Horoscope
(Chapter 6)
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[<<]
Young Harmonie tucks himself in bed. He embraces Amitha like he always does. The braziers go out.
"{Elmus. I feel like something's wrong with your breathing.}"
"{Yeah, the Dark Alley knuckleheads fell for the bait,}" he says adjusting the pillow.
"{Are you hurt?}"
"{Just a bit. I barely defended myself so blocking that kick to the rib would've been suspicious. We were right. The leaders of the outposts wear that jacket.}"
"{They shouldn't get to know what we did. If they see you again, find a way to make it look like they ran away with the dough. We have the advantage. If we play our cards right…}"
"{I'll consider it. The real situation is: I have located a pair of hostile eyes. I have to tread carefully or the game will be over before it even begins.}
[>]
The next day, Guillelmus doesn't leave his home. He's done everything that he needed to do to help Tina get settled. He doesn't have any pressing matters to attend to. A single broken rib isn't big enough a hindrance to prevent him from going on a Raid, although he does need to rest. The actual reason is if he were to go on a raid, Valentina would find out that he went without her. It just wouldn't be nice.
Valentina goes to the Bakery with Ms. Laura. She said bakery but most of the products were confections. Her boss is a plump man who wears a casual outfit and an apron. You'd only notice him because he was one of the two people present and the only male. That's Ms, Laura's boss who has been in a bad mood lately because he thought that she shirked her work. They failed to meet the requirements for an important order. Valentina does her thing and manages to shut him up.
"Yes, anyone WOULD be upset but did you even bother to consider WHY she couldn't make it?" Valentina demands.
"… Perhaps you're right. This is only the twenty first—no wait, twenty fifth time she's gone missing for days. I've been as considerate as humanly possible. My daughter is sick happens quite a lot. Isn't that right Laura?"
"… my daughter—she's dead."
"*gasp*… I'm sorry. I didn't know about it… My condolences. You can take a few weeks off on a paid leave."
"It's not necessary. I'm still healthy and I want to show my new buddy what I can do."
"If that's the case, you can start with the order on the upper left of the bulletin board. My only condition is you wear nothing but a smile."
"I'll try my best," she says as her face lights up a bit.
They quickly make their way to the back but he shouts "NO TASTING!"
"Awww. I thought you wanted me to smile."
"Don't push your luck." Ms. Laura makes an adorable face and he can't help but retract the statement for today. "{Did I actually fall for that? I must be growing old.}"
The order is 10 shortcakes. After the aroma wafts up Valentina's nostrils she can't deny the extreme urge to learn how to bake—especially because of the tasting part. Ms. Laura goes over making and kneading the dough. The day is soon over and the two of them go home on brim-full stomachs.
The next day Guillelmus does the same. There is no rush to things. The days fly by very quickly rather. The Sabbath arrives soon. The town had no cathedral or priest so the nun retired from the convent to aid the town in finding salvation. She holds sermons on Sundays at the town square. Anyone interested is welcome to come around. Laura asks Valentina if she's interested in coming.
"There's a church here? I didn't see one when we took a tour that day," she thinks aloud.
"That's because this town doesn't have a cathedral. Well, it's the Sabbath so we should pass by and listen to the sermon."
"I don't think I'm feeling up to it."
"And why's that?"
"… It was on the Sabbath that I lost everything. I know that there has to be a God somewhere but… maybe I'm not worth it." Ms. Laura grabs her wrist instantly.
"Don't ever say that again. I just lost my very own daughter but I'm not complaining. I believe a person's life is like strings of a definite length that pass through a singular point. If you were to pull and lengthen one part from that point, something is bound to be shortened. When someone is born you never know which qualities are on the same string… What if you had family and riches on the same string?"
"And don't you think that that's cruel? Why should we have to go through that?" she asks as she burst into tears. "Do you have any clue what I've been through? I have prayed and toiled for one thing all of my life and I've lost the chance of ever getting it."
"…" she catches the contagious loss of water from the eyes. "And who are we to complain. We just have to be grateful with whatever we are graced with. Have you ever considered what else you have?"
"What if I told you that none of it matters to me?" she counters. " It's really not fair."
"Well then. From now on I only want one thing. I just want you to give me the opportunity to show you that you're wrong. Are you gonna deny me of that? Then what makes you any different?"
"… I'm sorry for making you cry." She apologizes as she drops to the ground. Ms. Laura hugs her and wipes her tears.
