The table they walked to was the farthest away from the door you could get. Any further and they would have been in the building next door. The tall man walked to the back and got back next to his friend.
Ed looked at them both. The first man was tall with ruddy features and signs of a poor diet. His skin hung on his face and his eyes had a tinge to them. The young man next to him was skinny to the point of looking skeletal. He had a glint in his eye that let you know he was alive. These two men were the absolute opposite of what Ed was expecting.
Everyone else he had met up to this point had been successful and what would pass as normal. These two were a showcase of what hard work and poor diet would do to a human body just before you became a corpse.
The first man smiled and tapped his mug on the table. "My name is Joust, this is Ed." He pointed at the person next to him that nodded.
"Yes, I am Ed."
Ed raised an eyebrow. This was going to complicate things. "That's a coincidence, my name is Edmund." He lied, having two Ed's at the table would make things very hard. "You said you know someone with a love of old coins?"
Ed had to play this one out. He put his hand in his pocket and the two dots of light were now separated just a bit. He was sure these were the men he was looking for.
"We do," Joust elbowed his friend who coughed softly.
"What are you here to do." The skeletal Ed said.
Our Ed felt it at that moment. There was a pull to comply, the problem was that Ed could tell it was happening. He debated lying just to see what would happen but he decided his best bet was to just answer honestly. "I want you both to hold these coins." He worried that the truth would sound weirder than being honest.
The problem started shortly after Ed answered. From the backside of the room, the other people started to answer the question also.
"I am here to avoid my wife."
"I am here to rob the bank across the way and I am waiting for my crew."
"I am here to get you drunk and pick your pockets before I throw you outside." Everyone looked at the bartender who shrugged at the truth.
"I am here to hide from the girl I got pregnant two towns over."
Joust and the Skeletal Ed looked at each other in disbelief. "You were too loud."
Skeletal Ed shook his head and whispered. "Yes, I was." Joust knew that this meant he was saying he didn't.
Our Ed held up a coin. "Really, Please hold this."
Joust reached across the table and grabbed the coin. He didn't have time to argue. He knew what the skeletal young man could do but this was out of control. "I will look at it in a minute." He dismissed our Ed and then looked back at his friend.
The coin vibrated a little in his hand before he put it down on the table. "Damn, got the shakes again."
Our Ed reached over and grabbed the coin, "Thank you, now you please." He held out a coin.
The skeletal Ed got a panicked look on this face as he put his hand out. Joust grabbed his hand and looked him in the face. "Put your hand down."
Skeletal Ed got a panicked look on his face. He had two commands. His brain worked quickly through the loopholes before he put his hand down with the palm up. Our Ed smiled and saw what he was doing and dropped the coin into his hand.
Joust attempted to grab it but just missed it before it landed in skeletal Ed's hand. The coin shimmered and then changed shapes ever so slightly. It became rough around the edges and then stopped.
Joust reached in and grabbed the coin before our Ed could grab it. "What kind of magic are you playing with here..."
Ed smiled, "Hand the coin back and I will tell you."
The two men glared at each other as they worked out their next plays in their minds. The skeletal young man next to them just moved his eyes from man to man. He waited for a command.
Ed shook his head and looked at the skeletal young man. "You hungry? Do you want to eat?"
Skeletal Ed got a panicked look on his face. He normally only ate when commanded. He was afraid to ask for things. That wasn't how things worked for him. He only nodded. It was the loophole. Ed nodded and raised a hand at the bartender to get his attention. When he looked over Ed called out, "Bread and meat please."
The bartender nodded and knocked on the wall behind him before yelling something into the galley.
Joust glared at the man trying to figure out what his game was. Ed reached out and took the man's hand. "Since I am buying you guys lunch I must insist you return what belongs to me."
At that moment Joust screamed for a split second while his world turned into a blazing glare of colors and coronas. His eyes suddenly burst with an amplified reading of the power of every living and non-living thing's divine powers.
Ed sighed and shook his head. "I guess I am right." he released Jousts hands. He needed to hold out for a while. He had been in town for at least an hour now. Shortly For'Ten would show up and help back him up. He felt a little exposed but he didn't want to leave these two alone. He had found them now he needed to figure out who they were.
Joust dropped the coin and closed his eyes. He threw his hands over his face and tried to rub the colors away. Ed picked up the coin and held the two of them in his hands. "Thank you," he said as he turned them around and looked at them.
One had a J on one side and a pair of eyes on the other. The other had an E and what looked like a thumbs-up on the other. What could this mean? "So let me see, I guess you can see things... And you, can you only agree?"
The two men looked on in disbelief. "I knew there was some kind of black magic involved in you!" Joust pointed at the man with one hand and covered his eyes with the other. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," Ed said with a shrug. "I amplify abilities is all. If you had warned me I could have taken more cautions." The plate of bread and salted meats showed up at the table and the skeletal young man smiled and took a small roll and two strips of meat. He began wolfing down food as quickly as he could.
Joust looked over at him. "Only eat until you are full. Don't eat it all."
The young man nodded and ate with vigor. He was going to eat until he was full and he felt very empty. "I knew you were different. I saw it on you. You glowed different than everyone else besides me and Ed in here."
Joust grabbed a roll and tore it into pieces before leaning back. A free meal was never to be turned down. "Look I see the colors of the soul. Ed here can only agree, but as a side effect when he speaks other people can only comply."
Ed nodded. That explained the compulsion. He didn't want to reveal that he had the option to ignore it. Joust spoke before he could, "Your ability to make things better explains why everyone in the room started talking. You made his ability stronger."
Ed shrugged. "Sorry, that happens occasionally until I find out what a person's abilities are."
They all stared at each other. They knew they were all unique. Joust knew that his boss was going to want this man. His boss collected everything unique. And this guy was unique. The problem was that he would amplify everyone around him, and with his boss that could cause problems. His boss didn't work with ANYONE who didn't have some kind of unique ability.
"I think you really need to meet my boss." Joust said between bites of food. He chewed for a minute. "He is going to want to talk to you. And thankfully he is the one that loves coins."
Ed smiled. "You do know that the coins were really my goal right? I don't collect coins other than these."
Joust smiled and looked at skeletal Ed who took the hint. Skeletal Ed leaned forward and whispered directly at our Ed. "You must follow us to meet our boss."
Ed felt it again, but this time he knew he overplayed his hand. When the skeletal young man leaned forward he amplified his own ability beyond even the point that Ed was able to resist.
"Why yes, I think I should meet your boss." Ed said as he knew he probably didn't really want to.