The Secrets Behind Them

‡{Fortune Telling}‡

This morning I woke up to a hotel room missing two people, which lead to Arthur and I finding the two of them in The Patch. Now we're standing in front of a set of dark doors to a brick shop. The sign above the doors read "Apate's Fortunes and Visions."

"So, who's going in first?" Aaron lets out a shakey chuckle, looking directly at me as if I should go. I find this kind of funny, he's the entire reason we're even here. "Why don't you go since you've been begging for this for so long?" I throw back a reply, seeing his expression change. His brows go up and his mouth widens just enough to where he looks like a whiny six year old. "Lyra...Lyra you know how awkward I am." He attempts to guilt trip me. I take one glance to the right of him, where Sonya stands closely to Aaron. Their shoulders are nearly touching. "You don't seem to be very awkward with Sonya," I shoot back, "why would you be bad with Apate?" He frowns, almost looking angry with me with his brows furrowed and his lips in the shape of a slightly flattened rainbow.

   "Hello! You must be the small group I've been anticipating!" The shop's door slams open, revealing a dark skinned urian scyra with blue swirls on her cheeks and pink eyes. She has a sweet voice and an accent that has me ready to sip tea with some sort of queen. She has a gown draping down to her ankles. The base color of the dress is hot pink, there's some thin gold stripes down the skirt part as well. The more I study her, the more I begin thinking that I know her from somewhere. "Now, now. May I see the mistress Lyra?" Fuck. I guess I'm going first.

   I step forward, giving a gentle smile and waving my hand to catch her attention. "I'm Lyra. Am I getting my fortune first?" She nods to my question, gesturing for me to enter the shop. "Right this way," she turns toward Sonya, "I believe you're next, Ms. Wells."

   Walking into the shop, I find myself entering one single room decorated with various reflective objects. Every wall is a giant mirror with some cloth hanging from the corners of the ceiling, which is also a mirror. The flooring is dark wood, various shades of pink and blue  paint is splattered on the floor. There's a centered table in the back of the room, which is directly across the entrance. I see the woman's reflection in the mirror walls as she enters the room. She makes her way to  the table, clapping her hands. When she claps, two leather desk chairs appear along with a bowl of fruit on the table. She sits in the chair closest to the wall and then smiles at me, most likely expecting me to join her.

   The closer I get to the table, the more objects appear around me. A dark sword covered with blood lays on the floor along with a torn blue button-up shirt with a blood stain by the tears. Next to this scene, a black leather bracelet with silver stars on it lays on top of a folded blue jacket with a fur collar. I look up at the mirror to see myself surrounded by people. Some of them I know, some I've never seen before. Grayson Nowel walks alongside me. A black haired boy with purple scyra eyes follows us. He's wearing the same jacket on the floor, I assume he's also wearing the bracelet. I look at the other side of the room, seeing the three of us again but our appearances have changed. Grayson's hair is shorter and is much nicer than his typical everyday hairdo, which is always in his face. He has it pushed back behind his ear. He's wearing what looks to be an oversized pastel purple sweater, which reminds me of Arthur. Arthur always wears purple, especially pastel purple.

   My appearance has changed as well. Instead of my short red hair, I have shoulder-length hair. Also, the tips of my hair are dyed barn red. I'm still wearing a beanie though. I always wearing beanies.

   Behind Grayson and I, there is an older and much more matured looking version of the black haired boy. His hair is a hell of a lot shorter and he has what looks to be a nasty scar on his face. He's still wearing the jacket, but he has a new accessory. A pentagram necklace hangs around his neck. It's two shades of blue almost glow when they sit next to each other on the object.