The Cards Will Tell

The Cards Will Tell
Date of Scene:	26 November 2012
Location:	Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium
Synopsis:	Some men seek their dreams made real. Others seek reality to be made as a dream. For too long haunted by his past, Ivo Galvan follows a card in search of being relieved of his burden. The good Dr. Facilier will, of course, do whatever is in his power to aid Ivo. But perhaps what chains him down is not what he thinks it is...
Thanks to:	To Facilier, for the song and dance, and his patience
Cast of Characters:	Ivo Galvan, Dr. Facilier

---

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Curiosity rarely does Ivo wrong.

Bereft of a single dominating passion or conviction, or the sense of purpose possessed by the pure, the knight-errant relies upon his love of the interesting and his extensive talent for surviving it. To seek out novelty, one must have discretion, the capacity to distance oneself from the situation, and an eye for opportunity where others see the mundane. He toys with situations, and sometimes with hearts. But he emerges often unscathed: through luck, through wits, through charisma, occasionally through strength of arms, and always, a fundamental unwillingness to hurt others, the hope that he might live in a world where possibilities are not suppressed.

But the good and the interesting are not always allies.

Ivo is no enemy of the light, but recently he has felt hounded by it. An acceptance by friends of pure heart which he is not certain he deserves. His playing with good women resulting in a little bit more than he bargains for. A princess who invades his heart, exposing him to the man he could be if only he believed in himself -- as though it were that simple.

And his past, oh, his past.

Are there not some things that can be relegated to the shadows?

Isn't that alright?

That question, burning darkly within him, is what has driven him here, more so than any mere inquisitiveness, and the repressed awareness of that sets the young man unusually ill at ease as he pushes inside Doctor Facilier's domain, his clear-eyed composure a little more of a facade than is typical.

"I read that you make dreams real here," he says, with a smile that most people would not realize is forced. "Can you make what's real into a dream, too?"

The past... why should he have to remember it now, his world dead?

And why, in Reize's exuberant smile, in the laughter of the girls at Shard Seeker HQ, in Maira and Raiya's trusting gazes, in Avira's defiant proclamations, does it keep coming back?

Dr. Facilier has posed:
What greets Ivo, when he pushes through the door into Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium, is the good Doctor himself, looking through a pile of... things... that have been carefully arranged on the back of a piano, muttering to himself about white girls who are too damn helpful.

When Ivo speaks up, however, he pauses and turns to look at him, expression splitting into a broad smile. His, for the record, isn't forced at all!

"Ahhh," he muses, turning the rest of his body and starting across the store towards Ivo. "I reckon I could. Y'all ain't the first who's come lookin' for the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind."

"Ah, but where my manners?" he crows as he reaches Ivo, circling around to stand beside him and throwing an arm around the man's shoulders. "Come in, come in!" As he makes the invitation, he starts to lead Ivo across the showfloor, up towards the dais at the end of the room... and, behind them, Facilier's shadow reaches over to swing the door to the outside shut.

As he leads Ivo across the room, Facilier takes a pointed breath, and then--

-- bursts into song, as disembodied instrumentation springs up from all around the store.

o/` Step into my parlor mon ami! o/`
o/` Come on in and let me be your guide! o/`

As he sings, Facilier points at this and that with his free hand, drawing Ivo's attention to the myriad of curio scattered throughout the shop, marginally more organized today than it has been ever before, thanks to the efforts of Rapunzel.

o/` You're in my world now; not your world... o/`
o/` And I got friends on the o-ther side~ o/`

Just before the last line, Facilier stops Ivo at the foot of the stairs up to the dias and turns him out to the storefront again; as he sings it, he sweeps his hand in a broad gesture to indicate... well, the entire store. In the wake of the line, a quintet of deep, haunting voices echo it in harmony, from somewhere in the store.

o/` (He's got friends ooon the o-ther siiide~) o/`

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo's smile eases at Facilier's effortless charm, looking up keenly at the taller man, his curiosity at last pushing aside his doubts and existential confusion. "I suppose I'm not, at that," he concedes, the thought that his troubles are not unique relaxing him somehow. "Thank you--"

Whereupon he is swept up in song.

