Chapter 8: Queen of Wands

Duncan sat in front of the nurse's desk, staring at the woman in front of him. The woman wore a plain white dress and a necklace with the Greek alphabet theta around her neck. The woman had raven hair, black pupils, and a calm yet serious manner.

Duncan was quite cautious entering this therapy session as he was reminded by the principal's lie. He didn't know where the information of this therapy would go, but he needed to be careful nonetheless.

The woman then placed a notebook on top of her desk, and put her arms on her thighs. "Mr. Plagmann, my name is Marcia Lang, I will be your conversation partner during this month, so please, don't be too tense around me."

Duncan cocked his brow. Conversation partner? That's one way to put it...

"Do you have any questions before we proceed?" Miss Lang was questioned.

"I asked the principal yesterday, but the talk we're going to have will be kept private, right?" Duncan said.

Miss Lang solemnly nodded. "Of course, Mr. Plagmann, I am a trained psychiatrist, and I assure you that I will never do that."

She wasn't lying.

Duncan was perplexed. Is his power not always working, or does Miss Lang truly mean what she says?

"Okay. no more questions then." Duncan went on.

"Very well," Miss Lang said. "Then we can get right to business. Mr. Plagmann, I'm aware of your predicament; do you have any grievances you'd want to share with me?"

The question piqued Duncan's interest. He didn't think counseling was like this; he thought it was too formal, like he was being questioned.

Duncan just groaned and looked down at the ground. "Not really. I don't regret what I did. It's either him or us for my and my mother's survival."

"Do you have no sentiments, such as regret or remorse?" Miss Lang inquired.

"Guilt? Well, I thought about it, I know I killed a man. A man with a mother who worked hard to give birth to him, a man with a story as to why he was there in the first place, a man with relationships with other humans... Because the man has left this planet, those bonds will never deepen. But, the man was a criminal; he easily slaughtered dozens of men and women in that room, so I don't feel any guilt."

"I see…" Miss Lang muttered something. "Even in the face of mass murdering criminals, Mr. Plagmann, you can humanize them."

"Well, at the end of the day, they're still humans," Mr. Plagmann replied. "We have hidden desires, complex emotions, and taboo secrets."

"Complex emotions..." Miss Lang made a hum. "Mr. Plagmann, putting aside your opinions on the criminals, do you have any feelings for the victims? After all, you're one of only two survivors out of hundreds of victims."

"Are you asking if I have survivor's guilt?" Duncan inquired. "A little bit. The news continued emphasizing my mother and me as the only survivors, while disregarding the victims by simply reporting that there were hundreds of casualties in the massacre. Those "casualties" each have their own lives, families, lovers, and stories to tell. Compiling that into numbers feels a little strange to me. It's the same with war victims; millions have died, but people frequently forget that each of those "millions" had a life and a story of their own."

"You surely have a distinct point of view on things." Ms. Lang gave a nod. "Do you have no fear of death, Mr. Plagmann?"

"Death?" Duncan said it again.

"I'm sure you've had close calls in there," Miss Lang added. "How do you feel about that?"

Duncan tapped his chair several times, as if he was contemplating. "I guess I don't fear death."

"You're not afraid of death?" Miss Lang's interest peaked.

"No." Duncan made a hum. "If I died in that place, then I guess that's it. If there is no afterlife, I will simply wander through the endless void, but if there is, I wish to be greeted warmly, preferably by a pretty lady."

Duncan's statements made Miss Lang chuckle. "Perhaps you will be greeted by a pretty lady if you pass away, Mr. Plagmann."

Miss Lang scribbled a few notes in her notebook after that. Duncan thought it was unusual that she seemed refreshed after Duncan said that.

She finished scribbling and placed her notebook in the desk drawer before placing her hands on the table.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, Mr. Plagmann?" questioned the woman, her personality seemed to shift slightly.

"Not at all," Duncan replied. "Do I have to talk about the accident for the next month?"

"Of course not," the woman said, smiling. "You can talk to me about anything. Everything in your daily life, your homework, your love life, anything."

"Okay." Duncan let out a sigh of relief. "When are we going to meet again?"

"It's up to you," Miss Lang replied. "I'm available at any time."

"Okay… What about Friday?" Duncan proposed.

"You don't have anything to do on Friday night?" Miss Lang was curious. "Okay, let's do Wednesday and Friday. But, Mr. Plagmann, you need to find some activities to do on Friday nights; you need to socialize more."

Duncan let out a sigh. "I'll consider your suggestion, Miss Lang."

"Oh, I guess we should break the formality after this," Miss Lang continued. "Please call me Marcia."

"All right, call me Duncan as well, I don't like my last name," the boy added as he rose from his seat. Duncan then observed Marcia reaching out to shake his hand.

Duncan received the handshake without hesitation.

"I'll see you Friday, Duncan," the woman added.

The world surrounding the boy froze in an instant. Darkness looms around him, time stands still, and blue butterflies encircle him.

[I am Thou, Thou Art I…]

[...Thou hast acquired a new vow…]

[...It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity…]

[...With the birth of the Death Arcana, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall guide thee to freedom and new power…]

Duncan's mind replayed the sound of chains shattering as the voice faded away, and the environment returned to normal, his hand still shaking the woman's hand.

Death? Duncan was perplexed as to why the Death Arcana had been triggered on Miss Lang, but he decided to dismiss that thought for the time being.

"I'll see you later," Duncan murmured weakly as he exited the nurse's office for the day.

—

Duncan sat on the hospital couch in the evening, a notebook on his thigh. He was holding another book, the Apocryphon. He was studying the skills of the tarot cards and attempting to decipher what the words meant.

He had already written in his notebook that the first rank of Justice Arcana had the power to detect lies, but he noted that this skill might not be as reliable in the case of the principal and Miss Lang.

He also stated that the first rank of the Temperance arcana sharpened his senses. He could see and hear better, feel and taste better. It has its ups and downs, such as when he tastes bitter things and finds them extremely overwhelming.

The ones that he didn't know yet were the second rank of the Temperance Arcana and the first rank of the Death Arcana.

He assumed his intelligence had risen because the second rank of the Temperance arcana was about mind, but he had no method to test it, so he chose to write that on the notebook nonetheless, with a question mark at the end of the description.

As per the first rank of the death arcana,...

[I: Thou hast made a vow with the Arcana of Death, no power shall curse thy soul without the lady's permission.]

He was aware of the first part, namely that he is curse-proof...

But what exactly is the 'lady's permission'?

Duncan flinched as the door to the patient room suddenly opened. He noticed his mother strolling while carrying her IV stand.

"What are you doing?" his mother inquired. She appeared exhausted because she had just awoken from a long rest this morning.

Duncan looked down at the book in his fingers. "Reading a book."

"Reading? But, I don't see any books that you can read. " His mother explained. "Are you reading your notebook?"

Duncan was taken aback; she couldn't see it? "Y-Yeah…"

"Oh," hummed his mum. "Can you contact Paul? Tell him to bring me some McDonald's. The usual."

"Sure." Duncan made a hum too. He set the Apocryphon aside and contacted Paul right away, as per his mother's wishes.