#wrt decisions... i know asra's card is painfully cliché so i had to think better abt the one ximena gets and good god that was a process

[nadiaportia]

Familiar Faces - A Past Tale

Summary: A fugitive plans her next move to leave behind her old life until she crosses paths with a magician who wishes to see behind the facade.

Starring Asra Alnazar and Ximena Rubalcada.

“Ha! You're very welcome, Kestrel, this's payback for last week!” The man laughed loudly as he took the coins of the table, much to the dismay of the other players.

“Oi, Viv, drink of their choice for everyone in here, my treat!”, he said to the smirking bartender. People around him cheered and even I lifted my empty jar of beer in acknowledgement before turning back to looking at the map laid out in front of me.

Several spots were marked; places I had traveled to in the last 5 years and ultimately never stayed longer than absolutely necessary. Technically my two month stay in this backwater town a five day journey away from Macawi Port had already been too long but I liked it here well enough and the people enjoyed having a magician among them. No one bothered to ask questions, something that wasn't the norm in places like this - the smaller the village, the more suspicious its inhabitants were of strangers.

But here I had been able to rent two rooms over a bakery, one for me to live in and the other to do business in - making wards and remedies for small maladies, casting protective charms and reading my customers' cards was run-of-the-mill stuff which I had already done before and always managed to be a hit with the locals. I had not been asked yet to do some of the shady stuff people with no morals would ask for, such as brewing love potions or cursing their rivals, and was more than glad for it.

Viv the bartender waved at me and pointed at the finished drink in my hand: beer with two vermouth shots. I nodded. My real alcoholic drink of choice -  Cartagense liquor that tastes like herbs and vanilla - would've been too much to ask for in a place that on most days didn't even offer something besides beer. I doubted the people here had ever even heard of Cartagenth existing but the risk of getting discovered was something worth worrying about, no matter how small it was.

I eyed the city of Hjalle on the Western coast of the Strait of Seals. I had never gone to the South before; nothing about this place had any appeal for me whatsoever, be it the known lawlessness or the biting cold, but it was known that from Hjalle ships left to places much further away than from Nevivon, to the Far East and even to other continents. The language barrier would surely be a problem if I decided to take the jump over the ocean but I couldn't be the only traveler from here and lingua francas surely had to exist, which would make everything a lot easier. The bigger problem was that I couldn't tell how much money I'd need to take such a ship, especially if since I had to spend some coins to take the journey from Macawi Port to Hjalle first, and from what I heard it was a decently sized city - less than perfect conditions.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the tavern door swinging open and saw two people entering. Both wore dark travelers' cloaks, which was exactly where their similarities ended. The taller and apparently older one of them had long flaming green hair, skin white like paper and their eyes hid behind orange glasses that made them look like an exotic insect and extremely out of place. The shorter one had a head full of white curls, golden brown skin, and… was that a snake that had just disappeared in his cloak? I raised an eyebrow. Strangers were not only a rare sight in here but extravagant strangers? That was downright fishy.

“Hey there, travelers, c'mon over! 'S always nice t'see new faces! Viv, two beer for these fine folks!” The lucky winner of the card game waved them over his table. The newcomers looked at each other, seemed to agree and approached them.

“Good evening. It's always nice to arrive to a place and have such a warm welcome.” The insect spoke with a high melodic voice. Both had their backs turned to me so I couldn't see their faces, and standing up to move would surely seem suspicious.

“What're your names? Mine's Cygni, that one over there’s Viv, and these are Kestrel, Alexei and Yelma.” He gestured to the other players.

Both travelers pulled chairs to the table and shrugged of their cloaks. “I'm Saray and my companion here,”, they put a hand on said companion's shoulder, “is Asra. We come from the city of Vesuvia on the other side of the Salty Sea.”

“Proper northerners, eh? That's pretty far away, has anyone here ever been t’Vesuvia?”

Various “No's” were said from all corners. I generally kept away from big places after unpleasant run-ins with Cartagense in Bizatena and Karnassos, and had kept an extremely low profile afterwards. Vesuvia wasn't exactly a place that screamed 'This is where you should hide!' to me and even though never having heard of any treaties between its sovereign and Cartagenth, this could have changed in the meantime.  

“What 'bout you, Magali? You're from some place on the other side of the Sea.”

I felt a sudden rush of blood to my head and forced myself to take the deep breaths. There was nothing I wished more for the ground to open and swallow me whole. I looked up from the card to see the travelers and Cygni look at me with curiosity in their eyes. The insect's, Saray, eyes were still hidden behind glasses whereas their companion's, Asra, were a light purple and framed by long white lashes.

