As Dorian entered the purple tent and its flaps closed behind him, he would find himself transported into what looked like a magical emporium. Candles, tarot cards, runes, and crystals floated idly through the air, suspended by some invisible force. Old tomes were piled up in stacks and spilling off of shelves, trunks were chained (some of them bucking, as if something ancient and dreadful inside were attempting to escape), and a small black cat stared at him with an unnerving gaze. In the middle of the tent was a small circular table, sat at which was the old crone herself, the famous witch (and sometimes babysitter), Agatha Harkness. A pair of beautiful cherry chopsticks were held by her frail old hands, as she ate what looked like some Chinese takeout.
"You will forgive me, Mr. Gray, but when you live to be my age, you will find it is harder to delay sustenance than it once was," Agatha commented. "Now, sit, and tell me what it is that Agatha Harkness can do for you, young man?"
Dorian marveled at the inside as he wandered in, every step careful and slow as he inspected the decor of Agathas tent. His mouth agape in awe at all the mystical items that surrounded him. He'd spent enough time in the Sanctum Sanctorum, but this...this was a different kind of magic all together. He managed to whisper out a single sentence before he realized he was being rude.
"Woah...it's bigger on the inside." He took a seat before him, shuffling it forward so that he was closet towards the table before looking down.
"You're chill Agatha. I don't mind if you eat, we all gotta do it at some point." He was delaying the inevitable, he'd come for readings, but now that it was happening suddenly he was afraid. Sometimes ignorance was bliss...but was this one of those times? Dorian pulled out the note that was on his door and placed it on the table for her to see.
"I had other questions originally but...I found this a few minutes ago on my dorm room door. Someone's been leaving notes for a while now but this...it's escalating." The witch peered at the note, reading it over several times as her eyes widened somewhat in shock or horror. "This is disgusting," Agatha murmured. It had to have been done by someone at the Margaret Carter Institute - no one else had access to Stark Hall, although she supposed perhaps someone might've slipped on in during move-in... "I will see if I can determine who is behind this. Whoever it is, rest assured they will face severe consequences," Agatha swore, even though she did not work at the school anymore. Perhaps she meant she would curse the person.
At first, it looked like the Eight of Cups, Reversed had been pulled - but then, like a glitch, the card hopped into the deck and was quickly replaced with the
High Priestess. Agatha's eyes widened in alarm. She hadn't sensed any magic on the note, but in a read for who was responsible and the High Priestess was the card that
forced itself to the front? This situation could not be taken lightly. This was not some childish prank, it was...
Agatha's mind flashed back to a day many years ago, one where she had been afflicted with psychic pain. She studied Dorian again for a moment, her eyes narrowing. "The Dark Priestess has returned, then," Agatha murmured. If she had had doubts before about leaving for Strange Academy, they were multiplied a thousand times. It had been over a decade since anyone had sensed the immortal sorceress Selene.
Dorian hoped that 'severe consequences' meant cursed, or worse expelled. He watched closely as she went to pull a card our, but before she could give the read it seemingly left them by magic and another came out. That was so cool! No wonder everyone was trying to come into Agathas tent, if she pulled tricks like this the word of mouth would spread like wildfire. Her eyes though...they made him worried. His father did Tarot, but Dorian couldn't recall what the card meant. He guessed it was bad, but what she said next just served to confuse him more.
"The Dark Priestess? Who's that? Like an old student of yours or something?" He'd heard Selene called many things, but that title wasn't one of them, or at the very least not one Max was ever willing to share. What's more Dorian had yet to meet the accursed doll who so often referred to herself in that manner. He leaned forward, waiting to see if the cards would do more, another trick of magic to help illuminate this new question.
If Agatha heard his question, she pretended not to have. "The Eight of Cups, Reversed - one of those leaving you notes will make one final attempt and cease. I do not see any escalation into violence in your future," Agatha said. "As the content has been harmless until now, there is nothing that you need to worry about, Dorian. Now, what else is there you wished to ask me?" She didn't breathe another word about the Priestess.
Dorian blinked slowly, looking around the tent once more before looking back towards Agatha. Had he just imagined it all? Was the card still just the eight of cups reversed? It felt like a strange sense of deja vu, as if he'd just awoken from a nearby future back only moments into the past. Dorian took the note back and placed it in his pocket.
"Well that's crash. Thanks. Erm." He looked a little embarrassed for a moment, cheeks flushing pink as she asked what other questions he had.
