Crumbs of a Plot: Day 7

Wednesday 7^th November

The first thing Tasha noticed when she entered Crumbs at lunch time on Wednesday lunchtime was how loud the place was. Looking around it was not hard to work out why. There were a lot of people in their late teens to early twenties hanging around, most of whom looked like students and they were not exactly keeping it down. A lot of the regulars had fled and Tasha could not help but wonder if she would be better off finding another spot to write in for the day.

Deciding to risk it, she joined the queue and quickly checked to see if her table was available or whether she would have to try and squeeze in somewhere. It was free but before she could get through the queue, a group of people had come in together and one of them had sat at her table, reserving it for the group.

“Shit.” Tasha muttered under her breath as she noticed it happening.

“Busy today.” Morgan warned her, “You’re going to be hard pressed to find space.”

“I’ve noticed.” Tasha grouched, shoulders sinking, “Don’t suppose you know anywhere else round here that I could get away with writing all day in, do you?”

Morgan hummed as she thought, making up Tasha’s hot chocolate as she did so, “I think most places around here are going to be quite busy. The university near here doesn’t tend to have classes on a Wednesday, so the students tend to migrate into town.”

“Yeay.” Tasha deadpanned. “Guess I’ll head home then, can I get that to go?”

“Wait a sec,” Morgan held up a hand and then darted into the side room between the shop front and the kitchens, emerging a few seconds later with a grin on her face, “There’s no cake consultations booked today. If you want the booth, go ahead. Just be warned I’m going to direct other Wrimos there too so you’ll probably have to share.”

“I can play nice.” Tasha grinned at her, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Morgan chuckled back at her, amused by the sudden mood switch, “Here’s your order. Go enjoy.”

Tasha shot off into the little booth. The table inside had four seats around it, though it could easily fit more if necessary and was shielded from view by a set of dividers that could be moved around to prove maximum coverage with minimal effort. As she settled into the chair she felt safer than she had since yesterday when her former team mates had entered her sanctuary. Here she was hidden from view and she would not need to hide under the table if she heard them come in.

Not that she should have to feel like she was being hunted all the time, but it seemed that everywhere she went, one of the other club members turned up. She knew they were looking for her right now, but even when they had not been she had not been able to shift them. It was getting frustrating and she was seriously considering moving. Or she had been until she had met Reika. Now she did not want to move, she just wished she could actually find a place that she could escape to without having to worry.

It was harder to get lost in her writing with the events of yesterday in her mind. She was more than a little curious as to what had happened to drive Reika out of London. It had to have been bad for Reika and her family to move all the way up here. Not only that but Reika had not wanted to share. Tasha had thought her story was bad enough, Reika’s looked like it was worse.

She could not help but wonder if Reika had accidently set the Shadows on someone. It was possible, she knew it was. She had done it herself in one of her more desperate moments in the years since her recovery from Ryou’s Shadow Game. That did not mean that she had liked it when it had happened, or that it had happened without repercussions.

Plus she was fully aware of the dangers associated with being a Shadow-Touched or even just liking the game of Duel Monsters. She had lost her leg to the same terrorist group after all, who had invaded Japan, attacked Domino City and murdered thousands in cold blood. All of this painted a pretty grim picture of how bad it could have gotten in such a large city for one Shadow-Touched. There was no way, once she had been outed that it would have been safe for her to stay in the capital for long. Tahsa had gotten away with it purely because she had been careful with her powers and her Duelling Club had not said anything because some of them were Shadow-Touched too and they had wanted to use her extra powers for their own personal gain.

There was no use in revealing the goose that laid the golden eggs after all. Everyone would want a piece or worse would cut it up to get at the gold inside. Neither was productive for the Duelling Club and Tasha rather liked living. She had heard rumours of Shadow-Touched being arrested in other countries and never being seen again after all. It did not happen in Japan, mostly because the Shadow-Touched there were under the protection of the Pharaoh and the Japanese Government had apparently aligned themselves with him long before Shadowmorn, not that anyone had been aware of it before hand, not even the Pharaoh himself.

