Editing City Series:Volume6b Chapter6 (section)

===Part 5===

The bridge contained several people.

They were all seated and working at the instruments in that cramped and dimly-lit space.

All except for one person, that is.

Hazel sat in the rearmost seat.

She looked up at the ceiling, which was lower than her standing height, and viewed the many switches covering it.

She sighed and someone walked over to her. The large female figure was Corelle.

Her smile was hard to miss even in the dim lighting.

“Cramped, isn’t it? Ever been on a ship like this?”

“I rode the Sylphide two years ago.”

“Oh…I see. The Sylphide, huh? I remember the thrill of hearing that some incredible new ship had picked a fight with the Germans.”

Corelle sat in an empty seat next to Hazel.

The person in the seat in front looked back.

“Sync confirmed! We’re ready to go.”

“Hold off on that for now. We need a diversion before we can take off. Wait till we see some movement.”

After receiving a quick “yes, ma’am”, Corelle nodded and stuck her hand in her pocket.

…''Cigarettes?

Hazel’s guess was proven wrong when Corelle pulled out a deck of cards.

The cards looked small in her large hand and their crimson coloration stood out even in the dim light. Corelle gave Hazel a probing look.

“Now, we have some time to spare, so do you mind humoring me with this? I’m actually something of a coward, so I like to know everything I can about my surroundings. That includes the destinies of the people around me, even the ones just passing by.” She smiled a little. “I mean, you wouldn’t want to share an aerial ship with someone destined to crash, right?”

“I guess not.”

“So let me ask you some questions, Hazel Mirildorf – the girl without an Urban Name. This is a pack of cards I bought in Tarot City – Izumo a few years back. First, there’s these 22 cards.”

“So it’s tarot?”

“It is. But I’d like to ask something before I start the fortunetelling. I do this for myself, so I won’t force anyone else to play along. They might come face to face with an unpleasant destiny, after all. Some people don’t want to know about that kind of thing, right? So…” She spread out the cards in her hand with skillful movements of her large fingers. “These 22 are the yang cards – they’re the tarot of white harmony. They have no more power than the ordinary commercial tarot. They have different meanings when reversed, but that doesn’t make them malicious. So even if you have a bad destiny ahead of you-”

“Could you stop?” hesitantly asked Hazel. “There is no such thing as a bad destiny. It all comes down to how I choose to interpret it. …So, um, please satisfy your curiosity with whatever method you’re so hesitant to explain.”

Corelle was quick to respond. She laughed. Loudly.

“Ha ha ha! I like the way you think! You’re great, Hazel Mirildorf! Did you hear that, Max!? Coolers!? This girl’s got more guts than either of you!!”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

An exasperated but amused voice reached them from the front of the bridge.

Hazel smiled.

[[Image:City_v06b_235.jpg|thumb]]

Corelle pulled a new deck of cards from her left side to show the smiling girl.

“Now look at this. In the approximately 2000 years of evolution since their origins in Arabia, these Telling Cards have gained both yin and yang cards. The 22 yang ones speak in a harmonic voice that accurately conveys your destiny and the 22 yin ones speak in a noisy voice that leaves you unsure what it’s saying about your destiny. Then there are the 3 unspoken word cards that combine the two types. That makes a total of 47 cards.”

She spread the cards out in both hands to show them off.

They were all blank.

“!?”

Hazel frowned, so Corelle explained.

“The cards made in the Tarot City do not have the cards to tell your destiny; destiny speaks to you through the cards. If you don’t have your fortune told, the card will never meet its intended partner and will remain blank.”

“You mean…my destiny will be drawn here?”

“That’s right. Your harmonic, noisy, and unspoken destinies are hidden here. Whatever you end up choosing will be your destiny.” Corelle reformed the deck and started shuffling them. “Fortunetelling is all about choosing your destiny. There’s no real method to it. C’mon…just tell me when to stop.”

“Eh?”

“Hazel, when you think I’ve shuffled enough and the destiny-revealing hand of the Highlandest comes to a stop, you will be led to the destiny you have chosen. So just tell me whenever. I’ll keep shuffling until…how about when we enter the Mediterranean?”

“Then please stop.”

“You’ve gotta be more forceful than that. Destiny doesn’t stop for polite requests.”

Hazel smiled bitterly at that.

She felt like the man who welded Gelegenheit, the blade of destiny, had said something like that two years ago.

So she regulated her breathing and placed her hands on her lap, but kept the smile on her face.

“Stop.”

“Sure thing.”

With that, a single card popped out of the deck, still face down.

Hazel took it and looked to Corelle, who put the remaining cards back in her pocket.

“That’s yours now. I just need to replace it with another blank one. So take good care of it, Hazel Mirildorf.”

“I will.”

Hazel nodded and flipped the card over.

It now displayed an image she did not recognize. A single wheel was drawn at the center of the card. The wheel was made of metal, but its edge stuck out almost like a gear and it had splotches of blood in places.

A naked woman was drawn on the left side and a naked man was drawn on the right.

It was an unpleasant image, but the green and brown background gave it an oddly calming coloration.

“What is this?”

“That is the Wheel of Destiny, #10 of the Noisy Cards. It depicts a man and woman holding and supporting an inescapable ruin. It’s the reverse of the Wheel of Fortune, #10 of the Harmony Cards.”

Hazel listened to Corelle’s explanation without taking her eyes off of the card.

“To be honest, I’ve never seen this one before. It’s a rare destiny. But, Hazel?”

Hazel looked up from the card and found Corelle looking straight at her with a slight smile.

“Don’t forget that I have a letter for you. Whether or not I give it to you comes down to your decision. The Wheel of Destiny is the same.”

“The same how?”

“Wheels turn, but they can be stopped and their destination can be altered. …If you choose to, that is. Do that and the card’s image might change.”

“…”

“So search out a good answer – an answer that can change that destiny of ruin.”

“…I will.”

Once she said that, the bridge’s door opened.

Everyone on the bridge turned toward it and saw a giant figure standing there.

“Hey, Corelle. I hate being a bother, but I’ll be hitching a ride as planned.”

The man who entered the bridge looked to be approaching the end of middle age.

He was huge. He had to be 2.5 yards tall, both his arms were bulky prosthetics and his gray hair was unkempt, but something else was even more conspicuous.

“Only one eye.” Hazel looked up at the glint in the man’s only eye, the right one. “Are you the one leading the wolves?”

“That I am. I take it you’re the girl who was sleeping with Berger? The rumored Hazel Mirildorf?”

He slipped between Hazel and Corelle and crouched down with surprising grace.

He only wore tattered military pants and a combat vest and a smile entered his one eye as he looked directly at Hazel.

“I’m the AIF general commander…or I’m in training for the job, anyway. I’m ‘Hardest Wolf’ Pale Horse.”