AN: Yeas! This is it, guys, this and the next chapter are the ones I've really looked forward to get to write. Haha, they're pretty much the reason this story exists: because I really, really wanted to get to write a tarot reading session. And later, some shamanistic, pagan-y depiction of witchcraft that has nothing to do with Harry Potter. Much as I love HP. :D

To clarify, I do tarot reading irl, and I used my own deck as inspiration for the visuals. Its name is the Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti, in case someone is interested in looking up the designs; they can be all found on Google image search.

If you're curious, my inspirational song for this piece is "I Don't Speak Human" by Omnia. Music is my greatest inspiration, usually, and if you want, check that out. It's on Youtube. It's not necessary, but I think it's nice and kinda sets the right mood. :)

I hope you like it!

Oh, and the chapter title is cut due to limited number of characters in a chapter title. The correct form should be, "The Strength, the Fool, the Sun and the Chariot".

And missed the credits in the previous chapter but beta read by Elillierose.

Finding the tag wasn't the issue.

It was taking down the thing that had apparently been the end of its owner.

"Prompto! Take cover!" the shield roared as he leaped to swing his blade at the mountainous creature's legs; he didn't miss by much, but still enough for it to retaliate by swinging its tail at him with the force of a megaton hammer. Raising his weapon in the nick of time, the blade took most of the damage, but the man was sent staggering backwards by the immense blast slamming against his defenses.

"No need to tell me twice, man!"

"What the hell is this thing?!" Noctis swore loudly as he reappeared by his shield in a flash of blue, a fresh gush of blood now trickling down the side of its neck where he had slashed it at.

"I dunno. But I'm not planning on wasting time looking that up," he grunted back, quickly checking him over for injuries. "Prompto! Now!" A barrage of shots sounded from somewhere in the rear, immediately followed by an enraged roar as the dinosaur-like creature's attention was drawn to the gunner, and it took a couple of stalky steps closer to its prey. Not wasting a second, the men nodded to each other in silent agreement – and sprung into action.

Forming a ladder with his hands, Gladiolus waited to feel the familiar weight of the prince on his arms; the low grunt was his cue, and accompanied by a roar, he flung the raven to soar in the air, a high somersault.

Twisting his abs and swinging his arm around to create the momentum, Noctis dismissed his sword. Turning in mid-jump, the spear materialized, the new weight stopping him before he could over-rotate. As he already felt the pull of the ground gaining the upper hand, he glanced towards the other just in time to note how Gladio had poised his blade over his shoulder, ready to bring it down.

The animal screeched in rage and agony as the men drove their steel into its leg in one controlled, joint attack, Noctis tearing into the muscles of its joint, and if the crunching sound under Gladio's heavy sword was any indication, the man had crushed bones. It wobbled a little, the roars turning more whining, before collapsing on its injured leg, the ground shaking under its weight.

"Ignis!"

Noctis needed to say no more; way ahead of him, having observed keenly from the frontal side of the beast, in the moment of its distraction, the adviser leaped forward and thrust his spear into its exposed throat, a flash like lightning and some crackles dancing along the weapon as it sunk into the scaled skin. Its cries pierced their ears; thrashing issued as the wounded animal panicked, pain and the stench of gore setting its instincts into overdrive.

Ignis flipped backwards nimbly like a cloud, his daggers already out in hand as he stood back up. "Now is our chance!" he yelled over the screeching and the thumping sounds as the beast stomped the ground to get back up.

"Now!" Already rushing, Noctis called out his own heavy sword, nearly a triple weight in comparison to the engine blade making him sag under it a little. Ignoring the sting, the young man forced it up, nonetheless. From somewhere close came another round of gunfire, and in the corner of his eye, he could see the greatsword being raised. The animal thrashed pitifully, swishing its humongous tail in an attempt to squash them like bugs; it tried to snap them into its jaws, but couldn't reach. Prompto's yelp of alert sounded from his blind side, but Noctis didn't have time to pay more attention. He hadn't sounded pained, merely surprised anyway. Totally focused on the task at hand, he called, "Let's put it out its misery!"

The blood hit his face as his sword sunk into the flesh, the tissue tearing apart with the force of the blow. Next to him, Gladio's behemoth blade did even more damage, finding its home in the softer belly. Pieces of flesh and scaly leather clung into the spikes of it as it raked through.

