TARANTISM

Browser lacks capabilities required to play.

Upgrade or switch to another browser.

Loading…

You enter a dimly lit room. The only light source is a lightbulb on the brink of burning out. It flickers. //"About damn time you showed up."// She showed up out of seemingly nowhere, probably manifesting after seeping out of the cracks on the wall. At least, that's what you think. "Hey I-" //"Alex. I told you it's Alex now."// "Sorry. Hey Alex. What'd you call me for again?" She was already pulling the [[deck]] out. //"[[I wanna give you a reading.]]"//

You enter a dimly lit room. The only light source is a lightbulb on the brink of burning out. [[It flickers.]]

You enter a dimly lit room. The only light source is a lightbulb on the brink of burning out. It flickers. //"About damn time you showed up."// She showed up out of seemingly nowhere, probably manifesting after seeping out of the cracks on the wall. At least, that's what you think. "Hey I-" //"Alex. I told you it's Alex now."// "Sorry. Hey Alex. What'd you call me for again?" She was already pulling the deck out. It's not that detailed, if anything it seems to pride itself in minimalism. You're not too surprised; her favorite palette was always a simple black & white. //"[[I wanna give you a reading.]]"//

"I thought you charged for those. Don't think I can afford anything right now-" //"Free. Free of charge."// Something was wrong. Last time she gave you a reading for free was right before you witnessed her head blow up into a fine mist. She was always picky about doing these things. You still can't get that sight out of your head. It was like clockwork. A stab on the neck, an explosion shortly after. It horrified you. It //**horrified**// you. For a brief moment in time, you felt like you could almost see yourself in that position. That glimpse into the void. How much it beckoned you. She never brings it up. She just says you'll "forget about it." You never did. If its something of that magnitude, you need to focus on it. Pour every bit of attention possible onto it. [["I'm listening."]]

"I thought you charged for those. Don't think I can afford anything right now-" //"Free. Free of charge."// [[Something was wrong.]]

//"It'll mostly be Major Arcana cards; I kinda rigged the set."// "So you admit fate has no part in this?" //"Partially. If anything, fate told me to rig it."// You were always skeptical of tarot. You never understood why she picked it up after her weird incident. It was mostly hearsay. All you know for sure is that something happened with a Null sample that fucked her up for a little bit. She doesn't talk about it. She just says "it passed" and that we "shouldn't care about it". Any time you ask why, she just gives you that same, dead stare. She pulls the first card out. [[The Fool, reversed.]]

//"You're too... careless."// "I'm just happy, Alex. You know what that's like?" //"Happiness leads to distraction, hun. Your guard is constantly down. Did you even notice the gun?"// You feel something press against your knee. "Jesus Christ!-" //"BB gun, but still. You gotta be on edge if all you do for a living is sell illegal shit."// "And you were paying attention when [[your sister-]]" //"I was. Next."// [[The Devil.]]

//"You're too... careless."// "I'm just happy, Alex. You know what that's like?" //"Happiness leads to distraction, hun. Your guard is constantly down. Did you even notice the gun?"// You feel something press against your knee. "Jesus Christ!-" //"BB gun, but still. You gotta be on edge if all you do for a living is sell illegal shit."// "And you were paying attention when your sister-" It's always a sensitive topic. Again, mostly hearsay. Details are sparse but some key points are constant. Bottle, pill, regret. //"I was. Next."// [[The Devil.]]

//"You have no control."// "What spread is this? I thought it was past, present-" //"Shut up, dude. I'm the one doing the reading."// "No, seriously, what is this. What are you trying to tell me?" //"I can't give it to you straight, okay? All of these, you can interpret as future. Okay?"// It was always about the future with her. She never wanted an answer that was in the moment, it was always focused on how it would *click* later on. She didn't care if it didn't click, she just wanted to be cryptic for the fun of watching people be confused. "Fine. What's the next one?" [[Death. Reversed.]]

... "This isn't funny." //"I don't play about these things, Otto. I'm trying to warn you."// "Dude, shut up. You just said I don't pay attention to things, and that I have no control, and now this?" You got up to her face. You could almost see one of her eyes. Why did she start covering them up again? Or did she always have them covered up? The eye was there. Obviously. But, something about it felt fake. Almost doll-like, in a way. It had that weird shine to it, a bit of a matte finish? And what looked like ink on some of the edges of the sclera. They weren't fake, though. They wouldn't bore into your head this hard if they were. She was looking at you. "What the fuck are you trying to tell me?" She pointed at the cards. "Can you just give me one straightforward answer? [[For fucks sake, please?!]]"

//"Keep playing, Otto. Just... keep playing."// The light flickers. She's gone.