"You may take a seat" Said a deep voice from the middle of the tent.
It was hard for Blaze to tell if the voice was a male or female, but nevertheless, he sat down.
Viorica was looking at the source of the voice with sparkling eyes filled with reverence ...
When Blaze saw that, he thought to himself
'She's looking at the so-called Oracle like she's seeing a Supreme Being'
He was about to laugh, but then he remembered the 4 Silver Coins that he was about to pay, and the situation didn't seem so funny anymore ...
"Identify yourself" The deep voice said
Viorica replied in a very polite tone
"Yes, Oracle. I'm Viorica, I'm a housewife, and this is our little family"
She pointed at the blue-haired girl
"This is Amethyst Inferno, she's almost 6"
Then she pointed at the red-haired young boy
"This is Merlin Inferno, he's almost 4"
Then she pointed at the red-haired man sitting beside her
"And this is my husband, Blaze Inferno"
She said with a bright smile
"We've been married for 7 years"
Blaze crossed his arms and thought to himself
'If she's a real Oracle, shouldn't the Gods or Fate itself tell her about who we are? Hmph, scam ...'
After Viorica was done introducing everyone, the deep voice spoke
"Alright, Viorica"
Viorica quickly said
"Oh right, Oracle ... forgive me, here's the payment"
She swiftly pushed Blaze toward The Oracle, gesturing for him to pay her ...
Blaze felt a sting in his chest
'My lovely money ... farewell ...'
He took out 4 Silver Coins and placed them on the table.
The deep voice spoke again
"Very well, Viorica and Blaze. You two may place your hands on the crystal, together"
Blaze was about to put his hand on the Crystal, but Viorica swiftly grabbed his hand and pushed it toward the Crystal very slowly and carefully
'She is treating the Crystal like a delicate holy object ...' Thought Blaze with disdain
'Whatever, let's just get this over with'
As soon as the two placed their hands, the Crystal shone brightly ...
It was so bright that Viorica had to avert her gaze from the Crystal
Blaze, on the other hand, was trying something else
'I want to see the witch's face with the light ...'
Sadly, the light was too bright, it blinded him and he didn't see a thing.
Simultaneously, low and incoherent whispers began coming from the other side of the table ...
When Blaze heard them, he mocked the Oracle in his mind
'The witch is doing her work, what a fancy trick'
After about 10 seconds of whispering, everything became quiet, and the light dimmed again.
Blaze was about to remove his hand, but
"Do NOT remove your hand"
He heard the sentence twice. He thought he was imagining, but when he looked beside him, he saw Viorica glaring at him
'... Both of them said it at the same time'
Blaze didn't want to upset Viorica, so he muttered
"Yeah ... sorry"
They kept their hands on the Crystal, and time passed ...
Blaze had no idea how much time passed
'It is just somewhere between too long and too short'
Exactly at the point where you start feeling bored but you still can't complain because not enough time has passed.
And so he waited, until finally ...
"Very well" The deep voice said
"What is it? Please enlighten our way, Oracle" Viorica asked with excitement
When Blaze heard that he internally mocked her again
'Enlighten our way ...'
'If this old witch enlightened a path I'm walking on, then I'd be as clumsy as Merlin'
Obviously, he didn't dare to voice out his thoughts and just kept quiet.
Strangely, Blaze felt the Oracle glare at him for a couple of seconds, but he didn't pay it any mind
'The fact that I can't see her face makes it a lot easier to ignore'
After a couple of seconds of silence, the deep voice resounded through the tent
"You shall give birth to a vessel, then the vessel shall be embodied by a wandering soul."
Her tone changed to a more solemn one
"What shouldn't remain will remain. And he will grow to become a great Basileus, great enough to slay dragons, great enough to turn the Crimson red"
"...."
For a while, silence enveloped the tent ...
Blaze suddenly asked, breaking the silence
"Is that it?"
"That's how far I can see" The Oracle replied
He turned around to look at Viorica, and he saw made him frown
She was tearing-up with a proud look on her face ...
Blaze couldn't believe himself
'Does she actually believe that? Most of what she said didn't even make any sense!'
He held Viorica's hand and asked
"Are you okay?"
Viorica replied excitedly
"Okay? Didn't you hear what she just said?"
"I heard, I didn't really understand"
Viorica glared at him, then she bowed deeply to the Oracle and said
"Thank you Oracle, I will never forget what you said. Thank you again"
Then she pushed Blaze out of the tent.
After they left the tent, Blaze complained
"Why are you so rough? Take it easy. She gobbled our coins already. At least we could've asked for clarification"
Viorica was shocked to hear that
"Gobbled our coins? What she told us is priceless!!"
Blaze simply gave up and nodded
"Ahh, Indeed ... so what did you understand?"
Viorica replied half-shocked
"How did you not understand? It was so clear!"
Blaze just looked at her in disbelief ...
The conviction in her voice made him question his sanity
'Could it be that I'm just stupid?'
Interrupting his thoughts, Viorica explained
"We have to name our son Basileus. Then he'll grow up to be so powerful and slay dragons!"
"Huh? No way I'm naming my son that weird name. What does that name even mean?"
"It's Fate! You can't do anything about it. It's his destiny to be Basileus The Dragon Slayer!"
Blaze internally shouted
'Raaaaaaaaaaight'
He didn't want to make fun of what she said, so he asked
"What does the last line mean?"
"You mean turning Crimson red?"
Blaze nodded
"Yeah, that ..."
Viorica looked at the stars and then replied
"It's obviously something very grand, but the details aren't clear."
She continued nonchalantly
"We'll find out when the time is right"
Then she looked at Blaze and asked with narrowed eyes
"Tell me, why did the Oracle glare at you like that? Did you think of something offensive inside the tent?"
"Think? Do you think she can read minds or something?"
Her eyes narrowed even more
"So you're not denying it? You've disrespected the Oracle? Inside her tent?"
'This is about to get real' Blaze noticed the change in her tone and quickly took a step back
"Ahh, Love, of course not! I was just thinking that (I can't wait to hear what she is about to say)"
He quickly added
"Maybe I distracted her, sorry"
Viorica smiled and nodded
"I see, then no problem! I too was thinking like that"
Blaze breathed a sigh of relief
'I just dodged a spear'
His mood was sour
'Ugh ... women and their superstitions'
'I lost my precious 4 silver coins and some of my dignity as well, and that witch wants to name my son too!'
He called Viorica and asked
"Honey, does it really have to be that name?"
"Of course, or else we'll change his destiny!"
Blaze resigned to Fate
'Agh, whatever ... I'll just call him Leus.'
' ... That actually doesn't sound so bad'
A faint smile appeared on Blaze's face
'Yeah, Leus Inferno ...'