THIS CAME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, SO I AM TERRIBY SORRY FOR ITS CORNY AND LAME CONTENT.
Yeah, I'm not joking about any of that. It came to me suddenly while I was reading a Persona fic and then I went "MUST WRITE, RAWRRRRR". It resulted in this crack fic thing, which I am still submitting for the contest despite the odds of its quality and plain lateness. But oh well~ Might as well do it since I wrote this anyway.
And yes, this is related to my previous entry. You can choose to read that one first, or this one first before that one or just read this one and be done with it. And of course, the veeeeeeeeeery small changes I made in that earlier one have been carried over to this one, so if you have read the previous one, go ahead and re-read it though as I said, they're small. Really small. It might look like nothing had actually changed unless you read every single line in every single paragraph no matter the length.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Please, Yuri! I've never been to one before!"
"Neither have I. And, I recall that you said to 'have some fun' since we had a bit of extra gald. Since we're at this festival, why can't we?"
"It's not that I don't want you all to go, it's the fact that you're bringing me along. Why don't you go with someone else?"
"Well, Rita went off to the library, Raven went to some place, Repede and Letha don't really have anything to do either-"
"We do! We're tagging along."
"-And you said you have nothing to do either! You're the only one left besides them!"
The swordsman grumbled at Karol's words, but eventually gave up with a raise of his arms. "Alright, alright, I'll go to with you all. But if she ends up being some old hag who scams people of their gald, then we're getting out of there at once when I say so."
"I'm sure she won't be!" Estelle optimistically chirped, regardless. Letha only rolled her eyes - there was a small mutter added to that, but none of them really noticed it - but still smiled approvingly along with their young guild leader. Yuri sighed tiredly at the naive princess, but could only push aside the night blue flap and lead the small, divided group into the mysterious tent of velvet.
To say I was bored was an utter understatement.
I looked down at my nails, cleaning the few bits of dirt that somehow got stuck in them. Still, the time didn't pass by a lot by the time I was done, and I was once again returning to stare at the tent's closed opening with a weariness towards this haunting boredom and disgust. Man, I am never - ever - going insult that guy again. Not in a million years. If he could put me up in this stupid position - and it was 'the least he could do since he had not much influence'. The hell to that! - then what else could he do? Something worse maybe.
My eyes quickly got tired of seeing the unchanging view of the closed flap, eventually moving on to the interior of the fortune telling tent. It seemed like just like its outsides; it was a mysterious velvet blue, supported by silvery metal supports. Any furniture in here was made of either silver - the candle holders that dotted the place - or of marble - the table which I leaned on lazily.
I sighed and looked down at the things that dotted my 'fortune telling table' - as I was starting to dully call it. Calling it 'Mr Bun-Buns' in reminiscent of the so-called imaginary friend I made up during a random moment of insanity wasn't really working wonders or miracles on curing my boredom - and idly 'hmm'ed, out of pure randomness and boredom of course. Not like I had much to work with anyway, besides the little imagination of mine that had asked for raspberry buns and hot chocolate once it woke up, which will definitely take a while.
Sunlight and silhouettes had suddenly crept inside.
I had immediately straightened my posture and smiled at the group. Lets see, lets see... a guy with girly looks, a pink-haired girl, a spear-wielding woman, a dog, a brunet boy and a brunette woman... Brave Vesperia, I see. But wait, brunette woman? I don't recall - in my very limited memories of Vesperia - anything about that lady being a part of the guild, or the party's joinable roster.
"Letha Vitae?" I questioned him, finally pausing to look away from my new surroundings. It wasn't everyday that he told me to relax, of all things. He always told me to keep on going on, never saying to actually take a break for a day or two unless it was serious or important. I'm not sure if he had some goal he could accomplish through this, but then again, it was him. He probably had some interest in mind. "You mean Nevi's 'helper' of sorts?"
The man simply gave me a smirk. "I know you're sharp enough to remember. But, what else could I be talking about, little Miss Circletti?"
I frowned. "I told you to stop calling me 'little'...!"
My smile instantly fell off.
