Chương 92: Chapter Ninety-One: Lady Luck

"I call," Finella said. The northern demon wore a grim expression, her eyes flickering between her rapidly dwindling reserves of coffee and coin, and the two face-down cards in front of Amelia's growing winnings.

"You look like you're about to be walked to the gallows," Tomes said with a sympathetic tilt of his head.

"She can't get lucky three times in a row," Finella said. She spoke as if she were trying to convince herself rather than anyone else.

"She can't, can she?"

"Believe me, she can," Dagon intoned, leaning back on his chair and picking his chunky white teeth with a toothpick. Amelia giggled. It had been fun to watch Finella's overconfidence slowly crumble throughout the evening. She'd been so certain that Amelia's stock of Jimari beans would be hers by the end of the night, and had come out of the gate trying to bully Amelia at the table. That trap had been perfect.

All Amelia had to do was let Finella win a few small pots, gather enough beans for a few cups, and then wait for the right moment to begin her assault. After all, Amelia's enhanced perception gave her a terrifying level of instinct when it came to poker.

"Let's see them then," Tomes said, gesturing. Reluctantly, Finella showed her two cards, prompting a whistle from Dagon.

"Pocket Lords," he said, twirling the toothpick between his fingers.

"No wonder you came out strong. Only a set of three, though." Dagon nodded toward the table, where a row of five cards – placed down by Tomes as the table's dealer – contained another Lord.

"Strong hand," Amelia said, feeling a grin creep up her face.

"Oh no," Dagon said. Finella whimpered, bringing her head down until her forehead hit the table.

"I don't believe it," she moaned.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Mmm…" Amelia hummed happily.

"Well, I have this little Highlord…" She turned over one of her cards.

"And here is his friend, a happy little Greatlord," she flipped over her other face card.

"I believe that makes…" Amelia pushed her two cards into the centre of the table, arranging them with three of the five.

"Ten, Lord, Highlord, Greatlord, Overlord!" she declared triumphantly.

"You chased the straight!?" Finella threw her hands up while Amelia greedily grabbed her winnings.

"You have the angels' luck! Ah… It's so unfair…" Finella deflated in the chair.

"My coffee reserves… I have nothing left to live for…" Oh dear. Well, this was an easy fix, wasn't it?

"Speaking of," Amelia said cheerfully, tapping the table.

"You're back on shift in an hour, aren't you? Want another cup of coffee first?" Amelia picked up a small bag of ground Jimari and waggled it. With how the demon's eyes dilated, Amelia thought she might leap across the table then and there. Luckily, Finella restrained herself just long enough for Amelia to brew each of them a cup of coffee, and soon they were chatting happily while Tomes busied himself shuffling the deck.

She wanted to ask what the human deck of cards looked like, but figured it would only raise suspicions. In Cascadia, the face cards, which Amelia expected to be Jack, Queen, and King, were instead Lord, Highlord, and Greatlord. Overlords replaced the four Aces, and the Jester, which they weren't playing with, had become the Empress. Instead of the four suits she was familiar with, a standard Cascadian deck of cards consisted of purple, blue, red, and green—colours to match the moons of the Empire's Terra-Firmas.

The yellow of Centralis was left out, but apparently, there were larger decks that included it.

"Seven hells," Tomes intoned after sipping the coffee.

"It's going to be hard to go back to rations after this. It almost feels like a mistake, letting my tongue realise what could be."

"We get the crap stuff they can't sell elsewhere," Finella explained. The northern demon's attitude had flipped. She sat up straight, her previous losses forgotten due to the magic of Jimari coffee.

"It's the Yameni off-blends that Centralis turns their nose up at. It's not bad, you just need to make it twice as strong to get a semblance of flavour. Ahh… but this"–Finella took a sip–"is bliss. If the gods drank coffee, they would surely drink Jimari."

"They should pay you to advertise," Dagon grumbled.

