The sun was right overhead, and the windshield- at least from Reca's shotgun position- burned with a bright white glare. If that wasn't annoying enough, her voice echoed in Reca's ears-
"Well, you gotta understand. I was hungry, and it was kinda super dark, and I had finished all those cans. And I looked down, and- you ever been hungry? Like, I mean, hungry enough to mistake something that wasn't food for food? Well, they weren't berries. Just red moss-covered pebbles. But I was desperate."
"Hm," grunted Reca, feigning attentiveness and failing miserably.
"Thanks for saving my rump back there, really," said Rivergal for the fifth time that day, feet up on the steering wheel. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, who knows? Maybe I'd be out there, just some... skeleton, with a dumb little red wagon over my head. Hey, did I ever tell you why it was there?"
Reca didn't respond.
"Just to block out the sunlight, at first, but it also had the handy function of bein' like a helmet in case of rockslides from above. There weren't any- rockslides, I mean- but better safe than sorry."
Rivergal seemed like an entirely different person here in Pandemonia. Maybe it was sleep deprivation- she had stayed up to 'keep watch for bandits' outside the van last night and now she had bags under the bags under her eyes. Maybe this was just how she treated people she deemed to be her friends.
Traveling in silence had become the norm for Reca, and so the older girl's monologues- significantly less theatrical than the ones from near Bastion- were grating, even if they did answer some of the questions Reca had about her cliff situation. The doctors had given her a travel time estimate of 15 minutes to Oracle Street. If she didn't know any better, Reca would have assumed it had already been twenty minutes.
"Ah!" Rivergal slammed one green-stained fist against the dashboard. "Stop, ya big lug! Can't you see this is it?"
Apparently Deca wasn't her friend yet. Either way, when she turned, disgruntled- she had noticed the Oracle Street sign and was already slowing down before Rivergal had hit her- the glare subsided, and Reca could see the street itself.
It looked like something out of another world at first. Colorful canopies emblazoned with stars and mandalas cast shade over the alley, and no less than five signs advertising fortune-telling services were visible, all promising accurate glimpses into the future. The largest sign was mounted above a canopy further down the street:
'MARIGOLD LAVENDER, SEER & PSYCHIC
Seeking TRUTH? Tired of UNCERTAINTY?
HONEST CONSULTATIONS 40H/hr'
One thing was clear, at least: this wasn't the oracle Reca was looking for. She also somehow doubted Marigold's psychic abilities. The again, this was Hell- there was supposed to magic here, right? She had heard stories of eternal flames and arcane rituals, and those were impossible without magic, weren't they? Could this street really be home to real oracles?
"Rivergal," said Reca, "You wouldn't happen to have any of the currency they use here."
"Do I look like a billionaire to you?"
Her clothes were in tatters and her flower crown had only two flowers left on it- at this point, it was really more of a wire crown.
"I guess that's a no."
"Hell yeah, it's a no."
"Well, I'm gonna go into one of the shops and ask them if they know anything about the person I'm looking for."
"You're tellin' me you can't even remember their name and you think some rando fortune teller will be able to remind you?"
"If they have psychic powers, it shouldn't be a problem."
"But they don't," said Rivergal. "You believe that kind'a stuff?"
"This is Hell, isn't it?"
"But... well, do what you want. I'll wait here."
Earlier that day, Rivergal had asked to make up her IOU by becoming Reca's bodyguard for the remainder of her stay in Pandemonia. Was she really just giving up?
"Oh, but I don't feel safe," Reca said, lying through her teeth in a spiteful tone. "I'd sure like a bodyguard to go in with me."
Rivergal huffed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing. As Deca pulled up to the first seer parlor on the street, Rivergal opened the door and hopped out, neglecting to wait for her to stop fully.
The shop in question was unassuming compared to many of the other lavishly-decorated parlors down the way. It had a little blue canopy and an off-white color scheme; the only identification it had came in the form of its name, 'ARTILLERY SMITH CARDSIGHT', which was written in peeling paint on the door. Reca took hold of the crystal ball-shaped knocker and rapped on the wood three times.
A tall, blonde demon woman opened the door. She wore a modest black garment- half dress, half cloak- that obscured her entire body from the neck down. Her eyes were cerulean and difficult to read.
"Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?"
Her voice was so soft that Reca could barely make out the words.
"No- I'm actually just here to get directions."
"To where?"
"Well, the problem is, I don't know exactly. Uh, well, I was told that he- they- I mean, I don't know their gender- I mean- they're a really smart person with a lot of info and they're supposed to be called the something oracle, or the oracle something."
