Completed Chilled Drink, Skilled Link

[Rohka]

60th of Winter, 520 AV

“I can’t pay you, I have no mizas left. Spent everything I have on my collection, which is fine, because I have materials now, to make the potions I want to sell. Anyways, I have this extra mug I found while I was cleaning, and it’s way better than the one you have in front of you there. Just pour whatever’s in yours into mine and drink it. Go on,” said the Konti.

Reilmai, the Receptionist at Marcel’s Magic Supplies, had heard through the grapevine that there was a reputable fortune teller recovering at the Healing Centre. Having heard the rumour, she needed to check it out for herself. Lo and behold, it didn't take long for the Konti to ask enough questions and gain enough information to find the door to Rohka's room.

The sybil sat upright in bed, playing with her Lheroa Cards, listening. As told, Rohka picked up the mug full of milk on her bedside table and poured the contents into Reilmai's choice of payment.

The sybil raised a brow as she picked up the mug, feeling the cooling exterior. She took a sip.

Rohka couldn't help but let out a deep groan of delight at the refreshing taste, a full body shiver running up her spine.

"Perfect, it works," said the Konti, grinning. "So will you read for me now?"

The sybil smiled, shaking her head at the newness of the experience.

"This is wonderful, thank you," said Roh as she put the new mug back on the table. "Yes, I'd be happy to do a reading for you. Please tell me what you're looking to understand."

"Okay, can I sit here, then? I have to give you a bit of a back-story about me, and I came in early enough so that we could have time for this before the shop opens this morning, so I'm really sorry for waking you up. I just couldn't take no for an answer, okay? And look, I can even check in with the doctors for you, to see if I can--"

"No, please," said Rohka, interrupting the woman. "I don't want any extra help. I don't care how you think it works. I'm tired of it" The sybil's voice carried out in a low, gravelly tone, with a hint of a frustrated misery over the process she was going through in order to heal. The longer she stayed, the more it felt like she was being experimented on, and the less it felt like people were genuinely wishing for her return to normalcy.

The Konti looked back at her dejectedly, like the wind had been taken out of her sails, but she quickly brushed it off and continued on with her purpose for entry.

"I want to know a few things, and I can't figure it out myself, even though I have divination, which is weird right? You'd think I would know, but I don't and that's frustrating. I can only see the past, and the answers aren't really clear enough for me when I'm seeing the chavi, and I never learned fortune telling, so I just really need your help. Can you tell me if my employer loves me? And how I feel about him? I technically love him, I know it, but I was wondering if you could help me understand anything else I'm going through, especially since Marcel is part of the Gracey family and I really don't know if they would accept me fully, and I want to know how I can better myself until they do. Also..."

She paused, twirling the ends of her blond hair.

WC = 604 words

Boxcode credit to Antipodes

[Rohka]

"Can you tell me what I'm missing from my mix? I can't say more than that, okay? I've been working for so long, and doing everything I know how to do, but nothing is working, and I just need a source of divine inspiration to find that piece of the puzzle that I'm missing. If you can give me an idea, it would help. I'll know if you're telling me something good if you manage to spark a thought that I haven't already thought of. So can you do this for me? Please?"

Rohka nodded as she spoke, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. "Sure, come sit up on the bed with me, so you can see the cards better when I lay them out." She picked up the new mug, took another sip and placed it in her lap as she shuffled. Having just woken up a little while ago, her movements were slower, sloppier, and some of the cards fell out of her grasp. A couple cards fell into her mug, and the milk turned into fresh water.

Reilmai's eyes sparkled, having seen the magic, convinced that she was most certainly speaking with the right person.

Rohka on the other hand had to stop herself from wondering whether she was dreaming. These cards had been ones that she'd travelled with for a while, and she'd forgotten this particular drink. Rhysol, the things you help me remember, I swear...

Rohka took another sip of the liquid in the mug. This time, the contents were more than exactly what she needed. She was awake for sure now, and ready to provide a proper reading.

