An Exchange Of Information

-Capital Crocus Mall, the third floor, early afternoon-

Wearing her casual outfit and black shoulder bag with iLac and Jewels inside, Lucia had come to Capital Crocus Mall in order to find a decent keyboard to put into her hotel room so that she could play the piano for the first time in over four years... or a passable substitute for a piano, anyway. There was no way in Earthland the hotel would permit her to put a full-sized piano in her room. Besides, Lucia could not afford a very good piano right now... she needed to save money for rent, food, clothing, and various other expenses. She also needed her own place in which to put one.

Her second priority was to expand her wardrobe. The casual outfit she was wearing right now was serving her well, but the blonde wanted a bit of variety, something more suited to the kind of work she did. Right now Lucia dressed more like she was going to the coffee shop or to university classes than to rescue people in abandoned cabins squarely in zombie-infested territory. She needed to find or assemble a "work outfit" of some kind.

The elder Winchester sister had also come to the mall to find a gift for Diana. A few weeks ago she had received word from a young woman named Angela Helton that Diana was alive and Lucia wanted to do something special for her sister. However, Lucia had run into a bit of trouble finding an appropriate gift because she had no idea what Diana liked anymore. The youngest Winchester sister was tough to shop for even back when Lucia was alive because Diana did not have very many interests.

Being dead for four years tended to make one forgetful of what the living liked.

The blonde stood just outside the entrance to The Music Vault and tried to think of something to buy Diana when she heard a familiar female voice behind her.

"Hey Lucia! How's it going?" A familiar voice asked. Lucia turned around and found Angela Helton standing behind her. Angela was wearing her long white-sleeved Crocus Magicka University t-shirt and a black knee-length skirt with white tennis shoes.

"Oh, hi Angela! It's going OK. I was looking to buy a decent keyboard that won't break the bank. I was also looking for a gift to buy Diana to give her when we met again!" Lucia greeted Angela and told the brunette why she was here. Angela smiled.

"A keyboard? Do you play the piano or something?" Angela asked Lucia. The blonde nodded.

"I play the piano, but the hotel I live in won't let let me put a full-sized piano in my room, so I was thinking of getting a keyboard to practice on until I can get my own place and buy a piano." Lucia replied. Angela smiled again.

"The Music Vault only sells music albums, Lucia. But don't give up. I can give you the names of a couple of places in Capital Crocus that sell musical instruments if you'd like." Angela offered. Lucia smiled.

"I'd like that, thanks." Lucia replied. Angela brought out her iLac and began using the Lacrimanet browser to find the musical instrument stores when she looked up and spoke to Lucia again.

"I also have news about Diana. I met her in the mall a couple of days ago and she seems to be doing well for herself, but she has a really good poker face." Angela added. Lucia laughed a little. Angela was right about that... ever since Diana was a child the youngest Winchester had a poker face that professional gamblers would be envious of. As a teenager no one could tell what Diana was thinking unless she told them what was on her mind, something which was a rare event.

"I also gave her your Lacrima Identification Code so that she could contact you. And I have her Lacrima Identification Code. I can give you that too if you'd like." Angela offered.

"I'd like that too, thank you." Lucia replied to the offer. Angela smiled and began tapping the screen of her iLac until she had the information she needed.

"OK, here's Diana's Lacrima Identification Code. Tell me when you're ready for it." Angela said to Lucia. Lucia pulled her iLac out of her bag, quickly brought up her New Contacts menu, and tapped the option to make a New Contact. The screen came up and she was ready to make the New Contact.

"I'm ready." Lucia said. Angela gave Lucia the code and the blonde typed the information into the New Contact form. Once the code was typed into the right place Lucia named it "Diana Winchester" and saved it.

"Got it. Thanks, Angela." Lucia thanked Angela for giving her Diana's Lacrima Identification Code. Now that she had the code she could get in contact with Diana any time she wanted... in theory. In practice Diana might be busy on a job to contact Lucia right away, but the important thing was that Lucia could now contact her sister via iLac instead of having to wander aimlessly and hope that she ran into Diana somewhere.

