“The two dressed in black,” Victor comments. “They were after me, weren’t they?”
Leo nods. “We believe so. Since I was passed out, Chiyo and her geisha took them on.”
“I wish you could see it,” Chiyo says to Victor with a little smile. She looks at Victor and clears her throat. “I mean, the two tried to knock out everyone. My geishas have artifacts in their hair to protect them from most spells. I laid there and waited for them to approach. When they got close enough, I attacked. As I fought them off, I saw Leo trying to crawl to you. He crawled on top of you to help protect you from any attacks.”
“You tried to protect me even though you were passing out?” Victor asks Leo. Leo nods sheepishly.
Victor turns back to Chiyo and asks, “What happened to the two trying to come after me? Do we know where they came from?”
Chiyo uses her Water Magic to refill Victor’s glass. “We are trying to figure that out. Apparently, they are as resilient as Magenta with the interrogation.”
“So, we don’t have any leads,” Victor says, concerned. Chiyo and Leo shake their heads. Victor takes a deep breath and looks back at Chiyo. “When is my first lesson?”
Chiyo tilts her head, baffled by Victor’s tenacity. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a day off?”
“Nope, I’ll be fine tomorrow,” Victor responds. “Just let me know when and where.”
Chiyo cheers up a bit. “Well then, get some rest. I have a tranquil spot, and the mundane won’t disturb us.” Chiyo gets up and walks to the door. She turns and bows to Victor and Leo, “Konbanwa, Empath Russo, and Leopold.”
Once Chiyo exits, Leo gets up, but Victor grabs his arm. “Wait, I need to tell you something.”
Leo sits back down with a concerned look. “What is it?”
“Where are my tarot cards?” Victor asks.
Leo tilts his head to the side. “They are in the top drawer of the dresser. Why?”
Victor takes note of Leo’s curiosity. If he is to trust his mentor, he should inform him about everything that happens to him. “I guess I should probably tell you what happened to me when I passed out.” He tells Leo what he saw while he was unconscious and goes into every detail he can remember.
Leo’s face grows more and more worried. Leo turns away from Victor as he tries to comprehend what was told. He gets up and walks over to the dresser to take out the tarot cards. He remains silent as he sits beside Victor, handing him the deck.
“I think you should do your reading and see what the cards have to say,” Leo suggests.
Victor hesitates a moment before taking the box. He takes a deep breath, removes the cards from the box, and starts shuffling. He focuses on his memory of the place he visited. The glowing forest, the moonless sky, the strange yet familiar house in the distance. Victor sits in silence as he sets the cards down and cuts them into three piles. Leo watches him return the three piles back into a single stack.
Victor starts flipping over the cards, and his eyes begin to tear. As he looks down at the six cards he set before him, his lower lip quivers. His eyes well up, knowing what he saw wasn’t a dream.
Leo notices a tear running down Victor’s cheek. He takes his knuckle to wipe it away. “What’s the matter? What do you see?”
Victor takes a deep breath and licks his lips. He places his fingertips on the two cards stacked in the middle of all the other cards. The bottom card is “The Empress” and the card lying across it is “The Page of Cups.”
“It’s my mother. She’s trying to speak to me.”
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.”
