The Ace of Cups

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Gulcasa, Roswell, or Nessiah (Sting does). I own the idea for this living situation, though. Universal Waite Tarot Deck © U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

(10pokes prompt #8 – witchcraft; a happy hand for fortune's fools)

"The wonderful thing about Tarot," Roswell said, "is how incredibly obscure and vague and undefined it is. I doubt there's a single card in the deck that has one simple defined meaning; all the scholars disagree about what it is they're supposed to say. To cast a Tarot fortune properly, you need to know all the meanings and understand how they apply to an individual situation. Hence, the happy art of Tarot remains completely incomprehensible to most of the human race. Pull up a chair, now, there's a lad."

Gulcasa did, watching the way the cards flew evenly between and through Roswell's fingers as he shuffled them. Nessiah was also staring, mesmerized by Roswell's easy hand gestures. The cards' backs were dark blue and covered in little gold stars; the front sides carried brightly-colored illustrations, from what Gulcasa could see of them.

"Now, most times I'm merely a kitchen witch at best," Roswell went on. Seeing Gulcasa's confusion, he smiled. "I know the properties of herbs and spices and how to utilize them for spells and safety and potions for your good health, is what I mean. I wield the bolline instead of the wand, the athame, or the sword."

Gulcasa nodded, still lost. Despite the months he and Roswell and Nessiah had lived together, he still knew very little about witchcraft—Wicca, Roswell's religion. Mostly, that was because Roswell was self-contained about it, and didn't broach occult subjects with his housemates unless specifically asked about things. He'd mentioned it in passing shortly after he and Nessiah had moved in, and then it had rarely come up again.

(Even then, it was only to ask Gulcasa if it made him uncomfortable. Gulcasa had answered that it didn't matter to him a bit, and that it actually put them in much the same boat—there were plenty of people across the world who would consign them both to a fiery hell for what they believed.)

"Still, there's always been something about Tarot to me. I must have, what, ten or eleven separate decks by now—I'm using the Universal Waite right now. It's one of the nicer decks, even if Dr. Waite himself was snobbish and preoccupied with the mythological symbology of the cards over the traditional meanings."

"'Something about it', he says," Nessiah drawled. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. "Gulcasa, don't listen to him downplaying it. Roswell is a genius at doing Tarot readings—he used to really rake it in at college giving readings for people. I've had to nag him like crazy to get him to cast cards for us."

"Really?" Gulcasa raised his eyebrows. "Well, damn, what are you doing then? Hurry up and quit your sad excuse for a job at the bookstore and set up a fortune-teller's booth. Help me win the bread here."

Roswell didn't reply to that other than rolling his eyes. "At any rate, who's first?"

Nessiah held out his hand. "Give 'em here," he said with a laugh, and Roswell stopped shuffling and handed the deck over.

"The first thing you do in a reading is choose your indicator card—the one that represents you and your current situation the best," Roswell told Gulcasa as they watched Nessiah flipping through the cards. "You can choose yours based on its meaning, or on your own coloring and personality. That goes for the four suits of minor arcana, anyway. Cups and wands are supposed to best represent fair-haired and –complexioned people, while swords and pentacles answer to darker people."

"Here," Nessiah said, holding out a card to Roswell, who accepted it. While he was looking at it, though, Roswell's face fell.

"…Are you sure about this card?" he asked softly, clearly concerned.

Nessiah just nodded; Roswell sighed and set it on the table in front of them. Gulcasa looked at it, puzzled; the card depicted a large red heart shape being stabbed through by three silver swords. The background of the card was a rainy sky. There was nothing else on it but a "3" in Roman numerals.

"Shuffle," Roswell told Nessiah, who did. Seeing Gulcasa's confused expression, Roswell turned to him and shook his head. "…This card is the Three of Swords, which represents heartbreak or emotional agony. Ever since… well, since we moved here Nessiah's always chosen swords for his significators, and swords are the most miserable of all the suits. Before he was hurt… cups always responded to him. Cups are happy cards."

Nessiah held out the shuffled deck, passing it left-handedly to Roswell, who held it in his right hand and picked up the first card, placing it on top of the Three of Swords. The top centimeter or so of the signifi…whatever he'd called it poked out from beneath the new one, though.

This card showed what looked like a mason chiseling a five-pointed star into an oversized yellow coin. Seven finished ones were scattered across the rest of the card's picture.