“Yes, from Nopal.” I said, keeping my voice as cold and uninterested as I could. I had no interest in speaking to these travelers or in them shoving their noses into my business.

The one called Asra perked up. “Oh, really? It's such a beautiful place, I've only been there once but it's breathtaking.”

I felt my eyelid twitch. “Yes, it is.” I pressed the words out more than speaking them and made a point to turn my attention back to the map in front of me. A single bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck.

“Don't mind her, she's a very busy woman. Y'know, Magali is a magician who has settled down only a few weeks ago-” I tuned out the next of Nevil's words and fought against my rising desire to hex his mouth shut. Keeping my eyes glued on the map without really seeing what I was pretending to look at, I deeply wished to have the ability to disappear right here and now. Great, now the strangers' attention was on me without a doubt and my wish to bolt for the door when I saw the one named Asra get up from his chair and make his way over to my booth was almost suffocating.

“May I? I'm sorry for being so excited but it's just… it's such a coincidence to walk into a foreign tavern that far from home and meet another magician!”

If I had ever suspected the spirits that controlled the ways of the World had all come together in some shady backroom to conspire against me personally, this must've be the definitive proof of it. There was no way in hell that this could be a coincidence, I wouldn't have it or a friendly chat with this Asra.

“I suppose so. But as your new friend had already said, I'm quite busy and would like to be left alone.” I said coldly and cursed myself for never actually having gone to Nopal, otherwise I would've been able to learn the accent, but who would've known I'd meet someone who has actually been there in a village which most people have probably never left? After all, it was technically true, with the Rubalcabas originally coming from Nopal, but who was going to explain details?

Asra's shoulders slumped and his expression saddened.

“Of course, I understand. Apologies for disturbing you.” Something in his clothes shuffled and my eyes went wide when a snake crawled out of his left sleeve. It looked at me with the same curiosity its owner had given me and blinked.

Friend!

I jumped from the chair, hitting my kneecaps against the table in the process and gasped at the sudden pain.

“Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!” Asra was at my side in an instant and put his hand on my back as I bent over in pain. “Faust usually knows better than to frighten people, I guess she was just as excited as I was.”

I waved away his concern and bit my lip and I sat back down while rubbing my knees.

“No, don't blame your familiar. Wasn't her fault. Mine's like that too-.”

I bit my tongue just as I realized what I had just said. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“You also have an familiar?” His eyes went wide and he beamed at me. Instead of an answer I coughed and tried to look at put together as I could.

“Of course, all true magicians have one. Now, please…” I turned my attention back to the map, feeling my heart flutter in my chest. But he didn't move away, in fact he didn't stop staring at me. Strangely enough, I didn't sense any danger from him and something about his youthful face and his eyes gave me the sensation of… trust. But spies could have any age; in fact the younger they were, the less people suspected them to be spies, and sometimes being unsubtle even played into their hands.

“Oh, that sure is true, but you don't need to be a trained magician to have one! All you need is to be decent at magic and have a connection to an animal.”

“Hmpfh.” Of course I knew that, did he take me for a fool?

“You certainly traveled very far, I see you have been to Prakra and Firent-”

I pulled the map away from the table and his eyes, rolling it together.

“Okay, I get it, you don't want people shoving their nose into your business.” He spoke with resignation and sighed loudly. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, I thought I made that very clear.”

Asra ran a hand through his hair in obvious frustration. “I know, but please, I- I can't explain it but-” Then he seemed to have an idea. “Do a reading for me.”

“Come again?”

“A reading. Let the cards tell you what to do.”

“I don't need cards to tell me what to do: I'm leaving.” Map in the hand, I stood up and passed by Viv, who opened their mouth to ask me why I was leaving even though I was just about to get my drink.

“Please, I- I came here for you.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart stopped beating in my chest and blood freeze in my veins. Heat built around my fingers and I considered the situation I was in. Viv was still standing behind me, if I were to attack now they could get caught in a crossfire. The tavern was half full with more than enough witnesses and the door was too far away for my likening.

I slowly turned around “What?”

Viv, still standing between one, ducked and hurried out of our way, not before throwing me a wide-eyed look. Asra sighed, his face flushed from nervosity and also what I suspected to be embarrassment.

“Look, I don't know why but something called me to this village and I think it was you. I don't know who you are or what you do, I just felt something familiar when I looked at you.” He sighed. Now I had heard all kinds of talk about intuition and prophetic dreams, be it from other magicians or back home, but this right here just seemed a little too far-fetched - or painfully honest.

“I give you a reading, understood? Let me get my cards from my place, and don't try anything funny like following me.” I snarled but to my surprise, he held out his hand as if to stop me.