"Lots of oracles on this street."
"I know, but this person isn't a real oracle."
Deca, listening in on the conversation, remembered the name- Re-Oracle- and wished desperately to convey it, but had no way to.
"Well... wouldn't you rather hear from a real oracle?"
"I don't have any money..."
"I'll lend you some, if you'd like."
"What?" Reca's jaw nearly dropped. Before she could elaborate on her confusion, Rivergal stepped in from behind her, arms crossed, and glared up at the demon, who was much taller than her.
"Aren't YOU a fortune teller? How come you're just offerin' to pawn her off to someone else, huh?"
Rivergal shouldn't have been intimidating, but the woman shrunk back, obviously shaken.
"It's just..." her voice dropped even quieter and the girls leaned in to hear her better- "I'm not so confident in my powers anymore. I wouldn't want to burden you with incorrect information..."
"So you actually believe you have powers, huh?" Rivergal refused to take the hint, speaking up even louder. The woman was silent for a few seconds. Then, her lips parted-
"Are you saying we're CHARLATANS around here?!" She bellowed so loud that the force of the sound nearly knocked Reca over. "You two can get OFF OF ORACLE STREET for all I care!"
"Wait," Reca whimpered. "I'll take you up on your offer. About the money, I mean."
Rivergal groaned. "Seriously?"
"Just go back to Deca- I changed my mind."
"I'm not going anywhere, otherwise the IOU doesn't count."
Where had that rule come from all of a sudden? Rivergal seemed perfectly content to wait in the van before.
"Would you lend me... 80... H?"
"...H?" The woman had returned to her regular tone.
"I mean, the sign said 40 H for one hour of consultation."
"Oh," she said. "Hollars."
"Hollers?"
"Hollars... well, they were called Hellions a long time ago. Now they're hell dollars- Hollars."
"Hm." Reca thought it was an odd name, but decided not to bring that up- she had seen the woman's bad side and didn't wish to get on it.
"80 is steep," said the woman. "Don't tell me- you want to go to Marigold's shop?"
"Ah! You know her? What, is she always way off with her predictions or something?"
"...Not quite. It's just... well, I just don't recommend it. Do you know Antikythera...? No, probably not."
"You'd be right about that."
"Marigold and Antikythera are rivals. They used to be the most accurate seers in town, but then... well, their approaches changed."
"How so?"
"It's hard to explain. I wouldn't want them overhearing anything... I wouldn't want to get on their bad side."
"Overhearing anything? But their shops are down the street, right?"
"I mean with their psychic powers... and also, through the thin walls, it's pretty easy to hear that far, even without psychic powers."
"Okay. So I shouldn't go to Marigold or Antikythera. Who do you recommend, then?"
"Not many shops open on Asmoday, unfortunately. Dumaresq... my friend- he has a palm reading shop three doors down."
"Sounds good."
Reca had never heard of palm reading and wondered if it had something to do with palm trees. There were a few of them down by the boardwalk. Whatever it was, it was worth a try... unless this Dumaresq was a charlatan after all.
The demon retreated back into the shop and returned a minute later with a handful of eye-shaped greenish coins. Their pupils were thin and slitlike, but, upon closer inspection, were actually compressed H symbols.
"Thank you for all your help," said Reca as Rivergal stepped out of the shadow of a canopy across the street. The woman, upon seeing Rivergal, glared, nodded hastily at Reca, and slammed the door to her parlor; the air was quiet once again.
"I think I see the place she was talkin' about," said Rivergal, pointing down the street at a nondescript little wooden shack sandwiched between two buildings. It had no canopy of its own, and the yellow and blue canopies on either side overlapped to form a green shadow on the ground in front of it.
The taller girl dashed up to the door and knocked on it without even using the knocker. No one responded, so she knocked again even louder. Reca reached her on her fourth round of knocks and immediately noticed a piece of paper taped to the wall next to the door.
"Hey," said Reca, standing on her tip-toes to get a good look at the paper. "This says he's out for lunch."
Rivergal stopped mid-knock, squinted at the words, and nodded her head. A cursory glance around the area revealed half a dozen boarded-up doors and their corresponding dark windows- some of the closed stores were even kind enough to display 'CLOSED' signs in said windows. Then, as if it was waiting for them to come to an impasse, the smell of incense floated in from behind them.
Reca turned and saw the same sign advertising Marigold's services, this time from below. Better- or maybe worse- there was a sign in the window of her shop:
'OPEN'
With a mutual shrug, Reca and Rivergal headed into the parlor, and Reca waited, listening, outside.
