Etsuko Tanaka and Christopher Nocte // Renata Manor
With the majority of the Sentinels breaking up to go train and prepare for war, Etsuko was at a loss for what to do. She couldn’t find her way to the library and for some odd reason, she couldn’t find Calypso. She had a feeling that Helle was somewhere else, so for once, she actually had time for herself in the Renata Manor.
She figured that she could find her way outside and to the rose maze. It was something that she quite enjoyed from her first stay at the manor and she wouldn’t mind seeing it again. It took her a little longer than she would’ve liked to make her way to the front steps, but once she did, she found the rose maze right away.
Since she was already so disoriented by the labyrinth that was Renata Manor, she stayed by the roses that could be seen from the front steps. She would smell one or two, gently caress the petals of a few, but mostly seemed lost in thought.
The flowers had a reaction as soon as she touched them, one that would spread to nearby flowers. To begin with, they were a soft red, but at her touch blue cracks began to slowly form, beginning to spread through the rest of the flower as well. From the ones she touched the color spread to the others, until many of them along that side of the hedge had turned the same blue.
“Whoa, I've never seen anything like that before.” The voice came from behind her, and it was a familiar one to her despite the short amount of time the two knew each other. Quietly, Christopher walked up, staying to the other side of the hedge as he looked over the roses that she had changed.
Though he didn't touch any of the flowers, they still changed, though did so strangely. The red began to slowly fade away, the flowers becoming truly colorless; not white and not black, but almost a sort of see through. He didn't seem to notice, simply bringing up a hand to point at the blue flowers and say, “I like that blue.”
She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard Christopher’s voice, her eyes wide as she turned around and watched him approach. The Diviner hadn’t even been aware that the color of the roses had changed and didn’t see them until he pointed them out.
Quietly, she watched as the roses went from red to, what she figured, was his…colorless. It made her blink. How peculiar.
“I think Ayano says I smell like this kind of blue.”
“What? Oh, right, how she experiences the world.” He nodded slightly. “It doesn't surprise me too much. This place is... weird. Color changing flowers doesn't surprise me that much…” He brought up his hand to rub at the back of his head as he so often did, before gesturing into the hedge maze and asked, “So, uh, would you like to walk for a little? I don't mind and I don't want to stop you.”
She smiled a little at his invitation and nodded.
“Please, lead the way.”
He nodded slightly, turning and beginning to walk. His hands slipped down into his pockets, and a few moments he was silent before he asked, “So, you came here before, huh?”
She nodded again, keeping her hands folded in front of her.
“Yes, with Calypso. Lady Renata seemed to take interest in my foresight.”
He blinked, glancing over to her. “So you really have it, then? Foresight, I mean. The ability to see into the future?”
Another nod was given. ”That’s the one. Although, I know there are a lot of…dishonest people who claim to have my ability…”
“Yeah, I know.” Christopher said with a shrug and a nod. “I’ve met plenty of them on my travels... and Dubois usually takes care of them. Gets pretty annoying after awhile…”
“I can” imagine…”
“Yeah. But you really have it, so that's... pretty impressive, to be honest. It's not a very common ability, for obvious reasons.”
“Yes. I’m truly thankful to the Divines for blessing me with this ability.”
"Er, yeah, if they gave it to you definitely. So, uh, how does it work? Do you just see things, or…?”
"Hm? Oh, I use tarot cards. Would you like me to read your fortune?”
He blinked in surprise, startled. “What, just like that? It's that easy?”
She blinked in response, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “It is.”
The answer seemed to confound him slightly, and left him silent for a few moments. As they passed, it was as if the hedge maze answered for him. Suddenly the narrow path widened into an opening, which revealed one of what was most likely many fountains hidden by the dark green shrubbery walls. Near this fountain were several stone benches.
Giving a slow nod finally, Christopher said, “Sure, I wouldn't mind that at all.”
She began to walk through the opening the maze provided, sitting at one of the stone benches. Reaching for a small pouch attached to her belt, she took out a stack of cards. The backs were painted the same blue as the roses that surrounded her and a minimalist sheep was the only embellishment on them.
She patted the spot on the bench next to her with a small smile. “It’s easier if you sit.”
“Er, right.” Having been briefly unsure of what to do, the grey-haired young man quickly sat down on the bench as well, on the opposite side. He folded both hands in front of him, a slightly nervous motion as he looked to the cards. “Alright, so, uh, how is this going to work?”
Her thumb ran across the back of the cards absentmindedly as she waited for him to sit down. Once he did, she held out the deck to him.
“Shuffle these for as long as you feel necessary and then give them back to me.”
He nodded slightly, reaching over to carefully take the cards. He began to gently shuffle them, as if nervous of breaking them (or, knowing Christopher, accidentally setting them alight with a spark from his gauntlets), but as time passed he began to go a little faster. For about thirty seconds he shuffled the cards, before holding them back to her. “Here you go.”
She took the cards back and drew the first three, keeping them face down. Pointing from her left to right, she said, “This represents your past, present and future. Remember that the future can always change.”
He nodded slightly, looking down to the cards. “Seems pretty straight forward for fortune telling.”
A small smile appeared on her face as she went to turn his “past” card. “I think fortune telling was always meant to be straightforward.”
“Not from what I've seen- and apparently the cards agree, what the fuck-?”
