Pachinko God

"You gamble. You place the balls and launch them to gamble. The lucky ones win."

My mind raced as I pondered how a child could have entered a gambling establishment. I wanted to call someone of authority, but the old man in tux had magically disappeared.

Maybe he immediately ran off to attend another guest.

The boy placed his pachinko metal balls into the machine and launched them by the use of a pull lever. The machine created pinging noises and lights danced on the glass frames.

Absentmindedly, I sat down and tried to copy what the boy did and my pachinko machine made the exact same noises and light display that his made.

I lost track of time as the two of us played pachinko.

I was defeated countless of times and eventually was up to my last ball. He on the other hand, won every single ball he launched and the balls piled up on his catch box, almost full and in need for another box.

He was like a pachinko god.

The boy turned his head to face me and I noticed he was actually wearing sunglasses indoors. He smiled eerily and fumbled to reach out to touch my arm.

"You have come to the right place, Elizabeth Ainsworth." He spoke.

I could have sworn my mouth fell down to the floor as I never thought he would call me by my real surname. My old surname. The surname I had when I was alive back in Shalem.

"Who are you?" I squinted my eyes in suspicion as I withdrew my hands away from him; irked by his eerie ambiance and mysterious existence.

"Aren't you looking for me?" he said as he turned back to his game of pachinko. He loaded additional balls into the machine and pulled the lever again to launch another set of wins.

The balls bounced and hit random neon pins, gaming sounds bleeped, and flashing lights blinked away as he won another jackpot. He took away his sunglasses and I realized he was actually blind.

Wait a minute, is this person the blind seer Juno meant?

"Juno told me you were coming. That deity is one peculiar lady." He tutted.

"Y-you are the b-b-blind seer?" I stuttered as I felt myself go cold.

This is the person that could help me understand what happened to me. The one who could answer all of my questions and I felt elated and scared at the same time at the prospect of knowing the truth.

"Juno says I should help you because I owed her back then. But I don't like to give out my services for free." The young boy said as he put his glasses back again.

"What do you mean by that? Aren't you supposed to tell me everything I needed to know? Why I was taken into this new world with my memories intact?" I asked him, slightly agitated and angry with his ideology. "My purpose?"

I felt a slight tingling sensation under my skin and the pachinko machine that I played sparked. I jumped at the bite of electricity on my skin as I had grazed it with my elbow.

"Answer me Elizabeth Ainsworth. You were accused of witchcraft and yet you deny the magic you inherently possess as of this moment. Do you understand the predicament you are in or the consequences if you continue?"

"I am not a witch and I do not know why this is happening. You are supposed to be the one to shed me some light with what I was supposed to do." I raised my voice at him. I didn't care much if it looked like I picked a fight with a child.

He was definitely not what he looks like.

He looks like a child, but he is much more ancient.

"Hmmm…" he rubbed his temples like an adult trying to think of a solution. "Alright then, I will give you a chance."

He grabbed my pachinko ball and held the tiny metal sphere carefully, like it was something really important.

"Launch your last pachinko ball and if you hit any prize - even just a single ball - then I will tell you what you need to know."

I took back the ball he had grabbed from me and stared at it for about a few long seconds.

He was challenging me to a game of pure luck?!

My hand was shaking as my nervousness claimed me. And then I slowly inserted the metal sphere into the machine.

What if I lose?

I wouldn't get another chance to know my purpose in this lifetime if I lose this one.

I gradually pulled the lever and an icy cold sweat dropped from my forehead, down to the side of my cheeks, and ultimately to my chin.

As I released the lever, the ball launched inside the machine and like a pinball, hit obstacles that created a series of pings and music. The frame of the machine danced in electro lights and leisurely the ball lost its momentum.

It hit the pins in a painstakingly snail-paced manner.

Ping, ping, ping, ping.

The clinks and dings of the machine teased me every second that passed by and I chewed on my nails in anticipation.

Please let me win.

Please let me know my purpose.

Please, oh, please.

Please.

It went down and down and slowly wound up near a basket that indicated 'TRY AGAIN'. Coincidentally, the basket next to it wrote 'JACKPOT' in bold capital golden letters and my heart raced and threatened to burst out of my ribcage.

Slowly, the ball inched closer to the baskets and rolled closer and closer and closer.

I couldn't bear to think if it would fall into the failed basket and I closed my eyes.

I heard the ball drop and I dreaded the outcome.

Unexpectedly, the machine played a happy congratulatory tune and the sound of metal balls falling into the catch box echoed which only meant one thing.

"Jackpot," I heard the boy said as he clapped slowly and I opened my eyes to see the flood of metal balls inside my catch box. "Congratulations Elizabeth Ainsworth, it seems the deities favor you after all."

I opened my eyes and turned towards the boy as he gave me a genuine smile.

"Give me your hand, Elizabeth. And I will look into your past, your present, and your future."

He offered me his right hand and nodded for me to accept it. "We will try and see what your purpose in the 21st century is, witch."