The Wheel of Fate Turns [Tarot Hierarchy] Closed to Ray

[Cards of Fate]

Rayleigh turned to Vincent and scowled “Are we really going to go underground?” Her voice quivered slightly as her knees shook ever so slightly. A more discerning eye would sense her fear, Vince was too busy staring at the stairs before them.

“Holy shit.” He muttered. “THESE STAIRS MUST BE THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN ALL OF ALTHANAS!” his voice boomed through the island as he barreled down towards the opening. “I don’t even see any gears!”

“Okay, you can just completely ignore my objections and run straight into the…” she trailed off as she reached the top of the stairs and found the scholar nowhere to be found. “How the fuck…he shouldn’t be able to move that fast with his knee…”

Huffing slightly she descended the stairs, straining her eyes to make out any details of the hall before her. At the bottom she found a long dimly lit hallway with the scholar crouched at the other end. As she closed the gap between them, equal parts scared and furious at Vincent, she watched her partner retrieve an orb from his robes and suddenly the entire hallway burst into light.

Stunned, she paused for a moment and took in the view. On either side of them the walls were coated in ancient runes engraved in what appeared to be silver. Tentatively the mechanic reached out and traced a simple word on the wall, unsure of its language or meaning. A spark leaped from the wall to her finger and suddenly the walls began to shimmer slightly before igniting into a golden glow. The entire hallway took to life bathing the two in a gentle glow.

Rayleigh’s jaw dropped as she turned to glance at Vincent who wore a similar expression. “It’s…beautiful.” The two murmured before turning to look at eachother.

“This…” Vincent trailed off, “…is why I work for the Hierarchy.”

[Rayleigh]

"So you're telling me," the brunette began with a soft, crooked smile, "that not all of your adventures are dangerous? Some of them are actually quite pretty?"

Don't speak too soon. This one has only just started. Vincent bit back the retort that threatened to spill out, choosing instead to go on fostering this new ease that Rayleigh was experiencing. The last thing he wanted to do was get her riled up again, and reminding her that they still had a ways to go would do just that. "That's exactly what I'm saying," he finally replied, a broad grin masking the lingering doubt. How could he possibly shatter the trance the young explorer found herself in, the shimmering light cast by the runes dancing like wildfire in her wide, emerald eyes?

"Let's get going then," Ray called over her shoulder, already moving away from her companion. A bit of light, and some reassurance, was all the fuel that the girl needed. He watched her go for a moment, praying to any god willing to listen that he was not dooming her yet again.

She waited until he fell into step beside her to ask her question. "Where do you think this leads anyway?"

Vincent drew a few deep breaths before answering, still winded from hobbling after her. "Your guess is as good as mine." He shook his head. "I didn't uncover any sort of literature on what was in the temple itself, just where it was located."

They walked in silence, and though their path was well lit, there was very little to see. The walls held no decorative markings, save for the runes that guided them, and there were no doors or passages veering from the main hallway. It was not long, however, before Rayleigh made an observation.

"I think we're walking up." She turned to Vincent. "Do you feel the slope? I didn't feel that before."

"I do, yeah. Maybe we're moving up into the actual temple now?" Suddenly, Vincent stopped. "Ray," he hissed urgently, reaching a hand out for her. "Stop. Did you hear that?"

She was a few paces ahead of him when she turned back. "Hear what?"

"That clicking sound."

They stood in silence, each holding their breath, listening intently.

"I didn't hear anything," Rayleigh admitted finally.

"Nor did I," came the Hierophant's echo.

"I swear, I-" Vincent's words were cut short by a mechanical sound, like the yawn of ancient gears coming to life. The tunnel began to tremble beneath their feet, sending both humans stumbling. Rayleigh's arm windmilled madly, trying to find something steady to latch onto, but it was Vincent's hand that finally found her own. With a hard yank, the man pulled her small body toward his, and with his other arm, he held her flush with the wall.

Mere inches from her face, a sphere made entirely of sleek granite barreled past. The force and speed with which it moved blew Ray's hair back from her face, and kicked up specks of dirt and rock that peppered her skin. Vincent did not release her until they heard an enormous crash from the way in which they had come.

The Hierophant materialized in the tunnel beside them. "It has destroyed the stairs to the surface," he reported solemnly. But for Vincent and Rayleigh, who did not have the luxury of being spirited away at the first sign of danger, it took slightly longer to recover.

"That was some Indiana Jones shit," Vincent coughed, reaching up to wipe the grime from his eyes.

The reference was lost on the girl. "What happened?"

"You tripped a tripwire. That's where the clicking noise came from."

