11-God of Blood

"Don't feel uncomfortable, son, I did not know you would come to my humble shop. As I was saying, you must be careful with everything you do." The woman shut the door behind her and guided me into her house. "Watch your step, my pets are everywhere!"

She steered me through the home to push me onto a cushioned chair. Her home was as eccentric as she was.

Curtains and bells hung around the rooms, tangling like vines. The darkest corners could be homes for nightmarish creatures, yet hundreds of white candles burned on chairs, cupboards and drawers. Beneath our feet, different carpets were placed together to create a quilt-like design.

Crows squawked from silver cages hanging near barred windows. A red snake slithered up a table leg and a long lizard looked like a snack. I feel a strange item brush against my leg and a bleat startled me. The woman raised a pet goat with a snake?

I felt as if this house was more frightening than the House and brothels combined. I did not like the way dangling ornaments seemed to follow me, moving without the wind. My heart raced when a chilling breeze sent a stack of old books to the floor.

The woman grabbed my wrists and placed them on a clothed table. She had decorated the table with a red table cloth that shimmered upon touch. This woman knew how to use magic, unlike most fortune-tellers.

"Flip your hands so that your palm is facing the sky and hold it flat against the table. Stretch your fingers if you must. Only because you are the most interesting customer, I will do everything I can to read your fate." She grinned to reveal yellowed teeth that were chipped. She cracked her knuckles as she sat in a big chair opposite me.

"Fire," she placed a purple candle in the center of the table. "The element of warmth and passion."

I stared into the flickering flame, hypnotized by the long pillar of light. I sucked in a breath and I felt calmer than when I was being led to the table.

"Earth," she slammed a wooden block beside the candle. On the block was a carving of a face. Half feminine and half masculine. "The element of health and growth."

My eyebrows furrowed and I wished to ask her questions, but I kept my lips sealed. Partly because the woman glared at me with her fully white eyes. I was afraid of her trance-like tone.

"Water," she flicked water into my face and I jerked because I was not expecting to be splashed. In her hand was a gold cup of water. "The element of flow and change."

I was curious about how she would represent air, the element that we cannot touch. Would she bring a feather or a fan? Maybe she would use wind chimes?

"Air," the woman reached under the table and scrunched her nose as if she was struggling. There was a slight cracking sound and she brought out a bird's leg. Where did she get it? She smiled sweetly. "The element of infinity and thought."

I peeked under the tablecloth to see a bird, but I could not recognize the type. I shuddered after discovering where she found the bird's leg that was thrown into the middle of the table. I suddenly regretted following the call to this house. I shrieked when she thrust her aged face into mine.

She looked like she gained at least fifty years since the last look I took of her just moments before. Her smile was crooked and creepy. Her leathery hand grasped my right hand. "Shall we start with a palm reading?"

I knew she had started even before hearing my reply, running her fingers along my palm. I felt the urge to pull my hand away when she started drawing circles on my skin, but I endured the tingling sensation. I hoped she would stop humming!

"You have darkness inside of you. I'm stating the obvious, however, you are different from others who carry darkness. Many people allow darkness and evil to permeate their lives." The odd woman puckered her lips, racking her mind to say the right words. "You were born with a deathly star. Not only that, you were born under two dark stars."

She stopped touching my palm. "One of them is the darkest star. The other is the second darkest. So, you did not accept darkness into your life but you were born with a black heart. No one else is like you. No one ever was like you."

I nodded, not interested in my uniqueness but I was curious about what more she had to reveal. I still took her words like a grain of salt.

"Your mind is dark, your eyes are dull, your life is bleaker than feces, and your heart is covered in ash." She removed one hand to keep her veils on her head as the topmost shawl slipped down her neck. She continued to speak, "Your blood is cold. If you remain this way, you will die before you can find your love."

"My love? I am destined for a lonely life of bloodshed. I don't have time for love and relationships." I started to move my hands, by the woman gripped onto them. My heart threatened to burst through their walls.