She shuffled again and a card popped out. "The strength card wants to speak to you. It seems you are in the middle of overcoming a great challenge, which is exactly as you've said. You're taming quite the large beast, whether that is your job or your employer, I cannot tell quite yet. Seeing the white dress that the maiden is wearing, I warn you, your strength will come from your pure heart and focus." Rohka placed the card back in the deck and began to shuffle again. It was unclear as to what type of spread this reading required. It would be simple enough to provide a cross spread, but a part of her wanted to give the Konti something new, something that would speak to her need for what sounded like an innovative solution to her dead end. The sybil scratched her head as she thought about what could possibly work. She decided to ask Reilmai a question.

"Mind if I call you Mai?"

"No, go ahead."

"Okay. I'm actually really surprised that you were able to find me here, Mai. How did you hear about my services?"

"A friend of a friend, actually. I'm told you worked for The Mystic Eye. They're well known in Mura. A long-running business, with origins from a forgotten past and connections all around Mizahar. I love learning about the more secretive sides of magic, and even though I know that fortune telling isn't usually thought of as a magic, I know that everything is made of djed, and any craft that deals with the unknown is something I would absolutely call magic. I used my Konti gift to sniff you out too. Your djed trace is strong, your expertise in this skill is practically oozing out of you. Anyways, does it really matter how I heard about you? You should be glad I found you in the first place. I heard you arrived in Zeltiva not long ago. Have you thought about setting up a place for yourself here? I'm sure I could send a few people your way, if you're as good as I'm told that you are. You think you'll stay here, or are you just visiting?"

"I don't know yet, to be honest. Healing first."

"Right, sure," The Konti gave the Rohka an apologetic smile and climbed up onto the bed, her legs bent to the side as she leaned on her hand upon the sheets. "Just so you're aware, and if no one told you this already, although surely someone must have told you this, but becoming a citizen of Zeltiva is really simple, actually." The Konti promptly told Rohka about the Office of the Lord of Council, and about the secretary there named Tranaris Johnson who would help fill the forms.

"Again, it's really only if you decide to stay, which, you know, it's hard to find good fortune tellers around here. So can you..." Reilmai pointed at the deck, and Rohka grinned sheepishly.

WC = 774

Boxcode credit to Antipodes

[Rohka]

"No problem," said the sybil, in answer to the gesture. "You said you have work, so I'll make this as quick as I can. A diamond reading, then. Four cards. Top one will be for how you're feeling about your employer. The one to my left will be for the type of love that currently exists between the two of you. The one to my right will be for Divine Guidance on the growth of the love you want. And the bottom card will be for your Inspired Idea. Since your first ask was about gathering information on love, this bottom card will carry that influence, but I will do my best to read it with your ask on finding out the missing part of your mix. Whenever you're ready, just cut this deck for me, and place it to your right."

The Konti closed her eyes, released a silent prayer into the air, and then went ahead to cut the deck of cards.

"Pull two," said Rohka. "They'll be the first two. I'll pull the last two."

The cards flipped over smoothly. The sybil took some silent ticks to focus on the meanings within.

Top Card: The Magician.
Left Card: The Moon.
Right Card: Death.
Bottom Card: Tower.

"Mai, there's nothing to fear," said the sybil automatically. This was a stronger reading than she'd anticipated. The power in the cards were practically glowing in her mind, causing a slight headache to begin to form. Rohka took another sip from the mug, immediately grateful for this particular form of payment, with the coldness of the water bringing in the clarity she desired.

"Will you allow me a moment to meditate on this?"

"Of course," said Reilmai, in a gentle whisper.