The interior was small, with a domed roof and textiles of all colors draped from hooks on walls painted like the night sky. A flickering yellow lightbulb covered by a filter scattered luminous moons, suns, and stars over every surface in the minuscule lobby, including the fortune-telling table itself. There was no one- other than Reca and Rivergal- in the room, and yet it seemed somehow crowded.
A voice spoke from beyond one of the tapestries.
"Good evening," it said, sounding like an old woman. Then, as if emerging from the wall itself, Marigold pushed past one of the tapestries. There was probably a hidden passage behind it, but Reca saw Rivergal staring, slack-jawed- it wasn't just her odd entrance, either; Marigold wasn't a demon, but a human. Moreover, she wasn't an old woman, but a young one- or a young-looking one, at least.
"How can I help you ladies?"
"Uh," Reca began, "We... I mean, I guess... I'm here to get my fortune told."
"For how long?"
Marigold hardly gave off a friendly energy. One of her eyebrows was arched, and her face seemed unused to smiling. Reca looked down at the coins in her hand and noticed that they bore numerical values on their backs- specifically, all the coins she held said '5'. Just as she began to count them, Marigold snatched the handful away and prodded at them with her finger.
"45," she said. "Enough for an hour and seven point five minutes. That what you want?"
Reca involuntarily grasped for the money.
"That what you want, kid?"
She thought for a second-
"What if I paid 20 and you gave me half an hour of fortune-telling?"
Marigold seemed about ready to burst. Reca was positive she'd say no- she didn't seem like the charitable type, after all- but then she sighed, split the coins between her hands, and handed half of them back to Reca.
"Just one thing," she sighed, producing a tape recorder from beneath her robes and switching it on. "I am not responsible for any distress caused by knowledge of the future. Do you agree?"
"Uh," said Reca, "Sure."
"Then come and sit."
She lowered the table and set two pillows on either side, then pulled an impressive crystal ball from beneath her robe. Reca wondered what other things she was keeping in there. Rivergal, demonstrating a rare bit of self-awareness, stepped outside and left Reca in the rapidly-darkening room with Marigold, where the ball began to glow and almost pulsate. The ebbing light almost resembled a faulty bulb.
"Tell me of your problem," said Marigold.
"I'm looking for someone. I don't know their name, or rather their title, but they're supposed to be very smart. I was told that they might know how the apocalypse happened."
"Alright. So you want me to tell you how the apocalypse happened?"
Reca bit her tongue. The concept hadn't even crossed her mind, but now that Marigold mentioned it... she thought that she might not be able to trust an answer gained through scrying.
"...Is that possible?"
Marigold cackled. "No," she said, "I'm a fortune teller, kid- I see the future, not the past. I'll get you a partial refund!"
Just as she reached for the ball, Reca instinctively stretched her arm out, stopping her in her tracks.
"Wait. That's not what I want to know, at least not from you. I want to know... um... well, will I find the one I'm looking for?"
"Is this a love thing? Aren't you a little young to be-"
"No. It's just a knowledge thing."
"Whatever you say," hummed Marigold, placing her hands back on the ebbing ball. Her eyes dipped into the shadow of her hood, vanishing entirely from view, and the sound of a glass singing bowl echoed somewhere beyond the parlor. Reca sat, breath in her throat, listening to the sound and questioning its origin, until Marigold's lips parted.
"Hm," she said. "Well, you won't find what you want to find."
"What?"
"The one you're looking for... I sense disappointment. Pain- emotional, yes, but physical too. Struggle."
"Is the struggle emotional, or...?"
"Well, it's all blending together with the emotional pain. It's hazy up ahead, but a storm for sure. A big storm."
"So I won't find them?"
"Well, depends on what you mean by 'find them'. You won't get the answers you're looking for. You'll be disappointed, and that disappointment will spiral into so much more."
"I won't get them? You mean never? Like, ever, in my life?"
"It's hazy the further I go. Look- I can't say much in terms of specifics. I can't tell you the water speed, but I can tell you the direction in which the river flows..."
Reca slammed her hands on the table. Then she repeated her gesture twice more for good measure.
"Give me a partial refund," said Reca.
"No can do."
"What?"
"Your session already started, kid. I can't just-"
"Fine, then take the money! I can't keep listening to you! It would- it would-"
Marigold had the tape recorder in hand once again. "I am not responsible for-"
Reca reached across the table to shut it off, then dashed for the door before Marigold could hold her back, lurching through the gate and right into Rivergal, who promptly fell over.
"Sorry," said Reca, offering her hand to the taller girl, who snubbed it. The street was as empty as it had ever been, and the day was growing more humid by the second, casting a sense of profound hopelessness into the air.
