Cassandra's Tarot

Kael wondered through Lime's stony streets, the lively hum of the upcoming festival dying off as strayed further from the town bustling square. The day was bright but, in the dark and narrow alleyways, the buildings leaned towards each other, casting deep shadows. It was desolate, perfect for his peaceful strolls where he could blow some stress and tiredness away.

Still, he didn't know exactly what had drawn him there, a place where time seemed to stop and air felt heavier than usual. The cobblestone under his feet was uneven and cracked as if that part of Lime was long forgotten, devoid of any human's presence for an along time.

And then something finally caught his attention. A hanging wooden sign.

Destiny will follow you, always.

He looked at the narrow door. Inviting and repellent, like something you desire but are also afraid of seeing. He pushed the door open.

The interior was dim, lit briefly only by the slivers of sunlight slipping through the gaps of boarded-up windows. The dust moved in the air lazily, giving a sign of the flow of time in that awfully soundless place. It seemed devoid of place and it would've been if it wasn't for the big circular wooden table dominating the center of the room.

Two chairs on opposite sides, one occupied by an old man with an old, black wide-brimmed hat and elegant clothing of the same color. His gnarled hands united before a worn and frayed deck of cards.

He lifted his gaze, looking at Kael with sharp eyes before smiling innocently.

“I was waiting you. Please sit.”, his voice raspy and soft as he lifted a hand and indicated the other chair.

“Who are you? And what is this place?”

“No need to fret with questions cause... answers will come with time. And you have plenty, boy.”, the old man collected the strange deck with his fragile yet speedy hands. “Ever met a fortune teller?”

Kael frowned, still wary of that cryptic person, “No.”

“What a shame!”

“You're gonna tell me you're one of them?”, he asked taking his place at the table.

“No, no! I'm not. I'm here to propose you an activity... I hope you at least have saw tarot once in your life.”, he said while shuffling the deck with accuracy.

“... Yes, but I'm not familiar with them.”

“Good, good... Then, let's begin... gentleman.”

In the silence, which marked the end of their slow-paced conversation, the old man quickly dispatched five cards on the table. He looked at Kael with the same smile, crossing his hands again.

“...”, Kael didn't say a word and seemed like thinking about something, “This... tarot. How old are they?”

“Mhh???”, the old man raised an eyebrow.

“Tch... how many times were they used? They look pretty worn.”

His smirk grew and he let out an amused chuckle, “Oh... very, very old. A lot more than you can imagine!”

Kael sighed, frowning even more, “Just go on with this game, old man...”

“Mhpf... as you wish, gentleman.”

The silence fell back in the dilapidated building as the quick and bony hands of the mysterious figure began flipping the cards one by one with cure. His gaze was locked on them while Kael's one went back and fort between the tarot and him. A strange tension grew as the last one was flipped.

In front of the man five uncovered cards, almost pale as their color was washed away by time.

“A dragon...”, Kael looked at the black silhouette of a dragon with four wings on a mosaic background, “... a black flame...”, an extremely detailed pointy and unique dark flame on a white background, “... a giant...”, the image of a giant man, so realistic it resembled reality, “... a children of Death...”

“Huh???”, Kael curiously looked at the tarot but there was nothing on it, just pure black. “Where's the...”

“... and Voyage.”, the image of a lance on a dune made of what looked like dust or ash.

Kael widened his eyes at the sight of the weapon, his hands clenching in his legs. His face slowly moved to look at the old man, who was gazing at the tarot with almost a kind relief. With a sudden movement, a black and long cane, that ended with a small golden ball, materialized in his hand as he got up.

“Remember... I expect great things from you, gentleman.”, he said before disappearing in the dark corner of the room, never to be seen again.

Kael still had to process everything. What had happened, what was that place, who was that man and what was the meaning of those peculiar and old tarot.

Right... I might give them to Ascarin! He'll surely have info...

Just has he turned to collect them... they were gone. They disappeared in thin air. The old man didn't even collect them.

Kael got up from his seat too, leaving the place in agitation.

What did he meant by expecting great things from me?

And he was on his way back home from that lonely, lonely place. And yet, there, everyone had at least entered one time... without even knowing.

That same night

“I'm telling you, Kael... there have been countless sights of strange beings and places all around the continent.”

Kael frowned, not convinced by what he was hearing, “And what do you think about that incredibly tall man I told you about?”. He kept talking as he walked on a little wooden gangway with Mala and Ascarin.

“... I don't know. I asked Hulock to watch out and investigate about this.”, Ascarin disregarded as he got on the boat with Mala.

