Three of Hearts

'Shit, I let my emotions get out of control. Did it wake up that monster in my shadow!?'

Large waves of shadow rose around Lumière in an instant, massive incountable tendrils rising up from the ground. He immediately sprang to action, pulling his glove over his hand as he fell backwards, away from the shadow. In an instant, his lips parted, and he shouted a phrase that hung in the silent air.

"Ignición!"

Bright silver flames burst up from his palm, veiling the room in a bright, incandescent light. The shadows shrunk back for a moment, and that had been enough time for Lumière to reach into his jacket pocket, procuring the music box that had been given to him by the grand being within the House of Cards, the Joker. He fell on his back, but he ignored the pain that shot up through his body and lifted it into the air, twisting the small ratchet lever on its outer surface. Immediately, soothing chimes began to pluck after colliding with the interior workings of the music box, and a serene tune filled the air. The shadows that had been hurtling towards Lumière halted in place, and seemed to shiver with fatigue as they listened to the tune.

The shadows gradually began to dissipate, pooling inside of Lumière's natural shadow as they fell into a deep slumber.

'There are too many dangers that come with this. I need to stop walking around with nothing on my person. I'll retrieve my sword from the Fencer's Gathering, and later see if I can't procure a suitable firearm from that House of Cards… surely in such a secretive place, there's bound to be illegal dealings.'

After he had calmed down, wasting no time, he adorned his black tailcoat and a flat cap before walking out of the door of the monastery. He made his way up Cobbler's Street and passed Etten-Leur, where billowing steam and the sound of machinery resounded throughout its surroundings. He started to ascend the flowering secretive steps that led up to the middle borough, but an oddly familiar sight caught his eye.

A glowing rabbit ran alongside Lumière, quickly overtaking his pace and ascending the steps to the middle borough. It stopped in its tracks high above him, turning to look at the magician with a piercing blue gaze. As he stared at the rabbit, countless hazy memories were dragged from a safe locked away in his mind. A tense, dull fear crept up his skin, and his eyebrows furrowed out of suspicion.

'What are you? A repeating rabbit? Why do you keep showing up? What do you want? What do you mean? Are you another inconsistency? A product of the labyrinth? Or are you just an illusion? Who could be messing with me like this?'

On Mercurial Street, he walked until he had made his way to the Fencer's Association, where he paid greetings to the attendant, and retrieved his blade. Surprisingly, the Genius Blade, who was always present and practicing in the building was missing. He paid it no mind however, adjourning from the building as soon as he had accomplished his goal.

Soon, he had made his way through the middle borough towards Orulinde Street, clearing past events from his mind, and focusing on the present before him. He showed off his card to the door's attendant, Osiris, and entered the House of Cards which had been shrouded in morning mist. Ignoring the gathering of people through the building, he walked over to the right side of the hall immediately.

Lumière sat down at the bar to the side of the House of Cards, noting the presence of several figures he had seen before. They all had the familiar pupil marks of varying likenesses, and outfits that resembled Dwindlers, adventurers, and business magnates. His gaze turned towards the bar's attendant, who had been cleaning a glass with a rag, eyeing him as if waiting for his order. Alternative to the attendant's expectations, however, Lumière leaned in slightly, bringing forth his attention before speaking.

"I need to acquire a weapon. Do you know anyone here who would be best to seek out?"

Lumière had learned from Constantine, the leader of the Blackfeather Group, that bars were the best spots to gather information in. Whether seeking out business that would occur behind closed doors, seeking out people, or seeking jobs, those that would gather in places of drink and merriness were sure to know such things. Although, oftentimes when it came to matters that weren't so legal, one needed connections to the party being inquired into, to avoid suspicions of being affiliated with the peace keepers. So, without any semblance of connection without going through Constantine, whom he was sure had busied himself too much to go along with Lumière's schemes, Lumière had made his way to the House of Cards. The mysterious gathering within the building cloaked in mist seemed devoid of any lawfulness, and now as an official member- a card holder, he was sure he was privy to take part in any business that might occur.

Before the attendant behind the counter could respond, however, a man sitting in the seat beside Lumière let out a soft chuckle.

"A weapon? Is that all you're going to say? What kind of weapon? If it's a gun, what caliber? If it's a knife, what kind of knife are you looking for? How well do you want to conceal the weapon? Will you be killing animals, people, or looking for a general sense of self-defense? Are you a fool, or just new to business here?"

Lumière's eyebrow twitched slightly, and his expression grew baffled. Still, he was hesitant to give up his hand, so he didn't hesitate to present himself in a calm, collected light in front of the man. Despite his lack of knowledge, he was a formidable liar.

"A 1911 model, .45 caliber. I need an underarm holster to go along with it." Lumière spoke confidently, leaning in towards the man.

Of course, he knew nothing of what he was talking about. He had heard Constantine spout some terms in their conversations, so he readily used them here.

"Ah, it makes sense. Often my clients ask for the same thing. To only have access to one bullet at a time, you would want that bullet to do as much damage as possible, so you would want something capable of arming the most powerful rounds." The man nodded with a sense of assurance. "I can sell you that much, but we'll have to adjourn to a private room. It's a bit strange to do business like this out in the open.

