Alanza spends the afternoon learning about Cana's cards. The future is more than hinted at.

July 31st

Alanza looked up from her encoded character-event web as Cana started flipping over cards. Levy's eyes didn't leave the pages in front of her, however. The three of them were trying to use the time before Cana's team was ready to head East, towards Autumn City and their meeting with Goldmine, in order to plan ahead a little. As much as they could without knowing the outcome of all the recent chess moves. Alanza was also trying to get a better understanding of how Cana's magic worked, and how well it did so.

"This one is pretty easy to understand. Three card spread. Past, present, future. The hermit represents a search for truth, upside down like this it's loneliness and being lost. We all know Natsu has been alone for a long time, as in the only dragon slayer that he knew of. The same can be said of our other slayers. The six of swords represents change." Cana tapped on the picture. "The ship is a journey over water which often represents emotions. Swords are generally geared towards logic or mental energy. The three of cups is like having a drink with friends. Cups are water, so that's another emotion card, and three is a stable number. So these three cards together basically have the slayers thinking and transitioning emotionally while they are gone. Growing closer I'd guess. It's a good, clear reading. Says nothing about if they burn down a town while they're at it though. Doesn't say whether they find Sting either."

Levy giggled. "Hopefully they manage to behave."

Alanza nodded and tapped at the table. "More? Please?"

Cana rolled her eyes, returning those three cards to her deck and reshuffling them. "Fine. Let's try our other group of hunters since they're leaving this afternoon. Just a single card since they're mostly killing time till Mystogan feels another portal thing." She pulled a single card from her deck. "Temperance. This one has emotional elements, wisdom, knowledge, growth, energy from the sun. It's a well balanced card. It's name is pretty self explanatory. Moderation and patience. I actually use this card to help me keep my food fresh when I go grocery shopping."

Alanza snorted. "Useful. That's expected from them, I suppose. They aren't a group likely to seek out risks." She began adding more notes on her web as she thought about the increasingly urgent Anima issue. Bishop Kitten, Persian Sexist Snob, Moronic Martyr #4, Kinana, Is Freed an Exceed because… She cringed and attacked the paper with her eraser. Sometimes her focus was...not.

Levy nodded at the list of questions she kept coming up with to take to Hibiki. "They should pull in some hefty jewel with the list of missions Mira's signed them off on. Nothing real time sensitive or combat oriented except that S-class Mission. Bisca being their hottest head and Laki the most likely to cause any damages-"

"Wanna do a reading on whether Laki and Bisca get those boys out of their wraps?" Cana grinned and reached into her fuzzy, blue purse as Levy blushed brightly. Alanza leaned forward as Cana shuffled another set of cards. "Triple card Limbourg spread in reference to that idea. These are read as a simple, one word idea per card. You combine those into phrases that answer your question." She slapped the cards down and hummed. "Star, stork, mice." She chuckled quietly before waving a hand. "Take a guess."

"Er….When You Wish...Dumbo...and the mice have a skull so…"

"Dumbo?"

"An elephant. I'm guessing the cards basically say 'Ha! You wish!'. That or a baby dies."

Levy and Cana's looks of confusion morphed into horror before the card mage grabbed at her cards. "Mavis no! No dying babies! The stork is movement or transition not an actual delivery of a baby!"

Levy shuddered. "We talk about babies way too often in this room."

"We talk about dragons more."

"Babies are scarier."

"...you...are right." Fairy Tail and babies really did sound terrifying. You could, in theory, beat a dragon to a pulp. Babies...not so much. "Let's….talk about Erza and Gramps instead." The momentary thought of Erza, Gramps, and babies had Alanza wincing as Cana shuffled again.

"Okay. I'm goin to use three cards again, but since they aren't presently on this mission I'm phrasing my question differently." She lay her chosen three cards on the table. "Situation, Action, Outcome. Instead of the past, present, future I read for the slayer group." Cana narrowed her eyes as she flipped over the cards.

Alanza winced and reached out to tap the center 'action' card. "Uncool, dude. You said this one was bad, right? Tower of Babel, not the Eiffel Tower?" Cana and Levy both blinked at her. "Uh...a symbol of...failure instead of victory?"

Levy blinked again. "You know...we should record some of the stories about your world."

"Er...I'm not sure if I know them well enough to-"

"Name one person we know who has a better grasp of your world's history." Levy cocked her head in this wickedly innocent look of expectation.

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

Cana snorted. "All that nonsense aside… Alanza's right. The Tower is generally a bad sign. Pride goes before a very hard fall kind of thing. Sudden and unexpected disaster. The other two… justice is kind of obvious and the World is a sense of completion. Thing is, these are both upside down."

