"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
These are the words that greet you once you are of sound enough mind to process them. You open your eyes to find yourself seated at one end of a limousine. Everything is a deep, royal blue. Two figures sit before you at the opposite end of the car, and they both look as if they come from a completely different world, For the woman seated to the left, it is her beauty. Her features are nothing short of striking, and her curled hair is a lovely silver, though she looks hardly past twenty. She wears clothes that make her look like some sort of attendant in a vehicle as fancy as this one, and they are as rich a blue as everything else around you.
For the man though...
For the man it is his nose; and his bulging eyeballs. You've never seen someone who looked so bizarre, before...like an alien.
Strangely enough, you are not frightened. Something about this place is...off. It doesn't seem real, but at the same time it feels distinctively purposeful. You know that for some reason you are meant to be here.
"Ah, it would seem that we have a guest with a rather intriguing destiny..." He is sitting directly across from you, with a small table set up in front of him. His hands are clasped under his nose as if he is in deep thought. He chuckles after saying this, although you don't know what about what he said is so funny. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
You stay silent, sensing that he has more to say than that. And he does.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract of sorts may enter." He explains as if sensing your confusion. His words pique your interest; a place that exists...and yet doesn't. A room that had hosted guests before you, and would continue to do so after. How many had sat where you now sit? How many had visited this mysterious "Velvet Room"? Igor keeps speaking before you can ponder it further, "It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future."
A...contract? You wonder to yourself. For me?
"Now then...why don't you introduce yourself?"
>Enter your last name
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>Enter your first name
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You speak your name as you have done many times before, only hesitating for a moment.
"Hm...I see." Igor hums, pleased. "Now, let's peer into your future, shall we? Do you believe in fortune telling?"
You don't answer, but it doesn't perturb the man at all.
"I find it fascinating how even as each reading is done with the same cards, the result will always vary. Life itself follows the same set of principles, does it not?" With a sweep of his hands, Igor summons a deck of cards from nowhere, and the move with his will. They are strange blue cards, with faces like masks on the back - split down the middle by light and dark. With another flourish of his hand, the card at the top left flips itself over, revealing a vibrantly colored tower card. Igor smiles even as he relays the meaning. "The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It would seem a terrible catastrophe is upon you."
He gestures once more, and the card at the top right follows his command. "The card relaying the future beyond that is the moon in the upright position, a card that represents hesitation and mystery. How interesting..." His eyes meet yours, "Seemingly, you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a mystery will arise to meet you in its wake."
You resist the urge to worry at your bottom lip. Whether you believe in tarot readings or not, it is never pleasant to hear that you might be met with disaster.
"In the coming days you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny...if the mystery is not solved in time, your future could be lost to you." Igor looks as calm as ever, relaying such news. You wonder if he does it often. "My duty is to provide assistance to our guests and ensure that this does not happen." He waves his hand one more time, a finality in the motion, and the cards fade out of existence.
"Ah, I've neglected to introduce my assistant to you; this is Margaret, a resident of this room like myself."
The woman turns her head to meet your gaze, face smooth and expressionless like an undisturbed lake. "My name is Margaret," She says, "I am here to accompany you through your journey."
"We shall get into specifics another time. Until then...farewell." Igor bids you goodbye, and with that your vision fades peacefully.