The young swordman's blue eyes gaze out at first in bemusement, then in wonder, then in delight from beneath stray dark bangs as, caught up in the musical number, he allows himself to be guided by the witch doctor, regarding each knick-knack and mysterious object with an endless intrigue. He looks as though he'd be willing to spend hours in here, undismayed by its eerie ambiance. Pausing by the dias, he takes in the whole of the interior, as the last of the deep back-up voices fade. His stare lingers for a moment, before he looks up at Facilier, grinning as though he's found a kindred spirit.

"Well," he remarks, "I'll take all the friends I can get."

Looking up inquisitively at the alcove, Ivo places a hand on his hip, all trepidation forgotten for now. "What's your usual method?" he asks, not sounding so much impatient as simply wanting to know. "Should I describe my situation in greater detail? Or... do you divine it yourself?" His smile broadens, eyes sparkling a little.

All in good fun, yes?

Dr. Facilier has posed:
There's one born every minute.

Facilier just laughs off the question; he gives Ivo a clap on the shoulder, and then turns him to lead him up the stairs and onto the dias, and-- oh god the singing isn't done--

o/` Sit down at my table! o/`

As he sings, he half-guides, half-pushes Ivo into a chair that is waiting for him -- was it turned that way when he walked in? It must have been.

o/` Put your mind at ease! o/`
o/` If you'll relax it will enable me... o/`
o/` To do... anything I please! o/`

As he sings, Facilier circles around the table, but he sure takes his sweet time, because God damn, he is groovin', he's doin' it, busting out them dance moves, them sweet dance moves, ooh.

o/` I can read your future... o/`
o/` I can change it 'round some too! o/`

It is at this point that Facilier leaps onto the table on the dais; he snaps one hand out, and his cane - newly decorated with an enormous and amazingly beautiful ruby at the head - flies across the room and into his hand.

o/` I'll look deep into your heart and soul... o/`

o/` Make your wildest dreams come true! o/`

At the last line, he emphasizes every few words with an increasingly bananas dance move, at least one of which is straight out of Michael Jackson's repertoire, and one of which is just a sweet-ass backflip, which he does /off/ the table, to land in front of his own chair.

Somewhere during the flip, his cane disappears, and when he comes down he thrusts his left hand out, a tiny voodoo doll suddenly dangling by string from each finger.

o/` I got voodoo-- o/`

The other hand comes forwards, and oh god why is it a live chicken?

o/` I got hoodoo-- o/`

Facilier spreads his arms out wide, and behind him the wall suddenly bulges outwards, fading into darkness; Ivo may recognize the head and limbs of a few small Harmless trying to reach through the wall.

o/` I got things I ain't even TRIED! o/`

At 'tried', the swelling wall suddenly snaps back to normalcy. Nothing to see here! Facilier flips the tail of his coat up and calmly lowers himself into his seat, which slides forwards - seemingly on its own - to get underneath him.

o/` And I got friends on the o-ther side~ o/`

This time, the harmonious echo is much closer... although, to Ivo's eyes, it seems to b coming from everywhere, and not identifiably from the five masks hanging above him, which are definitely, totally just normal masks, for sure.

o/` (He's got friends ooon the o-ther siiide~) o/`

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Needless to say, Ivo Galvan is impressed.

Swept into his chair, unresisting, the Shard Seeker reclines, crossing one leg over another and relaxing, though his eyes remain widened, as though to catch every detail. This performance is Facilier's, and he couldn't steal the show if he tried. So relax he does, and the more the good Doctor gets into it, the wider Ivo's grin becomes.

His head turns as the ruby-topped cane flies through the air and into his hand. Nodding in approval, he regards each dance move almost enviously. Maybe he should wish for some of these sick tricks to be passed onto him.

...Nah.

The doll is thrust in front of his face, and then the chicken -- b'gawk! -- and the only moment that Ivo's delighted facial expression changes is when he sees the amorphous suggestion of hands reaching out from behind him out of the corner of his eyes, causing the swordsman to glance over his shoulder, his brow furrowing slightly, registering a hint of concern. But when the wall returns to normal, though he hesitates for a moment, Ivo appears to conclude he is not in danger...

He smiles slightly, eyes now determined, at the echo from the masks.

...at least, not in enough danger for this not to be worth it.

Obviously, when the song is done, he applauds.

"Voodoo or hoodoo, I'll take it, Doctor Facilier," Ivo says, his composure back, genuinely at ease. "I'm saddled with a burden I don't need or deserve. This is my chance to be free, and I'll take it, whatever it takes. These doubts... they don't mean anything anymore."

He pauses, features darkening briefly.

