Announcent
Rumour has it that there's a lot of Jimari-coffee giveaways in the series ! Or maybe not... either way it's a cosy place to chat and et fellow Alia adorkableness lovers ^.^ Co say hi!
“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 Alia’s growing winnings.
“You look like you’re about to be walked to the gallows,” Tos said with a sympathetic tilt of his head.
“She can’t get lucky three tis 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 , she can,” Dagon intoned, leaning back on his chair and picking his chunky white teeth with a toothpick.
Alia giggled.
It had been fun to watch Finella’s overconfidence slowly crumble throughout the evening. She’d been so certain that Alia's stock of Jimari beans would be hers by the end of the night, and had co out the gate trying to bully Alia at the table. That trap had been perfect. All Alia had to do was let Finella win a few small pots, gather enough beans for a few cups, and then wait for the right mont to begin her assault.
After all, Alia’s enhanced perception gave her a terrifying level of instinct when it ca to poker.
“Let’s see them then,” Tos gestured.
Reluctantly, Finella showed her two cards, prompting a whistle from Dagon.
“Pocket Lords,” he said, twirling the toothpick between his fingers. “No wonder you ca out strong. Only a set of three, though.” Dagon nodded toward the table, where a row of five cards – placed down by Tos as the table’s dealer – contained another Lord.
“Strong hand,” Alia 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 you’re joking.”
“Mmm…” Alia humd 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…” Alia 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 Alia 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,” Alia said cheerfully, tapping the table. “You’re back on shift in an hour, aren’t you? Want another cup of coffee first?” Alia picked up a small bag of ground Jimari and waggled it.
With how the demon’s eyes dilated, Alia thought she might leap across the table then and there. Luckily, Finella restrained herself just long enough for Alia to brew each of them a cup of coffee, and soon they were chatting happily while Tos 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 Alia 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 beco the Empress.
Instead of the four suits she was familiar with, a standard Cascadian deck of cards consisted of purple, blue, red, and orange—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,” Tos 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 Yeni 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 Tos dealt the next hand.
Alia 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 Alia 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 Alia’s turn she called, throwing a few copper taks – the smallest denomination of Cascadian currency – into the centre. “So, Finella,” Alia 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 ntioned. Spent the last year at an aetherscope facility in the skies above Tanhae and Kenhoro.”
“You worked in sensors?” Alia asked. “You seem like a pretty good warrior, though!”
“The Purple Moon blessed 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 assud I would be on a fast track to squad commander. But…” Finella trailed off as she sipped her coffee. “My family pushed in another direction. I got recomnded for a position here, as a junior analyst.”
“Mmm?” Alia 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 out of danger and assud a position on a ship was less dangerous than the frontlines. Which, I suppose, it is…” Finella glanced at Dagon and Tos, grinning slightly. “But considering the missions we went on, I feel I might have been better off being shelled in so bunker under Republican soil.”
“Now you’re back, twisting our horns,” Tos 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 ti we reach the South, I’ll have them whipped into shape.”
“Yeah,” Tos 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 Alia examined the table cards.
Two sevens and a nine.
She sighed internally. She was awfully lucky, wasn’t she?
“Raise,” Alia said when it ca to her turn, throwing a few more taks and two chits – the next largest denomination – 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 so 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?” Alia 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,” Tos said, nodding.
“Surprised the Cap’n let a forr 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,” Alia humd, 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. Alia 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, co to !”
“Moons…” Finella muttered. “I’d like to see that. Can you regrow horns?”
“Horns and limbs,” Tos 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.” Tos sniffed, his mouth curling slightly. “Well, that and her kitchen work.”
“Kitchen work?” Finella asked.
“Urgh,” Alia 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 Alia an appreciative nod that she eagerly returned.
“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 do afterwards!” Alia complained, prompting the table to laugh.
“Ah, so he’s still the sa,” Finella replied happily. “Co on, Tos, deal. I’m feeling lucky this ti.”
Tos dealt another card.
A Lord joined the two sevens and ten.
Alia's instincts tickled her. Tos liked seeing that ten, while it didn’t seem to affect Dagon and Finella’s hands. Tos raised. She decided to play it safe and see what would happen with the final card.
“Call,” she said, moving so of her winnings into the table’s centre. “I’d like to attend so of your training sessions,” she said to Finella. “Both to practice my red aura, and to get so experience with shooting the rifles.” From Finella’s description, it sounded like they practised sothing similar to clay-pigeon shooting in Alia’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 so coins into the table’s centre. “I call.”
“Mmm, sure!” Alia 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 argunts. 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 soone 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,” Alia nodded. Finella’s words made sense. Alia’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 nonclature 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 thod as naturally as she could, they were making good progress.
Dagon folded, bringing the action back to Tos, who dealt the last card.
It was a two.
Oh dear, Alia thought. A full house. This is going to be fun.
Tos raised and, after so deliberation, Alia reraised.
“No straight for you today,” Finella said, peering into Alia’s eyes. “What are you hiding? You’ve got a seven, haven’t you?”
“Who knows?” Alia 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,” Alia said encouragingly. “Think about the coffee you’ll have after you beat !”
