Magica entered the antique shop, wearing her casual disguise. Angelo descended the stairs, energy building with each step.
"Wow, Maggie. I said to call me. You didn't have to show up." He walked up to her and ran his fingers through his black hair.
"I really am flattered that you find me intere-"
"Beautiful?" He said smiling. Magica's cheeks blushed.
"I wouldn't say that I am-"
"You should really have a bit more self confidence, Maggie."
"Look, Angelo, I have plenty of that. Trust me, I do. Looks don't matter to me. I could care less of what I look like. I'm just here to tell you that I'm not interested in dating at the moment." Angelo chuckled.
"Then why did you buy a book on love spells?"
"To make someone fall in love with someone else so that they-" Magica stopped mid sentence and glared at Angelo. "How do you know that?"
"Know what?" He shrugged.
"That book…it wasn't written in English. It was written using the Theban alphabet. Also known as the Witch's Alphabet." Magica took a step back. Angelo sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Damn. I guess we have to do this the hard way." He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a steel colored wand. He pointed it towards the door, commanding it shut.
Lena lay on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. Gladstone walked past Magica's open door, seeing the cauldron sitting on the flame. He stopped in his tracks, and stepped into the room. He peeked onto the cauldron and looked at the magenta colored brew. The smell of roses, cloves, apples, cinnamon and red wine flew into his face. A warm sensation filled his chest, relaxing him. He stepped out of the room and went up to Lena.
"Uh, Lena? Shouldn't the heat be off when no one is watching a potion brew?"
"It has to simmer for like, three more hours. Aunt Magica told me to turn off the heat afterwards and bottle it up. "
"Then shouldn't you be in the same room as the potion?"
"You know what is great about the modern witch? You have these things of cell phones called 'alarms.' Earlier witches would use baking timers." Lena smirked.
"If I wanted sarcasm, I would have just talked to Magica directly." He sighed. "Do you happen to know where she ran off to?"
"That hot guy Angelo from the antique bookstore gave her his number."
"Wait, who?" Gladstone shrieked.
"Hot guy. Angelo. Bookstore. Really tall." Lena looked up from her phone. "Did I mention he was hot?"
"You did." Gladstone scoffed and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Pep. Lena got up and ran up to him.
"Are you jealous?" She asked.
"No. Why would I be?" He cracked open the can.
"Because you like her." Lena picked the can from his hand and took a sip. "You are hella thirsty for my aunt, and I can tell."
"First of all, it is rude to take someone else's soda. Two, using the word 'thirsty' to imply that someone is into someone is an extremely weird word choice for this generation and I am offended that I didn't think of it sooner. Third…" He took his soda back from Lena and chugged it down. "I don't like Magica."
"Please, I know you do. I am pretty good at reading people…and their cards." Lena smiled.
"Cards?" He asked. Lena ran off into Magica's room and brought back a velvet pouch. She sat at the kitchen table and pointed to the seat in front of her.
"You forget, I'm a witch too. And some witches have specialties. Mine is Divination."
"Divination? So like Tarot cards?"
"Runes, crystals, scrying, and all that junk." Lena slipped out a deck of cards from the bag. The backs of the cards were decorated with gold stars and a silver moon. She shuffled the cards and fanned them out onto the table.
"Now let's see if Gladstone Gander is in love with Magica De Spell." Lena grinned. "Pick three cards."
"This is stupid. This isn't gonna prove anything." Gladstone picked out three cards and set them in front of him.
Lena collected the remainder of the cards and set them aside. She lined up the three cards. "Now, this is a quick 'past, present, and future' spread. I could have scared you and done my eleven card relationship spread, but that's just if I want to scare you."
Gladstone rolled his eyes. Lena pointed to the card on his far left. "Your past." She flipped the card over. The card was orange and red, with two horned men mirroring each other on both the top and bottoms halves of the card. The man on the top of the card was laughing with his fists to the sky, while the other man was upside down, smiling at Gladstone with a smug look.
"The Devil in reverse."
"So is that card good or bad?"
"All decks are different, so you can't ask if it's a good card or bad card. I have to interpret it for you to comply with our question and with it's position in the spread."
He stared at Lena, with a confused look on his face. She groaned and looked at the card. "Matilda. This card is about Matilda."
"Look, can we not talk abou-"
"You fell for Matilda hard, turned out Magica was using you for the dime and you both got the shit end of it because the plan went too well." Lena said.
"Can we not talk abou-"
"That's what the first card is referring to. Just let the deck do its thing." Lena flipped over the first card.
"You make it sound like the deck has a personality of its own."
