C-BAD-032
Barista: Julia Morningstar
Date: Jan-15-2020
Receipt: C-BAD-032
Subject: Omens
The Barrow was never real. Not like we thought. The walls weren’t walls, the paths weren’t paths—they were all just illusions, stitched together by something older than our magic. When I willed the way forward, it answered—peeling itself apart, unraveling into something grander. And at its heart, we found him.
The Corpse.
██████.
███ █████████.
███ ████████.
Chained to the wall, grinning—like he’d been expecting us for centuries. He was dead, but not. A guardian, but unwilling. And most importantly? ██ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████—██████ ██████ ███.
There’s a key, he said. An actual key, ███ ██████ ██ █ █████ ███ █████ ███ ████. Not me. Not my mark. He wouldn’t tell us where. Wouldn’t tell us what. Wouldn’t tell us anything useful.
S.O.T.
[███ █████ █████████. ███ █████ █████████ ████ ████, ███████ ████ ████ █████████ ███████. ███████ █████ ███ █████, ██████████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████. ███ ███ ██████ ████ ███████, ███████ ████ █████████ ██████ ████. ███ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██ ███—█ ██████, █████ ██ ██████, ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ █ █████████ █████. ██ ███ ████████ ██ ████, ████ ███ ██████████, ███████ ███ ██████ ████ ███████ ████ ███ █████. █ ████ ██████ ██ █ ███████ █████.]
██████: Well now, isn’t this a sight? Fresh faces, new voices. Come, then—introduce yourselves to poor ██████, won’t you? It’s been some time since I’ve had guests.
[Jean-Marc stepped forward, his gaze sharp, studying the chained figure.]
Jean-Marc: You must be the corpse. ███… ███’██ █████.
[Mikey scanned him. His brow furrowed, deeper with every reading.]
Mikey: Not quite. He’s… something else. ███ █ █████. ███ ███████ ████, ██████. ████ ████ ██ ██-███████ █████.
Max: Like Katherine?
Mikey: No. It’s… different. ████████████. Katherine’s more █████than this. Or… eh.
██████: ██, █ ████ █ ██████ ███. ███, ███, █’█ ███████ ████ ███ █████, ███████ ████ ███ █████. ███████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███ █████. Punishment, you see. Turns out, ████████ █ █████ ████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ██████████? Not the kind of thing that gets you a slap on the wrist. So here I sit, shackled to the bones of the world, playing my part as gatekeeper.
[Julia clutched her arm, the Mark burning hotter now. ██████’s grin widened.]
██████: And you. Ah, you. You bear the Miss. Morningstar’s gift. A key without a lock. Wretched fate.
[██████ cocked his head with a horrid crunch toward Kyle and Max. He whispered in a creaky dry dust laden voice.]
██████: Glad I’m not her, eh? AHAHAHA!
Julia: You know why we’re here, then right?
██████: Oh, I do, I do. You want inside, don’t you? ████ ██ ████ ███████ ███ ████, ██████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████. But you see—
[His chains rattled as he spread his arms, mocking.]
██████: —it’s not so simple as that.
[Kyle frowned, stepping closer.]
Kyle: Then tell us what is simple. We’re not here for riddles.
[██████ tilted his head, amused.]
██████: Oh, but riddles are all I have, friend. It’s the only currency left to a trickster without tricks. You want through? Then you’ll need the key.
[█████ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████████ ███ ███, ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ █ ██████ ████ ██████.]
██████: Key without a lock. You need the right key. The only key.
Jackie: And where exactly is this key?
[██████’s grin stretched wider.]
██████: Oh, let’s just say… it was taken. ██████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ █████ ███ ██████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ███████. ██████ ██ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███. If you find the key—put it in the lock—███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████ will open to mere mortals such as yourselves.
Jean-Marc: You’re playing with us.
██████: Oh, I always play. But that doesn’t mean I’m lying. █ ████ ██ ███. █ █████ █████. ███ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████. █’██ ████ ███████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ████—So go on, little travelers. Seek the key. And when you find it—return it to me, and let’s see if you have the heart for what comes next.
[His laughter echoed through the chamber, a sound like rustling leaves and distant crows. The chains rattled, but did not break as he puffed out his chest and smiled widely at the Cafe. ██ ███ █████ █████ ███ ███ ██████████ ███ █████ ██████ ███.]
E.O.T.
Decaffeinate Receipt
“Doer of Deeds.”
Research | 1 Word