"Do not talk! Your voice distracts me from seeing what your palm has to say." The woman shook my hands, then cleared her throat. She nodded approvingly as I sat with big eyes.

"Your line of the heart is long and deep which means that if you find your life's love, the relationship will be strangely passionate. It can also prolong your immortal life. I can also try seeing who your love is." She tilted her head and pointed at the long line near the top of my left hand. "That is the line of the heart. Long and deep."

"Let's look at my favourite, the life line. Here it is, it follows the bulge under your thumb. How interesting," she peered at me from behind her dark hair. Using a long nail she tapped my left hand. "Your life line has an island. This reflects you are or will experience a great challenge in your life. This time is challenging for you."

My life has always been challenging, why should I be afraid of more obstacles? I don't have a proper family or life, but I am always doing what I can to live my life. My life belongs to the battlefield, I will use it for Vales.

Then, she forced my fingers together and I raised an eyebrow. She could have asked me to close my fingers yet she chose to make me do it? She is brave.

"Your ring finger is longer than your index finger. You capture hearts, yet you are aggressive and take risks. You are wealthier than other men your age." She snickered, "Prince Fabio is a year older than you. I would have said you're richer than everyone but him."

I looked up from my palms, caught off guard by the loathsome name coming from her mouth. Did she dare to say that man's name in my presence as a joke? I bit my cheek to keep myself from bursting.

"The blood coursing through your veins, it's hot and dangerous. You cannot be tamed easily and this may be the cause of your downfall." A strange grimace graced her wrinkled face. I swear to the gods she is ageing each second! "I see your fall. Someone with too much power automatically becomes a threat. You're no longer seen as an ally, but a monster."

"Valesians will never see me as their enemy! I've been serving and protecting them for most of my youth and my current job is to help Emperor Utar." I shook my head. My people and emperor crowned me as their God of War.

They know I will not harm the kingdom. They know who I serve and who I am. Why would they fear me until they want to get rid of me? I do not believe in divination.

"Son, your palms are telling me so much information that I cannot interpret everything. Let's move over to reading tarot cards. It will not take too long if we hurry." The woman reached into her colourful dress to produce a deck of rustic cards. She shuffled the cards in her old hands. "Do you have anywhere to be? Cut it once, cut it twice, shake it thrice!"

"No," I shook my head. I have come to her home after drinking wine, where else can I be going? I watched the lady spread the cards perfectly across the red table. I glanced down at the cards, shaking as she ran her hands over them.

"I am interested in reading your love life. We will be using the six cards spread and I will walk you through it. The process is very simple for you." She reached out to rearrange the items she had placed in the middle of the table. "There is more space!"

I chuckled softly, not knowing what else I should do in her presence. I was not planning to listen to my love life, but I did follow her instructions. I picked out three cards and placed them closest to her. Then two in front of the previous row and the last card was closest to me.

"The three cards reveal how your lover will be or is feeling about you. I will flip them over one by one and tell you three things all at once. Are you ready?" Her outlined eyes bore into mine and she looked excited. She nodded when I nodded. What she saw must've been shocking because she froze with wide eyes.

"I don't see anything special. Lightning, a raging ocean and sun?" I stared at the three turned cards. I thought long and hard until I admit I did not understand her expression.

"They're furious like the gods sending down lightning as they fight. You are an obstacle to them like a raging ocean. Then, you're also their saviour like the sun coming out on a rainy day. They hate you and love you." The strange woman laughed, hitting her palm on the table.

"In my fifty years of reading cards all over the world, your relationship with your lifetime lover is the most conflicted. The next two cards I will let you flip." She held out a hand, urging me to flip the cards. She smiled, "These cards reveal how your lover sees you."

I could see why.

"The skull and dagger on one card? You represent death and they see you as a person who needs to be killed. However, you are also a radiant god in their eyes. Marik, you may be sent from the gods and your love may be, too." She clasped her hands together and leaned forward to tell me a secret? She beckoned me to lean in.

