See Or Not To See.

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff, sniff…I smelled something appetizing, food that would fill my belly. 

My nostrils raised in the air. I sniffed an aroma. The smell was so tangibly familiar, it made an image that was clear to my pea sized brain.

Cheese! It was Cheese I was smelling. My mouth watered as I scurried with a quickness.  My speed was unusually fast for me.  My  heart  raced as I made  it   to   the  plate of cheese laying on the table. I only took a small nibble from the plate. It  was my favorite type of cheese, a rich sharp cheddar. "looky  here! What have you done to the cheese, Nemko?" I felt a sensation of a smooth tender hand press against my black and white patterned fur.    

"My sweet, sweet, furry, beautiful Nemko. What am  I to do with you? I've told you a million times not to eat my customers snacks." I don't know what Sophia expected. She knew I couldn't respond back to her. I was just a simple dumb docile mouse to her, nothing but a pet for her amusement. I did have to admit that she was a better master than my last one. By a long shot. I decided to wiggle my whisker to amuse her a little.

"Oh no! not this time buddy! you're in big trou-" Her cheeks blushed before she gave a calm sigh. I knew I had her. "You're a cheeky mouse. you know that?"  I knew that, but she didn't know that I did. My ears perked up as a bell rang. "Oh heck! A customer’s here. Nemko hurry, get in my pocket." I scramble in her front pocket, barely, just as she hurried to the front of her parlor. My head was cushioned in between her pocket lining, trying to fix my position, to poke out to see her new customer. 

“Hello, is anyone here?” A gentle voice asked. It was a female voice, soothing, yet oddly familiar. I was still trying to fix myself, to poke my head out of her pocket. 

“Yes, sorry to keep you waiting. I was just dealing with something in the back.” Sophia paused for a moment. “So, how can I help you? Do you wish for me to read your palm or perhaps you wish to know a fortune?” 

“Sophia, right?” The lady asked. 

“Yep, that's what’s on my birth certificate.  But most people just Soph. Also don’t ask why, because I don’t know, it’s just what they call me.”  Sophia's heart was racing, I could sense the rhythm, that only meant one thing.  She was staring at something attractive.    Sophia was simple, she knew what she liked and couldn’t hide it. 

“Well, I’ve heard a lot about it.” Sophia  injected. 

“Good things I hope. 

“Yes, all your patrons that have come here say the same thing. ‘Wow what a good fortune teller she was.’ So you see I had to check it out for myself, see what all the fuss was about. I hope you have time to read my fortune. Look and see, if it is bad or good.” Her focus kept bothering me. I knew it was nostalgic, on the tip of a whisker. I finally got up right and poked my head out. I was in utter shock. 

It was my old master!  The all knowing oracle, Merdella Seraph. I thought she was dead, hunted by the magic bounty hunters. I saw our home burned to cinder, nothing but ash was left. I never saw a body, but I was sure she was dead.  I hoped she was dead. 

I needed to warn Sophia. But how? She couldn’t understand even if she wanted to, she was just a mortal. The only one who could understand me was Merdella. I tried to lift myself out of her poked but Sophia pushed me back in. 

All I could do was watch. I hoped for the best, hoped my old master didn’t notice me, if that happened it would have been bad news for the both of us. “So what fortune would you like to know? How far into the future do you want to know?” Merdella smiled, with a gentle glint in her eyes. She was giving off a false sense of comfort. I didn’t know her true intent, but I knew how sinister of a monster she was, it was evident in her aura. 

“How about five minutes. Tell me this. What am I going to do in five minutes? If you guess right I have a present for you.” Sophia stuttered to get her words out. 

“P..P…Present? I’m a little confused, you see most people ask for more distant fortunes. You're the first one to ask me to predict the future within five minutes.” Merdella tilted her head, slightly. I could sense she was unamused. 

“You can do it can’t you?” Merdella asked. 

“I can but I-” Merdella cut her off. 

“No buts, just do it.” Merdella tapped on Sophia’s crystal ball. “Do it with this.” Sophia nodded. I released pebbles from my lower end in fear. Sophia was only a mortal. Why was my old master Testing her? Had she just arrived in the mortal realm? Clearly she knew this girl had no magical gift. So why test her? 

Sophia rubbed the crystal ball for a good minute. “I see a happy patron leaving my parlor, eagerly waiting to live her life to the fullest. I see that you're seeking something. Is it perhaps a man or maybe a woman?” Sophia looked up toward Merdella, noticing a stern look. “Is something wrong?”  Merdella stood up from her seat. 

“I knew you were a fraud. I just wanted to see for myself.” Merdella stepped closer to Sophia, touching her shoulder. “ What can you expect from a mortal? You're not our blood. The blood of the ‘chosen covenant.’ and for that you have committed a grave sin to mock our gift.” I shivered in Sophia's pocket. I sensed a great sinister power surrounding Merdella. 

“I…I don’t understand, what’s happening?” Sophia said as her voice trembled and stuttered. 

“I know, because if you did you would already know what's about to happen to you. You see your fate was to always die here, but you could have died here one of us. A blood sister, but instead you die a fraud.” Sophia tried to push Merdella away and ran, but a mystical force pinned her to the wall. “Pour baby, did you really think you could escape from me, a divine being? Ha, how pitiful. You see your fate is to die, no matter how much you fight no one can escape their destiny.” Merdella lowered Sophia as she walked closer. She was within an inch of her face. A tear ran down Sophia’s left cheek. 

“No, don't cry. Why are you crying? Aren’t you the one who wanted this? You wanted a taste of this power, just a sliver. Now you witness true power, not parlor tricks.” Merdella gripped Sophia’s chin. “Now rest sinner and now your death will provide true nutrition to the sisterhood.” Merdella lips pressed onto Sophia, with a sensual kiss. I coiled back as I felt Sophia’s body shrived up around me. My master was gone. I scurried out of Sophia's pocket heading to the door.

“Sucarius, where do you think you’re going?”  She called me but I kept running, but the door felt miles away and as I looked down I saw my feet running on top of the ground.  I was floating. “Did you not think I could sense your presence? Why do you even think I came here and don’t say I came here for this pathetic creature you call a master.” 

“No of course not, never. And who said she was my master? She was merely a tool for survival. I know you are my true master. I just thought you were dead. How did you survive?” Merdella smiled.

“Me, dead? What makes you think those fools could ever kill me? But it doesn't matter, all that matters is that you are back and we continue where we left off. How does that sound, huh?” I gulped. I looked at Sophia's dead lifeless body as a reminder of how dangerous Merdella was. I wanted to weep, but I couldn’t. 

“Yes, master” 

“Very good, now let’s go.” I leapt on Merdella's hand as she created a mystical sphere around us. I watched as we vanished, not leaving a trace of us left. That was an end to Sophia and me and a new beginning.