"Gentlemen!" came Ignis' urgent tone. "Get out of the way!"

The intense blue snapped into the direction of the adviser just in time to see him hold his daggers crossed in front of him with the tips touching, before he felt an abrupt, strong jerk in his middle. Gladio's voice was mere grunts; if he said something, Noctis didn't catch it, but he didn't fight the motion. Waiting for the shield to release him, his blade was dismissed as his frantic eyes instinctively searched for Prompto, and as they spotted the distancing blond mass of hair, a small breath of relief left him unguarded, before his awaiting eyes were back on Ignis.

Looking like a statue, the man stood still, a focused look on his face as he conjured; the air around him flickered with the ethereal heat building from the inside. Then, the green eyes snapped towards the target, and grinding the edges against each other like flint to steel to get the spark, a fire that didn't burn him combusted on his daggers. Not wasting a second, the cries of the dying animal in his ears, Ignis dashed. Never ceasing his motion, he flung the flaming blades to the carcass, right, left, before leaping out of the way as the holy flames fulminated around him.

Landing into a crouch, the adviser was left panting as he observed how the flare engulfed everything, the sounds of combustion drowning out everything else. He didn't straighten up before the fury of it had died down, standing a bit precariously on weak legs. He heard the running steps by his side, and at first didn't refuse Noct's hand as it came to support him. That one always left him a bit woozy, and he knew it.

"You alright, Specs?"

"Yes, Noct," he spoke under a light pant. "I'll be fine in just a moment."

"Wow," Gladio chuckled with a degree of impression. "That was quite a blast."

"Yes, I… I should hope so," the adviser smirked, wiping his brow as he motioned for Noct that it was alright to let go.

Prompto's eyes never left the now lifeless, charred remains as he strolled closer, still twirling his gun in his fingers. "Remind me to never get on your bad side, Igster," he snorted a small laugh. "Holy crap, man." A smug look crossed the adviser's face briefly before he got back in line,

"'You surprised?"

"About seeing this little boy pyromaniac side of yours? Yeah, I could say, yeah. I am. A bit."

"This beast must have been the king of the woods," Gladio mused out, changing the topic. He was crouching next to the carcass, looking thoughtful as he inspected what was left of it. It had certainly been awe-inspiring. But, Gladiolus shook his head as a sigh of frustration was finally let out. This nagging feeling he had had the entire morning; when he had first laid eyes upon this magnificent fiend, he had been sure that this was the very thing all that had been about. All that apprehension and the urge to avoid this place. Apparently, he was wrong. As the beast now lied dead in front of him, it was still there. The persistent omen that something wasn't right. Nonetheless, "I gotta say, I'm pretty happy that it's the four of us. If Dave would've come here on his own, he would have been dinner."

"Well now that you put it like that," Prompto sniped at him.

"Well, I guess we got what we came for," Noctis spoke under his breath as he stretched his arms. "Let's go back and give the hunters the news."

"It's hardly going to be a pleasant thing to hear," Ignis noted a bit solemnly.

"But it's the truth. I'm sure they'll be happier to know what became of their friend than not knowing it," the shield said. He was already making it back towards the direction they had come from, motioning for the others to follow. They did, sparing a few last glances behind as if to make sure that their opponent truly was as dead as it looked.

"Back already, are you, dears?" Kimya's smile radiated warmth as she greeted the prince with a small nod.

"Hey," Noctis scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, we… we found it."

The woman's eyes slid closed, her smile widening, "Joy it brings me, to hear that. That man, pleased shall he be…" Her voice trailed into silence like she had talked to herself, and Noctis was left feeling oddly curious. He wasn't sure if she had meant for him to even hear it. Deciding that it was probably the best to change the topic, he went ahead to prompt,

"So, are you gonna explain?"

Something in the woman's look took a cunning edge, and her eyes glinted with something other than joy. With a small smirk, she spoke, "Brew potions, I do. But very special they are."

"What kinda potions?"

"Repel the daemons, they do. At havens, they are used. The Oracle's blessing, my potions strengthen."

"Is that really why they threw you out?" he sounded incredulous as well as disbelieving; he couldn't imagine the hunters to drive anyone, especially one of their own, to live in a shack like this for such a reason.

