Laurence knocked on the door again. He kept knocking until, after a minute of his fist rapping against the door, the woman opened the door.
“What?” She said, anger tinting her voice.
“Win, please, we just need to find Jim”.
“Of course you do. This is some crackpot plan to try and revive Cleo again, isn’t it? Don’t answer, Laurence. I don’t need you to say, I already know. Of course it is. It always is with you. You only ever care about one person in your life, and that person isn’t even you. Look at you, you’ve got a beard that goes down to your waist, your hair is clumped together with knots so thick that the only way you’re going to get it clean is by cutting it all off. How the hell are you even able to concentrate enough to look after a child when you can barely look after yourself? You don’t care about yourself, you only care about her and it drives me insane. If you actually just focussed on yourself for some small amount of time you could do so much, but instead you waste all your time pining after a girl who died before you were twenty! You’ve literally spent ten times as much time pining after her as you have knowing her while she was alive”. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists before looking directly at Laurence. “Yes, I would be over the moon if Cleo was able to come back. She was my best friend from when I was seven years old, but we both know that the cycle of reincarnation is set in stone. If it had been broken, circumvented or truly reversed by now then we would know, because the Mephisto clan would be the most powerful of the nine great clans”.
“It’s true,” Peter interjected. “If we could resurrect our past Immortals then we would simply be able to dominate the other clans through force. We would even have more chances at creating Ascendant Immortals”.
Winoa stared at Peter for a full minute without saying anything after he stopped speaking before turning back to Laurence. “Why is he following you? I assume it’s because of your crackpot crusade, but he should know better. He’s from the clan of death, and Rose is definitely a corpse. Actually, Rose being a corpse shouldn’t be a problem for a Mephisto. Why is he even here?”
“I’ve never asked why he wants Rose alive”. He turned to Peter and frowned. “I assume it’s because you’re obsessed with her like I am Cleo, right?”
“Pretty much. My Rosebush doesn’t sing much when she’s a corpse”.
“As for why we’re working together, he consulted an auger, who turned out to be a real prophet. They pointed him in the direction of me, and the night he showed up on my doorstep I discovered a clue towards reviving Cleo in my old storage pouch”.
“That’s insane, Law. You’ve actually outdone yourself this time”.
“Look, I don’t know if it’s actually true, but what I found isn’t just some crazy shot in the dark. We’re dealing with something that wields power on the level of the Fallen Morning. What I found was a letter from my birth mother to me as a baby, telling me about the fall of our clan and the reason for it. There was a Manifestation that was specifically made to bring a madwoman’s lover back from the dead. It seems to do a lot more than that, because the Avalonians destroyed Hephaistia for it. They seem to think that this wishing well is real enough to go into a battle to the death against one of the greatest forces within the Tower. So much so in fact, that I am the only survivor. It’s a shot in the dark, but it’s the best shot in the dark I’ve ever had. Please, I know you won’t come along, so just point me in the direction of Jim and we’ll be out of your hair”.
Winoa’s jaw hung open as Laurence continued to speak. “You... You are... Are you serious?” She stammered. “You’re really one of the last Hephaistians?”
“Yeah, in fact there are statues of both my parents back in Spirit. On Spring Street, no less”.
Winoa began laughing, but her eyes softened. “Despite everything, I really am happy to see you, Law. You’re an idiot, but if this fool’s quest is what you have to do then don’t let me be the one who separates two fools. Jim has gone to ground. He was living with me, paying me decent rent I might add, but the Caesar clan discovered his existence. Far be it from them to let an Immortal of theirs slip through their grasp, so they sent their newest Immortal to find him and tie him down to them. Some blond whore, his cousin I believe. She’s here to marry him, and won’t take no for an answer. I’d tell you more, but you know Jim’s habits in this respect better than me”.
“Oh,” Laurence replied. “That’s a little bit of a conundrum”.
“I figure you fools with lady troubles can all live together, or run away. Something might come of it. Either way, it's better that you help him than ale him any more time on his own. He'll only get into more trouble”.
“No disagreement there. If you needed to contact him did her give you any hints?”
“Yeah, head to southwest A twenty-six, wait for the flea market that pops up on the fifth of every month and give my message to a man named Rishif. His pointer ring is still here, because unless it's in a pocket dimension people can track it”.
“Fair,” Laurence said, running through the devices that he could make to track a pointer ring. “Though likely unnecessary”.
“He seemed adamant about it. Either way, the excessiveness of the steps to contact him makes me think he's likely hidden on the other side of the city, ready to bolt at the first sign of an unrecognised face contacting his merchant friend”.
Laurence nodded and smiled. “Thank you for helping, Win. You've done more than I expected”.
“I loved Cleo too, and despite everything, you and Jim are still some of my oldest friends. I'm not going to join your fool’s quest, but helping you find another fool is no problem for me”.
“Truly, thank you. Next time you see me either Cleo will be alive, or I will have given up”.
Nodding, Winoa closed the door. Laurence turned round and trotted down the stairs before staring off at the skyline once more.
“So to the northeast like the Zephyr woman said?” Peter asked as he caught up to Laurence.
“Not at all, and we're taking a slight detour first,” Laurence replied, before punting at the half-collapsed tower that was clearly visible from every part of the city.
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