"They do. So respect them. Ten of Swords in reverse is your present." Lena revealed the card. The image on the card was of two men back to back were impaled by swords.
"That…looks really bad." He said, cringing.
"You're lucky it's in reverse. That's a better meaning than upright." Lena looked at the card. "Looks like right now, both of you are working for the better. You guys were in a defeated place- probably all heartbroken and salty about 'She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'-and now you're actually working on your relationship."
"There is no relationship, Lena."
"You are aware that a relationship can mean a friendship, right?" She raised her eyebrow at him. "This isn't a spread for love, it's just about your relationship as a whole. I could do a love spread for you later when you've come to terms with your feelings."
"There aren't any feelings, kid!" Gladstone sat up and slammed his hands on the table. "Why are you being so pushy about this crap? Do you do this to Magica too?"
"Yes I do! She even lashes out the same way as you!" Lena grabbed the amulet around her neck and threw her hand out at Gladstone's chair. It glowed and slid forward, forcing him to sit back down. Lena released her grip on the amulet and the glowing stopped. "Now will you let me finish my reading?"
Gladstone nodded, shivering in fear. Lena took a deep breath and exhaled, calming herself. "Your future relationship- romantic or not- with Magica."
She flipped the card. Four wands with flames on the tips of them stuck out from the center of the orange and yellow card. Lena took her hand back slowly. "Four of Wands, upright."
She stared down at the card. Gladstone looked down at the card, then back at her. "What does that mean?"
"Do you really want to know?" He nodded cautiously.
"Happiness…harmony…stability." Lena bit her lip and collected all the cards.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Gladstone grabbed her wrist. "What does it mean."
"I already told you. Harmony, happine-"
"No. What does it mean in relation to my question." He looked her dead in the eyes. "You said that you interpret the card's meaning in relation to my question."
"And do you want the answer?" Lena took her wrist away from him. "Because I don't think you want to know."
"And why is that?"
"Because I didn't think that I would get that answer." Lena sighed and picked up the card. "This card. With your question, it means…commitment."
"Excuse me?" Gladstone's face went red. "'Commitment?' What do you mean by that?"
Lena rearranged the cards into a neat stack. "It means you guys are gonna end up together…if you continue to work together on your differences and issues together."
"We- Magica and I in a committed relationship. That is what the card means?" He said, his voice squeaking. "That would never work!"
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger." Lena shoved the cards back into the velvet pouch. One card fell and hit the floor face down. "Besides, I'm not too thrilled either."
"I thought you wanted us to end up together?" Gladstone whined.
"I do, but I didn't need to know." Lena bent down and picked up the card. She flipped it over. A woman bound by ropes and swords stared back at her. The card felt hot. Lena's hand twitched at the hold of the card. She chucked it on the table.
"What is this one about? If we're gonna get married?" He groaned.
"No. Its something else." Lena looked at the card. "Eight of Swords. Upright. It was burning in my hand."
"Which means?"
"It's a message. I don't know what, but it's a warning." She looked at the velvet pouch. "Who is it for?" She slipped her hand into the pouch and pulled out another card. This card was green, with a woman wielding a sword and a lion in the center.
"Strength." Lena ran her finger down the face of the card. The lion in the center was burning hot. "Gladstone, are you a Leo?"
"Uh, yeah."
"The Eight of Swords was a message for you."
"About what?" He asked. Lena drew another card.
"High Priestess." She showed him the blue card with a woman in the center. He took the card and looked hard at the woman. The card burned in his hand.
"What…what type of people are associated with this card?" He asked.
"Strong women…maybe a person that is independent or-"
"Magica's in trouble." He said, dropping the card and running to the coat rack. He pulled on his jacket.
"Gladstone, wait! You don't even know where she is!" Lena ran to the door. "Gimmie a minute to scry for her. I'll just need to get the parchment and the pendulum and-"
"There's no time." He grabbed his keys from the key dish on the living room table and opened the door.
"How the hell are you gonna find her?"
He turned to Lena and winked. "I'll get lucky."
A/N: OH MY GOD THAT LAST LINE IS TERRIBLE AND I HAVE NO REGRETS. And I know I said it was long, but page wise, this is one of the long chapters.
Okay so for the tarot cards, I based them on one of the decks that I own (Revelations by Zach Wong) and used my own book to do Lena's interpretations. I didn't do the tarot reading first and then use the interpretation in the story, I just researched through my own book on certain cards that would best portray the spread. If you want a better look at the cards themselves, just go ahead and Google them. They're really pretty and remind me of stained glass windows.
AND AS FOR ANGELO...You guys will have to wait!
Please favorite, follow, review and send me any suggestions of what you wanna see next!
Thank you!
~Alex