"...I want to be /free/," he repeats, more softly.

Dr. Facilier has posed:
It's just as well that Ivo decides to resist his impulses; not even Dr. Facilier can give a white man rhythm.

"Well," Facilier tells Ivo with a smile, "Let's just see what I can do for y'all, hmm?" He reaches underneath the table, and when his hand comes back up, it's holding a small deck of cards, which he places on the table and begins to casually shuffle.

o/` The cards; the cards; the cards will tell... o/`
o/` The past; the present; and the future as well! o/`

Well, 'shuffle.' What starts as shuffling quickly escalates into showmanship, with Facilier fanning the cards from one hand to the other through the air, splaying them out in one hand and then recollecting them with a flick of the wrist, and various other card tricks of dubious possibility, including one where he rolls the cards lengthwise up one arm, across his shoulders, and then down the other and onto the table in a neat pile.

o/` The cards; the cards; just take three... o/`
o/` Take a little trip into your future with me~e... o/`

Eventually, however, he does get around to fanning the cards out into a wedge and offering them to Ivo.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Oho, so it's the cards. Ivo's been hearing a lot about cards lately, but these don't seem to be of the sort the rumors tell of. Intrigued by their occult origins, he is swiftly distracted by the finesse and complexity demonstrated by Doctor Facilier's shuffling technique. Eyebrows shooting up, Ivo -- who can at least engage in /courtly/ dance -- listens and watches, transfixed, the typically poised youth drawn in by the witch doctor's display.

And when the show is done...

"Three it is."

...without hesitation, Ivo plucks three in a row, straight from the center, and offers them back to his host, confidently staking his fate on the power of the cards.

"The past, too, huh," he murmurs.

He'll face it, one last time.

Dr. Facilier has posed:
"Very decisive," Dr. Facilier notes with a broad grin, as he sets aside the unchosen cards. "I like it!" He accepts the cards graciously, and carefully lays them out in a row in between himself and Ivo, before reaching down to pick up the first one.

o/` Now you young man have been a little miiild... o/`
o/` Ever since you were a little chiiild... o/`

He spends the fist line studying the card curiously; for the second, he turns it to show Ivo. It is, in essence, a family photo; a young Ivo, standing in front of his father and smiling broadly. Unlike the Babby Ivo, his father isn't smiling; he's looking down at his son, a look of grim disappointment on his face.

Facilier reaches up to grip one side of the card with his other hand, and then - despite its complete lack of any other layers - begins to flip it like a flipbook.

o/` You try your beeest... o/`
o/` But your best don't flyyy... o/`
o/` You never lived up to your daddy 'fore you told him goodbye! o/`

As he sings, the Ivo on the card grows older and older, and Ivo's father does, too; by the end of the last line, Ivo's father is simply gone, and the adult Ivo's smile shines nowhere near as brightly as that of the child he once was.

Facilier releases the card... flipbook... thing, which, of course, was only ever one card. It now bears only the final image - of Ivo, alone, with a bittersweet smile - and, down at the bottom of the card, the symbols 'III.' Facilier carefully sets the card down in its original place, and gives it a moment to sink in.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo's knuckles whiten, hands clutching the rim of the table.

His expression does not itself betray unease, as though thin disguise would be enough to divert attention from the tension in his body, the tight set of his jaw. His blue eyes gleam like sapphires with their unrelenting intensity, glaring a whole in the card that Facilier has drawn. Oh, he knows that smile. He remembers all too well that boy's smile.

"When Mother was alive, we..."

He shivers once.

Boy and woman, playing in the garden, the strongly-built man towering over them with the grim and forbidding expression which back then spurred awe and admiration, and which was not yet always unkind.

Lips tightening, Ivo slowly closes his eyes.

'Ivo, look!' Lily is saying, as little Dandy barks by her feet, beaming like the sun as she points down a little sprout in the dirt, a patch neat and orderly like the rest of the Shard Seekers Headquarters backyard after their hard work. 'You were right! If you tend a garden with love and care--'

He trembles once again, eyes clenching tight.

"Even now... damn...!"

But at last, the moment passes, and Ivo opens his eyes, heaving a sigh. Having endured the emotional ordeal but visibly depleted, his confidence and mirth supplanted by a weary daze, he can only nod in silence, accepting this representation of his past.

