Blood dripped down with a steady 'pat pat' sound on the stone floor of wherever he was kept.
A sharp blade was pressed against his skin for what felt like the thousandth time that evening and his bound wrists twitched in fearful anticipation of his skin being sliced open again.
"So that's how long it took for your body to fear the blade." His assailant said, voice low and harsh as he used the knife to force his face upwards to look in cold blue eyes in a pale face framed with dark hair. "I admit it's impressive, Setzer."
"I just hope you're satisfied by now Kiran." Setzer managed, though his voice trembled more then he liked.
"We're just getting started." The other man said. "One slice for every piece of Gil you owe me, remember?"
"I'll expire before you're even halfway through!" Setzer said, eyes widening in fear. Kiran just shrugged, taking the knife away from Setzer's bare chest, who couldn't help but lightly sigh in relief.
"That was the idea." He said. "It's not like I walk away empty-handed. That precious airship of yours is as good as mine, too."
"That wasn't part of the deal!" Setzer said. "You keep your hands off the Blackjack!" He slightly raised from the chair, only for Kiran to slice across his face, a spray of blood splattering on the floor as he was forced back into the chair.
"You're in no place to make demands." Kiran said. "And I'm not about to let that ship rot away in a cave somewhere."
"Go to hell!"
"Boss?" Suddenly came from the door, relieving the tension somewhat as Kiran sighed in frustration.
"Can't you see I'm busy?" He said, turning to the opened door to look at one of his flunkies.
"Dan's gotten into a bad situation again."
"I have to do everything around here…" Kiran muttered as he pocketed the knife. "Don't die on me." With that, he left the dark room. Setzer let out a deep, laboured breath.
"What a year." He muttered to himself. Because that's what this was; the culmination of the worst year of his life. "I should have never taken that offer…"
One year prior
"And Mister Gabbiani takes the table again." The announcer said as all chips on the roulette table were being shoved towards the grinning man amongst a choir of defeated groans.
"I think that's enough for the night." Setzer said with a grin on his face as he pocketed the chips and got ready to cash out. As he was walking through the casino, he suddenly heard clapping.
In one of the quieter corners of the casino stood a rather small man, dressed in all purple and strangest of all, had purple eyes, grinning widely and clapping while looking at Setzer.
Setzer grinned as he bowed for the applause before approaching the man.
"And here I taught a good game was no longer appreciated."
"I don't really care about the little ball that sets back so many people." The man said. "But I do love to see someone having such a tight grasp on his own luck." Setzer had to repeat that phrase in his own head a few times.
"Are you accusing me of cheating?" He eventually asked, letting some annoyance seep through as he crossed his arms.
"Far from it." The man said."If anything, you're probably the most fair person I've seen in a long while." With that, the grin widened. Setzer didn't believe it could. "You just have so much luck that you're able to do with it what you want. And you're just who I was looking for."
This caused Setzer to raise an eyebrow.
"I'm not looking for any sort of partner." He answered.
"That's not what I mean. See it as more of a deal." The other man said. "You see, I want some of that luck of yours."
"As in, you literally want my luck?" Setzer scoffed. "Alright, I'll bite; what do I get out of this?" He asked.
"Oh don't worry, you'll get something magnificent in return, I'll make sure of it. See, here's the deal; you give me a year's worth of your luck and at the end of that year, I will make sure you'll be imbued with Chaos Magic."
"Chaos magic?" Setzer asked with interest. He knew about magic, but Chaos magic? That was new to him. It sounded intriguing, though.
"Yes! A rare, powerful kind of magic. If you have the guts for it." The stranger said.
"And you will give it to me… for a year's worth of my luck?" This was met with a nod. Setzer stroked his chin before shrugging. "Why not? If anything, it will make my life far more interesting if it's true."
"Great!" The stranger said, holding out his hand. Setzer shook it with a smile. As he did so, he could see a faint purple glow coming from their hands. As the other man let go, he looked at it, seeing faint symbols glowing in his palm. However, when he looked closer, they were gone.
"Was that part of the…?" He started asking but when he looked up, the stranger was gone. Setzer blinked before shaking his head. "Of course he would." He eventually muttered. He looked at his hand again, before looking at the chips he still had. Did he really just give up his luck for a year? It seemed so surreal. On one hand he wanted to try this out. On the other… It was getting late. The thing to do was to cash out and go to sleep. He had plenty of time to see how bad his luck was another day….
Back into the present, Setzer couldn't help but smile bitterly at his own foolishness. The last year had been the worst of his life. At first it didn't seem so bad. Sure, he lost more games then he won, which hit his wallet but he still made enough money. His life was still the same, just with a few minor setbacks.
