Description: On a lark, Cammy decides to get her fortune told at the newly-opened House of Mysteries. However, once the cards are on the table, the former Killer Bee is in for more than she bargained for...
It was a bright and non-stormy day.
Bright may be pushing it a bit, considering the overcast weather, dark-looking rain clouds getting in the way of the sun. It wasn't quite raining yet, but the potential for bad weather was there on this fairly cool October afternoon. There was quite a few people out and about today as well, warmly-dressed people of all kinds, (but mostly the more middle-to-upper class types), wandering from store to store to spend their more or less hard-earned cash.
Now, Cammy wouldn't quite consider herself upper or even middle class, but she -did- have about fifty thousand extra dollars in the bank. Wouldn't do to let that go to waste, would it? School was done for the day, but Cammy was still dressed for such, the young girl wearing the knee-length white skirt, white shirt, and (right now, unbuttoned) blue blazer of her Pacific High uniform, along with the little red tie thing around her collar. The one deviation from her uniform? Tannish combat boots.
The girl was stepping down the sidewalk at the moment, bags from the various stores hanging from her arm, and clanking and swishing with each of her steps, the girl sweeping her brilliantly blue eyes from one side of the street to the other as she... pauses, her gaze turning to a rather normal looking building. Normal looking to her eyes, at least. But there was something... strange about it, something Cammy couldn't quite put her finger on. Tilting her head to the side, the girl's eyes drift to the sign, before back to the building itself.
They say curiousity killed the cat. Perhaps this time, curiousity might kill the Cammy?
Fighting down the vague feeling of dread, the girl turns, and steps up towards the stairwell, her eyes going to any sort of window she might be able to see as she takes a single, tentative step unto the first step.
At the end is the grue. Who totally eats Cammy.
*sound of tape being rewound*
Actually, the stairwell is fairly short and wraps around the back of the house, with an unlocked gate at the top. The entire thing is done in dark-colored hardwoods... very tasteful, and also very bare, with the exception of a few planters full of rosebuds of various colors. If you're not prepared for it, it really is a sort of creepy effect, as there is nothing but silence. It's also especially dark, since the cold weather necessitates keeping the shutters down.
At the center of the balcony, which isn't very large, sits a medium-sized round table with two chairs on opposite sides. One is vacant; the other, which faces the gate, is where Rose is currently sitting. Her carriage is tall, but her eyes are closed as if in meditation. The fact that most of the light on the balcony actually comes from strategically-placed lit candles in hurricane lamps gives it a sort of authentic Gypsy air... so to speak.
Without looking up, the purple haired psychic lets out a slow breath, then turns toward the *exact* location of the entering Cammy, slowly opening her eyes. "Welcome to the House of Mysteries," Rose says calmly. "Please, have a seat."
But there was a certain protection against fear, that came from being young, unusually strong, gifted with a strange and powerful energy, as well as being unusually fast, if not particularly scary looking.
...
...
Ya, none of that was really helping at the moment. This would definitely be considered 'creepy', even in Cammy's book. It wasn't so much the surroundings, although that didn't help. As Cammy slowly creeps up the short staircase, tensing up more and more with each step... she found that it was the odd feeling of power. Inexplainable, untraceable, yet... very familiar, yet... not. Maybe it was just in her mind, maybe not.
Reaching the topmost step, Cammy reaches out a bag-laden hand to push open the gate, her eyes widening somewhat as she looks beyond... and starts a bit at the sight of Rose, the girl whipping her arms upwards, and curling her hands into fists, falling into a defensive posture to the song of loud clanks from the bags she was carrying.
A moment, and then Cammy smiles in a self-chiding manner, shaking her head at herself as she lowers her arms and relaxes. This -was- a fortune teller after all, right? They were meant to make you feel spooked... right? All just... showmanship, right?
Ah, well. Silently nodding her head towards Rose, the schoolgirl steps over to the side of the seat with a amused expression, dropping her arms and allowing the bags to slide from her hands to the floor beside the seat. Cammy lifts a hand up to the back of the chair then, and pulls it a little away from the table, Cammy pausing for a moment as she looks upon Rose, the amused expression fading. There was something undeniable about the woman, but darned if she knew what. "How much is this going to cost me?" Cammy asks in her slightly high-pitched voice, the girl sliding into her seat soon after that question.
Rose's soft-spoken manner probably isn't helping the aura of creepy, but at the same time... she too feels that there is a 'resonance' between herself and Cammy. The last person who gave her a feeling of power to walk through that door was Kain Heinlein, and that encounter... did not end as well as it could have, to say the least. Still, while Kain gave off a feeling of sheer anger, there is something different about Cammy.
