Chapter 32
The Fortune Teller
It was another typical day at the coffee shop, during one of its quiet periods. Apart from the Owner and his two workers, Peggy and Alan, there was no one in the shop.
Having long finished all other duties, Peggy was lounging behind the cash register, staring intently into a newspaper. She was on a page of job listings when the bell at the front door rang, signaling a customer or visitor had arrived.
As soon as she heard the bell, she quickly folded up the newspaper, tucked it into a small shelf beneath the cash register and straightened up, loudly calling out, "Welcome! What can I get you today?"
A human gentleman with a round, wrinkly face casually strolled over to Peggy and responded, "Hi, I'd like a small, hot cappuccino, hold the whip cream."
Peggy put the man's age between his early to mid-seventies. He was dressed in a literally sparkly purple suit underneath an equally sparkly purple robe. His hair had also been dyed sparkly purple.
At least Peggy thought his hair was dyed. Being in a magical world full of different species of people, it wouldn't be a surprise if the man had actually been born with that sparkly purple hair.
"One small, hot cappuccino, no whip cream, right? Coming right up!"
The man went over to the nearest small round table and sat down as Peggy got to work making his drink. It was at that moment that Boss emerged from the kitchen with Alan. The former had been giving the latter a simple cooking lesson.
"Oh, hey Max!" said the vampire. "When did you get back in town?"
The purple man looked up and replied to the coffee shop Owner, "Just yesterday. I have to say, it's good to be home."
When Peggy was done stirring the drink, she brought the white coffee cup over to Max, the purple man, and set it down on the table in front of him.
Curious, she asked, "You guys know each other, Boss?"
"You could say that," said the vampire. "Max has been coming here since the last owner's grandma ran the place. And he's been running a fortune telling shop for just as long."
"So you're a fortune teller, Mr. Max?" asked Alan.
"Just Max is fine, thank you," said Max. "And yes, I'm a fortune teller, the best in the business."
"What kind of fortunes do you do, Max?" Peggy asked.
"Oh, all sorts," Max said. He counted the list out with his fingers. "I've done tarot card fortunes, crystal ball fortunes, tea leaf fortunes, palm reading fortunes, star reading fortunes, and even rock reading fortunes."
"Rock reading fortunes?"
"Yeah," said Max. "You know, you grab a bunch of rocks in your hands, shake 'em up a little, throw 'em to the floor and then predict the future based on where and how they land. Personally, that sort of fortune telling's a bit too advance for me, so I don't do it all that much unless I really have to. Crystal balls are more my thing. I get a lot more hits than misses with it."
"So you do get misses," Peggy said.
"Of course," Max said. "Fortunes are never definite or absolute things. There are only so many factors you can take in and use to predict the future. It takes a lot of knowledge and critical thinking to figure out what the signs mean. So yeah, most fortune tellers are going to have a miss every now and then. Although in my case, I haven't had a miss in over twenty years! Ho ho ho!"
"That's some confidence you got there," said Alan.
"And rightfully so," said the coffee shop Owner. "Even the last owner of the coffee shop used Max's fortune telling to help with her detective work. And anyone with her seal of approval is without a doubt reliable. Why don't you have a go at it, Peggy?"
Caught off guard, Peggy cried out, "Huh? Me?"
"Yeah," said the coffee shop Owner. "There aren't any customers at the moment, so it wouldn't hurt to try it out. I'll even pay for you."
"No, no, no! You don't have to do that!"
"Oh, but I insist," said the coffee shop Owner. "I've been meaning to get Max's help with something, anyway. I don't mind paying extra."
"I'm already set up and ready to go," said Max, waving his hands over a huge crystal ball sitting in the middle of the table.
"Where'd that thing come from?" Peggy asked. She had looked away for only a second and it showed up out of nowhere.
"Come! Sit, sit!" Max beckoned, holding his hand out to the empty chair in front of him.
Reluctantly, Peggy took a seat in front of the fortune teller.
As soon as she sat down, Max tossed up a small bronze ring that quickly expanded into a big hoop and stuck onto the ceiling. Dark fabric that mimicked the night sky dropped down from the hoop, dimming Peggy's surroundings. The only light came from the crystal ball.
Max clapped his hands together, and while rubbing them said, "Now then, before we get started, can you please sign this contract which says you give me permission to do your fortune telling?"
After giving the sheet of paper handed to her a look, Peggy looked up and asked, "You need written permission to do fortune telling?"
"Of course," said Max. "Fortune telling can be used to learn all sorts of things about a person, which includes their deepest, darkest secrets. Because of that, there are all sorts of rules and laws out there to protect people's privacy and make sure it doesn't get used for evil. One of those rules is you need a special license to use fortune telling magic. And you know what another rule is."
Peggy turned her gaze back on the sheet of paper in her hand.
"So what will it be?" Max asked. "Are you up to getting your fortune told? It's totally up to you whether to go through with it or not."
Peggy thought for a bit.
Honestly, she was a bit apprehensive about getting her fortune told. But then again, like Boss said, it wouldn't hurt to try it out. After a little bit of a debate with herself, she decided to give the fortune telling a try.
So she signed the contract (once she was done reading it, of course) and gave it back to the fortune teller.
"Okay, good," Max said after putting the signed contract away. "Now, please put your hands on the crystal ball."
Peggy did as she was told. The glass felt pleasantly warm against her skin. She glanced up at Max as he muttered several strings of words beneath his breath.
His own eyes were glued to the crystal ball while his hands remained planted firmly on the table. He stared at it for a good five minutes and leaned closer just a little bit before pulling back.
Peggy patiently watched without making a sound, slightly lulled by the warmth of the crystal ball spreading up her fingers and its glow.
