A Million Cards

[Nephti]

55th Winter 516

Today was going to be a normal day. She was going to forget about everything and anything unusual and take a day off to simple lose herself in Alvadas, to lose herself in the cards. Clutching all her decks tight to her body, the girl move with a slight swing in her step as she let the bunker's music flow through her body. He played from a corner of the Stallion's Rear, with a bawdy tune sung over the top of his music. Nephti casted a smile in the musicians direction, moving to sit at the other corner, the Eypharian who crouched är the side drawing the attention of several of the patrons.

"Cards!" she called out over the noise, voice only straining a little bit, " I will read the cards for you! The future, the past, the present!" She settled on the deck she had taken from Okana's tent, never returned, despite her good intentions to. It was missing cards and she was never certain exactly which; the cards were sticky in her fingers and didn't flow like her other decks; the images were foreign to her and sometimes hard to interpret.

It didn't matter. Half the people in this tavern were just about drunk enough to not see the cards themselves and the other half wouldn't care which deck she was using. It was simply because they were from Syliras, and this, after all, was the closest thing to that city she knew of.

Realising no one had taken notice, she called out again, this time attracting the attention of one of the tables, who also had a pack of cards but were using it for a game rather than fortune telling. "The future? Bah, there'll be no future! Just today, which is all that matters!"

Nephti laughed along, shaking her head, "There is a future and I can read the cards. They know. I'll show you. Or are you too scared to know?" she challenged, smile on her face. The man shook his head, laughing with her.

"Don't believe you! Only real fortune teller is Okana. You rest don't know nothing."

Nepthi smirked at this, "These are her cards. Closes thing to a reading from her."

In the corner of her eye, she spotted a movement. The busker had stopped playing and had been pressed against the wall by an young man, who seemed to be threatening him. Nephti rose quickly, gathering her cards. "Hey," she called out at them, hoping others would notice, and care, too. "Let him go!"

"Or what?" the man hissed back quickly. The busker seemed to be in a perfect position to do something, but fear held him back. Closing her eyes, Nephti raised a hand, the marked hand, and let the gnosis burn with its light, with an attempt to give the busker that little bit of courage he needed to fight back.

The glowing light did as she had hoped and the musician rose a fisted hand, hitting the man who had threatened him hard. With the retaliation, the other man decided it was too much effort and darted off into the street. Shouts followed him and she hoped the little knights would actually do their job.

Aware of the eyes on her, she muttered, "May Priskil watch over you," to the busker, before leaving, not wanting too many questions. It wasn't like Priskil had done something wrong, bit just in case.


.

[Arisia]

She had been sat in the corner of the rowdy tavern, so ply being there for something to do, and to enjoy the music of the busker. She felt at home in the place, it was nice to have a little piece of Syrilas that she could go to. "Cards!" She heard a yell from the other side of the room, and she glanced over. An Eypharian girl held a pack of cards in her arms, and appeared to be fortune telling. It wasn't every day that she saw another fortune teller, and she watched her carefully, curious what she would do. The girl continued to yell out, calling to the crowd of people about her fortune telling, and eventually drew some attention to herself. Arisia watched her as she talked to the table, and perked up when she hears that it was Okana's deck. While she was ignorant about much of the world, being only young, she definetly knew who Okana was. The music had stopped, Arisia looked over, curious to see what was happening, and saw that the busker was being attacked. She stood looking over, half a mind to try and stop it. However the fortune telling girl was arguing with the man who had threatened the busker. Her curiosity peaked when she saw the gnosis mark on her hand, glowing brightly, and the man used the distraction to get away from his attacker. The girl muttered something under her breath and left hurriedly. Arisia sat there for a moment, and then curiosity getting the better of her, she followed the girl. She went up to her with a smile, looking at her with curious eyes,which were strangely colored, one was a bright blue and the other a dark brown. "That was interesting what you did in there, I didn't expect that from a mere fortune telling."

[Nephti]

Someone spoke behind her, the girl spinning quickly to face her. A young woman, staring back at her with strange eyes. One was a blue, but the other a brown. How were they different? Was that even a thing? Hiding her surprise, she smiled at her, deciding it was just an illusion. This was Alvadas, after all.

Nephti found herself laughing at the woman's words, sticking a hand out in greeting. It was the marked hand, tilting it so the gnosis mark was clearly visible to both of them. "Mere fortune teller?" she giggled, finding it very funny, "A fortune teller is never... mere. She is very clever and powerful. If she is good." She had learned so much as a fortune teller. People told her things they wouldn't tell anyone else. People had come to her speaking of betrayal and cheating on spouses and plans to run away or fight back or do something they didn't want people knowing. They had to ask, so they could have their answers. She had never even realised the power she had. "People tell me things. If I wanted..." But she didn't want to. It was a secret they entrusted to her and she would never use it in the wrong way.