Thus, when asked the cost of the reading, Rose simply smiles and offers, "For you... I shall consider doing it gratis." Reaching under the table, she produces a deck of tarot cards which she proceeds to begin shuffling with expert, smooth motions of her slender fingers... there's no telling how good a fortuneteller she is, but if it doesn't work out she probably has a career waiting for her in Vegas. "Every now and then I have the sense that someone's future will be particularly interesting to hear... and so on a whim, I offer my services free of charge." A faint smile here. "The benefit of a job that is merely a way to pass the time."
Cammy's brow lifts at the answer to her question, the once-Doll pausing for a moment. A look of thought flashes across her face for a moment, before her face settles back into neutrality. Scooting her chair back beneath the table, Cammy sets her right hand upon her lap, the girl lifting her left forearm to rest against the edge of the table, her hand held limp.
Another moment as Cammy ponders over the words said to her, before the girl lifts her eyes up to Rose's face, speaking then. "I see. So you believe in..." Cammy says, sorta waving the fingers of her left hand in the direction of Rose, the shuffling cards in particular. She doesn't quite finish her question, but instead asks another. "So this is more a hobby to you?" Cammy asks curiously.
That response elicits a chuckle from Rose, who continues shuffling. "I believe that there are more things in Heaven and Earth than we..." A slight pause here. "...humans have to contemplate. I do not necessarily put great stock in the ability of 70 or so paper cards to fortell the future. But I believe perhaps there is something inside of us that they... facilitate."
Leaving it on that cryptic note, the fortuneteller places the deck on the table in front of Cammy carefully, the cards perfectly arranged. "Cut the deck in half, please," Rose asks patiently. In the interim, she answers Cammy's second question. "I would not starve without this business, if that's what you mean," she says, with the slightest hint of mirth. "Rather, I find it a useful way to learn about the people of this city, about myself, and about the nature of things like 'destiny'."
A fortune teller that didn't... erm... quite play up the mysticism of her craft? Now, Cammy did not quite know other fortune tellers, but still. That struck her as odd, a sentiment which was expressed quite well in the way she tilts her head to the side a little bit, the rest of her body freezing for a moment. Of course, with Rose's eyes still potentially closed, that may be moot.
"Facilitates something inside of us? Even that seems to be putting great trust in those cards, right?" Cammy says, a bit of confusion slipping into her tone. But Cammy needs to ponder the answer to her second question, too. She takes a moment or two, her eyes becoming a bit narrower, as she lifts her left hand up to tap her fingertips against her chin... but then a small, almost sly smile turns up the corners of her lips. "Oh, I get it..." she says, falling quiet once more.
After falling silent, Cammy reaches out her left hand, her eyes watching Rose's expression as she takes half of the cards from the top, sets that to the side of the other pile, and then reaches for the original pile, picking that up and placing that on top of the cards she moved.
Rose totally knows the Heart of the Cards. Jae Hoon would be proud. Chuckling faintly at Cammy's assertion that she now 'gets it', the purple-haired psychic takes the deck back, shuffling it a tiny bit more. "Before I make any reading, I like to explain one thing to my customers." And here her tone grows distant, fainter. "The tarot is an inexact science. The cards can tell us no more than what we already know... though they may show us things that we are unaware we know." Settling the cards, she puts the stack on the table and drills her gaze, dark eyes almost unreflecting, into Cammy's. "What we read is no less than our 'soul'."
However, she waits for no real reply on Cammy's part before taking the top six cards from the deck and placing them, face down, in a cross shape, with one card remaining off to the side. "The self, the past, the influences of our past, the present, the influence of the present, and the 'future'..." Reaching down, she deflty flips over the center card, which depicts a young man staring into the sky... The Fool. "A tabula rasa. You are open, inexperienced. The world imprints itself upon you, for you are innocent, unknowing. There is a certain energy to your actions, but it masks an inner confusion and doubt."
The smile slips once more from Cammy's lips, leaving her expression more serious than it was before. Whether or not she truely believed in this, she would get nothing out of it if she didn't at least consider it, mmm? Cammy nonetheless holds Rose's gaze for whatever amount of time is necessary, offering no reponse to that explanation.. or perhaps that warning.
Her attention drops then to the cards, the girl shifting in her seat, perhaps uncomfortably. As the cards are placed, then explained, Cammy's fingers lift to loosen her little tie thing from around her collar, the girl then shrugging her shoulders, and withdrawing her arms from the sleeves of the blazer. A attempt to allievate those feelings of discomfort, perhaps. Her arms settle back down upon the arms of the chair as she glances down at the Fool, regarding that card for a long moment, before her eyes shoot back up towards Rose's face. Cammy remains deathly silent, however, although there was a certain edge to her gaze now.
