April Flynn
Location: the Field (School Carnival) - Agatha's Tent
Skills: N/A
~First Day Fit~
The tent flap fluttered shut behind April, as the young girl gasped in astonishment. She had never taken any courses with Professor Harkness, but she had heard a lot about her from her roommate, Mads.
"This is just like Doctor Who!!" April couldn't help but squeal. The tent was far bigger on the inside than on the outside - it was bigger than even their dorm rooms at AA, and those were (as April's mother was fond of reminding her) incredibly spacious. Crystals floated through the air, reflecting the light and casting rainbows. Books and potions and candles and cards and other magical tools drifted about, enchanted by the master sorceress herself, Agatha Harkness.
"Hi! It's so good to meet you! Well, um, we have met before but, like, not officially. Or not for a long time. Anyways. My name's April Flynn - my roommate's in your class, or was in your class, Mads? She said that you are, like, THE witch. Thank you so much for doing readings, I'm so excited!!" April chirped.
The candlelight flickered as Agatha peered at the young girl, the light source casting long shadows on the back wall of the tent. Through Agatha's mystical senses, she could see the third presence in the room - a grey warrior with the sharp keen eyes of an owl, her gaze boring into Agatha's. "Γκρίζα κυρία."
"Bless you," April immediately chimed in, assuming that Agatha had sneezed or something.
"... Thank you, child," Agatha replied after a short pause. Her eyes flickered back to the shadow on the wall of the tent, before resting on April again. "I believe I met your sister earlier, Zelda...? At any rate, what is it that a
Mistress of the Mystic Arts can do for you? What forbidden secret shall we conjure up from the ether?
April's heart began to pound, as a million different questions went through her mind. Unlike her besties, she had never really gotten her fortune told before. Yes, there were a few witches in her family, but April was estranged from them at best. She had never had information about her destiny given before - what sort of person would she be? Would she be a hero like her parents... or a villain? Would she fall in love? Would she get married? Would she
finally manage to take home the crown in the Contest of Champions - would she check off everything on her high school bucket list, Prom Queen, Class President, and so on? Would she, Dorian, and Danni stay together as a trio? Would something tear them apart from each other? Was she fundamentally destined to be good or bad? And then... Then there were things she did not understand about herself, feelings she hadn't examined, hints of something...
Agatha Harkness probably knew more about April than she did herself, April figured.
"So, like, I have tons of questions but I think the most important one - when you're talking to like one of the most powerful witches in the world, so you need to make the question count - is... What kind of person am I going to become? There's... there's some bad people in my family tree. I guess I just want to know... if I'm going to be good enough..." April asked softly, blushing bright red. She didn't have a famous last name, but she did have a famous grandfather. And aunts and uncle. And cousins, too, with the way things were working out for the Minimoff twins.
"Mmm, yes, I see," Agatha said, fixing April with a somewhat pitying gaze. There was more than just one legacy that this child had to bear. "Not everyone in your family is wicked, my dear. And perhaps those you believe to be are falsely accused. Now, let's see what the Cards have to say..."
April cringed in embarrassment and shame, about to trip over her words, only to be cut off by Agatha raising a finger, indicating for her to be quiet.
"Not now, dear," Agatha said. The tarot cards began to dance and swirl through the air, crossing back and forth, forming strange shapes and patterns. They cascaded down to the table in the shape of a helix, before bouncing back up into the air to continue the dance - only one card fell out, hitting the table directly in front of April -
the High Priestess. April wasn't quite sure, but she could've sworn she caught Agatha rolling her eyes??? But then, three cards darted out from the shuffling pack, coming to a rest on the table.
"There we are," Agatha mused. "Now, I have done for you a simple past-present-future three card spread, although as I am quite sure you observed, the High Priestess insisted on making herself known. Your mother has the blessing of the goddess Athena - this perhaps is her making her presence known. However, it also speaks to distance from the spiritual influences of your family. You are disconnected from them, the people you are so afraid to become like... and yet, you have much to learn from them. Seek out those connections, my child. And grow."
"As for these three cards, in the past, you drew the
Eight of Pentacles. This is a card of effort and dedication, of perseverance, work, and reflection. You have been striving towards your goals for quite some time and have set yourself up for success. In the present, you drew a card of major spiritual forces -
the Devil, Reversed. This is a card of freedom, releasing yourself from chains that bind you. I sense that these chains may be your own preconceived notions of yourself and what you are expected to be," Agatha explained somewhat sharply.
"Which then brings us to the question of your future and who you might become...
the Empress. Again, this card speaks of a major spiritual force. The Empress is the divine feminine, compassionate, caring, and free. That is the person I see you becoming, my dear. A good, kind person."
