angels and demons [jewel]

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Late March 2028

It was a dare, that was all. There was no way Jack would ever take stock in any sort of fortune telling. He had everything he wanted already. A record deal for a thirteen track album, ideas, and all the lads and lasses he could ever want. He knew he'd be able to provide for his mums, and that he didn't have to sell his soul to the ministry. Things were looking up, and looking promising. But he and Mal still had their competitive streaks, and when Mal dared Jack to visit a fortune teller and report back with the most bizarre fortune they'd come up with, Jack hadn't hesitated.

What made the whole thing even simpler was that there was a fortune teller in Hogsmeade. Jack swaggered straight up to Jewel Young's door, which even looked mysterious at first glance, and knocked. There was a rustling from within as Jack shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back onto his heels as he waited. His confidence wavered briefly as Jack considered the whole thing. What if this Jewel Young said something extremely poignant? Jack tried to keep a level head in all matters, but he was known to be hopeful every so often. Jack chewed on the inside of his lip, shoving the thought away. No use stressing when he didn't know what could happen. Divination was a whole load of tosh anyways.

@jewel

[Deleted]

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK / March 2028

The scratchy, oddly eerie melody issued from the record player stashed in the corner of Jewel’s living room was unexpectedly broken by a knock at the door. It made the man hunched over a painting quickly lift his head, directing his attention to the sound. Something happening on a boring day? A smile swiftly replaced the confusion on his face. Finally something to distract him from the painting full of wonky angles, proportions that were way off and a whole heap of frustration. Jewel had been trying to shake off the art block he’d been having recently, but he gladly took any excuse to stop doing so, especially when it came in the form of a mysterious knock on his door. He hadn’t been expecting anyone, but he guessed that there was someone looking for his fortune-telling services. Who else would be randomly knocking on his door without any kind of warning? After quickly washing off the paint from the paintbrush and dropping it next to the stained palette, Jewel left his unfinished painting on the desk and hurried to the door. He stepped over some junk he had lying on his floor before reaching the door—whoops, what a great impression he was giving to any potential customers. At least his apartment wasn’t necessarily dirty, just disorganized. Well, apart from a thin coating of dust on the shelves, but despite the dust and old furniture Jewel had in his apartment, it didn’t smell stuffy. There was a sweet floral scent in the air, not from incense or anything of the sort, but from some charm Jewel had learned solely for the purpose of making his space smell nice. Opening the door revealed a young man waiting on the other side. Now, he didn’t exactly look like the usual type who came to Jewel to get their fortune read. This man looked quite out of place standing there, a little fidgety. Despite that, Jewel greeted him with a smile, curious eyes still assessing the man in front of him. “Hi”, Jewel chirped, willing to bet on his guess that the man was here to get a glimpse into his future. “Looking to get your fortune read?”

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack had half a mind to turn around and tell Mal where he could stuff it. After all, it was a bit unfair of Jack to ask for these services, then promptly ignore whatever the fortune teller was going to say. Jack wasn't even fully certain that true seers existed. How could anyone see the future when change wrought such effects with one decision? No, Jack was just here to satisfy Mal.

But before he could make any real decision, there was a commotion from the other side of the door and the fortune teller greeted him. He had a bright smile and a sort of mysterious aura about him - he seemed the type of person that had songs written about him. Pleasant, cheerful, but never quite figured out. Jack inclined his head in greeting. "Aye. Er, should I have made an appointment or something?" asked Jack, glancing over the fortune teller's shoulder into his abode. He wondered if he was the sort of person to use those weird card things or if he looked into a crystal ball and just punted. Either way, Jack hoped it would be a quick visit. "I don't think it will take long," he added after a moment.

@jewel

[Deleted]

