(Flashback) Four Swords (Solo)

by **Blythe** on February 24th, 2011, 3:34 pm

58 Summer, 507 AV

Blythe was sitting on her bed, her grandmother's tarot card deck was resting in her hands. She had pulled them out of the box a few moments before, and set the box beside her. She was absentmindedly shuffling the cards, trying to figure out what she should ask them. She couldn't go out today, after all, courtesy of the rain, but she didn't really mind, she was feeling rather tired and lazy anyway. As she shuffled the cards, Blythe tried to think, but nothing in particular was coming to mind. Should she ask about love? Children? Money? A job? One of her family members? Or something else entirely?

Finally, she came up with: should I drink from the Silver Lake again?

Shuffling the cards rapidly for another few moments, Blythe concentrated on her question, and whispered the words, "Avalis, guide my hands, and show the cards the way."

After which time she drew a card from the top of the deck, and placed it face down in front of her, on the bed. She would not be using a significator for this reading, or doing a long reading. She would use only a single card.

When she had drawn the card she would later interpret, Blythe put the rest of the cards she was not using in the box, and then set it aside. She took a deep breath in through her nose and then out through her mouth to help her relax. She wanted to be prepared in all ways for the reading-physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When she felt as ready as she would ever be, Blythe flipped the card over. The card was upside-down, and depicted a white-haired man lying with his eyes closed, in bed. Dark red cloth hung from rather tall bed posts, and the main frame of the bed seemed golden, with a design that reminded Blythe of a field of wheat. The man was wearing a silver plate of armor, the color of which was accentuated by the dark night sky that hung over his head. The sky was rather overcast- filled with large light grey clouds, which only allowed a small sliver of the sky to remain visible, along with a pale crescent moon. A single golden-colored sword rested on the man's chest, the blade pointed down towards his feet. Another three golden-colored swords hovered above the man's body, the blades pointed away from his flesh, and towards the sky. The reverse four of swords card.

The one and only card in her reading represented the critical factor in her current issue. Her question, what she had looked to the cards for, and she had drawn the reverse four of swords. The card, she knew, was associated with restlessness. Abandoning some sort of issue she would be forced to face. Running away from the things that caused one stress, telling oneself it would only be temporary, even though the break would eventually become a more permanent vacation. "A lack of vigilance that could lead to disaster."

Blythe thought about the card for a few moments. Perhaps it meant that a part of her would long for another drink of vision water. Perhaps she'd become so stressed, or so anxious that she DID actually take another sip, but that would only induce visions which caused more stress, which she would then feel a great need to run away from.

Or perhaps the cards were saying that if she didn't drink from the water again, there would be rather large repercussions. Things that Blythe may not be ready or willing to face.

Or perhaps they were saying that whatever she saw while under the effects of the vision water would be what caused her problems. What if she saw someone dying? Or needed to leave Mura, to go on Call? What if the water showed her some sort of disaster? Something she didn't want to see, and that was what would induce stress? What if it was what she saw in the water that made her want to run away?

Or perhaps the water would simply confirm her fears? That something bad was going to happen to her or one of her family members? What if it gave her reason to fear what she already feared? Made everything all the more tangible? And now that she had been backed up by Avalis' tears, Blythe couldn't handle it anymore, and began to shut down?

Or what if she saw something in the water that warned her of a bad event? What if she saw something, but even with that new information, she failed to change the sequence of events necessary to keep the event she saw from happening? That would only cause her more stress, and more pain, Blythe knew.

Blythe wondered if such a thing could even be done. Could one truly change the outcome of the future? Or was it simply written in the cards? Was it something that anyone could find if they had the skill? Was it something that could be found in vision water? Or merely something the Gods had control over? Was everything set in stone, or was one's destiny as malleable as clay?

Or maybe she should simply stop worrying, and depending on a deck of cards, Blythe thought with a loud sigh. Maybe she should just let whatever was supposed to happen, happen, and stay away from Silver Lake, and her grandmother's tarot deck for a very long while. She seemed to be growing far too dependent on what they had to say. She seemed to be letting her emotions and what she saw in divination tools guide her as opposed to all of her senses, and all of the other tools she had at her disposal. After all, she had rational thought, logic, science, math... among other things, to guide her. But Blythe wasn't using any of it, and she more than likely should.

With another defeated sigh, Blythe plucked the four swords card from atop the pale yellow bed sheet, and placed it back in the box with the rest of her grandmother's deck. She then closed the lid of the box over the cards, shrouding them in darkness. As though she were allowing the cards time to rest after their hard work.

Blythe closed her eyes and whispered, "thank you Avalis for guiding the cards, for showing me the way."

Reference :

by **Alice** on February 27th, 2011, 1:28 pm

Blythe

Experience: 1 Fortune Telling, 1 Philosophy
Lores: Single Card Readings, The Reverse Four of Swords Card, Relying too much on Tarot

Comments

Wow, those were a lot of questions. And here’s your last point! While I like Blythe’s question and your description of vision water as some kind of divination trigger, that’s not the original purpose of vision water. Since the Konti’s only water source is Silver Lake, they drink vision water all the time. It strengthens their gift and can even lead to non-Konti developing vision-like gifts. Please keep that in mind.