Here in England, the home of the terrorist threat that had done so much damage over the last few months, people did not just tend to disappear, there were threats delivered and then, if someone was either very lucky or very unlucky depending on the situation, they either came home to their house in flames and something called a ‘Dark Mark’ floating over their house, a skull with a snake emerging from its mouth, or they were discovered underneath such a mark, dead as a doornail.

It was part of the reason why Tasha had kept so quiet about her powers for so long. She had heard rumours of a place where Duellists could go where they would not be judged for their skills but as the people they were. She doubted the rumours were true, but it was something to think about on days when she just wanted to hide away from the world. She did not want to go crazy again and she had not been completely sane when she had first woken up. It had taken her a couple of years to get back to sanity in fact. Learning to walk on her prosthetic leg had been easy in comparison.

Sometimes to preserve her grip on her sanity, she had to get away from everything. That was why National Novel Writing Month was so important to her. She could use it as an excuse in order to get everyone to just leave her alone to get on with it. It was not exactly like she hated people but sometimes she just had to avoid them for a while.

Glancing at her work, she realised that as her thoughts had turned morose so had her writing. It was a good point for a down turn for her characters but she needed to shift her train of thoughts.

It jumped the rails completely as Julie slumped into the chair opposite her. Tasha immediately started to pack up. If Julie was here, the rest of the pack of baying hounds could not be far behind. Julie, however, just held up her hands in a manner that screamed ‘don’t shoot.’

“Tasha wait.” Julie pleaded, “I just need to talk to you.”

“It’s never just talk, Ju.” Tasha shook her head, “Not with you lot. Not since Brighton.”

Julie winced, remembering how the Duelling Club had gone to an international tournament in Brighton a few years back and there had been trouble caused by someone who had expected the King of Games to be there. Tasha had had to reveal her powers to them then and there had always been something they needed of the young woman ever since, even if it was as simple as asking the cards in their deck if they we willing to accept new members to their number.

“I know but there’s no one else who knows the Shadows like you do. Not anyone who we can go to anyway. It’s not like we have a direct line to the Pharaoh.” Julie sounded a little bitter, causing Tasha to pause.

“What’s happened?” Tasha asked, still packing and deciding she would have to call Reika to tell her that she would not be at Crumbs the next day if her Duelling Club had found her once again.

“Adam happened.” Julie grouched, causing Tasha to grimace. She had expected that whatever had gone wrong was because of the club’s leader. Adam did not have the best moral compass and anyone who followed him generally got dragged into something insane.

“What did he do this time?” Tasha could not help but ask, sinking back into her seat.

“He found this,” Julie slid a piece of a green gem across the table to Tasha, who picked it up and examined it carefully for a few moments. She could feel the power shifting in the glowing emerald green shard. She could feel her own powers shifting in response. She wanted that shard, more than that, she wanted the power that came with the shard, it would be hers...

Realising where her thoughts were going, she chucked the little green gem back across the table. “Destroy it.” Tasha glowered at the enticingly winking piece of gemstone. “I don’t care where Adam got it, or what he wants to do with it. Destroy it.”

“Already tried after Adam got all hopped up on whatever energy this damn thing gives off.” Julie put the gem stone away as if it was the most precious object in the world to her, causing Tasha’s eyes to narrow, “It’s not exactly easy.”

“It doesn’t look like you’re trying very hard.” Tasha commented sharply.

“No, true.” Julie allowed, “But we did when we first got them and realised what they could do.”

“Them? They?” Tasha demanded, wondering if she had gotten out at the best time, “There’s more than just this shard?”

“Uh huh.” Julie nodded, seemingly unphased by Tasha’s anger, “While we’re carrying them they boost our powers.”

“You’re using something you don’t know what it is, in order to power up abilities you don’t understand?” Tasha demanded, ignoring the fact that Julie was shushing her. “Are you all really that stupid?”