"This is what covers you—the Eight of Pentacles," Roswell said. "Craftsmanship in general or a career involving producing the fine arts or the material, usually skillfully." That made sense to Gulcasa—before, Nessiah had been a jeweler. He'd quit his job after he'd been assaulted, though, and nowadays he worked online.

Roswell put another card down; this one he placed horizontally across the other two. It showed a tall tower being hit by lightning, bursting into flame. There were a few people jumping out of it, wearing frightened expressions.

"You're crossed by The Tower," he went on, his grave expression growing sadder. "This card represents nothing short of complete ruin." He was silent for a moment. "…I'm guessing this is referring to your assault. Nessiah, I'm sorry."

Nessiah shook his head. "It's alright." Still, he looked paler than usual, and had crossed his arms a little protectively over his chest, gripping his arms.

Roswell put down a third card above the first two. On it, a nude woman knelt beside a small pool of water, pouring water both into it and on the grass next to her. She had one foot planted firmly on the water's surface. In the night sky above her was a huge yellow star.

"The Star crowns you—it can symbolize loss and anxiety, but also hope. This card is a generic representation of the questioner's destiny," Roswell told Gulcasa, "and I have to say I'm glad to see a card that isn't miserable on here. Behind you, we have…" He placed another card down on the left side of the first ones and winced. "The Ten of Swords. Looks like I spoke too soon."

Gulcasa could understand that wince. This card depicted a corpse prone on the bloody ground with ten swords in its back.

"This card represents total misery, pain, affliction, sorrow, agony—the gamut of everything that's sad or hurtful. In this position, it depicts the past." Roswell shook his head again. "In this context, while it does represent the attack on Nessiah, I believe it also shows how unhappy he was living apart from you in the first place."

"I never exactly enjoyed being alone in Detroit," Nessiah said softly, with an effort at humor. Gulcasa put an arm around his shoulders.

"Moving on—beneath you is the Knight of Wands." Roswell heaved a relieved-looking sigh as Gulcasa looked at the card—it had a knight in full armor on his galloping charger, carrying a thick staff in his hand. The staff seemed to be alive; it had leaves and twigs on it. "A journey or change of residence. This is the recent past, and it shows Nessiah and myself moving here."

"Something else positive," Nessiah said dryly. "Are we to be celebrating now?"

"Hush." But Roswell was smiling as he scolded. "Before you is the Two of Swords." It showed a girl in a blindfold holding two swords braced on her shoulders. "One of the better cards in the sword suit. This represents friendship, loyalty, affection, courage, and intimacy. This position is associated with the present and immediate future; I'd guess it displays your recovery and growth through our relationship."

Gulcasa didn't know why that card relieved him so much; before he could really wonder, Roswell was moving on. He placed the next four cards in a vertical line beside the cross the other cards had formed, starting at the bottom and placing the last card at the top.

"These four cards concern the present and future only," he said, and pointed to the lowest one. "The Four of Swords. Nessiah, this represents yourself and your attitude towards your situation. The Four of Swords is a card of solitude, repose, introspection, and reclusion. You've intentionally withdrawn from the world to aid your recovery, and to protect yourself from any further harm. Next is The Lovers, in the space for your surroundings and your living situation. The card represents love, domestic harmony, commitment, and challenges overcome by cooperation. In the space for your hopes, dreams, and fears, we have Judgement. People usually read it as choices made, fate, or the end, but here the meaning is closer to rebirth. And finally, for the outcome, the Ace of Cups. Aside from The Sun, it's the happiest card of them all. Truth, joy, contentment, peace, and general well-being."

These were nicer-looking cards than the others in the reading. The first was a church bier that held the statue of a praying knight; the second was a naked man and woman under the guard of a red-winged angel; the third showed the angel of judgment blowing his horn and the rejoicing dead rising from their graves; the last depicted an overflowing cup in the palm of a heavenly hand.

"In summation…" Roswell folded his hands on the table and gave Nessiah a sympathetic smile. "These cards reflect your recovery. Being attacked damaged you much more than you let even the two of us see, but we have been able to help you, and if we stay together and support each other, you'll eventually be healed—if not completely, then near enough to it. Brighter days are coming, Nessiah. I know you've started realizing that."

