Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

55. Prophecology

An hour later Shayley and Selene had an additional lump on their lumps. They were kneeling apologetically on the floor. Ophelia was now thrown into the mix.

"Ophelia... what did you tell mommy?" Cal tapped his foot.

"Papa are you angry?" Ophelia asked with budding tears in her eyes.

"I haven't decided yet." Cal's shoulders were rigid, and his back was painfully straight.

"I told her-" Ophelia looked away.

"Ophelia, you know how this works, I want it word for word." Cal stared down his daughter.

Ophelia sniffled and then her eyes glowed. "Calloway Calphius is the hero of the Pearly city, but Guildmaster Cal will soon become its villain. He will fulfill both sides of his oath, with his left hand he will perform miracles, with his right he will facilitate tragedy. Alone, he will save those he cares for, but he will be remembered as history's darkest sin. Unless the queen of peril and the priestess of past remain his close allies, the house of Calphius will be lost before it begins. Heed this warning, those who cherish him, to forsake the Saint of Peril is to invite his death." Her eyes went back to normal, but she wouldn't meet Cal's gaze.

"Great..." Cal sighed. He looked at the fox perched next to Hifumi on the table, "Calico I need a barrier, a good one." He sat down as the room turned several shades of color while Selene looked around at the spectacle, one part awe-inspired and one part anxious. She had never seen magic like this.

Cal sat on his bed and crossed his legs. "and you both think that Selene is the priestess of past and have roped her into our mess?"

Shayley and Ophelia nodded.

"Papa-" Ophelia was stopped by Cal.

"Shayley, you claim that both you and Selene are soul-promised to 'never forsake me'? and this was brought on by Ophelia's prophecy?" Cal crossed his arms.

All three of them nodded.

Cal sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay listen closely. I developed a new school of study centered around Ophelia's visions, I'm calling the new school Prophecology. It's the study of prophesying through oracles and others who predict the future. Oracles, like Ophelia perceive reality differently than most. If she channels her sight she can literally view the future in moments where it splits. It's like seeing the world around you with a film of possible futures superimposed over her sight. The most practical application is in combat she can see the most likely move the opponent will make, and then chose the future action she can make that will most likely lead to her success. The further into the future she looks the more strain it puts on her since she has to process more information. She can easily view a couple of seconds into the future without hurting herself." We waved Ophelia over to him.

Ophelia got up and slowly made her way to sit next to him on the bed. She sniffled when she sat down, and he placed his hand on her head. He ran his fingers through her hair without tangling his fingers in her hair leaves.

"Not only is Ophelia still just a little girl, but she also never had anyone to help her hone her talents. Not that I'm a professional, but I still think I'm Calphian's leading authority on it. Days, weeks, months, years, centuries, millennia. Her poor little brain cannot possible perceive all those futures. Her powers are built in with railing so that her brain doesn't explode to compensate. The first guard rail is that she fixates on a single person's future. The second, is that out of all the possible futures her vision narrows down the most likely future should that person may encounter. The third railing is what I call a key, a notable factor of that future, either the key to ensuring it or avoiding it. The fourth railing is what I call the filter, this ability can bleed into her normal vision. This is the reason her messages are cryptic. A person, people, places, ideas, are broken down into the simplest identifiers her mind can comprehend or recognize. The fifth and last I've identified is the ego railing, her visions stretch further when they center around her or someone she cares about."

Cal lovingly looked at Ophelia. "She was an orphan, with no friends, no relatives. When I found her she was as lonely as one person could be. Since I rescued her from the street she has closely attached to me, which is why her visions are mostly about me. Since she had trauma from her past I think that affects her brain chemistry and in turn her powers. I theorize that with time her visions will grow to be less horrific as she establishes bonds with other people, and develops enough pleasant memories to outweigh the bad. This last part is the most important, if there is one thing that I learned it is that the future is always in flux. Sure, there are key events that seem to happen a large percentage of the time. But when it comes down to it even a thought can change the future. However, if you truly want to change the future, the safest way to do it is to pile up lots little actions instead of doing a couple giant life changing things, for instance, like SWEARING AWAY YOUR SOUL!" Cal ground his teeth.

Cal narrowed his eyes at Shayley. "Ophelia freaked out about you hating me. But instead of putting my soul on the line I did several small things, I threw out the most drastic plans I was considering, I enlisted the aid of Sinder in my current endeavors, then I pulled together everything I could reasonably muster and came clean to you. And that's just the beginning. I've been trying to have open communication with you so that we can avoid issues." He looked at Selene and then back at Shayley.

"You can lead the future with small steps, but until Ophelia's emotional scars have healed more she will probably have visions of the most likely worst futures. But that doesn't mean the other futures are impossible. But until we know more you should consider gently paving a future rather than stampeding away from a possible bad end."

Cal turned to Selene, and when he looked at her she began shivering. "Selene, I'm sorry that my family involve you to such a degree." He bowed slightly. "Shayley, Selene I release you from your soul promise."

"But PAPA-" Ophelia tried to argued.

"Promising to not forsake me, is too vague! There is a lot of risk that goes along with something like that. I don't like it. I don't care whose idea it was but there has to be a safer alternative."

"I refuse." Shayley pouted.