“Here, take mine.” He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a deck of dark blue tarot cards. I eyed them suspiciously and crossed my arms in front of my chest. “I won't use another magician's deck, I'm no fool.”

Asra shrugged. “Really? I didn't think there'd be people left who still believed in that particular superstition. But fine, get your own cards.”

I frowned. “I'm not superstitious.”

Asra sat down in the seat opposite the one I had occupied and put the deck in front of him. “Good, so let's get started. I'll let you get a feeling for them.” He winked at me and a mischievous smirk played about his lips. “How am I supposed to trick you by letting you use my cards? Hexing them? Besides, a true magician should be able to call the bluff.”

My face went hot as I made my way back to the table. “I know. I'm just being cautious.” The Vesuvian was definitely more at ease once I sat down and gave me an encouraging smile. I took the deck and looked at the cards. They were obviously self-made, the depictions of the Major and Minor Arcana unique, with the archetype being represented by humanoids with animal heads. The deck felt… friendly, and not in a false way. I shuffled the cards and laid out three in front of him all while not taking my eyes off him. Neither did he, and his smirk widened as I arched an eyebrow as if to ask him why he seemed to want to challenge me.

I took the card in the middle first. Two snakes were embracing and looking at each other lovingly. The Lovers, upright. I frowned, yet the words spoken to me by the two snake people were clear as crystal; in fact, they were the clearest reading I have ever done. There was no doubt what the cards were trying to tell me, they were incapable of lying to me.

“Oh, the Lovers! Most curious.” Asra said and looked from the card to me.

“You are on your path to begin a new relationship, but it can only be successful if you make yourself clear in what your intentions are. Once you manage to connect, it will only make both parties stronger through their shared bond.” I said the words half to him, half to myself, and looked inquisitively at the card. I half-way expected it to laugh in my face and call bullshit but nothing of the sort happened.

“So… there we go.” I finished, trying to ignore how unsure I sounded. “Good news to you, I suppose.”

Asra smiled. “Might I return the favor?”

I blinked. Here? No way.

“Not the best place.”

“Oh.”

There was an awkward silence between us, until I took a deep breath. Please, intuition, don't fail me now. If he does turn out to be a spy or an assassin, I'll never trust my gut and judgment ever again.

“My place is just a stone's throw away from here.”

The Vesuvian blinked in surprise and pursed his lips, then he seemed to realize what face he was making and instantly put on a more serious expression.

“Of course. Just let me tell my traveling companion that I'm… uh, gone for a bit.”

“Fine. But I don't want them to suddenly pop up there too.”

He nodded and walked back to the table where the insect and the card players were seated, all deep in conversation.

“Asra, my dearest, are you done with your magician business? If yes, join us for a game of cards, these fine people are most entertaining to be around with!” Saray said. They had still not taken off their glasses but from the accent in their speech I suspected them to belong to one of the many ethnic groups that lived in Prakra.

“Not yet, Saray, Magali actually wanted to show me her workplace.”

The card players looked at each other and smirked. The one called Yelma let out a wolf whistle.

“Let's be quick about it.” I murmured and snapped my fingers to get Asra's attention. Together we exited the tavern and I closed the door behind us.

We crossed the market place, passed by the small fountain in its center and reached the bakery. A brief fumble for my keys, a door being opened and we went up the stairs into the first floor.

“Guess your place always smells really nice.” Asra said.

“Yes. They also wake up at four in the morning to start working.”

He laughed as I entered the first room, the one where I usually worked in. A soft and questioning chirp got both our attention when I light up a candle from afar.

Segismundo looked at me from his usual sitting spot and tilted his head.

“Yeah, I know. Visitors that late are rare but don't worry about it.” I said to my familiar as he flew onto my outstretched arm.

“Oh, what a beautiful Quetzal! What’s his name?”

“Segismundo.”

“Very nice to meet you, Segismundo, my name is Asra and this here,”, he caressed the snake that had crawled out of his sleeve again, “is Faust. Sorry for disturbing you, you were probably sleeping.”

Segismundo looked from him to me and then to Faust, who herself was looking at him with pure curiosity. Ruffling his feathers, he shook himself and flew back to where he was before, right behind my seat.

“He doesn't take kindly to strangers.” I explained. I didn't mention that the fact that Segismundo didn't alert me but merely checked on who exactly was invading our space was a good sign... for them as much as for me.

“Familiars tend to be like their magicians.” Asra smirked and sat down at the low table where I would usually sit at with customers. “Quetzals are usually native to the rainforests beyond the Catclaw Desert so I guess you might be Nopali - even if Magali is a name I have heard a lot often when it belonged to people from Venterre.”

I said nothing and opened a drawer to get the tarot deck.