Nessiah was silent for a moment; then he turned to Gulcasa, a smile on his face although his eyes were damp and far too bright. "You see? I told you he's good."

Gulcasa didn't reply. He just kissed Nessiah's forehead and held him a little tighter, unable to help feeling slightly guilty. He'd spent so much time being difficult over Roswell's presence that he'd almost lost sight of the real reason they were all here together. Now that their arguments were mostly resolved, he wouldn't let himself forget again.

"Your turn now," Roswell announced. Gulcasa froze.

"My turn?"

"We can help you choose your significator, since you don't seem to know much about Tarot," Roswell offered.

"The Emperor," Nessiah said immediately. "It fits him best."

"True," Roswell replied, smiling at him. To Gulcasa he said, "The Emperor symbolizes protection in times of need, authority, and aid. It's one of the major arcana, which respond best to strong personalities—so we'll use that for you." He placed a card showing a man on a throne on the table, and slipped all the ones from Nessiah's reading back into the deck. "Shuffle them, and give them to me with your left hand the way that he did."

Gulcasa did as he was told, and waited a little apprehensively as Roswell began to lay down the top cards. "Covering you is… the King of Pentacles. A card of valor, and success due to courage. You're crossed by Death, which represents drastic change, and crowned by the Four of Wands. It's a symbol of harmony, peace, and prosperity." The cards showed respectively a man in dark robes on a throne, a mail-clad skeleton, and a country manor beneath a garland held up by four wooden poles.

"Behind you is The Fool, which is an unwise decision or venture. Beneath you is the Knight of Pentacles, which represents responsibility. And before you is the Ace of Pentacles, which represents felicity and contentment. Quite a few pentacles in this hand so far—they're a suit that symbolizes wealth and generosity for the most part, in case you're wondering." These cards showed a man walking towards the edge of a cliff, a knight on a black horse, and a heavenly hand holding the coin-like pentacle symbol.

"So far, your fortune seems to be describing the same events Nessiah's did, but concerning you instead of him. Accepting us into your home has turned your life upside down, whether we intended it or not. Still, it showed greatness of spirit for you to do that, considering that it would." Roswell shook his head. "The foolish decision showed here—I wonder if that refers to your and Nessiah's agreement to live apart for a while? Anyhow, let's move on to the present and future…

"Your current position here is… Strength." Roswell laid down a card that showed a young maiden holding a lion's mouth shut. "It represents moral strength as well as physical. Your environment is… well, this is a bit odd. It's The Lovers, the same as in Nessiah's fortune. Your hopes and dreams… the Two of Cups, a symbol of passion, love, and idealistic commitment." This card showed a man and woman who looked like they were exchanging vows. "And the last card… this is very odd; it's the Ace of Cups again."

Roswell stared at the cards for a while without speaking, then gathered them up and began to shuffle them again, frowning all the while.

Gulcasa tilted his head to the side—once again, he was completely lost.

"I think the similarity between your casting and mine has gotten him curious," Nessiah said mildly. "He's probably going to cast himself now. It won't take nearly as long."

"Starting—with—the King of Cups. And covering that… the High Priestess," Roswell murmured, beginning to place cards rapidly. "Crossed by Death… crowned by… the Ten of Cups. Behind me is… the Six of Cups. And beneath, the Knight of Cups. Before me, the Three of Cups. The last four are… Temperance. The Lovers. The Two of Cups. And the Ace of Cups." Sitting back, he stared at his fortune and blew out a long sigh, shaking his head. "…This is fascinating. Certain points of all of our castings are different, due to differences in our perspective, but several of the key cards are exactly the same."

"Yeah, but what does it mean?" Gulcasa asked plaintively. "You know—for us slow students, here."

Nessiah elbowed him; Gulcasa took it in stride.

"The most telling aspect is that we all received the Ace of Cups as our final outcome. D'you see? And we didn't ask the cards any particular questions—these are just randomized fortunes. Fascinating. The cards themselves, or whoever it is that sits around answering Tarot questions all day, is hinting that though this union of ours is decidedly strange, awkward, and sometimes difficult… it's blessed. If we can stay together, then we'll be happy."

"You needed a deck of cards by some guy whose ideas you don't hold with to know that?" Gulcasa asked.

Roswell just shrugged.

"Maybe not, but isn't it nice to know for sure?"