"Don't worry. I'm also here for you alright? Let's get ready to go, okay honey?"
"Alright?"
[Guillelmus]
Guillelmus seems to have healed up fine. The eyebrow thing has also disappeared as well. He is up and ready. Young Harmonie knocks on his mom's door just as she's about opening the door.
"Good. I was wondering when you'd finally come out."
"And what's up with you? If you're up early something must be wrong." She says as she gets seated at the table.
"You always read me like a book. I want to see Eris before the sermon starts."
"You'll only wake up in time when it's convenient for you."
"That's not true. I just didn't sleep. No way to mess that one up, is there?"
They have their breakfast. It so happens that Eris dedicates her time to help the nun since she's blind. A lot of people make their way to the town square for the sermon: some, to thank; others, to rebuke. Who ever looks at the bright side of things? At least they have mana to defend themselves. I can assure you that there's a world with no Mana and even more ferocious monsters. What should people in such a world say?
They leave home to the ghosts and start to make their way to the town square. The pregnant gray clouds start to roll in. You wouldn't need to be a meteorologist to predict this one. Nevertheless, if the nun was coming, could the mere rain be enough reason not to? They press forward.
"Darling son."
"Yes Mama?"
"Does your friend know where the service will be held?"
"Now that I think about it, you're right. Let's head towards Ms. Laura's."
They're all in the Lower Residential Area so it isn't much of a problem. After heading in the direction of Laura's house for a short while, they run into them.
"What a coincidence," says Laura.
"Actually…" from Guillelmus, gets muffled out by mom's "Indeed."
"My son was actually thinking about waiting for you. We knew that you'd be coming."
"If that's the case why don't we continue on our way? Wouldn't wanna be late." She suggests.
They make their way to the sermon. The nun hasn't arrived yet and it caused a slight panic. She's always early. They sent someone after her. The drizzles slowly start to paint the ground a deeper hue. If the rain starts will they go? Or will they stay? Valentina draws closer to Elmus and holds his right arm just like how mom has herself wrapped around his left, although their intentions are different.
"What's happening?" she whispers in his ear. "I'm guessing either two things: attack or rain… but judging by everybody's composure it's probably the first—" gets interrupted by a bolt of lightning. It struck the halo of the statue. "AAAAH!" most of the females scream, including Valentina.
The men simply let everybody move a little backwards. Guillelmus tells Valentina not to worry. She says that she was just startled. The bolts continue to strike. What was that?
"{It hasn't rained in quite a while so everybody must've forgotten. That also explains why this is new to Tina who only arrived a few days ago.}" Guillelmus thinks.
"{She probably only heard or read about the rain. When was the last time it rained?}" Amitha asks.
"{About a month ago, give or take.}"
"{So that must mean that 'Ms. Princess' must've left her castle within the course of this month… fair enough.}"
"{Narrow down the scope. I can tell that she's educated for sure. If she seems to still be a bit clueless you must've met her within days—}"
"Hey! What's going on?" Valentina asks concernedly. After all, she never read about lightning that strikes the same spot over seven times. You couldn't blame her for being confused.
"Remember what I said about the Halo?"
"Uhunh."
"When I said hydroelectric I meant it always retrieves some energy from water it draws in the fountain but the main source of its power is—the lightning. If there were a prolonged drought, the fountain might run dry because there would be no lightning as well."
"I don't really get how it works… So, there's no chance I'll get hit by a stray lightning bolt?"
"Maybe one in a million."
Just then one of the other people in the crowd drew everyone's attention to the fact that the nun was coming. All attention soon shifts from the electric spectacle to the nun who arrives with Eris' aid. After looking closely you could notice that Eris was actually limping badly in the distance.
"Hey… isn't that the girl from last time?"
"Yeah. Her name's Eris. Lemme go and help them out."
He aids the two of them as he inquires about what happened. Apparently, she thought she heard young Harmonie call her. She decided to go back but she couldn't find him. Just as she thought about forgetting about it some thugs appeared.
They blocked off her exit and asked her whether she was with that guy. Of course, she looked clueless. Luckily for her, her Raid Gear is a tiny ring: Tear of Amaterasu. She can just dress casually to battle because of that.
She blasted the ones behind her and made a run for it but they got her as she tried jumping over the rail of an elevated region. Her premature fall caused her to sprain her ankle badly. She passed out from the pain. This is enough to deduce why they're late.