Yuri raised an eyebrow as he and the others entered the tent, scanning the dark insides. Everything was either colored silver, blue or white -like most other fortune telling tents - while at a table was a girl probably around the age of fifteen in a fading white cloak, hood raised to hide away most of her facial features. The candle flames flickered a little as the flap fell closed with the last of them inside, but continued to persist in radiating a somewhat-eerie feel. Though, the place was thick with warmth and heavy mint incense.
The girl smiled on seeing them, but only moments later did her smile vanish as it was replaced by an absolutely transparent one, though her feelings had yet to seep out into her glass expression. She looked a bit meaningfully at the princess, then at the rest of them with a clear understanding of why they were here.
"Well, well, I would really love to read all of your futures, but I can only take one person, even from a group of people. So, who would like their fortunes read?" She seemed to have caught the bright shine in the rose-haired girl, though feigned ignorance to it as she continued to scan the others. Karol looked eager - not enough to rival Estelle though - while Yuri was just plain not interested, evident by his slumped posture and averted gaze.
Letha was also quite uninterested, observing the tent instead. Repede simply stood by his master's side, his tail swishing idly. Judith's attention simply sat on the young fortune teller, interested to watch but not play.
The girl finally looking up at the regally dressed girl, her smile stretching out thinly. "Would you like your fortunes read, Miss Child of the Full Moon?"
Everyone's attention had immediately snapped to me, expressions becoming suspicious, surprised or awaiting something or the other. I couldn't help but grin at all this; I could finally see why the villain loved to play with his toys. It was much, much more fun to twist the minds of others according to your wishes than anything else. Maybe. "My, what's with the faces? You should expect this - I'm a Tarot Reader, so obviously, I can read your fortunes, your pasts, your futures. I know everything all about you guys."
That's probably not the best lie I've honestly made, but it will do. Somewhat. I guess. Maybe. I don't know!
I paused, quickly adding something else, "But I know that some things shouldn't be heard of, so I will keep them our lovely little secret~ You have my infinite trust." My teasing grin had subsided into a pleasant smile as they exchanged wary looks, Yuri soon nodding - his gaze was evidently still cautious - to me. I looked over to Estelle, who had regained the childish sparkle of anticipation I had saw her with just moments earlier. Though my attention was honestly looking past her - to the brunette woman.
"But what about her anyway?" I asked, swinging my legs a little. If I was going to sit here all day, I'm pretty sure I was going to get cramps. Might as well stretch them while I can. For a moment, I thought I saw something flash through his usually cool expression - worry? Irritation? I honestly don't know, but it was somewhat surprising nevertheless - before his posture slumped a little, fingers pushing back his glasses with a quiet clink.
"Nothing that you should be too worried about, but just watch out for her," he replied effortlessly, like nothing had been plaguing him when obviously something was. His smirk dimmed a little, forming a pleasant, almost genuine smile - another rarity that I couldn't really force out of him.
My gaze narrowed, sharpening as I took her in. She matched the profile I was given perfectly. It was no doubt that the lady was the Letha Vitae that he told me about. The woman suddenly noticed my rather observant, near-cold - perhaps it was? I don't see a mirror nearby, honestly - and as the seconds rolled by, she pointed a finger at herself, wondering if it was her that I had chosen.
Obviously, it was. Why else had I nodded, raising a finger to her so the others could clearly see my choice? That was a stupid question. "Yes, you. I'll read your fortune."
Letha looked a bit uncomfortable with that declaration, hesitantly sitting down on the silver chair - it was horribly cold for some reason, despite the sleep-creating warmth that lingered around the place - as the girl was pondering on something, her gaze switching between the items scattered on her table. Eventually, she picked up the deck of cards to her left.
"Ever heard of these cards before?" she cheerfully asked, waving the deck of cards in her pale hands. They were mostly white in color, have a lunar blue border with silvery white vines crawling up them. Small white flowers dotted the frame here and there while the insides had a picture of some sort. The other side of the cards had the same blue borders, but instead of a picture, there was only a silver cross in its middle, thin halos of white encircling it at different angles while star-like beads were threaded through them.
