Looking For Family Records

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 26, Post Number 636

-The Sheridan Estate, Victoria's Room, 6:05 A.M.-

Wearing her white Steel Matron t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts with the television remote to her left and her iLac lying on the nightstand to her right, Victoria lay on her bed watching that street racing anime because it was the only thing on this early in the morning. She was watching it just to take her mind off of what that fortune teller at the Halloween event had told her about her family one day being reunited. Ever since she had claimed the Sheridan Estate Victoria had been under the impression that she and Lawrence were all that was left of the Sheridan family. She had not found any records that indicated that there were other Sheridans out in the world.

Victoria suspected that her parents had destroyed all of the family records to protect their children from whoever had killed them. She had no solid proof of that, but she had a strong suspicion that was the case. Her belief was bolstered by the fact that her parents had visited someone who transformed her physical appearance when she was only six years old.

Unable to lie still any longer, Victoria sat up on the bed and turned off the television. The episode was a rerun anyway, so she was not missing anything. Her mind was focused on the possibility of there being other family members who had fled Capital Crocus before her parents were killed. She briefly wondered if Lawrence knew of any other Sheridans before remembering that he had been away from Fiore for a long time and would likely not know anything useful.

Victoria got up from the bed and began searching her room for anything her parents might have left behind. She had already scoured the area once or twice for photo albums, journals, or anything else that might have been hidden, but each time she had come up with nothing. Now she was about to make a third attempt, if only to determine once and for all that nothing pertaining to her family was hidden in here.

-Victoria's Room, one hour later-

Victoria had done a complete search of the room. She had checked under the bookshelves, between the books on the bookshelves, inside the books on the bookshelves, under the nightstand, inside the nightstand, and everywhere else that could have been a good hiding place for pictures or documents. The brunette had even checked under the bed she had been sleeping on. She had found nothing whatsoever.

Having come up empty-handed once again, Victoria finally set aside the belief that there was something hidden in this room. She made sure that everything was back in place before walking out of her room. She was going to go to the basement where her father's minibar was and check there. Victoria walked over to her nightstand, grabbed her iLac, and jammed the device into her right pocket before laving the room. She wanted to have it with her in case one of her clients called with a job offer.

-In the living room, one minute later-

Victoria had went downstairs and was walking by her uncle, who was sitting on the couch and watching yet another lame old Western with a singing cowboy playing a guitar as he rode through a desert on a white horse. That seemed to be all that he watched nowadays, but that was fine with her. She was just glad to have him back safely.

Victoria had just made it past her uncle when the blond man turned to face her.

"Hey Victoria. You're up early." Lawrence said to her.

"Yeah. I can't sleep right now." Victoria replied.

"Tell me about it." Lawrence said before the two had a moment of silence. It was broken when he spoke to her again.

"You seem like you're looking for something, Victoria. What are you looking for?" Lawrence asked her.

"I'm looking for any kind of records or photos my parents might have left behind before they died." Victoria told him.

"Good luck with that. My brother wasn't very sentimental." Her uncle remarked. Victoria looked him in the eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. The brunette felt a bit deflated.

"Maybe your mother did, though. If any records were left behind it'd be her doing." Lawrence added quickly as if trying to give his niece hope that her search would not be in vain.

"OK. I'm about to head to the basement. Thanks for the tip." Victoria informed him of where she was going and thanked him for the tip he had just given her.

"Good luck." He said to her before turning back to face the television. Victoria then resumed her trip to the basement armed with the knowledge that if her parents had left any information behind it would be because of her mother Octavia.

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-In the basement, five minutes later-

Having entered the basement and started looking around, Victoria was currently examining her late father's alcohol supplies. It only reinforced what she had been told about her father being a heavy drinker. She saw the bottles of vodka, tequila, gin, vermouth, rum, everclear, and even a few bottles of champagne and wine. Phillip Sheridan sure liked the strong stuff. Victoria was not too far behind... her favorite types of alcohol were vodka and tequila.

