Faltering Dreams, or What The Lago Foretold - Episode 2

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Bradley: Well, if that ain't vague as hell. Sounds about right, for Mithra.

Mithra: Thank you very much.

Bradley: It wasn't a compliment.

Indeed, those readings didn’t tell us much of anything. Still, I felt nothing but a growing sense of foreboding at what Mithra had read from the bones.

 

Akira: I get why you're worried, Chloe. It’s sort of more frightening when the details are left to your imagination. It makes me wonder if everything will be okay…

Arthur: Thank you for your concern, Kenja sama. On the bright side, that means we can take precautionary measures and be on the alert for whatever future danger awaits us.

 

Arthur smiled, regal. It was as if he was trying to dispel the cloud of worry that plagued me.

 

Arthur: If we take appropriate precautions, we'll be able to calmly handle anything that comes our way. That's why I don't believe it's indicative of a bad outcome.

 

Arthur was fearless in the face of the ominous reading. In fact, he seemed to be reassured by the fact that he knew what lies in wait.

Kindly, Snow smiled at Arthur.

 

Snow: So you accept your fate, regardless of what lies ahead, and choose to stride onwards with optimism.

 

In that moment, Snow's smile looked a bit complicated to me.

 

Snow: As we'd explained earlier, Mithra's methods of divination differ from our prophecies. It is not impossible to avoid the dangers that lurk in what he predicts.

Akira: Really?

Snow: Umu. Our prophecies are a clear glimpse into the future. The future is laid bare for us to see. What we see is absolute.

But Mithra's divination includes warning signs. If you continue as you are, this is the future you will encounter — something like that.

White: He’s good at pinpointing when certain phenomena will happen.

Akira: I see…

 

In other words, the way they read into the future differed in several ways, and neither method was a direct replacement for each other.

 

Imagine you were lost.

You could pick any path before you, and it wouldn't matter which you picked. Your final destination would remain the same. That was how the twins' prophecies worked.

As for Mithra's divination, it was like amidakuji. The branching paths before you would lead to different outcomes. I suppose that is the best way to describe it.

 

White: That said, if Arthur is ready for whatever may come, then it’s possible for his future to go down a different path.

Akira: Ah, alright... That's a relief.

Mithra: Please do not be relieved. That makes it sound like my bone readings are all misses.

Snow: We’re not implying that at all. If your divination is spot-on, then Arthur will be able to successfully counter the dangers that await him.

White: In that sense, Mithra's divination proves very handy.

 

Chloe: Then, how about we have Nero and Bradley's fortunes read as well?

Bradley: Huh? There's no need for that. In the first place, does the Great Bradley look like someone who's reliant on these things?

The future is something you forge for yourself with your own two hands. It ain't something that someone else can sway with a word here or a comment there.

I'm not down with having my future be jerked around so easily. That's what happens to fools.

What about you, Eastern Chef?

Nero: ...... I'll pass too.

If I were to find out about what lies ahead of me, it'll keep eatin' at me. And then I'll feel weighed down by it.

Guess I'm one of those fools Bradley mentioned. I'm a fool who'll be jerked around by a fortune reading.

Bradley: That's an Eastern Wizard answer alright.

 

Bradley barked with laughter as Nero shrugged with his reply. Such an answer seemed to have been within Bradley's expectations.

 

Faust: Well, I suppose it varies from person to person how they interpret the results of their reading, and how they choose to react to having their fortune told.

Bradley: To each their own, eh? Nothing good ever comes from being shackled down if you ask me.

Though you've got some spine to you for being an Eastern Wizard. You're no member of the Nero Sect, you've ought to be a part of the Bradley Sect.

Nero: Hey, cut it out with divvying us up into these arbitrary faction things. Sensei over there is cautious and calm, and he’s a real fastidious person too. He's of the Nero Sect for sure.

Arthur: He might even qualify for Arthur Sect!

Faust: ...... I am none of those. I'll pick out whichever part of the reading that suits my purposes, and I'll ignore whichever parts of it that are a hindrance to my needs. That's my way.

Akira: Oh, that means my way might be the Faust way! That's how I enjoyed interpreting my daily fortunes back in my world.

Bradley: Kenja... You really about to ditch my team? Better think twice, or be ready for what's coming at you after.

Akira: What team!?

Mithra: By the way, Nero, is the meat not ready yet? You may start grilling right here, right now. I don't mind.

Nero: Wait, you were talking about dinner, right? You meant now?

Akira: For this guy, it's his way or the highway...

 

Snow: Ohoho. That brings the curtains down on Mithra's little divination session. 

Now, let us entertain all of you with our own little show: We shall read Mithra's future!

White: Your bone-readings may be subject to misinterpretation, but what we see is absolute.

Snow & White: What we See is never wrong.

 

Their voices rang like an invocation of the many millennia they had lived. A shiver ran down my spine.

Like they said, the twins’ prophecies will always come to pass. Everything that they see is exactly true.

Even though Mithra would be on the receiving end of an inexorable prophecy, he didn’t seem fazed at all.

 

Mithra: I do not have any particular need of your fortune-telling. I think that’s quite enough.

Snow: White chan, it's not every day we get to have a bonfire, so let's use it to tell his future!

White: Okaaay~! Pyromancy it is. We shall begin at once!

Faust & Nero: (They completely ignored him...)

 

[ No BGM ]

Snow and White now stood before the bonfire. They gracefully lifted their arms, palms upward. The dancing flames grew stronger, licking upward following the movement of their palms.

 

Snow & White: .........

 

The flames twisted and warped as if it had come alive. It burned brighter than ever before, and it was now a mighty blaze.

 

[ BGM starts ]

Snow: ...... We see a great surge.

White: A vortex... A geyser of water... The might of water shall steadily grow.

 

The twins calmly delivered their prophecy, unbothered, unblinking in the face of the roaring flames. The flames towered over us, blazingly bright.

 

[ The fire flares up, violently. ]

 

Akira: (screams)

 

Fear suddenly overtook me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

But when I opened my eyes, the flames were completely gone. And now, the twins affixed their serene gazes on Mithra, arms settled down neatly by their sides.

 

Snow: My dear Mithra, in the near future, you will be caught in a watery disaster of great magnitude.

Do try to take this seriously. It may simply be ‘water,’ but it poses a dangerous threat that may rob you of your very life. 

Mithra: Sure. 

Chloe: A great disaster with lots of water involved... Your prophecies will always come true, right?

It all feels so scary... Will everything be alright......

Arthur: Even if the prophecy foresaw a disaster, that doesn’t mean it’ll be disastrous in the end. It’s up against Mithra, after all. Still, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about.

Akira: Um, Snow, White? Will Mithra be fine after that ordeal? What happens after that...

Snow: Who knows? What we saw was Mithra being attacked by a great surge of water.

White: We do not know what lies ahead. We do not know if it can be escaped. Similarly, we do not know if it can’t be escaped.

Snow: Oh, Mithra. Do be careful not to drown.

Akira: (Easier said than done...)

 

The way the flames leapt and loomed did not bode well for the future. The strength of the fire seemed like it mirrored the strength of the water which only made me worry more and more by the second.

Yet, Mithra, the subject of the prophecy, was as calm as ever, as if it wasn’t related to him in the least. 

 

Mithra: Well, I am strong. Let water or fire or any other disaster come face me whenever it pleases. It makes no difference to me.

White: Naturally, our efforts are wasted on a person like you.

Snow: Oh, well. As Faust said, even if you do know what the future has in store for you, it is up to you what to do with that information.

Episode 3 ⭢