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The first rays of the sun penetrated through the windows of the security company and slowly slid across the floor, touching the sofa and then caressing the face of the person sleeping on it. There was lightness in his head and his thoughts were clear, but his body was drowning in soft bliss. When the rays touched his fluttering eyelashes, Klein refused to open his eyes, only turning away from the reminder of the coming of morning.
Sleep had already gone, and a plan for the day began to form in his head, which happened to all people who did not want to leave a warm bed so soon. He was already in Black Thorn, so there was no need to waste time on the road and he could bask a little longer. But after the start of the working day, he had to go down to the archive, then go to training and after all, search for a house with a red roof... Imagining a long list of things to do, Klein frowned in his sleep. He was clearly not someone who could afford to stretch out the morning for a long time.
The scent of comfort, consisting of a light woody smell and soothing mint, touched his nose, and Klein almost sank into a slightly melancholic, but sweet sleep again. The hand hanging from the sofa lazily rose and touched someone else's warm back, sliding up and burying itself in a soft shock of hair, ruffling the strands a little.
'Mm... It seems like someone fell asleep on me...'
Yesterday, he, along with other Nighthawks, decided to drink some alcohol, and immediately regretted it. The state of intoxication reminded him of the loss of control during the intake of the potion of Sequence 9, unpleasantly and causing goosebumps on his skin. But besides this, he lost 1 sul and 8 pence in cards... Memories gradually returned to him, and Klein was becoming more and more convinced that alcohol is evil.
Already knowing who was using him as a pillow, he opened his sleepy eyes, blinking as the sun's rays hit his face. The thick hair that gave off that pleasant scent touched the tip of his nose, and Klein did not feel irritated by the unpleasant awakening. On the contrary, he felt calm and cozy, perhaps it was the Moonflower from the domain of the Goddess of Eternal Night.
When Nighthawk was about to get up, throwing off Leonard, who was sprawled on him and snoring sweetly, happy with yesterday's win, a shadow hung over the sofa. A blanket was laid over the two Beyonders, and old Neil smiled as a father would do when he saw two sleeping sons, overcome with fatigue. His quiet and gentle voice lulled him even more, and Klein closed his heavy eyelids again.
"The life of Nighthawks is hard... You need to enjoy such quiet and happy moments, young man."
Perhaps he was right… It had only been a month since Klein had found himself in this world. There was no need to rush…
It was a truly quiet and peaceful morning.
***
A swirling gray fog filled the walls of the ancient palace, as if it were an integral part of the interior. In the center of the hall there was a table with 10 figures in stone seats, who turned their gaze to a man with a star carved behind his back. He sat slightly leaning back, and his hands rested on the armrests, slightly thoughtfully tapping out a strange rhythm. Deciding because of the hall that had fallen into silence that he had not made himself clear enough, Leonard repeated:
“I don’t need anything except,” he turned his gaze to the head of the table, where a smiling man in a double-breasted suit and a top hat sat, “one question for Mr. Fool.”
This was not unusual, as the old members of the Tarot Club often asked questions of the ancient Deity who had appeared before them. But it had been a long time since the last time the Fool had been approached, and the member who had asked the question had not provided the pages of Emperor Rozel's diary. He wanted this reward in exchange for helping the World.
"That can be arranged," the Fool, sitting at the head of the table, lowered his head to the side with interest, and it seemed that his gaze from behind a layer of fog was directed at the man at the other end. "If Mr. World later provided me with something equivalent to the question. Do you agree?"
The man in question only nodded reservedly and laughed hoarsely.
"How unexpected, Mr. Star. Is there really nothing I could get for you?"
"That's not it..."
Leonard hesitated for a moment, afraid that he might offend Klein. After all, he was known in the Tarot Club as the most experienced member, who could get hold of absolutely anything, and in a short time, and also had information beyond the imagination of those present. Pulling the mask of indifference onto his face again, the Star shook his head.
"I do not belittle your knowledge and connections, Mr. World. But this is a question that only Mr. Fool can answer."
Keeping a calm smile on his face, Klein thought to himself.
'Just me?'
He was no longer afraid of questions from the club members as he used to be. Now he had many sources of information, and he could give hints about Angels, other Gods, the Spiritual World, or almost anything related to mysticism. Even if Leonard suddenly decided to ask him about something he did not know, the Fool, skilled in deception, would give a vague answer and no one would object.
In the end, he listened attentively.
But it wasn't only Klein who was mentally analyzing. Audrey, as a Spectator, noticed that the Star was hesitating, opening and closing his mouth, apparently unable to find the right words. This was very unusual, because in her opinion, he was one of the same people as the Hanged Man, very straightforward at first glance, but in their eyes there was a cold calculation, and every word was weighed and calculated in advance.