Out of curiosity Victoria looked closer at the vodka bottles and noticed a distressingly high number of CEIL vodka bottles. The brunette cringed. That was a cheaper vodka that was very strong and had a taste that was roughly as appealing as drinking mouthwash... not that she would know what that was like. In her somewhat experienced bartender opinion CEIL was best used in mixed drinks like the Screwdriver or the Bloody Mary, but some people liked it enough to drink it plain. Victoria would drink CEIL plain only if there was no other option.

Having learned only that her father was fond of really strong alcohol, Victoria then turned her attention to the door that led to the wine cellar.

Maybe something important was hidden down there. That would be the most likely place, but her family's enemies would have probably thought to look down there too. The brunette was not sure if going into the wine cellar and disturbing her mother's wine collection would be worth the risk of ruining the potentially valuable wine. Victoria needed a little time to weigh the pros and cons of searching that place.

The brunette sat down on a stool in front of the minibar and was staring at the bar when she heard her iLac begin ringing. Awkwardly pulling it out of her pocket while she was still seated on the barstool, Victoria saw that her old pal Abigail was calling. The brunette quickly answered it.

"Hey Abby, how's it going?" Victoria asked her friend. She heard a long sigh from the other end.

"It's going, Vic. It's going." Abigail replied in an unhappy tone.

"Listen, I know that this is sudden, but I really need some help. The section of roof above my bedroom started leaking a day ago. Do you mind if I spend a week or so at your place?" Abigail asked Victoria.

"No, not at all!" Victoria answered without hesitation. She owed Abigail a lot for sticking with her through the good times and the bad. Victoria knew what it was like to not have a roof over her head. As long as she was alive and the owner of the Sheridan Estate her old friend would not go without a home.

"Thanks. I mean that." Abigail gratefully said.

"Say, do you need me to come to Oak Town and pick you up?" Victoria asked Abigail a question of her own.

"Yes, please." Abigail replied. Victoria immediately stood up from her barstool and shoved it back under the bar.

"OK, I'm about to get my Centaur key. As soon as I get it and get the Centaur cranked I'll head for Oak Town as fast as I can go." Victoria notified her friend that she would get going in the direction of Oak Town as soon as she could.

"Great! See you in a few hours!" Abigail said before hanging up. Victoria hung up on her end and immediately made for the stairs that led out of the basement. She would have to put her search for family records on hold, but she was helping one of her oldest and best friends. The brunette did not mind helping Abigail at all.

-The outskirts of Oak Town, three hours later-

Having notified Laura and Lawrence that Abigail was coming to spend a week or so as a guest because of the issues with the roof of her house, Victoria had set out for Oak Town as fast as she could safely drive the Centaur. Three or so hours later the brunette was approaching the outskirts of Oak Town when she saw a long-haired young blonde woman wearing a thin green t-shirt and blue jean shorts with brown boots. She was wearing a backpack and carrying a medium-sized light blue suitcase.

Victoria slowed the Centaur down and eventually came to a stop about five meters from the young woman. The blonde looked up and waved at Victoria. Victoria gently moved the Centaur's throttle up and soon coasted until she got near the blonde, who walked over to her. Victoria stopped the Centaur and received the greeting of her friend.

"Hey Vic! Am I glad to see you!" Abigail greeted Victoria.

"I'm glad that I could make it in time, Abby. I was worried that you'd already set out for Capital Crocus." Victoria said. Abigail shook her head.

"It took me so long to gather my belongings that I didn't set out until just now." Abigail admitted.

"No problem. Ready to go?" Victoria asked. Abigail nodded.

"Yeah. Let's get going." Abigail replied. She soon climbed onto the back of the Centaur and held her suitcase in her hands. Once Abigail was safely on board Victoria gently moved the throttle forward, carefully turned the Centaur around, and once she was turned around began the return trip to Capital Crocus.

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-Three hours and ten minutes later, the Sheridan Estate-

A little over three hours after she had set out to pick her friend up from Oak Town, Victoria had picked up Abigail and had brought her to the Sheridan Estate without incident. Having parked the Centaur in the garage and turned it off, Victoria and Abigail had left the garage and now stood in the living room, where Laura and Lawrence were waiting on them. Laura was the first person to greet the two mages.