[Post Word Count: 866]
[Total Word Count: 866/2,000]

After obtaining Diana's Lacrima Identification Code from Angela, Lucia stood in silence for a few moments and thought about the enormity of the gift she had just been given. Now that she had her sister's Lacrima Identification Code she could theoretically contact Diana any time she wanted. Once the moment was over the blonde thanked Angela for her help in bringing the Winchester family reunion one step closer... well, what was left of the Winchester family, anyway. As far as she knew the rest of the Winchesters remained in the family crypt in Bellum.

"Thank you, Angela." Lucia thanked Angela with genuine gratitude on her voice. The brunette standing in front of her nodded.

"It's no problem, Lucia. And like I told Diana the other day, there's no charge for the code." Angela replied. Lucia blinked. What did she mean by "...Like I told Diana the other day, there's no charge for the code?"

"Your sister thought that I wanted something in exchange for me giving her your code. All I asked for in return was her Lacrima Identification Code so that I could call her in case I needed her for something... and to give it to you." Angela explained what she had meant by her statement. Now that she understood what the brunette had meant Lucia smiled a little.

"Yeah, Diana's like that. She thinks that everything's a transaction and that everyone has an angle." Lucia commented about her younger sister's mindset. That mindset had been drilled into her by their parents, who were people who did not believe in altruism or giving anything away for free. Lucia disliked that her parents were that kind of people and had passed that mindset on to Diana, but there was nothing that could be done about it now other than to try and look after Diana the best she could.

"She told me that she hasn't received very many favors in her life." Angela added. Lucia nodded grimly.

"That's one way of putting it." Lucia commented dryly. Her parents were hard on Diana for whatever reason. Maybe they were disappointed after hoping to get another son but had instead gotten a ninth daughter when they tried for a son. Or maybe there was another reason her parents treated Diana so harshly. She vividly recalled a time Diana had tried to borrow a dress that Melody was not wearing and Melody called Diana a thief, a remark that had gotten their mother to storm into Melody's room and slap Diana so hard that the hapless youth spun and fell to the carpet.

Lucia also recalled Melody laughing about that incident for days after the fact like it was a funny joke. Lucia did not like that, but Melody was their mother's favorite child and no one could stand up to her. The blonde moved on from that unpleasant memory and returned to the present. Angela tapped the screen of her iLac and looked at the time. Her face briefly showed panic before she looked up at Lucia.

"I'd like to stay and chat, but I've got a lot of homework for my classes, so I'd best be going so that I can get home and do it. But before I forget, would you like the names of those musical instrument shops I told you about earlier?" Angela asked Lucia. The blonde nodded.

"Yes, please." Lucia replied. Angela smiled and walked over to Lucia in order to give her the names of the shops. Lucia opened the Lacrimanet browser on her iLac and typed in the name of the store Angela had on her Lacrimanet browser. Now Lucia had a lead in the form of an instrument shop imaginatively named The High Note. Angela's eyes went to the corner of her iLac and she put it away.

"OK, Lucia, I'd better get going. I hope you meet your sister one day soon! And good luck with your work!" Angela wished Lucia before hurriedly walking towards the stairwell on the far end of the third floor. Lucia waved goodbye and looked around her. Now that she knew The Music Vault was not the place she needed to look for a keyboard at, Lucia decided to switch to her secondary objective and expand her wardrobe a little, maybe even find components for a decent work outfit she could wear separately from her casual outfits. But she would need to go to the second floor to find most of the decent clothing shops. With that in mind, Lucia put her iLac back into her shoulder bag and walked towards the stairwell to go to the second floor and find some decent clothes for her wardrobe.

While she was at the mall Lucia would also try to find a gift for Diana, but she had no idea what her younger sister liked anymore. Well, there was coffee. Judging from what Lorelei Wingate had said almost a month ago, Diana liked coffee. But what brand did she like? Lucia had no idea.

As selfish as it sounded, Lucia would buy clothes for herself today and worry about getting something for Diana later. Besides, she had no idea what Diana liked and she did not want to waste money. It would be best to wait and find out before buying a gift her sister may or may not have wanted.