"I didn't even feel it." A heavy silence fell between the threesome. Rayleigh was clearly struggling to come to terms with what had just transpired, and neither Vincent, nor his ghostly counterpart, wished to rush the process. Finally, she whispered, "you saved my life."

"All in a day's work," came the man's reply as he gave a sweeping bow, doing all he could to hide the way his own legs trembled.

Rayleigh shook her head. "Really," she insisted. "I owe you one."

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar shuddered slightly. The boulder hadn’t left much time for him to react, so he simply acted on instinct. Now Ms Ashton was in his arms, and he’d become a hero on sheer instinct. His legs began to tremble slightly as she spoke. He had promised that these ruins would be safe, yet they had already narrowly avoided disaster. He could feel her breath on his neck as she spoke, and suddenly the scholar was very aware of the lack of space between them/
“Don’t mention it.” Vincent replied flustered as he took a couple of quick steps away, leaning onto the wall. His gaze quickly darted ahead to check for more traps. He absently wandered forward as Rayleigh took a moment to catch her breath.

“You moved so fast…” she muttered in disbelief. Something other than fear began to cross her mind as she leaned against the wall. Her gaze dropped to the floor where she found a smashed and splintered cane at her feet. A hiss escaped her lips.

“Vincent!” She exclaimed as her eyes snapped back to her companion. “Your…cane…” she frowned slightly as she found the scholar standing five feet from her. “It’s…broken.” Vincent quickly turned back to his partner and gritted his teeth slightly. Perhaps it was time for the truth to come out.

“Ray…” Vincent replied trembling slightly. He had no idea how she would react to his deception. “I….recovered from that injury months ago. I just use it as a…cover. Something to make people feel less threatened about me.” Rayleigh paused for a moment, stunned by his revelation, but also still recovering from near brush with death.

“What…?” She asked cocking her head to one side. Her eyes traveled from the smashed cane to her companion once more before taking a deep breath. “Normally I’d be angry you lied to me…” she exhaled and closed her eyes. “…but seeing as I now owe you my life I think we can let this little breach of trust slide…”

“Plus….” The scholar began, “Now we can move through here at a decent pace.” The two paused for an uncomfortably long time before they began once more.

“So…”Rayleigh began as she glanced nervously at the hall before them, scanning for traps with every step. “What do you think we’re going to find here?” Vincent chewed his lip for a moment before speaking.

“No idea.”

[Rayleigh]

Though his answer left her entirely unsatisfied, she allowed silence to fall between them once more rather than pushing him further. Truthfully, she was just as unsure of what it was that they were walking into; to criticize Vincent for his uncertainty would be both unfair and hypocritical.

So they walked without speaking, each focused on nothing else but the sprawling tunnel that lay before them. Without his cane, the scholar was able to cover quite a bit more ground than before. It was the sensation of Vincent keeping pace at her side that finally spurred her into conversation.

"You know," she began slowly, "you didn't have to use your cane with me."

"Hmm?" His response, though simple, was far from distracted or disinterested. Instead, Vince meant to prompt her into explaining herself further, as her words surprised him. When the brunette turned to face him, he was already staring back expectantly.

"I'm just saying that you don't have any reason to fake an injury like that. I don't think you have a threatening bone in your body, even when you're in perfect health."

"Thanks a lot," Vincent replied glumly, dropping his gaze back to the pebble-littered ground. Their footsteps, impossibly loud in the small space, were the only sound until Rayleigh spoke again.

"I'm kidding." Biting at her thumb nail, a dirty nervous habit that she struggled to kick, she searched for the words. "Look. I just can't think of a reason why you would need to lie to me about it. And I guess it isn't even the fact that you lied that bugs me. I just can't figure out why. I feel like we've always been pretty real with each other. You don't have to prove anything to me, okay?" Faltering again, she simply finished with, "so just don't do it again."

Vincent, mixed parts satisfied with getting off the hook and surprised by her sudden declaration, merely nodded.

While the pair had been locked in conversation, they had hardly noticed the narrow tunnel beginning to widen. As a result, they were both startled to find themselves at the entrance to an enormous cavern. The jagged, stone ceiling towered one hundred feet above where they stood, and they could hardly make out the opposite end of the space. A blue haze filled the entire area, and as Rayleigh looked closer, she realized that it was hundreds of cyan crystals that provided the light. Veins of color crawled up the walls, protruded from the ground, and dangled from high above them.

