The talk with Angela was still on Karina's mind. She knew that the woman was important, but she couldn't figure out why.

  "I swear, the moment May's back, I'm gonna make her teach me about everything about all that stuff." Karina threw herself on the bed. "But I don't have time to lament, I need to keep the investigation going. And as Angela said, I need to trust myself better. And there's something telling me to be brave."

  Karina got up and changed her attire. She wanted something that would help her move and run, if needed. But it was also important to be elegant, as long as the mission wasn't over, she needed to stay in character.

  On her way back to the game room, she stumbled upon a man. He was tall and wore an elegant suit. He looked close in age to May and her. The young man tried to catch his breath as he said.

  "I'm sorry, miss. I should've been more careful."

  "Oh, no problem. I mean, I was a little distracted too."

  The man smiled, but the smile was tense. And the bags under his eyes made him look tired and like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in ages.

  "Would you mind telling me your name, pretty lady? I'm Victor."

  If her mind wasn't so focused on everything, she might have let it pass. But considering the appearance that matched the way May had described, and the name. It only meant one thing.

  "Nice to meet you, Victor. I'm Karina."

  "Karina. It's a beautiful name; it goes well with you. Were you heading for the gaming room? I came from there."

  "Yes, I thought that if I could catch one or two last games, before everything closes up, you know."

  Victor checked the watch on his wrist. And Karina saw that the way he tapped his feet to the girl, he appeared to be worried about something.

  "Well, it's quite late. I'm not sure that you'll find anything by now. And even if you do... It's probably games that aren't worth your time."

  "Oh! I didn't know. I guess I never stayed too late in the gaming room. You know, all the gaming and light, it can take your sleep away, if you're not careful."

  "That's for sure, but it's something you get used to with time. I mean, it's easy for me now, I've been playing for a while. In fact, now I feel anxious when..." He stopped mid-sentence and smiled at Karina. "But I shouldn't be rambling, not at this time of the night."

  Karina didn't want to go back to the bar, so instead, she invited Victor to the first place that came to her mind.

  "Hey, one thing. Considering everything you told me about the game room, I think I'm heading to the terrace. Do you wanna go there too? I guess I never checked it at night."

  "Hum, I think that's not a bad idea, not at all."

  Victor walked by Karina's side, through the halls and empty places. Even though he was a lot taller than the girl, it wasn't hard to keep the same pace as him. Soon, they found themselves on the terrace. And the full moon illuminated the whole place, and the darkness of a sky without clouds made it feel like a dome was above them. The city skyline shone with a thousand lights.

  "Wow, it's so pretty here at night."

  "I guess so. It's a good place for thinking. I like coming here sometimes. When I need time by myself, you know. The Casino can feel a little claustrophobic at times."

  "You're right. But tell me. For how long you're here, Victor?"

  "Well, I'm-" He said, but stopped. "I don't know, I'm not so sure. For a while, I would say. It's hard to watch the time passing here. I would say a few weeks. I'm on vacation, I don't want to worry about this kind of stuff."

  Karina chuckled a little.

  "Yeah, you're right. I was curious, because you seem to know a lot about this place."

  "Not really, there are people here, if you talk around, you will discover that they're the real nerds. They know everything about it here. I'm not like that, I'm just a good observer, that's all."

  "I wish I were that good. A few hours ago, I got lost, and I stumbled upon a really strange room."

  "A strange room? How so?"

  "Yeah, close to the gaming room. It was full of political stuff and paraphernalia."

  "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. And to be honest, I don't think you should be going to places like that."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "It wasn't on purpose, like I said; I was lost. At least if my friend were with me, she would have helped me. But I can't blame her, she's busy on her own right now."

  Karina felt the night air on her skin. The breeze was a nice contrast against the closure of the Casino. Victor observed her curiously.

  "Do I know you from somewhere else?"

  Karina laughed before she turned to the man.

  "I don't think so, Victor. This is my first time here, in the Casino."

  "For a moment, you seemed familiar. Like I had seen you somewhere else. But you know what they say, maybe it was in another life."

  "Do you believe in this kind of stuff?"

  "I don't have any reasons for not believing. I guess you can call me a believer. I mean, I don't suspect anything until it's proven otherwise."

  "You don't seem like that kind of guy."

  "It's not that deep. I like to believe that I'm a pretty open-minded person. There are more things in the world than we're capable of explaining. A little mystery, I guess it's what keeps people moving on."

  "This is an interesting point of view, for sure."

  Victor smiled, but he didn't try to maintain the conversation. And for once, Karina enjoyed the silence. The stillness of the city at night, the light breeze on her face. The full moon shone. Karina felt that she could appreciate it all tonight. But she had the mission, and she shouldn't lose sight of it.

