Sheena knelt down, looking at a lower shelf, only for her face to break into a grin. "Banned records! Music!" She whispered, looking along at the titles. "Nevermind, Ramones, Never Mind The Bollocks, Appetite For Destruction, Black Sabbath…"
Wanna Do A Witchcraft based One On One?
“So we know what kinda person lived here.” Cliff laughed, crouching down next to her. “Gotta say, yer lookin’ more excited’n a a hen in a corn maze.” He looked over the titles as well, trying to see what else there was.
Sheena nodded, pulling out a Ramones record and looking at the track list. "Oh… that's weird…" She mumbled.
“What is it?” Cliff tilted his head, looking at the record as well. “Somethin’s off?”
"Nah, just a coincidence…" She said, shaking her head slightly. "The band is The Ramones, and one of the songs is called Sheena Is A Punk Rocker…"
“Well, wouldja lookit that.” Cliff elbowed Sheena playfully, giving her a small laugh. “Oh-! Hey, Johnny Cash. My grampa said somethin’ about him once..” He picked up the record, studying it. “Never though I’d see one, but..”
Sheena looked up. "Which one is it? Heard he had a lot…"
“This one’s The Essential Johnny Cash.. thinkin’ it’s his best songs, yeah? Or at least the popular ones.” Cliff shrugged, reading over the tracks.
"Fair enough." Sheena said, going back to flipping through records, pulling out some Sex Pistols. "Hey, my parent's told me abut this guy… cautionary tale."
“Whaddya mean ‘cautionary tale’?” Cliff stood up, stretching. He set the record he was holding in a higher shelf. “What’s up with him?”
"Johnny Rotten." Sheena said, holding up the record. "This band's lead singer. He was kinda older when the government came to power. Said some contradictory stuff and…" She dragged her finger across his throat. "Parents thought the story would scare me onto the straight 'n narrow, but I just thought he was a bad ass."
Cliff let out a long whistle. “Brave man. Lemme tell you, you gotta watch your mouth in public. Said somethin’ regrettable ‘bout this shithole couple years back. Lashin’s are somethin’ else, man.” He laughed now, but he could feel the pain on his back like it was yesterday.
Sheena nodded. "Trust me, I know." She said, shuddering. "Beatings are shit too." She subconsciously rubbed her arms, biting her lips.
“Don’t I know it.” Cliff wandered around the room as he talked, inspecting all of the banned items. “Lookit all this, Sheena! It’s wild, almost everything here is illegal now!”
"Holy shit, is that a guitar?" She asked, walking up to red electric guitar. "Holy shit…"
“Good god..” Cliff ran a hand down his face. “A fuckin’ guitar? I didn’t think any’a those still existed.”
"Me neither, but-" She put away the lighter, carefully picking it up. "Why's there a dagger behind it? With a note…?"
“A dagger?” Cliff furrowed his brows, lokking down at the weapon. “This feels odd. It did before, but now, it just.. hm.”
Sheena gently put the guitar down, lighting her lighter again. "I'm reading the note- hey, a cool stick." She said, picking it up. It was a long, ebony black stick, decorated with intricate carvings painted white. "Huh…"
“Huh. Hey, while you lookit all that, I’m gonna search fer a candle or somethin’. That lighter ain’t givin’ us a lot to work with.” Cliff struck up a match, searching the room carefully for anything he could use. “Tell me what you see ‘bout that stuff, though, alright?”
"Sure thing." Sheena said, putting down the stick and unfolding the note, face immediately going paler than before. "Um, Cliff? Ya may wanna see this…"
Cliff walked back over. “What’s it say?”
"It-it's addressed to us…" She whispered.
“…You’re pullin’ my leg, let me see.” Cliff snatched the letter from Sheena, looking at the names. “Ho-ly shit. You sure it ain’t just a coincidence?”
"This is too much to be a coincidence. They have full names!"
“Yeah.. what the fuck is going on here, is my question.. what’s the thing say?” Cliff handed the letter back over, glancing around the room another time. “And how long ‘til we go? I don’t want to get this place busted too.”
Sheena shrugged, reading the note out loud.
"Sheena Ramone and Cyrus "Cliff" Artip-
This is your fate. Fire (for rebel girls) and earth (for the stand still boys), dears. A building of what you need that unlocks for you. And a wealth of magic. Give that horrible government hell, loves.
-Miss Fortune"
“..What? Am I dumb, or did you jus’ say magic?” Cliff tapped the letter. “An’ how did this ‘Miss Fortune’ character know we were coming? This feels like a trap, Sheena.” He mumbled, glancing behind them again. “I don’t know that this is real.”
"It's not like I know any of this shit!" She said, holding her hands in surrender.
“I didn’ expect you to have the answers, Sheena. Jus’ thinkin’ out loud. Should we explore a li’l more?” Cliff’s eyes traveled around the dark room. “And, I dunno, maybe find some light?”