A/N: Hooray, chapter seven! Say hello to a new character, everyone. Anyway, thank you very much, everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you like the story so far. It's been extremely fun writing it, as well. What can I say, I love the world of Gaia. It's probably my favorite Final Fantasy world, out of all the games I've played. And I really liked Final Fantasy VII's world, especially Wutai. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. On to chapter seven.

Disclaimer: 'Final Fantasy IX' and all of its characters, locations, and elements are property of Square Enix. (sigh) Too bad.

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Requiem for an Angel

a Final Fantasy IX fanfiction

by Wakizashi

Chapter Seven: In the Cards

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Jack felt great. He was traveling in the company of an extremely hot and interesting girl, for one thing. Even better was the fact that she was starting to warm up to him. And the sweetest part was that her traveling companion, the Angel of Death, couldn't harm a hair on his head. He had Kuja, probably the most dangerous being on Gaia, wrapped around his finger! Could it get any better than that?

True, it was clear at the moment that Claire favored Kuja over him. And true, Kuja obviously had a thing for her, since he hadn't killed her or anything. And of course, he couldn't forget the fact that he had threatened her with a knife on their first meeting. But all of that could change, especially when Claire discovered what a romantic, sensitive guy he could be. Jack wasn't worried.

What he was worried about was the insane mission she was on. She seemed like a nice, intelligent, and more importantly, cute girl, and he'd hate to have her get eaten alive by a grendel on Vile Island. Maybe there was some way he could convince her not to go. But she seemed pretty dead-set on saving her planet. She probably wouldn't listen to him.

Oh well, guess there are other fish in the sea, he thought a little regretfully. Then his eyes traversed the curves of her figure. Still, couldn't hurt to try.

Quickening his pace until he was alongside her, Jack flashed her his most charming smile. "So hey, Claire," he said cheerfully. "I almost forgot to tell you what an awesome job you did, takin' down that fang on your own. You're turnin' into a great archer."

"Thanks, Jack," she replied with a small smile.

"And listen, I'm real sorry that I wasn't there to back you up," he continued, allowing a touch of remorse into his voice. "But me and Kuja were--"

"Kuja and I," she corrected absently.

"Yeah, okay; Kuja and I were just gettin' a few things straight between us. To tell you the truth..." After reassuring himself that Kuja was some paces ahead of them, he lowered his voice along with his eyes and sighed. "I feel bad about takin' advantage of him like this. I don't have nothin' against him, it's just..." He hesitated.

Claire frowned at him. "If you feel bad about it, then why are you doing it?"

Yes. Perfect. Just what he was hoping she would ask. But he had to do this just right. "Well, first of all, you got to believe me on this. If I had known you like I do now back when I tried to hold you up, I never would have done it." That part was true, at least. "But anyway, the real reason I blackmailed Kuja into takin' me along with you guys was because..." He took a deep breath and said the rest of his speech all in a rush. "I wanted to get to know you better."

Drum-roll, please...

"Wow," she said quietly.

Jack nodded slowly, avoiding her eyes. "Yeah." They walked for a while in silence. Then he made his move. "So like, I was just wonderin' if - I mean, after you're done savin' your planet or whatever - if you'd ever want to go out sometime. I know this great place in Lindblum--"

"Look, Jack," Claire interrupted. "You're an okay guy; you're definitely not as much of a weasel as I thought you were at first."

Gee, thanks, he thought to himself, slightly offended.

"But you're not really my type," she continued. "I'm sorry."

Well, shoot. That wasn't supposed to happen. What was wrong with him? Why did girls turn him down so much? Surely it couldn't be because...

"Oh, I get it," he said bitterly, finally realizing the truth. "Geez, it's so obvious. I can't believe I didn't see it. You're just not into guys who have more than two arms, is that it?"

Claire sighed wearily. "No, that's not it..."

"You don't have to pretend that's not what it is, Claire," he said indignantly, disgusted that she would lie to spare his feelings. "You're not the first girl to turn me down because of the way I look. People say that men are shallow, but the truth is, women aren't any better. And you're just like all the rest of them. Except you don't seem to mind guys who have tails."

Suddenly Claire spun on him, and he scrambled a few steps away from her in surprise. "Look, I'm sorry if you've been rejected before because of the way you look," she said in a low voice. "But just because you've been burned doesn't mean you have the right to judge me. Personally, I wouldn't care if you had six eyes and a pair of lobster claws. You're just... not my type. Okay?"

Jack couldn't help but admire her spunk, but he was still wounded by her rejection. "Okay, fine," he said, deliberately indifferent. "So who is your type? Fluffy the Purring Cat over there?" He gestured inconspicuously at Kuja. "You know, Kuja isn't such a great guy, either. If you knew half the stuff that he's done, you wouldn't touch him with a thirty-foot pole."

