"I am..." ********************************************** Arcana Started by: Scott Schimmel This Chapter by: Segev Chapter 43: What is in the Cards ********************************************** "Who am I...?" Soft light falls across a dark table. A child's pale hand seems to glow with the reflected light as it picks the top card from a deck. Turning it over, the High Priestess is placed on the table. "This is..." *** The High Priestess pretended not to notice the intruder until he heard a small voice ask, "Do you still seek the return of the Fool?" The biseinen walked over to stand in front of the young girl in pale red robes. She was looking around his room in disgust, noting the large, silk-covered bed that dominated it. "I also want the Page of Cups," he answered. "What do you offer, little Arcana?" Anger and disgust crossed the child's face before she spoke. "The Page is mine!" she yelled before getting control of herself. When she continued, it was more calmly. "However, I can tell you where to find the Magician and her Fool..." "The Fool is mine! Never the Magician's--" "Be that as it may," interrupted the smaller Arcana, "if you seek his affections, you will need to take them without dominating his will. I offer this, if you leave the Page to me," said the girl, offering a small chalice with a thick, sweet-smelling liquid in it. The High Priestess took it in one graceful hand, then reached out the other to brush the girl's pretty face with his long fingernails. "Ah, such a sweet girl," he crooned. "Why don't I just keep you and your Page as toys as well as the Fool?" The girl grimaced at his touch. "That would be...unwise. And unacceptable." She stepped backwards, away from his hand. "If you seek the Magician and her Fool," the Priestess grimaced at the girl's reference to the Fool being the Magician's, "then you had best hurry. They will be in the Tower Reversed soon, and there even you can't get at them." With that, the girl stepped into a shadow and vanished, leaving the High Priestess alone in his room. "Ishido, my Fool, this bond not even Death will sever," he said, laughing with quiet malice as he considered the liquid in the chalice. *** The hand places the King of Blades on the table alone. The World is placed above it, and to its left is the Chariot. "They are..." *** Rustum Cutterson Date-Smith placed a white stone on the 19 by 19 grid, surrounding a small group of black ones. He took the captured stones off the board. went a black stone. "You win again, Attorney Date-Smith," conceded World. "Why Go instead of our usual game of Chess?" The King of Blades smiled. "I just thought a change of pace would be nice. Besides, this game will be more useful for looking into the matter you asked me about. Why did you quit so soon? You could have made a comeback," he said, indicating the many open spaces left on the board. "Not that it matters to the divination, I'm just curious," he added. "I have lost at this point," explained World, "and we have company." She gestured, and the room seemed to change subtly. Though it still appeared like his office, it no longer had the feel of being his. The colors were too sharp, for one thing. For another, there was a blatant impossibility: a beautiful blue-eyed woman was sitting in one of his chairs. "I hope you don't mind, I thought it would be easier to conduct business in my world, given Victory's...special condition. I didn't wish to conduct a conference in a parking lot." So, this was World's private little world behind her blindfold. Figured. "Very well. I believe that it was the Chariot who called this conference, so why doesn't...she?...tell us why we're gathered here." "The Hierophant has interfered once too often with each of us. He must be removed. I require my human assistant back to accomplish this." Rusty leaned forward at this. "What has happened to dear old Will? Last I'd heard, he was planning on leaving Japan for a while in a week or so." The woman with blue eyes looked angry for a moment. "He has been arrested. I believe that the Queen of Pentacles may have been behind it. I request your assistance to get him out, as your methods would be more...acceptable to the humans who run this world than would be mine." "Why should we help him?" asked World. "He hasn't been much help to us so far, and I fail to see what he can offer now." Rusty shook his head. "I'd be more than happy to help him out, just for old time's sake. He has been my friend for years, even when he was in trouble with the law before. He'll be released on bond by the time you pull in front of the Police Station." The blindfolded woman sighed. "What does this have to do with us? We need the Queen