You figured that as long as you were able to get there safely, without having to compromise too much with ducking through back alleys and the like, that it was worth at least trying to go see one of the seers. You were uncertain that you wished to go see the Romanian woman, knowing how she touted herself as being authentic. You had met many so called gypsy's who had claimed that they could and would curse you to die for the slightest of insults.
You had been cursed by several such of them already for things from not providing them with money when they begged for it, to bumping into them in the street. They were fear mongers, preying on the superstition of people who knew no better, a menace to society that should have been dealt with already.
Of course, nobody in power wanted to risk provoking tensions between the various ethnic factions in the city, not when they had other issues to worry about as it was. The Enlightened were the biggest worry anybody had outside of the things that went bump in the night, that you knew would change in a few days time.
The Clockworkers were going to take down Pride, you were sure of it.
You started to follow the main street as far as you could towards the so called seer's residence, stepping off the main street and onto one of the less travelled side streets as you walked along behind a couple carrying their food back from market.
From there you took the next path alone, walking down a back alley between a number of houses, ones that had all been built square so there was no way in what anybody could hide in here. It was a nice straight passage toward the next street, that you assumed was the one that you were travelling to. If it hadn't been for this alley being so open you wouldn't have dared take it, you told yourself as you traversed it.
From that alley way you found yourself on a run down street, one that had what you took to be the seers house, a house with a faded and flaking sign out the front, one that's door was open but shrouded by hanging beads, feathers and trinkets.
Wind chimes and bells echoed from the house as you approached it, the rattling of beads swaying in the breeze and the scent of incense assaulted your senses. It was all very much like what you'd expect from a fraud, but you were willing to give it a try. You'd come this far after all.
Of course, you had one thing to take care of before you did this.
Ducking back into the alley way, you unwrapped the fillets of fish from the cloth that had been provided to keep it, wolfing it down as you tried yet failed to restrain yourself. You had barely eaten anything as of late, and your body wasn't going to let you deny it nourishment like this. After you had eaten it, composed yourself and ensured you were presentable again you stepped back out from the alley way, making your way over to the seer's home.
As you pushed the screen of beads aside the sight of many trinkets caught your eyes, from skulls with candles mounted on them to dangling and coloured glass beads. The far door in the entrance hall was one that had been closed, while a second door off to what you assumed was a living area lay open.
You peered around the frame of the door to see an old man sat at a table, in a room that had wood panelling and faded green wallpaper on the walls. It was supposed to have looked posh at one point, though now it looked shabby. The man looked up at you, almost disinterestedly as you stepped into the room.
"So, what're you here for, madame?" the man stated, his accent faint at best, betraying how he had likely been here for a long time. "Let me guess, you're here for a reading, to see your future, to know where you will find true love. No?" he shook his head. "No, you are here to waste my time with dream interpretation."
You went to open your mouth to speak, not liking how the man was already taking the words out of your mouth.
"Yes, I am the real thing before you ask. Now, sit down, let hold your hands out and let me get a reading from you," the man muttered, while you stared at him skeptically. He was more than a little weird. "You think I'm going to stand on ceremony and make you feel welcome, when you're an abomination and i'm cursed with visions?"
"How-"
"Please, your very presense assaults my senses, now would you kindly put the money down and let me get this over with?"
You huffed as you slapped the money you had remaining down on the table, settling down at the table as you did so. This man set you on edge with his bizzare mannerisms and attitude, though it wasn't enough to stop you from holding your hands out, watching as the man reached for them. You could feel him tracing the patterns across them, patterns that you could see were not the lines on your palms but the veins beneath them. His hands drifted down, gently grasping your own as he closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
"A thousand cells, a thousand years... An immortal with a misplaced soul... This isn't quite a normal dream you're asking me to assist with," the man muttered as he left go of your hands, leaning away from you as he shook his head slowly. "His thousand years are almost over, he is awakening, they will attempt to destroy him again, to start the thousand year cycle once more..."
You bit down on your lip, you knew you weren't going to like what was coming.
"A lone warrior standing against the armies of man, a noble offering peace and prosperity, a tribal leader using negotiation above all else. I see many lives over the course of history and in all of them he has stood in the way of warlords and tyrants alike. Every lifetime he has reached a thousand years and on the last hour of the last year he has been taken from this world again."
They had offered you the means to do this, they had offered you a tiny silver pin and tried to tempt you to do this. Was it more than a simple test to see if they could tempt you, that they had been looking for someone easily manipulated to do this for them?
"Yes, yes, good bye and good riddance," the man muttered as you almost knocked the chair over backwards while struggling to get out of it quickly. Were you fated to betray him this time, were you the one that they had chosen to prevent whatever would happen when he reached that thousand year mark?
You hurried from the man's home as you tried to make sense of this. As much as this answered, it raised further questions, it left you confused, it left you uncertain. It hadn't made much sense to you either.
As you made your way back toward the main streets, you found yourself wondering what you were going to do next and what you were ultimately going to do about this entire mess?
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Topic: They told me I could be anything... (Read 79201 times)