Chapter 255
"How much for the fortune telling?" Rachel asked.
"Your fire will do." Witch Moura smiled. A mason jar appeared in her hand, clear glass with rhomboid embossed patterns. She unscrewed the lid saying "A fill, please."
Rachel held out her hand, and a river of fire flowed from her palm and spiralled, funneling into the jar. With the amount of fire she was pouring, it looked as though the jar should've been filled already.
The fire in the jar turned from red to orange, and then once changed to white, Witch Moura cut off the fire before twisting the lid back onto it. Holding up the jar in her palm, the white hot flame danced inside the jar as if it were still being fuelled.
"Beautiful." She set the jar on the table in front of FangFang, and the crocodile moved itself from her lap away from the fire. "Thank you, Rachel."
Rachel nodded.
Witch Moura stood and walked towards the crystal ball sitting at the counter. The dark green and yellow pulsing light inside the ball seemed to grow excited.
"Everyone, come near Orby."
Kyle moved first. "Still the worst name ever."
"See what I mean? Annoying."
"I agree with Witch Moura's sentiment. The loud one is always annoying," Erin said.
"Shut up, Clyde," Lily said.
"I wasn't about to say anything!"
"Stop thinking so loudly then!"
Clyde followed his brother with drooped shoulders. Rachel stepped closer. Lily moved to the side. Erin drifted forward, floating just above the floor.
Gale moved to the front, standing right in front of Moura and the crystal ball.
FangFang's eyes opened. All thirty of them. Fixed on Gale and Orby.
"Your palm on Orby please," Moura said.
Gale reached out and his fingers met the smooth surface of the crystal. A nipping coldness bit at his palms, similar to the eeriness he felt under the stone tower. It was a kind of comforting sensation.
Suddenly, the pulsing light of the orb stopped. The green and yellow beats died completely, replaced by a darkness that spread out from the crystal. The dark mist nipped at the ambient light around it, making the dimly lit room even darker.
The mist suddenly thickened and spread all around the room.
An image formed. Not in the crystal ball, but in their minds. A flame sputtered. Struggling and weak. Beneath the fire was lush and moist soil that caused the flame to grow weaker as time passed. Beside the fire was a crude tent made of leaves.
The view expanded. Darkness filled the surroundings, but the silhouette of trees could be seen surrounding the camp. Branches woven together, leaves and vines tangled upon one another from the thick dark forest.
Between the trees, hundreds of pairs of eyes caught the light from the fire. Pupils of different colours--blue, orange, red, yellow, white, gray--all blinked at the same exact interval. All seemed to be looking inwards towards what was beside the fire.
A singular giant mouth covered the sky above the camp. Its sharp and long teeth jutted out from gums that held the stars. Viscous liquid dripped from the mouth seemingly disappearing before it made contact with any patch of the dark forest.
In the camp by the fire, a small young child of maybe seven or eight years old lay on the ground, all alone, sleeping peacefully. No parents, no adult around that could support the child.
Eight swords surrounded the camp, driven into the earth and forming a perfect circle around as a border between the light of the fire and the dark forest. Every one of the swords held rust, chips, and what looked like blood that dripped from the hilt onto the soil.
None of the beings outside the border dared to move forward.
Whispers could be heard from inside the tent.
Do not wake up. Do not ever wake up.
The eyes trembled and shuddered. The mouth above seemed to whimper as it closed its mouth to keep itself silent.
If the child wakes up, tomorrow will never happen.
Tomorrow will never happen.
his sadness... his wrath...
Hide. Everything should hide if he wakes up.
The mist suddenly pulled back. Everyone snapped back to reality from their minds. The green and yellow light from the orb pulsed back to its original rhythm as if nothing happened.
Pulling his hand away, Gale rubbed his palm, feeling if anything happened to it. Feels like it was ok. He could still feel with it as the warmth slowly spread back to his fingers.
"The fuck was that?" Kyle said.
"A fortune," Witch Moura said.
"But what does it mean?" Rachel asked.
"I don't interpret. I only show."
Clyde crossed his arms. "I want a refund. You show us a nightmare and don't explain anything?"
"Correct."
Rachel looked at Gale. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Gale said. Remembering one of the times dad put him out in the forest, he had to fend for himself against the wilderness. That was only when he was 8 years old. But the entire sequence of the fortune itself felt all the more surreal.
The swords were obviously linked to the swords of Cev, all 8 of them. He had one, but why did they surround him? And why could the beast of the dark forest not cross over the border of the swords?