"They're called Tarot Cards," she answered without waiting for a response, placing it back on the table - the middle, more specifically. "They are 'special' sort of cards that can answer anything you wish - providing you know their meanings and how to use them."
The girl tugged her hood a little bit more down, looking at Letha expectantly. "Well, what would you like to know? An answer to your problems? The future? Advice? You can ask me anything you like."
"Anything huh... the future then, I guess."
She grinned gleefully. "Lovely choice~! Take the cards and shuffle them then, but keep thinking of your question as you do so, alright~?"
Letha raised an eyebrow, but didn't ponder on the girl's joyfulness for too long. "O... kay..." The twenty year old took the stiff cards in her hand, shuffling them a little shabbily. A few cards nearly fell out of her hands as she did so, but she luckily managed to keep them in her palms before giving them back in a neat bundle. The cloaked girl looked down at them, soon dividing the shuffled deck into three groups before her. She took out one card from each group before putting away the remaining, resulting with only three cards left on the table, placed horizontally.
"These cards represent your past, present and future respectively," she remarked, gesturing at them from left to right. She looked up at the brunette. "If you want, I can wait a bit before revealing them all. Revealing all this can need a bit of time before doing so."
"No need. You can go."
"...Alright. If you say so~!" A hand was already beginning to flip the leftmost card.
The first card held a man with a dog, holding a stick over his shoulders that had a pastel red cloth tied to it on one end, items obviously in it. Below the picture, sitting in the blue frames in velvet purple was the roman number for zero. As I observed it momentarily, I was hit by a mental vision of feet traversing a grassy and forest-like landscape, followed by a pair of blurry silhouettes playing a mock battle; a practice fight, though it gave away an air of nostalgia to me for some reason.
"Card Number One - The Fool... in the upwards position," I commented. I looked up at Vitae, a small smile probably on my face at once with habit. "The Fool in this position means that you had begun a journey of learning, and it seems to have been a bit of a long while ago. This journey was probably not without its hardships and obstacles, which you had to overcome to prevail."
"That's... pretty true," the twenty year old mumbled, pondering on it a little. I simply shrugged and flipped over the Present Card, immediately being greeted with an imagery of several silhouettes, one of them speaking twisted words and false truths - lies - which the group of people before it had naively believed. When that group vanished, that one liar turned to face the opposite direction, head tucked down in what may have been guilt.
The card held a night-painted landscape, a moon shining vividly on its top left corner. A person stood on a hill below it, the moonlight bathing the person as it grasped its hands in a prayer-like notion. Just like the Fool, its number was engraved with the roman numerals under it.
"Card Number Eighteen - The Moon... in the reverse position," I spoke up, my eyes raised a little with curiosity. She still kept it to her, huh...? "The Moon in the reverse position means that you have been hiding away secrets from those around you - even those you may consider dear - all while deceiving those who have nosily struck themselves in your business with lies and twisted words, keeping them from learning the actual truth."
Here, Yuri frowned, obsidian eyes hardening as he settled his stare on my client. Everyone else held a strange look that either consisted of a frown or disappointment that was subtly hidden. Letha nervously shifted in the chair, averting her gaze from me and the table in some futile attempt of something or the other.
"...You sure there's nothing to worry about this Vitae?" the words left me hesitantly, though without my knowledge. He raised my eyebrow at what he would have and already did call as 'excess worrying' but instead of letting out a hint at all to whatever could be on his mind, he simply shook off the very notion of explaining.
"Just enjoy yourself." And with a twist and swirl of the Aer around him, he vanished and left me without anything but only the confirmation that something was troubling him - and it involved Nevi's heirloom collector.
Just great.
I must be rather under the mood a little, because I only smiled at the scene of the troubled little helper - and all too suddenly for my liking. Maybe all the stress is finally catching up... or something on the lines of that. I cleared my throat, grabbing their attention once more as I continued.
"But to keep up this act, guiltiness is the price you have paid. Unless you reveal to them the truth of your thoughts and actions, you will forever have that guilt eat away at your insides." I shook my head a little at that, still smiling as I moved my gaze onto the next card - Future. I'm pretty sure that Letha would want to know what would be in her future, and maybe even the others wanted to know the outcome of their actions, if it was ever displayed in their companion's future.