of Pentacles as a tool for Hierophant's downfall, and Willard Milliner will hold a grudge against her if he shares your suspicions. Would it not be better to wait until our plans are more firmly in motion before releasing him?" "I cannot function to my fullest extant without him, and I will not." The King of Blades shrugged. "It is of little concern. Maki has the most complete Court of any of us that I know, but if necessary I can begin to call in mine. Will will be freed and waiting for you, Chariot. We can proceed from there." He stood and faced the two female Trumps in a manner of conclusion. "If that is all, Ladies, we can adjourn this meeting. World, if you would?" The blindfolded woman nodded, and suddenly the blue-eyed beauty was gone, and the office was again his own. A loud engine revved outside, and the sound of a car pulling out of the parking lot could be heard even through his office's third story window. "Really, World," said Rusty as he turned to the Trump, "I was quite surprised to hear you speak against helping my old friend, given your relationship with the man." The woman actually looked taken slightly aback for a moment, then she smiled calmly. "You really are perceptive, King of Blades. No one else has realized. I trust you will not tell on me?" Rusty laughed, "No, not even to Will." Still with that small smile, World asked, "And, about that matter I asked about earlier?" The King of Blades walked over to the Go board and studied the layout of the black and white stones. It truly was obvious that White would have won eventually, at least to his eye. But he was looking deeper, to See what larger pattern was reflected in the pattern of stones. Any form of strategy would have worked for the divination, but this particular game left its history largely intact and so provided a better basis for the future. After a couple of minutes, he looked up and answered World, "That which you have protected is protected still, and no one is the wiser. The future is constrained, but with several distinct possibilities. I cannot tell which one that which is sealed is, only Fortune could determine that--and only if the protection of World were to weaken." He studied the blindfolded gaze. "But you don't want to know, or really care, do you," he said, his tone clearly indicating that it was a statement. World stood up and bowed. "Thank you for trying. What you told me was...reassuring," she said, her expression unreadable as usual. She turned and walked out of his office. The King of Blades turned back to the Go board, studying the layout again. He sighed, allowing an expression of worry onto his face now that there was no one to see it. "Things are coming to a head. Matters I hadn't expected to be dealt with in this game are far too clear for such a simple layout. Something big is coming. I'm sorry, little ones, but it is time for this King to hold Court." He walked over to a glass case wherein was displayed a highly ornate stone-and-precious-metal chess set. The pieces were silver for one side, gold for the other. The Kings pawn for the gold side was missing- -Rusty had swept the gold dust off of the square when the piece had spontaneously crumbled. He took out both Knights and the Queen and set them on his desk before sitting down and facing them. First he touched the Queen, and softly said, "My dear, it is time. I'm afraid I must summon you now after all." He studied the two Knights for a moment. Unlike his Queen, he had never met his Knight or his Ace, so could neither communicate with them directly nor predict their responses to being summoned. Taking one Knight figurine in each hand, the King of Blades issued a summons so strong as to be a compulsion. Then he picked up the phone and made a few calls. Will Forrester was waiting for Victory when the Jeep arrived. *** To the right of the King of Blades are placed the Knight and the Ace. Below the King is the Queen. The child's hand reaches out to the position above the Chariot and to the left of the World and places the Hanged Man perpendicular to the other cards, top pointing at the World. Placed to the left of the Hanged Man with its top to the former's bottom is the Hierophant. *** The Hanged Man hovered upside down just above the window to the office of Rustum Cutterson Date-Smith, Attorney at Law, with a thread stringing from his hand to the inside. "World and the King of Blades inside with Chariot outside. What were you three plotting in World's private world? What is your secret, World, and what are you protecting?" he whispered to himself as he reeled in his listening line. Hierophant would be most interested in learning of this meeting. *** There are