Chapter 20 - The One Where Cyrus Avoids Sleep and Plays Pazaak.
I had finished meditating after a couple of hours, because I honestly couldn't maintain it, so I just tried playing Pazaak in my head. Pazaak is like a Star Wars equivalent of the card game we know as Blackjack.
Mana came into the room to check in, and, with my eyes closed, I frowned at the Pazaak player I'd made in my mind, and set my cards face-down. "What is it, Mana?" I asked. "Stop playing Pazaak in your head, and come to the living room." She said shortly. I don't think she was happy I stopped meditating, and started playing Pazaak. So what? It's fun.
I followed her into the living room, and plopped in the recliner, everyone else seated on a couch. "What's going on?" I asked. "We did a fridge raid, looking for some food. Most of it's expired. We don't know where anything is in this area, so we were maybe hoping you could guide us?" Hazel explained to me.
"Ah, yeah, that'd be a problem, huh? I'll show you guys around the area. Just keep all your stuff in your inventory, okay? Don't wanna risk getting robbed." I told them. When we were all ready, we walked out the door, and I took them on an adventure around the area.
I showed them some local stores, a mall, some restaurants, just everything I thought was important about the area. It was getting to be around lunchtime by the time I showed them the nearby restaurants, so minutes later, we sat down at an Arby's with our food, of course paying with money from quests, and we ignored the fact we were all essentially child soldiers, technically, and we just chatted, joking around, like the normal teenagers we should've been.
I think we were all pretty happy with how the meal went. With full stomachs, we went to the grocery store, and grabbed a ton of stuff, at Hazel's request. By the end, we had two carts full of fruit, ingredients for various foods, medicine, and some miscellaneous stuff.
When we got back, we unpacked the groceries, then I sat back on the deck, practicing more with my powers. It didn't feel like very long, but apparently it was a couple hours where I sat there, training, before Mana interrupted me. "Thanks for showing us around." She said, relaxing on a chair.
"It's my pleasure. It wouldn't do if none of us knew the area, would it?" I responded. Mana hummed, and we sat in a comfortable silence before she broke it again. "You need to take a break. You didn't meditate earlier, to my knowledge, you haven't slept, and you spent most of today walking us around your city. You need to rest." Mana reminded me.
I snort. "A break? And I last needed one when?" I asked. "I need to keep training. It won't do if we did all this work for nothing, right? What if we all died for this, and nothing changes? I need to keep training. I know these powers are godlike, and I need to take this power and use it to its absolute limit. I need to make it so they can't stop me." I continued. I didn't say it, but I think Mana knew what was really on my mind. I wanted to be a one-man army. I wanted to keep them safe, and take everything out on my own.
Mana frowned. "While I love you're dedicated to keeping us safe, and I love the fact you'd do this for everyone, what I said earlier still stands. You're human. Supernatural powers or not, you still have your limits, Cyrus. I won't make you rest, but I think you need that reminder." She said, standing up to leave.
I turned to face her before she walked back inside. "There's something else bothering you. Care to share? We're all here for each other, y'know." I told her. She raised a brow. "Did you develop a psychic power while I wasn't looking? Regardless, what's bothering me is a secret, and it should stay that way. It's not mine to share, anyways." She said, shaking her head, turning back to leave.
I let her leave, and I turned back to the scenery, guilt clouding my mind about not resting for a second, before a new idea turned up. "Wait... Kreia had a psychic power in the game, too. Mana's a genius, I guess." I laugh to myself. I didn't want to develop a power like that, though. It just felt... wrong, to put it lightly.
So I just continued training my current powers, only to be interrupted after a few minutes again by Kara. "You need sleep, Cy. I know you can go for a while without it, but you still need it." She said, sitting down next to me. I sighed, and turned to face her.
"I thought Mana would at least keep it between the two of us. I'm surprised she didn't tell you my motivation, though." I mused. "Oh, she did, and I'd already known your motivation for it. The only reason I didn't stay up was because I'm sharing what I think is your brothers' room with Hazel, and I didn't want to keep her up." She confided in me.
"If you understand, and even agree, to my understanding, why are you trying to convince me to stop?" I asked her. Her face softens. "Because you're only going to get hurt doing this. I know you're trying to run from your nightmares, too. You're scared, and not just for our safety, but because you're scared you'll lose us in your dreams, too." I frown.
