Paris was back in the alleyways, looking for any trace of the enigma known as Phantasma. She'd be the first step towards assembling his own group to oppose Achilles. After that, he'd have to widen his net, but for now he was laser-focused on this one woman.
The incredible woman who'd evaded capture for almost a month, despite being wanted by pretty much every authority in Arx.
He'd left various notes around the alleyways, inconspicuously taped to the walls. Each one said "To Phantasma" in faded pencil. Most of them had disappeared, but he couldn't be sure if they were in Phantasma's hands or someone else's.
The interior of the notes was written as follows:
Phantasma,
We have a mutual goal. Leave an answering note with a time and place for a meeting and I'll be there.
Paris
He'd gotten a few responses surprisingly, but none of them were from the real Phantasma. She probably thought it was some ploy of the military or something.
How could he reassure her? Words wouldn't be enough, since lies were all too easy. And he couldn't very well leave anything that would too obviously identify him in case the military caught wind of it.
A secret code would be best, but how could he ensure she'd be able to read it and no one else would? Paris sighed and dumped his head in his hands. He hadn't worn anything too elaborate lately since he wanted his appearance to be something spectacular, but he did have a mask and outfit hidden away in his closet. He'd hired an old friend from school to make it, and she'd grumbled something about being surrounded by man-children.
The mask was gold, like Achilles', but the deep purple and green evoked a different image than his blue outfit. If Achilles was the blindingly brilliant hero, Paris was the creeping poison that would end that hero.
Part of him wanted to write everything down and publish it in a blog, but that wouldn't be cool. Other people could write the legends. He just needed to play his part in this grand act.
An idea suddenly struck him and Paris ran home to scribble out a different note.
Phantasma,
To prove my sincerity, I've decided we don't need to meet in-person. Notes like this are far too unreliable as well, so I will leave a locker for us to communicate through. Leave your correspondences in there and I will reply. I will check it every Tuesday.
The locker was a genius idea, but he'd need a place to leave it. And a code for it. A code that only Phantasma and he would know. But what on earth could that be?
"Having trouble?"
Paris spun around but couldn't see anyone. All the same, he'd never forget that voice.
"How do I contact Phantasma?" he asked, waiting for the purple god to respond.
"Your idea is rather ingenious, but you don't know anything about her, do you? So I've come to give you something that she will know. Tell her the code is her daughter's birthday. 1002. October second. If you need the year for an eight-digit code, it's 2609."
"Perfect!" Paris jumped in a circle, giddy with glee. "Thank you so much."
"Normally I don't help out after I give out a Miracle, but you looked pretty stuck so take this other gift. But I can't give you anything more. There are others waiting for my presents."
"Of course. You've done more than enough for me."
He felt them disappear, then immediately set to work finding out where to set up the locker. He ordered a six-digit safe online and decided to leave it at his pal's bar. An inconspicuous spot under one of the seats, where he and Phantasma could exchange messages.
He picked up the pen to finish writing his note, then copied it several times over.
Phantasma,
To prove my sincerity, I've decided we don't need to meet in-person. Notes like this are far too unreliable as well, so I will leave a locker for us to communicate through. Leave your correspondences in there and I will reply. I will check it every Tuesday.
The safe is located in the Evening Bustle bar, under the corner seat on your left when you enter. If you ask someone for Booth 13, it's there. The code is your daughter's birthday, yymmdd.
I look forward to working with you
Paris
"Dammit!" Randy ducked around a corner and kept running, his feet pounding on the ground as a couple passing military officers chased after him.
He shoved people out of his way, leaping over a few pieces of litter nobody had bothered to clean up, and spun around another corner, the whole while listening to the shouts around him.
Why had there been patrols just a block down? Normally he'd be in and gone by now, with no one coming after him.
Damn his so-called partner! The guy had just shoved all the cash on him and disappeared while everyone was busy chasing after him. Dropping it might solve things, but he had bills to pay. Big bills. It wasn't like his loan shark would just let anything go, and if he didn't pay up by tonight he'd be black and blue tomorrow.
"Small time crime isn't agreeing with you today, is it?"
Randy yelped and tripped, almost landing right on his face as panic came over him. The voice had been right in his ear dammit!
"Catch him!" Voices were catching up to him.
"Damn damn damn damn damn!" he muttered, scrambling back to his feet and charging forward. He didn't have time to worry about imaginary voices.
"You look like you need a break. Focus on your right hand for a second and imagine a coin in it."
What the hell was going on? Randy found himself instinctively focusing on his right hand as the voice had instructed, and somehow a coin did appear in it.
"Good. Now put it in that bag with the money and drop it. Later you can use that coin you left to bring everything back to you. This should make your shoplifting much easier. Teleportation doesn't leave behind much evidence after all."
"The hell?" he muttered. There was no way he was giving up on his payday. He'd worked way too hard for it already.
"You've been double-crossed, haven't you? This'll let you avoid giving your backstabbing partner anything. And you won't need to work with anyone in the future. With this Miracle of yours, you can get whatever you want, so long as you put that coin on it. Anything in contact with the coin can be called back to you. And the coin itself will always return whenever you call for it."
This made no sense! No sense! Randy's chest was in pain from breathing too hard, and his legs felt ready to give out.
"Up to you if you take my advice or not. I don't make anyone do anything with the presents I give them. After all, a gift is for the recipient isn't it? However you want to use your Miracle, it's up to you."
"Fine you bastard!" Randy spat, shoving the coin into the bag and throwing it behind him, hoping it'd trip up a few people alone the way. He didn't stop to see the results of his actions. He just kept running, his breath growing more and more ragged.
Finally Randy got home and fell onto his couch. He needed water. But that would require him to heave himself back up onto his shaking legs, so he stayed there until he'd caught his breath.
As he did, he thought about that strange coin he'd found - or been given? Who knew. All he knew was that his haul was gone and tomorrow morning Watson and his crew would be here looking for money he didn't have and then taking their debt back in blood.
With nothing left to lose, he focused on that stupid coin.
Huh?
He could sense it. Sense the coin and its surroundings. Money. Plenty of it. More than he and Justin had nabbed earlier.
This was freaky, but he focused on pulling as much of that sweet sweet moolah to him as he could and in the next moment, there was a pile of cash sitting in front of him.
Damn, he must've robbed a bank or something considering how much there was. A tiny shop like that wouldn't have this much physical cash, would it? He called the coin back to his hand and stared at it.
It looked like a normal coin. Like perfectly normal legal tender. He frowned and focused on something else, a bright little diamond, and the coin morphed to match his wishes.
"Damn," he muttered, staring at the scene before him. That voice was right. He didn't need Justin anymore, and maybe he could fully pay off Watson too. This was his ticket to Easy Street.
Randy started packing everything away after giving his little magic ticket a kiss.
"Thank you fortune," he said with a grin.