"The dream…" Finella mumbled as Tomes dealt the next hand. Amelia placed her cup down and checked her cards. Seven two. Off-colour. Statistically, the worst hand. Well, she could let Finella win a little back, couldn't she? It wasn't like Amelia needed the coin or the coffee. She was just happy to make new friends and had already decided to wrap up a moderate amount of Jimari beans as an upcoming Christmas present for Finella.

When it was Amelia's turn she called, throwing a few copper taks – the smallest denomination of Cascadian currency – into the centre.

"So, Finella," Amelia continued.

"You served on the Vengeance before, right?"

"Call." Finella stated, throwing in her own taks.

"I served from forty-three to forty-five. Eighteen months before I, uh, took that training sabbatical the Cap'n mentioned. Spent the last year at an aetherscope facility in the skies above Tanhae and Kenhoro."

"You worked in sensors?" Amelia asked.

"You seem like a pretty good warrior, though!"

"The Purple Moon blessed me with a good brain and a good sword arm," Finella answered.

"I was going to serve in the army, the Northern Army, that is. This was back in forty-two when the fighting reached its worst, after the Federation started pumping in military aid. As a Northerner who could manifest a decent red, I assumed I would be on a fast track to squad commander. But…" Finella trailed off as she sipped her coffee.

"My family pushed me in another direction. I got recommended for a position here, as a junior analyst."

"Mmm?" Amelia tilted her head.

"Why?"

"I suspect it was my eldest sister. She was friendly with the Cap'n. They both trained together in Asamaywa. I think she wanted to keep me out of danger and assumed a position on a ship was less dangerous than the frontlines. Which, I suppose, it is …" Finella glanced at Dagon and Tomes, grinning slightly.

"But considering the missions we went on, I feel I might have been better off being shelled in some bunker under Republican soil."

"Now you're back, twisting our horns," Tomes said with a chuckle.

"Back with a promotion," Finella said, raising a clarifying finger.

"I've got a squad to look after. They might be a bunch of softhorns now, but by the time we reach the South, I'll have them whipped into shape."

"Yeah," Tomes said, dealing out the first three cards into the centre of the table.

"That's if our munitions reserves can last your training." Finella mumbled a reply while Amelia examined the table cards. Two sevens and a nine. She sighed internally. She was awfully lucky, wasn't she?

"Raise," Amelia said when it came to her turn, throwing a few more taks and two chits – the next denomination up – into the centre.

"I heard you were shooting targets on deck," she said to Finella.

"How are they doing?"

"Officer Mori and the twins are above average, for sure. Mori's swordsmanship and aura are excellent, considering her age and experience. Uh, I call," Finella said, pushing some coins into the table.

"The twins are decent, they might reach orange in a few months. Ido is stronger, but Arin is one hell of a marksman. Apparently, she used to hunt in the Fengra lowlands. They'll go far. It's the cadets I'm worried about."

"Oh?" Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Noburu and Seonmi?"

"They're determined, just…" Finella sighed.

"They're not soldiers. Not yet, anyway. I'm going to try and talk to the Cap'n about it when I can. It doesn't help that they don't inspire confidence. Especially that Noburu." Finella glanced at the rest of them.

"Missing two fingers."

"Right," Tomes said, nodding.

"Surprised the Cap'n let a former thief on board," Dagon said, scratching his chin.

"I call, by the way." The First Officer put his money into the centre of the table.

"Cap'n must have a good reason."

"Mmm," Amelia hummed, coming to a decision. Looking up, she saw everyone was looking at her.

"That wasn't a mmm in that I know the reason," she quickly explained. Amelia did know the reason, but that wasn't what her humming was about.

"That was a mmm in that I'll offer to heal his fingers when I next see him. Feels silly not to, right?"

"You… you can do that?" Finella asked, her eyes growing wide and mouth opening in shock.

"Yeah, so if you're ever injured, come to me!"

"Moons…" Finella muttered.

"I'd like to see that. Can you regrow horns?"

"Horns and limbs," Tomes interjected.

