Characters: Jannie Eyradoux, @driftward and @saesama 's The Witness, U'rahn Nuhn, Violet Fisher
Expansion: Post ARR
Rating: T
Notes: N/A
Jannie looked around from a soft stool, finding the strange tent she'd happened to find herself drawn toward. All Saints' Wake was in full swing outside, Gridania alive with tourists. It seemed she'd gotten overwhelmed or perhaps moved into the tent on instinct, though, she suddenly wasn't so sure.
"You've come for a reading," a voice called out, as if answering the question tumbling in her mind.
The Elezen looked in confusion as a silver haired Miqo'te entered the room and joined her, sitting at a small table with a silver orb atop its black dressings. Smiling, the woman set out a deck of cards from her robes before pulling three small clay figures: a lion, a butterfly, and an owl. Jannie watched quietly, the woman shuffling her cards before spreading them out before her.
“Jannie Eyradoux, nearly Jannie de Jaimberd, Inheritor of Eusebeia the One Who Walked Before, Warrior of Light,” she said, voice deep, declarative even.
“Pardon…have we met,” the Elezen asked, brow raised at the curious titles the other had bestowed on her.
“No, but I know of your exploits. You may call me The Witness. You’ve come because you worry for not only yourself, but those whose fate are intertwined with your own. I shall assuage the fears you have about your dearest ones, and those you have yourself. Come, look upon the three totems here and choose a card to lay before them.”
The woman stared quietly, looking at the three figures curiously.
“Then this would be…U’rahn, Violet, and myself,” she asked, catching on to the woman’s intentions.
“Correct, now choose.”
Jannie paused, reaching out to gently pull a card then placed it before the lion. She blinked, finding the stained glass image printed upon it of a young Miqo’te woman tending to fish on a dock. The Witness stiffened then gently touched her orb, the dark swirling light within it flickering orange.
“Ah, Pietie. Upright it would signify patience and reward…but you’ve placed it in reverse. The road ahead offers only lessons for your impatient brother in light. What he believes he is working toward, is not what shall be reaped. He plagues himself with his own self-doubt, even the wake of his bolstering and he cannot shake. Even when he obtains that which he covets above all else, he will have given one dream for another. If he cannot learn compromise or true bravery and sacrifice, it will not matter how indestructible he is as he will be consumed by his ego’s maw.”
Jannie sat back, resting her hands in her lap as she crossed one leg over the other, absorbing what the woman had said.
“Though bleak, there is veiled hope in there…is there not,” the Elezen asked calmly, “What then, might you have me do for his betterment?”
“All will be clear in time. Choose again.”
The woman sighed, reaching out for a second, pulling the next card as requested. An old man with a crown upon his head within an apple orchard laid reversed before her. Jannie frowned, glancing up as the orb began to glow red with The Witness’s touch.
“Candour…Miss Fisher has plenty of that, yet this card represents the honesty that comes from a humbled heart and hers is the most broken of them all. She fills her heart with vices. Though heated and blustering, she folds easily to confrontation. Unlike the hierophant pictured upon the card, she hides her light from the world. Should she continue unaltered and not embrace her mantle, she will never bring about the change she has been destined to make nor learn the truth of herself.”
Jannie hummed lightly, sitting up straight as he looked on quietly to the woman, watching the red light fade from the crystal orb. She looked calmly to the owl, knowing her own cautionary tale was about to unfold before her. Still, she didn’t hesitate to reach out, laying out the last card before the owl.
“Conuiccion. Yes, it would be Saint Finnea that would appear before you,” the Witness mused, fingers dancing lightly over the crystal ball as it began to glow a soft blue.
“This is the Swan Saint? I’ve told this story many times to my charges,” Jannie said, touching the glass drawing curiously.
“Yes. Tasked with leading and inspiring those who walk your path. You are not invincible and were not blessed with aetheric gifts beyond your Echo. Yet time and time again, you will prove just as powerful just by your ability to lift your comrades anytime they find themselves drowning in the foibles. After a life of feeling invisible: You will be seen.”
Jannie was taken aback by the punctuated staccato of the woman’s words. She touched her heart for a moment, looking away and reflecting on what was said before finding the other getting to her feet to take her leave.
“No, there is no charge. I come merely to tell you what you need to hear and send you on your way. What you choose to do with what has been said, if anything at all, is of little consequence to me.”
The Elezen watched as The Witness moved to the back of her dappled stall, leaving her to reflect. Standing, she brushed herself off then took her leave as well, rejoining the frenzied crowds of dressed up Gridanianians. Soon U’rahn was upon her, wrapped up in bandages near head to toe, pulling on her arm and pointing toward some Hyur dressed in Miqo’te separates babbling about how she’d winked at him while Violet approached in a Golden Saucer uniform, offering her a bucket of treats she’d yet to indulge in herself. With a sigh, she pet U’rahn’s ear and took the treats from Violet, leading them back to the inn to get some much needed rest after the long night.