three face down cards lying in a column above the World. The pale hand touches the one directly above the World to turn it, and a vision of a dagger-like crystal on a cord flashes, briefly obscuring the layout of the cards. "This one is blocked," says a soft, puzzled voice. The hand reaches for the card above the blocked one and turns it: the Knight of Pentacles. The hand hovers in a dissatisfied way over the blocked card before returning to the deck and taking the top card. Turning it face up, the hand places Temperance on the table—top half next to the bottom half of the Knight of Pentacles, bottom half next to the top half of the blocked card. "Who are they?" *** "Hey, Chris, let's play this one," suggested Atsuko. "I've never played it before." And besides, it looked like one that the players cooperated in. She didn't feel like fighting him today. Chris Forrester looked at it and grimaced. "Dungeons & Dragons? That's a rather old game in America." He looked at her, and continued, "But if you've never played it..." He walked over and put in some money. Atsuko joined him. He selected the Elf, and she selected the Archer. They were about to begin when a familiar voice spoke behind them. "May I join you?" asked the old man that Chris had first met here. "Sure," said both children at the same time, then looked startled at their identical responses. "Thank you," said the elderly gentleman as he put some money in the machine and selected his character: the Dwarf. Time flew as they played, hardly talking. The Elf and the Archer worked together as if telepathically linked, and the Dwarf helped them out of difficult situations. After the fifth time the Elf died, Chris turned to the old man. "How do you keep from dying?" He smiled as the Dwarf dispatched a kobold that was about to kill the Archer. "You need to learn patience. You're too impetuous. Learn when not to act." Chris looked at him strangely, then turned back to the game just in time to see his elf dying again. "Chikuso!" Chris and Atsuko finally gave up on the game when even the Dwarf died against the Red Dragon. "I think I've had enough of this game, Atsu. Let's go eat, my treat." Atsuko shook her head. "It's my turn to pay. You've paid the last three times." "But the guy always pays on a date!" said Chris. Then he heard what he'd said. Both youths blushed at the same time. "A d- date?" asked the girl. The boy put his hand behind his neck, looking nervous. Then he straightened up and said, in a voice of mock seriousness belied by the emotion in his eyes, "Atsuko, will you go out with me?" Atsuko responded in the same tone, and with the same genuine emotion, "I'd love to." Chris looked slightly nervous again. Holding the back of his neck, he said, "I... guess that makes you my girlfriend, doesn't it." Atsuko nodded. "Then, I guess I should give you something; you had said this was nice..." Chris reached behind his neck and lifted a cord over his head. It pulled the crystal on the front of his shirt. As soon as the crystal was no longer in contact with his body, he froze. A tingling sensation permeated his entire body. Where could this be coming from? What could be causing it? Atsuko was shocked. There was an incredibly strong impression of an Arcana nearby--stronger even than that coming from the old man. The tingling sensation seemed to resonate with her own power as the Knight of Pentacles. And it had started as soon as Chris had removed the pendant... She reached out and grabbed his wrist. Atsuko reached for his wrist, and the tingling sensation became almost unbearable when they touched. Chris tried to jerk away, but her grip was too strong. "Come with me," said the girl he had thought was going to be his girlfriend. "We need to talk in private." "What's going on? What are you doing to me?" asked the now frightened youth. "I'm not doing anything that you're not. Come on, Chris," she looked at him pleadingly, worry plain in her face, "You're in danger until we figure out which one you are. If she finds out..." "Finds out what? Which what am I? Huh?" he squeaked as Atsuko pulled him out of the arcade. She had to find out which card he was and make him work for her Queen. If she saw him as a threat...No! She wouldn't even think about what Maki would do to this boy. She already knew what she had been ordered to do to his uncle. Temperance smiled as he watched the Knight of Pentacles drag Chris from the Arcade. Bending down, he picked up the crystal pendant where the boy had dropped it. "So, World, you too know the value of secrecy." *** Tentatively, the hand reaches toward the blocked card again. When there is no vision indicating a block, it is turned over to