— HALLOWEEN EVENT. 🎃 The Qilin

The door to Madame Xanadu's shop is always open.

She pushed his hand away from the deck. The two cards flipped by themselves. One had a picture of a man stabbed on his back with ten swords. The other had a brave warrior carrying a torch and five other torches around him.

"So I see," the sorceress motioned for the boy to sit, "pick a card."

"𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙. Take a seat, I've been expecting you."

If anyone sees Jason Blood and/or Etrigan, tell them to stop by.

// aka it's past my bedtime and Leo set a stopwatch, so i gotta 😓

Oh, I'm afraid it's time I open up shop. I will be back.

Ah, yes! You!

Yes, you heard that right.

And who is this beautiful lady?

♇ᡣ𐭩 A CHARACTER WRITTEN IN A MIRROR IMAGE OF #𝓟𝓵𝓾𝓽𝓸

Oh, dear. We can still make it work. I'm immortal.

// mine is also CAT

// i need to do this more

"Or I could see what the cards have to say about this..."

One at a time, please. The door to the antique shop is always open.

// the way i ran into this account GIGGLING

"Explain yourself, Khalid."

?

"Thank you for stopping by," she said with a smile. "Try not to get into too much trouble." She would not be surprised if there's one relic or two missing from her shelf.

"That is correct, Stitch. I do believe that both things can co-exist."

Her shop is open.

hidewithin.carrd.co "You know that retired adventurer meme? Well, I built a bakery instead of a tavern or a magic item shop."

"You are anything but order, after all," she sighed. "I could say that about a lot of people, but you are you, John Constantine. There are some things only you are foolish enough to do. Despite all the chaos, you persist."

// Sorry bout that, first day jitters again (I misclicked)

It doesn't have to be in that way, Batman. What is it that you give to your children if not love?

"I would say it's because you are a fool," she nursed the warm teacup between her hands. "Maybe you are the fool who took the leap and never truly landed, still floating around in uncertainty. But you have been through too much to know what your actions mean."

"Only death is certain, John. And that is not something that I can speak about lightly nor interfere with." She meant to take another when two cards fell on the table. Strength. Ace of Cups. "Ah," she stared at the cards, a little surprised. —

"Flowers and herbs," she corrected. Ones with magical properties. "So you are interested." The thrum of her magic is gentle as the deck shuffled in the air. "Something will call, unexpectedly. Unavoidable. Not Death. Not just yet."

"Unlike you, I can't directly intervene. If I could, I would have done the same. There may be something here that can help with the nightmares, if you wish to bring it to her and her only."

"I wanted to hear it from you." A small smile graced her face, somewhat amused. This man would never admit it and rarely gave himself the credit. "It's good that you have been doing what you are doing. Whether you realize it or not. You're not all bad."

"Calling the cards that I made liars? You wound me," she said lightheartedly and shook her head in disbelief. "Tell me what you use my earrings for, then. Pure mischief? I don't think you used that for yourself."

Nothing but plain green tea with a hint of mint. She poured herself a cup as she listened. "I hear you have been helping people more," she took a long sip, "the cards told me."

"You are still grieving for the way things were. The loss, the things that could have been. It's not wrong, don't suppress it. You are allowed to feel. Cherish what you have, Richard. Forgive yourself."

// This deck just keeps surprising me 😭

She was aware of the consequences, what might come if she kept him in her shop for long. So long as it wasn't anything too dangerous. She poured the tea from a golden teapot and slid the cup to John. "How have you been doing?"

"So it seems, Richard." The shuffled cards were spread out before him. "Draw a card," she repeated.

A visit to Oblivion Bar is mandatory in a time like this.