Rohka took in a deep breathe, and then exhaled through her nose. Another breath in, and another out. She kept her attention on the breathing, then her attention on her thoughts, watching the worries and the analysis drift on the stream of her consciousness. She wanted to let it all swirl in her, letting the heavy thoughts sink and the light ones float, the clear ones up into the light for her to speak about with the intention needed for the reading. Breathing in slower this time, she then let her breath out through her lips, releasing the air as if playing a long, sustained note on a flute, with an even tone. In about a chime, she let out all of her air, before breathing in again, and she felt the lightness in her body. A floating sensation, just in her mind. The slow exhale through her lips took yet another chime. The last breathe in, and another breath out. Her eyes had been open the whole time, watching the symbols and images pop up and out at her, seeing the patterns linking, seeing her thoughts flicker between excitement, frustration, confusion, surprise, glee, and utter amazement at the beauty of what she saw.

It was time for her to speak her truth.

WC = 503

Boxcode credit to Antipodes

[Rohka]

"Mai, you are in a period of major change. The Magician as the Top Card tell me that you think your male employer is a manipulator for the benefit of positive influences. He is a helper, and you admire this. You love that he can see the past and the future as he deals with all of the elements that pass through his day to day.

"The Left Card is the Moon Card, and this tells me that the type of love between the two of you is one where you are healing each other's past. This period of time may seem strained, almost illusionary in ways. However, your love for each other is in service to an inner truth that requires the both of you to unearth the emotions that may be laying dormant within you, causing the two of you to suffer in unhealthy silence.

"The Death card to the right is your Divine Guidance. You are being encouraged to start again. To see this time as a new beginning. To understand that the growth of the love you deserve can only come from a deeper sense of self awareness. Seeing the flower on flag, this awareness will be divinely guided towards the purification of the love you seek.

"Finally, The Tower card at the bottom. It is screaming at me. It wants you to know that you are in a period of chaos, though it may not look like it now. Your Inspired Idea is to look for where lightning tends to strike. Look for high places. But also, I should warn you that your natural seeking tendencies are what is causing what will be, without a doubt, a major shift in the way you concoct your mix. This will be like nothing you've made before. I advise you to control the destructive quality that is humming around the aura of this reading. I keep hearing the buzzing of bees and the smell of wet grass after a long period of drought. As an Idea, this is drawing from The Moon card, as I see the parallels in the flames representing creation itself. Take comfort in the notion that the Idea you seek is tied to your continued journey with the one who grows his love with you. If you find both of yourselves falling from something you've built together, worry not, as this is exactly the means to the Idea you wish to use for your mixed completion. Should you wish to prevent damages, seek insights from The Moon. Nourish yourselves with love and you shall ease the major changes coming your way."

Rohka took a moment to look for any further flow of fortune.

"That is all," she said, in conclusion. The sybil looked up from her cards, back to her partner of the day.

WC = 470

Boxcode credit to Antipodes

[Rohka]

The Konti had sat with it, listening intently, in awe and in pain simultaneously. Having worked with Marcel for so long, so much of what Rohka was saying had already rung true to her.

"Rohka, thank you. This helps. It's a start. Your aura sparkles in my vision, I can tell that you're on the verge of over giving already. You think you could tell me more about the lightning though? Just give it a shot for me, will you?"

The sybil breathed in and out before nodding in agreement. "Alright," she said, picking up The Tower card. "You could look at it as if it is a shift in power, favouring you, I'd say. You could also see it as letting go of old thought patterns, and-"

"Yes, that's perfect, yes," said Reilmai, excitedly. "I've been debating the use of a new philtering process for identification. Chromatography." Her eyes lit up as she spoke about it. "Oh this is wonderful, I can't wait. Marcel will be proud, I'm sure of it. He needs this as much as I do. We've been helping the efforts, which I really can't tell you about, but just know that your reading, if it is pointing to what I believe it is pointing to..." the Konti paused, realizing the amount she was revealing.

She climbed out of bed and brushed herself off. "Well, I'll let you know, okay? Feel free to drop by the Magic Supplies shop anytime, I'll be happy to help you out." The Konti then provided a detailed description of how to find the shop, thanked Rohka profusely, and then merrily headed out the door.

Rohka yawned, her stomach growling. She snuggled back into bed and went to sleep.

WC = 288

Total WC = 2,638

Boxcode credit to Antipodes