A sentinel against the corruption...
Young lamb, have you not figured it out yet? Erin telepathically said to him.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Gale gulped. Of course he knew. The dark forest needed to be lit up. He needed to grow that border.
"Can you at least give us a hint on the whispers?" Lily asked, sliding in another gold coin marked with an 'A'.
"A hint," Witch Moura took the gold coin, then looked to Gale. "Monster and humanity, you've already chosen. Grief and happiness all exist in the same plane. But when the former takes hold of your mind. When you truly wake up, will you lose yourself to the human emotion that is grief?"
Rachel and Lily looked to Kyle and Clyde.
"What?" the twins asked at the same time.
"Aren't you good at riddles or have a movie reference for what she said?" Rachel asked.
"Nope. Got nothing. Everything she just said gave me the creeps," Kyle said.
"True that. That made my hair all stand up."
"Her statement is no riddle. Simply do not surrender to your grief, lest you give form to the monster born of humanity," Erin said. Tell me, child. Should Leyruth’s sword strike true to the woman of fire's heart, would your mind have truly stayed sane?
Gale's blood went cold. Erin was right. The moment he lost it, killing the thralls became too easy that he no longer cared.
A cornered animal acts on predictable instinct. A human stripped of all attachments, however, acts from a place of pure, nihilistic resolve. That is a variable of infinitely greater threat. Child, do you not agree? Erin thought to him.
Of course he did. An animal can only act on instinct while an intelligent human can cause ever more destruction.
Maybe that was how Ollie became the way he was. The grief took him over, and the lives of others no longer held value.
"I think I get it," Gale nodded.
"What do you think?" Rachel asked.
"I'm new to all of this... emotions and having people I care about," Gale said. "I can't let these control me if something bad ever happens. Right?"
"Makes sense," Lily said.
"Right, but let's not think about the bad things," Rachel forced a smile. "It's not like we're going anywhere."
"Shhh," Gale held up a hand. "The thing you said would've been a black flag in a book!"
Rachel laughed. "Sure. Sorry I said that."
"Praying for your safety, Rachel," Kyle said.
"May Buddha smile upon your poor fiery soul," Clyde said.
"I'll give you some good luck trinkets later," Lily said.
"Seriously..."
"Take it, Rachel. It's very important," Gale tugged her closer to him with the most serious face he could muster.
"Ok, ok," Rachel said, suppressing a laugh.
"And here I am, praying these customers to leave," Witch Moura said as she sat down on her wooden chair she was originally at.
"Right, come on. Let's go," Rachel said.
Lily moved first towards Puffpuff. First knock was loud, and then twice soft. Different sequence. The lock clicked, and she twisted the brass knob before pulling it open. She waved everyone out.
Kyle and Clyde exited through the door first, then Rachel, Gale, Erin, and lastly, Lily. The group entered the familiar scene of Toronto's back alley where blue sutras were stamped randomly on the walls and the dumpster was still propped open.
The group walked out of the alley and back onto Spadina Ave. The smell of roasted duck hit Gale's nose again. Pulling up his phone, he texted Rachel.
[Gale: reminder, can i have a duck please]
Rachel pulled up her phone immediately and looked to him with an ok sign. However, Erin floated past her, which immediately set her off to tug her down. "Erin, no. Ground. Walk. Now."
"The debt you are incurring is increasing, woman of fire," Erin said.
"I don't care, just walk," Rachel said, gritting her teeth.
"This is most tiresome," Erin said, but her feet touched the sidewalk.
"Walk like a normal person."
"I am walking as a normal person by hovering."
"Hover on the ground while moving your legs."
"Your demands are irrational and unreasonable once again."
Kyle looked over at Gale. "Hey, you ever been to Sterling Institute before?"
Gale shook his head.
"Fancy school for awakened kids," Clyde said. "Rich families send their brats there to learn how to not blow themselves up. Think Harry Potter except less lame with magic guns and no dorky wands."
"More than that too," Kyle said. "It's Awakened getting a taste of networking, politics, and all that shit. Fun times, stealing the lobby chairs."
"That was you?" Rachel asked.
"No," the twins said at the same time.
"Figures," Lily said.
"Sounds tough," Gale said. "Why go through all of that instead of normal schools though?"
"Mundane school won't prepare you how to do jobs in a rift raid and whatever other wacky jobs there are in Aur," Clyde said.
"That's true. Before we met Witch Ashen, I thought my mundane knowledge was enough to live through Aur. Apparently not," Lily said.
"Like what?" Gale asked.