Dr. Facilier has posed:
Dr. Facilier gives Ivo time to come to terms with what he sees. He's known plenty of melodramatic white folk, who need time to cope with what he shows them, even when it's things they already knew... and pushing 'em too hard just makes them get all weepy.

Ain't nobody who likes /that./

"Your old man was a real hardcase, eh?" Facilier muses, as he reaches over and picks up the second card. "I know ho that goes. Me and my mother, we never got along too well, either. Still don't!"

"But it ain't your fault, is it? You and I both know that just 'cuz anybody can reach the top don't mean /everybody/ can." Facilier lifts the second card from the table and doesn't even look at it, turning it immediately to show to Ivo.

It's... Reize, standing in a dramatically heroic pose, on some sort of elevated platform; around and beneath him, people - especially women, notably Maira and Raiya - are gazing up at him and cheering or making bedroom eyes. There is a starburst behind him.

"The bigwigs, the 'heroes', they get where they are on the shoulders of us little guys, but do we ever get recognized? Do we ever get a simple 'thank you?'" As Facilier speaks, he grabs the bottom of the card and pulls down; it extends, the bottom of the card dragging out to reveal that the 'elevated platform' that Reize is standing on is... Ivo, on all fours, sweating profusely, and thoroughly ignored by the crowd. As the card reaches its full length, the border at the top of the card shifts slightly, becoming the symbol 'I.'

"Y'all just want a chance to shine!" Facilier declares, jutting his chin out. As he speaks, he's setting the card down, and reching for the third. "But to shine, you gotta get out from underneath all these things weighing you down. You got to be /free./" Facilier sucks in a quick breath, and--

o/` To be free; to be free; that is all you need! o/`
o/` And when I look into your future... o/`

The good Doctor flips the third card over; it's the same picture as the second - before it was stretched down, of course - except Reize has been replaced by Ivo. Curiosly, he is wearing Reize's pendant, and there's a small, heart-shaped hole in his shirt... but this is a minor detail, easily overlooked in the face of the Keyblade Ivo is wielding, and the fact that Avira has very pointedly joined the crowd of cheering onlookers.

o/` It's your freedom I see! o/`

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo's expression of dazed weariness--

"...wh... what..."

--gives way to utter shock and confusion.

His emotional defenses weakened by being compelled to relive once more what his heart aches to cast aside -- all ties to that man, by whose measure he must always be judged, must always judge himself -- Ivo is for the first time truly shaken, and at a loss. He pushes his chair back and then seems to half-lurch out of his chair, then fall back into it, a rare display of absolute discombobulation. "Reize!? Reize is... no, no..." Ivo starts to wave his hands, though he seems more bewildered himself than anything, as though the sight he sees had never occurred to him. "...I don't mind that... I don't need to be the hero... I don't need them to adore me, I just want to have /fun/, you know? I want life to be /interesting/... if I can help other people along the way, that's..."

'You're weak, boy. You waffle.'

"...Reize isn't like me, and I'm not like him..."

'You're gutless, and you call it a virtue.'

"...he's got spirit..."

'You've got no fire, boy.'

"...he's /pure/..."

'You're impure! So...'

"That's not true!" Ivo shouts at the card, or at the words in his head, or maybe at the world, as, eyes widened, emotions deeply buried are exposed within their depths: shame, frustration, confusion, fear -- and resentment.

'...never touch my sword!'

And instinctively, Ivo's hand goes to Hauteclare's hilt, tightening there. It's a tense moment. But he does not seem as though he's going to attack, if only because he is not looking at Facilier. Finally, he slumps, breathing heavily, only for his confusion to deepen further at the final card.

"Freedom... is that..."

Raiya said he was a good person. Those people who believe in him -- the women who believe in him -- they wouldn't be wrong anymore. He wouldn't /be/ a 'scoundrel'. He wouldn't need to live this meandering life. And he wouldn't have to worry about striving to be his father anymore. He would be /better/.

"No... no!"

Ivo lurches to his feet, knocking the chair over, and stumbles, almost tripping over the furniture he's felled. His almost always calm gaze has grown wide, yet he stares at Facilier not with anger or indignation--

"That's not who I am!"

--but with terror.

"That can't... that can't possibly be right!"

Dr. Facilier has posed:
Facilier says nothing, while Ivo's panic rises and he stumbles through his emotions like a bull through a china shop. Instead, he calmly sets the card down back on the table, rests his hands politely in front of him, and waits.

