Multiversity

What Exists Behind The Filter

M had gone off on his own, Z somewhere in Lastation gathering information. He wandered the crowded streets of the nation's market. Many different types of products were being sold: a variety of herbs, spices, and medicine, some very well crafted equipment; mostly shields, and many other essentials for travelers. M notices a small booth sitting at the entrance of a dark alleyway in between two stands. There was a person sitting at the booth, concealed by a cloak, with a crystal ball in front of them. M starts to walk away, as the person calls out to him in a raspy voice. "You there. Would you like your fortune read?" M looks to the fortuneteller with the same cold look in his eyes. "Fortune?" The fortune teller nods. "Ah yes, would you like to see what fate has in store for you?" M twitches at the mention of 'fate.' "I don't believe in fate. But I'll give it a try." M sits down at the booth as the fortune teller moves their hands around the crystal ball. "Alright, then let's get started..." The crystal ball suddenly lights up, a swarm of colours filling the orb before shifting to red, then blue, and fading into purple. The fortune teller moves their hand around the ball once more, before placing their hand on the table, pulling out a deck of cards. "Pick a card." M gives a skeptical look from behind his goggles, taking a card from the deck, placing it face down in front of him. The fortune teller takes another card and places it face down in front of him. "Now, what would you like read first?" M looks to the two cards and currently purple crystal ball in front of him. "I'd like to know about myself." The fortune teller takes the card that he pulled, flipping it over. "The Wheel of Fortune, in the upright position. Your destiny will soon be realized. The turning point of your life will come with especially good luck." M, still skeptical about the entire thing, seemed to be content with the outcome. "I'd like to know what the crystal ball says." The fortune teller taps on the crystal ball a few times. "Misfortune will befall you, beware the colour purple." M stares at the crystal ball for a second, before pointing to the Wheel of Fortune card. "Wait, that completely contradicts what the previous card said!" The fortune teller looks to the second card that M had pulled. "Do you wish to know about that one? It pertains to your significant other." M pauses, looking to the cloaked figure with an almost scared look in his eyes. "About my wife?" ~ "Wife? You look awfully young." ~ "I'm a lot older than I appear. So, this is my wife's fortune...?" The fortune teller nods, motioning to the tarot card sitting in front of M. "Go ahead." M hesitantly reaches for the card, flipping it over. The air became tense, cold as if the reaper itself had grabbed his shoulder. The fortune teller stayed silent, hell, the entire marketplace was silent. It was almost as if they were the only two there. The card was upside down, a skeleton in white armor riding a horse, carrying a flag with a white five-petal rose design. The fortune teller keeps a serious front, looking grimly at M. "Death, in reverse position." M looks at the tarot card, before grasping his head. "T-This can't be right! Earlier you said I was in for good fortune, but then misfortune, and now this. Everything you've said has contradicted itself. This must be a mistake!" When he looked up, the fortune teller was gone, the only thing left behind was the Death tarot card that M was grasping. "It can't be true..."

M had slipped through the streets of Lastation safely. Unfortunately, he spotted Neptune in the crowd. Leading to his grand escape, filled with all sorts of property damage, profanity, and an exceptional amount of running on roofs while guards tried to get him down. M takes out a small device and presses a button, making sure no one was watching. The device hums as he disappears from sight. Neptune finally catches up, missing M's disappearance by a few seconds. "Aw... I could've sworn I saw him here." As she looks around, Z turns the corner.

M hangs up his coat on the hanger as he steps into his pocket dimension room. "It's nice to see this room back to normal... I should take extra precaution to make sure only Zoey and I can enter here. Don't want a repeat of earlier..."