“Hmmm…” Finella said, narrowing her eyes.
“That’s a bluff if I ever saw one,” Dagon teased.
“Hmmm…” Finella looked indecisive. “I need… ti to think.”
“Sure, sure,” Alia said, resting her cheek against her fist. “Take as much as you need.”
While her prey hesitated, Alia decided to distract her with so 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 t a few months ago, but we’ve beco friends. Ask him what happened when we first t in Kenhoro. He’ll love to tell you about that.” At her words, Tos chuckled. Alia turned to face him. “You know?” she asked.
“I heard rumours. Soldiers in barracks hear all kinds of gossip. Besides, it was sowhat overshadowed by the fight.” Tos shrugged and finished his coffee. “Looking forward to seeing what chaos you bring to the South, Miss Thornheart.”
“Hey!” Alia pouted, blowing up her cheeks.
“You look like a squirrel preparing for winter,” Dagon intoned coolly.
Tos and Finella burst out laughing.
Idiot demons!
Well, she would bid her ti and when the ti was right… she would win all their–
“Was that the Kenhoro Speaker fight? Three… four months ago?” Finella asked, looking between Alia and the others. “Just wondering. We picked it up with our aetherscope. Were you involved?” she asked, tilting her head.
“Uh,” Alia 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 sothing slip. “Maybe,” Alia said.
“Just asking,” Finella said, raising her hands in a gesture of peace. “We picked up so strange readings. Never figured out what spells they were. Just thinking that it might have been so of your human magic. We figured out the Cap’n was there, so…” Finella shrugged.
Strange readings? Could that have been when Alia, furious at Serena’s injuries, had infused her voice with so 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 ti, observing the fight through an aetherscope in the skies.
Small world, Alia thought.
“A Speaker keeps their cards close to their chest,” Alia 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 tis in a row.”
“Let … let think!” Finella waved Dagon away. “Thinking… thinking…” Finella idly played with her coins. “Hey,” she said after a mont of deliberation. “When did you leave Kenhoro?”
“Just before storm season,” Alia answered.
“You didn’t…” Finella swallowed. “Happen to travel south, towards Shimashina, did you?”
Ah.
Finella must have detected her Asclepius embodint.
Now she was probing!
What a sneaky northern demon!
“I might tell you, if you win,” Alia said, nodding towards the table.
“Might…” mumbled Finella.
“And if you lose, I’ll make you another Jimari coffee,” Alia added.
“Call!” Finella declared with finality.
“Call,” Tos said. “Let’s see it.” The quartermaster showed his cards, revealing a ten 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!” Alia exclaid. “Another set! Lady luck is on your side, Finella!”
“I hope so, she’s been stabbing in the back all night,” ca the grumbled reply. “Let’s see the damage. What have you got?”
“Well,” Alia began cheerfully. “I have this little seven.” She flipped over one card. “And…”
“Purple Moon, grant strength,” Finella said quietly, her hands grasped together in prayer.
“...And this little two,” Alia 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,” Alia intoned, gathering her winnings.
“Is that…” Finella’s arms ca down as she turned to Alia. “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 ga! 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, Alia here suggested she would be happy to supply, right?”
“You’ll drink your cup before we finish the first round,” Tos 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 gas, let’s see if her luck holds when we play a human ga.”
“You still have that old thing?” Dagon said, his eyes twinkling with amusent.
“Takes you back, doesn’t it? Rember when we won big in Talik?”
“I rember, alright.”
“What… what is it?” Alia asked.
“I’ll make coffee!” Finella called out, jumping out of her seat. “You set up!”
“This is an old ga,” Tos said, his voice taking on his storytelling voice. “Both this set and the ga itself. If I rember my ancient history, humans brought this ga with them when they first appeared in the Known World, two thousand years ago. Anathor once told that, even back then, the ga was thousands of years old. This is…” Tos 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,” Tos intoned seriously. “Very popular in the desert. Have you ever played, Miss Thornheart?”
“No!” Alia 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 Alia wasn’t paying attention. “Miss Thornheart is unfamiliar with the ga; this is our chance to win it all back!”
“I can feel the Empress smiling on ,” Finella replied happily. “I can feel the luck flowing into ! Here you go, everyone!” Finella set about handing out everyone their coffees while Tos explained the purpose of the ga to Alia.
“It’s only for two people,” Tos 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 ho, where you can then remove them. The person who removes all their pieces first wins.” Tos 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.
Alia 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,” Alia 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 Alia, her eyes full of determination.
They rolled to see who would go first.
Alia 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…” Tos scratched his chin. “There are a few, and depending on what you roll, there are so 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 ga, allowing you to capture this point”–Tos indicated one of the vertical slots–”called the Golden Point. Of course, you have to roll a three and a one.”
“Mmm, I see,” Alia nodded.
Finella licked her lips, no doubt thinking of all the coffee she would win.
Alia stopped shaking and poured the pair of dice onto the board. They tumbled for a mont before stopping still.
Dagon burst out laughing.
Oh dear.
She was awfully lucky, wasn’t she?
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