“Apparently.” Julie allowed the jab, though Tasha could read her like a book and see that she was getting hot under the collar, “There’s a hitch though.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Tasha snarked, having wondered when Julie would get to the point.

“Adam and Lina duelled, using the stones to boost their powers to the point where they were duelling with real monsters and real magic.” Julie explained, ignoring Tasha’s question about how hadn’t they been arrested for endangering lives yet, “Lina lost. Now she won’t wake up.”

“You...” Tasha took a deep breath. Held it. Counted to ten, then counted backwards from ten releasing her breath slowly and then and only then, when she could guarantee that she was not going to scream in Julie’s face, did she talk again. “You want me to help her.”

“Please?” Julie asked, no practically pleaded.

“That’s not Shadows.” Tasha stated pointedly, “It reacts with it, but it isn’t Shadows. I don’t even know if there’s anything I can do to fix it.”

“You have to try.” Julie told her pointedly, anger rising.

“I...” Tasha bit her tongue, trying to control her own steadily building rage. She had known this would happen. They would want something from her and they would prod and poke and cajole and accuse and rant until they got it. She had tried so many times since Brighton to get away from them, but she had never quite managed it and here they were again, expecting things of her. The Duelling Club had long ago turned from a group of friendly Duellists into a gang of Duellists who would do anything they wanted.  

“You’re the most powerful Shadow-Touched in the area, hell you’re probably the only person the Duel Monsters refer to as a Priestess in England unless the Court are stupid enough to have come over here. You’re the only one who can help.” And here was the guilt tripping.

“I... I’ll try.” Tasha sighed finally, “But on one condition.”

“What?” Julie looked less than amused.

“This is the last time.” Tasha told her, “No more chasing me, no more begging me to help with just one more issue. After this, I’m out.”

“Adam won’t like that.”

“Adam can go...” Tasha cut herself off midsentence. “It that or nothing. I refuse to be hounded out of my home and life by you lot. Either you let me help Lina and then leave me alone, or I refuse to help her and disappear off of the map.”

“You wouldn’t.” Julie snorted, “I know you, you’re better than that.”

“You used to be.” Tasha actually felt sad about the way her former friend had changed, just a few months ago she had been one of Tasha’s only allies at the Duelling Club, now she seemed as twisted as the rest of them, “What happened?”

“Well you see, a certain little Shade vanished and suddenly the rest of us had Adam breathing down our necks constantly. Those of us who couldn’t afford to move away had to change and adapt.” Julie growled, “It was either that or see what Adam could do when pissed.”

Tasha winced. She knew what Adam could do when ticked off. She had been one of the only members of the club who could handle him in a rage, purely because she frightened him. He could not control her or her powers, so he always pulled his temper with her. The last thing he had wanted to do was find out if she could create Shadow Games of her own.

“Anyway.” Julie sighed and stood up. “I’ll talk to the club, if you’re serious meet me at the old hangout.”

“Why isn’t she in hospital?” Tasha scowled, confused.

“Because then we’d have to explain what happened and the last thing we want is to attract the wrong sort of attention. After all you remember CardCon.” Julie’s eyes flickered to Tasha’s right leg causing the older of the pair to scowl.

“Go on. Shoo.” Tasha glowered, “I have a word target to hit before I get myself dragged into whatever the hell you lot are buried in.”

Julie just replied to her glower with a smirk. “See you later, Tasha.” With that she darted out of the enclosure. The moment she was gone Tasha sank into her seat and banged her head against the table, feeling the cold wooden surface against her skin, the temperate easing the headache she could feel coming on.

It screamed trap. There was no denying that. And she was letting herself be dragged back in after she had worked so hard to pull herself out. There was still the option of moving to another part of the United Kingdom and getting away from this madness. Well, in theory anyway. Her job was not transferable, so if she moved she would have to find a new job. Her skills were transferable at least, but did not want to be hounded out of her life here. Not after she had rebuilt it after CardCon.