My hand reached to flip the card immediately, but as I brush my fingers on it, I was greeted by another imagery.
Letha frowned as the cloaked girl was about to flip up the last card, but suddenly became rigid the moment her fingers grazed against its almost untarnished surface. Her cheerful - angered and mocking, some voice mentally corrected - smile had slowly twisted into an thin yet firm line, its tips nearly edging downward. The moment quickly passed, however, and she flipped it over.
The card had three people - a male in the center, dressed in a white tunic with golden trims and two females, both dressed in identical robes but one of them wore blue while the other wore red. The females seemed to be fighting over the man, evident by their grabbing-and-pulling motion of each of his arms in a tug-o-war fashion - and above them was a soft pink heart with a cupid's arrow struck through it from an angle. The background of it was a colorful, but shattering glass painting. Of course, roman numbers had been carved into the card.
"Card Number Six - The Lovers, in the reverse position," she declared, much more loudly than before, much more firmly too.
"The Lovers in the reversed position means that there will be the end to a precious relationship and will certainly involve hurt feelings between you and the person. Since this is the Future Card, Moon must have certainly had a hand in creating this result. If you are to prevent it, you must end your inner conflicts and settle things between you and him."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. Him...?
The girl stared hard at the Lovers with a faint frown, leaning her elbow on the table as she concentrated on it. And by the looks of it, considering something as well by the 'hmm'ing sounds she made. It took a while, but she eventually moved on from it, grinning cheekily at the others while breaking the serious atmosphere that had somehow clogged the calmness that once lingered in its place. "Well, if you do prevent that little 'tragedy' then, you might just be praising me in the not-too-far future~!"
Everyone promptly sweat-dropped at that.
Her grin soon shrunk into a small smile as she continued, though a tone of mischief was evident in her voice. "And even if you don't do that, I'll still come by for the wedding with a wonderful present for you and the lucky man, Vitae~!"
Though it was - somewhat. I know I would have let slip something like that on purpose eventually - unintentional, the words had already flown out and I couldn't contain them. It had immediately brought surprised looks once again to the group's faces, especially Letha who only stammered first quietly to loudly, "W... W-Wedding? I-I-"
Goddess, I'm having too much damn fun with twisting their minds. But then again, if that vision was right... then yeah, I'm not lying about Vitae's wonderful and maybe not really blessed marriage. Oh well, she would get through. Hopefully. Maybe. I don't know honestly.
"Oh my, did I flatter the bride-to-be already?" I playfully cut in with a mock expression of shock. I've read her fortunes; there was no need to keep her and the rest of them staying here. Already I had gotten up from my chair, hurryingly pushing the group out of the fortune telling tent along with shooing motions. They were pretty persistent to know more though, which I could only reply with more harsher tactics of getting them out, all while trying to keep up a futile smile that was rapidly fading away to slight annoyance.
"Goddess, you know I can't reveal the future too much! That would so~ unfair!" I tried to persuade them to just leave, all while trying to push out Estelle and Karol at once. "You might as well just wait until I come by for the wedding, which I'm really looking forward to by the way, Ms Lowell~!"
...Did I just say that?
Unfortunately for them, I had already closed the tent flap the moment their guard had fallen from the revelation, which would hopefully make them not think of coming back in. Besides, I gave them an answer, and a rather important one at that. They should be content - if not awkward to the core~ - about it.
A strange relief in me came as I slowly walked and sat back in my seat, trying to make myself comfortable as I waited yet another boring wait for my next curious client. I never knew how amusing that small encounter could have ever been - it's definitely worth more than sitting idly in one place - but I don't think I will be finding another moment like that for a good while. As I leaned lazily on the table's covered surface, I could feel the Aer - it was rather small, and terribly slow at first - spin and twirl, a vague imagery soon becoming clear and solid besides me. I wasn't really alarmed by it, because I already knew what had happened.
And of course, I didn't need to know who it was that placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Had some enjoyment while I was gone?"