The mean of transport they were using to get to the Great Void was big and could hold up to four people and had a big room where all goods necessary for a long travel were stored. The wood seemed as black as the water in that peaceful and awfully quiet night. One of the port guards stood at the opposite end of the gangway, holding up a lantern and looking at Kael until he was given the order to let the ship sail.

“He doesn't know...”, he mumbled, “Me neither...”

He got up and signaled the guard with the wave of a hand before turning and walking slowly inside as the tiredness was getting the best of him.

“Wait! Wait for me!”

The voice of a girl made him jump as his eyes widened from the surprise. He ran towards the edge of the boat and looked down; he gasped and frowned with annoyance right after.

“Why are you here, Olivia?”, he hissed.

“Long time! You grew up, my friend.”, she teased walking up the gangway, her long red hair and eyes flashed at the light of the lantern she was holding.

“And you are still a little short, don't you think?”

“Ach! You are still good at finding comebacks... I should have known.”, she stepped in and left two bags on the floor. “Where is my favorite married couple, anyway?”

“With the noise you made, I think they've heard you quite we-”

He was interrupted by the fast and loud footsteps coming from inside the boat and reaching for the top.

“Mala, wait! Don't rush like this to Olivia!”, Ascarin said as her wife appeared from the below deck with gleaming eyes.

“Mala!”, Olivia said excitedly as she hugged her.

“I've missed you so much, ehehehe!”

Ascarin appeared and walked beside Kael, watching the two talking like old friends. He was exhausted after running after Mala and was catching his breath.

“What is she doing here???”, he asked to his friend.

“Tch... if I knew! She went on a two year adventure and now she's back, right before we embark to a dangerous place. She has an instinct for this... or something like that.”

“Yeah... like that time when you went North three years ago and she somehow infiltrated in your boat...”

Kael smirked at the mention of that episode, “And then she proceeded to get lost in that dark and foggy land... She needs to be glad that I didn't leave her there.”

“Was that the place where you met the 14 years old child, the half-elf, the half-orc, the one-eyed archer and the coward barbarian?”

“Indeed... and in some strange way we helped the Sun God against... I don't remember... they called it Chronus.”, Kael crossed his arm while trying to recall his memories.

“The Time God?”

“No... Chronus is what we call Akhtal, so the god of Chaos.”, he corrected.

“Pft... I swear, your adventures span from exploring abandoned caves systems to helping gods with a bunch of strange people.”, Ascarin chuckled amused.

“You can say so...”

As they were talking, Olivia and Mala came close too after finishing their conversation.

“So... do we go now?”, Olivia asked with enthusiasm, as if unaware of the mission.

Kael frowned with annoyance once again, “Do you at least know that we are going in a dangerous place... like the most dangerous ever?”

“Yeah, obviously!”, she smirked widely in a teasing expression, “What? You think your dear childhood friend doesn't know how to fight! Boooooh!”, she laughed heartily like a little girl and disappeared below deck.

“Tch...”, Kael clenched his fists to keep his anger from bursting.

Ascarin walked up to him and patted his shoulder, “Don't give up! I know you can stand her after all.”

“Yeah, yeah... as you say!”

Uberdia, Royal Academy of Mitarsen, Some days before

The guardian of the main class hall snapped back to attention as a female figure was approaching him from the distance of the corridor. He looked as she walked across the plain white marble walls of the academy, stepping with decision on the red carpet on the floor as her long blonde hair moved left and right in a fluid motion, making them look like prized golden silk threads. Her azure eyes were both soft and severe; her long eyelashes gave her the haughty appearance worthy of her high position.

The guardian stood up and bowed his head in sign of respect.

“The professor is in there.”, he said.

“Thank you. You can go now.”, she ordered before opening the big wooden door to the hall.

The big room was illuminated by two giant crystal chandeliers. The tiered auditorium seating were empty while the teacher's desk was a chaos of papers, books, manuscripts and rolls. On a high movable ladder was a man with elegant noble clothes, fidgeting with a chalk in front of a long and high board with sophisticated and complex physic's formulas.

“You're loosing yourself in these problems, Olsted.”, the woman said leaning over the first row of the seats.

The man stood still for a moment and turned around with a curious face, “Tena... what brings you here? You should be training your pupils instead of... making me wobble when I'm trying to think.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but I'm here for an important issue.”

“More important than a conjecture that might change the way we see magic?”

“Yes.”, she responded seriously, crossing her arms.

“...”, Olsted turned to face her from the high of the stair and passed a hand through his dark brown hair. “Tell me then...”