But it was not the crystals that held Ray's attention. As she took her first hesitant steps into the cave, she gave a sharp squeal of delighted surprise. Scattered about the crystals, various different pieces of technology rest in undisturbed slumber. They all appeared to be digging tools of some sort, with sharp metal pieces and a variety of knobs and levers. Though she kept her hands pressed to her chest, cautious not to touch anything, the mechanic immediately scooted to the nearest piece to begin a more thorough investigation.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent paused for a moment and let the mechanic have her fun. Her eyes lit with glee with every new piece of machinery she seemed to discover, musing aloud their purpose each time. The scholar noted how tightly she clutched her hands to her chest, how she must long to delve elbow deep into the gears of each new discovery to understand how they work.
"Your ability is incredibly draining isn't it?" Vincent's words hung heavily in the silence. "So much so that you're afraid of it." The mechanic paused and turned her gaze to him silently, the traces of a scowl forming on her face. "I know the feeling..." the scholar met her gaze.
"How could you poss-" her words were cut off by a shower of blue sparks as the scholar vanished and reappeared next to her, crossing a ten foot gap in a mere instant with a light crack. His eyes shimmered bright teal for a second as he let out a light sigh. The two sat for what felt like forever, each silently contemplating what had just happened. Finally Rayleigh broke the silence. "...How?" The scholar grinned for a moment before answering.

"I was messing with this gear..." he said fishing out the relic that had brought them to this excavation. "Trying to recharge it manually with energy from the Tap. I thought I'd succeeded and attempted to use it to create a machine that could teleport me throughout the land instantly, a boon for the type of work I do. It...backfired though." The scholar shuddered. "When I tried to start up the machine it exploded, releasing incredible amounts of magic energy into the room..." he paused once more, struggling to find the words.
"I could have died, instead I found myself lying uninjured in a ruined lab, scorch marks all around me. I seemed to have absorbed all of that energy, and with it I can teleport some distances. At first it was on accident, and it felt like my entire body was on fire whenever I did it. But I needed to figure out a way to master it, so I did. I got up every morning before anyone else was contemplating being awake and I practiced and practiced..." his voice trailed off. "I faced my fear and my pain to make myself stronger."

He returned the gear into his jacket, but when he withdrew his hand he bore a set of leather gloves. "I thought of you when I found these. They're originally used by Salvarian witch hunters to nullify magic, but I figured that maybe it would help keep you from triggering your visions unless you were ready." The mechanic eyed the pure white gloves with awe.

"These must have cost a fortune..." she muttered taking and sliding her hands inside to feel the soft fur lining.

"Hardly a hit in my budget at all." the scholar replied. "But lets see if they work eh? Maybe we can figure out how to recreate these machines!|

[Rayleigh]

"Sure," she answered, though her mind was miles away. The woman studied Vincent's gift for a moment, a heavy silence filling the cavern. She felt his gaze boring into her, but she waited to collect her thoughts before turning to him. When she did, her brow was knitted in concern.

Immediately, her companion misinterpreted her expression. "You don't like the gloves," he muttered, shaking his head. He had not even bothered to relay his comment in question form, simply assuming the worst, as if he had feared it all along. "It was stupid, but I saw them, and I thought of you, but-"

"Vincent." She interrupted him with a sharp word and her now-gloved hand, extended, palm-forward. "I like the gloves."

His face melted in relief, but only before confusion hardened it once more. "Then what's wrong?"

"I..." Rayleigh's voice trailed, and she held her breath for a few seconds. Then, she expelled it in a small sigh. "I don't know. It's just a lot. A lot to take in."

The blonde's head tilted. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly, narrowing his gaze as if it would reveal answers to her cryptic comments.

"What happened to you," she answered. "With your gear." Her jaw worked as she turned away from him, gazing first at the shimmering crystals, and then at the digging equipment that wait in still silence. "And what happened to me." There was no need to say more, as she had already confided in Vincent what had happened the last time she had ventured underground. When simply touching a wire had brought her visions of a fiery hell, and flipping a switch had freed the demon trapped there. "I don't understand it."

"Oh." Vince looked to his shoes, which scuffled uncomfortably against the stone-littered floor. She was really opening up to him, a gesture that he knew demanded the utmost care and compassion. Yet he found himself wondering exactly how that was to be accomplished. How could he comfort her? "Hey," he began slowly, reaching an awkward, hesitant hand toward her shoulder. "It's okay, Ray. It's just magic."

That, he realized immediately, had been the wrong thing to say. He jerked his hand back, as if burned by the fire that suddenly flared within the brunette's eyes. "Just magic?" she croaked, the small woman's voice filling the very large space. "Just magic?" Shellshocked, the scholar's mouth opened and closed helplessly. However, as he was unable to put voice to his mounting confusion, Rayleigh continued. "How can you just be so relaxed about it all? How can you stand there, and say that it is just magic? Magic is a terrible, awful thing."