"Welcome back, Miss Sheridan. Welcome, Miss Windstrider." Laura welcomed Victoria back home and welcomed Abigail to the Sheridan Estate.

"Thanks, Laura." Victoria thanked her faithful maid for welcoming her back home.

"Thanks, Laura." Abigail echoed her hostess' thanks for the welcome.

"I understand that you're having some trouble with your roof leaking." Lawrence said to Abigail.

"Yes, Mr. Sheridan. It started leaking some time ago. Victoria helped me pay for the repairs with the money we earned from doing that job for the wine collector, but the repairs are going kinda slow. Not helping matters is that the section of roof above my bedroom sprung a leak a day ago." Abigail laid out the extent of her troubles to Victoria's uncle. Lawrence looked at her with a look of sympathy.

"I appreciate being allowed to stay here, especially on such short notice. If you guys are OK with it, that is." Abigail said to Laura and Lawrence.

"It's Victoria's decision, Miss Windstrider. I'm fine with it if she is." Laura replied calmly.

"It's Victoria's house. In the end it's her call." Lawrence chimed in. Abigail turned to Victoria.

"Abigail can stay here until the house repairs are finished." Victoria announced her verdict... not that it was ever in doubt. Victoria had made up her mind before she had even set out for Oak Town.

"Thanks, Vic!" Abigail expressed her gratitude.

"It's no problem, Abby." Victoria calmly replied. She had been homeless before and it sucked. It especially sucked on rainy days. The brunette was not going to let Abigail do without a roof over her head as long as she could do anything about it.

"Would you like me to show you to the guest bedroom, Miss Windstrider?" Laura asked Abigail. The blonde nodded.

"Yes, please." Abigail replied. Laura bowed slightly and took the lead while Abigail followed close behind. Their left Victoria and Lawrence standing in the living room. They looked at each other for a few moments before the burly man spoke.

"Have you found any family records yet, Victoria?" Lawrence asked Victoria. The brunette shook her head.

"Not yet. I'm looking in the basement and I'm strongly considering taking my search into the wine cellar." Victoria notified him of her lack of progress. Lawrence did not seem surprised by her words.

"My brother wasn't very sentimental. He didn't care much for family photos or anything like that. He was much more interested in alcohol or vintage vehicles." Her uncle told her a bit of new information about her father.

"I can tell. Anyway, I found some books of poetry several months back. Whose books of poetry are on the bookshelf in my bedroom?" Victoria asked him. Lawrence simply shrugged his broad shoulders.

"That sounds like something your mother was interested in. Unless my brother developed a taste for poetry later in life, I'd say that they're hers." Lawerence suggested to her.

"OK. Thanks." Victoria thanked her uncle for the clue.

"No problem. You probably won't find anything, but maybe you will. Who knows?" He said. Victoria wondered if this endeavor was going to be nothing but a big waste of time before deciding that she would try anyway. If she succeeded, then she would learn more about her family. If she did not succeed, the worst that would happen was that she wasted a day or two of her time.

-In the wine cellar, five minutes later-

Having decided to look around in the wine cellar for any hidden records, Victoria made sure that all the Lacrima lanterns around the wine racks were lit so that she could see what she was doing. She did not need to break any of the bottles because they could be of a valuable vintage that she could sell if money got tight. Victoria began her search along the left wall. She carefully checked behind the wine rack for folders, papers, notes, anything that did not belong in a wine cellar. She even checked under each and every bottle for a hidden note but did not find anything.

Victoria shifted her focus to the right wine rack and began checking behind it, under it, and under each bottle. After several minutes of searching she came up empty-handed a second time. The brunette turned to face the two dozen casks of wine in the center of the back wall of the cellar and put her hands on her hips as she glanced over them.

She would have to check in and around those as well before she gave up the search. Maybe one of them concealed either the mechanism that opened a secret passageway concealing valuables or contained hidden valuables stashed inside its wooden body. Victoria walked over to the wine casks and began examining them without further delay.

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-In the wine cellar, thirty-five minutes later-

Victoria had spent thirty-five minutes searching each and every cask of wine for any hidden secrets, but her search had turned up nothing. Feeling like she had wasted time and neglected Abigail in favor of going on a wild goose chase, Victoria turned around and began her ascent back to her father's minibar in the basement. The only thing she had learned from this was that if any family records were in this house, her parents had hidden them very carefully.