For a moment, Rose watches Cammy for any reaction... that's simply the way of the fortuneteller. If you're off by a mile it shows. But there is still that feeling of "resonance" between herself and Cammy that is giving Rose pause. Clearing her throat, the fortuneteller flips over the next card... the Eight of Pentacles, reversed. A man at a workbench is busy at work chiseling pentacles onto a series of golden discs. "You have an unfortunate past. Someone used you to reward himself and destroy others with no thought to the impact on you."
Now Rose herself needs to pause and take a moment to breathe, her eyes closed every so briefly. When she opens them again, she gives Cammy a tired smile. "I apologize. The stuffy atmosphere keeps us warm in this brisk weather, but it can also make one fatigued..." Almost forgetfully, she reads the rest of the card as if by rote. "The Five of Pentacles is 'the Lord of Prudence'; his reverse position suggests dishonest deeds..."
"I'm fine." Cammy interjects, perhaps a bit too quickly. Narrowing her eyes again, the young woman sits up a bit straighter in her seat, bringing up a hand to brush one of her pigtails over her shoulder. Then, her gaze softens a bit, and her eyes lift from the cards, and seek to lock upon Rose's. "Apologies." Cammy says tightly. "I meant... if you are tired, there's no need for you to continue." Cammy says, the girl's left fingers again waving towards the cards... although they pause for a moment, mid-gesture, before Cammy completes the motion, and then drops the hand down to her lap. "But I would like for you to continue. If payment is necessary, I will provide it."
The funny thing is... Cammy might not even be there, from the look on Rose's face. She doesn't even respond to Cammy for long moments, until finally she gives the blonde girl a grave look, which she then softens to a calm, measured expression. "As I said... when things are of interest to me, then such mundane concerns as 'money' are irrelevant." A beat. "Let us continue..."
And then all hell breaks loose. Reaching out, Rose flips over the third card -- influences of the past -- and both she and Cammy are greeted with a terrifying sight... the Devil card. A Dante-esque figure of terrible, Satanic visage sits upon a throne, attendant and chained human servants at his knees. The terrible goat's head image is almost too vivid for a fraction of a moment... and then the card *itself* is gone, suddenly vanishing in a spark of all-too-familiar blue Psycho Power flame.
For a moment, all is silent... and the Rose's eyes are upon Cammy, and there is a spark of urgency, even of pleading in her voice. "Who... are you? Why are you here?" And then, an even more terrible question, probably terrifying Cammy with its sheer out-of-the-blueness. "And why is his 'aura' upon you?"
That was a surprise to more than just Rose. The brief flicker of the Devil card, in combination with the flash of... energy causes Cammy to tense up once again, her eyes narrowing dangerously. The reading already had her on edge, but the flash of Psycho Power, along with the words made things worse.
"I have -no- idea what you are talking about." Cammy says, her tone of voice as tense as her body as she slowly rises from her chair, her full attention upon Rose as she uses one of her legs to slowly begin to scoot the chair away from the table. Cammy's experiences with people suddenly 'recognizing' her in various forms have been... mixed. "Cammy White. From Great Britain." Funny, seeing as she spoke with no accent whatsoever. "I am here because the building interested me, and because of your offer." she says, resisting the urge to raise her fists in preparation, but... she couldn't help curling her fingers into fists at her sides. Her bags of goodies? Forgotten, along with her blazer, at the moment. "-Why-?" she asks, her voice still dangerous, wary.
Rose does not get up. She stays seated, though she does not flip over any cards. At least she appears to be recovering from her moment of panic, but now she is staring, unabashedly, at Cammy, as if her gaze would drill through and lay bare the very contents of Cammy's spirit. "...it is true," she finally says, quietly. "You know nothing. Even more startling, it is sealed from all... not just yourself. How is such a thing possible?"
And now she stands, an impressively tall person for a woman, though her regal stature makes this more imposing. "Twice this week have people of unusual character made their way to this humble place," she intones reflectively, almost as if she isn't even talking to Cammy, though there is nobody else here. "Clearly fate has delivered you unto me. But I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. 'His' power clearly flows through you. But why? Why are you... familiar? Why do even you not know..."
If Rose was attempting to keep the girl from getting further spooked, she wasn't doing a good job of it. Cammy's eyes go up as Rose rises... the woman being a full four inches taller than her. Indecision flashes in Cammy's own mind for a moment before she steps to the side, drawing her legs through her shopping bags, before the girl begins to backpedal, moving with deliberate slowness. All throughout, however, she remained tensed, like a spring waiting for the opprotune time to jump.