"Whoever your lover is, they are your other half. You will endure hardships and pain because of them. You will also make them feel the same." She looked conflicted like she did not know whether to tell me this was good or bad. "In their eyes, you are the evilest and the godliest. How contradicting this is!"

"Yes, I do not believe it yet." Was she talking about Zoticus? I shook my head, feeling dizzy right after the vigorous movement. I will never love that man!

The fortune reader cackled, tapping my hand like she tapped the goat's head. "You may deny everything I said, but fate knows itself. I challenge you to change your fate if you do not believe me. The last card is advice, but I don't think you need to see it."

"Why?" I flip the card over to see it was blank. Well, that was anticlimactic.

"Your relationship is complex nor do you seem to care for it. Therefore, it is blank and you can make your own decisions. I am interested in where you end up." She snatched the six cards off the table and placed them back into the spread deck. Then, she slid her hand across the table to return the deck into a stack of cards.

"We are not done yet," she said as I rose from my seat. She tapped the table with her long nails and glanced at my seat. She was telling me to sit back down. "Sit, it must be your first time coming to a fortune teller. Don't worry, nothing too painful will happen."

Her bedecked hands waved through the air to make jingling noise. She wore many bracelets along her thin wrists and arm. Her skeletal hands moved to drag the four elements back to the center of the table. Her eyes widened, "Oh my, I spilled a bit of water there! It shouldn't be much of a problem though."

I felt energy crackle in the air as she pushed the candle towards me. I leaned back in my chair to avoid the flame that suddenly flared up to my face. I held a hand to my chest. "Can a flame be so long?"

"This goes against everything about your dark stars," the woman muttered. She looked more concerned than I was. "Your fire tells me you've met your counter star. The person who was born under the brightest star has been placed in your life by the gods. This person will give you warmth and show you passion."

"Warmth and passion? My life is cold and dull, and it always will be." I shivered in my seat, afraid of her words. I know she meant Zoticus who hated me and carries the sun's energy. I refuse to believe her jibberish!

She sighed.

"I know you won't agree, and that's great. You can ignore your counter star and die by the hands of your own people! You can choose not to change and go down in history as the lord of all things evil." She folded her tattooed hands over the table and threw her head to cackle. "The Devil will be less evil than you because you truly existed. You will become the personification of the Devil."

"Moving on to your earth. Do you see that the male outline is deeper than the female half? I did not carve the face so deep, it carved itself whilst we were reading your palm." She saw my expressionless face and nodded. "Of course, a warrior would not notice the insignificant detail."

"I did notice," I said haughtily. Who does this woman think I am? I'm not as aloof as some of my brothers!

"Let's say you did," she grinned behind the candlelight. "The person to heal your soul and help your mind and body grow is a male. A warm, aggressive and adoring male. I believe he is younger than you?"

I glared at her as she kept prying. "I do not know."

"Fine," the woman chuckled and set the wooden block beside the flaring candle. Then, she held up the cup of water using one hand. "Your water, touch the rim and I will interpret what the magical water does to react."

I followed her instructions and peered into the gold cup, watching as the water suddenly became red. It was as if a drop of blood dripped from the air and once the bud touched the water, it blossomed. That was until the water became thick, red as wine. I breathed in the musty air. Did I smell incense?

"I believe you understand why the water became blood. Let me see what will happen when I flip the cup." Using two fingers, the woman picked up the cup and turned it over in the air. She shook the cup. "Your blood is strong. Yet your parents have failed you as their son."

"They did not fail me, I failed them. I can't remember their faces." I have tried to dig my mind for a picture of my parents, however, I always see 'his' face. I knew 'he' was not my father but he was a large part of my childhood. The childhood I want to forget. "I wish I can remember their faces. Would they be smiling? Would I look like them?"

The woman shook her head almost as soon as I asked her. Her slow actions were grave and solemn as she brought the cup back to the table. "They must have tried to kill you when you were young. Your parents did not look like you when you were three, so no one believed your parents birthed you."

