Roy hovered near the chair like a scared child at the dentist's office. His shoulders were stiff, his jaws were tight, and he kept glancing at the tent flap like he was thinking of an escape route.
"You know what, I don't want to do this shit anymore; it's kind of creepy." He muttered, voice low, while his eyes darted around.
Tanaka didn't blink. "Hell nah. If I had to do it. You have to do it too."
Roy frowned while his eyes narrowed on him.
"You're the one who said that you wanted to do it, so we came inside with you so that just you…"
He was quickly cut off.
"Yeah," Tanaka cut in, "and I also said that everyone else had to do it as well."
Roy stared at him, with his usual deadpan face. This wasn't a conversation anymore. This little man just barely shorter than the tall 5'8 Roy was made out of pure stubbornness. Arguing with him always made Roy tired.
So he didn't pursue it anymore and sat down in that chair.
Roy wore black cargo trousers with four pockets with a light blue and beige hoodie with the sleeves slightly rolled up.
He sighed and slid a fiver across the table to the young woman.
She nodded while she took the cash with the same grin she had before every time she took money from the group. Her Soul Art activated. The same ghostly fingers slipped out of Roy's back like greenish-grey mist turning solid but something was wrong.
There was more than one hand this time.
All of the ghostly hands slowly reached towards the deck.
But instead of pulling a single card like before…
It pulled out seven. Then out of those seven it pulled out five, then three and finally one.
It formed a whole pyramid.
The woman picked it up carefully, as if the multiple ghostly hands were not just a random occurrence that took place when the last ones had a single hand.
She flipped it…
Roy's card was the Death Tarot.
The woman then smiled, unbothered by the foul-sounding card. "Do not be mistaken by this card. It rarely speaks of the death in the literal sense. It represents transformation. The endings that clear the way for new beginnings. Like shedding old skin. Being reborn. A necessary change. It could mean you are approaching a point where you must let go of something you cling to. Something that might be holding you back."
Roy just stared. "Alright." "Alright," he blandly replied and stood up and walked away from the chair.
And Brock. Who was originally down for the whole idea was suddenly trying to walk away from this tent. The guy was shivering throughout the whole process.
"Nah nah nah. You know what. I am good…"
Kieran and Tanak were not having this. They grabbed him by the shoulders and planted him into the seat.
And pushed him firmly into the wooden chair that squeaked from the pressure.
His face was frozen in a terrified expression. Lips trembling, his whole body shook like he was sitting in a freezer.
His shaking fingers pulled out a fiver from his pocket and shakily handed it over to the woman.
She was kind of scared now since Brock was in front of her, being so physically scared.
She tried to reassure him.
"There's nothing to fear… unless you look behind you. Then you will certainly die."
Brock's soul left his body for a mere moment.
Meanwhile, Kieran was thinking, 'I LOVE THIS AHAHA.'
She started shuffling the cards and spread the deck.
This time, no ghostly hand emerged. Instead, Brock's own hand twitched. Then jerked. Then moved smoothly over to the cards."
"BRO… BRO… BRO, WHAT IS HAPPENING…?" His voice cracked.
His hand reached forward and picked the centre card and flipped it over.
The boys that were spread around the tent came in closer to look.
Brock's face dropped. Then came back. Then dropped again.
He was buffering in real life.
The woman nodded approvingly.
It was the Emperor tarot card.
"The emperor tarot card represents structure, discipline and authority. It speaks of someone who seeks stability, who values orders and who hides uncertainty behind a strong exterior."
Brock swallowed hard, slightly confused by the tarot card's meaning. "But that doesn't describe me at all."
Kieran patted his shoulder. "It's ok, man, I do."
They then thanked the woman and stepped out of the tent; the air outside was now lighter.
Roy checked the time on his navy blue watch.
They have exactly ten minutes to get to the tents and to their seats.
As soon as people noticed Tanaka, there was a crowd forming around the group once again. People were hyping him up as he walked through the tournament grounds that he is now banned from participating in.
Roy scanned the crowd while getting closer to the colosseum, searching for someone. But whoever he was looking for wasn't there. Or he couldn't see them.
He sighed and caught up to the group that he was about to get lost from.
Then they headed over to the tents.
Inside, Kieran changed into his sparring outfit, with his sword and gear fitted properly. The three of them chatted briefly as he changed in the background.
They waved to Kieran as they walked towards the seats, saying, 'Good luck,' etc.
Kieran was sitting on a sofabed that was prominently used in the tournament since some contestants come from afar with no money but only with the ambition of doing well to get some sort of recognition for their future.
He lies down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, doing his breathing exercise to get him into the proper state of mind he wants.
He launches himself up, picks up his sword and starts walking to the centre of the colosseum.