Issue 1 Downtime

A young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties with long, light-brown hair steps into the shop. She looks at the chimes ringing, then the rest of the venue with a look of well-cultivated disdain.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"I am beginning to ask myself the same question." the woman says, barely even looking at Raven as she wanders through the store, occasionally picking something up and letting it fall back into the shelf or basket she took it from as if it bit her.

"If there's anything you need, we either have it or can special-order it for you..."

Tack-tack tack. The woman seems to think, tapping her teeth with a fingernail. Tack-tack tack.

"Really now? What a service." she laughs. "You have a wholesale dealer for these things?"

"Depends on what you need! We're the top supply shop in the region, after all."

"Ah yes, in the bristling metropolitan Maldon district." she chuckles.

"Do witches mostly live in skyscrapers?" Raven said, rhetorically.

"They might if they knew the amenities of a sophisticated life-style." she says, her eyes wandering and sweeping across Raven like a spotlight, piercing her for the briefest of moments.

"Ah, you're one of the kids from that special school down by the cliffs, aren't you?" 'Tack-tack-tack' her fingernail goes again against her teeth.

"I am, yes. What can I do for you," she said, a little less friendly.

"Now now, why the hostilities. I think that rather adds to your credentials for working here, no?"

"What hostilities? I'm here to offer a service," she said, still a bit coldly.

"Well then, what services do you offer? Aside from the wares you're peddling."

"We do tarot, palm readings, past life regression -- but only on Tuesdays..."

"Oh I would love a tarot reading, that should be fun." she laughs, still oozing a certain amount of disdain and... something else. Kind of a fuzzy feeling in the back of your head but not fuzzy like a kitten, more fuzzy like mold growing under the fridge.

"Well, I can do that right now if you'd like, or you can wait for the manager."

"Oh please, go ahead."

"Would that be a specific question reading, or an open one?"

"Oh I don't have any particular questions right now, just go ahead and do a general one."

"Right."

She goes over to a table and starts shuffling, shuffling, shuffling. "Seven card star. Go ahead and cut the deck?"

She just taps the deck three times with her fingernail.

"Right. Now...card one? That's the root of the matter. This is, like, your present situation, right? OK."

And with that, she flipped over the bottom card to reveal...


The Magician! Only upside down.

"Hrmmmm....Upside down. That's not a good thing. Something that used to be possible has turned around -- out of your grasp. A dream deferred."

"Now that does not bode well, does it?"

"Well, we'll see -- that's what the cards will tell us.

The second card represents feelings, and emotions.

It was....

The Emperor!


Once again, upside down.

"You're feeling powerless -- you've lost control. You're feeling like everything has slipped through your fingers."

Oh if only you knew...

"Are you sure you are reading these correctly?"

"Of course!" she said, taken aback. "Don't worry, I'm well trained.

Now, the THIRD card represents your intellect, and your working life. Your attitude towards work and career, you know?"

This one doesn't have a massive picture; it is merely the Five of Wands. Upright, for once.

"Aha! I'm sorry this draw isn't going very well for you -- you ARE in a tight spot, aren't you? A bit of a blow to one's pride -- you're in furious competition with equals. Conflict. Power struggles. You fear these struggles -- you're in danger of losing. Coupled with the upside down emperor, that implies you fear losing what little control you have left, professionally. Up for a promotion?"

The woman laughs. "I just was promoted, so maybe not quite." Still, her finger is nervously tapping on the table. Tack-tack-tack. Tack-tack-tack.

"I see," she said, raising an eyebrow. "If you say so..."

"Next card! Now we're getting to the heart of the matter. Everything centers around this. This is the real truth and real problem.

It was-- the eight of wands!

"Ah. We're speeding things up -- things are beginning to get into motion, yes? Fast developments -- maybe even too fast. Nothing wasted -- things might even arrive SOONER than you think."

"And here I was expecting to settle down a bit." she shakes her head in disappointment. Though it's more aimed at Raven than the cards really.

"Now for your unconscious hopes and fears -- new forces entering your life."

The card? the Ace of Pentacles.

"Ooo. New luck! That's positive, after all the negativity in the past cards. Your unconscious desires -- you must harbor deep desires to lay down roots. Are we seeing someone, then? Someone new, maybe?" she teased.

"Oh I don't think so, I'm afraid."

"Maybe you're just not aware of it yet. That's why their unconscious, right?

Now, THIS one, on the other hand, represents your CONSCIOUS desires."

We have -- the Six of Pentacles.

"Now, THAT'S a particularly tricky one, because it can go either way. Givers must give freely, and takers must take freely. Perhaps you're debating accepting an offer? Or desire to give back to someone for something you received earlier?"

"No, no I think you're just getting off course now, really."

"Am I? Or are you afraid to accept the truth?

We'll see with this eighth and final card. Now we will have your outcome.

We have....the nine of pentacles!

Well, that's not so bad! We're not talking, like, lifestyles of the rich and famous here, but this is alright. You've lost power, but you're going to gain your own small private paradise -- some small corner of life that belongs to you, and you alone."

"Oh how swell. The consolidation prize for the unambitious?"

"Sometimes, we need to learn how to be happy with a simple life."

"Is that what you decided on?"

"This isn't MY tarot reading, is it?" she smiled back, mysteriously.

"So that little piece of philosophy there only applies to other people?"

"No, it just doesn't apply to me. That's all."