Did she know my parents? I felt excited until my heart sank the more she spoke.

"Valesian parents always wish their child to look identical to them but you held no resemblance with yours." She explained to me the Valesian mentality I did not know existed. "Then, they brought you to me thinking you were an omen from the gods. You were only a baby sent by the gods, but my words did not sit well with them."

"Your words? Did you speak to my parents when I was a baby?" I looked at her ancient face, irked by how far she had aged during our conversation. I knew she possessed magic or she was a witch so this detail did not make my heart beat faster. The fact she knew my birth parents did.

She nodded, "I told them you were born under two dark stars. You held immense power in your tiny hands and this power could ruin their lives along with many others. Back then, we did not understand your power."

"So they tried to kill me? That is not how prophecies work!" I started to feel strange. I was doubting with my words, yet my mind knew the truth. I am a living contradiction! I leaned forward, "How many times did they try? Do you know?"

"Get your handsome face away from me, son." She pressed a palm to my forehead to push my head away. A withered smile graced her old face and she looked quite sad. "They tried every day until you turned four. Then, they planned to leave you to grow by yourself. This way, only you are responsible for yourself."

"Every day until I was four? I do not believe my own parents will do such a thing! I know I was abandoned at a young age, but it cannot be because of a string of words." I paused to see the woman looked offended. I nod apologetically, "Right, you were the one to tell them."

"Fear makes humans do the unthinkable. Humans can do the unthinkable to themselves and everything else." Her wrinkled hands folded over the table. She sat like an elegant queen of magic in her throne. "You're a warrior, you should know this well."

I could not think at the moment, but I knew that I should understand her words. I could only nod slowly to respond. I did tell my boys to feel some fear for their lives whenever going into battle. This makes them work harder and their adrenaline peaks at all times.

"I think I understand if they were afraid. If I were my parents, I would have stayed with my child to help him find a better path but fates shouldn't be changed?" I tapped my chin, attempting to recall where I've heard that line. I shrugged because I could not care any less. "Why does my fate rest on one person?"

"Because you two are not fully human!" She shouted as if she was angry at me for asking the question. She fanned her face with the wooden block. "I got too excited. You will find the answers one day. I cannot disclose any more information because the gods told me to stop."

I slowly rose from my seat, shaking and ready to find answers. I needed to prove that I will not believe in the woman's words. I struggled to speak as the fortune-teller pushed me through her home and out onto the wet streets.

From her door, she tossed a strange item. Her old hand disappeared behind the door. Her ancient face poked through the crack, "Catch it! This is the Sun's Jewel. Give this to the holder of your counter star and they will understand. Marik, good luck and stay safe."

I felt the cool item in my palms and bowed before the old woman. I smiled in the rain as she pushed me away with her hands. I felt happy when she told me to return home before the light drizzle turns into a storm. I watched the colourful door click closed and the lights in the window died.

I started down the road, holding out the large jewel in my hand. It was shaped like a teardrop and it was the colour of amber. It wasn't amber, I knew because it looked like a crystal. I held the gem to my face until my eyes went cross-eyed. "That's an odd stone."

Red swirls floated in the gem-like bloody smoke in the sun's rays. It looked like the woman filled a yellow glass container with water and put blood inside, but I knew she did not. What type of stone was this? The Sun's Jewel? What a generic name!

I shook my head, persuading myself that I was not interested in the jewel given to me by a lunatic. I shoved the stone into my tunic's pocket and continued down the road, stretching my arms towards the sky to collect raindrops in my cupped palms.

I needed to shake off all the adrenaline from yesterday's battle. Walking in the rain should cool my hot blood yet my mind stayed untouched. I brought my hands to my face and gasped as I saw red liquid slide down my frosted skin.

My hands trembled and I thought I was going mad. I tried to wipe the blood with my hands yet the crimson stream overflowed from my palms. I looked up at the dark sky, "God of Blood?"