Retro-cognition

Chapter 10 - Unique as a Gypsy

Unique shrugged. She’d never heard of humans having any significant powers, so she didn’t think it would hurt anything.

“Great. Take a seat then.” Annelka gestured to a small seating arrangement with a large table in between two chairs. A sparkling cloth with small silver stars covered the table, and there was a few things dangling from the lamp above. Unique surveyed the little ornaments with interest. A gust of wind caused them to move, and a little melody was played as they rambled into each other.

“That’s a wind-catcher. I’ll be right back,” Annelka said.

Unique saw her disappear behind a curtain consisting of colorful glass pearls. She took a seat, and waited patiently for the woman to return.

When Annelka stepped through the curtain once more, she was dressed in a ridiculous outfit. Unique hid her giggle. The large bundle of clothing on top of Annelka’s head made it look as if someone had dropped their laundry there.

“Alright, dear. I am ready.” She took a seat opposite Unique and started blending stiff pieces of paper. “Have you ever tried any kind of reading before?”

Unique shook her head. Not unless her brief conversations with Uncle Fatus counted as a reading, but he never told her anything specific.

“Okay, then I’ll walk you through the steps.” Annelka held up the little bundle of paper. “This deck of cards is my only tool for reading. In here lies all the secrets of the world, it is just a matter of interpreting them correctly.”

She started shuffling the cards again. “I will now shuffle them, so they are properly blended. This will cause fate to determine which card you’ll get, and I’ll be able to get a proper reading for you.”

She handed the deck to Unique. “Now you will shuffle them until you’re satisfied with the cards blend.”

Unique took the worn out deck and fumbled with the cards. After a few shifts, she handed it back to Annelka.

“Alright. Now I will take the three top cards, and they will determine you past, present and future.”

The cards were laid down from Annelka’s left to her right with the backside facing up.

Annelka pointed to the card on Unique’s right side. “This card represents your past. The middle represents your present, and the last one represents your future.”

Unique followed the woman’s finger as it darted over the cards. She nodded to signify that she understood.

“Great. Then I’ll let you turn the cards as they appear to you.”

Unique turned the first card where a woman clad in blue rope was sitting on a large chair.

“That is the High Priestess,” Annelka said.

“What does it mean?”

“Well, it can mean many things, Wisdom, Love, Relationships, and Serenity. However, in your case, I believe, it is more the case of Mystical vision and otherworldliness.”

“How do you know?”

“I have a gift too, dear.” Annelka winked.

Unique turned her attention to the card in the middle. Two naked people prided the card, side by side, as they looked up towards a third being in the sky. She averted her eyes—the nakedness made her slightly uncomfortable.

“That is the Lovers.”

Unique opened her mouth to ask, “What—“

“Likewise this card also has many interpretations. Since it is in your present, I think a few of them will mean something to you. Most likely it is the signifier of bonding—perhaps you are bonding with someone?”

Who? Unique frowned. She didn’t know anyone here; perhaps she was bonding with Annelka? She turned the last card. It was upside down, two kids playing in the front with six cups behind them.

“That is your first minor arcana card.” Annelka leaned back in her chair and stared at Unique. The woman’s eyes were traveling over her body, and Unique resisted the urge to herself.

“What is it?”

“It’s the six of cups; this card is centered on childhood and past.”

“And is that good?”

“It could be, but to be frank, I doubt it.” Annelka leaned forth and tapped the card. “It is reversed.”

“Does it matter if it is turned upside down?”

“Yes. Normally, this card would mean happiness, positive outcomes, reminiscing. However, as it is reversed, it warns about being stuck in the past, Nostalgia, and even delay or a non-existent future.”

“So your reading says that I have no future?”

 “You should know better than anyone that the future is not set in stone.”

Right. Unique did know that.

“I can see that you’re not exactly convinced about my reading.” Annelka rose from her chair. “Here, I’ll give you this book to read. It explains in further details about the interpretations of each card.”

The book was dusty, and the pages faded. Unique took it and rose from the chair too. “I’ll do some research.”

“Great, I have to go set up my stand now, the Carnival is about to open. Feel free to wander around and look at the different, things here. Perhaps you’ll get inspired on how you want your own stand to look like—assuming you’re interested still.” Annelka paused and looked at the book.

Unique smiled. “Of course I’m still interested.”

“I’m glad.”

Unique waved before turning around and leaving the wagon. She didn’t walk for long before she found a bench to sit on. Humans were starting to arrive, and the noise around her increased as she flipped through the book.

She looked up the High priestess.

“A few key-words to the interpretation of this card would be: Wisdom, Sound judgment, Serenity, Common sense, Intuition, Mystical vision, introspection, and otherworldliness,” Unique muttered along while she read.

Not many of those applied to her especially not if you were to ask Sion. She could imagine the snort he would give if she showed him this book. However, the interpretation that Annelka had given made the most sense. After all, she was from another world, and she did have mystical visions.

But that didn’t explain her present. That card confused her the most of them all. ‘The Lovers’ – Unique snorted. Insanity. She found the page and read.

‘The lovers:

As a major arcana card, ‘The Lovers’ has meanings pertaining love. A few key words would be:

·         Love relationship, Union, Passion, Sexuality.

·         Pleasure, Humanism, Desire, Personal beliefs

·         Affinity, Bonding, Romance, Heart.’

Unique re-read the page repeatedly. Her eyes skipped across the page, and each time only one word resounded in her head. Passion. The meaning was Passion… On a Lovers card… In a reading of her present.

As her mind caught up, she leaned her head back and stared at the light blue sky. Please don’t. The prayer was sent to Amora. Unique groaned – she truly hoped that Amora knew what she was doing because this… this was something that Unique would fight against with all she had.

“I won’t give in to your feeble love games, Amora. Not even if it’s for your own son.” 

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