"Pretty sure her magic regenerates lost blood, as well. She did good work after the battle of Port Highwind. Really helped her fit in with the crew." Tomes sniffed, his mouth curling slightly.

"Well, that and her kitchen work."

"Kitchen work?" Finella asked.

"Urgh," Amelia groaned.

"Cooking sardis."

"Sardis!?" Finella blurted out.

"When did you all start eating like highlords?"

"Since Miss Thornheart here figured she could use her magic to help capture them," Dagon answered, giving Amelia an appreciative nod that she eagerly returned. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Sardis… Jimari beans… what a life…" Finella murmured.

"What was so bad about cooking it? Is it not fitting for human tongues?"

"No, it's the endless amount of washing up the head chef made me do afterwards!" Amelia complained, prompting the table to laugh.

"Ah, so he's still the same," Finella replied happily.

"Come on, Tomes, deal. I'm feeling lucky this time." Tomes dealt another card. A Lord joined the two sevens and nine. Amelia's instincts tickled her. Tomes liked seeing that nine, while it didn't seem to affect Dagon and Finella's hands. Tomes raised. She decided to play it safe and see what would happen with the final card.

"Call," she said, moving some of her winnings into the table's centre.

"I'd like to attend some of your training sessions," she said to Finella.

"Both to practice my red aura, and to get some experience with shooting the rifles." From Finella's description, it sounded like they practised something similar to clay-pigeon shooting in Amelia's old world. While she now felt quite comfortable holding a sword, she hadn't yet used a firearm.

"Sure," Finella said.

"I'm going to get the mages involved as well. For an unusual squad like this, it's important they all train together as much as possible. Especially this Daichi, who seems like he has the most firepower out of everyone else. Well…" Finella tapped the table thoughtfully.

"Not including yourself and the Cap'n, of course." She punctuated her sentence by throwing some coins into the table's centre.

"I call."

"Mmm, sure!" Amelia responded.

"What makes this team so unusual?"

"Too many aura users and mages. If it weren't for Noburu and Seonmi, everyone would be an aether user."

"Is that a problem?"

"Can be," Finella answered, taking a sip of coffee.

"Typically, a squad wouldn't have so many aura users. Normally, only the commander and perhaps their second-in-command would be able to use aether. As I'm sure you know, using magic and aura feels good. It feels powerful. Those feelings can quickly cause ego to develop, and then from there…" Finella gestured with her hands.

"Chaos. Imagine if you develop your aura or magic equal to or beyond that of those who command you. It creates arguments. That's why, normally, Officer Mori, Officer Ishitani, Officer Aikawa, and our two Officer twins would each have their own squad, or be second-in-command of someone else's.

"I heard that the Dragon disbanded your ground forces, right? So now we have a group of newly-minted officers, each eager to do their part, all piled together like coals in a furnace. The problem is they don't have people below to command. Without that, they won't have the validation of their two years of hard work at the Academy." Finella shrugged.

"I'm worried about what the future will bring. They need to work well with each other. That's why it's important to have them train together. Not that you shouldn't or can't take Officer Ishitani and Aikawa for private magic training. Just keep them available for when I need them."

"No worries," Amelia nodded. Finella's words made sense. Amelia's formal education in Asamaywa had quickly brought her up to speed on the rigorous academic discipline of magic theory. She now knew all the nomenclature and was able to help Hinako and Daichi far more than before. Her own aether control continued to increase and she found it easier to isolate individual subformations and demonstrate their construction to her two disciples.

While neither of them could use the Simultaneous Construction method as naturally as she could, they were making good progress. Dagon folded, bringing the action back to Tomes, who dealt the last card. It was a two. Oh dear, Amelia thought. A full house. This is going to be fun. Tomes raised and, after some deliberation, Amelia reraised.

"No straight for you today," Finella said, peering into Amelia's eyes.

"What are you hiding? You've got a seven, haven't you?"

"Who knows?" Amelia said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Guess there's only one way for you to find out, isn't there?"

"Going to cost you a lot to see her," Dagon said, resuming to pick his teeth.