“If they try anything while I’m around I’ll back you up.” Reika’s voice echoed in her head as she turned the whole scenario over in her mind, trying to work out what was the best way to cope. They would keep coming here, disturbing her and hounding her into finding a new hideout if she did not go, but if she did she was not entirely certain they would let her go again. Not if her departure had warped the gang this much, though she was certain that part of it was those blasted green stones.

She did not want to drag Reika into her problems and in truth she had not been around when Julie had entered Crumbs so Tasha had no real right to drag her into this, as much as she wanted backup when she went to check Lina over. And she would go and check on her, Tasha knew she would. She could not help herself. She wanted to both make sure Lina was alright and ensure that she found a way of preventing the Duelling Club from doing it to someone else.

Having felt the power of the stone, she was pretty certain she would not be able to break whatever grip it had on Lina, whether it was her soul, her mind or her body. It was stronger than her, she knew that. It scared her a little actually, to know that she was stronger than any member of the club and that one shard eclipsed her power completely.

It was another reason she was not sure about bringing Reika into her troubles. She might stand a chance, they wanted her among their number. Reika was an outsider, potential trouble. Tasha knew how Adam thought, he would not like an outsider at their old hangout, no way no how.

Perhaps she should just leave a message for her friend. At least that way, if she did not show up on Friday, Reika could get a missing persons alert put out. The club would have to let her go if the police were looking for her or there would be uproar and it would attract the sort of attention that Adam had worked so hard to avoid for the last couple of years. I.E. The attention of the law.

She hated that she was thinking like this. They had been good people. Some of them probably still were but where just frightened by Adam. It was possible she would go, be able to work out how to bypass whatever hold the green stone had on Lina, get her coherent again and then never be bothered by the club again. That was the best case scenario.

In the worst case scenario, she fought Adam or one of the others in order to escape after finding out that she could not help Lina and lost and whatever had happened to Lina happened to her.

Her common sense was screaming for her to run for the hills. As far away as possible and not look back. Possibly head for one of the places she knew was safe, like Borderlands, where the bouncers kept the club out, or get a train out to her parents’ house, where she could hide and no one would know where she was.

It was the sensible option, but there was always the next time, or the time after that. Or worse, the club could decide that she had a verbal agreement with them to come tonight, which technically she did, and when she broke it, they could cause more problems for her than they already were.

No, her options were go alone without a backup plan, take Reika in with her, or tell Reika where she was going and that she would see her on Friday. All of the options had pluses and minuses to them. She just had to work out which one was the best plan and she only had a few hours before Crumbs closed to make up her mind.

Any thoughts of writing long gone from her mind, Tasha leant back in her chair, tipping backwards so that it was only the hind legs of the chair touching the floor and tried to plan. She needed a backup plan. She had enough experience with the gang to know what the option of them leaving her alone afterwards was not even slightly going to happen. Adam would not allow it.

In theory she should phone the police, but then she would have to explain why she had known where a group of criminals, for that was what some of them were after some of the escapades that had occurred after she had gotten out, and had not reported them sooner. Or worse, Adam would make it sound like she was with them and drag her down with them.

She needed someone she could trust, someone who had their own powers. Really she needed someone stronger than her. Since there was no one she knew like that in the United Kingdom, she was left trying to work out the best way to get backup without endangering others or getting herself into trouble.

“Hey.” Tasha froze and the chair fell forward, as hands covered her eyes even as she recognised the voice speaking. “Guess who.”

“Reika.” The relief in her tone caused the hands to recede from her vision and made their owner slip into a seat next to her, a concerned look on her features.

“You alright?” Reika asked, worried.

“Yes.” Tasha nodded hastily, pausing when Reika gave her a disbelieving look.

“They came in again, didn’t they?” Reika asked, growling and looking around as best she could.

