The woman, who had glanced at him indiscriminately, was now full of discrimination as she heard the question. She opened her mouth but closed it again, performing a tilt of her head in disbelief.
Ellis waited patiently with narrowed eyes. Was it that hard of a question? If even a future-seeing (claimed by the sign outside the tent) person couldn't tell him what was an omega, then who could he ask? The high priest? The main character? Or that goddess of love and... he didn't really remember the other things about her.
"Do you not know what I'm asking?"
The woman stayed silent for a second before asking, with a slightly raised eyebrow:
"Was that a serious question?"
"Did it not seem like one?"
Ellis said in a dejected tone. Maybe he should just ask her about the tag directly.
"Then what is omegaverse?"
He rephrased his earlier question, but this time the woman's face expressed a clear sign that she had no clue about this at all. Nevertheless, he didn't give up.
"Just answer the first question... what is an omega? What does it have to do with an Alpha?"
The woman listened in silence before clapping her hands together with a thunderous crack. A burst of white powder erupted into the air, drifting in a cloud around them. Ellis coughed harshly, waving his hand in front of his face as the sudden spray scattered toward him.
"You're an omega, aren't you?"
The woman confidently announced.
"You can tell? How?"
Mid coughing session, Ellis's eyes lit up with a spark.
"Tsk tsk... you shouldn't walk outside without a collar. The world is a scary place, yet you want to test your petty luck. Haven't you heard how some alphas who detest omegas mark them and throw them on the streets the next day?"
"Alphas can mark an omega? Why? How? A collar can stop them from marking?"
Seeing how naive Ellis was, the woman pulled out a blackboard and a white chalk to demonstrate with illustrations for the poor young man who didn't even know what he was. Ellis paid proper attention to the blackboard as the woman drew a line and a zero one after another.
"You see this line, this is an Alpha."
"The one next to it is the omega."
The woman pointed with her index finger at them calmly.
"But why is the omega a zero and the alpha is number one?"
Seeing that he was an omega and not number one pressed the wrong buttons in his head. He had always strived so hard to get number one in everything, yet here he was, getting a certified zero on his new life. How could he accept such injustice?
"Don't think too hard."
The woman slapped his hand lightly to snap him out of his thoughts.
"It's easier to remember like this. You can take the zero for the 'O' in Omega, and for the Alpha there's no need for it to be so complicated, so a line is perfect."
Ellis nodded, enlightened by the woman's words. He wasn't that easy to fool, but the woman was excellent in convincing him.
"Now that we have both of them here, let's write down their characteristics and what makes them an omega and an alpha."
The woman started with the alpha: ridiculously tall and powerful, good at everything they do, can choose and mark an omega of their choice... the more she wrote, the more Ellis's face darkened in the dim light.
And then she began to write the traits of an omega: sickly-looking appearance, beauties in their own regard, can attract any alphas of their choice, can be tied down by a mark...
"Stop. This is enough."
"There's more."
"I don't want to see more."
The woman's hand holding the white chalk dropped. She appeared too enthusiastic to write frightening stuff about omegas, but Ellis could hardly digest what he had just read. He was still skeptical, to say the least.
"What is this mark you're talking about?"
"A mark is a permanent stamp. It cannot be removed. When an alpha bites an omega on their pheromone glands, they're imprinted to the alpha for life. It cannot be reversed. That's why it's dangerous, and all omegas are obligated to wear a collar for their own safety that can prevent an alpha from reaching the pheromone gland."
The words flew over his head; he only captured some of them.
"So I should be wearing a collar at all times. Got it."
Ellis spoke with an air of nonchalance, but his fingers were already busily fastening all the buttons of his collar to the top. He had left some buttons open on purpose, but after this not a single part of his nape would be visible.
"And what about betas?"
The woman, wiping the blackboard with a cloth, didn't even glance at him as she emotionlessly replied:
"Beta is 'B' for basic."
That's pretty self-explanatory...
"Do you sell any collars?"
"Unfortunately I don't, but..."
The woman slid the blackboard back into a shadowed corner where no light touched, then rummaged beneath the table for a while. At last, a smile spread across her face as she set a neatly folded white handkerchief upon the low table.
"I have something more valuable."
Despite himself, Ellis found his curiosity piqued. The woman clearly intended to sell him some overpriced trinket—typical behavior for self-proclaimed fortune-tellers across every era. Still, he quickly masked his interest and spoke, appearing indifferent.
"What's this?"
"This will protect you in the future."
The woman spoke with solemn reverence as she carefully unfolded the white handkerchief. Nestled within was a single grain of white rice—so small it was underwhelming him.