I nearly snorted. Nearly. "Not particularly so. Just bratty kids, tired adults and cranky old people. Some people were kinda disbelieving if I was even right about their futures and all that nonsense-" Example - Letha Vitae. "-Do you honestly see something amusing in those sort of people? I certainly do not."
The cherry-haired man simply shrugged in his spot, absolutely nonchalant as usual. It sometimes got on my nerves, but I had to tolerate my annoyance and displeasure for males - well, most of them anyways. In the real world, they were all just stuck up, stupid idiots, I swear! It's sad enough that I can't even throw a Photon or get Celly to cast Freeze Lancer on them whenever I get a perfect chance - if I were to cooperate with him and get back home, preferably in one piece unlike when he practically threw me into a pack of lunch-lusting monsters.
('By mistake' my ass.) But yeah, bad memories. Must not think too long on them.
My eyes rolled over to him, an eyebrow soon raised as I noticed one of his own ice blue orbs had strayed off to stare at me with a strangely focused look, though heavily clouded by thought. That and, his hand was still on my shoulder. I resisted an urge to sigh - very, very deeply, mind you - at my somewhat-captor. "Are you getting your hand off me? Like, now?"
He finally seemed to return to reality - which is not real real reality, I should tell you. No way, I would definitely not allow him to go back to earth and trick even more innocent people to come by. Unless it was that neighborhood bull boy (as I liked to call him), because that guy deserved to get thrown in here and eaten by the monsters. Muahahaha~ I am so evil, but who cares? - though his far-away look seemed to linger even when his hand slid back to his sides.
Again with that troubled look! "...Something really is troubling you, huh?"
"Not quite," he replied almost instantly to that, a museful tone in it. "I'd say it's more of a... stubborn thought."
"Of what? More heirloom collecting after the festival's over?" I dryly retorted. He simply gave me a smirk, though he continued to say nothing. He's dodging my questions, and again too, for Goddess sake. What the hell is wrong with him!
"No," he finally spoke - it was slow, as if he was carefully picking his words - breaking my angry thoughts - revenge was strung somewhere among the threads, but that's a trival fact - momentarily. He had bent down a little so that our gazes were leveled with each other - and very, very too close for comfort. I don't think he noticed, or maybe he did and he's ignoring it. "Lets just assume I'm thinking of my cute heirloom helper. Hmm? Shall we go with that, Ange?"
"I hone- Wha- Fuck what?"
He laughed an airy, somewhat smug laugh - stupid fairies and their stupid vain pride. It's annoying! - the Aer notably being pulled around him as he teleported away to Goddess knew where. I could only blink at the spot where he once stood, very, very slowly as well.
...
...
.-
What the fucking hell did Alastor just Goddess-blessed call me?
I have to admit, it's a tad bit longer than my usual writing.
I MADE IT ALL TOO OOC. FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEE.
Then again, this is a crack thing. And Sylph did say that it could be the biggest crack thing the planet has ever seen... SO YEAH, YAY FOR CRACK SOMETIMES. MAYBE. SOMEWHAT. I GUESS. I DON'T KNOW. CAPSLOCK FTW (That came out of nowhere... Maybe I really should go get myself some rest now, before I go insane).
And perhaps some answers to any possible questions -
I don't know about the setting and situation. It's all just a random idea, but lets just assume they're all gone for some fun in some festival, maybe around the time they've started the spirit conversion-thingy. My OC is apparently 'taking a break' as well, but as a fortune teller (she thinks it's revenge against her, when it's not) due to a certain someone.
She's still searching for the heirlooms on Alastor's part (having not switched sides yet, compared to my previous entry) of course, but is still stuck with Aquamarine and Amethyst (and is fifteen, because thirteen honestly seems too young for traveling. And besides - anything younger than thirty is considered 'young enough' in Raven's eyes, probably). She absolutely detests men - except for the very rare few - and she tends to refer to people by last name.
~Shiroi
(AND YEAH, PROMOTION OF TOTALLY CRACK PAIRINGS THERE TOO. WOO HOO~ XD)