Claire shook her head pityingly. "See, that's why we're so different, Jack," she said. "I don't condemn people for what they've done in the past; which is why I'm not condemning you for threatening to kill me when we met. The only thing that matters is who a person is on the inside."

Geez, what was with this chick? No matter what he did, he couldn't get to her. "Yeah, well," he muttered. "I hope you don't forget your own words."

----

The Aerbs Alexandria station was crowded when the trio reached the Treno Gate. It seemed a traveling acting company called Tantalus was performing a play in Alexandria the next day, and everyone who was anyone had gotten tickets. Jack had no idea what could be so great about a play with a title as stupid as 'I Want to Be Your Canary', but apparently it was a favorite of the recently crowned Queen Garnet til Alexandros, who was the hottest monarch in the history of... ever.

After Kuja had put on his oh-so-clever disguise, namely his hood, they walked into the station and purchased gate passes, which allowed them to ride the Berkmea cable car. Two years ago, the Mist-powered cars had become unoperational after the Mist had vanished, but with the help of engineers from Lindblum, the Berkmeas were recently redesigned to run without Mist by the use of an elaborate system of pulleys. The renovations had also included an additional track to carry passengers north to the Zamo Basin. But it looked as if they were in for a wait; the Berkmea was currently headed for the opposite side of the mountain, headed for South Gate. They had no choice but to sit around until it returned.

Jack sighed and put all four of his arms behind his head as he sat down heavily on a bench. "Man, I can't wait to get back to Alexandria again," he said wistfully. "I haven't been there in at least two years. I heard there's a really cute girl who owns her own theater there."

"Speaking of theaters," said Claire, "do either of you know anything about this Tantalus group everyone's talking about? They seem to be pretty popular."

"Beats me," he replied. "I might have heard something about them, but I don't really keep up with that stuff." He shot a smirk up at Kuja. "What about you, Kuj? You seem like the theater-goin' type. You know anything about Tantalus?"

For a moment Jack thought Kuja's urge to kill him would overpower his unwillingness to lose Claire's respect, but he mastered himself and directed his response to the girl. "Tantalus is an acting troupe that travels to different cities in their airship, the Prima Vista. It is led by a loud, annoying man named Baku, but the principal actor in most of the plays is a young man named Zidane Tribal."

"Oh yeah, now I remember!" Jack exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "But I think you got your facts mixed up, 'cause I heard that Tribal disappeared a couple of years ago, back when you were--" A warning glare from Kuja put an end to that sentence. "Anyway, yeah. Zidane Tribal. I think I met the guy in Daguerreo once. He seemed pretty decent, even though I think he was a thief, like me."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Is there anyone on this planet who isn't a thief?" she said sarcastically.

"What's the matter?" he teased. "I thought you liked bad boys." Gradually he realized the two of them were staring at him with no very friendly eyes, and he cleared his throat. Wuh-oh, my cue to leave, he thought. "Well, I guess I'm gonna walk around here until the Berkmea shows up. Once we're on the cable car, we'll be sittin' for a while." With that he stood up and sauntered off in search of something to keep him occupied.

"Sheesh, what a couple of old ladies," he muttered, shoving two of his hands in his pockets. After he had bought a couple of hi-potions at the item shop from a plump, red-haired lady, he wandered around the station aimlessly. Maybe he could find someone who was willing to play cards to pass the time. Claire wasn't from Gaia and wouldn't have any cards, and somehow he doubted Kuja did anything for recreation, besides blowing up cities.

Jack was about to give up and sit down when he saw a small crowd gathered near the gate that led to the village of Dali. Curious, he strolled over, wondering what they were looking at. Suddenly from the front of the crowd rang a clear female voice with a truly bizarre accent.

"That's right, mates, step right up! Play for a hundred gil! If any of you can beat me at Tetra Master, I'll give you all of me winnings! That's seven thousand, three hundred gil! Who thinks they can beat me?"

Seventy-three hundred gil? Jack thought, his eyes wide. Now here was some quick money if ever he saw it. He was practically the best Tetra Master player on the Mist Continent, and he had the best cards there were. This would be a cinch!

Pushing his way through the crowd, Jack made his way toward the front and stopped. There was no need to rush into this. Better to let the challenger play a few rounds with someone else, and get a feel for her technique. Then he'd find the best possible way to mop the floor with her.

Elbowing past a few more gawking spectators, Jack finally shoved and prodded his way to the front. When his eyes fell on the challenger, his mouth went dry.

