Fire Emblem: March Prompts

Magic

Modern Witcraft AU. Chrom

"Ok. I drew the Three of Swords...that means...I'm well equipped to handle the battles ahead of me?"

Anna winced, pointing to a few places on the tarot card. "Kind of the opposite, actually," she giggled nervously. "This is a pretty bad card to get, especially for a one-card reading."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?" Not everyone knows how to read these things, my raven.

"It means you have a lot of inner turmoil that you aren't equipped to handle," she explained, making the pit in my stomach grow. "You need to give your heart and mind time to heal."

I groaned, face-planting into the cloth-covered table. "I don't have time to heal! I have business to do!"

I felt a small hand pet my hair. "There there, my bluejay. There there."

With a scrunched up face, I lifted my head. "How come whenever I ask for a reading, I get my ass handed to me by the spirits?" Seriously. This is the third time this week I've been called out like this. 

"Oh, I don't know, Chrom. Maybe it's because you have a problem that you aren't addressing?"

Although the city of Ylisse was quite small, it homed the most powerful light mages in the country (which was my family). Black magic has seen a sudden surge of popularity over the past few years, thanks to the interest seen in the media, so it was only a matter of time until Ylisse had its own black magic shop. When the group of dark mages first arrived, everyone was a bit skeptical -- we had been the capital of white magic for a while, after all. However, after a bit of time, these mages fit into our community like they'd always been there.

The head dark mage, Anna, just so happened to become my best friend as well. And hopefully, one day, maybe, something more.

While the card wasn't exactly wrong, I had a bunch of stuff on my mind, but I did not have any time to deal with it. I would just have to put those problems in my box of repression, which already housed a milieu of other issues, anxiety in regards to the business, and the trauma I carried after my mother's death, just to name a few.

Anna sighed, taking the card away and reshuffling the deck. "Why don't we do one more reading and then go to lunch? I'll let you pick this time!"

"I don't think that's a good idea; the Archana don't like me."

She was already spreading out the cards. "Then we'll do one that involves both of us! I like to think I have a good relationship with them!"

I shrugged. "Fine." It's been a while since she's done a friendship spread for us. I wonder how I'm going to be screwed over this time.

She laid out five cards, their decorative backs staring at me - mocking me. She quickly explained to me how this reading will work. The front two cards represent us, while the cards next to them reveal our personal problems. The card in the middle is the outcome of our relationship. I've seen her do this one hundreds of times, how bad could it be?

Anna flipped over the first card to reveal the Ace of Wands. My erratic nerves settled swiftly as I saw my friend smiling. "The Ace of Wands means you have a lot of creative energy flowing throughout you. You have a very large outlook on life and it will only continue to expand." Oh, that's actually pretty accurate. Go me!

She flipped over the card the represented my issue, and, of course, it was the Fool. "You are a very trusting person, Chrom. That's not a bad thing! Not at all! But sometimes you ignore your better judgment and think mostly with your heart, not your mind."

"Gee, thanks, my raven."

She stuck her tongue out, turning her own card. The Emperor. "As I'm sure you know, I'm a very decisive and analytical person. I tend to be protective of those around me and am quite outspoken about my beliefs. I wouldn't have been able to get where I am today without standing up for myself and making my voice heard."

That's true... She went through a bunch of discrimination when she first arrived. I'm glad she was able to overcome all of it, though.

When she flipped over her problem card, we were both met with confusion. "...The Star..." she murmured. I'd seen this card a bunch of times and all I could remember was that it literally radiated pure hope and optimism. How could this possibly be a problem? "I...I have many ambitions, Chrom; I have too many thoughts and ideas in my head that it's hard to keep track of them all! Sometimes I feel like if I don't accomplish all these things, I've failed someone. Myself, my mom, my friends...even you."

"Hey." I reached for her hand. "You could never disappoint me. It's not possible." And I want to help you with those ambitions. I'd follow you to the ends of the earth if you wanted. ...Actually, given some of the stuff I've helped her with, that might be a real possibility.

She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Heh, thanks, Chrom." She fiddled with the edge of the final card. "All right. Let's see what our uniting for is - ACK!!"

And of course, of fucking course, our uniting force was the Lovers.

My hand darted back, my entire face feeling like it was on fire. Anna was in no better state, frantically trying to cast a calming spell. Her familiar, an owl named Lovis, cooed with curiosity, no doubt shaken up from the discord in her host's heart.

"U-um, you know what?! I'm feeling kinda out of it right now!" Anna nervously coughed. "I bet the energy of the shop is completely off! Yep! That's it!"

"Er, of course! That sounds about right!" I tried to hide my blushing face.

She got rid of the cards with lightning speed, silently cursing in some language I didn't understand. "Wh-why don't we go get lunch? Maybe that'll help restore my powers to normal!"

"Yep! Great idea! Let's go!" I grabbed my jacket and anxiously waited for Anna to close up the shop. 

Why, for the love of all that is good and holy, are the spirits out for me?

*****
I actually did a reading for this one-shot. I changed a few things to fit the story (they actually got the Ten of Cups for their outcome) because I thought it would be entertaining for them to get the Lovers. This was the final prompt, guys! This month has been...interesting. I have a few announcements in the next chapter, so make sure to check that out. Thank you guys so much for reading these. Your support means a lot. ❤ Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more.