Three days later, in an apartment complex, Backlund, Cheerwood Borough.
Amanises sat at her desk, papers scattered all over the wooden table.
They were all written letters paired with money to be sent as compensation for the dead servants' families.
After the house was cleaned and put up for sale, she gathered all the stashed money and moved out.
Her expensive dresses were sold, along with jewelry and all sorts of cutlery and porcelain sets.
Nothing of value remained.
She would've kept some stuff that belonged to her family, to remind her of them. However, that would make her too attached.
She's not Evelyn. She's Amanises. A human from Earth.
Cutting connections with whatever was left of Evelyn was for the better.
Tick Tock
She took a glance at the ticking wall clock. It was an old one, dating 30 years and still working. It's face had 12 symbols representing the numbers in Loenese language.
The time was exactly 2:55 PM.
With a heavy sigh, she put her ink pen down and relaxed in her chair. Head empty.
Standing like that for a few minutes, she nearly dozed off when suddenly,with no forewarning—a falling sensation enveloped her.
It was the same one from then she cited the incantation.
Her closed eyes were overlaid with a soft light. She opened them, finding herself seated in the same seat as the first time, second closest to The Fool, on his left.
The highback chair had a stony texture, carved with bronze stripes and inscribed with symbols.
Her hand caressed the armrest while her eyes scanned the grand palace.
In front of her was a grunt man, being seated, they looked almost at the same height. But, of course, she was taller.
Preceding her seat, was a young lady. She wore a long dress, colour supposedly green, and with long blonde hair.
The young lady observed Amanises for a good few seconds, before she suddenly got up and faced The Fool.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~" Hey joyous greeting echoed through the ancient palace.
But she didn't stop there. Her figure turned to the man, who stood up, right in front of her.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man!" She exclaimed happily.
Seeing The Hanged Man get up, Amanises took that as a clue to follow by example. She raised herself from the seat, faced the man standing at the long mottled bronze table, and bowed in reverence.
One must show proper respect to the organizer of a meeting. I lagged behind.
Professionalism took over her in a heartbeat. It felt like back at work, when the CEO abided by her wishes and summoned all of the staff to the meeting room.
The young lady turned once more, facing the other end of the table.
H-huh there's one more?
She bowed a little again: "Good afternoon, Mr. World."
Her gaze finally turned back to the woman. She placed her hand on her chest in a graceful manner and introduced herself. "Good afternoon. I am Justice!"
With that, she finally sat back down in her seat. Happily done with the introductions.
All of the members stared at the newbie. Expecting gazes bored through her.
Without waiting, The Fool extended his hand towards the rookie. His powerful voice rang through the space above the gray fog.
"This is Death. A new member of our Tarot Club." At the mention of the tarot card Death, Miss Justice tilted her head, appearing to be in thought.
The Fool continued. "Please, begin!"
Once the signal was given, both Justice and The Hanged Man straightened their backs and said, almost in unison.
"Mr. Fool, I've brought the diary pages!"
Diary pages what? What diary?
Justice observed the confused look that could be glimpsed through the screening gray fog. She chuckled and explained.
"Mr. Fool is collecting the pages of Emperor Roselle's diary. We offer them in exchange for the knowledge he shares with us!"
Emperor Roselle had a diary? Amanises looked even more confused. She browsed through Evelyn's memories and, sure enough, Roselle did indeed have a secret notebook.
Well it's not a secret anymore.
The notebook contained strange symbols that only Roselle could decipher. Countless historians tried, yet none could figure out the meaning behind them.
Many thought that it contained all of his ideas, or even future ones that he didn't have time to bring to the world. It was believed that he forged that writing system to not have his ideas stolen.
Who would've thought that it was a diary all this time. She wasn't really interested in the former Emperor, as he was of Intis. But his inventions sure changed the currents of time.
Reminiscing the industrial revolution of Earth.
Hold on. Wait a minute—
Goatskin parchments appeared before Justice and the Hanged Man, they concentrated on it and the memorized symbols started appearing one after another.
After they were finished, the goatskin parchments flew towards Mr. Fool. He rested his head on his fist and started reading one of them in a detached manner.
He's reading them like newspapers!
While The Fool took his sweet time enjoying his morning, actually afternoon, papers, Amanises used the silence to scan each member individually.
Justice looks very happy, but also quite immature. She was far too excited when she saw me, instead of even a bit weary. Perhaps that's just her personality.
Miss Justice seemed like a naive girl to Amanises. The kind that would sit in her room and chat about boys and makeup while on the phone with her friends.
I was like that too at some point.
There was nothing to be ashamed of. She missed her youth.
The Hanged Man, on the other hand, looked far too weary. His skin is darker, almost bronze. He must be exposed to sunlight a lot, or perhaps this is part of his ethnicity.
Like how feysacians are inexplicably tall. She often wondered if the butler's white hair was actually just snow when she was younger.
His hair was longer than normal and disheveled. He must not care much about his appearance.