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK / March 2028

Unsurprisingly, it turned out that Jewel was right about the man wanting to get his fortune read. Most of the people who appeared on his doorstep without any warning were, so it wasn’t exactly a big mystery to crack. But this man still seemed to be a little hesitant, asking about making an appointment and assuring Jewel that it shouldn’t take long. “Oh, don’t worry about that”, Jewel dismissed the man’s doubts with a wave of his hand. Instead he stepped aside, revealing the chaos of his home to the man, and beckoned him to come in. “I wasn’t really busy anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Come in, come in.” Jewel was never one to stick to strict hours or planned out schedules at all. Sure, there were some downsides to not really having an organized way of running a fortune-telling business, like people knocking on his door at odd hours or while he was reading someone else’s fortune, but Jewel didn’t mind, as long as they didn’t come before noon. Late nights Jewel could handle, especially since late at night seemed to be the best time for fortune-telling. He couldn’t tell if it had something to do with the energies of the universe, or if it was just because he thrived when it was dark outside, but Jewel always felt like he could see clearer the later it got. Once the man had made his way inside, Jewel led him to the living room—over the stuff still lying on the floor—and stopped beside the space set up in the middle of the room: a small sofa and a couple of armchairs set around a round, ornate wooden table. It might have been a little crammed, but that simply added to the atmosphere. The room probably looked smaller than it actually was, with shelves that had all kinds of mysterious things decorating them lining the walls. Jewel was like a magpie, picking up everything shiny, pretty or interesting and adding them to his collection. “Sit down—um…” Jewel started, but trailed off when the crystal ball sitting in the center of the table caught his eye. It had been left there from the last fortune-telling session he had with a customer earlier today. “Are we feeling the crystal ball or…?” he wondered out loud, partially to himself, but also to his new customer. It was an old-fashioned method, but a reliable one—at least on the scale of the unreliable art of divination. Jewel found it relatively easy to decipher what a crystal ball was trying to tell him, and he had found that out of all the divination methods, a crystal ball was one of the best methods to trigger actual visions—they still happened rarely, but half the times he would get a vision while reading someone’s fortune, it was with a crystal ball. But that was exactly what made it boring. Where was the fun in that, when you didn’t have a challenge? Without waiting for an answer, Jewel turned around to face a tall cabinet with glass doors. It housed a variety of tools he used for divination, as well as all kinds of good luck charms he sold. Jewel let his gaze roam, looking at the different tools, seeing if any of them piqued his interest. “We could also do a tarot reading, or maybe you’d like to have a cup of tea, I could take a look at the leaves.” Jewel kept throwing suggestions to the man, without even realizing that it might overwhelm him, seemingly forgetting how out of place the poor guy had looked standing outside his door. “Ink is also an option, but that’s still a little…experimental.” Jewel had been using ink to predict people’s future for some years now, but he couldn’t deny that as a little-known method, it could be difficult to interpret what it was trying to tell you. Despite that, it was his favorite tool to use. Still, it was better to have a wide range of options as a fortune-teller. Jewel had found that different situations called for different tools. People who believed that mastering one was all a fortune-teller needed lacked vision. In Jewel’s experience, just like people and situations were different, their energies were as well, and based on that, some methods yielded better results than others. That’s why he tended to trust his gut feeling when it came to choosing the best tools. Besides, life would get boring if you just stuck to one thing. With that thought Jewel turned his attention back to the man, waiting for any kind of input. His own gut feeling might have been important, but if the person whose fortune Jewel was about to read had any kind of feelings about some specific method, he was always curious about following them. He believed that you didn’t have to be a seer to be in touch with your own energy on some level—after all, everyone had some weird hunches from time to time—and incorporating them to the reading often yielded better results.

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

The fortune teller waved away Jack's feeble protests and invited him inside. His home was clean enough, if a bit chaotic. Jack couldn't imagine inviting people into his home - unless they'd had several pints and they were both not very focused on the cleanliness. Two boys living together was not always the recipe for a tidy home. Jack hesitantly stepped over the threshold, observing his surroundings in silence. He still couldn't believe he was going through with this - though he'd never been one to turn down a dare from Mal. The fortune teller led Jack to a seating area with a sofa, some slouchy armchairs and an ornate, round table. The shelves around the room were decorated with various artefacts, each teeming with an eerie sort of energy that sent the hairs on the back of Jack's neck on end.

"I'm Jack, by the way," Jack offered, figuring that the fortune teller probably needed a name to attach to the shroud of mystery. The fortune teller asked if Jack wanted to use the ball, and Jack only sputtered in confusion. He'd not taken divination at school, having considered the subject rather useless. But the fortune teller didn't wait for a proper response before turning and appraising a tall, glass cabinet. Jack was quickly growing overwhelmed, but he swallowed his discomfort and replied. "Actually, I could do with a brew. Even without the need to read the leaves," he added. Sure, a cup of tea was a good way as any to settle down. Jack slowly sat in one of the armchairs despite having not been invited to do so as the fortune teller continued perusing his wares. "Honestly mate, I haven't got a clue what is the best way to look into... fortune, or whatever. So I'd er... I'd welcome any suggestions," said Jack, his cheeks flaming.