April was too overwhelmed at first to speak. She hadn't known what to expect when asking Agatha that sort of question - what to expect from
any question - but she felt like her spine had been twisted. Everything about the reading felt...
wrong. It felt
uncomfortable. It was like Agatha had pinned her to a wheel and started throwing knives of accusations at her. The admonishment for her fears about her family stung, but truthfully, it was the last thing Agatha had said that felt just...
wrong to her.
April didn't know what it meant, but she didn't want to be the Empress. But hadn't she always wanted to be a hero? Hadn't she always wanted to be a symbol of female empowerment, just like her mother? Shouldn't be told that she was going to be some divine feminine, good and caring and kind, be the ultimate
win from this reading? Why did it make her feel sick and twisted inside? Why did it make her feel like running away from the tent? Why did the eyes of the Empress feel like they were boring into April's skull every time she glanced at that card?
Why did it feel so wrong?
"I, um, wow, thank you!" April forced herself to say, feeling like the silence must've stretched on for an eternity.
"I'm sorry if I, like, offended you with the stuff I said about my family - I know you know a lot of them - I just... Yeah I've never really met them and you know what's on Wikipedia and all about what some of them, well most of them, have done and I... Yeah, it was stupid of me. I'll do better. I promise!" April's heart wasn't really in it, though. She couldn't help but fixate on that Empress card, it was eating away at her, and she had no idea as to
why.
"Um, can I ask another question?" April added.
"I probably should've gone with this one instead, it's not nearly as heavy, totally chill if you like don't wanna and just want to have me leave so the next person can come in, but... What do you see for my love life - like, am I gonna find Princess Charming?" While she was deeply curious about this, it was also just a distraction - something to take her mind off of that reading and then have something she (hopefully) would be more comfortable sharing with her friends.
"Of course, child - you may ask as many questions as you like. Space isn't the only thing that operates differently within this tent. Time does as well," Agatha explained. "We could talk for hours and to your friends outside, it would be just ten minutes. Now, let us see what there is for your love life..."
The cards danced again, the Empress card and all the others shuffling themselves back in. This time, no extra cards forced themselves to appear. The three cards Agatha drew were the only ones that danced down to the table, coming to a halt in front of the two women. This time, the cards were
Four of Wands,
Temperance Reversed, and
the King of Wands. Agatha chuckled slightly.
"What?" April asked, rapidly turning pink again.
"Oh, you drew the Honeymoon card - rather appropriate," Agatha explained, tapping the Four of Wands. "This card is for a joyous celebration, a momentous occasion filled with love and beauty. At any rate, Temperance in its reversed position here indicates a period of realignment in your life, one that is often needed in order to bring balance and equilibration to you, body and soul. And then the King of Wands is a card of fiery passion - but more critically, asks for you to manifest that which is needed. In short, you will find love, my dear... but only if you choose yourself to pursue it. It will not come to you unbid."
"So I have to make the move?" April repeated, having gone from pink to fierce crimson. Her thoughts immediately went to Sabine. Would Sabine like that, being pursued? Or would Sabine want to be the one doing the pursuing? Could April even muster up the confidence to ask someone that perfect and beautiful out? Sabine barely even knew who she was! Maybe Danni could wingman her? But then her mind went to what Dorian had said, was he right? Would Danni get upset about all of this? The more she thought about it, the more confused she felt.
"Well, um, thank you so much! I'm gonna - I'm gonna go and I can leave the flap open or closed? And I can tell the next person to come in?" she said, standing up and getting ready to leave.
Her brain felt like contradictory mush.
"One moment, my dear - you see, I am trying to leave the students of this institute better than I found them. And today, that means distributing a variety of magic items to those who come to see me, ones that I hope will aid you on your heroic journeys of self-actualization," Agatha explained. She snapped her fingers and a tiny vial of a clear, shimmering liquid appeared. The glass vial had a small hole at the top, allowing a silver chain to be threaded through it. "This water comes from the River Styx. There is enough for just one use, but I hope it will serve you well."
April stared intently, taking the fragile vial into her hands. She could feel the water inside of it and it felt...
strange. It felt almost hot and yet hardened at the same time, slippery and static. She knew enough about Greek myth thanks to her mother to recognize the Styx as the river Achilles had bathed in, the river that flowed through the Underworld. What Agatha thought she could do with the water of the damned, she didn't know...
It made her uneasy, but she put the vial's cord around her neck anyways.
"Th-thank you, Agatha. I hope you have a good time at your new school and... and I'll think on what you said," April said, before remembering.
"Oh, also, I almost forgot, but do you have, like, a dragon care manual for Danni? He's kinda losing his mind out there." "Hmm? Oh, yes, yes," Agatha said, giving her familiar Ebony some scritches behind the ears. "There should be information in the occult section of the school library. Ms. Crane can show you to it."