reveal the King of Pentacles. Satisfied, the hand reaches for the top card, and turns over the Queen of Pentacles. "She is..." *** "Kurayami Maki," said Keisuke, annoyance plain in his voice. "The one and only. And I think we've got some talking to do." Keisuke turned away from her. "I don't have time for this right now." Maki smiled when the boy ran into the barrier of her field. "I must say that your fashion sense is terrible. But the view from the rear isn't bad, I suppose." When he turned to face her, self-consciously hiding the open back of the hospital gown and blushing furiously, she smiled even wider. "What do you want, Maki. I'm in a big hurry," he said, sounding annoyed, tired, and impatient. "I merely want to talk like civilized people. There's no need to be rude," said the Queen of Pentacles. "You have abandoned me again." Her voice took on a whining tone before returning to a serious scold. "I know you don't want anyone to get hurt, but when you refuse to even perform the simplest request... I don't know what to do with you, Knight of Wands." Inexplicably, the boy's mouth twisted into a bitter smile, as if in response to a terribly painful joke. "I have other duties, now. I don't belong to you anymore, if I ever did." "I thought we had already discussed this, Keisuke. We need to all be united to have peace, to ensure that no one gets hurt anymore." Maki's expression was pure innocence. Keisuke was contemptuous as he responded, "And I no longer even have the illusion of a choice. Tend to your own Court, Queen of Pentacles; I must serve mine. Lower this field. I have to go see a friend." "So, you've discovered that your control of fields doesn't extend to this one, have you? I won't lower the field. We can walk together, however, if you wish. I'm a reasonable girl." She was pleased with his expression and body language as he stood there, studying the ground. He looked beaten. Obviously, he had managed to get healed somehow, but he didn't seem to have much spirit left. When he looked at her, she was disappointed. The defeat she had been expecting in his eyes wasn't there. What was there instead was a profound tiredness. He seemed somehow above her, as if she didn't matter. This made her angry. Nobody looked down on her. "What's the matter, Keisuke? Are you mad at me?" she pouted, trying to provoke him in some way. "We won't go anywhere until you agree to talk to me and listen." He shrugged. "We aren't going anywhere. I'm going alone. Now lower your field." His voice was polite, even a bit formal, but it lacked the pleading tone she expected and craved. Maki was about to berate him for his rudeness to a Queen when the revving of a loud engine interrupted her. Startled, she turned to see the Chariot pull into her field behind her, its obnoxious human companion climbing out of the driver's seat. "Hello, Maki," said Will Forrester. He didn't look at all happy with her. Maki put on her innocent girl mask. "Hello Uncle," she said so cheerfully as to be insulting, "I'll talk with you in a moment, but first I need to finish with Keisuke, here, 'kay?" Will smiled viciously. "With who? We seem to be alone, my charming niece," he answered. Maki turned to indicate the boy behind her, but he was no longer there. *** As the pale arm pulls back to draw another card from the deck, the hand touches the World briefly. *** World sat before a kitchen table, setting up a Tarot layout. She would see what further information she could get on top of that provided by the King of Blades. As she turned over the cards, her expression became more and more unreadable--a sure sign of concern with this woman. When she turned over the last card to reveal the King of Pentacles, she reached up and removed her blindfold. Francine Forrester leaned forward, burying her face in her hands with her elbows on the table scattering the reading. "Oh, Chris, why did you have to take off your crystal?" she asked, crying softly in the empty house. "I had hoped that you at least could stay uninvolved." *** As the freshly drawn card is turned over, it turns out to be two. The Magician and the Fool are set side-by-side on the table, touching each other and situated above the High Priestess, which is moved to lay across the two of them, in a position of opposition. "These two are..." *** Hotaru thought for a moment. "Very well then, tell me about the Queen of Pentacles... or this girl named Maki..." "Kurayami," Ishido finished, "Kurayami Maki. She is the Queen of Pentacles," said Ishido. "She is the one who ordered me to kill you the first time we met. She wants to be the Empress, and had thought that you were she. She also has a tendency to kill anything that