The Sempra Deck 01 - The Magus

[teddy_radiator]

The amazing mimimanderly has just released her second card of The Sempra Deck, a set of Major Arcana cards forming the Tarot. Each time Mimi posts a new card, I will post another edition of the story, so you can see how the story and the cards meshed together. Here is the next card - 01 The Magus, and here is the story.

 

 

This Chapter is rated PG for content. Happy Reading!



The Sempra Deck is dedicated to the real mystic goddess Mimi Manderly; to her beloved SeverusMuse, and to my precious Dahlra. All characters with the exception of Mimi Manderley, Peter and Dahlra belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this publication.

Chapter One – Gathering the Pieces, Part Two

The following morning, her last in Salem, was to begin with a huge breakfast. Never one to enjoy a crowded restaurant, Mimi opted once again to have her meal brought to her room, and she smiled as Room Service knocked on the door.

“Come in, Peter,” Mimi said, and her assigned waiter, who had basked in the glow of Mimi’s exotic good looks and generous tips for the last two days, bounded into the room, pushing the food trolley. He was young and rather handsome, and only too eager to ingratiate himself further.

“Good morning, Miss Manderly. Did you sleep well?”

“Fine, Peter, thanks. Just put the tray on the desk.” Mimi waved her hand in the general direction of the hotel desk and finished applying her makeup. “I thought I’d go all out since it’s my last day here with the full continental. I love big breakfasts.”

“Yes, Miss Manderly. Oh, by the way, there was a note for you this morning. I’ve left it on your tray.”

Concentrating on counting her money, Mimi barely registered the statement. Handing the boy his tip, she smiled, “Thank you, sweetie, for being such a great help this weekend.” The young man smiled his thanks as he pocketed the money. He had white, even teeth and a swarthy complexion. Mimi thought he might have a little crush on her.

“It’s been my pleasure Miss Manderly. Please call on me again when you visit the hotel again.”

“Thank you, Peter.”

The young man grew serious. “No, really. Please call on me.” He handed her a small slip of paper.

“What’s this?”

Peter ducked his head, suddenly shy. “It’s my phone number. Maybe we could, you know, get together for a drink or something?”

Mimi smiled, her eyes narrowing slightly. “How old are you, Peter?”

He blushed. “Twenty-two.”

Mimi laughed. “I’m very flattered. Sure, I’ll give you a call sometime.” When you’re around thirty-five, maybe, and grown into those looks a little.

His eyes lit up. “Great! That’s… great!” He ducked his head again. He actually was a sexy little thing. “I’ll see you around, then.”

Mimi held open the door. “Have a nice afternoon, Peter.”

Once Peter made sure the coffee was poured and the small bud vase’s daisy looked fresh, he finally departed, leaving Mimi with her sumptuous repast. She was not normally one to indulge in huge breakfasts, but the hotel here was noted for their food, and Mimi had become quite spoiled with their morning meals.

Grabbing a bit of toast and the Sunday paper, Mimi settled into a comfortable chair, when something caught the corner of her eye. Dimly, she remembered Peter mentioning something about a note. A small envelope was tucked beneath her plate, and Mimi gingerly lifted the china to retrieve it.

It was made of heavy, creamy vellum; the type of paper hardly anyone used anymore. It was as thick as parchment and the color of old linen. On the front were two words, her name: Mimi Manderly, spelled out in an elegant, spidery handwriting. It looked as if it had been written with a quill pen, or some sort of nib. The ink was dark green, almost black, and something about the handwriting looked familiar, but Mimi was certain she’d never received anything like this before – she would have surely remembered it.

Cursing herself for not paying enough attention to Peter and not inquiring who’d sent the note, Mimi turned over the envelope and saw that it was sealed with a blob of dark green wax. It was stamped with an ornate seal, and Mimi peered at it carefully. It looked either like two ‘S’s entwined, or two snakes; she wasn’t sure which. Grinning, Mimi carefully broke the seal and opened the heavy envelope. A key fell into her open palm.

Her heart beating fast, Mimi looked further inside the envelope to see if it contained any clues as to the sender, and her search was rewarded when she withdrew a small, frail piece of paper from the envelope. It was as tissue-thin as the envelope was heavy and thick.

It looked positively ancient, almost transparent and crumbling at the edges. Mimi gingerly turned the paper over, and saw the same, spidery handwriting as on the envelope. It ready simply: Sempra.

Mimi looked at it for a long time. Sempra. That means ‘always’. Always what? She thought. She looked down at the little key in her hand. It was silver, and had the same minute, ornate engravings as the box’s lock.

Breakfast now forgotten, Mimi sat the box on the table and slid the key into the lock. It fit. She gently turned it. The tumblers clicked. Slightly breathless, she opened the box.

A heavenly aroma drifted up from its depths. It was intoxicating; a blend of sandalwood and cedar and something indefinable and undeniably masculine, mixed with her favourite scent, patchouli. It went straight to her head like a wine, and for several moments she sat, entranced, eyes closed, enthralled at the scent that seemed to come from the very grain of the wood itself.