“Do you want something to drink or a snack? You didn't have anything at the tavern, if memory serves right.”

“A tea, but maybe for another day, I like to let it brew for a bit and I don't think you want me to be here longer than absolutely necessary. Snacks would be appreciated though, what do you have?”

“Hazelnuts and almonds.” The sooner I got rid of them, the better. These Eastern sweets had nothing on the deliciousness of roasted cocoa beans and maracuyas.

“Oh, why not?” All too happy I handed him the bowl on top of the drawer. “Since you used my cards to do my reading, I'd ask you to let me use me yours. You can decline, of course, but-” Wordlessly I handed him over my deck before he could continue and crossed my arms.

“Oh, thank you.” In the candlelight I got a much better look at the Vesuvian magician and studied his face as he regarded the cards. His hair looked soft to their touch and reminded me of cloudy summer days in Cartagenth. His skin was clean without any wrinkles but with a healthy glow to it, his eyes had a spark of mischief in them and a mysterious smile seemed to be his default expression. He couldn't be beyond his early twenties.

“Those are very beautiful cards, I don't think I have ever seen a design like this.”

“Thank you, they were a family heirloom.” Technically the truth. My cousin Agustín, the only close family member I had left who didn't hate me or wanted my death had given them to me in a back alley in Bizatena, shortly before I had seen him for the last time. He had previously stolen them from his mother's, my aunt, collection of magical artefacts and given them to me as a parting gift. You have a lot more use for them than if they were to catch dust, he had told me before I had wrapped my arms around his neck to embrace him.

“Your name.”

“Huh?”

“I need your true name. The identity you are the most attached to, and something tells me it's not Magali of Venpal.” He smiled at me as if to encourage me.

I didn't return the smile but merely exhaled a deep breath. All in or nothing, even though I felt no danger from this strange wandering magician.

“Ximena.”

“Ximena.” He repeated, as if to try out how it felt pronouncing my name. “I like it. It fits you more than the one from your disguise.” He winked, and I felt color rush to my ears and my face.

“Well, here goes nothing.” I murmured and broke our eye contact.

Three cards were in front of us. I felt a pull towards the one on the far left, and I knew that Asra did so too. Before he had even turned the card around I knew exactly what it was going to be.

“The Moon, reversed.” I whispered and felt Asra's, Faust's and Segismundo eyes on me as I looked at the card which showed a lobster looking up at a crescent.

“You're afraid. In fact, you have been afraid for a very long time, so long that you learned to live with your fear as it was choking the life out of you but as of right now it's threatening to overwhelm you and you don't know what to do.” Asra’s voice was calm and serene, but there was an unmistakable sadness in it too. For some reason, I felt extremely ashamed and embarrassed as he spoke. He leaned back and looked right in my face. “Take a closer look at those fears, analyze and combat them. Only then you'll know what to do next, and it won't be a rash decision but what's meant to be right.”

Neither of us said something. I was the first one who broke the silence after what seemed like a small infinity. “You should go.” My voice didn't sound as strong and steady as I would've wanted it to, but Asra nodded. “I did what I came here for, and you made it clear you wanted to be left alone afterwards. I respect that.”

He stood up and bowed his head. I followed his example. “Thank you.” It was all I managed to reply to that.

“I will stay here for perhaps a couple of days, I suspect we will run into each other again, since this place is small.” I nodded in response, that was very within the realm of possibilities. “Have a good night, Ximena. And you too, Segismundo.” He nodded in acknowledgement to Segismundo, who returned the nod with a tilt of his head.

“A good night to you and Faust too.” I fumbled with my hands. “Get some rest.”

“Thank you, we will.” Another small smile stole itself onto his lips and I stood up to lead him out of the room. When I closed the door behind him and we were once again alone, Segismundo regarded me with a curious look. Well, he was interesting to say the least.

“You don't say.” I sighed and made my way over to him.

He seemed like he knew you but at the same time didn't. The one named Faust had looked at me as if she had already met me, and I felt the same way.

“Have you ever-”

No. You know exactly I have never.

“Hm.” I put a hand to my chin. “I'm sure there is an explanation behind all this.”

What about the reading? You know he's right. Do you really think going to Hjalle will make our problems disappear just like that?

I blinked. “Of course not.” My words came out more sharply than I intended them too.

Good, because we had this discussion too many times now. Also, neither of us have a fondness for the cold.

I rubbed my temples. “I'm gonna have to sleep a night over this. Or two. Or seven.”

Segismundo took off and onto my shoulder. As he gently rubbed his head against my cheek, I caressed his emerald green plumage.

That's a good idea. The Moon is shining now, but tomorrow the Sun will.