Christopher sat up where he sat, before hunching over the card slightly. The reason why, though surprising, was quite simple; the card that she had flipped over was blank, completely white, as if nothing had ever been detailed into them.
“Do you keep blank ones in there, or something?”
She blinked, confused as to why the card was blank. “No, I don’t…”
She went ahead and flipped the other two, finding those to be blank as well. It was then that she flipped through her entire deck in a somewhat panicked frenzy; they were all blank.
“W-What happened…”
As Etsuko began flipping through the deck and revealed that all the cards were blank, Christopher actually went to standing as he watched, blinking rapidly. “This doesn't usually happen, does it?”
She shook her head furiously, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “N-No…”
“Oh, shi-“ He didn't quite finish the word, his hand going up to rub at the back of his head quickly. “Er, uh... Is there anything we can do?”
A small hiccup escaped from Etsuko as she held the cards in her hand limply. “M-Maybe w-we can ask L-Lady Renata?”
"Er, yeah, that's a good idea. Uh, how the hell are we going to find her, though?”
She looked around and sniffled as she put her cards away. “U-Umm, R-Richard w-was usually around to help me get out, b-but Lady Renata said something about being c-calm…”
“Ah, shit, I hate riddles like that-“
“There's no riddle involved, Mr. Nocte, it's just a matter of remaining calm. Something the both of you seem incapable of doing, at this moment.”
“OH WHAT THE HELL-?!” Christopher nearly tumbled over the bench to the side as he jumped, thanks to the voice that came from behind him. There, of course, stood the ever undetectable Lady of Demons, who raised her eyebrow slightly.
“I sense there's a problem out here? Is Mr. Nocte overstepping his bounds? Should I call his mother to ground him, Ms. Tanaka?”
Another hiccup escaped when Karin appeared. Etsuko’s eyes widened as she saw her and a hint of blush appeared at the Lady’s questions. She shook her head and brought her cards back out.
“N-No, C-Christopher didn’t do a-anything. T-There’s something wrong with the cards…” She held them out to Karin limply, trying not to let any more tears form and fall.
Lady Renata's hand went forwards, gently taking the cards from Etsuko. With one fluid flick of her thumb she looked through the cards, noting how they were all white even though she seemed to only pay them less than half of her attention. It was as if she expected them to be blank. “You attempted to read Mr. Nocte's fortune, then?”
"Y-Yes, ma’am.”
"Then in that case I would say the Manu Propria is well aware of your presence at this point, and they do not want you to have any idea of what's coming for him.” With quick, deft moments the Lady of Demons turned the cards over and began to rapidly shuffle them, coming to a stop after a few seconds. “You'll probably achieve the same result for the rest of your companions, in all likelihood. I would refrain from trying to read their fortunes until I've taught you how to push back their influence a little more. Small questions you might get away with, but a general reading will be perceived as too much by them.”
She gently slid one finger down the backs of the cards, dragging her nail slowly along them. Though there was no immediate visible change, she flipped them over and thumbed through them briskly again; once more, all of the images had returned to the cards. Turning them back again, the Lady of Demons held them back out to their owner. “Irritating, I know.”
Her tears had faded by that point and her worried expression was replaced with a small frown. She took the cards back and put them away, giving a slight bow of her head.
“T-Thank you. I look forward to what you have to teach me later on.”
"I look forward to seeing what you learn. For the time being, however…” The Lady of Demons held her hand out again, but rather than taking it was to give. In it a black card appeared as Lady Renata once more performed the feat of turning shadows into something solid, before placing it down next to Etsuko. “If it happens again, shuffle that card into the deck and the issue should resolve itself. Don't ask the same question again if it causes the cards to go blank.”
With that, the Lady of Demons slowly looked to Christopher... And then she gave a dismissive wave of her hand, turning to begin walking away. “I have nothing to give to you.”
Christopher's jaw dropped ever slightly, in his shock at suddenly being caught off guard by the bait and switch. “Uh... thanks.”
Etsuko watched as Lady Renata created a black card, something that would definitely stand out amongst her deck. She took it and placed it on top of her deck, a small smile appearing on her face.
“T-Thank you.”
She turned to Christopher and gave him a sheepish expression.
“Sorry about…all of this.”
Briefly Christopher watched the Lady of Demons leave, before he glanced to Etsuko; by the time he looked back, Lady Renata was gone. Blinking, he looked back to Etsuko fully, before he gave a slight shake of his head. “It's not a problem. Just, er... Just glad I didn't screw up your cards beyond fixing.”
”I don’t think you could’ve done that. N-Not t-to say that y-you’re not powerful o-or anything, b-but…it takes a certain kind of magic to ruin tarot cards. W-Well, not i-in a physical sense…”
"Er, yeah, I guess so…” Briefly glancing around, he then bristled slightly, before saying, “So, I'm just going to, er... Head on. I've got a feeling the Paladin is looking for me and, well, I don't want to be found…”
"H-Huh? O-Oh, r-right. U-Um, w-would you like me to keep you company? I-It isn’t a fortune, b-but I-I want to make up for it. O-Or lack thereof.”
"No, no, it's alright. We'll hang out later but, right now, I need to move a little more... quickly than just walking. I hope you understand.”
She nodded and gave a polite smile as she stood up. “Oh, alright. Um, be seeing you.”
With that, she turned and left.
And he, on the other hand, looked back and forth with a shifty look in his eye before taking a seemingly random direction away from the spot.