@jewel

[Deleted]

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK / March 2028

In his usual fashion, Jewel had completely forgotten introductions. Quickly turning to the man who had introduced himself as Jack, Jewel offered him an apologetic smile. “Oh, right, I’m Jewel”, he introduced himself. “So sorry, I always get carried away.” Jewel hoped that Jack wouldn’t be offended by him not realizing to introduce himself first thing, but this concern over the man’s perception of him wasn’t conscious enough to make him realize that his enthusiasm was overwhelming for the poor guy. The confusion on Jack’s face went unnoticed as Jewel turned back to the cabinet when the other man voiced his thirst for tea. “Mhm, well, I can do a quick reading if you feel like it after you finish your cup. Or not, it’s up to you”, Jewel suggested as he pulled out a tray from the cabinet. On it was a fine porcelain tea pot and a couple of teacups, adorned with a floral pattern colored with blue hues—it was a tea set the like you’d find in your grandmother’s cupboard. Jewel couldn’t even remember which flea market or antique sale he had found these garish dishes from, but they had been in use ever since he started reading people’s fortunes. He hadn’t managed to break any of them yet, even though he always carried them by hand—maybe because he had learned the hard way not to trust his magic. Still finding shards poking into the soles of his feet a week after he had dropped a glass or a plate had quickly taught him that. He might be a skilled fortune-teller, but he was not a particularly accomplished spellcaster, often lacking the focus needed to actually cast a spell properly from beginning to the end. Jewel laid the tray on the table as he heard Jack voice his concerns over not knowing anything about fortune-telling. Oh, so his assumption that Jack looked rather out of place seeking fortune-telling services from him wasn’t far off. “Ah, don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll figure out what’s best”, Jewel assured, flashing the man a quick smile before reaching for the pocket where he usually kept his wand, only to frown in confusion when his hand came out empty. This was one of the downsides to wearing flowy clothing with deep pockets, though he quickly found his wand in the right pocket of the weird flowy jacket type of thing he was wearing. Why he had put it there, he had no clue. A quick casting of aguamenti filled the kettle, and another spell was cast to make the water boil, tufts of steam quickly rising from the spout. These spells were handy tools when you read people’s fortunes from tea leaves often, and Jewel had made sure to learn them properly. Though with these spells he wouldn’t be picking shards of glass out of his heel if something went wrong anyway. “Please, make it to your liking.” Jewel gestured to the tray, especially the couple of small metal jars, their labels listing their contents as different types of tea leaves. “And I’ll show you the other tools I had in mind.” With that Jewel’s attention was back on the cabinet, though this time he didn’t have to think. He picked the tools he had mentioned before, closed the doors of the cabinet, and turned back to Jack. He laid the things he had gotten from the cabinet on the table in front of the other man: a vintage deck of tarot cards all tattered from the corners, and a simple, square glass bottle of jet-black ink, right next to the clouded crystal ball standing on embellished brass legs. “Do any of them speak to you?”

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack felt overwhelmed by the number of options offered to him. He hastily accepted the offer of a brew, and mumbled a maybe when Jewel offered to do a quick reading of his leaves. Whatever that meant. Jack offered a cautious word about how he knew nothing about the 'art' of divination, but kept his scepticism to a minimum. He was here, asking for a reading from a professional, or as close to one as he could imagine. It would just be rude for Jack to voice his disbelief when he'd been the one to seek out his services in the first place. Jewel laid the table and mentioned that they'd find something that worked. Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but said nothing.

The kettle was bubbling and emitting a steady stream of steam within seconds, and Jack made quick work of preparing his brew. He selected an Irish breakfast tea, with a dash of milk. As Jack made his tea, Jewel's attention was elsewhere once more. As his tea cooled, Jack looked between the different tools. The crystal ball was rather intimidating - what could you even see in there apart from vague cloudy shapes? "Should they?" Jack murmured, more to himself than the fortune teller before him. He chanced a glance up at Jewel before tapping on the cards. "Let's try these," said Jack hesitantly, before sitting back in his seat with his cup of tea in his hand, looking both anxious and apprehensive at the prospect.

@jewel

[Deleted]