"Understand, they didn't," she spat out, suddenly sounding bitter and angry. "'A witch', they called me. Out here, they cast me. 'To die in the wild,' they wanted to send me." She held a pause, and from the way her eyes shifted to gaze at nothing, Noctis knew that she wasn't talking to him anymore. "Long ago, healing potions, the hunters wanted. Brewed them, I did, but when more, I wanted to do, very angry, their leader grew," she hissed, the memory like salt to the wound. "'Dangerous,' my sister called me. Drive me out, she did. If ever wanted to go back, I did, under pain of death would it be."

"Wha- what did you do then?" He wasn't sure if asking was the right thing to do, but it came out anyway.

The mischievous smile was back on her face, her demeanor suddenly calm again, tenacious even. "Show you, let me. Your fortunes, the cards allow to reveal."

"Uh, cards…?"

"What, you're, like, a fortune teller or something?" Gladiolus asked, are-you-kidding-me-like.

"A fortune teller?! Like, you can tell the future 'n' stuff?!" Prompto perked up, looking at the woman with excitement and mesmerizement. "How cool is that, Noct?! Can we do this? Please?"

"Uhm…" Looking lost, the raven's eyes went from the barely-able-to-hold-himself-together Prompto to the lady. As if reading his indecisiveness, she kept persuading,

"Nothing dangerous, that I guarantee. Just, understand the ways of the spirits, my sister, does not. Thus, frightens her, this skill that blesses me. But you," she fixed him with a knowing look, "To spirits, a stranger, you are not?"

Noctis gulped, "How… do you know that?"

"A touch of the eather, you bear. A whisker of magic, there resides in you," she chuckled lightly as if it would have been obvious and he was asking silly questions. The silliness was highlighted by the quiet, surprised gasps; her smile was warm again as she took in the looks on each of their faces.

"Oh wow! She can really see that!" Prompto exclaimed.

"Hold your horses, kid," Gladio grunted, perhaps a bit more harshly than he had intended. But damn that kid and his loose mouth! He wasn't convinced of this woman's accused 'witchery', but if that was just a nifty pep-talk, Prompto had just blown all their cover.

With one more glance at Prompto, Noctis shrugged, "Well, I guess there's no harm in trying."

"Noct," Ignis cut in, stressing the name like he always did when he wanted the prince to listen to him, "We should deliver that tag, posthaste." The look on his face said what the words left lacking: 'we have no time to waste on silly superstition.'

"Aw, c'mon, Iggs! I'm sure it can wait, like, fifteen minutes," Prompto near whined. "Can't be that bad."

Noctis grinned in an amused way as he shrugged at his adviser, "Yeah, Specs. Live a little." Ignis looked like someone had pushed a bone into his throat, deep enough for him to choke on it. Swallowing his loss, he shook his head as he sighed,

"Very well… Is it going to cost us, I wonder."

Kimya's eyes slid back closed. "No payment, I require. Only your time, my compensation will be." She motioned towards the house, signaling them to come in.

The inside of the hut wasn't much more presentable than the outside. Cluttered floor-to-ceiling, the walls of the on-the-verge-of-collapsing structure seemed to be so framed with bookshelves and cupboards that Noctis found himself wondering if the entire shack was actually leaning onto those shelves for support. And on those shelves, there were a myriad of pots and jars of all shapes and sizes. Round ones, rectangular ones, square shapes. Some were see-through, and what he thought he saw in one of them – something that looked like pickled seaweeds and plums but… slimier – he wasn't sure he wanted to look into in any more detail.

Apparently, the others got the same 'don't ask, don't tell' vibe as he did, for they all eyed the small house with disdain. Even Prompto's face had fallen from the excitement into astonishment of a very different kind, and given any other situation, Noctis wouldn't have passed the chance to tease the hell out of the gunner, but as their host closed the door behind them, an eerie shudder ran down his spine. Somehow the entire mood of the woman, now that she was inside with them, had shifted slightly. Still smiling sunshine to them and her demeanor calm, but something was different. She was in her element now. Literally on her home ground. It wasn't a threatening feeling, but unnerving nonetheless, and he was beginning to question if the hunters had been wrong after all. It was clear to him that this woman was more than she let out.

