Prophecy
She knew from the beginning that his powers were a fraud. It wasn't the rumors that swirled around him, the awestruck mumblings of other duelist that intrigued her. The grim echoes of her own future danced before her eyes too often for such parlor tricks to have any mystique.
Truth be known, it was that gaggle of little boys, with their aqua-hair, lollipops, and unswerving devotion to their older brother that had taught her eye. Throughout the duel they cheered him on, and even once it was over, and the disappointment was as clear in their open, innocent eyes as it was in the dejected slump of his shoulders, they still encouraged him, told him it didn't matter, that he was their big brother and they would always love him, no matter what.
She had to swallow back a lump in her throat as she watched them. These boys had not had an easy life, yet they were so careless, so free in their love. From some deep part of her, she longed for a just a taste of such openness, of love that was not so bruised and battered that it hid itself behind iron shields.
Yet despite his open affection to his brothers, there was a shyness in his manner when he came up to offer her his Pot of Greed and his last locator card, eyes on the pavement. "Guess this is it for me," he sighed.
On a sudden impulse, she tapped into her Necklace, hoping for a glimpse of a bright future that she could offer him. As the vision came, her eyebrows rose, but then she shrugged softly. It wasn't as if it was such a bad future after all.
"Here, he mumbled, kicking at the street as he handed her the cards. "Guess you figured out I'm not much of a psychic after all."
"No," she murmured as she leaned in, brushing his blue-green bangs out of the way. "Otherwise you might have seen this coming."