March 8^th. Velorice City. Cloudy evening. After celebrating his birthday at the orphanage, 18-year-old James was packing his belongings since he was moving out of Holy St. Lithe orphanage. Beforehand, Nyris was able to find him a place to live which was at a nearby inn around the corner. James carries the last of his belongings outside and places them onto a carriage with the help of Nyris. After he and Nyris finish placing his belongings onto the carriage, James walks over to Deborah and Theresa who were outside the building. Theresa was in tears while Deborah had a saddened smile.

“Thank you both so much for raising and taking care of me.” He speaks. “I love you both.”

“We love you too, darling.” Deborah responds. “It was an honor taking care of you, dear James. You were such a good boy, and you still are.”

“As well for me, too.” Theresa adds tearfully. “Don’t forget to visit us, okay?”

James chuckles. “I’m not that far, Theresa. I’m right around the corner. But don’t worry. I promise I’ll visit.”

James gives Theresa an embracing hug along with Deborah. Afterwards, he walks back to Nyris’ carriage and sits next to him, Nyris whips the reins on the horses, making the carriage ride away.

.   .

As Nyris was guiding the carriage in the direction of the inn, he looked at James as he seemed nervous.

“What is the matter, son?” He asks catching his attention.

“Well…” James responds. “This is such a big step for me. Actually, moving out of the church, and trying to make a living with my gift. It just feels too quick.”

Nyris chuckles. “As surreal as it is, I can understand. I was in the same standing as you. You will be alright, James.”

James feels some assurance with Nyris’ words and starts to look at the scenery as Nyris continues driving the carriage.

.   .

15 minutes later, Nyris and James arrive at the inn which is made of bricks and two stories high named Velour Inn. James gets off the carriage with a couple of bags in his hands and goes inside the inn, and walks to the front desk where he sees a middle-aged man of small stature. The man was mocha skinned with long brunette hair and brown eyes, the innkeeper. James catches the man’s attention as he walks towards the desk.

“Hello, young man.” The innkeeper greets. “How may I help you?”

“Hello.” James greets. “My name is James Ruth. I’m here to reside in a room at the request of Father Nyris Dustine.”

“Oh! The young man Nyris talked about. The room is set up for you. Do you have any other bags?”

“Yes, and Father Nyris is outside as well to help me.”

The innkeeper walks from behind the desk and walks outside along with James to see Nyris on the carriage taking some bags off of it.

“Hello, Nyris.” The innkeeper greets catching his attention. “How are you?”

“I’m alright on this blessed day.” Nyris replies as he gets off the carriage and hooks the horses to a wooden stand. “How are you, Harland?”

“I’m alright. Let me help you out.”

Harland grabs the bags that were on the ground along with James following him taking a couple of bags with Nyris taking the last of the bags from the carriage and walks in the inn, following the two.

.   .   .

On the second floor of the building, the three reach a hallway, to the first door. Harland opens it revealing a room which was the size of a loft. As the three put the bags down, Harland walks back to the door to leave and turns his head to Nyris and James.

“I’ll be downstairs if you both need me.” Harland informs.

James and Nyris nod which prompts Harland to go downstairs. Nyris and James start setting up everything in the room with the furnishings James took with him.

.   .

It took the two an hour and a half later to unpack items and place them where James wanted them. Seeing the room looking like home to James, he and Nyris leave the room to head downstairs and go outside to the carriage.

“Well James,” Nyris speaks. “This is your new home, your own first home.”

“Yes,” James replies. “Thanks for your help, Father. Also, I thank you for becoming my father figure. Thank you for raising me and teaching me how to be a man. I’m grateful to you, Theresa, and Deborah for taking care of me when I was but an infant. And… thank you for encouraging my gift. Without you, I don’t think I would’ve been able to hone it like I can now.”

Hearing this made Nyris smile with pride.

“It was an honor from The Maker to have me and the sisters raise you to who you’ve become. You make us proud. And you know where to find us if you need help. Remember that.”