“I thought you were in work today.” Tasha tried to change the subject, still not entirely certain she wanted to drag Reika into her troubles.

“I was, finished about an hour ago.” Reika shrugged, “Thought I’d come by and see if you were still here. I didn’t expect you to be staring into empty space. What happened?”

“Julie came by.” Tasha sighed, “She needs my help with something.”

“You did tell her no, right?” Reika gained a scowl at Tasha’s sheepishness.

“I said that I would go this one time as long as this was the final time.” Tasha paused at the look on Reika’s face, “What?”

“You’re a moron. You realise that right?” Reika asked, scowling at her.

“I know.” Tasha let out a heavy sigh, pursing her lips as she did so, “But...”

“What do they have over you?” Reika demanded, “What could possibly keep pulling you back in? Because you told me the other day you wanted out, no, that you were out, and now you’re going to help them?”

“They were my friends. Some of them at least.” Tasha replied, looking down at the floor and scuffing her feet against the floor, “And...”

“What do you want me to do?”

Tasha’s head shot up at that, watching her friend carefully. Frustrated resignation was on Reika’s features, but the other young woman was watching her carefully, waiting for her orders.

“I don’t know.” Tasha admitted. “I don’t want to go alone, but I don’t want you in there either.”

“I could kidnap you if that helps.” Reika offered, “I know this nice little vacation spot where you could hide from them.”

“Heh. I wish.” Tasha snorted, her amusement plain, “I’d still have to come back here to get my stuff eventually.”

“Damn.” Reika sighed.

“Reika...” Tasha trailed off, visibly gathered her courage and then nodded, “I want you to stay out and wait for me. If I’m not out by morning and haven’t texted you, then get some help. Please?”

Reika obviously didn’t like the plan, but she did not say a word against it, just nodded and helped her gather the last of her scattered stuff together before they left. Reika still was not talking to her when Tasha left her to hover around and wait, making Tasha slightly nervous, but the brunette pushed it aside as she hovered by the doorway, waiting for Julie.

It did not take long for the other woman to show up. Tasha half suspected that she had been waiting for her. It would not have surprised her if she had. It was not like she knew what the gang got up to when they were not causing trouble, it was possible they had thought that she would be there much earlier. In the old days, before she had revealed her powers and even in the six months after, she had dropped everything whenever they had said that they needed help.

Nowadays however, she was too busy cussing the fact that they had found her again to rush anywhere.

The fact that Reika was out there, ready to call in backup if she needed it was reassuring as she followed Julie into the old clubhouse to find that a lot of the Duelling Club she had been avoiding for the last few months were hovering around. She could feel the power of the green, glowing stones pressing down on her as she moved amongst the glowering club members, trying to ignore the way her own powers rallied against it only to get flatted.

“You don’t look so good.” Adam said as she reached the inner door, smirking at her. Tasha felt dizzy, the weight of the magic pressing against her and the siren call of the green stone causing her head to spin.

“Your stones are hexed.” Tasha grouched, refusing to show weakness in front of the jackass.  “Where’s Lina?”

“Through here.” Adam stepped aside, gesturing for her to precede him.

“Did Julie pass on my message?” Tasha asked as she stepped through, the weight suddenly dropping off as she passed into the second room and moved to Lina’s side. The moment her power was not being suppressed she sent it weaving around Lina, causing her to sense the emptiness inside the girl’s shell. The body was breathing, but there was no spirit there. Her soul was gone.

“Yeah, yeah.” Adam waved off her question. “So what’s the problem?”

“How the hell did you steal her soul?” Tasha glared at Adam, suddenly a lot warier.

“I have her soul?” Adam asked, looking highly amused and considering the green stone on a chain around his neck.

“Yes, no, I don’t know where it is, but it’s not there!” She pointed at Lina. 

“Well, can you fix it?” Adam asked, “I mean you’re the Shadow Priestess, you’re the expert on crap like this, right?”