isn't useful to her." Hotaru nodded. This was new information, but not particularly surprising, given the way her life had been going recently. It was almost reassuring to know that two of her main enemies were actually the same person. But that wasn't all she wanted to know. "Is that possible? I mean, for her to become the Empress? And does she have some claim on Hanako?" "I don't know; and yes," answered Ishido. "I have never heard of one Arcana becoming another, but that doesn't mean it is impossible. And Maki already has Hanako--in fact, before the High Priestess captured me, I saw the Page of Pentacles in her Queen's home." "Little Hanako... Well, hopefully she'll be all right. Wait, what was that you'd said about the High Priestess? What does she want?" The mention of that card made Hotaru angry, though she didn't know why. Ishido looked at her oddly. "You mean you don't know? The High Priestess is the card most directly opposed to the Magician. This one is male; I guess that is to parallel our Magician being female. He captured me and brainwashed me, then sent me out to kill you. When I think of some of the disgusting things that sick bastard made me do..." Ishido shuddered. "He is sadistic and cruel. I hope never to have to deal with him again." Hotaru shuddered as well. "You also mentioned Death, and him doing something to me. What did you mean?" "Harlequin interrupted me when I was trying to kill you, Firefly. He knocked you out and threatened to kill you himself. In the dazed state that the High Priestess' control had me, I wouldn't let anyone else have your life. I didn't notice until I looked back on the encounter after the High Priestess' spell was broken, but I think that Death was possessing Harlequin. His--" "Wait," shushed Hotaru. "I heard my mom downstairs. She's home early! If she finds me in bed while a boy is in my room...!" She looked at Ishido who nodded and stepped outside of her door quietly. Hotaru got up and completed her dress quickly and joined him in the upstairs hall. "You should stay in bed--" began Ishido. "Really, I'm fine," whispered Hotaru. "Now come on. Let's go somewhere we can continue our conversation." They got downstairs and headed for the front door. "Hotaru, where are you going? Who's that with you?" called her mother from the kitchen. "It's Ishido, Mom!" called Hotaru as she opened the door and practically shoved the boy out. "He's just here to pick me up for our...um, date!" She quickly stepped out the door and closed it behind her. When she turned to face Ishido, she found him looking at her with an amused expression on his face. "'Our date'?" he asked with a smirk. Hotaru was mentally kicking herself. It had been the only thing she could think of at that moment. "We needed an excuse for us to leave together, didn't we?" The Joker nodded. "Of course we did. Well, I guess I'd better treat you to dinner, then--just to keep up appearances, of course." Hotaru looked at him seriously and started walking off. "As nice as that sounds, Ishido-kun, I think we should get to the Tower Reversed. We should see if any of the others are there." Joker followed his firefly. A small child in pale red robes was walking towards them, carrying a gold chalice in her hands. As she approached, the tingling sensation in the air indicated that she was Arcana. Ishido stepped forward, interposing himself between his Firefly and this mysterious child. "Who are you?" he demanded. The girl continued waling towards them. She giggled as she answered, "I am the goddess of love." Ishido wasn't amused. "I know you're an Arcana. Which are you? What do you want?" She stopped a half step away from the two Trumps. Looking up at both of them, she quietly said, "I have come to do you a favor, and to give you a warning. She took the remaining half step towards them, and spilled the contents of her chalice on the ground between them. A sweet odor filled the air, making Hotaru and Ishido slightly dizzy for a moment. Ishido reached down to help the little girl in the pale red Korean kimono up from where she had fallen when she tripped over them while running with her drink. Laughing kindly, he asked, "Are you alright? You shouldn't run in a kimono, especially with so many people about." He indicated the crowds of people out in their kimonos for the festival. Hotaru smiled at her. "Oh, dear, you spilled your punch everywhere. Here, go buy yourself another," she said, offering a 500 yen coin to the girl. The child shook her head, refusing the money. "I still have to warn you. The High Priestess won't give up easily. He is not defeated yet." That said, she turned and ran off into the crowd, leaving Hotaru and Ishido