A Vision of Crows

Chapter 13 - A Fateful Encounter

As she waited in front of the hotel, Meg found herself lost in thought, with only the vision from the night before filling her mind.

Unlike her previous visions, this particular vision began to blur away, like a dream, taking the girl's face away with it. What she could remember, however, were her eyes. Yes, those strange, inhuman eyes, black like the darkest night, filled with nothing but seething rage. Eyes like she had truly never seen before.

The vision bothered her very much, but she knew that she had more important matters to attend to, and before long, the bus had arrived, a welcome distraction.

That day, she did not go straight to the La Trei Vilas, choosing instead to explore what there was to offer. The sun was shining bright and the Mercadia was bustling with energy, as per usual. She strolled through the many rows of stands, with some vendors whistling at her to stop by while others announcing their prices and goods to fascinated visitors and customers. She still had a bit of free money left, and so she busied herself with buying small trinkets to bring back to her family and trying the many exquisite foods that the market had to offer.

As she stopped to admire a small mechanical bird in a cage, she saw a familiar man.

It was none other than the man with the watch. It had been a while since they had bumped into each other, and since they were complete strangers, she had naturally forgotten about him and the photo. The chances of them running into each other again were already low, but fate (or perhaps, mere coincidence) had reunited them.

The man, who had yet to recognize her, stood next to her and pointed at the bird.

"Very neat, eh?" he said, smiling. He had a very nice smile, with dimples that brought out the cheerfulness in his face. He slipped his finger through the cage's bars and pressed a small button in the center of the bird's chest, and just like magic, the mechanical bird began to sing.

It was a lovely song, the kind that would make one sigh with bliss and nostalgia, sounding just like a real bird. She had always liked waking up to the sound of birds chirping, greeting her to a new day.

She smiled warmly and replied, "It's very pretty indeed."

She then remembered the photo, and took it out of her bag. "Excuse me, but is this yours by any chance?" she asked, showing him the photo. Upon seeing it, the man's eyes widened and snatched the photo out of her hands. He thanked her quickly, but as he tried to get away, he wound up tripping over a wooden beam, falling headfirst onto the ground.

As a crowd of curious and nosy eyes stared at the man, he suddenly got, turned to Meg, and shook her hand as a more proper thanks. He then walked away, clearly embarrassed by the scene.

Meg, who had stood there awkwardly the whole time, watched him leave. Well, I probably won't see him again, she thought to herself. She continued to observe the bird until it was purchased by a wealthy merchant for his son, then continued shopping.

She ran into that same man only an hour later.

It was at a jewelry stand, where she glanced at a pair of pearl earrings behind glass. Alice's mother had always been fond of pearls, and treasured the pair she had gifted her on her wedding day.

Once, when they were younger, Alice had tried on her mother's clothes, complete with the pearl earrings. She pranced around in the skirt that was much too large and held around her waist with a clip, her auburn hair swishing around her like dark, red flames. She proudly exclaimed, "Look at me, so elegant!"

Meg was laughing along with her, as she too was dancing around in Philippa's favorite hat. "Definitely!"

A sly grin crept onto Alice's face, and then cleared her throat as she began, "I am Philippa Hymain! Alice, go do your chores! Alice, don't bother your brothers! You silly girl, what am I going to do with you! When I was your age, I-!"