Lumière nodded in understanding, and before long, they had adjourned from the bar. On a wall opposite the bar, at the far end of the hall, an attendant stood beside multiple doors, of which two were open. Without speaking to the attendant, the man nodded in confirmation, and the attendant stepped aside to allow them to waltz through the door. Within the House of Cards, there were several private rooms that one could use to wait for the arrival of the Joker, discuss secretive matters, or conduct business without the scrutiny of the crowd within the hall.

"What card are you?" The man asked in passing, shutting the door behind them.

"I'm One of Spades." Lumière spoke tersely, criticising the man's demeanor as he eyed him. He also looked around the room slightly. There was an ornate square table in the center of the room, and two satin chairs on either end of it. There were no windows within the room, and it was alight with the gentle glow of electric lighting on the ceiling. The door that the man stood by was his only escape in the event of conflict. Lumière took a seat, but he failed to relax in the slightest.

"One of Spades?" The man marveled. "A heretic? Hah... good luck with that."

The man sat down in the seat across from Lumière. He then looked up towards Lumière, and a curt smile crossed his face.

"It's nice to meet you, kid." He spoke in a gruff, confident tone as he extended his hand in greeting. "I'm Three of Hearts, an alchemist."

'Alchemist? Is that the special domain of the heart cards? What exactly does that imply, though? Will he turn coal to gold in front of me to prove it?'

Lumière shook the amusing thought from his head and began to inquire.

"You have the ability to acquire a firearm for me?" Lumière inquired, leaning back in his seat as he rested his head on his hand.

Three of Hearts nodded succinctly. Without speaking another word, he pulled open his coat, revealing a multitude of firearms hanging from its interior. The chain of a pocketwatch hung from an interior pocket, and several holsters held guns against his person. The man shuffled through the assortment of weapons, and locating what he was looking for, unstrapped the holster and handed it over to Lumière.

"It's unloaded, but you should still be careful." Three of Hearts smiled genially. "A 1911 model, .45 caliber. Precisely what you were looking for."

Accepting it, Lumière slipped the firearm out of its holster. There were intricate floral patterns on the silver-gleaming slide, and on the grip, there were intricately carved runes.

"It's been engraved with my runes. Something special I've been working on recently. This is the first I've thought particularly decent enough to release. When a minute has elapsed without a bullet being loaded into the chamber, it will automatically load one for you. It's a decent way to get past governmental restrictions. You have to name it for the runes to take effect, however. It's alike to contracting, in a way. The gun becomes yours after you name it."

Lumière raised the gun towards the wall, shutting his left eye and narrowing his right as he aimed its sights down.

"I'll name it 'Cerces'."

Immediately, the gun felt weightier. Lumière could tell that it now contained a singular bullet, a slightly almost unnoticeable weight present within it.

"Strange name for a gun." Three of Hearts noted with humour in his tone.

"Do I not seem a strange man?"

Lumière had decided to put on a cold, calm front the moment he had first walked through the door of the House of Cards. It was partly why he had chosen to brazenly approach the Joker so casually.

"No, I suppose you're right." Three of Hearts chuckled. "The gun itself will be two Len Notes, and the holster for it will be ten Lune."

Lumière's eyebrows twitched instinctively. His salary for the week amounted to thirty Lune. Two Len notes and ten Lune was equivalent to two months of his salary. He let out a quiet sigh, lamenting for having proceeded without knowledge. He could have asked one of Constantine's underlings about such topics, and now he was set to look like a fool.

"Can you put this on hold for me?" Lumière grimaced slightly.

"Don't you need this immediately?"

"Eh? How do you figure that?"

"A man like you doesn't come strolling in to illegally purchase a weapon for leisurely purposes. You're trying to defend yourself in some manner, aren't you?"

Lumière was silent in response, a bit bewildered by the man's unraveling of his motivations.

"Well, I won't pry into why you're purchasing it. That's neither my business, nor the business I run."

A slight grin spread up Three of Heart's face.

"How would you like to carry that weapon out of here today?"

"Would I accrue a debt to you in the process?"

"Without any sizeable interest."

"No interest? What's the bright side for you, to gamble an inability to recoup the cost?" Lumière questioned him suspiciously.

"You will recoup the cost by all means." The grin on Three of Heart's face was still present, almost demeaning of Lumière's confused expression.

"How can you guarantee that?"

Without responding, Three of Hearts immediately pulled a thin blade from his pocket. Lumière recoiled slightly, his hand drifting over to the saber on his hip. Yet, instead of brandishing the blade against him, Three of Hearts began to dig into the flesh of his inner arm with the blade. Thin droplets of crimson blood streaked down his arm, pooling at the edge of his wrist. Three of hearts then dipped his finger in his own blood, and using it as if it were paint, began to scrawl an insignia onto his skin. A slanted cross, three diagonal lines, and two intersecting mountain peaks formed within a circle on his skin like permanent ink. It began to glow a faint green colour, along with the mark on his wrist, that resembled an eye with a pupil like a chalice.

"The signatory will suffer a cut to the cheek if they do not utter a word in the next five seconds." Three of Hearts spoke aloud.

Then, looking at Lumière, his finger began to tap slowly along with the ticking of his pocketwatch. One, two, three, four, and five seconds passed. Suddenly, he winced slightly, and blood began to trickle down his cheek. Still, he kept a grin upon his expression, and began to speak once more.

"Make a contract with me." Three of Hearts offered to Lumière. "The rune will ensure your side of the bargain is fulfilled at all costs."