I followed suit with the rest, and greeted Mr. Fool along with the lady in purple who I guessed was newly joining Madam Hermit. Or, should I say, Bernadette's adopted daughter, sugar baby with mummy issues, Cattleya?
Either way, once I and Cattleya greeted Mr. Fool, the gentlemen sitting to my left finally realised there was another addition to their side. And so did the ladies, in surprise, as they finally noticed Madam Hermit sitting left-most of them all.
...
Klein had already guessed Mr. Empress' pathway the last time, and now, seeing him sitting on one of the chairs, it was all certain. Mr Empress was either a Sequence 9 Assassin, or a Sequence 8 Instigator.
A potential Demoness? Or a misguided fool? Does he even know what the next sequence for his pathway holds?
He must know, otherwise why would he choose the Empress card.
'One must mentally prepare oneself for the ordeal, before one lives through the ordeal,' is that his plan?
Klein lampooned.
Why am I surrounded by Demonesses everywhere I go? First Trissy, and now I have a potential Demoness in the Tarot Club, don't tell me the Helene woman is also going to turn out to be a Demoness? Or somehow related to a Demoness.
The Fool, Klein, ruminated over his perilous future, encountering Demonesses left and right.
However, his thoughts were cleared by the greeting of Miss justice, and he nodded in response with a slight upturn of his lips.
Once everyone else greeted him, they stood still for a second, taken in surprise by the addition of two new members.
He was just about to introduce the Hermit, and the Empress, when Miss Justice quickly recovered from her shock and continued. Shifting her gaze to her front, she greeted, "Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man."
Following him, she greeted The Sun, The Magician, and the Moon.
Miss Justice is truly considerate, not only did she introduce each of the members to the newbies, she even did it in the order of their joining.
Following this, Mr. Hanged Man greeted back Miss Justice, and the other existing members followed course.
Klein watched as both the new and the old members were observing each other, trying to gleam off as much as possible.
When the greetings ended, and Cattleya noticed that no one had mentioned the name of the man sitting almost right in front of her.
Is he also a new member? He's not taking the initiative to introduce himself. Is he anti-social?
Noticing Audrey's gaze, Cattleya sensed her intention to ask, and nodded slightly.
"The Hermit."
Cattleya spoke in Ancient Feysac, in an attempt to keep her identity secure.
Audrey smiled faintly, "Justice. Good afternoon, Ma'am Hermit."
Audrey next looked at the second new member who joined today.
She had previously chosen to look at Madam Hermit first, because, the man seemed more guarded. He also looked like he was patiently waiting for Madam Hermit to go first.
She looked at him again.
He still seems relaxed, but there is a slight buzzing emanating off of him, as if he is excited about something. Is it because it is his first attendance in a gathering held by an old God? No, it seems almost mischievous, like he is about to make a joke.
The second new member noticed her gaze, and nodded with a smile.
"The Empress."
Sssi!
Audrey gasped out loud, taken by a great surprise. So did everyone else, except Mr. Fool himself, and Mr. World. Madam Hermit on the other hand had a more muted reaction than everyone else, her eyes wide.
Empress? Empress?! Not Emperor, but Empress? Empress? Audrey, did you hear it right? Should I seek this gentleman's pardon, and ask him to speak again? No! That is unbecoming of a Spectator. Come on, Audrey, the world of mysticism is so surprising, you can't let yourself be caught off guard so seriously!
In her mind, she covered her face with her hands.
Being the first to overcame her surprise, she focused on the Empress' body language and her thoughts raced.
He is still relaxed, a lot more excited. Ah! So that was his joke? To choose a card not of his gender? Did he think Mr. Fool would find it funny? But Mr. Fool already knows, so He must have approved. Right, things like these are below the stature of deity like Mr. Fool, of course He would be unbothered.
For the first time, since she entered Mr. Fool's kingdom, Audrey saw her new fellow member in a more mysterious light.
He is not at all uncertain, and he is aware of the reaction he is getting. But he also seems reverent of Mr. Fool, so it's likely he wouldn't have just chosen his alias as a jest. Could there be another reason? Does Mr. Empress see himself as a woman? Should we call him Mister, or Mistress? Should I ask him this? No! Audrey, as a spectator you must not speak without thought, and as a Psychiatrist, you must not ask questions easily. Hmph! Mr. Empress seems perfectly fine in his demeanour as a male, and does not carry any signs of acting like a woman, so this theory can be discarded.
Seeing everyone still taking a second to recover from their shock, Audrey's carefully analysed her previous observations.
Even if he does not act feminine at present, it's possible he may do so at other times, which would partly explain why to choose that card. But, he also sees himself a man, so why would he only choose one side? Unless, it's not like this at all. Is Mr. Empress a beyonder?
Could it have something to do with his pathway? Pathway... Assassin? As far as I know, from the knowledge shared by Mr. Fool and Mr. Hanged Man, an Assassin pathway beyonder can turn into a woman at Sequence 7. Is Mr. Empress an Assassin? Then someday would he just turn up to the meeting like usual in a dress and a female body? Will the Tarot Club soon have a Demoness amidst our ranks? Is he related to the Demoness Sect?
The thought of the Demoness Sect left a bitter taste in her mouth. The memory of the Great Smog was still fresh, and the wounds of the tragedy still tender.
If Mr. Fool let him join, Mr. Empress must not be a bad person. Maybe he is even Mr. Fool's plan to infiltrate into the Demoness Sect.
While Audrey raked her brains, the fastest member to recover from their surprise after her and Madam Hermit were Fors and Alger.
Is he like one of those male characters more in tune with their feelings? Does he dress masculine and dandy during the day, happily a man, and at night dons a dress and becomes gentle, quiet, and feminine? Is this that kind of story?
While Fors was surprised for a second, she took whatever absurdity that came her way in stride. As an author who read and wrote quite absurd tropes in fictions, especially so in fiction not suitable for children, Fors wasn't foreign to the idea.
With a slight nod of understanding at the man, she sat back in her seat in all her glorious languidness.
This fellow has quite a strange humour. Unless he is not saying this in humour. Did he disguise himself as a male, while actually being a woman? But his voice is still that of a male... unless he truly put efforts into the disguise and learnt to imitate a male voice? Or is the other way around? But why, there are a million other ways to change your appearance, especially so when even with no disguise, Mr. Fool's authority over the fog preserves everyone's privacy from each other except Mr. Fool. But Mr. Fool does not count, He is a deity. If He ever wanted to harm any of them—
Alger quickly stopped his thought process before he could go too far to blaspheme an old God while sitting in His presence.
There's another possibility, in fact. He could be just one of those people who're not comfortable in their own body, and seek to changer their selves. But the Empress doesn't seem bothered or nervous at all. There has to be another reason.
Suddenly something struck Alger, and he remembered the recent catastrophe that happened in Backlund.
A potential Demoness?
Meanwhile, on his right, little sun Derrick collected himself too. While he was shocked, ever since he'd been blessed by Mr. Fool, he's already been astonished so many times that he was getting somewhat used to it.
"E— Empress...? Are you sure you didn't mean to say Emperor?"
Despite everyone else's attempts to not ask the first discarded thought in their mind, there was one such naive and inexperienced person who couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Not a second after he'd uttered his question, Emlyn felt regret. Especially so when everyone turned their eyes from 'the Empress' to him.
Dogshi*t! What did I even do? I'm just asking this weird fellow to clarify himself.
"No, Mr. Moon. It is, in fact, Empress. You may call me Mr. Empress... for now."
Emlyn's face only turned more ashamed.
___
Thanks for reading. Correct grammatical errors and typos, I was too sleepy.