alone. Ishido looked at his Firefly. "How did she--?" Hotaru shook her head. "I don't know. Strange little girl, wasn't she?" she commented, smiling. Then, she reached out to straighten the belt of Ishido's kimono. She thought he looked quite handsome in it. "It doesn't really matter right now, though. We already knew that the High Priestess wasn't gone forever, though. However, we promised each other: no Arcana talk on this date!" "True," replied Ishido as he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to look into his. "You are beautiful, Firefly," he said as he kissed her. "I wish you could wear a kimono every day." The two walked off hand-in-hand, enjoying the festival and each other. From the shadows cast by a building in the evening sun, the girl in red robes watched the pair walk off in their own private dream—all unpleasant thoughts of enemies, or responsibilities at the Tower Reversed, forgotten until the dream faded with the coming of dawn. "Ward your Fool well, Magician," she said as she stepped past the shadows and into the dreamscape. "This is only a brief reprieve. The High Priestess will try to take him back before much longer." *** The King of Cups lies with the Queen placed below it. To his right lies the Page, and above him lies the Ace, which lies below the two cards covered by the High Priestess. The hand hovers above the Court of Cups. "They are..." *** An androgynous boy in flowing robes of pale blue greeted an equally androgynous girl in pale red. "Welcome to our Court," he said, bowing politely. "I thank thee, Page," responded the other. "It is good to be back. I trust thou art well?" The Page of Cups visibly relaxed now that the formalities were over, and his smile for the other was less sad and introspective than usual. "Better now that thou art here. I have missed thee, Ace." The other smiled, small but warmly. "I was sleeping. My Prince never came to kiss me awake." The Page blushed, and spoke quietly, "I had other obligations, and am but a Page. Like thee, I served a purpose betwixt the times of our King's call. But lo, our Queen approaches." A pretty woman in her middle thirties walked out of the darkness and sat at the broken table. She wore a red gown with elegantly simple embroidery and had a simple crown of gold on her head. "Ace, stop teasing the Page. You two should be careful lest ye become the next Lovers," she said quietly, amused indulgence in her voice. Both children blushed furiously at this and fell silent while pretending nonchalance. The children suddenly stiffened to attention, and the woman became attentive. "We are almost gathered, my Lord," she said, quietly. ACE, MY QUEEN, PAGE. WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR COURT. WE ARE NEARLY COMPLETE, BUT OUR KNIGHT SEEMS TO BE MISSING, echoed a voice that made no sound. The Page stepped forward. "He has gone to perform an act of mercy. I told him to come back when he finished. I'm sorry, my Liege," he said as he bowed to the shadowy presence now standing behind the table. HE IS NEEDED. HIS SELF-APPOINTED MISSION IS SECONDARY. RETRIEVE HIM THAT WE MAY BEGIN TO MOVE INTO THE TOWER. The boy bowed. He turned, and walked out into the dream, seeking the Knight of Cups. When he was gone, the shadowy presence turned to the remaining child. HAVE YOU COMPLETED YOUR ASSIGNED TASK? The girl nodded. "The Magician and the Fool will be too...occupied...to even go to the Tower, let alone interfere with our plans there." *** Fortune, the Tower Reversed, the Two of Cups, the Page of Pentacles, and the Two of Wands lie together in a cluster somewhere to the left of the Court of Cups. "And they are..." *** Natsu hovered worriedly over Tetsuya, the Knight of Cups who was sitting in the Knight of Wands' chair. He was still unconscious, and not detectably breathing. If he weren't still warm, the others would have thought he was dead. Hanako finally gathered enough courage to speak her question. "Does this mean that Tetsuya is the Knight of Wands now?" Surprisingly, it was Miyuki that answered. "No, he isn't. He isn't even Arcana any more. I can't See any power in him. Rather, it's as if he could become the Knight. He could die instead, though." Fortune was nervous. She could See how things would play--the two strongest paths of possibility the skeins could follow. One, Keisuke returned to the Tower Reversed alone, and saved Tetsuya's life. That road led to her continuing to exist as she was now. The other, Keisuke returned in a company that took over the Tower Reversed. This skein could end in the return of her body as events unfolded from this change. It was a dilemma, as Tetsuya would die to save her. Which path