Affinity Witch

Chapter 23: A Look Into The Future

Heloise drew a deep breath in through her nose before exhaling forcefully out her mouth. Holding the cards close to her chest, she closed her eyes, shuffling the deck with a graceful familiarity, murmuring an incantation softly but clearly. Whatever Sabrina thought about Heloise's limited academic abilities, it was clear the other girl knew her craft.

Heloise began to place cards facedown on the table and although Sabrina wondered if the placement of the card was important, she held her tongue, not wanting to risk breaking Heloise's concentration.

The Seer placed the remaining deck off to one side before turning her attention to the five cards laying between her and Sabrina.

"Are you ready?" she asked, to which Sabrina nodded.

Heloise expertly flipped each of the cards over, and Sabrina leaned closer as the Seer studied the scene laid out before her, examining each card carefully before proceeding to the next. Occasionally her eyes widened or she shuddered or shook her head, and Sabrina was dying to ask what she saw, but forced herself to remain quiet. This wasn't something that could be rushed.

"I will tell you this future exactly as I see it," said Heloise, "or may I lose my Sight forever."

Sabrina wasn't sure if Heloise was required to say the phrase as part of being a Seer or if she was saying it to reassure Sabrina she wouldn't lie, but regardless, she dipped her head in acknowledgement, which seemed to be the correct response.

Heloise moved the first card directly in front of Sabrina, and while it had originally been upside down, she flipped it upright so Sabrina could better see the image. The card featured a regal woman sitting on a chair inside a lush garden. A stream flowed past her, and a heart-shaped shield rested near the chair. Sabrina studied the card carefully, then looked up for Heloise to continue.

"The Empress, inverted, is indicative of the Dark Mother," Heloise began. "She's the Creator-Destroyer who can refuse to allow her children to enter the world, either shutting them out completely or only allowing them entry on her terms."

She held the next card upright so Sabrina could see it before placing it as she'd drawn it, upside down, on the table. The card featured a naked women with blond hair leaning down over a pond and pouring water out of two small vessels while a large eight-pointed star shone overhead.

"The Star, inverted, symbolizes broken dreams and dashed hopes," said Heloise before moving the third card in front of Sabrina. This one featured a skeleton wearing a suit of armor and riding a white horse, nearly trodding over a man lying on the ground as someone who might have been a king beseeched the other-worldly rider.

"This is the Death card," she said, and Sabrina felt her heart stutter a beat or two. "It doesn't always or even usually symbolize the death of a person," Heloise quickly assured her. "In this spread, for this particular future, it symbolizes the death of your dreams."

"The death of my dreams?" repeated Sabrina incredulously. "What do you mean?"

Heloise ignored her question, instead moving the fourth card in front of Sabrina, which featured a man hanging upside down by one leg from some sort of trellis.

"This is the Hanged Man, which symbolizes self-sacrifice. And this," she positioned the last card before Sabrina, tapping her finger against the picture of an elderly man sitting on a large golden throne, "is the Emperor, which is about leadership, order, and control."

Bringing her gaze to Sabrina's, she said, "In this future, you sacrifice your dreams to follow in your mother's footsteps. You become the Sprechen after her and lead the Hexen. You stay here, and you're a successful leader, but you don't pursue your metallurgy...you make your mother proud at the expense of making yourself happy."