12.23.2132 - Back to the Future

[Dray]

It was Mia's turn to blush.

"I did. How could I not? I think that you...and the other girls had a profound affect on my future yesterday," she said smiling.

Leslie was still giggling quietly.

"Mine was 'Steel before the Pen makes a late night a polished finish' " Mia said.

Temmit gave her a raised eyebrow in question, and just like Leslie, the smart girl picked up on the unasked question.

"In my case, I was able to decipher it as I know me really well in regards to such cryptic language. And it has proven itself true with your entry." she said.

"It means that fun, which for me is represented by Steel or metal, before homework, represented by the Pen, should be done first today. So my homework this weekend I put on hold so I could stay here and earn more money and play. Following this logic, the prophecy seems to have worked out, as I will finish my homework late tonight in the dorm, but I will be in a happy frame of mind, a.k.a. polished finish."

"Get it?" she asked politely.

[Johan]

"Impressive." Temmit said. "I guess it would help to know your subject well - your subject being yourself in that telling."

"Here's a question for you: do you have to have your subject present for your telling? And do you have to know your subject well? Could your subject be far away and have no knowledge of your gift or of the fact that you're using said gift?"

"All right: that's a few questions." He laughed, but looked at her expectantly.

[Dray]

“Let me answer that question this way,” Mia started with a smile. “Your reading was as follows this morning, ‘The Knowing Servant shall step into the Den forewarned’[/color] “ she said.

“Does that make any sense to you?”

[Johan]

Temmit sat back in his chair as he considered that.

"It's talking about the fruition of yesterday's telling." Smokey provided.

"I think it does." Temmit answered. "I was certainly forewarned, thanks to you. And I certainly walked into a den."

"Is it tiring after a while? You seem to have to do this many times a day. I would think that you'd get a headache or just get tired or something."

[Dray]

“I am glad you weren’t hurt. For awhile this morning I was considering going out to warn you, but I had no way of really contacting you of course,” she said.

“Sorry for...” Temmit began.

“No, no, no...it’s understandable,” she said holding out her hand. “But to answer your question? It’s not that hard to get a reading, drains me of no power whatsoever and I can ask about anyone I have been close too in the past 24 hands it seems.”

Leslie whistled in astonishment. “No power? There is no spell you must incant? No focus of your mind you must expend?!”

“Nothing whatsoever.” Mia stated.

It was Leslie’s turn to give Temmit an eyebrow.

[Johan]

"Impressive, eh?" Temmit echoed Leslie's unspoken observation.

"For most of us, we can only use our gifts a limited amount every day. Using them drains us a bit."

"So for your gift, as powerful as it clearly is, and there to be nearly no limit to your utilization of it, is impressive to us."

"Do you need the crystal tree to affect your telling? Perhaps that helps you to provide your focus?"

[Dray]

“I do. I am not able to do the reading without it close to me,” Mia said as she looked at it.

[Johan]

Temmit looked about then, realizing how much of her time they were consuming.

"Feel free to kick us out at any time." He said. "I wouldn't want to interfere with your earning potential.

[Dray]

“Whah? We just got here,” Leslie exlaimed.

“Not to worry guys,” Mia said, “I don’t get much business on RestDay afternoons anyway.”

“What is my reading then?” Leslie asked a bit timidly. Temmit looked over at her and found that although the lass seemed interested in the process, she was actually a bit scared by it.

“Oh! Sure, we can do that,” Mia said as she sat up behind the crystal ball. “But let me show you two how non-theatrical the entire process can actually be.”

And with that, Mia simply closed her eyes, she didn’t put her hands to the side of the ball or anything.

After but a few moments, enough time Temmit thought for Mia to simply say ‘Hey, what is her prophecy today?’ and get an answer, Mia opened up her eyes and was ready.

“Ready?” she asked.

“I think.” answered Leslie, who looked at Temmit for assurance as a child might ask a parent to pet a large dog.

“Okay. Your reading for the next day is as follows...” Mia began.

“The next day?” interrupted Leslie.

“Yes,” Mia answered, “most readings have reflections on the next 24-hands.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Your reading is as follows ’The doppleganger enters your House a changed man’ [/i]” said Mia cryptically.

“That sounds creepy,” Leslie almost whispered. She then smiled, “can we change it?”

[Johan]

"Mia, do you have a piece of paper and a pencil handy?" Temmit asked abruptly.

[Dray]

"Um...sure, one moment," Mia said and got up to walk around the hanging silks. She pulled a shallow trunk from underneath her cot and opened it, grabbing a pencil and a blank of piece of paper after rummaging around its contents.

As she did, Leslie gave a look to Temmit speaking to her disbelief that she slept in such poor conditions. Temmit had to admit (to himself) that even his cot at the orphanage looked more comfortable.

Mia returned and placed the required materials on the table in front of him before she sat back down.

[Johan]

"Thank you." Temmit said. He took the pencil and the paper and slid them across the table to Leslie. "I'm going to do a little of my own fortune telling now: I think that before the few turns, you're both going to have a significant surprise."

He smiled cryptically. "Leslie, do you recall the symbol that we were told to be on the look-out for? The one from our meeting the other night? I'd like for you to put pencil to paper and draw that out."

He then turned to Mia. "Have you ever heard of the Outlands Patrol?"

[Dray]

Mia froze in shock at the question.

“How do you know about the Outland’s Patrol?” she whispered timidly.

[Johan]

Temmit froze much as Mia had. But then he laughed. "I can't believe you know of it!" He said a little quietly. "I was so sure that I was going to befuddle you!"

He shook his head in mirthful disapointment at himself. "Leslie," he said, "no sense in finishing that picture, I think."

He then turned back to Mia, returning to his conspiratorially quiet voice. "One of the things that we've been looking for lately, is evidence of the Outlands Patrol. When I walked through that door yesterday morning, I couldn't believe my luck in finding just that. Then, after I spoke to you, I realized that my luck for yesterday was extraordinary indeed."

"Not only did we find such a good candidate for our Clan, but in your posession is the evidence that we were seeking."

"I can't believe that you know of it." He repeated, shaking his head.

[Dray]

“Xander Prescott is my great ancestor,” Mia said.

“SHUT....UP!” Leslie said in amazed disbelief. (OOC: Temmit recognizes that this isn’t a command by Leslie for Mia to actually stop talking - or does he? - hehe)

“He was,” Mia answered, a smile appearing and her intrepedation slightly melting away a bit by Leslie’s enthusiasm.

“Why didn’t I make the connection?” Leslie asked herself. “Sometimes I am so daft I wonder why my parents even allow me out of the house.”

Mia and Temmit both laughed.

Leslie had sat up and was not fully entrenched in the conversation, her hands played speech antics over the table as questions flooded the room from her mind.

“Did he leave you any notes?”

“Did it describe where Balthier’s body was located?”

“What of the mysterious deaths of all the memb....”

Mia interrupted the girl with a raised hand. “How by the gods do you know so much about the Patrol?” She still looked worried, enough Temmit thought, that she might spring from the chair at any moment and run.