He doesn't react, not really, even when Ivo lurches to his feet... at least not at first. After a few seconds, though, he rises calmly to his feet, and leans forwards to offer his hand to Ivo, palm open and fingers splayed. "Shake my hand," he prompts, giving Ivo his best reassuring smile.

After a beat, he urges, "Come on, son. Don't you wanna know just how far you can go if somebody gives you a real chance?"

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Somewhere, deep down, even after his whole world was consumed by the Darkness, Ivo just doesn't believe in consequences. He's a serious-minded fellow when it counts, but back on his home world, his father's judgment was his sole context of meaning, and when he was rejected, nothing truly mattered. Then his father died, and nothing truly mattered. Then his world vanished--

Ivo is afraid, angry, shocked, confused. He's not convinced. He's not persuaded that this is what he wants, that he wants to /replace/ Reize, that he wants to actually /be/ the kind of man his father said he should be. Isn't there another way? Can't he be happy just as he is?

The sword is heavy at his hip.

"Damn it..."

No, that's just the point, isn't it? His whole world vanished, no one else he knew remaining, leaving him standing alone in an endless expanse of possibility, and /still/, he /still can't let it go/--

"Damn it!"

He's got to see. He's got to find out what all this means.

Desperately, like the instinctive reaching out toward a lifeline of a man who isn't even sure he still wants to live, Ivo seizes the smiling Facilier's grasp.

What could happen, really?

Dr. Facilier has posed:
Ivo shakes Facilier's hand, and--

-- nothing happens.

The handshake persists for a few seconds, and then Facilier releases Ivo's grip and sits back down, resting his hands in front of him again.

"We got ourselves a deal," the good Doctor assures Ivo, with a broad smile. "Now, I can't promise you when it'll happen - or how soon - but I promise you, it ain't gonna be too long. Until then... y'all just need to stick to your guns."

Facilier pauses, glances at the sword at Ivo's hip, and then adds, "Ah, so to speak."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Braced for impact, Ivo clutches Facilier's hand and--

"Eh?"

Eventually released, the knight-errant stares blankly at Facilier, remaining standing as he looks around the still interior of the Emporium, searching for some sort of sign.

"...No singing?"

He doesn't sound disappointed or anything. Just a little surprised.

Well, Facilier had set something of a standard.

"Ah... yeah... alright..." Not quite sure why, Ivo places a hand on his chest, as though seeking something. He feels somehow hollow, though it's probably just his imagination. Or maybe he's just let down about the whole no-singing. "...thanks, Doctor..."

Overwhelmed, he stumbles down the steps to the dais, mind still reeling from what he's encountered. All his insight and he never anticipated for a minute what he'd seen inside those final cards. Could that be what's truly in his heart? He can't believe it. He won't believe it.

But could it be true?

Pausing by the entryway, he turns and looks back at Facilier, still evidently disoriented. "Ah, sorry," he manages. "What, uh... what do I owe you for your services?"

He's a knight, after all. Can't dine and dash.

Dr. Facilier has posed:
Facilier, at Ivo's surprise at the lack of singing, just flashes the man a bright smile.

But he, too, has forgotten the matter of payment, apparently; as Ivo turns to go, he produces the rest of his cards, and begins shuffling Ivo's three back into the deck. He looks up when Ivo speaks up, stares at him in confusion for a moment, and only then lets out a soft 'ah' as he realizes the problem.

"Ah, right, right," he agrees, reaching up to thoughtfully scratch his chin. "Well... you seem like an alright fellow, so how about we say this one is on the house?"

"I'll tell you what, though," he adds, after a beat, "I'd appreciate it if sometime y'all would bring by this friend of yours - Reize? He seems like a fascinating man... I'd just love to do a readin' for him."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Were Ivo in a firmer frame of mind, perhaps this request would pique his curiosity. But the gallant remains uncharacteristically shaken, and even when looking at Facilier his eyes seem to unfocus from time to time, gaze drawn away by hidden ghosts.

"Oh, yeah..." Ivo replies distractedly. "...well, thanks... I'm sure Reize'd be interested too. He's..." The swordsman swallows, looking away, brow furrowing as he turns toward the door, stumbling out.

"...always ready for an adventure."

For some reason, all Ivo can think about right now is the Shard Seeker HQ, the garden, where Lily may be tending to the flowers even now, where Shiki might be sewing, Lenn looking over her wares. Where in the garden, Reize might be sleeping...

He's got to get home.