“I don’t know.” Tasha admitted, “The stones don’t use Shadow magic. I can try but I can’t make any promises.” She held out her hand, “Your stone, I want it.”

Adam scowled, “Julie had a stone for you, you threw it at her.”

“I don’t want it forever.” Tasha snapped back, mentally reminding herself that anything that had her ready to proclaim ‘my precious’ within seconds of her having her hand on it was a bad thing, “I just need your stone to see if Lina’s in there. If she’s not it’s possible I might be able to work out where she was sent by tracing the magicks.”

“Whatever.” Adam hesitated long enough for Tasha to realise that the same obsession that was trying to claim her had already hit Adam a long time ago and that he was not strong enough to resist it, then he glowered at her, “I’m watching you.” He snarled as he took off the necklace it was attached to and handed it over.

Tasha braced herself the moment she took the stone, just standing near it had been bad enough when there had been several pieces in one room, all resonating off of each other, actually holding it was another matter entirely. Her own magic was amplified by the glowing green crystal, the darkness multiplied by the echo in the gem. The green magic, for that was the only way she could describe it without a proper name for it, swirled with her own Shadows and suddenly she could understand why the Duelling Club were so reluctant to let go of the powerful shards.

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she did not have to accept the power of the shard, not when she was as powerful as she was on her own and when she had a friend waiting for her outside who probably would not be impressed if she got herself caught up in whatever this stuff was, she tried to seek out anything resembling a soul within the glowing green. She could sense malevolence within it and a power that drained light and amplified darkness, but there was no trace of Lina within the stone.

Pushing further did not yeld any answers either. There was a power sink within the stone that absorbed some of the power of the holder and fed it elsewhere but she could not cross its threshold with her powers alone and she refused to push too hard and risk her own soul. Not for this.

As she emerged from the sea of green, she found Adam was watching her with something akin to delight on his features. “What?” She demanded, shoving the necklace back at him.

The delight lingered as he looked her over, amusement rising as he said, “You look good with the Green in your eyes.”

Tasha frowned slightly, confused by his statement. “Take your damn pendant. There’s nothing I can do here.”

“What do you mean ‘there’s nothing you can do here’?” The delight and amusement fled as Adam snatched the pendant out of her hand, “You’re the expert.”

“In Shadows, not Green.” Tasha snarled back, “I can’t work against something I don’t know. Her soul isn’t in there anyway, it’s gone somewhere else. Probably to the same place all those souls lost during Shadowmorn went. I can’t help them either, remember?”

Adam let out a snarl, but acknowledged her point. Tasha had tried and tried to locate the souls of those who had fallen during the attack, but she could not reach souls that had been removed from their bodies so it made sense that she could not help here. That did not mean that he did not believe that she had a duty to try. Once a member of his gang, always a member of his gang in his mind. And they had to work together. “Take your damn stone.”

“No.” Tasha shook head, though it was harder to do so, “I’m leaving. I’m out, remember?”

“You’re never out.” Adam snapped, “You joined us, remember?”

“I joined you years ago! When this club used to be a decent, well respected Duelling society!” Shadows leapt as Tasha let go of her anger, the magic responding eagerly to her call when there was nothing to suppress it. “The agreement was that I would check Lina and then I would be left alone, remember?”

“That was the agreement you had with Julie, she had no right to agree that for the gang.” Adam snarled back, for once not backing down at the display of power, “You’re ours. You belong to us!” Shadows formed around him too, green swirling within the black mists. Tasha snarled, realising she was in for the fight of her life if he decided he was attacked her and reached for her deck.

And then suddenly he, the room, Lina’s soulless body and the maelstrom of magic that had been before her had vanished to be replaced by the slightly pale but ecstatic face of her friend. “I did it?” the half Asian girl seemed as shocked as Tasha felt as she slipped a Monster Recovery card back into her deck, “I did it!”

“You can tell me all about what you did when we get the hell out of here.” Tasha grabbed her friend’s arm and dragged her away. “Come on!”