"Okay, so now that a fortune teller gives you advice you don't like, suddenly you're little miss skeptical?"
There was no witty comeback.
"So you heard everything."
"Sure I did! Why else d'you think I'd be standing right in front of the door?"
"And here I thought you were being self-aware."
"No harm done," said Rivergal, patting Reca on the head. "Look, let's get outta here and ask somebody who'd actually know-"
"Know what?"
The girls' heads turned- including Deca. A demon clad in yellow, looking and sounding young but holding a cane, stood, wobbly-kneed, on the street corner in front of a garish shop. A sign creaked in the wind above her:
ANTIKYTHERA ANDERSON
Professional INSIGHT into the FUTURE
CONSULTATIONS 40H/hr
"Hmm- where have I heard that name before?" Rivergal rubbed her chin absently, prompting Reca to ignore her question and launch into dialogue with Antikythera.
"We're looking to figure out something out, actually."
"Let me read you," hummed Antikythera. "No charge for now. You just finished up with Marigold, that sourpuss- and she told you your future was hopeless."
"That's right... but how did you know?"
Rivergal rolled her eyes.
"She conflates honesty with negativity, that human. Never given out a rosy reading in her life. Sweetie, come with me- I'll charge you a discounted rate."
"What? Like what?"
"Let's say... 39 hollars per hour?"
"That's just one less."
"Everyone has to make a living, unfortunately," said Antikythera, reaching for Reca's hand. Reca initially flinched, but thought better of it and reluctantly let herself be led into the parlor opposite Marigold's. It was spacier, but also significantly less mystical, with amateur tie-dye sheets rather than intricate tapestries. A barely-disguised disco ball sent rainbowy lights dancing about the area. There was a crystal cube bolted haphazardly to a short table flanked by plush beanbags.
"I only have 25 hollars, so I guess that's... hmm..." she counted on her fingers.
"Don't worry about it. Give me 19 and I'll do half an hour."
"But all of these are in fives-"
"Round it to twenty, then."
Reca handed over twenty, keeping five. That was the same amount she'd given Marigold, so the discount hadn't meant anything, but Antikythera gave off a nicer atmosphere, so she decided to forgive it.
"Let's see now," said Antikythera, settling on one of the beanbags with an exaggerated grunt. "Of course, the future has many faces, but tell me what it is you have in mind. What do you want to find out?"
"...I'm looking for somebody. I don't remember their title, but what I do know is that they're supposed to have the answers I want."
"I certainly have the answers you want," giggled Antikythera.
"I mean about the past."
"No, no, I understand. Continue."
"We came here to find them, but I don't even know their name, and I forgot their title. I want to know- well, is that enough? Will we ever end up meeting them, or is it hopeless like Marigold implied?"
The demon's hands circled the cube, sending sparks of something glowy flying to and fro, calling forth a fire-like aura. Her eyes lit up, perhaps reflecting the cube, but they appeared to almost take on a new luminance of their own.
"I see," she said, prompting Reca to lean in. "I have good news."
"What is it?"
As Antikythera looked up, the glow left her eyes, and it faded from the cube shortly after.
"You'll find the one you seek," she said, smiling warmly with an odd cold core. "And you'll get answers of a sort."
"A sort? What kind of sort?"
"Not quite the answers you want to hear, but the answers you'll find that you needed all along. I think that's wonderful- the way the future is so unexpected."
"...You're a fortune teller, aren't you?"
"Oh, I am, I am. But by purchasing my services you agree that my powers are not infallible."
Rivergal emerged from the shadows like a horror movie monster, hands on her hips. "So," she spat, "What you're saying is we could be paying you to lie to us."
"I'm the one paying," Reca clapped back.
"And you're wasting your time!"
"Young lady, I'm afraid I have to ask you to step out," said Antikythera, giving up her frail demeanor. Rivergal did as she was asked, but she gave the fortune teller a stink-eye all the way out the door.
"I'm sorry about her."
"No worries. As I was saying, you will not necessarily receive the information you're looking for, but you will be satisfied-"
"With all due respect, no," replied Reca. "I won't be satisfied unless I know! I've been trying to find out for so long... a month, probably!"
Antikythera laughed again, and this time the chill was more pronounced.
"To a child, a month is a long time-"
"Maybe so! But you can't just... you can't just tell me how I'll feel!"
"That's the purpose of a fortune teller, honey-"
"You tell me what happens, not how I'll react to it! Hey, tell me, do you believe in free will?"
"I never expected this much fire from you-"
"Give me a partial refund."
