again, a rough draft.

 

The DA had many places where one could turn for knowledge. The Department of Records was likely the safest of those, if the most mundane. It was there that Ronald started his search. 

The long halls of the DADR were empty, with weak lights every couple of meters that flickered unevenly. It was almost as if they were trying to look like they were in a horror movie. He shuddered. To be fair, living here was like a real life horror movie. You had to eat or be eaten, and hope what you ate didn't burst out predator style. Though of course, some were lucky. Very, very lucky. His mind drifted to his conversation with Lita. Imagine on one of your first days in the alleycity running into the 3-4 most powerful person there, and having them take you under their wing. Kids born onto a silver platter didn't have it that lucky. No one would dare touch you if your mentor had been known to destroy planets for fun. Even if he never really cared about you, anyone who messed with you would be seen as stepping on his turf, and he wouldn't have taken that sitting down. Or he might've. The powers he wielded were unlike any other, his mastery of the alleys so strong, yet incredibly delicate as well. He could pull planets in on a whim, yet explicitly leave every mosquito floating in space. He was one heck of an insurance policy. He shook his head, no sense in being jealous. Reading the door label he turned into the musty record room. If the eldritch record keeper was to be believed, in here was the book he was looking for regarding investiture. Of course that didn't mean much, there were tens of thousands of books in this room alone.

Now came the moment of truth. The record keeper had told him to trust in fortune, to close his eyes and tap this medallion. Either this would work and he would find himself with what he needed, or he would be devoured by some child of the alleys. He took a deep breath, and tied his tie around his eyes as a makeshift blindfold. Fortune improves your chances, and for it to do that, there needs to be a chance. Ronald was many things, but he was not good at leaving things up to the Gods of Luck and Chance. That said, their whims would need to bless his path today. To ensure that he didn't mess things up, he had decided to blindfold himself.

Slowly, he walked forward and begun tapping the fortune.

It was an odd experience to tap fortune for the first time. He already had an understanding of what it would do, but that was different then feeling it work. He suddenly felt emboldened, as if the mere possession of this power could grant him his desires. Perhaps, he thought to himself, it could. Hellbent had been a fortune compounder after all, and until he died things always seemed to go his way. He made a left, then a right, he walked for a bit, praying to whatever was out there that he wouldn't come across some hideous beast or worse, a child. Yet as he followed his path through the aisles of the department of records, he found himself drawing more and more fortune. It felt good. It felt emboldening. 

The phrase fortune favors the bold came to his mind. Perhaps however, fortune didn't favor the bold but instead made the bold. He grinned, speeding down the path. He couldn't even see where a junction was, and yet he would randomly turn and not run headfirst in to a bookshelf. Truly this was a powerful tool indeed. He continued like this for several minutes. At times he thought that he was turning around and running circles, yet each time this doubting voice returned his confidence rose to match it along with the whispers of the ancient saying fortune favors the bold, until it stopped. 

Immediately his newfound confidence fled. and he stopped. Crem. Had he run out? How was he supposed to get out? Why had he drawn so much! He pulled his tie off his head cautiously and immediately put his back against a book shelf. then he took several deep breaths. Calm down. You didn't have fortune before, and you don't need it now. Yes it was nice, but the shock of it leaving can't incapacitate you. remember where you are. He opened his eyes, and looked around himself. He was in an aisle between two bookshelves. The only sound in the room was the some of the lights flickering nearby. Immediately he noticed that this part of the room was much much darker then the entrance. Maybe cam should check this out he thought with a wry grin. 

Slowly he began checking the books around him. Most of their titles were illegible. Likely scientific journals from years gone by. HE rounded the corner, and gave himself a little chuckle. At the very end of the new aisle he found himself in, there laid a book in a halo of light. This was it, this was what he was looking for.