-In the living room, four minutes later-

Having given up on the search for the time being, Victoria had passed through her father's minibar and had returned to the living room, where Lawrence was sitting on the couch in front of the television. Abigail was sitting at the dining room table eating a salad that Laura had prepared for her. Lawrence stood up from the couch and faced his niece.

"Hey there, Victoria. Judging from the fact that you're in here, I guess you didn't find what you were looking for in the basement." Her uncle said to her. Victoria shook her head.

"I didn't find what I was looking for. However, I did find out that either my mom or my dad was a huge fan of wine." Victoria reported her failure to her uncle. He looked like he did not know what to say, so he remained silent.

"Anyway, it looks like my search was just a big waste of time." Victoria lamented that she had spent so much time and effort only to come up with nothing. She should have expected that from the start, but part of her had held out the hope that she could find something that could give her a clue as to the identities of any of her siblings. Lawrence simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Victoria. Like I said before, my brother wasn't very sentimental and didn't keep anything like family photos or photo albums, so if there are any records anywhere, your mother was the one to hide them." Lawrence said to her. Victoria frowned a little but could not argue with her uncle. He was telling her the truth.

"Eh, whatever. I've wasted enough time on this wild goose chase. Unless I stumble across a big lead I'm giving up on the whole venture." Victoria said in a defeated tone, washing her hands of the matter. Maybe the fortune teller had told her a load of nonsense after all. Maybe there were no other Sheridans out there and everything she had witnessed in the fortune teller's tent was just an elaborate trick that Victoria had bought into because she wanted to believe that she had older siblings who had escaped the tragedy that had claimed her parents.

Lawrence was not sure what to make of his niece's demeanor. After a few moments he spoke to her again.

"Why don't you try the upstairs area? Have you tried searching in the guest rooms?" Lawrence suggested. Victoria looked at him skeptically for a few moments because she did not see any point in continuing her search, but then she reconsidered. Her uncle had made the suggestion in all sincerity, so she owed it to him to at least try and follow up on it even if all she got out of it was even more wasted time.

"I might try looking there. Thanks." Victoria said to him, recovering a little bit of cheer for his sake. She looked at the dining room table, where Abigail was finishing up the salad Laura had made for her. Victoria was not all that hungry, so she turned away from the dining room and began to walk towards the staircase while her uncle sat back down in front of the television to watch still another Western.

-On the second floor, Victoria's room-

Victoria walked into her room to take a brief break from her search and see if she had any missed calls or text messages waiting on her. The brunette took the iLac out of her right pocket and swiped the screen. She had not missed any calls or text messages while she was searching the minibar and the wine cellar. Victoria put the iLac back in her right pocket and turned her eyes towards the bookshelf in her room again.

She had searched it multiple times before.

Why was she looking at it again?

Victoria had no idea. Instead she walked out of the room to search through the guest room where Abigail was going to stay. Maybe she could find a clue about her family hidden in there. Maybe there was something hidden in the closet or under the bed.

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-The guest room, two minutes later-

Standing inside the guest room, Victoria was trying to figure out where any photo albums or records could have been stashed. The most obvious place was under the bed, but she needed to think of other places that could be hiding anything useful. However, a quick look around the room told her that there were not too many places to hide anything because there was not much furniture to speak of... only a wardrobe on the right wall and a bed on which Abigail's suitcase was sitting. There was no closet, which was why Victoria supposed there was a wardrobe in the first place.

Since there were only two real options, Victoria would start by searching under the bed. She walked up to the bed, got on her hands and knees, laid on her stomach, and carefully rolled over onto her back. Then she carefully scooted on the floor until she was under the bed.

Once there she began checking the bedframe but did not find anything except a dust bunny or two. This was another waste of time. The only thing she was going to get out of this was a coughing fit once she inhaled enough dust. Victoria slowly got herself out from under the bed and stood up, then dusted off her clothes. She immediately turned her attention to the wardrobe and walked towards it, then opened the doors.

