Chapter Fourteen: The Network

Marry came out of the tournament inside her room in the exact same spot she was in before entering the portal. She had grown accustomed to how the tournament portal worked after a long time. At one point, Marry made it her goal to see where every portal would take her on what level of the mansion or room. She discovered that the portals into the tournaments take her or anyone to specific location or dimension based on what floor of the mansion they’re on regardless of where they are at on that floor.

After learning this, Marry tried to discover how many different dimensions or locations the grand tournament had, she gave up trying after discovering over two-hundred different ones. And in time Marry was able to enter a new tournament, the Reapers tournament. It took her a great deal of time to scout out all the portals in that tournament. Marry discovered, unlike the grand tournament, the reapers tournament is filled with hostile life in every dimension, from acid lakes to invisible giant monsters; there is almost no end to the horrors that exist on the battlefields of that tournament.

Then finally is the Masters tournament. There are only twelve battlegrounds or dimensions in that tournament but they are absolutely massive. Each of them heralds a tremendous beast or monster of some sort that is most often stronger than the other competitors.

Marry thought about all her time at the mansion, and all the battles she has entered, won and lost. And never once in her entire time at the mansion has anyone ever helped her in anyway, not on the battlefield nor on what the design of all of this was; until now that is.

Marry thought about those two young boys who helped her out in the caves and it only increased her desire to have her questions about them answered. Who are they, where did they come from? And more importantly why did they help her?

The only place she could get answers, is from a small group that deals in information inside the mansion. They call themselves ‘Network’, an independent shop that bends the rules of the mansion just by existing. Unlike other shops they don’t use ghost points as currency and instead trade deals or knowledge for other information, favors, or sometimes certain items.

Before Marry went there, she would need to gather as much information that she could to give the Network something to go on. Grabbing a piece of paper and quill she started writing down everything she could remember about them. When she was finished she grabbed her cloak and put it on, throwing her hood over her head to better conceal herself. The Network had never seen her face as far as she knew which was good, the less they knew about her, the harder they would have to work to get something modest or valuable about her.

When she was ready Marry grabbed her amber crystal and teleported to floor 12. When she got there she passed through the crowd of people walking about, shoving them aside gently and moving past them as quickly as she could. The corridors for the rooms were much less crowded than the lobby and she made little effort going down them. After several minutes of walking she found the room she was looking for; Room 624.

The room looked like every other room on that floor except it had a symbol of a Net with a hammer and screwdriver crossed over the net etched in its center. To any onlooker this was just a neat design by the owner for decoration purposes. But to people who knew about the Network it was their symbol, a net with tools for working crossed over it. The thing was so simple that most people who even stopped to think twice about it would overlook it entirely.

Marry looked around her to make sure the corridor was empty before knocking six times. Six was the code number of knocks for someone wanting to do business. After a long moment the door opened slowly into a pitch black room. Marry walked into the room and let the door shut by itself behind her.

When the door was completely shut the lights slowly came on, so as to not blind everyone in the room. The first room was nothing more than a square 20x20 foot room with two doors at the end leading to a shower room with a sink and mirror and another room with a large bed in it. In the middle of the two doors was a brown wooden desk. Behind the desk sat a man who looked perfectly ordinary in every way. This was the kind of man you would hardly notice the first time and never give a second thought about; that’s what made him perfect for gathering information.

The man had stacks of papers neatly lined up on both sides of the desk. He sat there with his elbows on the desk hands clasped together and smiling. “Why hello,” he said in a perfectly average voice. “We meet again mystery’s lady of the cloak. Please have a seat if you would like.” Then he gestured to one of the three chairs sitting in front of the desk facing him.

Marry pulled up the middle chair and sat down keeping her head low so the man couldn’t see anymore than a shadow of her face. She leaned forward and placed the paper down on the desk that she was holding the whole time. “I need you to find out who these two are and what floor and room they are staying on.” Marry said. “It’s a simple job so I expect it should take you more than a few hours at most.”

The man took the paper and read over its contents. He frowned briefly then read over it again much slower. When he finished this time he had a massive smile on him, like he just won the lottery. He put the paper down and went back to a neutral face then said, “I happen to know all of this information and can confirm it with one of my guys in about ten minutes. However in exchange for this I want one of three things from you. First is for you to remove that cloak and to tell me your first name. The second is I want your full name. And the third, I want the date and location of your death.

Of course I would prefer you to give me the third one but as I said I will let you choose which of these you wish to exchange for this information of mine. As well I will settle for no less than any of these three choices I have laid out for you.”