“... two days ago, Kael and Ascarin, a powerful archmage and a noble from the lower levels of Uberdia, had an audience with king Mitir. They got his permission to go into the Great Void and search for the Null.”

Olsted gasped at the mention of that object and had to keep himself from falling from the stair, “What??? The Null... that mystical and mysterious object?”

“Exactly. Messengers have already told us they've started their journey to Lime.”, she remarked.

“Tch... if that object was found, we would know the full answer to this equation!”, he exclaimed raising his arms.

“And yet you're here trying to solve it by intuition.”

“Don't tease me, Tena!”, he furrowed his eyebrows and closed his purple eyes, “Don't forget that intuition is humanity's greatest weapon by far.”

“More than intelligence?”

“Intuition depends on intelligence, so yes!”, he dropped the chalk on the desk under him, which landed with a soft thump on the sheets of paper. “So mind telling me in what way I'm involved in this?”

Tena smiled at the professor's protests, “King Mitir has ordered me and you to go and follow them.”

“Huh???”, he screamed in surprise but didn't object. “Ngh... why me? I'm only a lowly, smart-ass professor...”

“And one of the best ex-adventurers alive!”, she pointed out while keeping her knowing smirk.

He tried to say something but stopped himself, “...”, without a word he descended the movable stair and took the chalk powder off his clothes. “Let's go... you told me they already took off. Send a guy to inform Mitir and to send my regard... maybe even to tell him to go fuck himself.”, he exited the hall.

“Mhh mhh... look who's all fired up now!”, Tena said happily before following him. “The Ministry is upset about this whole sudden mission.”

“Kael is the strongest individual on this crazy continent, so why do we have to help him!?”, Olsted blurted.

“We're not instructed to help, but rather to just observe them and monitor the situation... maybe even recover some lost artifacts or discover new ones!”

“Your attempt to encourage me was measly, try harder!”, he replied annoyed.

“Well, at least I tried.”

She chuckled as they walked across the long corridor of the palace. Their footsteps were the only one they were hearing as their conversation died out into silence.

“...”

“Any news about the Reality Cube?”, Olsted asked with a serious tone.

“... No.”, she responded almost with shame. “But we are positive it's somewhere in the Great V-”

“So there's an ulterior motive to our expedition!”, he stopped and punched the wall to his right, making Tena jump, “Hundreds of archmages, researchers, intellectuals and a lot of money just for speculation! We need answers... and what are you doing to get those answers?”

“... I-I'm sorry. We'll do b-better...”, she said while holding her head down.

“It's okay...”, Olsted turned around after a few seconds, a little regret on his face. “Raise your head, Naya.”

She obeyed and looked at him with surprise, “W-what??? Don't call me by my name!”

“We don't have time for these things... You go and prepare everything, I'll go talk to the Commander.”, he walked off ignoring her outcry.

“Ngh...”, she huffed while her slightly red cheeks pouted. “Fine! Bye!”

As they went opposite way, Olsted sighed and covered his face. He was tired about that whole day and the news of the imminent departure seemed to have brought him even more down. He looked at the big windows on his right as the evening light passed through, the same that was flooding the Commander's office room in the king's palace. It was plain but spacious, no libraries but just one big desk and two chairs – one in front of the other.

The man on one of them was sitting in an obscure portion of the room, away from the dim light. He was looking at his feet while fidgeting with a pen, trying to remember something that he was supposed to write on the report. He looked at the piece of paper on the desk and sighed.

Damned reports... I've gotta do them for every single thing.

He passed a hand on his rough short beard, tapping on the table with frustration. He adjusted the collar of his white shirt and took the paper in his hands.

“What's missing...”, he mumbled to himself ruffing his short black hair.

Knock

“Uhm??? Get in...”

The door opened and Olsted entered the office.

“Olsted? Didn't expect you here!”, the man got up as rays of light illuminated his mature face, “What brings you to my office?”

“Don't pretend nothing has happened...”, he stopped right in front of the free chair, “You are coming with us.”

“Ahh?!”, the man was surprised by that order, “W-what... you want me to come with you and Tena to the Great Void, are you crazy? It's already you two, which is like... enough to destroy half a continent!”

Olsted smirked and took the paper from the man's hands, “Well Tanaka... you might get out of this boring job of yours and practice a bit!”

Tanaka hissed but stopped, “...”, he reflected with an almost dumbfounded expression, “I'm in!”

“Woh, no hesitation from your side...”

