Illyana listened intently to all the Lucien described, her brow furrowed in concentration. Given what she had just seen, and having heard Ivory's assessment of the situation, she didn't doubt that Geralt could have slipped this card to Lucien without him noticing. Ivory, on the other hand, she wouldn't let the man get within arm's reach of her if she could help it, much less close enough for him to touch her. Even if he did, she would have noticed, Illyana was sure of that.

She had been anticipating that the man's magic was real, it had been said that he had been on stage for more than a hundred years. Some believed that he was a magician's ghost from the 1700's, plying his trade even in death. Some believed it was different men, taking of the mantel of Geralt the Great to keep the mystery alive. Illyana knew neither of these were true. She was sure that the Geralt she had seen in the vision, the one that Lucien and Ivory had met, was indeed the original.

That reminded her...

She was about to interrupt, reach into her pocket and show Lucien something she had found the night before, but he had not finished speaking. She listened intently once more, and nodded when he was finished. 

[color=598527]"I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about me already, or guessed. If his magic is real, then he has to be familiar with...gifted...people, given that he is one. Besides, you don't live as long as he has with magic and not know [i]something[/i] about the supernatural..."[/color] She trailed off, but then met Lucien's eyes again, [color=598527]"I trust you, I know neither of you would let anything happen to me. Just...given what I felt from that card,"[/color] she nodded toward the object, [color=598527]"It's best if I don't make skin contact with him. There's no telling what could happen with that amount of energy."[/color]

Illyana had experienced very intense visions in the past, ones that had left her nearly catatonic for days. Once, she touched a man who had killed seven children, and was forced to witness all of his crimes firsthand, all within the blink of an eye. That had left her laid up for almost a week before she was able to interact, walk, and take food again. The offender had been turned in, of course, but that did not erase what she had seen just from a simple touch. A man like Geralt, she feared the repercussions of doing an active reading on him, if she hadn't she would have already known whatever they needed to know about him.

[color=598527]"That reminds me."[/color] She said, and fished something out of her pocket, a folded piece of paper. As she unfolded it, she spoke, [color=598527]"I didn't find much of anything last night. A lot of my research was based on things I already knew; where the magic could come from, how he has access to it, the different schools, that sort of thing. But, I did find one thing while I was looking through some old newspapers."[/color] She took the page and smoothed it out on the table before Lucien. [color=598527]"When I had the vision, the first time, I knew I had seen him somewhere before..."[/color]

It was an old printing of an advertisement. It showed a man, a magician, arms and fingers spread wide as cards floated between them. Large words at the top read [b]Geralt the Great[/b] and at the bottom: [b]Six Performances in the month of June, six cities at six in the evening.[/b] and a list of dates and city names. Piercing eyes stared at Lucien from under the brim of a top hat, and a confident smirk painted handsome lips. It was a face he had seen before, the very same face that had greeted him last evening at the door. 

This was indeed the same man.