"Hmm, interesting," he muttered to himself. "Very interesting. You went through quite a difficult period back on Earth. I can see why you decided to stay on Emeron instead of going back. But life on Emeron's not exactly without its frustrating moments either. Life's not exactly bad for you here, but you feel sort of stuck in a place you feel you've lingered too long in. You're getting impatient to move up in life, to really be independent."
It really hurt to get all that pointed out, Peggy thought, especially when he was right on the money with everything.
At this point, there was no arguing that Max was the real deal.
"You're not going to like hearing this but Reality's a cruel mistress," he continued. He locked eyes with Peggy as he spoke. "Like I said earlier, there's nothing absolute about fortune telling. However, I don't see you getting any big breaks anytime soon. And the path you seek may not be the path you end up taking. I'm sorry I have to tell you that, but it's what the crystal ball's giving me. You with me so far?"
Peggy nodded without saying a word. She wasn't in the mood to speak at all.
"You doing okay?"
Peggy answered, "Yeah. Of course!"
Her voice was unusually high.
"Hey, we've all had rough patches in our lives, me included," said Max. "Heck, even your boss really hit rock bottom when he was a kid barely hitting puberty. But you've seen how things have turned out for us. My advice: baby steps. Take things slow. As long as you work hard and keep trekking on, you'll get to where you want eventually."
What he said made sense. But for Peggy, it was still a hard pill to swallow and she remained slightly unconvinced.
"Moving on," Max said, "is there anything more in particular you want me to look at? I could take a look at your love life, if you'd like."
"I'm good, thanks," Peggy said quickly. "It's been fun, really. But I better get back to work."
"Okay," said Max. "But just remember, baby steps! Okay? Baby steps!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Peggy promised.
And she headed out of the curtained space. No sooner than a few seconds later, the coffee shop Owner came in and took her place.
It was only for a moment, but when they passed each other by, the coffee shop Owner noticed a hint of displeasure on Peggy's face.
After sitting down, he gave the night sky curtains a quick look and asked, "Are we good here?"
"Don't worry," Max assured the vampire. "No one's going to hear a peep. I give you the Max guarantee."
The coffee shop Owner looked more closely at the enchantments on the curtains, but found nothing to complain about.
"Let's get down to business."
"Yes, let's," said Max. "I'll just get straight to the point. This Untethering thing is beyond anything I've ever encountered before. There's nothing we can do. When I took a look at Peggy's fortune, every single path I could find was cut off. She was like an actor on stage with the spotlight on her and everything outside that spotlight was completely dark. I got some vague possibilities, but that was it. Nothing more concrete. She basically has no future."
The coffee shop Owner sighed.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," he said. "No wonder Peggy was in such a dark mood."
"Oh, that was for something different," Max said. "Like I said, I was able to get some vague possibilities. I just told her what I could learn from those. I couldn't exactly tell her she's fated for something almost no different from death."
"I suppose not," the coffee shop Owner said. "But then, what did you say to upset her like that?"
"I can't say, customer confidentiality and all that," Max said. "But I'm sure you already have an idea what problems she's facing right now. It's like you always say, the only difference between detectives and thieves is what they use their skills for."
"True," the coffee shop Owner said. "I wish there was something I could do about that too, but that'd be me overreaching. This is a problem she'll have to figure out on her own." And then he sank in his chair while blowing out a long puff of breath. "But now what am I going to do?"
"Have you tried talking to your mother about this?" Max asked. "I'd think if anyone knew about the Untethering, it'd be her."
"I don't think I need to tell you this, but she's the one who caused this mess in the first place. If she could fix it herself, she would have done it already. And then I wouldn't have had to scramble around so much at the risk of getting mixed up in another Shadow Civil War!"
"Yeah, I heard about that," said Max. "Word on the grapevine is you've been acting really suspiciously recently, like cozying up to powerful folks like the Zhao Empire's hero, the Crimson Storm, during the Featherkeep Grand Prix, getting in touch with old friends from the Shadow Civil War like Norman, and even visiting the Royal Capital for the first time in more than ten years. That got a lot of people's feathers ruffled, both figuratively and literally. I wondered what you were up to, but now I know."
"And a fat lot of good that did," the vampire grumbled bitterly. "Not even the Crimson Storm could come up with an answer to Peggy's Untethering problem. And he's supposed to be famous as an alchemist with an answer for everything!"
"To be fair, for him, most of the time the answer was violence," said Max. "He's more famous as a warrior than an alchemist, after all. Even though it was his alchemy that made him so powerful in the first place."
The Crimson Storm fellow they were talking about is a legendary and powerful hero, and part of a group of equally powerful people called the Seven Colors.
"I'm still waiting to hear back from him to find out what the other Seven Colors have to say," the coffee shop Owner continued. "But I'm not holding my breath. I guess my only option left now's to go after the Eternal Queen's legacy. I hear the Republic of Vai's been spearheading research into it, so I'll start there."
The Eternal Queen was one of the greatest villains in Emeron's history and a sorceress powerful enough to take over literally half of the world. Legends say she could do anything and everything, and that the magic items she created would give anyone that same ability.
"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," Max said forebodingly. "There's a big storm brewing with that same legacy smack dab in the middle."
"Really? How big are we talking about here?"
"Big enough to rattle the whole world," Max said. "You won't have any chance of getting your hands on anything that's the Eternal Queen's."
"Then I'm really out of options!" The coffee shop Owner threw his hands up in frustration and slammed them on the table. He took a moment to cool down and then asked the fortune teller, "Is there really no way you can use your fortune telling to find a way to deal with Peggy's Untethering?"
"No, nothing," Max replied bluntly. "There's nothing anyone can do about that. Not me, not you, not anyone else. At least, no one in this world."
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