"The Hermit. The Hanged Man. The Empress. The Fool. The Chariot."

Give up your friends. Give up your body. Give up your life. Give up your fate. Give up your mind.

"What..." she pauses for a second or so, struggling to order her thoughts. "What is the nature of each of the choices?"

"They are choices of a new life, in a new world."

Their nature is cruel and unforgiving.

"What are the differences between the choices?" she tries.

(Hermit, Hanged Man, Empress, Fool. The Chariot means 'give up your mind' and that is not even worth considering, but she doesn't know what the rest mean yet, not enough to understand them.)

"What you will have to sacrifice."

Impatience. Boredom. A catlike tendency to play with its food.

Okay, maybe if she gets more specific...

"What does the Hermit choice do?"

"It will grant you the power to manifest an aura, but you will no longer be able to express your emotions."

With one's soul all bottled up like that, no wonder it starts lashing out, trying to escape.

"What does the Hanged Man choice do?"

"Eternal youth, at the price of never growing up. High status, at the price of scrutiny."

Everything you might want, at the price of having it. Ah, wishes and their wishers...

"What does the," what was the next one, "Empress choice do?"

"It will grant you strength, at the cost of battle eternal."

Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Or by my bare hands. Whichever is more fun.

"What does the Fool choice do?"

"Choose your fate. Choose your life. Become a different person."

What an ironic thing, to be chained down by the weight of your past self...

"What else do they do?" she says, frustrated.

"All of them will grant you power, in one way or another."

Go on then, make a choice...

"...The Fool lets me choose more things?"

"Yes."

Damn it, she's one of the attentive ones.

"Which choices let me choose more things?"

"All of them."

Poker face...

Hermit, Hanged Man, Empress, Fool...

"What are all the more things the Hermit lets me choose?"

The shadow tenses, swallowing hard - then the golden chains threaded through its mouth compel it to form words.

"The body type, strengths and weaknesses of your new body. Lifespan, as associated with the strength of your body's aura. The manifestation of your aura's power. The talent that you will gain. The ways that your aura will be etched, and the techniques of its use that you will know."

Damn it damn it damn it damn it!

"What's an aura and what does it have to do with lifespan?"

"Auras are expressions of the power of one's soul. The stronger the Aura, the longer one lives."

Vague resentment, held in check by golden chains...

Hermit: body things, aura things. Okay...

"What are all the more things the Hanged Man lets me choose?"

"The body type, strengths and weaknesses of your new body. When your body will stop aging. The reputation of your family. Your demonic heritage. Your bodyguard. The supernatural strengths of your demonic body, and the tomes of forbidden knowledge that will come into your possession."

Boredom and half-interested cruelty, as its lips are shaped and moulded by the magic.