And then… Darill… the one he was closest to… vanished.
The rest of the year was spent trying to find her.
No trace.
And his money ran out quickly after that, desperately trying to find her. He had to loan it from Kiran. He knew about the other man's reputation as a sadist but he figured he could outrun (Or outfly, more precise) him until he could find a solution. But as the last day of his year of bad luck was coming to an end, he decided to celebrate at a local pub. A stupid decision and not just rotten luck. He got knocked out and when he woke up, he was in this damn room, bound to a chair, stripped down to his trousers and Kiran standing over him with a sharp knife.
And now he was here, bleeding out with only a slow, painful Death to look forward to.
He glanced at the clock in the room and couldn't help but smile sadly. It was now exactly a year after that fateful handshake. By all means, he should now have the power of Chaos Magic. He hardly felt different, though. That said, he didn't have anything to lose, really. Might as well try it.
"Here goes." Setzer muttered to himself, closing his eyes. Not a magic user, he had no idea what to do, but he supposed concentrating on trying to do it real hard might be a good start. He could feel warmth radiating from himself and when he opened his eyes, something was slowly but surely appearing in front of him in a purple haze. Setzer's eyes lit up hopefully. He might get out of this…!
"Mugu?"
Was the sound the rabbit now sitting in his lap made.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Was all Setzer managed as the rabbit just looked at him with wide eyes.
"Mugu!" The rabbit said, as it dispersed some sort of magic. Healing magic to be precise. Not enough to completely heal Setzer's wounds, but at least he wasn't feeling like he could bleed out any second. That was at least something. He just really hoped more would happen then just a rabbit…
Something switched in his head. A rabbit!
"Hey, little one." He started as the rabbit looked up curiously. "Could you… bite through these ropes?" He asked.
"Mugu." The rabbit simply said before he jumped down from his lap and went to do precisely that.
"Thanks." Setzer said as he stiffly got off the chair, body still aching from the many shallow cuts.
"Mugu!" The rabbit said, before vanishing in purple sparks. This left Setzer alone in the room. He carefully scanned it before his eyes landed on the rest of his clothes. He quickly went to them and put them on, wincing not only because moving was painful, but the blood on his torso was staining the quite expensive fabrics of his blouse.
No time. He had to leave before Kiran came back. Setzer headed for the door and placed his ear against it.
No noise. Kiran must've taken his goons with him. This would make things somewhat easier. He just had to sneak out of the building, get to the Blackjack and fly off as far from here as possible.
All hope for that evaporated as he opened the door to the outside and was greeted by multiple people, one of them being Kiran.
"How the hell did you get loose?!" Kiran demanded loudly, getting his knife out again. "The next slice will be on your throat!" Setzer took a step back as they advanced on him but he stopped himself as something filled him.
Anger.
"I just had… the worst day. No. The worst YEAR!" He said, straightening himself. "And I'm not going to let it end like this!"
"And what are you going to do about it?" Kiran challenged. Setzer couldn't help but smile as he raised an arm, once more concentrating. Soon enough, he felt warm again and as his eyes were open this time, he could see a purple aura envelop him.
"I'll let Fortune decide."
There was a silence just long enough for Setzer to worry that again, the magic failed him.
At that moment the sky darkened, enveloping the entire area in a dark blue.
"Wh-what is he doing?!" One of Kiran's flunkies asked. As he did so, the flapping of wings could be heard.
Massive wings.
All eyes went up in fear as Setzer heard something land behind him, casting a dark shadow over him, leaving the purple glow to overtake him. He didn't turn around, tempting as it was. He was in control now.
"An Esper?!" Kiran exclaimed, his face having drained of all color.
"Seems like the luck of the draw is on my side." Setzer couldn't help but say with a wicked grin as the being behind him reared its head back. "Thanks for playing."
With that the area was enveloped in a blinding light and when it faded and Setzer could see again, Kiran and his band were gone, leaving only piles of ashes and smears of sooth in their wake. Setzer knew he should probably feel horrified. Guilty even. He didn't. All he felt was victorious. With that feeling he turned around to the creature he summoned. A giant black dragon that was currently sitting atop one of the city's buildings, looking at him intently before flying off, the sky returning to normal as it disappeared, leaving Setzer alone.
As the euphoria and surprise faded, Setzer realized he should probably head back to his Airship before people started to ask questions. As he did so he couldn't help his reflection in a window. Even without the magic he looked… different. His hair had turned into a wild mane of silver and his eyes had a bright purple gleam. He quite liked it, especially since it seemed to distract from the scars he knew he also had.
"You know..." He said to no one but himself. "This day didn't turn out so bad after all."