"No it isn't," her partner finally managed. "Magic is incredible."

"Incredibly dangerous," she snapped back. "My father hated magic, and now I can see why." As the initial anger began to wane, the mechanic pressed two fingers to her temple. "Do you know why I work with machines?" He shook his head, and she replied, "because they're simple. They make sense. If something isn't working, I can fix it. Everything has a fix, and everything has an answer. There are no exceptions. But magic? Magic isn't like machines. Magic doesn't follow any law. Magic hurts people. And now I've seen magic corrupt technology twice now. I don't like that, Vince."

[Cards of Fate]

Silence filled the air for a moment. The young mechanics eyes glared at the scholar as he took a couple steps back. Her outburst shocked him, her confession equal to his in faking a handicap. The two stood there with their hearts exposed for a moment. Their eyes met, and for what felt like in eternity Vincent debated retreating. This was too much for him, too many unknown variables, no way for him to know how she would react. He brushed his hair out of his face and huffed.

“You have a fair point.” his hands dropped to his side in defeat, “But that’s why we’re here.” he chewed his lip nervously as he began to chose his next words carefully. “People have been abusing magic for ages, and we need to put it to a stop. These very machines could be weapons of mass destruction, but we need to find out.”

“We?” Ray asked bewildered. “What do I have to do with any of this? We only met once by complete chance Vince! Now you’re talking like-”

“Like our fates are intertwined?” Vince interrupted. “Rayleigh...I work for the GODDESS of FATE. Nothing in my life will ever be just a coincidence.” The two stared at each other for a moment. “When we first met...you told me you wanted to have an adventure. I messed up in the past, but if we work together we can make that happen.”

“Vince, stop writing off that mission! Messed up is buying the wrong type of gears for a machine! Sending someone to a deathtap is-” Rayleigh scowled.

“Unforgivable I know…” Vince frowned. “I had no way of knowing what sort of danger I was sending you into!” he clenched his fists, his face scrunched up. “I’m sorry, I’m trying to do everything I can to make this right!” The scholar huffed and turned around walking away. He needed space to think, this was too much for him all at one time. He was barely paying attention to the wire strung haphazardly between two obscure pylons.

His boot caught the nearly invisible wire and sent him tumbling to the ground. Suddenly a klaxon began to blare, filling the ancient ruins with sirens.

“Shit!” Vincent spat scrambling to his feet. “We gotta go!”

[Rayleigh]

The words she meant to say immediately died on her lips. Besides, even if she had said them, they would have been drowned out by the sirens that shrieked around them. Her first instinct was to turn back the way that they had come, but the moment she lunged for the entrance, Vincent's hand found her wrist and yanked her backward. "Can't go that way," he shouted over the alarm. "Entrance closed. Remember?" Her stomach churned as she realized that he was right. The massive door had closed behind them, and no smaller tunnels had branched off of the main route. They were between a rock and a hard place, in a more literal way than Rayleigh would care to admit.

His grip tightened. "Smell that?" And after pausing long enough to inhale deeply, she did.

"Smoke?" she mouthed, and Vincent nodded. Together, the pair turned to find an entire portion of the cavern now alive with vibrant oranges, yellows, and reds. The flames licked at the base of the wall, where the light illuminated a slick, damp texture that she had missed before. Horrified, she began to put the pieces together in her mind. The cavern walls appeared to be lathered in some sort of accelerant, and the trip wire had set it ablaze. It was another booby trap, that much was certain. But this time, their luck may have run out.

They had to move. Either the flames would seal their fate, or the smoke would do it, but they were doomed if they remained in one place. Already, she could feel the air growing thicker with smoke and heat; a small gasp of fear escaped her as she hurried to fill her lungs with the last of the untainted oxygen.

The thought drew her gaze to the ceiling. Rather than collecting and hovering directly above them, Ray noticed that the smoke appeared to be moving toward one of the unexplored parts of the cavern. With the hand that Vince held onto, the brunette pointed. “An opening,” she cried out. If the smoke was moving, that was a good indicator that an emergency exit had been installed, and there was still hope for the Tarot pair to reach the surface.

Together, they stumbled toward the opposite side of the cave, struggling to dodge the digging equipment and crystal clusters that cluttered their escape route. Twice, the pair nearly toppled, but pure adrenaline, and their partner's tight hold, kept them on their feet. When they finally reached their destination, they were met by a welcome sight. A very rudimentary elevator lay in wait, and though it was merely a series of chains, gears, a six by six foot platform, and an old gasoline-powered engine, Rayleigh thought that it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen.

