Simon often thought fondly of the girl that dropped in to visit spontaneously. Cleopatra, was not like the others, she didn’t turn up as often as he would allow, far from it. In fact, he found that he was the one who wanted to spend more time with her. He’d even requested things from his other visitors which he imagined might impress her. after all, she appeared to have a healthy admiration for his possessions. Unlike the others, he never felt drained or agitated when she came around, quite the opposite actually. He had no intention of scheduling her visits, but he had found him self wishing he had asked for her contact information or something. How was he to persuade her to visit if he couldn’t readily communicate with her. A foolish oversight on his part to be sure. But then again he had no ideal how to even ask her for her number, not really… not in a way that he imagined would seem natural, and he didn’t wish to come off the wrong way. He would just have to wait, and hoped she decided to visit again soon.

Fortunately, Simon did not have to wait long. it had only been a couple of days since her last visit before Cleo returned. A steady easy knock at the door, and a voice that seemed to sooth his soul. “It me again, I need to talk with you if I could,” she called from the other side of the door.

“Absolutely,” Simon replied as he started to open the door. “I was hoping you’d visit again. And what’s this? you brought a friend.” Ms. Morr was accompanying Cleo this go around. She was very good at knowing the truth about people, reading them, and helping them to understand things, thanks to her Arcana, and her experience as a lounge singer. She had been elected to assess Simon, and convince him of the danger he was in.

“My name is Arra Morr,” she said as she addressed Simon.

“Any friend of Cleo’s,” he assured her,”come in, come in. Welcome to my home,” Simon was not sure what to expect from the new woman, but he had no intention of slighting Cleo. “Have a seat, can I get you some tea, coffee, I have an assortment of other beverages as well.”

“Tea would be fine,” Arra responded, Chamomile if you have it, or green.”

“The same, please,” Cleo added. she knew it had been Ms Morr’s intention to maintain a relaxed mood.

Simon turned on the Jazz station, at a subtle volume. When he returned from the kitchen, he had a platter of jams, cheese, gourmet cracker, and an assortment of fresh and dried fruit. “Please help yourselves,” he said as he placed it down on the coffee table, “the tea wont be long.”

“Nice spread,” Cleo commented, “were you expecting guest?”

“No one particular, I just thought I should be prepared… just in case. I guess you could say I made it for you actually.” Simon smiled back at her after he said this, on his way to retrieve the tea.

“Delightful, you didn’t tell me he was such a gracious host,” Arra teased at Cleo.

Simon returned with the tea. A pitcher and three cups. he poured it carefully as he addressed his guests. “So you wanted to talk about something, was it urgent?”

“Quite,” Arra replied, “But first, I would like too know a little more about you. I mean I’ve heard so much I feel like I already taken the first steps, but I’d much rather hear from you.” With that Arra began to engage Simon in small talk, offering little insights about herself along the way. Soon she began to understand what was going on, the nature of his ability, and some idea as to the real character of this once carefree and gentle man. She was sure she could return him to who he once was, that he was deserving of a simpler life. Because that was what he really wanted at the end of the day, even though he had given up on even imagining such a thing. No, he wasn’t a bad guy, even though he could easily have been. Instead, he was simply lost… one of the victims of his own ability.

Simon began to feel a sense of nostalgia, as he sat there speak with them so openly about his life. Between the two of them he was completely disarmed, unguarded. Any trepidation he would normally feel about interacting with people just melted away. The new calculated man who he had become, seemed to disappear. He shared everything with them, and Arra helped him to understand that he was special… that he must have some sort of ability. This intrigued him, so they dug deeper, until they had worked out precisely what that might be.

“Ok, the truth is, we came here for a little more than just unraveling the mystery of Simon Latimorr,” Arra began, as she took his hand, at this point he was ready to hear whatever she might have to say. “There are people that might be coming after you, dangerous people. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen. We want to help you Simon, because we too are a part of this world you now find yourself a part of. We also have abilities, and we look after our own.” Simon nodded, as she continued to speak. It seemed Arra instilled a childlike trust even in those who were not quite children. The truth was her Arcana had actually become much stronger since she’d been working with Ace. “We can help you get away from all of this, take you some where you’ll be safe, free even. Able to leave the burden of this power behind you, if that’s what you want.” Cautiously, Simon continued to nod. “Good then, we should leave before they decide to make a move. gather what you need, and come with us.”

They walked down the hall of his apartment, towards the bathroom, when he was ready. “There’s no window in there,” Simon said, as he imagined they intended to escape or something.

“Don’t worry Simon,” Cleo said as Ms Morr opened the door.

“This is where we live,” Arra said, as she stepped aside to reveal an impossible hallway, that should not be where it was. Simon dropped the items he had gathered along the way, and stepped into the mysterious corridor before him, into whatever future lie ahead.