Victoria found nothing of interest inside. In fact she did not find anything inside. No old clothes, no old books, no old magazines, nothing. Victoria shut the main doors and began to go through the drawers on the bottom.

She opened them one by one and inside each drawer was nothing except a little bit of dust here and there. Victoria sighed and shut the last drawer, then turned away from the wardrobe just as she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Victoria had expected her uncle to show up, but instead she saw Abigail walk into the doorframe.

"Hey Vic, I heard from your uncle that you're looking for some family records you think are hidden in your house." Abigail said to Victoria. The brunette nodded.

"Yeah, but so far I haven't found anything. Either the records don't exist or they were hidden very, very carefully." Victoria said to her friend. The brunette walked towards the door and Abigail moved out of the way, letting Victoria pass by on the way to her room. Abigail followed Victoria into the latter's room.

-Inside Victoria's room-

Victoria and Abigail stood in the middle of the former's room and continued to talk about how the search was going and why Victoria had started it. Victoria mentioned her fortune from the Halloween party in Capital Crocus and Abigail was quick to give her opinion on the matter.

"So you're saying that a fortune teller told you that there might be four other family members out there who managed to get out of Capital Crocus before your parents were killed?" Abigail asked Victoria.

"Yeah. Or at least that's what I was told. I'm starting to think that I was lied to." Victoria replied as her eyes wandered over to the bookshelf. She quickly looked at Abigail when the blonde spoke.

"Of course you were lied to, Vic. I mean, come on. How's a random stranger gonna know about your family?" Abigail asked sarcastically, not even bothering to hide how she felt. Victoria was a little put off by the sass she had just received from the blonde. Abigail did not pay any attention to the brunette and continued to talk.

"Tell me that you didn't have to pay for your fortune to be told." Abigail pleaded.

"No. I got it told for free at a Halloween party here in Capital Crocus." Victoria replied. Abigail did not seem impressed by that admission.

"At least you didn't get cheated out of money." Abigail snarked. Victoria could not believe the level of sass that Abigail was throwing at her, but the brunette was not offended. Instead Victoria laughed a little.

"Yeah, I probably got taken in by the smoke and mirrors." Victoria confessed. Then her facial expression turned serious.

"But I don't remember anything about my family, Abby. I don't remember what my parents looked like, what they liked to eat, what they wore, or anything about them. I was kinda hoping that I could find someone who could tell me about my family. My uncle was away from Fiore for awhile, so he can't tell me very much. When the fortune teller told me that four people would show up and my family would be reunited, I was hoping that I had older siblings out in the world who would come home one day." Victoria made another confession in a completely serious tone of voice. Abigail's face softened.

"It's no big deal, though. I don't know why I'm doing all of this now because some fortune teller put on a show for me and made a lucky guess." Victoria casually dismissed the futility of her quest with a self-deprecating remark to hide the feeling of defeat that she was feeling as she spoke. The brunette really wanted to find something to make her search worthwhile, but it seemed like she was just wasting her time looking for something that did not exist. It would be best for her to just move on and forget about this whole episode.

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"I can tell that you're not quite convinced by your own words, Vic. It sounds like you still think that there's a chance that the fortune teller was right." Abigail said. Victoria could not disagree with that statement without being a liar.

"Yeah Abby, I'm not entirely convinced that there isn't something here or that there aren't family members still out there. But I've already wasted enough time on the endeavor." Victoria admitted that she was still holding out hope before stating that she had already wasted enough time on the long shot chance. Abigail listened to what the brunette had to say, then spoke up.

"I hate to sound like an asshole when I say this, but maybe it's for the best that your older siblings don't show up." Abigail suggested to Victoria. The brunette made eye contact with the blonde and frowned. Abigail winced.

"Look, it's not as bad as it sounds. I'm talking property rights here." Abigail quickly defended her statement before Victoria's disapproval took a more physical form. Victoria changed her facial expression back to a neutral one.

"OK, tell me what you mean." Victoria gave Abigail a chance to explain herself. She had spent enough time around Abigail that she was certain her friend would not say something so provocative without having something to back it up.