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK / March 2028

Jewel was finally quiet as he waited for Jack to pick from the three options. Despite the man’s hesitation and quiet, doubtful muttering, Jewel didn’t butt in, trusting that one of the options would be the right one. Only if Jack would ask for him to pick, he would, but, again, he preferred to have some input from the person whose fortune he was reading. But Jewel didn’t have to help, as Jack didn’t take too long to pick the deck of tarot cards. “See, that’s them speaking to you”, Jewel commented, before grabbing the bottle of ink into his pocket and lifting up the crystal ball in order to clear the table. Only the deck of cards and a candle with a flickering flame were left on it as Jewel put the rest aside. “It doesn’t take more than that, just picking the one that feels right...or interesting.” He had no idea if he was right when it came to the way he did readings, incorporating the customer so heavily into the process, but it had worked this long, so he figured he was doing at least something right. He had some loyal patrons, coming to get another look into their future time after time, so his predictions must have been at least somewhat accurate. Sitting down on the armchair opposite to Jack, Jewel leaned back comfortably and crossed his legs as he took the cards from the table. “So, you wanted a look into your future, right?” Jewel confirmed what had been already said. Some people wished to get guidance in their present situation as well, though Jewel always felt like he wasn’t the right person to go to for a deeper view of the present. He had always been more sensitive when it came to the future, rather than getting a deep understanding of the current situation. But maybe it was just lack of experience—after all, most people wanted to get a glimpse into their future—so perhaps that issue would be solved with practice. Still, Jewel liked to leave the deeper questions about understanding the present to the other experts who could actually understand the bigger picture. With the assumption that Jack was there for an insight into his future, Jewel continued down that path. “Do you have a specific issue you want answers to?” Realizing that the question might be a bit vague for Jack, who seemed unsure enough without Jewel constantly flooding him with options he probably knew nothing about, Jewel specified: “Or maybe you want an insight into your career, or friendships, perhaps love—that’s a popular one.” After all, the man had admitted that he didn’t know anything about fortune-telling, so giving him options was probably welcome. Though the thought that maybe bombarding the man with options was a little overwhelming didn’t cross Jewel’s mind this time either. “But, uh, remember that divination isn’t exact, so it’s better to keep it vague”, Jewel explained, only adding to the possible confusion.

[JOHN ELLIOT CLARK]

Jack was feeling completely out of his depth, and cursing his brother for condoning this. What did he know of the future? What did anyone know of it anyways? Wasn’t it ever changing and in flux? What did cards, or tea, or crystal balls know? Jack supposed that history did have a habit of repeating itself, but not on such a small scale to really affect his life. After a very long moment of hesitation, Jack selected the tarot cards. Jewel commented that they spoke to him, but Jack was suspicious. They just seemed the most interesting of the proffered choices. He’d skipped divination in school, with no qualms about it.

”Right, okay,” Jack replied, feeling the back of his neck heat as Jewel explained that they had to do nothing more than feel interesting. Jack wondered briefly if Jewel was a legilimens, as he’d been thinking that exact thought moments before he’d spoken. He narrowed his eyes slightly, observing Jewel’s movements, but he gave nothing away. The pair settled themselves around the table, and though Jack made every effort to look comfortable, he still felt rather uncertain. ”Er, aye,” Jack confirmed with an incline of his head. His palms felt clammy, and Jack surreptitiously wiped them on his trousers before clasping his hands in his lap.

Jack considered Jewel’s questions. He was asking a lot, and Jack had no clue really what he was meant to say. He nodded at Jewel’s suggestion to keep it vague, and thought about what would be easiest to answer. Love? That would never be an exact science. And Jack had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t the sort of person to ever settle down into a serious relationship or fall in love. While it would be excellent fodder for songwriting, Jack had quite enough material as it was. ”About my career, I suppose. I’m… at a crossroads,” said Jack vaguely. Did he continue along in the hit wizarding career despite his reservations working for the government, or did he sack it all off and chase his dream of being a musician? ”And I don’t know what to choose. I know what I want to do, but not sure if it’s the right thing.” If he couldn’t make it in the music industry, how would Jack be able to support his mums?

@jewel

[Deleted]

Not even Jewel was blind enough to not pick up on the nervous body language the man sitting across him was displaying, so he patiently waited for Jack to think about what he wished to gain an insight into. Despite his hesitation when it came to the whole situation, the man voiced his concerns for his future quickly, prompting Jewel to nod his head. So career choices then, they were a common problem people wished to get guidance in. Despite that, the topic was a surprisingly tough one to make predictions about, since Jewel always had to be really careful when it came to the advice he gave his clients. After all, giving the wrong advice could have devastating consequences if the client took their fortune too literally. Jewel wished to avoid that at all costs, wanting only everything good for everyone he met. Besides, he was a professional—even if his chaotic nature and the disorderly state of his home told a different story—and he had his own moral code when it came to fortune telling.

With that in mind, Jewel was ready to take a glimpse into Jack’s future. What the future had in store, the cards would soon reveal.
“Alright, let’s have a look at what the future holds for your career”, Jewel stated, more to the deck of cards in his hands than Jack. They needed to know what they were looking into, after all. So Jewel took a deep breath, releasing it as a sigh before he started shuffling the deck. He needed to focus on the questions that needed to be answered. Muttering under his breath as he shuffled, Jewel repeated some of those questions barely out loud. For the first time since Jack appeared behind Jewel’s door, the curly-haired man was focused on a single thing for more than a few seconds. Concentrating had never been Jewel’s strong suit, but during his years as a fortune teller Jewel had learned to give his attention to the tools he used. It did help that he had a natural gift for divination, though most often that alone wasn’t enough.