Antikythera crossed her arms and shook her head.
"I thought you were the nice one," groaned Reca.
"I am nice, but I have to eat, you understand."
Reca deflated and nearly found herself curling into the fetal position.
"I get it. Keep the money. I'll go find them... or I won't find them. How come you and Marigold told me opposite things?"
"She's concerned only with seeming bluntly honest. I'm concerned with the truth."
"I feel like if I asked her the same question, she'd tell me she's concerned with the truth and you're concerned with sugar-coating things."
"Maybe so. So you're on her side, then? I'd like to ask you to leave, just like your friend-"
"I'm not on anybody's side! I just wanna know what'll happen, and right now I'm more confused than I was when I came here."
"If you want to know what'll happen, see it for yourself by living through it." Antikythera stood up, grabbing her cane and hunching as an afterthought. "Now, leave my parlor."
Head down, Reca trudged out, where Rivergal stood next to the door, ear up against the wall. At least she wasn't in front of the door this time.
"Don't look now," whispered Rivergal in a voice so loud it might as well not have been a whisper at all, "but we have company."
Reca covertly peeked across the street and saw Marigold's silhouette in her parlor window.
"I'm sure she didn't hear that meeting."
"Not her," said Rivergal, grasping Reca's head and forcing her to look further down the street. "Him."
Outside of Dumaresq's parlor, a pale demon man stood, keys in hand, flyer in the other. He opened the door-
"Sir! Are you Dumaresq?"
He turned around, smiling warmly without the cold core that has permeated Antikythera's smiles.
"That's me. You here for a palm reading?"
Reca almost said yes, but remembered-
"I only have 5 hollars."
Dumaresq tapped a sign that hung from the top of his open door.
BASIC READING- 3H
COMPLEX READING- 5H
"Huh? Super cheap!"
"I sure hope you haven't been paying much more than that."
Reca blushed and handed over 3 coins. Dumaresq, under the awnings outside his door, took Reca's hand and looked down at it with a strange expression of confusion. Rather than leading her into the parlor, he just squinted and squatted to get a better look at it.
"Uh," said Reca, "I'm looking for whether I'll find somebody I'm searching for-"
Without warning, the palm reader dropped her money back into her outstretched palm.
"...That was quick. So, what's the verdict?"
"Your palms look odd..." he chuckled. "No lines or anything. How'd you do that to them?"
She looked down at her palms and they were as smooth as they'd always been. She had never considered it significant.
"Is that weird?"
Dumaresq gave her an odd look, but didn't actually respond to her.
"...Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help without reading the future."
"Someone with all the answers. Sort of like an oracle, but not. Somebody told me their name, but I forgot."
"Like an oracle but not? You wouldn't happen to be talking about the Re-Oracles, would you?"
"N-"
Reca's blood ran cold.
"Repeat that!"
"The Re-Oracles?"
"That's them! That's really them! How did you know?"
"Well, from your description, there were only a few things it could have been."
"Thank you! Thank you so much! But where can I find them?"
"There's only one here. He lives in an old house near Subgehenna Hill. Not so active these days- he had a trainee for a while, but she left him after he started to go wonky."
"Wonky? You mean he isn't sane?"
"I haven't talked to him myself. Sort of a niche thing, really- he was one of those internet guys."
"Subgehenna Hill, you say? Thank you again."
"Any time," he said, stepping into his parlor and shutting the door with a little wave. Reca forgot all about the fortune tellers' predictions as she ran back to Deca with a bright smile on her face.
"What'd he say?" asked Rivergal.
"Huh? You mean you didn't hear? But you were right there!"
"So what if my hearing's not so great? What, you didn't realize when I was pressing my ear up against the wall just to catch a few words?"
The walls were notoriously thin, after all. It made sense, but Reca didn't feel like enabling her right now.
"We have a location for the Re-Oracle," said Reca, putting her hands on her hips. "And I'm going there right n-"
"Tomorrow," yawned Rivergal, "You have to take me back to the hospital first. My wagon's there."
Reca didn't sign up for this. Either way, the sun was setting, and the heat was making it hard to breathe right now. She could wait until tomorrow, especially with the new information on her side.
As she climbed back into the shotgun seat, though, she pieced together the events of the day. Marigold and Antikythera were currently in the street, waving fists at each other, talking too quietly for her to make out the words. How come their predictions had been so different? Which one was a fraud? Were both of them?
Reca figured she'd go see the Re-Oracle tomorrow and then go back to Oracle Street to tell whichever seer got it right about her correct prediction. For now, though, she turned up the air conditioner and let Deca's maneuvers lull her to sleep.