Vaulting Ambition
Although Felicity Walker was professionally a makeup artist for local celebrities such as beloved chat show host Augustus Templeton (real name Steven Grange), she had been able to accurately predict the future since she was born.
For years, this was simply a strange ability she kept secret. Still, eventually she managed to set up a side hustle as a psychic medium, answering questions anyone might have about their future, or the world’s.
And so it was that she sat alone in a tent, in a far corner of Cygninia’s end-of-summer fair.
For most of the day, Felicity breezed through various paying customers, asking her various questions such as:
“How long will John Snow last as Prime Minister?”
“Is Christoph Flooding going to win a landslide majority in Parliament, and if so, when?”
“Will my relationship be saved, or is this really it?”
“When is the apocalypse happening?”
And she answered them all as best she could, securing a nice little income to put alongside her earnings from her main job.
But then a man she’d rather never see again entered the tent.
She glared at him. “Oh, it’s you.”
Young tailor Daniel Aves stepped into the tent and gulped.
“I understand we aren’t the best of friends,” Daniel said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But you are the only person I know that could help me.”
Felicity sighed. “Let me guess, you want me to predict whether I’m going to forgive you for ruining my client’s suit.”
“No, no, no. Nothing of the sort,” Daniel said, creeping towards Felicity’s table and easing himself onto the stool opposite her. “Although it is rather petty to hold this much of a grudge over a simple measurement error.”
“Several measurement errors,” Felicity said. “Over a period of five years.”
“I know, I know,” Daniel said, raising his arms and lowering his head. “But forget about that now. I need your assistance with something.”
“There are other psychic mediums available,” Felicity said, narrowing her eyes. “You didn’t have to inconvenience me with your presence.”
“Perhaps, but there’s only one locally,” Daniel said, feeling in his leather bag. “Who also happens to be operating today.”
Felicity groaned.
She’d hated him for years, yet here he was in her tent with nowhere else to go.
“Fine,” Felicity said, her mouth a thin sash across her face. “What would you like me to do?”
“I recently acquired this from an antique bookshop in Y Gelli Gandryl,” Daniel said, blowing the dust off a maroon leather-bound volume. “And wondered whether you could determine its accuracy.”
Felicity’s eyes widened as she gazed at the book, and the glossy gold Greek lettering shimmering underneath her lantern.
“Oi ProfiteÃes,” Felicity said in a gasp of air. “Patroclus’ collection of predictions.”
“Exactly,” Daniel said, swigging from his water bottle. “Can you confirm his predictions are true?”
Felicity gazed at Daniel. “I can try, but I’m not promising anything.”
The medium flicked through the pages, coughing as a cloud of dust floated into her face.
“Yes, I’d try not to breathe if I were you,” Daniel said, grimacing as he gazed at the pages. “It was stuffed in a far corner of the bookshop when I found it.”
Felicity glared at the tailor. “Yet you didn’t think to warn me?”
Daniel tugged on his collar. “No. I forgot, sorry.”
Felicity growled as she covered her mouth with her t-shirt and flipped through more pages.
“There might be spores from some nasty fungus enclosed in there as well,” Daniel said, holding his plaid shirt collar to his mouth. “Just to let you know.”
Felicity stared at Daniel with angry eyes until she reached a page that intrigued her.
Both Felicity and Daniel were students at Readingas University together, where they studied Geography and Modern Languages, and so both had a comprehensive knowledge of Greek.
Felicity lowered her shirt, revealing a frown on her face as she read the page beneath her.
“Europa will heat up to 60°c, resulting in the Europan population burning to a crisp or living permanently in cool buildings,” Felicity read, her brow wrinkling.
“Yeah, that was one of the predictions that disturbed me,” Daniel said. “According to the text, this is due to happen ten years hence, and we’ve already had 40°C heatwaves this year.”
Felicity sat back, and her eyes dilated.
Daniel could see that she was no longer present in the physical realm, and so waited for her to return.
In her head, Felicity saw images of hell-like flames, people screaming as they were burning alive, families selling their children for decent aircon, and other people living comfortably in temperature-regulated buildings, never to go outside again.
Felicity slammed her eyes shut and sprang into life.
She blinked rapidly, and frowned at Daniel.
Felicity gulped. “Yes, it does seem that is the way we’re currently going.”
Daniel gazed at Felicity, biting his lip. “I see. But it doesn’t have to be this way, surely? The future technically doesn’t exist.”
Felicity leaned back for a moment, staring into space.
“You’re right,” she said, eventually. “I mean, we personally can’t do it alone. But if we convince the right people to take this seriously, then there’s a chance this won’t come to pass.”
“Even though Patroclus predicted it in 1555, and you’ve just confirmed it now?” Daniel said, bouncing his feet up and down.
Felicity smiled warmly at the tailor and nodded. “Yes. A half-millennium-old prophecy shouldn’t bind us; what comes to pass is in our control.”
Daniel held his chin up and nodded curtly. “Right, ok. That’s lifted a weight off my chest, thank you.”
Felicity slammed the book shut, making Daniel jump and shooting a large dust cloud into the air.
Daniel leaned forward and stared at her with wide eyes and a small mouth. “What about today’s predictions? Is there anything happening today that we need to be bothered about?”
Felicity sighed and pulled the book back towards her.
She flung it open and sifted through the pages.
“Ok, let’s see,” Felicity said, running her finger down the page.
