Fate Arcana

Chapter 2

I could hear voices as I slowly opened my eyes, everything was blurry and when things started to clear out I saw two men looking at my direction.

"You're finally awake!" The tall man said, I'd say he looked like he was in his late 40s or early 50s, he had long black hair with white streaks which was tied neatly in a ponytail, he also had neat facial hair and was wearing unusual clothing like the ones I saw from books where men used to wear this during the medieval period. But what strucked me most was his eyes, it was lifeless yet somewhat intimidating so I decided to look away and focus my attention to the other man beside him. He looks a bit younger compared to the white haired man, he had clean cut black hair and was also wearing weird clothing.

The man seemed familiar, and there memories came flooding back, I panicked as I remembered it was the man who was chasing me earlier, I stood up and was ready to leave when the long haired man spoke.
"Hey hey, I am sorry if my friend here scared you but we won't hurt you. I am Baltazar, this here is Gregory." He said smiling, but somewhat I perceived that smile to be fake, still I managed to speak. "Where am I?" I asked.
"You're in my castle." He said with his fake smile still plastered.
"Castle? Don't joke with me I'm serious, where am I?" I asked gritting my teeth and raising my voice, because of this Gregory pulled out his sword and pointed it towards me which scared the life out of me, I never noticed the sword he possessed in the first place, but then Baltazar stopped him so he retracted his sword. "My dear boy, see for yourself and you'll believe me." Baltazar said calmly.

Still a bit uncertain I started to walk to the nearest window, we were certainly in a high place and there I saw the magnificent blue sky. The lands were vast and everything was abundant. I could also see the town with it's rich culture, from the lively townspeople to the developed environment. 'Am I dreaming?' I thought to myself.

"Do you believe us now?" Baltazar asked and I just nodded still quite unconvinced but then I summoned up the courage to ask him. "Why am I here?"

Instead of answering my question, Baltazar motioned to Gregory. "You must be tired, Gregory please assist our guest to the room we prepared for him" and with that Gregory assisted me out of the room, but before leaving I heard Baltazar added "I still have errands to finish however I will be talking to you later, Sebastian."

---

The walk with Gregory to the room was awfully quiet, I decided not to ask him the details since Baltazar said he would be talking to me later, not that I trust him but based on the treatment he needs something from me as well so maybe I could give him the benefit of the doubt, I should also just follow their instructions for the meantime so I won't get hurt. The feeling of being in another place still haven't dawn on me because it really bothered me how Baltazar knows my name when I haven't mentioned it.

While walking down the halls of the supposed castle, I couldn't help but be in awe of its fine structure, the halls were wide and had red carpets, the details of the walls and pillars were intricate and the chandeliers were grand. I thought I couldn't be more amazed but I stand corrected as we passed by the indoor garden. There were different kinds of plants and I could also see how well they were taken care of since the garden looks so healthy and full of life.

There was also a huge pond and in the center of it all was a small gazeebo, but what caught my attention the most was the girl who was just standing inside the gazeebo, she was wearing a flowy white dress and had long black wavy hair which complimented her porcelain skin, I couldn't see her face clearly since there was quite a distance from her to where I was standing, but she was just staring at the sky, it was as if she was searching for something. "Mr. Sebastian, this way please" Gregory stated, I didn't realize that I stopped on my tracks to stare at the girl, I was curious as to how she looks like, but then I continued to follow Gregory once again.

After the long painfully akward walk with Gregory, we finally arrived at the room they had prepared for me, before leaving he advised me to rest as Baltazar will be speaking to me later on. I flopped down at the bed while scanning the place, the room was huge, the curtains looked fancy, the furnitures and frame of the bed looked like they were crafted finely and had intricate details as well. This place really is a castle, it's just too grand.

I jolt up from the bed questioning myself how I was so calm about this situation, I'm still thinking maybe this is all just a dream, I should also be thinking of a way to escape from here. But then again I realized I'm hopeless right now, I don't even have the sligthest idea as to how I could explain this predicament I'm in. As I lied down in bed once again I felt the fatigue build up, I didn't know if it was from all the questions running in my head or from the soft comfortable bed that I fell asleep shortly after that.

---

I awoke from my nap after hearing a knock from the door and Baltazar's feint voice asking if he could come in. "Yes you may." I responded and he came in. "How are you doing Sebastian?" He asked as he sat down by the table, I sat beside him as well but not too close, I'm still wary of the uneasy feeling from the aura he's emitting, it feels so fake. "I know you have lots of questions for me but, let me just tell you the main reason as to why you are here." He paused and took a deep breathe "I need you and your power." He said directly.

I just stared at him like he was some kind of lunatic as he finished his sentence, 'what power is he talking about?' He seemed to have read what I was thinking and thus continued to talk. "I know you think this is crazy, however you're not in the world you are used to, in this world humans posses superhuman abilities, sorcery if you may. And you, you possess the most unique divination of all, to alter one's fate."

I was waiting for him to say this was all some huge joke, but then I saw through his lifeless eyes that he was dead serious about this. "This is absurd, you're crazy!" I shouted, I couldn't help it since he's speaking so much nonsense. "I know this is all too much to swallow, you couldn't even remember what happened to you 10 years ago, but with my help we will regain what you've lost."

'I'm missing something.'

With his words I suddenly remembered this thought that was always haunting my mind.