Chapter Text
I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.
-Robert E. Lee
December 2039
The Woods of Louisiana
"Again, thank you for bringing us on this trip," Niko told his cousin as he sat down on the rock behind him. "We really appreciate it."
Derek Lowell smiled and sat down on the rock behind him. "Hey, anything to take care of my cousin and good friend." The friend he was referring to was Simon Vincent, his ex-girlfriend's current spouse, who he invited along on this trip to Louisiana. They tugged on their jackets in an attempt to ward off the cold. The fire they built was doing its job of keeping them warm but they couldn't wait for the planned activities the three men had in mind.
And since they were in Louisiana for a few days, Derek couldn't help but visit the place where D&F Fortunes first started. Although he will admit that it looked drastically different from the pictures Cassie's parents had. He took pictures nonetheless.
Simon took out a six-pack of beer and passed it around. Niko was the most reluctant to drink so he had a Sprite instead. Derek and Simon drank together awkwardly. It had been almost a year since Derek met Simon, the man who used to be his wife's first time, and the tension in the air was still uncomfortable between both men but they both wanted to do something to make it less awkward between them.
That's why they rented out shovels from the local store and used them to dig in this cave they discovered the previous night.
The three of them explored the cave. They were digging to see if they could find any souvenirs. It was then when Derek stabbed the earth with his shovel, he saw something in the ground. Bending down to see what it was. He picks it up and examines it.
"An ancient coin," he says to himself. The coin was made of pure gold and what was minted on it was some kind of symbol he couldn't make out but it looked to be an eagle of some kind.
Niko goes to his side and looks at the coin in Derek's hands. It is so beautiful. "How much do you think we are going to get for it?"
"Whoa Niko, we do not sell treasure, we put it on display at the museum, we study it, learn all we can about it." Derek proceeds to put the coin in his pocket. "Then again, there's nothing wrong with keeping a souvenir to remind us of our time."
"Isn't that grave robbing?" Simon wondered as he approached them. "Or are you going off the 'finders, keepers' rule?"
"How much are you going to get for finding it?" Niko asked eagerly.
Derek pretended to think. "One hundred dollars." He bit into the coin, leaving a toothmark behind. "Real gold may be heavy but it's also soft."
Niko smiled. "Any chance we can split it three ways; we helped you find it."
Derek gave him a sour look. "Finders keepers," He said. "As I said, there's not much historical value in finding a single coin. But as an arachnologist, everything unearthed is considered a find of a lifetime." He narrowed his eyes. "But I still wonder if it has historical value; we are about ten miles or so from Cane River Creole."
"You want someone to authenticate it?" Simon asked. "Good man, you have credibility."
"Thank you," Derek appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you, very much."
"Can we go?" Niko panted, "I am starting to feel drunk from being in this sterilized air."
"Wow, you get drunk off of one sip when you're little and now sterilized air makes you as drunk as a skunk."
Simon shrugged. "Hey, in Paris, kids can drink before twenty-one. Different strokes for different folks." He patted Niko on the shoulder. "But don't worry, man, not all of us can handle certain atmospheres. I'm afraid of thunder and lightning."
The three men retrieved their shovels and exited the cave. Night had fallen and their campfire was still burning.
While Niko was roasting marshmallows, Derek was putting sticks and branches in the small fire to keep it lit.
"Who wants the first marshmallow?" Niko asked. Before Derek could answer, Niko already made himself a s'more. He then gave Derek a stick and a marshmallow to roast.
"It's already getting cold out here," Derek commented before he made a s'more. Taking a bite out of it, Derek asked Niko if he finally deciphered that tab that Cassie sent him during her Lemuria adventure.
As grateful as he was that Cassie made it out alive, he was a little peeved, if only a little bit, by the fact he missed out on an adventure. But hey, he went after the Peaches of Immortality without Cassie so fair's fair.
With nothing better to do, Simon reaches into his pack to pull something out. Much to Derek and Niko's confusion, it is an Ouija board. Derek and Niko almost looked shocked before they adopted curious expressions on their faces.
"Since when you did have an Ouija board?" Derek asked. "And does Angie know about this?"
"Of course," Simon said with a grin on his face. "I practice Voodo here and there."
"Why, isn't that dark magic or something?"
"That's movies; there is so much more to Voodoo than that mumbo-jumbo black magic and just to be clear: Voodoo is not a religion of evil." He pulled out a portable table from his bag and set it up before him. "Come on, everyone, who wants to have a go at the spirit board?"
"I'll do it," Niko said. "I'm interested to see what these spirit boards have for me."
Simon put his hand on the pointer. Niko followed. Derek, not seeing any harm, put his hand on the pointer too. Simon explained the rules to them, how they had to take everything seriously and surrender all disbelief, just for the time being. When they all said hello, the pointer began moving.
"Oh crap," Derek gasped, "who moved it?"
"I didn't," Simon answered, "a ghost is talking to us. Quick, ask him who it is."
"To whom are we speaking?" Derek asked politely. The pointer spelled out a name. "B-A-K-E-R. Baker, just Baker?"
The pointer spelled out an entire name. "Benjamin Franklin Baker," Niko read. "What a name."
Derek ignored him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Baker, how did you die?"
M-A-C-H-I-N-E.
"When did you die?"
W-A-R.
"War, what war were you in?" Derek was about to take his hand off the pointer before Simon grabbed it. "What?"
"Never take your hand off the pointer until you say goodbye, understand?"
Derek nodded. He felt the pointer move and it spelled out a new word. "'Warning', what warning?"
G-O-L-D-C-O-I-N.
Derek took out the gold coin in his back pocket. "This gold coin, what's so dangerous about this gold coin?"
C-U-R-S-E-D.
Derek narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? Who are you, Baker?"
The pointer spelled out a word that made Derek look up. "Confederate soldier?" He looked at his friends. "You saw what this pointer spelled out, right? Confederate soldier."
"Yeah, I'm not illiterate," Simon nodded before shrugging. "It makes sense; Louisiana was a Confederate state."
An idea crossed Derek's mind. He turned to the pointer. "Is this gold coin part of the Confederate Gold?"
The pointer landed on YES.
"Holy crap," Derek gasped. "You see this thing, I have in my hand a piece of the Confederate gold; this is so awesome. I-"
"The pointer," Niko snapped. It was moving again and spelling out several words.
"Burns, Jones, Wilson, Grant," Simon read off. "What are these names?"
The pointer spelled out the words 'RETURN', 'ANTOINE', and 'LIBRARY' next and it spun out of control. Derek, Niko, and Simon quickly said goodbye.
"What… was that?" Derek gasped. He looked at the gold coin in his hands. "Confederate gold, cursed coin, a list of names, a library, and someone named Antoine. What is going on?"
"It said to return the gold coin," Niko reminded.
Derek furrowed his brows. "Benjamin F. Baker, if he really is a Confederate soldier, surely there's some record of him. First thing in the morning, we got to go to the library to look up these names that this Baker character mentioned."
"We should write them down," Simon suggested, "so we don't forget."
Derek took out his pocket-sized journal and quickly wrote the names mentioned in the notebook.
"There's a library in Cane River Creole," Simon told.
"That's our first stop in the morning."
The three of them put out the fire before they climbed into the tents and got a good night's sleep.