should she choose? Tetsuya's life, or her own? Tetsuya wasn't even Arcana anymore, but did that give her the right to choose her life over his? If she didn't act, the choice would be taken from her. Miyuki hovered in the middle of the Council room, considering the slowly dying boy and weighing his survival against the prospect of regaining her body, in an agony of indecision. Tower saw Miyuki thinking nervously, but said nothing. If she had something to share, she would. Otherwise, he would leave her to her thoughts. *** On the dark table, the Knight of Cups lies midway between his Court and the cards around the Tower Reversed. As the hand taps the card thoughtfully, a small voice asks, "Where does he go?" *** Keisuke walked through the dream. Traversing this world under his own power was a new experience. He didn't remember Tetsuya ever mentioning the ability, but since Keisuke knew about it, he had used it to escape from Maki's little field. What had she meant when she boasted that his ability to manipulate fields would be useless against that one? As the Knight of Cups, he had only had to step back into the dream to escape it, but if he'd still been the Knight of Wands, he would have been in trouble if that field were not subject to his control. But how could she create a field immune to the Knight's power? He shook his head. Thinking of Tetsuya, he had to find him and give him the power of his old suit before his friend died. How to find him while in this dream land... He focused his thoughts and finally felt in his mind the cluster of power that represented the Tower Reversed, Fortune, the Page of Pentacles, and something...paradoxical. He knew that Tetsuya was in the Tower, so followed that thread. As he walked, he found the dream changing around him, becoming thinner. Finally, he was before a black panel in the shape of a door. In the manner of dreams, he knew that this was the entrance to the Tower Reversed. He was about to step through when he felt a tug on his clothes, which he only just now noticed were back to normal rather than the hospital gown. Turning to see what had pulled on his shirt, he saw the Healer. "What do you want, Page?" he asked, slightly annoyed. "Our King summons you. It is time," answered the boy. "I'm almost done. I'll be with you in a minute." Keisuke turned back to enter the door to the Tower, only to find it gone. The Page of Cups shook his head. "The other members of the Court have gathered. You are the last. Your presence is required now." "No! I won't let Tetsuya die when I can save him so easily!" shouted the irate and frustrated Knight as he turned to try to re-locate that door to the Tower Reversed. Damnit! Where could it have gone? A small, cool hand clasped Keisuke's. "You will not find it again. Already, our King's call is pulling us back through the dreamscape. Fighting it only delays our arrival. We will be investing our Court in the Tower Reversed once assembled, anyway. Delaying our return only delays your chance to save your friend." The Knight nodded, then hung his head, defeated. He waited for the Page to lead the way, and began walking deeper into the dream. As the ground beneath their feet became that of a ruined courtyard, he silently cursed Maki for delaying him. If she had cost Tetsuya his life, he would make her pay. It never even occurred to him to be angry at his King. *** The hand moves the Knight of Cups over to fill the empty position to the left of its King. Then, picking up the deck, spreads out the remaining undrawn cards with a smooth sweeping motion from left to right so they form an arc between the figure to which the hand belongs and the other cards spread out on the table. The pale hand reaches out and selects one card from the arc and places it face down before the figure. This is repeated with a second card. The spaces left in the arc by the removal of these cards leaves the arc separated into three smaller arcs. Reaching for the card on the left of the middle and longest arc, the hand flips it over—causing every other card in the arc to follow suit, domino-like. The cards so flipped are the numbered cards from Two to Ten in each of the suits. "These belong to me," whispers the voice in wonder as both hands reach out to gather them up and place them in a neat pile below the two cards resting before the figure. The leftmost arc is turned over in the same fashion, revealing the Moon, the Devil, Justice, the Ace of Pentacles, the Lovers, the Sun, Judgement, Strength, and the Star. "These have yet to enter the spread." The last and smallest arc is turned just as were the other two. The leading card of this set of cards is Death. Beneath Death lay the