She guided them to take a seat around a rectangular kitchen table. On the table sat a vase of wild flowers, and a few beautiful stones, one light pink and a couple of vibrant shades of green and blue. She went to rummage around the small space for a while, and when she came back to sit with them, she held a small, wooden box and a candelabra. For some reason, it surprised Noctis to see her light them with regular matches. For some reason, it seemed too mundane for her when she could've done so much mor–

He gave himself a mental smack; he was being ridiculous! It wasn't like he actually believed in any witchcraft or fortune telling or any of that crap; his own magic worked differently, that he knew inside out and in that he trusted. He had agreed to this merely to humor Prompto. Besides, it wasn't like the Caelum family's royal duty to maintain the Wall and conjure the Crystal's power was a secret. If she knew who he was, she would know of his bloodline's ability and would have been able to pull that bluff. That didn't make her able to predict the future. That made her a fraud. A talented, suave fraud.

But why did it still leave him feeling like he was making excuses?

Kimya opened the small box to pull out a deck of beautifully decorated cards. Prompto swallowed nervously; the sky-blue eyes flicked to his friends and to the woman before returning back to the deck she had placed face down onto the table. "Uhm, what're those?"

"Tarot cards, these are called, my dear. Once sanctified by Her Ladyship, the former Oracle Lady Sylva herself, for three decades, this deck has served me. And now," she held a pause to flash them a gentle smile, "serve you, they will, if you allow."

The men exchanged looks. Eventually Noctis spoke up, scratching his head, "So, uh, what happens now? We're just gonna… stare at it?" Under the table, Ignis slapped his shin, fixing him with a look that said, 'manners'.

Kimya either didn't notice or she didn't care; she took the deck into her hands as if it was something fragile, and started shuffling it in a casual pace. They could see small glimpses the pictures in the cards as she held them, the illustrations vibrantly colored and intricately detailed. It seemed like a beautiful set of art, if nothing else, and the way the woman held them told exactly how precious they were to her, cosmic powers or not. "Many things, the cards could tell us," she spoke again as if to herself, "if only listen, we could. Read I not the futures of the living, for that, I dare not. Rather it is, the mysteries of one's heart, that my cards unfold." She never stopped shuffling, her fingers working the cards with practiced ease, and yet with utmost respect and care.

"Deep breaths, you take," she started. "Your minds, clear. Relaxed, should you feel." Again, the men looked at each other with various degrees of suspicion and boredom, but since they had decided to do this, well, to heck with it. One by one, they all let their gazes drop, some slid their eyes closed as they breathed, in, out, in, long steady breaths, feeling their shoulders drop, the tension draining with each exhale, the rhythm of their heartbeat growing steadier.

"Now, shuffled these cards, I have. And shuffling them, I shall keep. When it feels right, to you it must matter, tell me so, and stop, I shall." The men did as they were told. Each focusing on their own breaths, their attention on anything and nothing as they let eerie calmness descend above them.

"Now," Prompto said quietly, not raising his eyes. Noctis glanced at him briefly, eyebrow raised, but when he didn't catch the look on the other's face, he returned his eyes back to his lap. Kimya, however, had ceased immediately, and nodding her understanding, she laid two topmost cards onto the table in front of the blond. Then, she resumed shuffling.

Ignis was short to follow him, Noctis half a heartbeat behind his adviser. They started talking roughly in synch, Ignis leading but barely, and they exchanged a surprised look that was washed away quickly as their attention was drawn onto the two cards set in front of them both. The backs of the cards bore a beautiful floral and ornamental patterned sun design, and the colors were truly vibrant, despite the age of the paper.

It was Gladiolus who took his time. Sitting eyes closed and shoulders slack, his face that of concentration, he drew in deep breaths of the hut's aroma. Moist but not moldy, old woodwork and dusted clutter – and herbs of all kinds, mixing into an exotic blend. It soothed his mind. And although he wasn't too fond of this – fortune telling being merely a neat trick of reading people – the woman had practically asked him to do something he knew as his second nature. Something so innate he couldn't disrespect himself by not taking this seriously. She had asked him to trust his instincts.

And those instincts told him to wait.