"Get in," she commanded over the sirens that continued to screech in the cavern and in her head. "I'll turn it on."

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar was surprised by the presence of an elevator, but more surprised when he found Rayleigh clutching the control panel with her bare hands. Her green eyes rolled back and breifly she flashed back in time, her eyelids fluttering. After a moment she snapped back to reality, forcing the bile that was rising in her throat back down. She quickly began to let her fingers dance over the ancient machinery, urging it to life. The lift stirred for a moment and slowly began to rise.

The mechanic stumbled, her balance lost from her dive into the past. Vincent’s eyes widened. “RAY!” he roared. The platform began to rise, Rayleigh fell to her knees sputtering and coughing. Vincent closed his eyes and blinked into a flash of light, appearing behind his companion and scooped her up. He growled and stormed forward, tossing the limp psychic onto the platform and grabbing hold of it with both hands just as it was about to leave his reach.

Grunting, he hauled himself onto the platform and coughed wickedly. Smoke was chasing them up the lift, as they went from the open chamber of the excavation site to a closed elevator shaft. Soon smoke was trailing up at their feet and Vince lifted the no unconscious mechanic into his arms.

In his haste two things didn’t occur to Vincent. Firstly, the Hierophant was nowhere to be found. Secondly, Rayleigh was not breathing. Finally the lift approached a large hatch that slid open as the approached. Bright light greeted the scholar’s stinging eyes, and as they entered the clear air he couldn’t help but laugh. They were a mile at most from the camp, on an ancient mosaic he had spent the last three weeks studying and tracing. He took several steps forward and set the mechanic down, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

It was at this moments Vincent noticed that his companion’s chest was not rising.

“SHIT.” The word shot out his lips as he immediately set the mechanic down and began to panic. His hands immediately danced to her neck to check for a pulse.

Nothing.

The scatterbrained scholar took a deep breath and forced all panic to leave his body. He had been a boyscout back on earth, and CPR certified. He propped the mechanics chin up and made sure her airway was clear before pinching her nose clear and took a deep breath.

“This is not how I wanted my first kiss to go…” he mused as he pressed his lips to hers and began to blow. He watched her chest rise and fall. He backed up, took another breath, and then administered another rescue breath. Afterwords he paused, checked for her pulse and breath, and then began to administer chest compressions.

“Come on...COME ON! You can’t die yet! There’s too much of the world left for you to see…”

[Rayleigh]

"Vincent."

But the scholar, consumed entirely by the care he was giving to Rayleigh, did not hear the voice behind him. Twice more, the Hierophant called out. It was not until Vince felt a heaviness on his shoulder that he finally paused. Slowly, he twisted to face the ghost, whose return gaze was laced with pity.

"Stop, Vincent," the Hierophant continued. Though he could not take physical form, years of experience had allowed him to channel the energy he possessed. This time, he recreated the comforting gesture of a hand on Vincent's shoulder, which tightened as he spoke again. "She's gone."

The strangled response came through clenched teeth. "She can't be."

"I'm sorry."

Vincent sat back. His face, tanned by the hours in the island's hot sun, was nearly as white as the spectre's beside him. "How?" He mouthed. "How?"

Smoke continued to spill from hole in the earth that the Tarot members had just emerged from. Siren's continued to cry out. But Vincent hardly noticed. Rayleigh's emerald eyes, once filled with eagerness and excitement, were wide and unseeing. The sight churned his stomach.

How did this happen? Only moments ago, they had been locked in one of the petty arguments that had been so common in their friendship. She had been so full of emotion then. She had always been that way, for as long as he had known her. But now... This was not Vince's first encounter with death, but it had never felt like this before. "How can I fix this?"

"You can't." The Hierophant eased himself to the ground beside the trembling human. "Listen to me, Vincent. Continue administering the chest compressions once I'm gone."

This was enough to stir a reaction from the man. Blinking back the tears that burned at the back of his eyes, he stammered, "where are you going?"

There was no response. Instead, the spirit rested a single hand, palm-down, on Rayleigh's motionless chest. As Vincent's watched, the Hierophant began to grow even more transparent. In only a matter of seconds, he was gone entirely.

Now Vincent was nearly hysterical. "No," he muttered, shaking his head. "No, please, wait." His own breathing was sporadic as he continued to press on Rayleigh's chest, each thrust pulling a choked sob from him.

He did not see the way that her eyes clouded over before the life returned to them. And he did not stop the compressions until he felt her sitting up. Her arms snaked around his neck, pulling her closer. Her voice was soft with exhaustion and strained by the smoke, but he understood every word when she whispered, "I'm okay."