BR

Chapter 2

Misty's Esoterica would have come off as nothing more than a kitchy pseudoscientific tourist shop if it wasn't for the sheer authenticity of its owner. I liked Misty. She and Jack had dated for a handful of years and so I'd gotten to know her pretty well myself. And though initially, I'd know fuck all about spirituality and knowledge of the arcane, I'd been open minded to the concept. Jackie was insistent that she was the real thing and I trusted him. If I hadn't I wouldn'ta come.

She was standing in front of the chakravarti Buddhist shrine on the back wall, not facing me. Her arms were extended in front of her, her hands open, palms up to the sky. When I approached her I saw that her eyes were closed; she did not open them to greet me.

"Hello V," she said, her voice soft like wind weaving through leaves on a tree. "I was just thinking of you. I thought you'd stop by today."

I pushed my hands into the pockets of my Yoros and took a deep breath. "Misty," I said, "why weren't you at Jack's service?"

Her hands closed and then she turned and faced me. The unfiltered pain in her eyes quickly extinguished the flame of anger flickering inside of me. "His mother said I was uninvited."

"Oh." The memorial had been held at El Coyoto Cojo, a bar in Heywood. Jackie's mom owned the place and it was packed full of not only the remainder of his family, but too, our merc friends and Jackie's former gang members- El Valentinos. Misty had been the only face I had searched for in the crowd but had been unable to find.

"Unfortunately Mama Wells and I never saw eye to eye," she told me, "but Vic told me that it was a beautiful service. And I heard you gave a speech." The edge of her mouth turned up into a kind smile and she gently touched my shoulder as she said, "Jackie was lucky to have a friend like you."

I tried to speak but could only manage a pitiful, "I'm sorry about-" before I got choked up and lost my ability to speak.

She shook her head, her short white-blond hair fluttering about her face "It's okay V," she said, "Jack is at peace now. It's what we all want, right?" Her eyes twinkled and through the sadness I saw a flicker of hope. "Why don't you go ahead and have a seat," she told me then, motioning to the meditation chair in the corner.

"No that's okay," I offered, "I didn't come to-" unable to come up with a word I just gestured blandly.

"Then what did you come for?" Misty replied. She didn't give me a chance to answer. "Have a seat, V."

With the help of essential oils, candles, chiming bells, precious crystals and of course, more incense, Misty worked diligently to cleanse my aura. She put her fingers on my temples and spoke calmly to me, leading me through guided meditation. She had me go to my happy place- an open landscape, no buildings in sight, the edge of afternoon and evening, a soft breeze pushing through my hair, the sudden speckling of rain on my face. I became so relaxed that for a moment I forgot about the gash that ran from the corner of my mouth all the way up to my eyebrow. I forgot about the serious tear of the tendon in my shoulder that had left me unable to move my fingers, and I forgot about the bullet lodged in my femur that sent nearly unbearable pain up my thigh with every step I took. And for the smallest second I even forgot about Jackie Wells, my favorite person on earth, bleedin' out in my arms in the back of a Delamain Cab.

When she brought me back to reality, I had tears in my eyes that I angry wiped away with my one good hand.

"You've got good energy," she told me, standing at my side, shuffling a deck of well worn cards. "There's not very many people like you left in Night City. Hang on to that energy okay?" She fanned the cards out for me. "I would normally do a spread for a customer, but I think you need some more direct advice," she explained. "So I want you to pull only one card."

I did as she said and revealed to us both the image of man's silhouette- the sun located in his head, his body consisting of the landscape of a vast and seemingly never ending city. I stared at it for a moment and then met her gaze. "What is it?"

"The World," she told me. "The twenty-first card of the major arcana. It represents the ending of one life and the beginning of another.. this card is symbolic of a major change. Think of yourself at the precipice preparing to leap into the unknown."

My heart was racing though I couldn't say exactly why. "Is this a good card?" I wanted to know. "What does it mean?"

"What do you think it means?" Misty asked me, holding it gingerly in her fingers and looking at me with patience and amiability.

"Let what is past flow away downstream," I recited, able to hear Wakako's advice as clearly in my head then as I had been able to when she'd first said it. "Is Vic in his office today?"

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