"{Darn it! It's my fault then.}"
"{What do you mean 'your fault'? What did you do yesterday?}" Amitha asks.
"{I engaged the Dark Alley}"
"I haven't the slightest clue of what they meant. It really disturbs me because they might be able to recognize me."
"{Without me? You must really be crazy.}"
"{At least, she seems to have forgotten about yesterday so it was profitable.}"
"{I wish that mom could hear you right now. Can't you see that she's suffering? She's probably had a rough time.}"
"{I can't go back in time can I? She's already in the crosshairs now. Do I watch her get hurt or accept the bait?}"
"{You could but… are you sure you wanna do that to her.}"
"{If I make sure that she doesn't get hurt anymore I'd have utilized the opportunity perfectly.}"
The nun says, "You can't play a game without losing a few pieces."
"{What the? Can she hear us?}" Amitha asks.
Well, there's no need for speculation. Whether she can or can't, all they have to do is keep quiet. There's no way a human could read minds. The sermon begins soon. The nun preaches about maintaining peace. She says, "Peace is dashed to pieces under the hand of violence."
It's only the absolute truth. Violence brings War. War brings Death. Death brings Suffering. Suffering in the end just leads to Revenge, that is—more violence. It's a never-ending, vicious cycle.
She has to end the sermon because the downpour takes her audibility all the way down to zero. Everybody starts to head home as soon as she ends it. The young Harmonie asks Valentina to please take his mother home. Eris is already hurt and the nun's blind. If anything were to happen it wouldn't be pretty.
"May I carry you?" he asks Eris in her ear. That's only because mom makes a fuss whenever he tries to do it to her.
She doesn't even get the chance to respond before he princess carries her. He also takes the nun's hand and starts to lead her home. Eris blushes out of surprise at the initial moment but then she starts to enjoy the relief of getting off the bad ankle. The only thing that they have to worry about is the nun getting sick.
He finds a place for Eris to wait without getting beaten by the rain. Since the nun can't walk fast and even stands a chance of slipping, he decides to carry her home first.
"Eris. You wait here"—he puts her down gently and puts his hand to her cheek—"I'll be back for you as soon as possible. Don't want granny to get sick."
"Alright. I'll wait for you right here."
[Valentina]
The storm got fierce so they also took a stop at a shop. It's the shop of a witch actually. All shops except hers—are closed on the Sabbath. She is in the back when they arrive.
"We're gonna be drenched by the time we get home." Ms. Laura says panting.
"Wait!"—she puts her finger to her mouth—"what shop are we in?" mom asks.
"I haven't a clue." Tina replies shrugging her shoulders.
"Don't tell me—?"
"It's the witch's place." Ms. Laura interrupts.
"Then let's get out of here right away!" mom demands in a low tone.
"We can't do that." Valentina starts. "Guy… your son wouldn't forgive us if we let you get sick. It's better we stay here till it blows over—"
She could only realize that they wanted to prevent her from drawing the curtains after speaking. Guess what? She had already done it.
"Who could that be?" she exclaims.
The hooded witch comes rushing to her. She basically pushes her to have a seat and she has no will to resist. That's how the witch's place works. If you don't want to go in; don't draw the curtain. The other two speak to her from the other side.
"Valentina. Don't do anything with her!" mom forewarns.
"Will you keep quiet?" the witch's sweet voice barks.
"I don't understand what's going on but we only came in because of the rain."
"Is that so? If you draw the curtain you have to come in. If you come in, you have to play.|
"Don't listen to her; let's just go" Ms. Laura shouts. "You'll shorten your life!"
"If you two say another word—!" the witch yells back. It's more like a threat. "Hello dear."
"You heard them right?" Tina snobs.
"If you don't play with me you'll all have to leave."
"… hmph." she shows her disapproval by folding her arms and swiftly turning her head away.
"I just wanna tell your fortune. I'm a nice person" She takes off the hood to reveal a gentle and sweet face. Without the hood she looks far from a fairytale witch. She looks rather desirable.
"*gasp* HUNH?"
"What were you thinking you'd see? a monster?"
"Why did you wear the hood?"
"This is a family business inherited from generation to generation. One of the conditions is that no one outside those curtains should see my face or I'll lose my power. I intend no malice. This is what I do for a living."
"What's this fortune telling game?"
"I'll use the cards to tell you your fortune. It's not costly. I should say it's free more or less."
"No exchanging my legs for a beautiful voice?"