She shook it away, deciding to address the gnosis instead. "It is a gift from Priskil. I can make light, which makes others have hope and brave - be brave. She is a kind goddess and I want to be too." She shook her head again. "But I am scared too. That is why I left." She was silent for a minute, then lifted her head, eyes bright and mouth wide with a smile.

"But I am Nephti. What is your name?" she asked gently, curious.

[Arisia]

Seeing her surprise at the eyes before she quickly masked it, Arisia spoke. "You're curious about the colours? My eyes are a condition I was born with, its more common with cats than any other living creature." She spoke as if she had repeated this many times, but not as if she was impatient. Her tone was soft, yet excitable. She shook her hand with a smile and looked at the gnosis mark, she had seen them before, but not this one. She heard the girls giggle and her words and then smiled, "Ah, I didn't mean that as an insult to fortune tellers, that would be quite hypocritical, as I am one myself, don't you think?" She laughed to herself, with a smile. "I consider myself to be a good fortune teller, though I still have lots to learn about the craft, and I do get told a lot by the many people I meet." She listened to the girl speak of her gnosis, with curious wide eyes and a gentle smile on her face. Arisia was extremely curious about religion, not knowing much about it, as her guardian hadn't liked to speak of it often. She thought to herself why she would be scared, and then realised Morwen, she understood why she would be scared, as there had been a distrust of the gods and goddesses since the law on the killings had been passed. She answered her next question joyfully, "Oh I didn't introduce myself, I am Arisia."

[Nephti]

"So it is real?" Nephti asked, unable to help herself, "I thought it was illusion? But why do you say cats?" The girl shook her head, a little confused. Her eyebrow furrowed slightly, confused at the tone and the way the woman said it too. Hopefully, she would elaborate a little more.

Nephti's face lit up with the next thing the woman said. "A fortune teller?" she repeated, clearly impressed and excited, "With cards, or with something different? You must know what I mean. People trust us to tell them the future so trust us to keep their secrets. I never realised it before." She paused for a second, before continuing. "We are all good. But we all can learn. In everything."

Then she smiled again, becoming less serious with a small giggle. "It is nice to meet you Arisia." Noticing her curiosity in the gnosis mark, Nephti held it out even more, so the woman could see it even more clearly. "I can show you when it works, too?" she suggested, wondering whether the woman would be interested, "Do you know much about Priskil?"

If the woman said no, Nephti would be more than happy to tell her everything about the goddess she called her goddess. There was so much to say - how the goddess spread hope and light, how she thought mortals and gods were on the same level, the stories behind her and her lover. There was so much to say and Nephti was eager to say it. But first, she wanted Arisia to share more too, for the Eypharian could be as curious as the other.

[Arisia]

"Yes, it is real." She smiled, unsurprised that the girl had thought it was an illusion, as this was Alvadas, the main reason she had came here was to see the wonderful illusions. "I say cats, because I am one, kind of. I'm a Kelvic." She grinned, "With cards mainly, but I used Rune stones too. Yes, I learnt when I was younger not to abuse to trust of my customers, I had a great teacher." Arisia agreed with a nod "Yes, everyone can always learn more." She smiled upon hearing more about the gnosis, extremely curious. "I don't know much about any of the gods or goddesses, I just haven't really had a chance to learn about them, though I do wish to."

[Nephti]

When she called herself Kelvic, Nephti found herself not believing the woman. The Kelvic were more like animals, weren't they? All she knew about them was that they were slaves, animals that took the form of humans and bonded with real humans. This woman seemed far too... Human to be one of them.

But that was the wrong way to think. A lot of things she thought she knew from Ahnatep were wrong. One of those was slavery. So perhaps her views were a little too shielded from the true nature of Kelvics. Perhaps they were far greater than the things she had been taught. "Tell me more. Of the Kelvic. I know but not well. I am sorry, but I know Kelvic only as a slave." She hung her head in shame as she said this, hoping the woman wouldn't hate her, or judge her too harshly. When she had accepted that, she had been so young. She had known nothing different. At least now she was trying to move past this.

Then, changing the subjects back to fortune telling, she grinned, saying, "Rune stones? Can you show me? Teach me, maybe, too? I want to learn but I do not know what the runes say. Can you teach me to read them?" Her curiosity was sparked at every type of fortune telling, especially types that didn't use the cards she knew and loved. Perhaps this woman didn't have them with her to show them now, but even if she suggested meeting later, Nephti didn't mind.