After a few moments, her head cleared, and she opened her eyes.

Inside was a deck of tarot cards. Mimi didn’t know whether to be elated or disappointed.

They were somber and sepia toned, and something about them appealed to Mimi’s dark, Gothic sensibilities. They hinted at a benevolent darkness which appealed to her, and there was sensuality in the various figures that echoed an erotic gloom that stirred her soul. All around the edges of the cards, the word Sempra was written over and over in an unbroken, joined pattern.  It was written in the same spidery writing as on the envelope and the slip of paper within.

Mimi studied the lovely box and the cards for several minutes. One of the many ‘tools of the trade’ at a witch’s disposal was the Tarot, those beautiful precursors to modern playing cards. They had been used for hundreds of years as a method of divination and meditation, and Mimi already owned several different decks. She had never seen or heard of this deck, and she realized with a jolt that this must be a totally unique deck.

She was holding the one set of Sempra cards in existence.

Once again, Mimi wondered who had decided to gift her with this mysterious box and it’s equally baffling contents.

Even as she thought this, the cards all but called out to her. They were warm in her hand, and she could feel an energy emanating from them. It was a masculine energy, deep, restless, sexual, and it called to her with the excitement and anticipation of a first-time lover.

Dreamily, she removed the rest of the deck from the box, and began to shuffle the cards, allowing them to slide between her fingers, until she was almost in a hypnotic state.

As she concentrated, Mimi thought of this strange ‘gift’. She had many friends who loved her company and her wit. Only a select few really understood her completely, but she was okay with that; she didn’t always understand them, either, but that didn’t stop her from loving them, and they her.

As happy and contented as Mimi’s solitary life was to her, she knew something, or someone was missing. She had ever been vigilant, but he was not forthcoming. Sometimes Mimi thought it might be a ‘she’, but the voice inside told her that ‘he’ was out there somewhere, if she would only look and be patient.

She decided that this would be her question to the unique, mysterious cards, as she continued to shuffle. Where are you? She asked. Are you really there? Are you real, period?  And then the question came from nowhere – a comet zooming over her conscious thought: Are you the one who gave me this box?

Mimi looked at the cards carefully, noting their backs were the same dark parchment colour as the vellum envelope, with the word Sempra written twice on the back, so the reader could not tell which was up or down, and therefore gave nothing away.

Mimi closed her lovely eyes and felt the thrumming energy between her fingers. The lovely scent of the box permeated the cards, and soon her fingers were scented with the aroma as well. It was like stroking a lover, touching him, readying him. Tell me your secrets, her mind whispered. From far away, a soft voice answered, I’m here. I’m ready.

Her long fingers grasped the edge of the first card and slid it slowly from the deck. It whispered away from its mates like a silk scarf sliding across sweat-dampened skin; reluctantly, slowly. Two more cards were pulled from the top of the deck, and they, too, felt as if they were being pulled away, as if separated from a fellow magnet.

Each card felt heavy, as if it possessed a soul.

As she had done many times with many decks, she allowed her mind to drift, to reach out into the infinite, and as she turned the first card face up, she had a vision. A dark haired man, in black, reaching out to her…

Mimi’s hands were a little unsteady as she turned the three cards over. She gasped as each card revealed itself. They all belonged to the Major Arcana; the set of twenty-one cards that made up a set of specific face cards in Tarot. Throughout history, these would eventually drop from the modern playing deck, but in the Tarot deck, they were cards of importance; having them show up in a reading always carried great weight and significance to the questions they were asked.

Mimi stared at them: The Magus, the Hermit, and The Hanged Man. All three cards were rich in detail – and all of them looked like posed photographs of the same man, in three different poses, each in correlation to the card they represented.

Each card showed the same dark-haired, dark-eyed man she’d envisioned reaching out to her, beckoning her to him. I’m here. I’m ready.

Mimi stared at them until her eyes watered. Her heart was pounding, and as her vision swam, she felt a strange, flooding dizziness. On the bed, the cards trembled, and she heard a small, ripping sound as the first card, the Magus, split open. A blinding beam of light burst forth from the Magus card first, then the Hermit and the Hanged Man, until Mimi was bathed in pure radiance streaming from the cards. Behind her, she heard a deep, musical voice croon, “Mimi…I’m here…. I’m ready…”

She tried to turn toward the source of the voice, but when she turned from the bright light, all she could see was dark spots swimming before her eyes.

Suddenly, she was falling, falling over, falling down, falling through. The cards scattered over the bed and cascaded down onto the floor…

Comments

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that you're posting this! I'm having a blast with our mutual project!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

You know what the amazing thing is? I have 'split up' the story according to the cards (in order) and I am amazed how the cards parallel the story! They almost move in the same arc! The ending is a little more broken up - with the epilogue broken down into several parts but it still works!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you - this has been the most fun! I loved writing the story, but putting it together with the cards is just a blast.

[drinkingcocoa.livejournal.com]

Oh, this truly is fun.