Finished: October 30, 2008
Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like a multi-national, multi-billion-dollar company? Or a mangaka? Then it ain’t mine.
“C’mon, Wufei—it’ll be FUN!” Wufei scoffed as he was dragged along, doubting that his friend Duo’s version of fun would be similar to his. It hadn’t proved so most of the evening. As they walked further and further away from the laughing hordes of children and the screams emanating from haunted houses, he had to ask, “Is this ALL Winner land?”
The Winners, the largest and most powerful family in the city, held an annual Halloween party. Actually, it was more like a Halloween fair. It lasted for a week and all the rides, games and food were free to anyone wearing a legitimate costume, even adults. To this end, Duo had donned a rather lovely purple and black dress, brushing his long hair out and leaving it down, claiming that he was cosplaying. Wufei had refrained, so he had to pay for all of his stuff. The Winners rented the land the fair was on, and paid for everything, but the sounds from the rest of the fair were getting quieter and quieter, so he was getting a bit nervous.
“Yeah! This really cute oriental guy told me where to find it! Look—it’s right up there!” Duo pointed up the hill they were climbing at a muslin tent that looked particularly ominous due to the fact that the only light near it was the single lantern hanging on the side of the door.
Wufei sighed and replied with far more patience than he had, “Oriental is a rug, Duo, not a person. He was ASIAN.”
He was carelessly waved off by his crossdressing friend, “Asian, oriental, whatever.” As they reached the door of the tent, another man came walking out rather swiftly and crashed into Duo, knocking him backwards a few steps. Duo, once he’d regained his equilibrium, glared at the guy, “Hey! Watch where you’re going, buddy!”
The man, who’d been frowning at the ground upon his exit, looked up when he crashed into Duo, his expression slightly concerned. Wufei almost laughed as he saw the man’s eyes (Well, visible eye. One was covered with long brown bangs.) widen with surprise, “Oh…I’m sorry, miss.”
Just then, the tent door was pushed aside by a figure in a long, diaphanous indigo cloak with a hood covering the top half of the wearer’s face and shadows disguising the rest. An androgynous voice came from within, “Who’s next?” Wufei jerked forward a little, having been pointedly nudged by Duo. Seemed he was into the brown-haired guy.
Wufei sighed and stepped forward, “I am.” The figure turned away, holding the tent door open for him, allowing him to follow. The interior of the tent was only a little brighter than the exterior, a candle burned on the cloth-draped table that dominated the room, the paleness of the cloth’s color putting him in mind of sunny summer days. A small box with a mottled brown coloring, bearing the words “Tarot Cards” emblazoned on the top in gold leaf, and stylized depictions of Egyptian artwork beneath the words rested on one side of the table, opposite the candle.
The fortune-teller took a seat and Wufei did as well, patiently watching as pale hands popped open a tab on the end of the box, lifting the lid and removing a deck of cards. The hands shuffled the deck as Wufei waited. When they began dealing, however, he frowned, “Hey..! Aren’t you going to ask me if I have a question?”
A chuckle came from the deep folds of the cloak, “The cards will tell me everything I need to know—including your primary concerns. Not what you THINK you’re worried about—what truly concerns you.” Wufei subsided with a frown, settling back into his seat as the three cards were dealt.
The first was turned over, showing seven cups filled with a nasty-looking mess, “Seven of cups. Recent past. You thought you had all the love you could want and need, but it turned out that things were not as they seemed. You felt deceived and heartbroken. Now you attempt to guard your heart, to ignore the tragedy of the pain you feel and pretend you want no more.” Wufei shifted uncomfortably. His boyfriend of seven years had broken up with him a few months ago in favor of a woman. He didn’t know who he wanted to curse more: Milliardo Peacecraft or Lucrezia Noin.
The second card was turned over, depicting a mage with stars getting smaller and smaller displayed across his chest, a vaguely feminine form shown at the bottom, “The Hierophant. Present. Someone with the heart of a child, occasionally incredibly wise and possessed of great determination has been mothering you, getting you to get up, get active, stop being miserable. Perhaps your sister or aunt? A close female friend. Someone who’s ‘one of the guys’.”
This made Wufei frown. He was an orphan and he didn’t have any particular liking for women, “That can’t be right. I don’t have any female relatives and I don’t have any friends like that, either.”
The fortune-teller picked up the card for a better look, “Oh…my mistake. It’s not a female with masculine tendencies, more a male with….well, the tendency to behave as a mother-figure. Perhaps even one who is homosexual? Not you, but someone close to you.” Wufei pressed his lips together, offering a hesitant nod. No need to unnecessarily oust Duo, but that HAD to be who the card was referring to. He got a nod in return as the card was set back down, “I thought as much.”
The last card was turned, revealing a man on a horse bearing a golden cup that contained a crab within, lunging towards the sky, “Knight of Cups. There is someone you have an interest in. Whoever it is, they are strongly keyed to their emotions, which frightens you, as you try to repress your own. I get the impression this person is fair of coloring—blond hair, blue eyes. Am I correct?”
Wufei had to resist the urge to blush. He’d secretly been enamored of the only son born to the Winner family: Quatre. The boy was exactly as the fortune-teller described and he could only nod, “Quatre Winner, the son of the people hosting this fair. He’s also WAY out of my league. There’s no way he would be interested in a guy like me.”
“And what if you could be sure of his interest? This card shows me that he is easily capable of ignoring social classes in favor of being pure to his emotions.”
A wistful look passed through dark brown eyes as Wufei pondered that, “It would be…wonderful. If I knew he was interested, I would DEFINITELY make an effort to get closer to him.”
A card was laid down beneath the original three and even though the couple it depicted seemed to be getting married, the title was clear: The Lovers. “You will get your wish, because he returns your feelings very strongly.”
Wufei bristled, “How do you know?!” The fortune-teller removed their hood. It was Quatre, a wicked grin spread across his face.
“Just a hunch.”