"Haven't got much coin or coffee left."

"Don't think about what you have now," Amelia said encouragingly.

"Think about the coffee you'll have after you beat me!"

"Hmmm…" Finella said, narrowing her eyes.

"That's a bluff if I ever saw one," Dagon teased.

"Hmmm…" Finella looked indecisive.

"I need… time to think."

"Sure, sure," Amelia said, resting her cheek against her fist.

"Take as much as you need." While her prey hesitated, Amelia decided to distract her with some more conversation.

"How's Aiden fitting in?" she asked.

"Aiden?" Finella frowned.

"Oh, Officer Adachi. Pretty well. Seems to get airsick a lot. Might not be much of a sailor, but it's nice to have a pretty face to look at every now and again. Why, you know him?"

"We met a few months ago, but we've become friends. Ask him what happened when we first met in Kenhoro. He'll love to tell you about that." At her words, Tomes chuckled. Amelia turned to face him.

"You know?" she asked.

"I heard rumours. Soldiers in barracks hear all kinds of gossip. Besides, it was somewhat overshadowed by the fight." Tomes shrugged and finished his coffee.

"Looking forward to seeing what chaos you bring to the South, Miss Thornheart."

"Hey!" Amelia pouted, blowing up her cheeks.

"You look like a squirrel preparing for winter," Dagon intoned coolly. Tomes and Finella burst out laughing. Idiot demons! Well, she would bid her time and when the time was right… she would win all their–"Was that the Kenhoro Speaker fight? Three… four months ago?" Finella asked, looking between Amelia and the others.

"Just wondering. We picked it up with our aetherscope. Were you involved?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Uh," Amelia said. She didn't think it was a great secret, but she probably shouldn't be so forthcoming about things, just in case she let something slip.

"Maybe," Amelia said.

"Just asking," Finella said, raising her hands in a gesture of peace.

"We picked up some strange readings. Never figured out what spells they were. Just thinking that it might have been some of your human magic. We figured out the Cap'n was there, so…" Finella shrugged. Strange readings? Could that have been when Amelia, furious at Serena's injuries, had infused her voice with some of her instinctive power and given the lower demon gods a good verbal lashing? It was crazy to think that Finella was there at that time, observing the fight through an aetherscope in the skies.

Small world, Amelia thought.

"A Speaker keeps their cards close to their chest," Amelia replied with a smile.

"Speaking of, are you going to call my raise and win back all your losses?"

"Definitely a bluff," Dagon warned.

"Unless she's got lucky four times in a row."

"Let me… let me think!" Finella waved Dagon away.

"Thinking… thinking…" Finella idly played with her coins.

"Hey," she said after a moment of deliberation.

"When did you leave Kenhoro?"

"Just before storm season," Amelia answered.

"You didn't…" Finella swallowed.

"Happen to travel south, towards Shimashina, did you?" Ah. Finella must have detected her Asclepius embodiment. Now she was probing! What a sneaky northern demon!

"I might tell you, if you win," Amelia said, nodding towards the table.

"Might…" mumbled Finella.

"And if you lose, I'll make you another Jimari coffee," Amelia added.

"Call!" Finella declared with finality.

"Call," Tomes said.

"Let's see it." The quartermaster showed his cards, revealing a nine and a two. He'd hit two pairs. Not bad. She cast an expectant look towards Finella, prompting the demon to sigh and flip over her hand. A seven and a Greatlord.

"Whoa!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Another set! Lady luck is on your side, Finella!"

"I hope so, she's been stabbing me in the back all night," came the grumbled reply.

"Let's see the damage. What have you got?"

"Well," Amelia began cheerfully.

"I have this little seven." She flipped over one card.

"And…"

"Purple Moon, grant me strength," Finella said quietly, her hands grasped together in prayer.

"... And this little two," Amelia said, flipping over her last card, showing her full house.

"Argh!" Finella stood up, reaching her arms to the ceiling.

"You played seven two!? I can't believe it! I'm cursed!"

