Zay looked down at the cards and saw text on the back of each one. "Dream," they read, and his eyes widened slightly at the word before he sighed and walked over to the table. He looked at the chair he was supposed to sit in and asked, "It is free, right?"
'Well... I guess it can be for free since I've made a lot of money, some artifacts, and several other items. Besides, this man looks like he's had a rough night. Might as well give him a free... 'reading',' the man thought before answering Zay after a pause of a few seconds.
The man nodded. "Yes, your reading will be free."
Zay looked up at the man, then back to the cards before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "I don't have much time. Can we do this quickly?"
"Of course we can. I'll shuffle the cards and pull five at random. I'll also tell you the description, but you have to find the meaning of each one in the things you do. I'm simply the middleman of this deal. Do you understand?" the man said as he gathered the cards from the right side and pulled them all into his hands.
"I... understand. But is this really free? I don't have extra money to spend on this," he said, knowing that if he had to pay, he might have to give up his dragon whistle or the occult book—neither of which he was willing to part with.
The man sighed and nodded twice. "Do not worry. This will not cost you anything at all. Not even a bronze piece. Now, are you ready?"
A quiet pause settled between them as Zay crossed his right leg over his left and placed his hands on his legs. He looked at the man and said, "I am."
The man nodded at Zay's response before shuffling the cards. Once he finished shuffling, he placed them in a single pile with the backs of the cards facing up. He rested his index and middle fingers on the top card of the deck, slowly pulling it back before placing his thumb on the other side and lifting it into the air. He carefully set the card down by itself.
Zay watched his hands move with the card like someone who had done this many times before. His eyes were glued to the card. The man flipped it over and laid it gently against the smooth fabric. His eyes widened when he saw the first card, and he chuckled slightly.
He sat up straight, adjusting his posture before looking at Zay. "The first card, 'The Left Shoe.' That is your first card. You're walking the right path… just with the wrong foot forward. You'll trip unless you switch shoes, or legs, or roads, something."
Zay looked confused, stared at the man, and just nodded along. 'What the hell does that mean exactly?'
The man glanced back down at the deck, placed his index and middle fingers on the second card, pulled it back slightly, then used his middle finger to lift it. He raised the card while keeping its face hidden and laid it down beside The Left Shoe.
The man exhaled slightly as he flipped the card over, looked at it for a moment, then glanced up at Zay. "For the second card, 'The Silent Bell.' A warning rang, but you didn't hear or see the bell when it rang. If you did, you simply ignored it."
Zay swallowed hard as he remembered the half-sunken bell tower in Draxen, and what happened to Rivena and Monroe. 'Could this... actually be real? Why the hell would there be just a random card at a random market that made me remember such a detail about a place? The first one I didn't understand at all... but this? Is there some truth to these cards?'
Without waiting, the man slid both The Left Shoe and The Silent Bell over slightly as he reached for the third card. He repeated the same motion he had used for the previous two, then flipped the card over and looked at Zay again after a moment of studying it.
"For the third card, 'The Caged Ladder.' You're reaching for something higher, but you're stuck behind bars without even knowing. The climb is there, but it is not yet time for you to really climb. To unlock the cage and to climb is to accept..." The man paused before stopping completely. He sat in silence for a moment, allowing Zay to process what he had heard.
'To accept? Accept what? A cage? Not able to climb but also being able to? Does he mean I'm st—wait...'
He abruptly thought as he looked up at the man, then back down to the card.
On the card was an image of a ladder within a cage, but before he was even able to continue thinking, the man reached out and repeated the same motion. He took a deep breath, looked at Zay, then back down at the card. He swallowed as he flipped the card over and stared at it for several more seconds than he had with the previous three. He looked at Zay and began to speak slowly.
"For the... fourth card, 'The Coughing Mirror.' You'll see something, or you have already seen something, in yourself…" the man said as he closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry," was all he said as he moved the card over to join the other three.
The man immediately moved to draw the fifth and final card for Zay. He laid it onto the table, repeating the same motion he had used for the previous four cards. He flipped the card, and his eyes widened instantly.
"'The Card With No Name," the man whispered so quietly that Zay couldn't hear him, but he looked at the man, confusion laced across his entire face.
The man noticed his stare and cleared his throat. "Well... that's all," he said abruptly, grabbing the deck of cards and gathering them together. He stood up, dropped them into a box, and began to walk away, chuckling to himself—unaware that one card hadn't made it into the box and had fluttered to the floor.
'I wonder if that guy actually believed any of that nonsense... well, no matter. I guess it's time to begin my next act of scamming. Just because I felt bad for one man doesn't mean I'll stop. After all, I have a whole six more days of scamming ahead of me.' The man laughed slightly as he thought about scamming more people for money, artifacts, and other items worth far more than he could ever afford on his own.
Zay sat in the chair before looking around. He didn't see the man anymore but heard the door he had walked in from slam shut. He stood up slowly, glancing around the building, seeing several rooms, and remembered why he had even bothered coming in here. Despite remembering, he didn't move right away. He just stood there. Stood there, lost in thought.
'The Caged Ladder... Left Shoe... The Silent Bell... The Coughing Mirror... and one I didn't hear anything about... I don't understand it completely, but it does sound relevant in a way to the things that are happening, or maybe things that haven't happened? I don't believe in bull shit like card readings, but he did sound convinced, confident, and there was also a tone of unease when he spoke. Perhaps he has a Seal or Contract relating to fate or something similar and is able to use it to get glimpses of people's futures?'
The thought faded as Zay sighed and looked around again. This time, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. On the floor lay a card with 'Dream' written on the back, the side facing up at him.
He bent down, reached out slowly, and lifted the card into his hand.
"He must've dropped this," Zay said to himself as he flipped the card over to its proper side.
The image on the card showed three long roads, colored brown to resemble dirt. Grass lined the sides of each path. It was as if the roads were connected. In the center, where the paths met, two figures draped in black clothing stood with their hands clasped in a handshake. A caravan rested on one of the roads, accompanied by three horses—one white, one black, and one with a gray coat. One cloud stood out in the sky: it was shaped like a butterfly.
'How strange... three roads connecting to one, three horses, and two figures shaking hands?' Zay looked at the edges of the card, searching for a name, but there was none.
"Arbiter: Vault." The card flashed violet in his hand before vanishing into Zay's vault. Without another word, he stood up and and began walking down the halls of the building, following the trail of aura he had sensed since entering.