"OK Vic, hear me out for a minute. If your older siblings come back, they might try to boot you out. You know, start some legal shenanigans that they're the rightful inheritors and all that." Abigail started off.

"But I'm the legal owner of this property. It was left to me in my parents' will. The legal hoops have already been jumped through." Victoria asserted.

"Yeah, but you never know what kind of tricks that greedy relatives will pull. If they want this property bad enough, they'll find a lawyer to help them engage in drawn-out legal proceedings to contest the will. Fighting them will require a top-notch lawyer and a whole lot of money. I don't know how much money you have set back, but chances are that you'll burn through it trying to keep this place." Abigail asserted in return. Victoria blinked.

"Ya know, that's a good point." Victoria conceded. While she was sure that her claim on the Sheridan Estate was secure thanks to the work of the lawyer Thomas Montgomery and the fact that she was occupying the place, Abigail had made a good point. There was likely some legal chicanery that could be pulled by older siblings to take the Sheridan Estate from Victoria... if she had any older siblings to start with.

"I hate to rain on your parade, Vic, but maybe it's for the best that they don't return home." Abigail concluded. Victoria remained silent for a few moments to try and come up with a response. Try as she might, she could not think of a good one, so she decided to admit defeat.

"You're probably right, Abby. It might be for the best." Victoria finally admitted. Abigail walked over to the brunette and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Say, why don't we forget about all of this and go to the mall tomorrow afternoon?" Abigail suggested. Victoria did not have to think about that idea too long.

"OK, Abby. We'll go the mall tomorrow." Victoria said in a slightly more cheerful tone. She probably did not need to go to the mall to take her mind off of this whole business because she would end up spending money that she did not need to spend, but if she recalled correctly, she owed Abigail a trip to the mall that kept getting put off because of various occurrences. It was time for her to honor that commitment.

"Works for me, Vic. If you don't mind doing so, we'll eat here before going to the mall because the lines at the food court get really long." Abigail let the brunette in on part of the plan. Victoria nodded in agreement. With that the pair left Victoria's room to notify Lawrence and Laura of their plans for tomorrow afternoon.

-The next afternoon, 1:25 P.M., Capital Crocus Mall-

It was early afternoon of the next day when Victoria and Abigail put their plan into action. They had arrived at Capital Crocus Mall without incident and were ready to go shopping. Victoria was wearing her blue Steel Matron t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts while Abigail wore a thin blue t-shirt and blue jean shorts. They were standing just outside the entrance hall and were facing the food court. A short distance to their left was the stairwell they needed to take to get to the third floor.

"Hey Vic, remember that shop called Animated Merchandise on the third floor?" Abigail asked her friend. Victoria nodded.

"Yeah, I remember it." Victoria replied.

"I'd like to go there first." Abigail requested.

"I would too. Let's get going before the big crowds show up and we get stuck in the stairwell or something." Victoria said. Together the pair turned left and walked towards the stairs that would lead to the third floor. With any luck they would reach Animated Merchandise before the crowds began to move about and make getting to their destination difficult.

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-The third floor, outside Animated Merchandise-

The pair had struggled to climb the stairs thanks to the sheer number of shoppers wanting to ascend the stairs at the same time they did. It had taken them about ten minutes to make what would have been a three-minute climb if there were not as many shoppers as there were. They had made the climb and now they were standing outside the entrance to Animated Merchandise, a shop that specialized in selling anime and anime merchandise like t-shirts, backpacks, music Lacrimas of anime soundtracks, plush figures, resin figures, and more.

"So, what are we here for?" Victoria asked Abigail. The blonde shrugged her shoulders.

"I didn't have anything particular in mind. Did you?" Abigail deftly turned the question back on Victoria. The brunette shrugged her shoulders.

"Not really." Victoria answered laconically. Abigail pointed towards the open entrance to the store.

"All right then, Vic. Let's go inside and see what we can find." Abigail said to her friend. The pair walked into the store without further delay.

-Inside Animated Merchandise-

The pair entered the store to hear upbeat anime music playing over the speakers at a volume that somehow achieved a happy medium between loud enough to be heard and soft enough to not be obnoxiously loud. Victoria did not recognize the music and neither did Abigail. The pair slowly walked into the store and carefully made their way past a few customers who were browsing at music Lacrimas from various anime series. Eventually they reached a section of bookshelves containing manga.