"So…" Alanza's knee started bouncing. "We have injustice leading to disaster leading to incompletion?"

"That's the impression I'm getting. There are other ways to read it. These readings usually make more sense after whatever happens has happened."

Levy sighed. "Prophecy is like that. Riddles and smoke." Cana just rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying it could be a little more logic based and it would be easier to read!"

"How?! By adding math?!"

"Girl fight!" Cana and Levy both turned to stare at her. "What? You were starting to make hissing noises."

Cana sighed, checking the clock before leaning back in her chair and plucking her flask from her belt. "Yeah, well." She took a long pull, closing her eyes. "There's a reason Levs and I don't work together often. My magic is based on emotion and-"

"Spiritualistic hand waving." Levy chuckled. "And my magic is concrete. Sometimes more literally than others. We can work together, it's just…"

"Different approaches. Isn't a smooth kind of teamwork."

Alanza nodded. "I can see that. Maybe we can work on that when we get back from this set of chess moves."

Cana nodded, eyes still closed. "You wanna see a read on how my visit with Quatro Cerberus to predict crazy shit goes down? I predict we will get drunk, have a wild few nights. Then Master Goldmine and his second will casually wander into Magnolia in a few weeks to drink some more with Gramps." She pulled a card from her bag without looking and tossed it face up on the table.

Alanza caught it before it slid off the table. "It's...a fairy dancing on a sunflower?"

Cana hummed. "The Sun. Celebration, joy, positive vibes." She took another drink before putting her flask away and stretching. "Gimme. One last reading before we need to stop working." Alanza handed her the card and she shoved it into her bag before digging deep into the corners of her pocket dimension.

"I don't use these often...but since you wanna learn about my magic." She pulled out a stack of cards with glitter on the backs, then separated them into four stacks. "These are astrology cards. Don't tell Lucy. I don't wanna argue about how they work. That sounds exhausting. It's just what they're called. As far as I know they don't...affect her spirits and aren't affected by them. You've seen Taurus. Hell, you are a taurus." She held up a card with a stylized female bust painted on it. "This look like either of you?"

"She has plants in her hair."

"Exactly. Now." Cana began pulling cards. "First we have a House card. There are twelve. Tells you the area of your life this will be involved in. Then the zodiac card, which tells us how to approach the situation. Third is the planetary card. What facet of your personality is most affected. Then the lunar phase, which gives us advice."

Levy wrinkled her nose. "Did you just say the moon gives us advice? Seriously."

"Shush yourself, Lil Blue. So. House card. Third house. This is the intellect card…" Purple eyes narrowed as she peeled the card from it's hidden mate. "And this twelfth one is secrets." They all stared at the way the little white schoolhouse contrasted with the dark shadows that were wrapped around the other house. "With you two somehow I'm not surprised."

Alanza groaned. "Look, I'm not really keeping that many secrets." She slowly wilted under the twin looks of incredulous disbelief she got. "It's not… I mean somebody knows everything I do... basically." Levy made a high pitched sound and Alanza tried to meld with her chair. "Okay. Fine. I keep a lot of secrets."

"Riiiight. Second c- oh for the love of Mavis's pristine snatch!" This time it was Alanza who made the high pitched strangling noise, because… August. Cana waved the pair of cards around in the air. "I'm gonna have to clean these just in case, because this is ridiculous!" Cana tossed a woman practically covered in pink roses and another with deep plum colored hair onto the table. "Virgo and Scorpio. Modest logic paired with passionate sacrifice."

Levy turned bright hazel eyes on Alanza and jabbed her finger in her face. "I blame you for this!"

"I'm sorry?"

Cana rolled her eyes as she peeled apart what should have been card three but was five and six instead. "You are both ridiculous. Jupiter for positive expansion and Pluto for transformative evolution. So… those are good. Or can be. All transformation cards include the aspect of death." Levy made another strangled noise that Alanza was mentally tagging as 'meep'. Cana glared at the script mage as she checked the last card, er, cards. "New moon and Solar Eclipse. Planning, goals, new beginnings, rebirth. Girlie...why you gotta be so dramatic?" Cana gave Alanza a tired look.

"I blame Mystogan."

"Why?! Because he made you as a trouble maker before the rest of us did?"

"Uhh…"

Levy groaned and dropped her head to her papers. "You exhaust me. Please don't get us killed by the Ponies."

Cana grinned. "What if it's the little death?"

"The wh- Cana!"

Alanza cackled.

I don't read cards. I've done research in an attempt to make Cana's cardwork more...true to life? So my apologies if I've insulted anyone who holds card reading dear to them.