GEOVRU: IV

Chapter 4

"So... because Krystal technically won the tourney, she stayed?" Cry asked me, summing up the conversation I had with the man the night before. I had invited him to eat with me to talk about what we're going to do.

"If I hadn't jumped to conclusions about the reward... we wouldn't be in this situation..." I muttered to myself. "This is my fault..."

"Doesn't that seem a bit backwards?" Cry asked. "That means the person who won would've been swapped out with Krystal's position and..."

"I'm perfectly aware of that, Cry. I should've won that tourney... if I hadn't jumped to conclusions..."

"Nothing you can do about it now, quit sulking on it." Cry complained leaning back in his chair.

"I know... but..."

"But nothing!" Cry nearly screamed, grabbing the attention of some of the people around us, but after a short pause lost their interest. "You can't do anything about it now, so don't bother thinking too much. You've gotta stop thinking about what you should've done and start thinking about what you can do now!"

His hard attempt at a morale speech reminded me of someone, which made me crack a smile. I couldn't help but take his word for it and set my dreariness aside. I shook my head and smiled. "I guess you're right, kid." I said, picking up my bottle of alcohol and taking a significant sip from it. Maybe it was to look tough, maybe it was to get my mind off Krystal, who knows? I might have just been thirsty. "Got any ideas?" I asked.

"Do we have any leads?" Cry asked.

"What is this, a detective show?" I asked sarcastically. I might have had a bottle or two before this one.

"Shut up! Take this seriously!" Cry screamed, getting visually angry.

I tried to calm him down a bit and apologized. "Sorry, sorry, poorly timed joke. No... I don't have any leads."

"Have you looked around Krystal's dorm?" he asked, immediately taking back his question as he realized guys weren't usually allowed in the girls dorms.

"Yes, I have, and there's not much in there."

Cry bit his fingernail and stared at the table. "Dangit." He muttered softly. "There wasn't anything left inside the room?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Nothing that wasn't already there."

"Do you think we could find any leftover DNA from the kidnapper?" he asked.

"Do I look like a forensics major to you?" I asked, catching the anger in my voice. "Sorry... I don't mean to be rude..."

Cry shook his head. "Nah... that was a pretty dumb question... though I bet there has to be some sort of evidence left over... there just has to be..."

"Do you know someone who could check fingerprints?" I asked sarcastically.

"Maybe..." Cry answered unexpectedly. "I have a friend who's going into criminal justice... if he's not into forensics, then he probably knows someone who is."

I smiled. "Look at you... you've got connections everywhere don't you?"

Cry laughed and scratched his head. "I just made friends in the Crimson Hawks is all..."

I smiled. "Glad to see that was good for something."

Cry awkwardly added to his previous laughter, not wanting to bring up the short lived guild from last year. After a bit of a pause, he kept the conversation going. "So do you want me to get in contact with him?" he asked.