Drawn to them despite not being much of a reader, Victoria walked over to the bookshelf and immediately began looking to see whether there were manga versions of Fortunate Meteor and Cram School Soda Break. Victoria looked carefully and did not see the manga for Cram School Soda Break despite carefully looking over at all the titles between B and D at least three times. The brunette concluded that if it was not there the store just did not have it.

Victoria looked around for her friend and spotted Abigail browsing the music Lacrimas and holding up one in particular, but she could not read what was on the box due to the angle at which the Lacrima was being held. The brunette then turned around and looked for Fortunate Meteor. She located all the titles between E and G and began browsing slowly and carefully. After a few minutes of unsuccessfully looking for what she was after Victoria stood up straight.

This was turning out to be a bust just like her search for family records had been.

Victoria was not interested in any of the other manga on the bookshelf. She wanted to leave and go to another store, but Abigail was still browsing at the music Lacrimas, so the brunette decided not to interrupt and let her friend look until she was ready to leave. She looked around for something to browse at and soon located a rack of t-shirts that looked interesting, but unfortunately access to them was blocked by a trio of young men standing in front of it. With that option not available to her Victoria tried to find another.

Unfortunately for her the shop was starting to get more and more customers until it was difficult to move about without running the risk of bumping into someone. Victoria took this a s a sign that she needed to leave. She located Abigail at the music Lacrima section and tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

"I'm gonna go wait outside the shop. You take your time browsing, Abby." Victoria notified her friend what she was about to do.

"Don't worry, Vic. I won't take too much longer in here." Abigail replied. With that Victoria turned around and carefully made her way out of the shop so that she could get a momentary respite from the crowds.

-Outside Animated Merchandise, twenty-two minutes later-

Standing outside the shop, Victoria looked for a bench to sit on so that she would not be in the way of the hordes of shoppers milling about the third floor. However, a quick glance around the immediate area showed her that all of the benches were occupied. Maybe leaving Animated Merchandise so soon was not such a good idea, but it was too late.

Looking for anywhere clear to stand, Victoria soon moved to the right of the entrance. That should be safe enough for her to stand without being in anyone's way. There the brunette waited for her friend to come out whenever she was finished browsing.

-Thirty minutes later-

Victoria's legs were growing numb and she was getting really, really bored. Victoria pulled the iLac out of her right pocket and checked the time. Where was Abigail?

She said that it was only going to be a few minutes before she left, but that was almost thirty minutes ago.

Victoria briefly considered going back into Animated Merchandise to look for Abigail when the latter emerged from the store holding a plastic shopping bag with a few objects inside of it. The brunette quickly put away her iLac before Abigail could see it.

"Hey Vic! Sorry that I took so long, but I found three music Lacrimas that I had to have! They're the soundtracks to three of my favorite series!" Abigail apologized for the delay and told Victoria what she had bought.

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Once Abigail emerged from Animated Merchandise with her shopping bag Victoria's boredom instantly vanished. She was pleased to hear that her friend had managed to find a few items that she wanted. Victoria could not find what she wanted, but she was not terribly upset. There would always be another day to come back and find what she was after.

"I'm glad to see that you found what you were after." Victoria said to her friend with sincerity.

"Me too. I'd been looking for the soundtrack to Starting Line for about three months and I finally have it!" Abigail said with a pleased tone of voice.

"Starting Line?" Victoria asked Abigail. She had a feeling that she might know the series her friend was talking about.

"Yeah. It's about this guy whose father was a professional race car driver. He wants to be like his dad but he can't quite break into the professional racing circuit because everyone in it thinks that he'll trying to benefit from his dad's reputation. Since he feels that he got unfairly shut out of legitimate racing, he does street racing at night. And he's pretty good at it." Abigail gave a synopsis of the series she was talking about. Victoria raised an eyebrow. That did not sound like the show she had watched a few weeks ago.