Tanaka got up and closed the curtains behind him, rendering the office in the dark, “Let's go! I hope your sister is ready...”

Olsted walked out with him, “Tena is my cousin and yes, she's waiting for us. I hope you're ready for the journey, you old man.”

“Hey!”, he responded offended, “I'm only five years older than you!”, he said rolling his blue eyes.

“35 and 40... I suppose it's not that big of a difference, so I'll give it to you this time!”

“Yeah... sure.”

Somewhere, Some days later

The dark air was filled with noises, clashes of metal, voices, mumbles, feeble screams, loud barks of angry dogs and gut-wrenching ructions of dying pigs, cows and chickens.

A thick curtain of smoke rose from the wooden stands of merchants, butchers and bakers.

The smell was a mix of heavy smoke, old wood, blood and spices.

The floor was hard to navigate, full of rocks, trash and pieces of rotten food reduced by a mush by the quantity of people that walked through that strict passages between the stalls.

Little by little, everyone's attention was caught by a very tall man passing by while covered in a dark hoodie. His pace was quick and firm, as if he knew that way like the back of his hands. His shoulders were robust and he held his face upright, not fearing of showing his face.

Two red marbles-like eyes shone in the empty space of the hood as the only distinct features of his visage.

People instinctively made way for him as they rose their head, almost to gaze the big veil that obscured that cramped and dirty hideout.

Gasps now flew around, mixed with interrupted imprecations and protests.

He kept walking as the high voice of a merchant ringed in the air and then went out like nothing had happened. That made the giant man turn his head. He looked through the slumber behind the stands and he slipped into it. He raised his feet to avoid stumbling into the rubbish on the floor which covered the entire way up to an abandoned big rock building.

It was dark inside but he didn't hesitate to enter.

“Von... You're here finally.”, a raspy old voice came from the opposite corner. “Let's go upstairs on the roof. Selivan and the bastard are waiting...”

The tall man just nodded and stepped to the faintly illuminated and dilapidated stairs. As he heard the click of a wooden stick, he turned around to look at the man who just spoke to him. He was completely covered by a cape similar to his and his hands, shriveled and bony, were holding firm to a thick cane.

They both stared at each other silently until Von got up the stairs with extreme calm.

“You see this hell of a place... and you should be the benefactor of this... immense wasteland?”, a younger and pointy voice talked while sighting the horrible and dystopia in front of him.

A middle aged man was on his knees on his left. His hands were tied behind his back and a bag was put over his head.

“...”

The younger man adjusted the sleeves of his dark cape, “You cannot see it now. But I know for sure you have seen it before. I don't think there's a worst condition for a community to be in!”, he shouted sarcastically raising his arms. “... you're a failure as a man, Yuto. Also as a governor...”

“There's a worst condition a society can be in and it's what you're trying to achieve!”, the man finally replied with fury.

“... I wouldn't talk if I were in you, bastard. You're a dead man.”, the heavy voice of Von concluded the conversation as he took a pig mask from a bag.

“Now you will see the end of what you created with your true face.”, Selivan smirked as he narrowed his green eyes.

“Hey, what are you...”, Von forcefully took of Yuto's bag and put the mask in its place.

“You, governor of the protected city of Vada in the Great Void, oversaw your office and acted as an impudent and greedy tyrant!”, Selivan began once again with an almost triumphant voice, “Citizens put their faith into you and you betrayed them by surrounding yourself with riches and leaving them to rot like pigs and rubbish! They are now in misery! Look at what you've done, old man! Look at what you've done, Yuto! You leave us no choice but to free these citizens of their pain and suffering!”

“Wa-wait! What do you want to do!!!”, Yuto's cry were ignored as Selivan held his hands up.

“Freedom... is death!”

His hands traced a semicircle before clapping.

Crack

A loud crack came from the earth in the distance. After a second of total quiet, a column of plasma came down the whole settlement, reducing it into a dusty crater.

“Ahh... N-no... how... what... you done?”, Yuto's eyes widened through the pig mask. His muffled cries were turned into pig sounds and laments.

“And now... You no longer hold the status of human!”, Selivan shouted in a frenzied-like state, lifting Yuto by the collar, “As you are a pig now! And your punishment... is flaying!”, he threw him off the roof into a pit full of clawed bats, which attacked him with such quickness that nor Von nor Selivan could hear his agonizing screams.

“...”

“That's the last city behind the mountains.”, Von pointed out.

“Yeah... now we're in the clear.”, Selivan continued.

Without any other words, they went back downstairs, leaving the roof as quiet as that dead crater.