He didn't know for what exactly, but something told him that it wasn't the right moment yet. That he needed to wait a little more. Ignoring the others, Gladiolus kept his eyes closed, focused on taking deep breaths, listened to the sound of the cards, waited, until–

"Now." The amber eyes snapped open, looking intense. Kimya's eyebrows rose a little, but she again stopped shuffling and laid the last two cards in front of the man, and placed the rest of the deck aside. She said nothing as she let her gaze go through them all, before reaching for the pile in front of Noctis.

"Alright, me first." Her lip twitched upwards before turning the card she had dealt first. In the card, a man stood at a crossroads, each path framed by a huge, upright pole. The Two of Wands.

"Indecisiveness, there is in you," she started. "On a journey, you are, towards a goal of ambition. But unsure, you feel, about if the right one it is, this path you're on now." As each word fell from her lips, the look on his face grew more intense. Being drawn into the poetics like a moth to the flame, Noctis leaned in a little.

"Y-yeah?"

"Unsure, you are, if it is the mind or the heart, that you should follow. For on separate ways, they wish to go. But only one path, you must choose. Cannot go without the other, no mind, no heart. A same journey, the two must travel."

"Uhm, what about the other one?" he nodded towards it. Without a word, she flipped the other one over, to reveal boldly decorated carriages, fit for royalty, with two Elder Coeurls sitting at its base, and a beautiful woman riding it proudly. The Chariot. Her smile took a sadder edge,

"Fear not, for in your ambition, victorious will you turn out to be. Through confusion, through struggle, a way, you will find, to quench that doubt, and right, will you, the wrongs that have been done."

"So not that bad, I guess," Noctis chuckled as he leaned back and crossed his arms, smirking to himself.

"But hardships, there shall be. Only through struggle, is the victory achieved. Of the Chariot, such is the nature." The look on the young man's face fell a little, but he brushed it off with a shrug. Noctis had heard enough, and she nodded to him as if to say, 'that's all I can tell you', before turning to Prompto.

A jester juggling with his pole, a carefree expression on his face. The Fool.

"Heh. Suits you," Gladiolus chuckled as he elbowed the blond into his side lightly.

"Shut up!" he spat back, but his cheeks had heated a little. 'The Fool'? Seriously?

"Mock the Fool, you should not. For him, still brand-new, the world is. In the beginning of a journey, you are. Know who you are, you yet do not. Carefree you may seem, for burdened with knowledge, you yet are not." Prompto gulped, looking a little nervous.

"Wha– what kind of knowledge?" She shook her head.

"That, I cannot tell. It is you, my cards serve. Only to you, must their message matter. What means to another, I cannot say." He nodded, a heavy look over his face as he averted his gaze back to the jester's delirious expression.

"Here, shall we see…" Kimya muttered as she flipped the other card. A ferryman rowing in a moonlit night: the Six of Swords; she looked at Prompto tightly. "Run away from this knowledge, you should not. Running away, nothing, it solves. Face must you, that which you find frightening, and in darkness, learn the truth, you will."

Color had drained from his face a little as Prompto stared at the woman, his mouth cracked open a fraction. He looked like he was about to say something, his lips quivering with unvoiced words, until he snapped it shut and averted his eyes to the table. The woman looked at him with something akin to pity before closing her eyes, and with a sigh, she turned to the adviser.

Ignis said nothing as he observed how the frail hand turned over his first card. Entire cosmos was painted onto the picture, and in the center shone the Sun. One brow raising in question, he looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Like the Sun upholds the balance, harmony and order around you, you bring," she smiled at him, and the adviser couldn't help his lip tugging up a little. "Keeping the cogs under control, holding them together, you are." She turned the other card, and her smile was gone as she continued, "But a time there will be, when helpless, you will feel." On the table, a blindfolded and shackled woman was surrounded by a prison made of blades. The Eight of Swords. "Trapped inside your despair, not seeing a way out." The dark eyes locked with the narrowed emerald, "Then, the others, left are, to hold together you." The gasp was quiet and unguarded, and usually Ignis would have been embarrassed by it. Now captivated by the cruel image and the woman's words, he only had eyes for the piercing stare that seemed to hold onto his very soul.

