AN: Yeah, I know, it's a tad short. But an entirely different change of pace!
Chapter Eight: Interlude: Omens in the Cards
On the outskirts of London, a figure crossed the garden separating a moderately affluent-looking house and the smaller building that lay behind it. The figure, a young man with light brown hair, seemed to take no notice of the rain that was pouring down from the heavy clouds above- in fact, the water drops fell away from the man, leaving a sphere of dry space around him.
A normal person would have seen the Master of Water enter his Work room and shut the door behind him, turning up the lamp to cast a warm gold glow around the interior of the small outbuilding. Someone with the ability to See magic- another mage- would also have seen the blue-green, swirling wards that sprung up to line the walls of the room.
A soft, silvery voice spoke, "All is well here, Master." The voice came from a tiny figure perched on the rim of a large marble fountain that dominated the western corner of the Work Room. Its owner was a little blue female, with long tresses that flowed over her back and shoulders like water.
"Here?" Jason Fisher asked the Undine as he wiped condensation from his spectacles and replaced them on his nose. His little Elemental nodded. "Than what we spoke of earlier is still an issue?"
She nodded again. Jason sighed. "Of course it is." He picked up a small bundle wrapped in turquoise silk and unfolded the covering, revealing a pack of well-used Tarot cards. Clearing his mind, he shuffled them a few times and began dealing them out to form a particular pattern- two crossed cards in the center, surrounded by four others at three, six, nine, and twelve o'clock. To the right of the cross-shaped formation went a vertical column of four more cards. Once the spread was complete, he began to flip over the Tarot cards one at a time, frowning as each one was revealed.
In the center, representing the heart of the situation, was the Two of Swords, reversed; lies being told, compounded by an inability to see. Crossing it was the Seven of Swords- treachery, the card of cloak-and-dagger dealings. Above the two center cards was one of the most disruptive cards in the deck- the Tower, signaling trouble and very traumatic change. Moving clockwise, Jason revealed the Nine of Swords in the distant past, which warned of trouble coming from that direction. Below, the Moon- the card of illusions, placed in the near past. The left-hand card was the Page of Swords, reversed. This was the only vaguely good news the cards had showed him so far- an imposter revealed in the near future. Unfortunately, the Page also hinted that great powers were at work, not all of them known.
Jason shook his head at the unhappy array of Tarot cards representing the past and present before turning to the column on the right. The bottom card was the one that would hint at who was at the center of all this. He flipped it over, revealing the Knight of Rods. That Knight represented a young man between the ages of fifteen and thirty, a fiery, passionate youth. The Rods being the suit of Fire, its Knight would also likely be a warrior of some kind. He moved onto the card above the Knight to discover the environmental influences at work. The card was the Eight of Swords, also reversed. The Eight of Swords, when upright, showed a difficult situation that must be faced. Reversed, however, it hinted at the past coming back to haunt the present. Jason frowned at the Eight. What sort of past events could come forward to affect the Knight so strongly?
Above the Eight was the Magician reversed, indicating deception. The Magician was, in this spread, an indication of the Knight's inner emotions. More and more troubling. Jason flipped over the final card, the one that indicated the final outcome if events remained on their present course, and bit his lip. The card staring back at him was one that signaled dangers, traumatic change that would bowl over anyone in its way. Normally, this was a more peaceful card, representing transformation and the transition from one life stage to another. However, in this array, in its reversed position, and especially so near the unstable Tower, the card staring up at him was not a pleasant sight at all.
The card was Death.
OSCOSCOSCOSCOSCOSC
Every method of divination Jason tried that night got him the same result- danger coming from the past, hiding itself with lies and illusions and wreaking destruction with it. And somehow connected with the danger was the same young man- a young warrior. Further probing brought new details- the young man in question was an extraordinary one, surrounded by equally extraordinary friends and allies. Scrying in a dish of water, even aided by his Undine, didn't give many particulars. He was able to narrow the group down to a collection of six individuals, all represented by annoyingly vague symbols. There was a young wolf- a leader coming into his potential, and closest to him was a black owl- a creature of the night, a deadly, silent hunter. With them were a pure white fox- clearly a sly fellow, a tiger surrounded by waves, an axex- the ancient Egyptian gryphon, and a shape that flickered from white to gray to black without him ever really being able to see it.
Jason pushed the bowl of water away in frustration. He had been seeing the same collection of omens for weeks now, and had managed to pick out the same set of images. He'd managed to put faces to those images in the form of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, whom the White Council Lodge had ordered him to seek out. He had met one of the League members face-to-face at Lord Alderscroft's All Hallows party, but just when he'd tried to arrange a meeting, they'd left. Jason had sought them at the place they were supposed to reside, but no luck. All of his attempts at scrying out their location had come to naught. It was like the League had simply dropped off the face of the planet.
The Water Master cradled his face in his hands. Why had they vanished, now of all times? One of their members held the key to solving this troubling mystery…and perhaps to saving lives…