"Again. I have -no- idea what you're talking about." Cammy says, voice still tense. "I am Cammy White. I came from Britain... two months ago, now. My father is there." Cammy says, deliberately leaving out the bit that she didn't quite remember anything from before that time. Hopefully, that would be enough to stop the slightly crazy woman from thinking she was someone else. "Maybe you're getting me mixed up with someone else. Fate doesn't have anything to do with this." Her voice was relaxing a bit, now that she was on her feet, and free of anything that may tangle her legs... that she could see, anyways. "Just a free afternoon, and money in my pocket." she says, smiling a tight little smirk at that joke.. one that she quickly abandons.
Ignoring Cammy's fear, Rose steps out from behind the table. She's not pulling a Frankenstein's monster with a shambling advance; indeed, Cammy could have bolted ten times by now given how slow Rose is moving. But she is moving forward, just a bit. "My child, some great harm has been done to you. Something so powerful that your entire life has been wiped clean. I had thought the Fool simply represented your carefree youth... now I see how much more appropriate it is." Half-lidded, she gives a faint, weary smile off into the distance, apparently at something only Rose herself can see. "It's almost as if he specializes in such things. Using people up, throwing them away... or was it something more sinister?"
Frowning, Rose turns back to Cammy. She's not threatening, per se, but she is... commanding, somehow. She has 'presence'. "Does this happen to you often, Cammy White of England?" she asks innocently, genuinely curious. "Men and women who seem to know your name, your face... men and women you don't remember. Or perhaps I should ask about that haunting feeling that you know me... that you sense something familiar. Yet we have never met before this very day?" A chuckle, now. Maybe she's lost it entirely. "No... 'Fate' did indeed bring you here today. If only I was wise enough to discern *why*."
The true answers would not even be known to Cammy, although... Rose's little theories were something the young student did suspect. It wasn't any sort of threat from Rose that was putting her on edge... at least not physical threat. It was the fact that Cammy was given a bit of a jolt, put on unsure footing... and that made her nervous. A bit of a control freak, the young girl was. Still, Cammy takes a step back to match the little bit that Rose moves forward; she didn't quite intend to bolt, but that would be difficult to see if one was looking just at her body language.
"What, my life being wiped clean? Hasn't happened to me at all." Cammy says. Evidently, she was not afraid to lie when confronted with crazy-persons. "What are you saying? You're saying you knew me before?" In spite of her earlier lie, that question leaves her lips with a bit of a hopeful tone to it. Indeed, she did not know. "Are you just ... playing a joke on me?"
"I do not play jokes," Rose says quietly, her voice sincere, though nobody could fault Cammy for continuing to feel on-edge. "I am simply a conduit for the power of the 'soul'. You may not believe me now. I would not blame you for that." She doesn't move closer, but rather, adjusts her stance to be less 'closed', and certainly less threatening. Perhaps it's clear that the absurdity of this has sunk in and Rose is finally coming to terms with it.
"You do not know something has been done to you, because you lack a frame of reference. Sadly, I do not have the power to prove it to you." The tall woman unconsciously moves her shoulders, the yellow shawl draped over them shifting with a soft rustle. "As with all readings of the future, nothing is certain. You must choose your own path. But I can give you a place to start... a name." The unspoken rider here, of course, is: but first you must ask.
Thoughtfully running her tongue over her dry lips, Cammy narrows her eyes a bit more, her shoulders drooping a bit as she relaxes just a touch more. What did she have to fear from a... older, more frail looking woman, after all? Conciously, Cammy opens her fists and lets her fingers dangle free... although there was still a tenseness present in the way she walked, and her shoulders. It was a move intended to make her appear less threatening as well, although... Cammy's own 'presence' likely wasn't very threatening, nor as regal as Rose's.
"What name?" Cammy asks a bit tersely, her gaze flickering to the chair she once sat upon before her attention shoots back towards Rose. Her school blazer, in specific. And with that done, Cammy begins to sidestep on a circular path around Rose, trying to bring herself closer to the blazer... without coming closer to the woman.
The other woman might as well be one of those eye statues from a video game, the kind that track your movement but cannot move themselves. Cammy is certainly able to retrieve her coat without incident, though never without leaving the dark, inscrutable gaze of Rose.
