Tarot Reading

Prologue - Death

General Adelphos, commander of the Bronze army, strode into the room, one darkened with window shades to purposely keep out the light. Sitting slumped in a chair behind a wooden table was a blonde youth, presumably the boy Dilandau had been commenting about. Leaning against the wall behind the boy was another smoky-haired individual. Both wore the Dragon Slayer uniforms. The boy leaning against the wall straightened, stepping forward quickly.

"Please, take a seat General." He said, gesturing to the chair in front of the blonde. He stepped up to the blonde, gently touching his shoulder.

"Shesta, are you going to be ok?" He asked quietly. Shesta nodded.

"Yes, I'll be fine." He said. In his very voice was signs of fatigue and stress. Adelphos took this time to sit down, receiving a curt military nod from the smoky-haired one as he left the room, leaving the two of them alone. There was a silence between him and Shesta; it was unnerving. Only the gentle clicking sound of the door shutting could be heard, the sound lingering in his ears even moments later.

"We will begin now." Shesta said quietly, reaching into his uniform jacket. He pulled out a deck of Tarot cards, and then proceeded to shuffle them ever-so-gently. Shesta stared at the general, his fingers hovering over the first card. "Please..." He warned. "Don't tell a soul of what you will see here."

Adelphos nodded. "Of course." He had been warned by Dilandau that the boy was extremely sensitive to light, and also seemed to have a little of a mental problem. It only seemed that way; Adelphos had seen from other prodigies that the slight air of aloofness was normal for people of this type, no matter how estranging it might be.

"Good." Shesta breathed out, and with it, the general could see that he was greatly relieved. He leaned his elbows on the table, waiting for the boy to begin. "What would you like to know?" Shesta asked him quietly.

"Tell me...about my past..." Adelphos decided. That should be a good enough test for him. If the boy really was a true psychic, then he would know things that only he knew about his family. Shesta nodded, drawing the first card from the top of the deck. In that moment, Shesta could feel the power around him again. It wasn't really something that he could explain. It was just there, and it helped him to see the future.(Or so he believed.)

"The Tower..." Shesta muttered, ravaging his mind for a possible meaning. No, the vision was cloudy, and he couldn't get any distinct impressions. He reached for the next card, laying it down on the table with the first.

The power gripped him, like it was holding him in a vice. A great pain overtook him, a longing pang, and his vision was clouded over with a transparent vision of a woman crying, somewhere in a black little corner of her bedroom...

"Your mother..." Shesta said, feeling sorry for her. He tapped the new card, The Lovers. "She feels alienated from your father, ever since you were born. She feels like he fell out of love with her..." He asked gently, waiting for confirmation of this.

Adelphos nodded, eyes widening a little. He was correct. No one, and he meant no one knew about that. He himself had found it out later in his life, just before his mother had...Adelphos shut his eyes. He couldn't think about that.

"And now..." Shesta said, taking the next card. It was.... "My God." Shesta said suddenly, feeling like he was going to be sick. "Death..." Adelphos stared at him, sure of what he was going to say next.

"Your mother...she died...." Shesta said, his eyes starting to lose focus. His vision was covered in black, and an image of a body, hanging from the ceiling, haunted his mind. His heart began to race, and soon felt like it was going to burst out of his body. He stared down at the card, in an attempt to regain his mental focus. It was then that he noticed something interesting...Death...it was upside down... He stared up at the older man, who now had tears in his eyes. Shesta reached out across the table with one hand, and the General took it.

"Her death...." He said slowly, eyes dimming even further. "It was...self inflicted..." He finished, making the man across from him cry. That new information combined with the odd clamminess of Shesta's hand made him want to cry out. The boy stared at him, the irises of his eyes so dull that nothing reflected in them anymore.

Adelphos stood up, unable to take it anymore. He nodded to the boy, and swiftly left, leaving Shesta sitting there. Shesta's breathing was erratic, and he felt like he was going to throw up. Unfortunately, he never did. That feeling just wouldn't go away...

Gatti entered the room, and was immediately at his brother's side. Shesta leaned against him, eyes still dim. "Shesta? Are you alright?" Gatti asked him worriedly. The blonde looked at him, trying to make a smile come to his lips, but couldn't manage it.

"I saw...I saw deep into his mind, Gatti. Deeper and more sensitive than ever before..." Shesta shuddered, suddenly overcome with chills. Gatti held his brother, trying to warm him up.

"It's ok, Shesta. Just try and relax..." He said, worrying deeply for his brother. The Tarot cards still lay on the table, Death still staring back at them from it's reversed position. Shesta couldn't help but notice it's presence as Gatti led him to his bed in the corner of the room.

He felt like...it was watching him...