"One demon's curse is another human's blessing," Amelia intoned, gathering her winnings.

"Is that…" Finella's arms came down as she turned to Amelia.

"A real saying?"

"No, I just made it up. Look at all this coffee I won!"

"Right!" Finella clasped her hands together.

"That's it! New game! How about we play Drunk Demon's Hand?"

"Hope you aren't suggesting to drink before your shift, Officer Bright," Dagon said dryly.

"No, no!" Finella said quickly.

"We can drink coffee, right? Our lovely, lucky, Amelia here suggested she would be happy to supply, right?"

"You'll drink your cup before we finish the first round," Tomes pointed out.

"I have a better idea." The quartermaster stood up and fished around under his desk.

"Here we are," he said, bringing a briefcase and placing it on the desk.

"Since our resident human is so good at demon games, let's see if her luck holds when we play a human game."

"You still have that old thing?" Dagon said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Takes you back, doesn't it? Remember when we won big in Talik?"

"I remember, alright."

"What… what is it?" Amelia asked.

"I'll make coffee!" Finella called out, jumping out of her seat.

"You set up!"

"This is an old game," Tomes said, his voice taking on his storytelling voice.

"Both this set and the game itself. If I remember my ancient history, humans brought this game with them when they first appeared in the Known World, two thousand years ago. Anathor once told me that, even back then, the game was thousands of years old. This is…" Tomes flipped the latches and opened the briefcase, revealing that it wasn't a briefcase but a folded board with a dozen vertical markings, split into four quadrants. On one side, there were two sets of white and black discs.

Between them, there was a set of dice and a leather dice cup.

"This is backgammon," Tomes intoned seriously.

"Very popular in the desert. Have you ever played, Miss Thornheart?"

"No!" Amelia replied enthusiastically.

"But I've heard of it! Can you explain the rules?"

"You hear that, Finella?" Dagon called to the northern demon, who was taking the opportunity to brew an extra-large amount of Jimari coffee when she thought Amelia wasn't paying attention.

"Miss Thornheart is unfamiliar with the game; this is our chance to win it all back!"

"I can feel the Empress smiling on me," Finella replied happily.

"I can feel the luck flowing into me! Here you go, everyone!" Finella set about handing out everyone their coffees while Tomes explained the purpose of the game to Amelia.

"It's only for two people," Tomes explained.

"But we'll watch you and Finella play. You both roll two dice, and the purpose is to move all your pieces around the board and back home, where you can then remove them. The person who removes all their pieces first wins." Tomes went on to explain the concepts of capturing and protecting space and other simple tactics.

"Don't tell her too much!" Finella interrupted, hushing the patient quartermaster.

"The best way to learn is to play! Isn't that right, Dagon?"

"Right you are," Dagon replied casually, picking his teeth. Amelia giggled. Well, she'd won enough throughout the night. It was fine to give Finella a handicap, wasn't it?

"I think I get it," Amelia said, tapping the table.

"I'll bet all the coffee I won tonight." Dagon whistled.

"Can you handle that heat, Finella?"

"I… I can!" Finella clenched her fist.

"I'll have to dig into my strategic reserves, but I can match it! Let's do this!" Finella sat opposite Amelia, her eyes full of determination. They rolled to see who would go first. Amelia won.

"So," she said, placing the two dice into the leather dice cup and giving them a good shake.

"What's the best opening move?"

"Hmm…" Tomes scratched his chin.

"There are a few, and depending on what you roll, there are some known best moves. But… I think most people would agree that if you roll a three and a one, you can perform the best opening move in the game, allowing you to capture this point"–Tomes indicated one of the vertical slots–"called the Golden Point. Of course, you have to roll a three and a one."

"Mmm, I see," Amelia nodded. Finella licked her lips, no doubt thinking of all the coffee she would win. Amelia stopped shaking and poured the pair of dice onto the board. They tumbled for a moment before stopping still. Dagon burst out laughing. Oh dear. She was awfully lucky, wasn't she?