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4.XLIV

= The Warrior Returns =

4.XLVI

Temple 2 - the Quarry

Temple 4 - within

Follower The Oracle

The cards lay on a wooden bench, worn and battered, not all of them matching.
“I take food as payment, at least a loaf of bread.” The young woman that sat behind the bench said in a tone that suggested any bargaining was not acceptable. The older woman sat opposite regarded her with suspicion. The girl looked like an urchin with her matted hair, dirty clothes and mud smeered face. If she wasn’t desperate she wouldn’t have given her a second glance. So she clutched her bag to her chest and nodded.
“Fine, just tell me, is my son alive?”
The young woman, Maria, smiled and held her hands over the cards, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. It didn’t aid the divination at all, but the customers liked a show. Slowly she brought her hands down and turned one of the cards over to reveal two bodies entwined. Number Six, the Lovers.
“What does your heart tell you?” Maria asked, her pale green eyes looking up to the woman’s brown ones. The numbers were never black or white, yes or no. They were a feeling or a suggestion, advice to take as one saw fit. For a moment she imagined the woman would get angry, call her a fraud, tell her she should be able to answer the question straight. Instead her features softened and she closed her eyes.
“My heart says yes.”
Maria nodded and turned the next card over. 17, The Star ... positivity.
“I believe that he is alive.” She replied softly “At this moment. You should always follow your heart and gut, listen to what they tell you.” Another card, she turned it over and placed it next to the others. Number 4, the emperor. “He is not alone, nor is he in danger.”
The woman’s eyes lit up. Of course this was the news she had been yearning for ever since they had been separated. “Will he find us.”
Maria breathed in and turned another card. Paths could switch and change as fate willed.
“He is searching for you. He has strength and desire. If he follows his heart too I have no doubt he will find you.”
“Thank you.” The woman grinned, pushing herself up and reaching into her bag to produce some bread and an apple. She placed both on the bench.
Maria bowed her head and smiled. “Thank you.” She watched her walk away and placed the bread and apple into her bag. She had given the woman a gift, the gift of hope, there was no way to tell if fate would allow the woman’s son to find her, though she had seen determination in the cards, this made it likely the boy would not rest until he found his family.

She gathered up the cards and looked up as a shadow fell across the makeshift bench. Another woman, this one younger, with dark hair and green eyes even more unusual than Maria’s own.
“Can I help?” She asked, feeling there was something different about this one. She gestured for the young woman to sit.
“Perhaps.”
“I take food as payment.” Maria held the cards out to the young woman, “Shuffle them.”
“I have food.”The woman did as she was told and shuffled the cards quickly, expertly with the skill of a croupier. She handed them back to Maria.
“What do you want to ask them?”
“What do you want to ask of them?” A smirk formed on the woman’s lips, they had a greenish tint to them, perhaps she was a punk or something.
“Me? but ... it’s your reading.”
“I’m paying it can be anything I want. What do you want from the numbers?”
Maria shrugged and looked down at the cards, torn and battered, the majority had been her grandmother’s, she had lost some and replaced them on her travels. She never really asked for anything herself. Slowly she turned the first card.
“Zero, the fool.” Maria had to smile at that.
“Anything can happen.” The woman commented. “A clean, slate. You are about to step into oblivion ... or something wonderful. The next card, to its left is Strength, number eight. Something you have plenty of, it has carried you far. It makes you worthy of your next step.”
Maria turned the card and sure enough it was eight, Strength. “What is my next step?”
“The card, to the right of the fool, Number five, the hierophant. Defender of the faith, a leader, a teacher. Guidance.” The green eyed woman raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Maria turned the card over and sure enough she was correct. Number five.
“Who are you?”
The green eyed woman smiled and reached out for one of the cards, she turned it over.
Two -The High Priestess
Maria looked up at her, as she did the woman seemed to change. Wings sprouted from her back, small ones at the side of her head where ears should be. Her eyes glowed brighter, her hair taking on the sheen of a bird’s wing, her skin a yellowish green tinge.
“Ohhh you’re one of them.” Maria had seen the others, heard about them. “You’re a goddess.”
“Yes, Cosine, Goddess of Number.” She pointed to her card and smiled. “You’re gifted, I’ve heard a lot of talk about you and your predictions. How do you do it?”
Maria shrugged and looked down at the cards.
“I just listen to what they tell me, the numbers, you must know that.”
Cosine smirked and nodded. “Indeed I do, they never stop.” The goddess sat back in the old chair. “You look like you could do with a break, a hot bath, warm meal ... a place to stay?”
Maria looked down at the spread of cards and shrugged.
“Perhaps, what’s the catch.” This was probably not the way to be talking to a goddess but she didn’t like to discriminate.
“Well, I don’t think there is a catch. You have been following the numbers all your life, you make a living from them. Why don’t you come and work in my temple, do your readings for people, you will never want for food and shelter again.”
Maria chewed on her lip a moment and looked down at card number 5, her future. If the numbers said that was how it would be then she should follow their guidance, it was not every day that it threw a goddess in your path.
“Okay.” Maria agreed, “If the numbers want it that way then that’s what I will do.”

Follower 7 -> Till death do us part

Mama Bird