She wasn't wrong, and I didn't know how to feel about it. I sigh, and I sit there for a moment, thinking. "Fine. I'll sleep tomorrow. But I'm taking the rest of today to train." I relent. A "Ding!" rung out, and a grin split her face as she hugged me, seemingly ignorant of the notification. "That's all I could ask for." She said gently. I hugged her back, a warm feeling in my chest.
I looked back at the notification for a brief second, and internally frowned at it.
Influence Gained: Kara! 130/200
We broke the hug eventually, but she still sat next to me, an arm slung around my back. "I'd ask to spar, but I think I'm far too comfortable to get up right now." She said lightly. I smile softly. "I think I'm pretty comfortable, too." I responded, electing to stop training for a while, just to enjoy the moment for once.
After a while, she had her legs dangling over the arm of the couch, her head in my lap, and my face went warm when she moved to that. I had to remind myself that she came from a background where she wasn't really cared for. Of course she'd seek to attach herself to people quickly, and my influence over her didn't help the case.
I don't think she meant anything by it, so I shrugged it off, despite being hyper aware of my face burning. I wasn't exactly used to affection, either, to be fair. She smiled, and closed her eyes, drifting away in minutes.
I just relax, trying my best not to move or fidget, which is a noteworthy accomplishment in itself. I just decided to meditate the best I could, giving up after my thoughts wouldn't stop running rampant, only to start playing Pazaak in my head.
Then came a weird question. "Hey System, since you have a mind of your own, is it possible I could play Pazaak against you, instead of trusting my mind to keep track of everything?" It was silent for a few moments, as if the System was considering it. Then, to my surprise, a Pazaak interface, straight from the game, appeared in front of me.
"Republic Senate rules, or are we putting credits on the line? I don't have much in the way of credits." I asked. There was another moment, then a note at the top left of the interface said "Republic Senate rules." I grinned, and we started playing.
Overall? I'm embarrassed to say the System kicked my ass. I won three games, the System won five, and I feel like the System might've cheated, but I don't think accusing the sentient being that is my powers of cheating would be a grand idea. I'd try to play dejarik, as that's a much harder game to cheat in, but I didn't know anything about it.
Anyways, we only stopped playing when Hazel came out to check in on us, and saw me and Kara. She smiled warmly at me, nodded, and walked back inside. Minutes later, Mana peeked out a window, started laughing at something, then pulled her head back in the house, closing the window.
I frowned. I might just have to develop that psychic power, if only to communicate with Mana, and to understand how the hell her mind worked. But I shrugged it off, and tried to think of more I could do without waking Kara up.
I sat there for a few hours, nothing coming to mind, unfortunately. Kara did wake up about four hours later, though. She opened her eyes, and her face flushed when she realized she fell asleep on my lap. "I'm so sorry, Cy. I didn't realize I'd fall asleep." She apologized hurriedly, sitting up.
"It's okay, K, honestly. I'm not bothered by it." I told her truthfully. We both flushed, and we went back inside. When we arrived in the living room, Hazel smiled at us, and beckoned Kara over. Kara sat over by Hazel, a smile splitting her face, too, and I went to the kitchen to find myself something to eat.
As a matter of simplicity, I started making a grilled cheese sandwich. This, admittedly, is one of the first times I've cooked, resulting in one side of the sandwich getting severely burnt. As I was finishing it up, and putting it on a plate, Hazel walked in. "It smells burnt." She told me bluntly.
"That's because it is. Did you come in here to mock me for my cooking, or to give me the 'Hurt my daughter and I'll kill you,' speech?" I said, pulling up a stool and sitting at the kitchen table. She laughed, and sat down next to me. "Neither. I was actually going to mention how Mana had seen you lose to the System in Pazaak. There's more, but I figured that would be a good lead." She offered.
I groaned. "Really? She saw that?" I asked rhetorically. She smirked. "But, in all seriousness, while I did say I wouldn't give you the speech, I do think I should urge you to be aware of everything. I know you don't want any of us to get hurt, but I also know you don't want Kara, especially, to get hurt. I keep seeing examples of that, and I urge you to just think before you act." She warns me.
"You knew all of this was coming, didn't you? From the day we met in California, you knew." I asked her, in reference to the situation between Kara and I. She nodded. "Of course I did. Didn't I straight up tell you the first night we met, essentially?" She pointed out. "That's true." I mused. Huh, I must really be stupid to have missed it.