Finally, Leonard, to whom all eyes were turned, asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time.
"Judging by the words of other members of the Tarot Club, there are no specific oils for the ritual of addressing you," Audrey, who was listening attentively, noticed how the Star's face tried to turn to the World for a moment. "But when I first joined, I was told that you prefer the essential oils and extracts of Moonflower and Dreamflower…"
'Wait,' Justice’s eyes lit up at the sudden information, since she was quite familiar with these names. 'Aren’t these oils from the domain of the Goddess of Eternal Night? Why did Mr. Star mention them?!'
Everyone present, and even the Sun, who was not so familiar with the Goddess, were surprised. During the ritual, in order to show their respect, the person who addresses the great entity wives the oils that the God liked. But the Tarot Club did not have such an opportunity, since the Jester seemed indifferent to such things, only interested in Rozel’s diary.
… but now they could find out the answer to their question — what did the Fool prefer!
Klein was dumbfounded by such words, but after a few moments he came to his senses. And it was true that Leonard was a faithful follower of Her, so he could misinterpret that some unknown God demanded that the same extracts and oils be burned when addressing Him.
'But it is a pleasant scent. I only mentioned it because my dear poet, as a Nighthawk, always has Moonflower and Dreamflower on hand…'
This soothing scent reminded him of Blackthorn and the time when he came to a regular job that brought in good money, his family was waiting for him at home, and the church of the Goddess of Eternal Night was always nearby to receive him, tormented by the torments of the past world. And seeing Leonard, he remembered this smell, and, unable to resist, named familiar names of herbs.
Well, it was easier to get out of this situation than to answer at length about something he did not know.
Klein leaned back confidently in his throne, his enigmatic smile widening as everyone waited for his answer.
“This smell reminds me of the past,” he didn’t lie.
But it was at that moment that the room exploded with a flood of thoughts!
'Is Mr. Fool secretly in love with the Goddess?!'
Surprisingly, this incredible assumption did not originate in Audrey’s head. Force, as a writer, imagined a love story that lasted for thousands of years, where the Goddess of Eternal Night cemented her name in the ages, declaring peace to the world, and Her lover fell into a deep sleep, now wanting to return to Her. And only the smell that She loved so much reminds us of the old days.
The Hanged Man was thinking about something else.
'Will this shake the balance of power of the three churches?'
Memories from all the meetings held during this time flashed through his head one after another. He was trying to figure out how loyal the ancient and powerful God of the Church of Eternal Night sitting before him was. After all, if he decided to raise Her name above others on a whim, it would disrupt the order in Loen and undermine the relations of the three churches.
The Justice, however, was lost in thought for a long time. Her gaze slid imperceptibly between the three figures—the Fool, the Star and the World. As a Spectator, she had access to more than the others.
'Audrey, come on... you're close to the solution...'
If she had been the same, she would have come to the same conclusions as the Magician, the Hanged Man and the rest of the Tarot Club. But if it had really been about special feelings for the Goddess of Eternal Night, the Fool would have told them about it from the start. Even if he waited for them all to increase their power and resources, making concessions, there was no need to inform only the Star about the preferences in oils for the ritual…
The tenacious green eyes stopped on the figure of the World, and a barely noticeable smile slipped on the lips.
Mr. World is a follower of Mr. Fool, and also knows Mr. Star in reality… Could there be something hidden here?'
The girl had long understood that Leonard was connected with the Church of the Goddess, and, therefore, on his hands and clothes one could catch the absorbed scent of Moonflower and Dreamflower. If Audrey was on the right path of softening… it was not that this was the smell preferred by the Goddess, but that this was how the Star himself smelled.
But she did not have enough information to understand why. And also to confirm her assumptions.
Scenes of interaction between the World and the Star popped up in her head... Audrey thought hard, but only came to the conclusion that these two were quite friendly. At least Leonard often followed the World, and the World gave him concessions when setting a price for work. And, most likely, it was the World who invited his friend to the club...
The Justice realized that she should keep a closer eye on these two in the future. There was definitely something interesting there!
The one who asked this question only nodded and thanked him reservedly, lost in his thoughts. Some elusive feeling did not leave him...
'I'll have to try to find out about the unknown and powerful essence from the old man again.'
The consequences of this simple question after a while made Klein's head spin. The members of the Tarot Club began to raise oils and extracts from the domain of the Goddess of Eternal Night, addressing him. And what's more, it seemed that they did it even more often! In the end, the Jester gently hinted to everyone that they could continue to use what they had before.
'I don't want the Goddess to be angry with me!'
Only after this story ended, Klein was able to sleep peacefully.