Chapter Text
In the city nicknamed ‘the City of Monsters,’ lived a fortune teller by the name of Eli Clark. He was a kind man, so most who met him, would say if asked, but perhaps a little odd and a little sad. But who wasn’t a little odd or a little sad in the City of Monsters?
Eli always kept to himself, save for his beloved owl, Brooke Rose, affectionately known as Poppo to all who were familiar with her, and a rather peculiar woman by the name of Ann, and her cat, Shadowstep.
Tonight was no different, other than the chill in the air that warned of a cold winter to come and the light of the blood moon shining into the alleys like a searchlight.
Soft paw pads treading across the rooftops and Eli’s own soft steps just behind them were the only peculiar sounds in the town, like an echo on the barrier of sound. The witching hour was often silent, most normal citizens too afraid to step out in the wee hours between midnight and the first streak of dawn’s cleansing light.
The soft, low voice that Eli recognized as Ann’s drew his attention down into an alleyway that only a sliver of the moon’s silver light shone into, revealing the extraordinarily tall woman leering at a particularly short man, who gave no sign of fear at the sight of Ann’s striking appearance.
Shadowstep leapt off the roof to join his caretaker, landing several stories down on the woman’s shoulders with the ease of many years’ practice, and winding his skinny body around her strangely long neck, which held more flexibility than any living human’s neck could.
For a few moments, Eli watched in silence, resting one knee on the ledge that overlooked the scene below. So this was what Shadowstep had wanted him to see. He didn’t recognize the man peering up at Ann from beneath his hood, tense, as if he were prepared to fight, futile as it would be against an adversary such as Ann, who had no need to fear death, as it had already come for her life, and she had been the one to win the struggle in the most peculiar way, hard-won as it had been.
“Ann, I think that’s enough.” Eli said finally as she pressed the splintered wood of the cross that had pierced her heart so many years ago against the man’s throat, a low growl that was mirrored by Shadowstep’s own growl.
Unlike Shadowstep, Eli took the easier path down the rusted fire escape that rattled and creaked with each silent step, almost sounding as if it were not a man, but a spirit traversing the wavering structure.
Ann’s head slowly twisted, stopping at an angle that no human could manage and survive the experience. She tilted her head for just a moment, the porcelain white mask on her face hiding the smile that tugged at her lips.
“Eli.” She greeted, the way her peculiar eyes sparkled telling him that she was quite glad to see him. Her head twisted back towards the stranger, looming over him, the shredded fabric of her habit temporarily blocking the man’s face from view. “This stranger has been meddling in things he has no business in meddling with.”
“Is that why you sent Shadow?” Eli asked curiously, placing a hand on her hand which clutched the wooden cross and gently pulling it away. A strange feeling passed over him when Ann stepped back.
When the man’s shadowed face came into view, Eli’s world lurched with the onset of a vision. It was not an unusual occurrence, since he had been having them for as long as he could remember, but it was never subtle.
As Eli tumbled forward, he was jolted into a different scene, the thick scent of blood stinging his nose as he took in the sight before him.
The hooded stranger Ann had cornered was seated in the corner of a dilapidated sitting room, one foot caught in the rotting floorboards that hadn’t been able to bear his weight, blood caked around the torn ankle of his torn boot.
There was a crackle in the air and shadows began to crowd in on his field of vision, hiding the weapon that suddenly pierced the stranger’s chest, blood blooming around the wound like a terrible red flower.
And just like that, the shadows caved in on Eli, and he was thrown back into the present, disoriented, and somewhat surprised to find that he was not on the ground, where he often ended up while his mind was not present with him.
While not uncommon for him, death premonitions were particularly hard on Eli. As a fortune teller, there was one aspect of the future he was bound not to share, and that was death.
Death premonitions rattled him to the bone, and left him feeling as if he had jelly for legs and his heart aching as if it had stopped for a few moments before restarting at an uneven pace.
“Give him a moment and hold him still.” Eli heard Ann’s voice somewhere above him, followed by Shadowstep’s concerned mew by his ear.
Poppo’s wing brushed against his cheek briefly, and Eli let out a soft sigh of relief as the numbness in his fingers slowly faded as he sat up, realizing that someone had been supporting his head, so it didn’t hit the ground when he fell.
Ann was crouched next to him, lowered to the ground as she waited for him to recover, while Shadowstep rubbed against his arm, his tail winding around his arm.
On his other side, was the stranger, expression bewildered as he gazed down at Eli’s pale face. His hood had slipped back slightly when he had bumped into Ann as he had reached to catch Eli out of reflex. They had temporarily forgotten their previous situation.
“Naib Subedar.” Eli said softly as the name manifested in his mind in much the same way the vision had, excluding his loss of spatial awareness. He stood up slowly, reaching up to stroke Poppo’s soft feathers. “Ann, you don’t have to worry about him. I doubt he’s any threat to us, or at least, you.”
Ann slowly lowered the wooden cross that she had been slowly raising towards Naib’s throat upon Eli’s awakening. She tilted her head crookedly, clearly still suspicious of the stranger that had dared to tread outside when the monsters reared their ugly heads.
Eli turned his attention to Naib, offering him a faint smile as he tilted Ann’s cross away once more. He offered him a hand. “Eli Clark.” He tilted his head. “Fortune teller.” He added, realizing that he still seemed surprised that he’d known his name already.
“Shall I leave him in your hands, then?” Ann asked, pushing Naib back with her cross. She leaned her face close to his ear, her next words no louder than a soft breeze whistling between the branches. “You saw his end, didn’t you? You saw his death.”
“You know very well that I can’t tell you if I did.” Eli replied, once again pushing aside the wooden cross. “Stop tormenting him, Ann.”
“That response is answer enough.” Ann lowered her hand for Shadowstep to leap up and turned away.
Without a second glance back, Ann disappeared from the alley, leaving Eli and Naib alone. The silence stretched between them as Naib waited until she had gone and Eli pondered what he had seen.
Eli glanced back at Naib again, once again offering his hand. “It’s not safe to wander the streets alone at this time of night. Ann is a kind soul, frightening as she can be, but she’s not the only one out here, and some of the others would just kill you on sight for being a stranger.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I can handle myself.” Naib turned away, pulling his hood farther over his head once more to shadow his face.
“I imagine you can, but don’t you think it’s better to befriend those that can help you with the answers you’re seeking?” Eli asked, still smiling at him as he adjusted his own navy blue hood. “You were searching for me, anyway.”
Naib paused, hardly glancing back at him. “I was searching for someone who could give me the information I need, or a witness, not a fortune teller.”
“No, I suppose you don’t need a fortune teller, but you do need someone who can safely introduce you to those that might have the answers you’re searching for. A bridge between worlds, so to speak.” Eli replied, his hand still outstretched towards Naib.
Eli wasn’t quite certain what was compelling him to offer his help to this man, when he knew that he would end up like so many other unfortunate souls who had sought an escape in this city, but he had learned to trust his gut and the ancient whispers of those long since passed. A seer was nothing if he couldn’t even trust the gift he had been given.
The future was set in stone, and there was nothing that Eli could do to change Naib’s fate, just as he had not been able to change anyone else’s, but yet, his gift was telling him to stick close to him; telling him that there was something he must do in the future.
Eventually, Naib sighed, seeming to realize that he was in over his head. He turned to face Eli, reluctantly taking his hand and shaking it once before letting it go. “Fine.”
And so, with their temporary partnership in the City of Monsters, their fates were sealed.