  "Well, I should get back to my room, it's getting late."

  "It was a nice conversation we shared, my lady. I hope I can catch you again sometime here."

  Karina smiled before she turned around, back to where she had come from. The halls were even emptier than before, and the flickering light felt eerier.

  "It's strange walking through these halls alone. I never noticed how creepy they are before." The girl talked to herself.

  Back in her room, she wanted to check the future once again. Even though Karina wasn't very good at it, at least not as good as May, it could still reveal interesting information.

  Karina recalled a book she saw May reading once. It was about different forms of divination. Back then, she remembered asking her friend about it.

  "What's your favorite form of divination, May?"

  "Hum, I don't think I have one..." May said. "Hey, don't make that face. I use the cards a lot because they are practical. You take one card, then the other, and you keep pulling cards until you fill up your narrative. It's hard to explain. It's about telling stories, so that's fun, but I wouldn't call it my favorite."

  "If you don't believe tarot is your favorite, then you might have another favorite. Tell me what it is."

  "Well... There is one. I read about it in this very book. But I only tried it a couple of times. It was pretty fulfilling, so it might be my favorite. Although I don't like using it very often. Sometimes it can be dangerous."

  "Tell me what it is and why it can be dangerous."

  "It's some sort of lucid dreaming. You think about a question, something you want to know. You keep repeating it to yourself, like a mantra. And then you let the sleep overtake your mind. You let yourself be taken to the realms of dreams. When you find yourself dreaming, the answers to your question will come to you. And since you're lucid dreaming, you can even explore a little. It's very interesting."

  "It sounds complicated."

  "Oh, it's not. I think even people with little magical power can do it. But as I said, it can be dangerous. If you're not careful, while in the dreaming state, you can become a lighthouse for any kind of thing. And even while dreaming, monsters and creatures can still attack you there. You never know what's lurking in the shadows of the dreams."

  "Wow, I can't understand why you like it if it's so dangerous."

  "I don't know, maybe that's the funny part of it," May answered and raised her shoulders before she came back to the reading.

  Karina remembered it clearly, so that's why she decided to try dreaming divination. She adjusted herself in the bed and put on charms to conceal her magical power. The girl knew she needed to be careful, as May had advised.

  "I mean, what's the worst that can happen? And I need to take risks too. I need to be independent, and if this is what it takes. Then this is what I'm going to do."

  Karina breathed in and out. She emptied her mind of everything else, and she focused on what she wanted to ask.

  "What do I need to find?" The question came naturally. Karina knew there were things hidden. Maybe that wasn't a good question. But she felt tired, and that was the only thing her mind could focus on at the moment.

  In her peripheral vision, Karina saw shadows as they danced and moved; they got closer to her. She wanted to look better, but she wasn't able to move her head. If she tried focusing her eyes, everything seemed the same. The sleep covered her body, and Karina felt her magical powers, gentle and smooth, as they moved across her own body.

  "If this is what May feels every time she does this, I gotta admit, it's good. Even though it's a little creepy." Karina thought to herself.

  The shadows now were so close that Karina could distinguish them. It was like a dozen people surrounded her. It felt surreal, but she knew magic could be like that sometimes. She held on to the feeling and the question she wanted to ask. Even if the state she was in before the sleep made her mind foggy and confused.

  "I guess there's no danger that May wouldn't alert me. Well, at least I hope so." Karina thought. "But maybe she never guessed I would try this. I should practice divination better..."

  Karina knew there was nothing she could do now, not when the spell was almost taking her completely. But instead of feeling agitated, her mind was calm and clear. It was like she had full focus on her objectives ahead.

  The time passed, and the girl lost track of it. It could've been hours or mere seconds. If anyone asked, she wouldn't know the difference. But then, as she thought that she had done something wrong, it happened. It was like someone had pulled the ground beneath her bed, and she fell so deep into some sort of abyss. A sinking feeling in her stomach, as she could only anticipate how crashing to the ground would feel.

  But that never came, and instead, the sensation disappeared out of nowhere, and Karina found herself in the middle of a large room.

  There was no sound and no light there, and Karina's eyes couldn't distinguish anything two steps ahead of her.

  "Is there anyone here?" The girl asked, unsure, her voice sounded shaky as it echoed through the whole chamber. Something moved in the darkness, and Karina was terrified.

  "You shouldn't be afraid, not when you were the one who searched for us. Here, in the depths of your consciousness." The voice said, and something in the tone made Karina calmer. "I'm here to answer your question."