somewhere.” Leo walks in and starts scanning Victor’s room.
“Ever since I started getting artifacts, I’ve been putting them in a wooden box I bought while I was on a layover in Costa Rica. And the card wasn’t in the box.” Victor starts tossing everything around.
“Found it!” Leo shouts happily.
“Fuck! Where was it?” Victor rushes over when he sees Leo holding it.
“It was in your shoe. It must have dropped there somehow.”
Victor sighs in relief as he takes the card from Leo. “Thank you.” He slides the card into his jacket pocket and pats it lightly. “Okay, I’m ready.”
They walk out of the hotel and head to the water. Victor notices a small boat docked. In the boat are two geishas. “We’re going across the lake?” he asks Leo.
“Sort of,” Leo replies.
Once everyone is seated, they head out into the water. Victor and Leo have to sit very close to each other because the boat is so small. Leo puts his arm behind Victor and looks out.
Victor’s heart races: he likes having Leo’s arm around him.
Their legs rub against each other as the boat bobs through the water.
They hit a little bump, and Victor almost falls into Leo’s lap.
Leo catches Victor, and they smile at each other.
Victor sits back up, clears his throat, and fixes his jacket.
He looks over and sees one of the geishas watching them. She gives Victor a little smile.
After twenty minutes on the water, Victor notices something odd directly in front of them. “Leo, do you see what I’m seeing?”
Leo lowers his sunglasses. “You mean the barrier?”
Victor looks forward and sees it’s getting closer. Once they pass through the barrier, Victor spots a small island with a temple. “I don’t remember seeing this on any map.”
“You still have a lot to learn about illusion spells and how to find hiding spots,” Leo says, smiling as he leans over the side of the boat, getting a better look at the temple up ahead.
Chiyo greets them as they pull into the dock and step out of the boat.
She is wearing a cherry blossom-inspired kimono with a light blue obi belt.
Her raven-black hair shimmers in the sunlight and flows by the gentle breeze.
She smiles down upon the warlocks with her hands clasped in front of her.
“Welcome to Yamada Temple. This has been in my family since the mid-to-late Muromachi Period.”
Victor looks around in fascination as Chiyo continues.
“We had to use an illusion spell in the middle of the Edo Period to protect the coven and those who sought refuge from those who would harm us.” Victor follows Chiyo through the open-air temple grounds to a large open courtyard.
“This, my young empath warlock, will be where your lessons on Water Magic will take place.”
Chiyo holds out her palm and creates a large ball of water.
“You should be able to pick up Water quickly, as many of the spells are similar to Air.” She tosses the ball high into the air.
It bursts and creates a rainbow as the water trickles down.
“First, change into something else you don’t mind getting wet in.
We don’t want Clarence to get upset with you for ruining his suit. ”