"Like how do you deal with the aftermath of a cat awakening while said cat is causing havoc?" Lily asked.
"Or dealing with magi ritual formulas that transmute pure elements into something else," Rachel said. "Lots of things that mundane tech can't do. There's all kinds of jobs if you're not part of a faction or a family."
"Yeah, you would say that. You just want him in your family. Who the hell wants to do boring ass jobs that pay like shit?" Kyle said.
"True that," Clyde said. "With that said, Rachel, does your family have space for the Path's special investigations division numero uno squad smartest smart duo?"
"Shut up, Clyde," Rachel shook her head.
"So we going to Sterling or what?" Kyle asked.
"You two just want him to help with your investigation," Lily said.
"What? No. We're being helpful. Teaching Gale the wonders of the world."
"Right."
"We are!" Clyde said. "Mostly. It's for educational purposes."
"You're full of shit," Lily said.
Gale looked between them. "I want to go anyway."
"See?" Kyle grinned. "The kid wants to go."
Rachel crossed her arms. "Fine. I'm coming too."
"Of course you are," Kyle said.
"Party pooper," Clyde said.
Rachel's cheek twitched. "Look. I'm supervising you two, not Gale."
"Name one time we did something bad," Kyle asked.
"You just outed yourself earlier. You two stole two chairs from the lobby of Sterling," Lily said.
"Those were finders keepers."
"In a school?!"
"I wish for the fire woman to purchase my bird," Erin said suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Your what?" Rachel asked.
"My bird." Erin pointed back toward the shop with the hanging ducks. "Our agreement stipulated its procurement upon my accompaniment of the squad. I require it now. It is my intention to consume it at home, free from further disturbance of this 'walking,' as you call it."
Lily cleared her throat. "I can take you back. I need to get going anyway."
"Wait, hold on. I thought you'd be interested in Sterling Institute," Kyle said.
Erin looked at him. "For what reason?"
"Because you're a researcher?" Kyle said. "A big important Grand Researcher Grand General? Don't researchers like researching things?"
"That is correct."
"Sterling Institute is where they teach awakened kids everything. Ether control. Combat. Theory. All the foundational stuff about how this world works," Kyle said. "You could learn a ton about Earth's super secret underground Aur society just by looking at how they educate the next generation. Hell, you could probably write a whole paper on it."
"Kyle's right for once," Clyde said. "It's basically a microcosm of how the awakened underworld operates. Politics. Hierarchies. Power structures. All compressed into one building which both me and Kyle were both above and beyond during our stay. Plus, they got magic totems that lock up the kids in."
Kyle nodded. "But I guess the bird is more important. Makes sense. You're probably not that curious after all."
"Are you suggesting I lack intellectual curiosity?" Erin asked with no hint of change in her expression.
"I'm not suggesting anything," Kyle said. "Just making an observation."
"The loud one speaks truth for once," Erin said. "I am a researcher. Curiosity is fundamental to my nature." She turned to Lily. "I have changed my mind. I will accompany them to this Sterling Institute."
"Sure. I still need to go, though. Marine's waiting for me," Lily said.
Rachel sighed. "Assholes..."
"But what about your bird?" Gale asked.
"The agreement does not stipulate a time constraint on which the purchase of the bird from the fire woman ends, therefore, the bird can wait," Erin said. "Knowledge cannot."
"Alright fine, we'll see you later then, Lily?"
"I'll leave first then." Lily went in for a hug with Rachel and then also hugged the twins. Instead of hugging Gale, she patted his head and then turned to Erin.
"I see. This is the culture of saying goodbye on this planet. Very well," Erin spread her arms out.
Lily went in for a hug, then took a few steps away from the group. "Bye everyone! I'll text in the group chat."
"Yup, see you later," the twins said.
Rachel and Gale waved at her as her form disappeared into the sea of downtown crowd moving through the streets. Only they were stationary.
"Ok, now scout's lady's gone. Gale, you ready for some dark hunter adventures?" Clyde asked.
"I goddamn knew it!" Rachel shouted. "Lily even called it!"
"Calm down, fire cheeks. It's just a simple investigation of a rich kid. Could use Gale to literally sniff out the bastard's location," Kyle grinned.
"You're so lucky we're in public right now," Rachel clenched her fist towards the twins.
"Nothing escapes my senses," Gale growled in a low voice. He could track a rabbit's scent by smelling and licking the snow. No rich brat was going to get away from him.
Kyle and Clyde laughed. "Probably better than a K9 too."