Oblivious of the favor he did, Gladio came to his rescue. "What about me?" he asked a bit demandingly, crossing his arms over his chest. Kimya fixed him with a pointed look, an eyebrow raising at the silent challenge the brute was presenting her. Without a word, she went to flip over the first card, revealing a knight riding a stallion, powerful bright-red flags and caparisons festively draped over the figure and his steed: the Knight of Wands. The amber set visited the image briefly, before rising back to meet the lady's; it seemed like the woman had never averted her gaze at all as it bore into him. Neither of them said a word, a silent confrontation neither one was willing to lose. Then, from somewhere, Gladiolus heard something that made his heart skip a beat; there that was again, that chilling howl coming from nowhere that raked down his spine in cold tingles. The amber eyes widened a little; an involuntary breath was drawn; his eyes never left the woman's.

The rising tension didn't pass unnoticed by the others, and they exchanged baffled looks at the unusual vehemence in the shield's demeanor. It took a moment for the man to gather his bearings, a deep-rooted unease in his heart. "So," Gladio started, a sting in his tone, "what's that supposed to mean?" On the other side of the table, Ignis coughed meaningfully. Whatever it was that Gladio was on about, there was no need for it. He was being disrespectful, something very unlike him, and it was high time he cut it out. He was ways down the path of making an ass of himself, and childish sulking like that didn't suit him.

Kimya's eyes narrowed a fraction, and an edge mirroring that of the other's was present on her tongue, "In your passion, triumphant you have been. Great pride in it, you take. Unwavering, is your calling. Is it the glory you seek, or the satisfaction? Burns brightly, the flame of your desire, and this destiny of yours, with all your being for it, you reach."

"Yeah?" The dark brows rose in underimpression, hiding the growing disturbance he felt inside. The hairs on the back of his neck stood, a cold shiver tickling his spine.

Looking like she was about to smack a bitch up, Kimya's eyes never left the man as she revealed the last card. It took a moment for the beautiful woman and the courageous-looking lion to take proper shape on the upside-down paper; the reversed Strength. Gladio's lips twitched at the initial impression, an involuntary sound of displeasure leaving him before the amber met the grey again. "Strength, you possess, but enough, it is not," she spoke mercilessly. "Trust in yourself, you cannot. Weak yet, you are." A gasp was drawn at those words sinking into him like a hot knife to butter. In a flash, the memory was back – the kiss of a blade pressed against his throat, the feeling of helplessness and inadequacy as the enemy had closed the distance between himself and Noct…

Strong palms slammed against the table heavily. "Bullshit!" he snarled.

"Gladio…" Prompto slipped out incredulously. The sky eyes darted to the others, reading the same surprise on their faces.

"Gladio, calm down," Ignis spoke lowly, but the said man paid him no heed. His eyes were locked onto the woman, blazing and narrow.

"You don't know that," he hissed behind clenched teeth. The woman wasn't phased. Holding the furious gaze without even a blink, her voice like a whip, she spoke,

"Admit the truth, you do not?"

"Like hell, I do! That's…!" he trailed off suddenly, the words lost to him. The taste of acid rose onto his tongue, for a reason he hated to admit, even to himself: any word of denial he would have given her would have been a lie.

The shield had sprung onto his feet, leaning over the table to glare daggers at the woman, who sat quietly as if nothing had happened. "True strength, you desire, and yet fearful you are. Being afraid of not reaching what you seek, that is what binds you," the words fell from her tongue like an odd sermon; the large jaws grit, lips pulling back to show teeth. His fists had clenched, tremors running up and down his arm.

"Gladio–" Prompto reached a hand for the shield's shoulder, but it was swept aside with stinging force. With no more than a glance towards the shocked look of the gunner, he shot one last glare at the woman – 'a witch,' he corrected in his mind, in every sense of the word – before stomping out of the small hut, leaving behind shocked expressions and a confused silence.

AN2: Ooooh boy, Gladio, you are in so much trouble! You're just about to find out exactly in how much.

In case it strikes as odd, I just wanna point out that irl, I would never, and I mean never perform a group reading like the one I described here! I mean, never. It wouldn't work the way I wanted. But here, I decided to go with that for the sake of avoiding dragging it on and writing repetitive stuff for them all to have private readings. I debated writing out just Gladio's, too, but then I felt like I wanted to say something to all of them, so I decided to go unorthodox and do a group session, lol. I hope it doesn't throw you off too much, but I know it probably sounds stupid to anyone who happens to do tarot reading. It's just a no. But, I'm gonna let it slip, for the sake of the reading flow.