"He is a man whom all should fear, and whose evil few fathom." The fortuneteller waits until Cammy is clear of her with a good distance so she doesn't feel threatened, especially since she's not sure what the memory-less Cammy's reactions to the news she's about to impart will be. "He is Vega, the overlord of Shadaloo. If you want answers, it is he and that organization you must seek." After a brief pause, she adds: "And the mysterious power you hold within is his. Psycho Power... the energy of hatred and malice. Be ever mindful of its influence on yours on it."
The other woman might as well be one of those eye statues from a video game, the kind that track your movement but cannot move themselves. Cammy is certainly able to retrieve her coat without incident, though never without leaving the dark, inscrutable gaze of Rose.
"He is a man whom all should fear, and whose evil few fathom." The fortuneteller waits until Cammy is clear of her with a good distance so she doesn't feel threatened, especially since she's not sure what the memory-less Cammy's reactions to the news she's about to impart will be. "He is Vega, the overlord of Shadaloo. If you want answers, it is he and that organization you must seek." After a brief pause, she adds: "And the mysterious power you hold within is his. Psycho Power... the energy of hatred and malice. Be ever mindful of its influence on you, and yours on it."
The suddenly confused look upon Cammy's face would likely be priceless. Pausing when she is directly in line with her coat, Cammy looks from coat to Rose, then down again, Cammy's eyes lifting up a final time and remaining there. "There can't be people like that..." Cammy says, for indeed, it sounded like Rose had just described a typical fantasy overlord or somebody. But still... there were a ton of strange things in the world to Cammy. "...can there?"
Cammy's body tenses with that question, as if she were preparing herself for something... and indeed she was. A lightning-fast dash of three steps, her hand snapping out to take her coat, and then a equally quick hop away, the girl landing a little bit farther away from Rose than she was before. Although there likely wasn't much space left on the balcony. If any.
Again, Cammy is unmolested. Apparently Rose is okay with peering into young girls' psyches, but their overcoats are inviolate. Especially Pacific HS uniforms, which are actually kinda snazzy compared to the rest of the city's schools. "There are. Vega is one. I am another. And so are you, though perhaps you cannot consciously tap into that power." Again, her dark eyed gaze falls on Cammy, her voice calm but stern.
"Every action we take has the potential to fill or empty our hearts. The 'power' is both yours and his, and because it is his it is already tainted with darkness," the fortuneteller explains carefully. "You must be ever wary to maintain your high ethic and not give in. The path of hatred brings power... but it is at a great physical and spiritual cost."
They are, aren't they? Although white and dark blue aren't really Cammy's best colours. With her coat recaptured, Cammy whips one her right arm into the appropriate sleeve, and then slides the coat over her arm, moving far too fast than what was necessary for that motion. With that done, Cammy slips the other sleeve on, and then orients herself towards Rose once again. Alright. Giving the woman a nod, Cammy begins to sidestep towards the gate from which she entered, the look on the once-Doll's face extremely grave now.
"You are another?" Now that was a cheery thought. "I... see." Cammy says. Still, the advice was listened to and not interrupted, but with that thought in mind... Cammy didn't quite want to stay here much longer. Her pace quickens as she reaches the gate, undoing any latch with a deft flick of her fingers, and pushes it open. "Right. I'll keep that in mind." Cammy says, her voice a bit distracted now, her mind already mulling over what she was going to do next with the information given her.
"I know this is much to process. I am... as surprised as you are," Rose says patiently, knowing in the back of her mind that Cammy has been waiting for her chance to bolt for the door for quite a while now. "So all I will tell you is to be careful. You are always welcome here. Vega and I oppose each other on all levels... so any aid I can give to you, I give freely and without cost." Wrapping her shawl around herself tighter, Rose goes to sit back down at the table, gathering up her cards, taking very careful note to leave the last three out.
"You are right to be suspicious of me. You are right to doubt. But do not let doubt cloud your vision of what is right in front of your eyes." With a faint smile, Rose glances at Cammy, the piercing quality of her expression gone, replaced with something... less quantifiable, more tired. "When you need help, come to me. Fare thee well, Cammy."
What was in front of her eyes? Well, Cammy wasn't quite going to say out loud what she saw there at the moment. Still, the girl listens to what Rose has to say, paying the older woman the respect of attention at least. After Rose finishes, Cammy steps through the opened gate as if making her way to leave... but pauses, turning halfway around to look at the fortune teller once again. "I'll... keep that in mind." Cammy says, turning as if to leave again... but again pausing, and glancing back. "...farewell, whoever you are." Cammy says, before turning and stepping down the stairs at a quick trot, the girl obviously intent to put as much distance between the house and her as possible, as fast as possible.
There was one potential problem, though. Cammy had left her shopping bags behind.
Log created by Rose, and last modified on 11:25:26 11/27/2005.