With caution, the young woman guided the submarine down into the depths of Aquarion, where fearful creatures lurked. Massive sharks cruised by, and the mysterious Bone Fish, aquatic cousins of the Skelegon, would sometimes bump into the sides of the hull, making it squeal as their bones drug across the metal. Pressing a few buttons on a screen, she brought the submarine down to rest on the ocean floor next to a wall of glittering magic.
At the airlock, she punched in a code, extending a tube through the magic, allowing her to walk into the cave. Her dark cloak covered her face in a deep shadow, but the sleeves were short enough to reveal her soft, slender hands.
"Carta? Are you here?" she asked, taking a few steps into the cave, listening for any sign of the woman she called for over the echoing water drips.
"Yes, I am here." Came the sumptuous reply. Cautiously, she stepped through the darkness until she entered a wider area. A pot of blue-grey potion spilled over the sides of a cauldron, dripping down into the green fire that burned below. The woman smiled, remembering when she first came here long ago. The woman jumped as a plume of violet smoke swirled before her, revealing a tall, opulent woman as it died away.
Her soft, long violet hair tickled the ground, covering one of her dark eyes, softly cascading down her back, gracing her ashen skin while a large black shell held her hair. Her tight skirt hung low around her hips, reaching to the floor with slits running up either side, allowing the entirety of her toned legs to show with each captivating step she took. The smoke settled around her chest, dying away with a revealing half-bodice.
"Ah, so you've come to visit at last. What is it you seek?" Carta asked in an unsettlingly enticing tone as she walked towards the woman, setting her black finger-tipped hand on her shoulder.
"Have you come to ascertain what will happen to your love?" Carta inquired, circling her and placing her other hand on the woman's shoulder, murmuring in her ear.
"We both know what his fate shall be." The woman replied, a slight pain hanging on her words.
"...Or Have you come to see what will happen to you?" Carta whispered, standing to her full height, nearly a foot taller than the woman, putting her attractive hands atop her hips.
"Don't mock me, Carta. I haven't the time, nor do you, seeing as you are using your mana doll." The woman snapped, seeming agitated or desperate. Carta walked to her cauldron, dipping her finger into the pot and licking the potion off with a flirty smile.
"Then do us both a favor; don't make me drag your question out of you. You always were a bit of a tease." Carta smiled. The woman sighed and held out her hand with the ingredients Carta would need.
"I see. What do you want to know?" Carta asked as she dropped each of the herbs into a smaller pot of salt water next to the pot of potion.
"I want to know if you feel or see what will become of Ossyria." Carta dropped her head to the side, her eyes almost laughing as her hair draped over her shoulder.
"Now, now, you and Rhinne said that what I can see is only a possible future; you should remember that." She said with an almost condescending tone. With a final flick of her wrist, she dropped the last herbs in and began watching the water swirl. She stirred the pot and watched as images passed before her, the woman waiting in anticipation.
"Tell me, have the people accepted what happened?" Carta asked as she continued to stir, waiting for the images in the pot to stabilize.
"There are no longer any people left from that time. I would have come to you sooner and told you, but circumstances prevented me from doing so." The woman replied, stepping closer to the light from the green flames under the cauldron.
"I see." Carta sighed, watching the waters as an image began forming.
"The waters tell of two possibilities, neither of which has a joyous air." The woman lowered her head slightly before motioning with her hand to continue.
"The first is that The Guardians will fail, all six having their lives ended as they are going to deliver the final blow-" Carta was flung back from something hitting her in the head, casting her into the wall before dropping to the ground.
"Carta!" the woman cried, about to come to her aid when Carta held up her hand.
"I'm alright. Whatever was going to happen, I couldn't see beyond the final blow." Carta stood and peered into the pot as a tear fell down her cheek.
"The second is that the Guardians will succeed, but many lives will be lost in the battle, and the happiness it would have brought will be tainted. One of them will die, and it just may break the Guardians. But..." Carta seemed to choke on her words as the images passed before her.
"What is it?" The woman urged as Carta seemed to be more panicked.
"...you: You will pay a steep price to keep the Guardians from breaking." Carta cried. The woman nodded and turned away, saddened by the news.
"Icedancer! Please, don't do it. Don't leave me here alone." Carta said, almost seeming desperate as she walked up to her and threw her arms tightly around the woman's shoulders. The woman stopped and placed her hand on Carta's as a strand of golden hair fell from under the hood into the dull light of the fire.
"I do not doubt in my mind that the Guardians will succeed. But I can't let their victory be a milestone of grief."
"No, you can't leave me here all alone. Not again." Carta begged, clinging tighter to Icedancer, who smiled and squeezed her hands.
"I'm sorry you have been here all alone for so long. But you needn't worry about the people of Ossyria any longer. You can come out into the light, where you belong."
"You can't leave me here by myself. I would confide in Rhinne, but she has disappeared, and Corus is no longer redeemable. Don't leave me." Carta begged one final time. Icedancer struggled to hold back her tears as she spoke.
"I'm sorry, Windharp, but I must. Thank you as always, my sister."