"I watched a street racing anime a few weeks ago. It was about this guy who does street racing, but I don't know if he's a legitimately good driver or not because he always manages to benefit from some kind of deus ex machina that screws over his opponent at the last moment. Then he brags about being fortune's favorite." Victoria tried her best to describe the show she was thinking about to Abigail. The blonde frowned.

"That's another series called Midnight Sprint. That one... I don't really care for it. Like you said, the protagonist benefits from way too many miraculous coincidences that let him pull victory from the jaws of defeat exactly when he needs help the most. Like an opponent's beating him by a good margin and all of a sudden that opponent suffers a flat tire or an engine problem. Naturally the protagonist never suffers from those kinds of mishaps." Abigail remarked, telling Victoria the name of the show she disliked. Now that she knew its name she would stay clear of it if she could.

"Oh." Victoria said laconically. Starting Line was a completely different show from Midnight Sprint. That was a good thing because Victoria could not handle two street racing animes with smug protagonists.

"Starting Line isn't without its faults. For example, the plot's really slow in the beginning and it takes eight episodes before there's an actual street race. Those eight episodes are kinda boring. I signed up for a street racing anime, not a slice-of-life show about a guy who's one of the best students in his school." Abigail let Victoria know that her favored street racing anime was not without faults. Victoria was glad to hear that Abigail could give an honest appraisal of a show she liked.

"It gets off to a slow start, but once Starting Line gets going it gets good. After the eighth episode the protagonist realizes that he won't be allowed to be a legitimate racer when he overhears a conversation he wasn't meant to hear. Since his dream was destroyed, he figures that he's got nothing to lose and he takes up street racing. From then on it doesn't let off the gas until the show's over." Abigail informed Victoria that despite the sluggish start it was well worth watching.

"I won't spoil anything for you, but it's a roller coaster of emotions." Abigail concluded. Victoria made a mental note to try and find Starting Line on the anime channel she watched.

"So, what do you want to do from here, Vic?" Abigail asked Victoria. The brunette shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. There's nothing I really want here." Victoria admitted. She had went to the mall mostly as a favor to Abigail, who had wanted Victoria to forget about being unable to find any family records.

"To be honest, I can't think of anything else I want at the mall either. I probably shouldn't have bought these music Lacrimas, especially since I don't have a music Lacrima player. I shoulda saved my money to fix the roof of my house." Abigail said with some measure of buyer's remorse on her voice. Victoria chose to let the remark pass without comment.

"I hate to have dragged you all the way out here just for three music Lacrimas." Abigail apologized to Victoria for them having to make the trip to the mall, find safe parking for the Centaur, fight the crowds, and walk up the stairs, all for only three items.

"Don't worry about it, Abby. It's not like I had anything pressing to do." Victoria casually replied.

"So, want to go back to your place?" Abigail asked Victoria.

"Sure." The brunette gave a one-word response.

"All right then. Let's get outta here and go back to your place." Abigail said. Together the two mages began walking for the nearest stairwell. She had no idea what they would do when they got back to her place, but she was sure that they would cross that bridge when they reached it.

[Post Word Count: 898]
[Total Word Count: 6,968/7,000]

-The Sheridan Estate, Victoria's Room, two-and-a-half hours later-

The pair got stuck in traffic on the way back to the Sheridan Estate, so their arrival was a little delayed, but eventually the two mages managed to get back home in time for dinner. After that they were in Victoria's room watching the anime channel... or at least Abigail was. The brunette was looking at the bookshelf in her room.

Somehow her eyes were drawn to it. She had searched it up and down and had found nothing that would help her solve the mystery of whether she had any older siblings, so why was she continuing to look at it? It was not like looking at it was going to reveal any big secret it had been hiding.

Still, something was drawing her attention to the piece of furniture.

Was it just the fact that part of her refused to give up on her personal quest no matter how futile it seemed?

Or was something else at work?

Victoria had no idea, but she was not going to expend any great effort contemplating the matter. She shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention to the television. Maybe she would pick up the search again some day. Maybe she would forget all about it and be content with the way things were now. Letting the matter drop, she joined Abigail in watching a rerun of Cram School Soda Break.

[Post Word Count: 238]
[Total Word Count: 7,206/7,000]