"There's this boy, Diana Novikovas brother, we kinda gave him a rough start to the year...powers went haywire and well...he's really upset. What can I do to mend things? I'd hate for my friends brother to hate me...Dannis working on getting him back the clothes we ruined but..." Dorian leaned back in his chair before running his hand through his hair from front to back.
"I'm sorry I don't even know if the cards can tell things like that." Agatha was silent and still for a moment, as if lost deep in thought. But then, she shook herself slightly, popped another bit of takeout in her mouth, and the cards began to flow through the air. "The cards tell us what we need to know, but most importantly, they are a mirror into your soul. The cards know what you know, Dorian Gray." They flew and flew and flew before three of them stopped, a simple Past ~ Present ~ Future spread. Agatha's nerves settled somewhat, as she was back in a territory that felt safer. "
The Knight of Cups - your past. I have a feeling that this card is you, Dorian. A romantic. Leading forward, hoping to find a kindred soul to share his cup with. I sense that when you first met Mr. Novikov, you were... somewhat swept away, perhaps?"
"Now for your present, you drew
Temperance. I assume your father taught you the basics, Dorian? Temperance is a card of clarity and balance, as well as hope. As it is from the major arcana, it denotes a major spiritual force in your life. There is something deep between you and Mr. Novikov. The guilt and regret you feel now, your urge to make things right, to make amends... You are on the right path already."
The last card gave Agatha some hesitation. She flicked her fingers, drawing one more card to offer clarification as to its meaning. She drew
the Six of Cups. She tilted her head somewhat, mulling this over. "For your future, I drew
the Tower, Reversed. Another card from the major arcana, another spiritual force. I see a great change between the two of you, a cosmic destiny... For clarification, I drew the
Six of Cups - a card of childhood sweethearts and joy."
"To mend things with this boy, follow your instincts. Do what you feel is right. Your heart will not fail you," Agatha concluded.
Those cards Dorian knew. But the words coming out of Agathas mouth felt so foreign. She wasn't wrong to say he was swept away at their first meeting, even if she did get his last name wrong. But Dorian just wanted to know how to make amends, and now there's a cosmic destiny as well as love and joy? He had planned on asking for a reading about if he'd get a boyfriend, but somehow the cards gave him a two for one special. He stared blankly at the cards, reaching forward and touching the six of cups gently as he whispered to himself.
"Childhood sweethearts." He looked at Agatha with a big smile, blush coloring his cheeks as the previous question had already escaped his mind. He had a cosmic destiny with a cute boy!
"Wasn't expecting that reading to be so Aster, heck I usually never see the tower in its Reversed form so that's a huuuge relief. Man Captain Nemo was right, there really was still time to turn this birthday around...Oh...uh, do you think he'll be upset that I broke his teacup? It was am accident i swear!" Agatha chuckled slightly. She remembered her first love. Well, actually, she didn't - but she liked to think that she had been like this too, way back then. "Captain...? Ah, you mean Ser Nemo. I am sure he will understand. Any of my students should be able to assist you with a mending spell, if needed," Agatha added. "Now it is your birthday, so I am sure that you are very much accustomed to receiving gifts - yet I will not pretend otherwise, I have been giving trinkets to all who came to see me today, now for you..."
"Ah, I have just the thing," Agatha said, before pulling out of thin air a pendant in the shape of a star. The metal had a strange shimmer of sorts to it, and as someone who had grown up around magic, Dorian would recognize immediately it had been enchanted. "When things are dark, use this to find your way," she said, offering no further explanation, before passing the necklace over to Dorian.
Dorian marveled at the gift. Not only because it was incredibly beautiful, but also because it was quite literally plucked out of thin air. He held the necklace carefully in his hands, feeling the cool metal against his skin as he listened to what she had to say. Clearly the jewelry was enchanted, and based on Agathas description he knew exactly what it was.
"So cool! Thank you Agatha!" He placed the necklace on, the silver chord shimmering in the candle light like elven mythril before he tucked it in underneath his shirt and collar.
"Now I don't need a flashlight around for those dark training exercises!" Dorian began to make his way out of the tent before stopping just at the flaps
"Oh and it's Novikova, though I guess it's hard to hear the a sometimes." he said before skipping out of her tent.
Agatha shook her head slightly. "Children..." she murmured, before her thoughts returned again to the card she had pulled - or rather, the card
s - that had revealed that Dorian Gray had two stalkers. One a student at the Margaret Carter Institute, and the other, the one who had left this vicious, violent note today... the Dark Priestess SELENE!
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February 2nd, 531 - 11:50 am