[Post Word Count: 892]
[Total Word Count: 1,758/2,000]

-Talonia, early evening-

Lucia walked into the hotel she was staying at around early evening with both hands full of shopping bags and made a beeline for the elevator. She set down a handful of bags, tapped the UP button on the control panel with the index finger of her left hand, and the doors parted in the middle, opening with a soft DING. She quickly picked up her bags, walked onto the elevator, set them down, and tapped the button to the fourth floor with the index finger of her left hand. The elevator stayed in place for a few moments before the doors shut and it began to ascend to the fourth floor.

-On the fourth floor, Room Number 440-

After a bit of a struggle Lucia managed to open the door to her room with her keycard, but keeping it open was the real problem. None of her shopping bags were heavy enough to keep the door open, even when she had set down all of them. After a few failures the blonde had to force open the door and hold it open with her back as she backed into the room. Once she had succeeded she set her bags down on the green carpeted floor and held the door open with her right foot until she could get her hands on the door, then grabbed the door and walked with it until she could gently close it.

The door to Lucia's room was shut and now she was free to finally relax. Lucia took a deep breath and picked up her shopping bags, then set them on her single bed with a white floral comforter that had been pulled back. She then took off her shoulder bag and set it to the far right of the shopping bags, then took a step back. Looking at the dozen shopping bags she had brought home, Lucia concluded that she might have gone a bit overboard.

She had been to only two clothing stores in Capital Crocus Mall before she had to leave in order to make it home before nightfall. Lucia had been to The Modern Woman and The Athlete's Edge and had found quite a few things that she considered appealing in both shops, so she had to stop at twelve bags before she seriously overloaded herself and made herself a prime target for thieves. Lucia had emphasized casual clothing on this trip, but she had managed to find a good pair of white tennis shoes with royal blue stripes that she could wear as a happy medium between her dress shoes and her boots.

She had also managed to find a few casual t-shirts that were not on the thin side like most of the offerings of The Modern Woman. She had managed to find blue, pink, white, green, and purple t-shirts. Lucia had also managed to find a decent black pencil skirt that fit her just right. All in all Lucia had had a good day of shopping, but the real prize was Diana's Lacrima Identification Code. That was a surprise, but it was a welcome surprise.

Lucia had had enough of looking over her prizes, so she stepped forward and began taking the bags off of her bed. She set them against the left wall of her room. She was too tired to even consider washing them, so she would wash them tomorrow when she could focus on washing them properly. Right now Lucia would be content just to set them aside until tomorrow.

Once she had done that Lucia undid the laces of her boots, took them off, and set them to the right of her bed. She then sat down on the recently cleared bed and picked up her shoulder bag to get her iLac. She fished out the iLac and set her bag on the nightstand to the right of her bed, then tapped on the screen. On the screen flashed the site for The High Note, that shop in Capital Crocus which sold musical instruments. Lucia would look through it later... right now she wanted to see Diana's contact information.

Lucia found her Contacts List and found Diana Winchester, then tapped on it. There she had the options of either calling or texting her sister. Lucia's right index finger hovered over the phone icon and almost pressed it, only for her to decide not to call at the last moment. Lucia took her finger away and closed the menu, then closed the Contacts List. She would call Diana later.

Lucia sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. She then turned her body right and swung her feet up on the bed before reclining. She then looked at the ceiling and took another deep breath. She would try and make contact with her sister soon, but tonight was not that night. With that Lucia stared at the ceiling and started to plan for the future.

The first thing on Lucia's to-do list was to contact her sister. The second thing was to buy a keyboard so that she could practice the piano again. The third thing was to get her own place so that she could play the keyboard without getting noise complaints from her neighbors. Those things would take time and money and she could not do them all in one day, so she would have to choose which task was the most important and accomplish that first.

But she could do that tomorrow.

Lucia closed her eyes and soon went to sleep. There were so many things to do and so little time to do them in. She would get going again tomorrow.

[Post Word Count: 949]
[Total Word Count: 2,707/2,000]