James chuckles and nods. “I will. Don’t worry.”

James walks towards Nyris and embraces him in a hug with Nyris returning the favor.

“Thank you, Father.”

“You’re welcome, Son.”

Afterwards, Nyris gets back on his carriage with the reins in his hands, and starts riding away with James going back into the inn to get to his room.

.   .   .

Within an hour of him getting acquainted with his new home and with nighttime setting in, James sits down on the floor at a table in his living area/bedroom. He opens one of his bags and takes out a box of tarot cards. He taps them, shuffles them, then lays 4 of the cards on the table face down and begins to read them by turning over the first one.

“Hmm…” James speaks to himself. “I’ll be making a living with my premonition in the next two months and having money in no time.”

He then turns the second card over. “In 4 years, I’ll have… a girlfriend? Interesting.”

He then turns the third car over. “Okay. So, I’ll be staying here for 5 years, and it seems my other half will be living with me.”

He then turns over the last card which confuses him. “What? This doesn’t seem right… odd.”

He looks at the card he read and is unable to understand what it means. “This is just a mixture of events, but I can’t understand what comes first.”

James sighs and decides to think nothing else of it. “Maybe I’m just tired. I need to wake up in the morning anyway.”

He then puts his cards back in the box and starts taking off his clothes, putting on just pajama pants. He then blows out the candles in his room, and lays down in his bed to get comfortable as he looks out the window seeing the night sky at the foot of his bed. He then thinks to himself:

‘This is a new beginning for me, but what is going to be my next move now? Will I really be able to help out the people with my gift once I start tomorrow? Hmph. Like hell I can help everybody, but I should just help out as many people as possible. Oh, Maker, give me strength.’

Thinking about his insecurities, James feels the weight bearing down on him. He sits up on his bed and starts to pray for strength for a couple of minutes, then starts meditating, taking deep breaths slowly, then slowly exhaling for a few minutes. Both of these gave him a sense of calm and balance when he felt some type of trouble going on in his life, and it worked in his favor once again. Now feeling calm, he lays in his bed wrapping himself in the covers, and quickly goes to sleep.

.   .   .   .   .

James opens his eyes to see the starry night sky surrounding him, making him confused.

“Where am I?” He asks. “This has to be a dream…”

As he starts to walk, his footsteps cause the surface to ripple like water. He wanders looking at the dim twilit scenery until he sees a dark figure appear from thin air, and starts walking in his direction. James sees the figure was a foot and a half shorter than him and has the figure of a woman.

“She doesn’t seem like anyone that I would know.” He says to himself. “But she must be in here for a reason. She seems… familiar. Who is she?”

As the figure wanders closer to James on his right side, he touches the figure’s shoulder to stop it from passing him. The figure turns to face him as James did the same.

“I don’t know if this place is real, and I don’t know if you can hear me,” He speaks. “But I need to know where I am. What is this place?”

The figure raises its left hand which opens a rift. James looks at the rift to see himself in his bed, which frightens him.

“Am… am I dead?” He asks.

The figure shakes its head as it closes the rift. “There is a reason why you are here.”

James gasps while backing away from the figure. “You speak?”

The figure nods. “Yes.”

He then calms down and looks around. “Where are we?”

“The astral plane. Any clairvoyant being is able to come here, especially if they’re connected to someone that has the same gift.”

“Connected?”

The figure nods. “Here, you can be able to calm your thoughts and seek clarity to whatever is troubling you. This plane is forever and always open to a clairvoyant—”

“Wait. What did you mean by connected? Who are we to each other?”

The figure looks at James. “Perhaps you’ll be able to know once the time is right. You claimed that I seem familiar to you?”

“Yes, for some reason.”

The figure chuckles. “Soon… you will see.”

.   .   .   .   .

James gasps as he awakes from his sleep, and sits up in his bed. He starts panting as he puts his hands to his face.

“That was the astral plane?’ He asks himself. “I’ve read about it before, but I didn’t know it was real. That woman… who is she?”