Just as Nephti showed interest in things Arisia knew, the woman found the gnosis interesting, the Eypharian finally bringing her hand back down to rest normally. "I can teach you. Priskil, and more, but more I do not know well. But Priskil, yes. She is the goddess of hope, and light, and vigil- vigilance," she stumbled over the last word, blushing slightly at her speech, "Lots of gods think Eypharians, humans, Kelvic are all not as good. But Priskil, she is kind and she loves us all, and she understands us. Her work is to bring hope and light, because we all need it." Nephti paused, wondering whether she needed to elaborate.

Finally deciding to tell it, she spoke of Priskil, and Aquiras and the dreaded god Sagallius. "Priskil loved a god, Aquiras. He is god of travel and doors. She had he, and he had she. That was all they needed. Long ago, people forgot about them. They did not care for they did not need people to remember. But a man,Sagallius, evil, came and killed Aquiras. Sagallius took power and became god. Aquiras died. But Priskil had hope. She took him to secret place to hide and protect. And now, when watchtowers give light, it is the light of Priskil. She gives her light as sad and hope and shows to all the world. So one day she can have Aquiras and love back." Nephti smiled as she told the story, well aware of how badly she butchered it. Hopefully, the massage would be clear, despite her inability to speak properly. "Is there other god, you want to hear?"

[Arisia]

She smiled at the girl and her question, not offended, she didn't know much about life, but luckily she had been educated a lot about her race. "Kelvic slaves are often ones who are bonded with someone before they reach maturity, they are less intelligent and more animalistic, more like a loyal pet than a person. I and others who are aged without bonding too early grow into normal people, we have normal thoughts and normal intelligent, though a few racial quirks." Smiling upon hearing her interest in the rune stones., she spoke "They are actually simpler than tarot cards, if you learn the meanings of the stones, I could teach you sometime, if you wanted. I don't use them that much though." She grinned at the girl, glad that she seemed interested In her rune stones, and in being more open to her race. It must have been hard learning about a race from someone with slaves. she thought to herself about how easy it would be to form an opinion like that, and shook away the thoughts. Listening intently, genuinely interested in Priskil and other gods and goddesses. "I would like to learn more about Priskil and any other religions, the person I lived with for the first part of my life did not like to speak of it, so I do not know much about it." She spoke again after the Eypharian told her the story. " We do all heed hope in our lives, and that it a beautiful story." She thought for a moment at her next question "I don't think so, really." She smiled, happy to have learnt more about Priskil.

[Nephti]

Nephti listened intently as the woman talked, trying her best to understand and absorb the information. So the slaves she had known, the Kelvic, were like pets - it was their nature, not just the memories of a girl who didn't quite understand the world but pretended like she did anyway. And this woman wasn't like them because she hadn't bonded. At once Nephti had a million questions about the bond and about what it entailed.

She had once bonded before, with a Kelvic. But it had been a young one, a young bird Kelvic, and she had treated it, no, him, like he was one of her toys. But that had been ages ago and wasn't a real bond. Once her parents had sold him (it had to have been them, she now knew) she had almost forgotten about him. "And bonding? Tell me more. I want to learn. I want to learn the true." Not true, truth, but she didn't know the word in common.

"Simpler?" she continued after Arisia had spoken about runes. The word was familiar but she couldn't understand it. It was more... something. "I do not know what simpler is," she finally smiled, avoiding eye contact with the strange eyes for a moment, slightly embarrassed. "But I want you to teach me. Maybe we can see other again? So you can teach?" Nephti hoped the woman would agree with that. The Eypharian wanted to learn, but she wanted to focus on learning it without distractions. At the moment, her mind was on Kelvics and Priskil and everything else. Useless for learning.

Nephti began to wonder about Arisia's first part of life, with the person who did not like to talk about gods. "Why not?" she asked, curiously, before elaborating, realising that after her story the context was gone, "Why the person not like gods?" Pausing, she stopped to think about it. The gods were so important in everyone's life. Whether they realised it or not. It was important to learn.

[Arisia]

She listened curiously to her question, and smiled, happy that she could answer it. "True? Oh you mean truth." She paused for a second and then continued. "Young kelvic bonds are easy to break, and cause the kelvic to be more like a pet, as I said. Bonds with older kelvics are harder to break, and sometimes its very hard to recover from that, as they are emotionally deeper." Arisia frowned as she realised that the girl didn't speak common fluently then tried to explain "Simple means easy, or not as hard." She hoped she understood, and she continued, answering the Eypharians next question "Yes, I will teach you about rune stones, if you want." She smiled happily, before an idea formed in her head "Teach me about Priskil in return, okay?" Upon her next question Arisia sighed. "I do not know why she didn't like to talk of religion, though she knew the gods and goddesses existed. She was just very adamant about not talking of them." She wished she had known more about the woman before she passed away, but she smiled at the Eypharian anyway.