When he felt like the deck was shuffled, one after another Jewel pulled cards from the deck, revealing them as he laid them on the table—death, two of swords, king of swords, the fool, ace of pentacles, and finally, ten of cups. Interesting. Jewel bit his lip deep in thought, his brows creasing slightly as he interpreted what the cards were telling him. The spread seemed to be mostly positive—Jack had quite a tough decision ahead of him, but if he made the right choices, the future would be favorable. How delightful, Jewel got to tell some good news.

With a smile appearing on his face, Jewel lifted his gaze from the cards to meet Jack.
“It really seems like you’re holding onto your current situation, but I’ll tell you, it won’t bring you any joy, and you’ll eventually feel like you’re stuck—if you don’t feel like that already”, Jewel started to tell Jack his fortune. It wasn’t necessarily the best news to start off with, which made Jewel’s cheerful delivery a bit odd, but he already knew that overall this reading would probably be something Jack wanted to hear. Hopefully it would help him find the right path in his life, if it stuck even as a little subconscious voice in his head when he considered the options.
“I see great opportunity to fulfill your dreams in your future, but you’ll have to overcome a few things to get to that path. This choice you mentioned—see, it’s right there”, Jewel gestured to the two of swords laid out on the table. “It’s one of the things holding you back from the opportunities that are waiting for you.” The cards had conveniently showed the very same crossroads Jack wanted guidance on. If it was too convenient, that was up to Jack to decide. For someone who didn’t know anything about divination, it would be easy to question everything from outside looking in. After all, nothing prevented Jewel from simply coming up with something on the spot. For those not skilled in the art of divination, it came down to totally trusting the person reading their future, and Jewel could see why that often sowed a seed of doubt in the minds of those who were skeptical. Still, he didn’t mind—he knew he did his job well and wasn’t there to scam his customers. That was ultimately what mattered.

Jewel turned his attention back to the cards, specifically looking at the ones that were laid out to represent the challenges Jack faced. He needed to remind himself of what the cards were telling him—even though Jewel was skilled at connecting the dots, his thoughts often tended to escape him, and be forgotten quickly.
“Another reason you could be stuck is that your rational mind is holding you back—yes, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing—I know I should think a bit more critically more often”, Jewel laughed. “But…maybe you should try listening to your heart a bit more? Let go of what is expected of you and, you know, do something that’s important to you, something that would make you feel free.” It wasn’t like divination should be taken too literally, and that Jewel was telling Jack to throw aside these concerns and jump straight into what the future held for him. That would be foolish and dangerous. No, this was just so that Jack could better understand how he could achieve the future waiting for him. Just a little advice, something to be considered when it came to the bigger picture. Jewel wasn’t concerned that Jack would do something reckless based on what Jewel told him, considering how unsure the man looked about all of this. But then again, Jewel had never been a great judge of character.

Jewel had pretty much mentioned the main points of what he saw for Jack, now he’d just have to pull them into a neat package, a precious nugget of advice. That would be the main takeaway from this reading, though Jewel would provide all the clarification he could, if need be.
“The future offers you so much potential if you are brave enough to take a new path. It’s really up to you to take advantage of that potential—the success that is waiting for you isn’t guaranteed, but I can tell you that it is there. So it’s up to you whether you think pursuing it is worth it or not.” Maybe all of this was exactly what Jack wanted to hear, maybe it seemed too good to be true—but it was what the cards were telling Jewel. It didn’t help that divination had such a bad rap for being nonsensical and a scam in many people’s eyes. Would it all have sounded more convincing if Jewel would have told Jack that his dreams weren’t worth following? But Jewel never wanted to be the deliverer of bad news, so he was pleased that the future seemed to be favorable to Jack. Whether or not this conveniently promising reading convinced this man of divination’s credibility, it wasn’t Jewel’s concern.

Jewel laced his fingers together on the table as he turned his attention back to Jack from the cards.
“If there’s anything unclear, something that needs clarification, I’d be happy to try my best to explain”, Jewel offered with a pleasant smile. Of course he couldn’t tell Jack exactly how to achieve his dreams, but there were many things Jewel hadn’t said, just so that Jack wouldn’t be even more overwhelmed than he seemed to be now. Jewel would gladly explain all of the nuanced feelings he’d pick up on when he was interpreting this spread, hoping that they would answer any possible questions Jack had.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK