Chapter 6: Leota Has a Ball

The room seemed to be large, but not very full. There was a glowing green light in the center of it, illuminating a red table clothed table and a large red chair.

"Is this her?" Clarisse whispered to George. He nodded.

"Yes…but things aren't always as they seem… Why don't you go say hi?" he suggested with a little smile on his face.

As Clarisse left George and approached the table, she heard a woman chanting from the other side of the chair. When she saw the front of the chair though, there was no one sitting in it.

"Uh…hello?"

"Down here, child," came the reply. Clarisse realized that the voice was coming from the table…and a glowing crystal ball sitting on it.

"What th-" Clarisse gasped, staring at the ball. It was full of green smoke, but a few seconds later, a woman's face appeared in it. She had gray eyes and pale skin that looked green because of the ball, but had vibrant red lipstick and thick black eyelashes.

"You are looking for your Adam, correct?" the woman said, staring at Clarisse.

"Yes, but…what…who…are you?" the mystified mortal asked. The woman smiled.

"I am Madame Leota, New Orleans' most prominent fortuneteller and communicator with the dead. Please, have a seat."

Clarisse promptly obeyed and dropped into the large red chair.

"So, you're looking for your husband…we might be able to locate him. It's a shame about what happened though; such a lively young man, passed too soon," Madame Leota mused, and Clarisse grew increasingly uncomfortable.

"Uh…can we just get on with it?"

"Oh. Certainly." Madame Leota closed her eyes and began to say a spell.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat…call in the spirits wherever they're at.
Rap on a table, it's time to respond…send us a message from somewhere beyond.
Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween…awaken the spirits with your tambourine.
Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond…let there be music from regions beyond!
Warlocks and witches, wherever you dwell…give us a hint by ringing a bell!"

All of a sudden, Madame Leota lifted off of the table and began to glow bright green. Clarisse stood up and watched in awe. A deck of tarot cards that had been lying on the table suddenly floated into the air and swirled around the crystal ball. One flew out of the swirling ribbon, and floated in front of Clarisse. It had a picture of a man wearing a bright yellow outfit holding a flower and a bag tied to a string, and he was standing at the edge of a cliff.

"Ah… 'The Fool'…a sign of new beginnings…but these new changes can either lead to good things or bad…"

The Fool card floated back up and began to swirl around Leota, and another one came in front of Clarisse. This one depicted two naked people holding hands with an angel in the background.

"Oh! The Lovers! This is a good sign – your love for your husband is strong, and will be able to stand through anything…watch…"

The picture of the man suddenly transformed into a skeleton, and the angel turned into a skull wearing a black robe. Clarisse's eyes widened, but before she could look at the card more closely, it dashed back to join the others.

"One final card is going to reveal itself to you," Madame Leota said prophetically, and a final card flipped out of the group and landed in front of Clarisse. It was a picture of a man in a white robe holding a lion. She read the caption.

"'Strength?'" Clarisse asked.

"Yes…but not the kind gained by muscle and brawn. This card has a deeper meaning; inner strength, inner fortitude. You, as well as Adam, need all of the strength you can get…this experience will teach a great lesson to you both, but first you need to get through it – both of you."

The cards whirled around Leota one last time and then settled back down onto the table in a deck. Leota slowly returned to her place on the table.

"So…there's a way to save him?" Clarisse asked hopefully. Leota nodded.

"I do know a spell that can save Adam…but first you need to find him."

"You mean you can't tell me where he is?" she griped, rolling her eyes.

"Hey – that little spiel with the cards and the floating took a lot out of me. I'll need some resting time."

Clarisse threw her hands up and stood up.

"Great. Just great. Well…thanks for your help, I'll go spend unnecessary hours searching for him, and may never find him at all," Clarisse said casually, and headed back to George.

"Well…let's get started," Clarisse said to her host.

"Right-o then," he said, and sidestepped past Clarisse and headed for the door.

"I know a few places he might be – and a few places I hope he's not." After saying that last part, George glanced up at the ceiling quickly, then returned his gaze to Clarisse. Wondering if she should ask about that or not, she trailed after him, leaving the fortuneteller to herself.

As the door shut, Leota smiled a little, and her face disappeared.

"Let me see this new spirit, clear the smoke and haze;
Trail this young man on his path…keep him in my gaze," she chanted, and the smoke dispersed to reveal Adam, Ezra, Phineas and Gus going towards the graveyard. Leota chuckled slightly.

"This is quite an interesting day."

Adam and his companions were heading to the graveyard, and before they got all the way down the path, Ezra stopped Adam.

"Okay, we're going to skip to lesson three right now: turning invisible."

"Why?" Adam asked.

"Because we love to scare the pants off the caretaker," Ezra said.

"Who?"

"The caretaker – he's the only mortal in the graveyard…now," Phineas said, raising his eyebrows at Adam. Adam felt awkward, realizing that he wasn't a mortal anymore; he could never again live his old life…and never again see Clarisse. Gus saw that he was looking glum, and tried to cheer him up.

"Aw, come on!" Gus chirped, "It's fun! We've done it so many times we've made the guy permanently jittery; not a moment goes by where he doesn't flinch in fear because he thinks someone's creeping up behind him."

"All you have to do is focus on being…not there. Pretend that you don't exist," Phineas said, "And you can target it, too! Watch!"

Phineas grinned as his body disappeared, leaving only his head and his hat floating in midair.

"Whoa," Adam said, surprised. Well, maybe being a ghost wouldn't be so bad…

Adam looked at his hand, and concentrated. All of a sudden, it became blue and transparent, and then disappeared completely. It looked like someone had chopped his hand off. He concentrated more, and watched as his whole body disappeared slowly, until he was gone completely.

"Beautiful!" Phineas said admirably. Gus clapped.

"At least he got something right," Ezra muttered. The others turned invisible, and they walked down to the entrance of the graveyard. Just as the three had said, there was a shaky old caretaker holding a lantern, and a skinny dog standing next to him. They were all trying to be silent, but Adam accidentally stepped on a twig branch. The caretaker jumped and turned his lantern towards them.

"H-hello? Who's there!" he called out. Adam tried to hide a snicker.

All of a sudden, Ezra's head appeared right in front of the caretaker. He grinned and uttered one word:

"Boo."

The caretaker screamed, and tried to run, but Gus appeared and blocked his path. He tried to go another way and Phineas appeared, taking his head off and rolling it down his arm. Adam realized that the caretaker was now running towards him, so he quickly concentrated and made his hands and head appear. He waved his hands around, trying to look scary, and the caretaker's eyes got even wider. The caretaker screamed again, and ran straight through Adam, his dog following. Adam felt like someone had just punched him in the gut from the sensation of being walked through, but it didn't bother him very much – he was having too much fun scaring the caretaker. The ghosts rolled with laughter as the poor man and his pet scrambled away, fleeing for their lives.

But Adam felt like something was missing as he enjoyed the scare; he felt like Clarisse should be with him. But he knew that was never going to happen…

A/N: Leota's incantation is from the ride.