Done with the two in the front, Amanises turned her head to the other end of the table.
Where was sat, Mr. World.
The three of us, with the exception of Mr. Fool, are seated on the sides of the table. He must be important to be placed facing The Fool.
Not to mention his code name. She knew about tarot so she was aware that the world was the very last one of them, followed by The Fool, which was the first.
She wasn't sure if the gloomy gentleman she now faced had his card chosen for him or if he had chosen it himself.
There must be some sort of connection between them. I better keep an eye on him.
Timely, as she finished her assessment, the master of this gathering, The Fool, stood upright.
The pages of Roselle's diary dissipated into countless minuscule sparks. He wrapped the corner of the table with his fingers and spoke: "You can now start."
As if on cue Miss Justice started talking, taking the initiative.
"I've made some progress in digesting my Spectator potion, I followed your advice Mr Hanged Man and didn't give myself the spotlight." She shared her experience and wore a smug look on her face, expecting some sort of praise.
The Hanged Man nodded at her. "Well done."
Justice giggled like she heard some funny gossip.
"The nobles are quite restless these days, the idea of national examinations given by Mr. Fool is being processed. Many are claiming the right to have come up with it."
The Fool simply nodded his head gently, not saying any other word.
Amanises was processing the new information shared by Justice.
So she's a noble. Only one other person of importance could influence those hotheads.
She wasn't flaunting her high upbringing, but she wasn't covering it either. But most notably.
She's a Beyonder. A fairly new one at that. And what does she mean by digestion?
The Hanged Man also started to speak. "The sea is calmer these days, I haven't heard of anything new."
The sea? So he has connections at sea.
Justice mentioned that Mr Hanged Man has given her advice for 'digestion'. He must be a Beyonder too.
And from the law of assimilation, The Fool and The World must also be Beyonders.
I am the only regular one...
Amansies felt left out.
Further away, the quiet World opened his mouth. "Apparently, a secret Beyonder gathering place has been found around Pritz harbor. The officials have been active recently."
So—he has connections in Backlund too.
Everyone was displaying their area of expertise. With only Mr Hanged Man being from a different area.
Everyone is sharing something, but what am I supposed to say? That my whole family got wiped out?
That would expose her, breaking the entire concept of anonymity. She still didn't trust these people much.
Seeing that Lady Death didn't have anything to add, Miss Justice took the initiative again. She started speaking more about the future policies that the House of Commons desires to implement.
She even brought up the ever increasing mortality rate in places like East Borough.
The Hanged Man added his own thoughts and opinions at times, while Mr. World and Lady Death listened quietly.
At some point, while discussing the mortality rate, Miss Justice presented a case she read in the newspaper a few days ago.
"Ah! There has been a mass murder case not too long ago. It's said that the entire family, including the servants, have been killed. What are your thoughts?"
It was the first time Mr. Hanged Man had heard of this. He put his fingers under his chin and asked.
"There's a murderer in Backlund? Could he be a Serial Killer trying to digest his potion?"
Miss Justice raised her voice slightly again.
"I'm not sure. However, the article mentioned that he was caught. There's no need to worry about that."
At that notion, Amanises, who expressionlessly listened to their conversation chimed in with a passive low tone.
"You shouldn't believe everything that is said in newspapers. Fabrication of information is ever-present."
She leaned back and placed both hands on her lap.
"Actually, that place housed a beyoner who has lost control, not only that, but the fall was all planned by someone."
Both The Hanged Man and Justice looked at her with a skeptical look.
She continued.
"A friend of mine, stationed in Backlund, took care of it before the police arrived. They hadn't done anything."
Justice asked Lady Death, who seemed well versed in this topic, a question that hunted her ever since reading the article.
"Miss, do you know what happened to the last survivor?" The page only mentioned one alive victim, not specifying anything about them, not age nor gender.
Death spoke evenly. "That I don't know, the victim stayed behind and went with the officials, they hadn't contacted my friend ever since."
With that the topic was closed.
Amanises was actually glad that Miss Justice had brought it up. No matter how sad it was, it allowed her room to completely detach herself from the incident.
The lie also gave the idea that, she too, was a beyonder. A knowledgeable one at that.
One with connections in Backlund and probably even backed by an organization.
Even if it was a lie, she wouldn't be seen as an outcast, and instead, someone important.
This is the base for my character.
She was playing a game and making her persona. One that must be a reflection of herself.
They continued to discuss the current state of education in Loen for a bit, before The Fool gave the signal that the gathering was over.
Everyone got up from their seats and bowed goodbye, before being transported back to their previous respective places.
***
When Amanises opened her eyes, she was back in her one bedroom apartment in Cheerwood Borough.
The wall clock indicated the time of 3:36 PM.
Not even 40 minutes huh. It really didn't last as long as it seemed.
She learned a lot from just one Tarot Club gathering alone. Future ones ought to be even more interesting. But more importantly—
None of them is a transmigrator.
Her hope shattered.