In Noctem (NaNoWriMo2020)

2. The Magician

Kacy

I sometimes wish that I had the ability to teleport. I mean, life would be a lot easier if I can. And it's not like it can have negative repercussions the same way as telepathy and the ability to see the future does.

The moon was already visible even though the sky was still illuminated by the sun. If I were still a kid, I would have thought that it was following me as I walked down the concrete pavement in the streets of Espana.

School had just finished and the traffic on the avenue had once again made it impossible to go home early. Accepting the defeat, I just continued to stroll until I get on the jeepney station.

I am in love with this place. I had fallen in love with the pollution, the lights, and the traffic. It is my last year in high school and I would probably move to a new school when I enter the University. I will miss this, I thought. One more semester and it will be time to bid farewell.

I let the cold breeze wrap me.

It was October. Winter is nearing and the seasons are about to change. The climate was getting cooler and the buildings around me are starting to get designed with Christmas decorations. In the Philippines, the beginning of the -ber months mark the start of the Yuletide season. It ends at about January or even extending until February.

The weird thing about this tradition is during October. The frights of Halloween clashes that of the jovial atmosphere of Christmas. You glance at one store and it's filled with creepy masks. You go to one and you'll see a dumb statue of Santa Clause.

As I was nearing the station, I can't help but wonder what the Jason's cards were talking about. It seemed pretty bad. The aura has shifted after he had gotten that reading.

"Death?" Jason exclaimed, shocked with the result. "What kind of cryptic message is that?"

I took a deep breath. Death is the thirteenth card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot Cards. A standard deck is divided into two categories: The Major and the Minor. The Major Arcana is composed of twenty-one cards which attempts to tell the journey of the trump card called The Fool. The Minor or the Lesser Arcana is subcategorized into four suits: swords, cups, pentacles and wands.

"Do not worry! My favorite card is actually Death," I grinned in response.

"What? How so?" Jason replied.

"Death symbolizes an end of a cycle. Which means whatever you are struggling with today can be gone now," I explained enthusiastically. "Some versions of this card is illustrated with the Phoenix. A symbol of rebirth."

"Now that's what I'm into!" he exclaimed, looking at me. There was a twinkle in Jason's eyes. His brown eyes and black hair were soft. His chubby cheeks were blushing when he was happy. "I didn't know that there are folklores embedded within these drawings".

"That's the beauty of it. Get a deck that suits you and you can read their messages undoubtedly well. Want to hear more of your reading?"

"Go on."

"The Death card is just a supporting idea of your base. What we should focus on is the Fool," I put my pointer finger in the card and started navigating its context. "The Fool is the representation of our innocent yet stubborn self. Look at the picture, the man merrily hops near a cliff, not knowing what is in store for him."

"He also looks unprepared. He doesn't have things to accommodate him in the journey he is about to take," he studied the cards laid out on him.

"I didn't know you were also a mystic, Jason!" I shouted. "That's what I was about to say." The boy put his hand on his nape and shrugged. It was his usual response when being complimented. "What do you think does the other three cards tell?"