A middle-aged man stepped into the tent and stopped.
Felicity glanced up at him. “Sorry, I’m a little busy; come back in a few minutes.”
Daniel turned round and gawped at the man, who smiled and wandered off.
“It says that a former world leader of the day will make a dramatic exit from public life, plunging a small community into turmoil,” Felicity said, gazing back up at Daniel. “Well, we already know that came to pass, don’t we?”
Daniel scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I suppose we did. Did you know it was going to happen before Blair announced his resignation?”
Felicity stared at Daniel blankly. “No, I was completely blindsided.”
Daniel squinted at the seer. “Really?”
“No! Of course, I foresaw David Blair’s resignation as an MP! “As I also prophesied, Prince Arthur and Winona Winters are returning to Britannia,” Felicity said, scowling at Daniel.
Daniel backed away, holding up his hands in surrender. “Ok, I just wondered.”
Felicity perused the ancient tome. “Patroclus didn’t predict who’d win the by-election, though.”
The tailor leaned forward. “Do you know who’ll win?”
Felicity froze and fell into a trance.
Daniel watched as her eyes made micromovements before blinking into life.
“Yes,” Felicity said, smirking. “But you’ll just have to wait until the results.”
Daniel slumped on his stool. “Fine. I should’ve seen that coming, but alas, you’re the only person here with a third eye.”
Felicity continued to smirk as she closed the book and pushed it towards Daniel, but he stopped her.
“If you look at the prediction below the by-election one,” Daniel said, opening the book again. “You’d find another prediction which, I suppose, is the real reason I wanted to see you.”
Felicity observed as Daniel slid the book in front of her again, pointing at the prediction.
She bent down and read. “Two enemies will reconcile after decades of animosity.”
Felicity goggled at Daniel, who blushed and rubbed his nape. “I thought, maybe it’s worth a try?”
The seer started laughing. “No, it can’t be. There are plenty of other rivals in the world.”
“There’s no end to the war in Parsa that I can see,” Daniel said. “Or in Scythia for that matter.”
“Even so, it can’t be referring to us, surely?” Felicity said. But before she could object, she had another vision.
Unfortunately for her, the vision involved two people who looked suspiciously like Felicity and Daniel, in a location eerily similar to the tent they were in, entering a tight embrace before one of them left the premises.
Felicity returned to reality and turned away from Daniel.
“I should have known the exact measurements of your clients,” Daniel said. “For the harm I caused all of you, I apologise profusely.”
Felicity glared at Daniel and moaned.
Daniel offered Felicity a hand. “I can assure you it will never happen again. So what do you say, friends?”
Felicity angled away from the tailor. “How can I know you’re being honest?”
“Because I will create a new suit for Augustus Templeton, making sure to quadruple-check that the measurements are correct,” Daniel said.
Felicity had another vision.
In it, Augustus Templeton checked himself over in a mirror, smiling at his disco ball of a suit, and cackling.
Felicity and Daniel observed her, glancing at each other, chuckling.
The makeup artist even went so far as to hit the tailor on the back.
Felicity returned to the present, and goggled at the tailor.
“My initial errors were merely accidental,” Daniel said. “I never meant them as deliberate sabotage; you just decided to paint them as such.
“Because I was made a fool of in front of some of the most prestigious people in the country,” Felicity said.
“Do you really want to keep holding a grudge for something that happened years ago, for goodness knows how much longer?” Daniel said. “Maybe old Pratroclus has provided a means for you to close an old wound.”
Felicity recoiled from Daniel’s hand, then relaxed.
She sighed. “I suppose a decade is a long time to hold a grudge, and I did enjoy seeing you again and reading your book.”
Felicity couldn’t help but smile as she confidently shook Daniel’s hand.
Both people felt much lighter than they had just a few minutes earlier.
A ray of light flooded into the tent, and a distant bird began to chirp.
Daniel carefully placed the ancient tome back into his bag.
“Was that all you wanted to know today?” Felicity said, tilting her head and beaming at Daniel.
“It was, thank you,” Daniel said. “I’m honestly very excited for the future.”
Felicity beamed. “I’m glad to hear it. Ten pounds, please.”
Daniel grimaced at the medium and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what?”
Felicity gestured toward a blackboard, clearly displaying her prices. “You didn’t think I was doing this for free, were you?”
Daniel laughed awkwardly, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.
“Here,” Daniel said, handing over a crisp ten-pound note. “It really was nice seeing you again.”
“And you,” Felicity said.
She bid farewell to the tailor as he pranced out of the tent.
Felicity sat alone for a moment, savouring the last ten minutes.
But then Daniel ran back into the tent. “I’m sorry, I have a strange urge to hug you.”
Felicity stared at him, wide-eyed.
Her vision did involve them sharing an embrace, but she thought she’d gotten away with not doing it.
Felicity said, and rose from her stool.
“Fine,” she said, stretching her arms out. “I guess I did see it in my vision.”
Daniel grinned and ran at her.
The two of them shared a tight squeeze before Daniel waved goodbye and jogged out of the tent.
Rachel sat back on her stool.
She felt a wet sensation on the corner of her eye, and she felt.
Felicity examined the splodge on her finger, shrugged, and wiped it on her leg.
The medium sighed, took a deep breath, and placed her bell on the table.
She straightened her posture, stared at the opening in front of her, and hit the bell.
“Next!”
The Robinsonverse 