Marry grit her teeth behind her cloak. The information she was requesting shouldn’t have been nearly as pricey as what he was asking for. Her name or face alone would get him so much closer to finding her true identity and with that she would lose a large gambit which she could have later traded for something far more valuable.

But still Marry had been doing business with this man for years and he always offered as fair a deal as possible. Then again if he already knew this much about these two and was asking a high price that means that one, if not both of them, were in some way famous. Meaning she could find this information on her own, but it would take her much longer and time might not be on her side with these two, she needed to speak with them as soon as possible.

Marry reluctantly asked, “Confirmation in ten minutes?”

The man nodded and said, “I will contact my associates right away and get them to confirm what I already suspect… if we have a deal?”

“My name and face after the confirmation.”

The man smiled and said, “Very well I shall be back shortly.” Then he got up and went into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

Marry quietly got up from her chair and went to the door and pressed her ear to it, trying to hear anything. She heard absolutely nothing and gave up after a couple minutes. For the rest of the time she sat patiently.

After being gone for around 8 minutes the man came back and sat down at his desk. “Yes I have made a confirmation on my suspicions about these two you seek. Now then do we have a deal?”

“Yes, we do.”

“First is the boy, Picario. A magus, around thirteen years old and his first name is obviously an alias, as well as there is no last name attached to it. Strangely enough though his real name seems incredibly difficult to acquire, but not impossible by any means. Anyways he and the other boy live together as roommates on floor ninety room fifty-four.

As for the other boy, rather the young man, he is about eighteen maybe nineteen years old. Hasn’t been here very long and his name is Ethan Alaster.”

“Alaster, as in related to the puppet master David Alaster!?” Marry asked incredulously.

“The very same, turns out he is David’s son, who knows how powerful that boy can become being that his father is one of the mansions most powerful phantoms in over a millennia of its history. The way I hear it the only person to ever truly defeat David is the legendary Silver; but you know all this already.

Anyways I’m not normally interested in such new people but after the events that have followed him shortly after being here, and his family name, well rumors like that go flying around its hard not to investigate on them.”

Marry almost asked the man what he meant by ‘events that followed him shortly after being here’ but she knew he was just throwing bait in front of her in an attempt to get more information from her in exchange. She wasn’t going to take it.

The man waited appropriately to see if Marry would take his bait but when she didn’t he continued. “Well then I held up my end of the deal, now for yours.”

Marry stood up and removed her cloak to reveal her face and body behind it. She knew that her current clothes left no trace of her real history so she had no worries about this person seeing them even though he only requested her face to be shown. “My name is Marry, and thank you for the information.” Marry said.

The man smiled and Marry turned to be on her way when the man spoke up, “By the way some free information, Marry. The first is that the Alaster family has an amazingly unusual history with this mansion, however I don’t know much about it so I won’t bode you into inquiring on it. The second is that their family has dark history to them and every Alaster that has come to this mansion has made their mark in either being excessively powerful, insane or even both.

I know of Four Alaster’s still here involved in this mansions affairs to this day; including the youngest one you’re seeking after. And finally the last piece of information. Regarding the events of the young Mr. Alaster’s being here or rather to say his untimely demise, it may have a strange correlation to the answers you have been looking for here for a long time now.

Marry, I am telling you this as not only a reward of service for all the great information you have delivered to me over the many years but also as a warning. If it all possible, avoid the Alaster’s at all costs. One of them is a reaper and if that reaper is working with the others then your involvement with them may set her sights on you.

And you know what happens when a reaper kills you don’t you? Regardless of where you’re at in the mansion or out of it, you die for good. There’s no coming back from it, its game over.”

Marry was standing at the door leading to the corridor listening intently to what he was saying. In all the centuries she had known this man he never gave out this much information for free no matter how much she would give him he always gave her back something of equal value in return. She didn’t know whether this should enlighten her or terrify her.

One thing she knew already though was the first hand power of a reaper. They were on a whole other level than her. She saw what happens to a phantom when a reaper kills them, it’s not a pretty sight. Even if she could match their power she could never match their skill or ruthlessness. If it was true and the other Alaster who is a reaper was working with Ethan and David and came after her for getting involved in their affairs then she would be near powerless to stop her.

Then Marry remembered why she was doing all of this in the first place. That boy and his friend saved Marry from the twins and helped her defeat them. They didn’t gain anything that she could see from it. Regardless none of that mattered until she talked to Ethan, she would find out first hand just what kind of person he is and why he helped.

Marry turned the doorknob and called back, “Thank you Finn, I greatly appreciate this information.” Then she opened the door and left.