King of Wands, the Page of Wands, the Ace of Wands, the Page of Blades, the Queen of Wands, and the Knight of Wands. "These have been removed from play..." The hand picks up the Knight of Wands. "But this one should go here..." The hand puts the Knight in the cluster of Cards around the Tower Reversed, and takes back the Twos of Cups and the Two of Wands, placing them with the other numbered cards. *** Above Tetsuya there appeared a glowing light. As Hanako looked at it curiously, she felt Miyuki lay her ghostly hand on her shoulder--their signal for the Page of Pentacles to speak for Fortune. When she looked more closely, she saw within the light the form of a card. As it descended towards Tetsuya's unconscious form, Hanako kept expecting to hear Miyuki's voice telling her what to say, but the dead girl--much like Hanako and Natsu--was too amazed to speak. The glowing card entered Tetsuya silently, and, as it vanished within him, Natsu put a protective arm over his back, a worried look on her face. When it was no longer visible, the boy's face contorted briefly, then settled into a countenance of blissful slumber. "Is he okay?" asked Hanako, her voice sounding small and awed. Natsu looked at her, then looked at Tetsuya. She placed one hand on his cheek and one on his back where the glowing card had entered him. Both of her hands began glowing, and Hanako could have sworn that Natsu's ears developed points. Then, she was back to normal. When she looked up at the Page, a relieved, if confused, smile was on her face. "He's fine, now. Somehow, he has become the Knight of Wands, instead of Cups. But he'll be fine now." Tears of relief and...happiness?...streamed down her face. Miyuki was stunned. The path that the threads had taken was one she hadn't foreseen; an unknown hand had ripped the choice away from her. Tetsuya would live, now, and yet Keisuke hadn't arrived here—either alone or in company. She could See the Knight of Wands'—Tetsuya's— future in the skeins tangled with something she couldn't See—that must be Natsu, the paradox. He would now live, as the power of an Arcana was now within him again. This unexpected twist in the fabric of Fate tangled up her neat paths, and she no longer knew where any of it would lead. All possibilities were now open—Tetsuya's life no longer ensured her continued unlife. Further, studying the strands that had formed while she was preoccupied with Tetsuya's condition, she found that a new card had entered play. A King. Elsewhere, something was fast approaching the Tower, and the Knight of cups—Keisuke now?—was with it. There was also a formless something, not yet aware of its own power--as if the Wheel of Fortune had a new spinner guiding her patterns. *** The figure looks at the two remaining unturned cards. They lay side-by- side on the table before him, the arc separating them from the rest of the spreads and clusters. Tentatively, his hand turns the right-hand one, and freezes briefly as the image of the Empress becomes visible. "I know her..." he says in awe as he puts the card down completely. Nervously, he reaches for the final card. Gripping it in shaking fingers, he begins to turn it. "And I am..." *** Author's Notes: I offer thanks to Erin Ellis for her prereading and advice on this chapter. It would not have been anywhere near as entertaining or understandable without her pointing out some of the problems with the ordering. I hope I fixed everything so that it makes as much sense to everyone else as it does to me... I figured that the Ace of Cups could be at least as old as the Page, and that they may even be (really good) friends. Since they have obviously been around for a while, they may slip back into an archaic style of speech with each other, like using the second person singular. They wouldn't use it when talking to others, as they wouldn't understand. Whether the Queen or King uses the second person singular tense is up to later authors. And thanks to Signus Megido for the idea about putting the Ace of Cups in a Korean kimono. He called it a "hanbok", but I figured that I'd better just call it something that everyone would get. If it shows up later, the author can call it whatever they want...now people know what a hanbok is. Oh, and I'll admit that part of the reason I decided to use Go as the medium for the King of Blades' divination was that I had recently read a manga entitled Hikaru no Go—it's quite good. I recommend it if you can find it. I'd give a link, but I got it off of a friend's computer. The other reason I used it is explained in the text: Go leaves its history intact on the board for the most part, so I thought it would be a better divination tool.