I finished my sandwich, and Hazel looked me in the eyes. "While I think the System and her own past are pretty largely responsible for this, she's crazy for you. She's had problems with developing attachments in the past, considering her family. She pretty much had only me for the longest time, and I was across the country from her. Then she met you, who's nice, caring, protective, and you whisked her off on this adventure." She tells me. I stayed silent for a minute, thinking about it, before Hazel added something else.
"She cares for you, more than she can say or show. I know you don't want to get involved with someone, so to speak, in consideration of our mission, and both of you being Jedi, Dark or not, with the whole 'Jedi aren't supposed to form attachments,' and all that bullshit. But I just want you to keep all that in mind." She finishes, moving back into the other room.
I sit in silence for a few minutes, and Mana steps in, grinning at me. "Have fun with Pazaak earlier?" She asked. At my lack of a response, she waved a hand in front of my face, a frown adorning her face. She went silent for a minute, probably reading my mind.
My suspicions were confirmed when she sat on the stool next to me and sighed. "Girl troubles, huh?" She asked. I snort. "Sure, I guess. It's just a weird situation to me, and I'd rather not talk about it." I say, brushing her off. "If you say so." She shrugs, staying seated next to me.
After a few minutes of silence, I summoned a new soda for myself from the fridge, and I took a gulp. "If you're so hell-bent on training, it could always be worth trying to get in the practice of deflecting blaster bolts or bullets in general. You can't always use the Force for everything in combat." She offers.
I take a moment to consider it, and before I answer, an idea sparks in my mind, so I skim through the Shop. Towards the bottom, I found something I never thought I'd see in the Shop. I saw four Pazaak decks, and a ton of extra cards.
"Well, everyone's been hounding me to take breaks, get rest, whatever, so why not have a little fun?" I ask. With the last of my credits, I snatched two of the Pazaak decks, one for myself and Mana. I passed her one of the decks, and she laughed as I cleared a space opposite of her so we could play.
I drew the first card, being a +9. Mana drew a +6, then I drew a +1. She drew a +2, then I drew a +6. She drew a +5, and I, to my misfortune, drew a +10. Since my score went over 20, and I didn't have any cards to fix that, she won the first round.
She drew a +4, and I drew a +7. She drew a +5, and I drew a +6. She drew a +10, and she stood as I drew a +10 as well. My score was 23, hers being 19, however, I had a -3 card in my deck, which I played, allowing me to win the round.
I drew a +1, she drew a +6. I drew a +9, and she drew a +7. I drew a +5, and I played the +5 in my deck, making my score 20. She drew a +4, and played a +3, making our scores match, so it was a draw on that round.
She drew a +2, and I drew a +7. She drew a +4, and I drew yet another +7. She drew a +3, and I drew another +10, and I groaned as I yet again didn't have a card to rectify the issue of my score being too high, so now she won a second round.
I drew a +1, she drew a +3. I also drew a +3, then she drew a +2. I drew a +9, and she drew a +4. I drew a +8, then played a -1 in my hand, leaving my score at 20. She drew a +1, a +9, and a +3, with no cards to fix her score of 22, so I won my second round.
We both drew a +8 to start the next round. She drew a +2, and I drew another +8. She drew a +5, and cheered as she placed a +5 from her hand down, putting her score at 20. I drew a +1, then a +7, and I groaned, sinking down in my seat as she claimed victory.
"Best of three?" I offered.
A/N: I know this isn't my usual place for an author's note, but I do feel obligated to explain, for anyone who hasn't had the fortune of playing pazaak in Knights of the Old Republic, or for anyone who hasn't seen pazaak before in general.
It's a Star Wars card game in which you have a draw pile, which the two players take turns to draw from every turn. Each card has a number value from 1 to 10. Your goal is to, with 4 cards from your own hand, win three rounds by having a higher score than your opponent, but your score can't go higher than 20, otherwise you lose, unless you have a card in your hand to rectify it.
You can pre-select a set of cards that will get randomized into your hand. You can only have 4 in a single game, and they can have negative values, to help if your score ever goes above 20. You can only play one card from your hand per turn.
You can also choose to stand at any point. If you stand, you cannot draw or place any more cards, and you cannot sit back down until the end of the round.
First to three victories wins the game. If you've got any questions, there's Google, or feel free to drop a review asking!