"Of course not. I never said that I was gonna hurt you."
"Alright then. Only one game in exchange for us staying, right?"
"Right?"—she draws a deck of tarot cards and deals them—"okay now. I'm gonna prick your thumb. Drop a drop in that whole at the bottom of the table. Your hand will be drawn to the cards that your blood chooses."
"My blood chooses?"
"Didn't you know that blood has a voice?"
Without further-a-do, she pricks Tina's hand and they get on with it. Tina's hand is drawn to pick a card with an inverted-colored broken heart on it. The witch waits for a while but Tina doesn't pick anymore.
"Aren't I done?"
"You don't want to be," she says in quite an ominous tone. "Let's try again."
[Guillelmus]
The young Harmonie already got her inside. He sparks up the fire place. The nun says that she can do the rest herself so he should just go for Eris. He's more than delighted. He quickly zooms out to go and get her. The rain seemed to be dissipating a few moments earlier but it rather gets more ferocious. It's possible that Eris is getting soaked. He sprints at his best just to find out that…
[Valentina]
The result is the same. In fact they try repeatedly and the witch gets more agitated with every try. She brings out a pen and paper. She lets Valentina also put some blood in it and tells her to write without thinking. She does.
"My glory will be my end and my hatred does not pretend.
The stench of dry blood; the shadow of a feather's flood.
The Malignus seeks for the other Ignus, the seemingly evanescent Ignus" Valentina dictates. "What the heck is this supposed to mean?"
"You may leave. I'm sorry."
"You can't do that. What's going on?"
"How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
"This isn't something that you'd want to hear. I beg of you. Just forget about it"
"Why? You're rather scaring me. Just tell me already!" she demands.
"I didn't want to believe my eyes but—"
[Guillelmus]
"What the?" he thinks aloud. Eris no longer sits there awaiting his return. Maybe she moved? "Amitha, search for her too."He scours the area for her and calls out every now and then but there's no response. He heads back to her last known position and his eyes notice something that he didn't before.
[Valentina]
"Tina. I hope you're alright in there?" mom asks.
"I'm fine," she responds. "Now tell me what the hell's going on!"
"I never like to be the harbinger of evil news… the tarots only predict your fortune for a year. They trade just a minimal amount of blood for a fortune-telling. However, if you won't see the next year you only draw a single card regardless of how much blood you draw. The worst thing is… no one who drew that card ever rested in peace.
[Dark Alley Hideout]
The interior design is indisputably as a thief's should be. There is one thug with long, dark hair. He wears a black shirt. He relaxes so comfortably in his chair as if it were a throne. He then receives news that some guys want to see him and gives the order to let the other guys in.
"If you're here it must mean that you finally got a lead on where my jacket is."
"We don't have a lead on where your jacket is,"—he pulls something out of a bag—"We have your jacket." He tosses it at the boss' feet.
"I must commend you for a job well done. Who was it?"
"We actually aren't sure. He claims it was sold to him and to be honest, he was more or less a child. I doubt he was the one responsible for last year."
"And?"
"We observed him but he didn't leave his house until today. Seems like we gave him a good scare."
"A scare is not enough. The mere fact that he had my jacket means everyone around him is eligible for death. Now go and have yer fun" He starts to chortle louder and louder as they put the jacket on him. "Walk up the wrong alley and you might never leave."
[Guillelmus]
The young Harmonie drops on one knee and takes a closer look at the lower portion of the wall. He still can't believe his eyes so he has a feel. Although most of it was washed away, that red hue always rings a bell.
"Darn it. Blood."
[Valentina]
"What're you trying to tell me. Do you think this is some sorta game or I'm gonna beg you to save me or something? If you mess around I'm so gonna end you." she says so threateningly.
"I'm really sorry. I wish that it were a game right now but you felt for a fact that it's real… I-I only tell fortunes so that I can speed the process up in return for some of it… I never want to break this kind of news to people; I'm just as human as YOU ARE," she sobs
"Prove it to me because I refuse to believe this."
"There are less than four months left and you will certainly die before the end of the year Valentina. This note is the clue, as it draws closer you will understand the circumstances better. Death is inevitable; you can't avoid this. If you're alive by the first day of the year I will take on the guillotine. Valentina… you are definitely going to die within the next three months. Get ready.
-------End of Chapter 6---------
Chapter 7 Teaser
The eerie howls of death, it prances near. Will someone buy a wreath, for someone dear?
To be continued…