Sitting at a small, battered deal table, an array of Tetra Master cards at her fingers, was a tall, thin girl of about nineteen with long blond hair, milky white skin, and a pair of very mischievous gray eyes. She was dressed in a long red tailcoat with bell sleeves, tight gray trousers, fingerless gloves, and white spats. A red bowler derby was tipped at a jaunty angle on her head, and there was a small mole near her right eye.

Whoa, daddy, he thought.

"You there, wif the suspenders!" She beckoned to one of the spectators. "Come on, mate, don't be shy! Here's how it works: I choose the top five cards from this here stack--" She gestured to a pile on the deal table. "And you choose any five cards you've got. I don't even pick me own cards! For a hundred gil, you can walk away seventy-two hundred richer! What do you say, mate?"

The man with the suspenders hesitated for a moment, scratching his head. "Ah, sure, why not?" he finally said, coming forward and slapping a hundred gil on the table.

"Good show!" the girl exclaimed, rubbing her gloved hands together. "Pick your cards, now, and take your time."

An eternity seemed to pass before the man was ready with his cards. The blond girl flipped a coin to determine who would go first, and the man put down a Gnoll card. Picking the top card from her deck, the girl set down a Flan card beside it. A battle began, and the Gnoll took the Flan.

The game continued, the man systematically wiping out the girl's randomly chosen arsenal. All of her cards seemed pretty weak to Jack, and he doubted they would be any match for his airship cards.

Suddenly, on the last turn, the girl whipped the top card from her stack and turned it over, revealing an Ark card. Jack's jaw dropped. The Ark card was one of the strongest, and rarest cards in existence. She slapped it down in the middle of the table, knocking out most of her opponent's cards in an unheard-of quintuple combo.

"Ohhh, I'm sorry, mate!" she said, snapping her fingers. "Talk about luck! Well, you can still challenge me to a rematch for another hundred."

"No, thanks," the man replied morosely, gathering up his remaining cards and shuffling off.

'Talk about luck,' the girl had said. Jack had a feeling luck had had nothing to do with that annihilation.

"Well, anyone else want to take a bash at it?" she asked the crowd, returning her cards to the bottom of the stack. "The pot now stands at seventy-four hundred gil."

"Yeah, I'll give it a try," said Jack, stepping forward and tossing a hundred gil on the table.

The girl grinned and drummed her fingertips on the table. "Excellent! My, my, look at you!" she exclaimed, examining him more closely. "I don't know if I want to play you now, wif your obvious advantages." She winked.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," he assured her with a smirk.

She giggled. "Well then, you have me gratitude. D'you have a name, jack?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah," he answered. "It's Jack. Alleyway Jack."

"No foolin'!" She slapped her knee in amazement. "Well, Jack, I'm Felina. Felina Flynn, and very pleased to meet you, I'm sure." She tipped her bowler hat to him in greeting.

"Meow," he replied with a rakish grin.

"All right, now, enough of that," she warned, wagging her finger at him, though she still retained her charismatic smile. "Just hush up and pick your cards."

"No problem, Miss Felina Flynn," he said, pulling his own select stack of cards from his pocket. After a moment's deliberation, he had chosen his cards: the Hildagarde 1, the Hildagarde 3, the Invincible, and two Red Roses. Beat that, Last-Minute-Ark-Card, he thought smugly.

He cleared his throat nonchalantly. "Ready," he said.

"Right!" Felina said cheerily. "I'll just flip the coin, and--"

"Uhh, wait a minute," Jack interrupted, holding up two of his hands. "Do you mind if I, uh, shuffle your stack a bit before we begin? You know, just to be safe," he added. "There're a lot of cardsharps out there, makin' their living by... dishonest gain."

Felina didn't miss a beat. "Oh, of course not! Go ahead!" She handed him her own stack of cards, and he shuffled them thoroughly before giving them back to her. "We ready now?" she asked. He nodded, and she flipped the coin. It came up red, and she set down a Stroper card. "Have at it, Jack," she said, beaming at her good fortune.

Forcing down a laugh, Jack set down a Red Rose card and very efficiently wiped out her Stroper. Felina pouted for a few seconds, then put down the next card on the top of her stack, a Bomb. As the game went on, the crowd around them grew larger, and Jack's cards swiftly took out her weaker ones. Too easy, he thought, but his smile quickly faded. He couldn't forget about the Ark card. She couldn't have stacked her deck, because he had shuffled it himself. But this charming little kitten still had something up her sleeve, he knew it.

That's it, he thought, his eyes widening.

As Felina was picking up her last card, Jack grabbed her wrist with one hand and swiped the card out of her grasp with another. "I knew it!" he exclaimed, turning it over to reveal a Behemoth card. "You're nothing but a cardsharp, after all!"

"Let go of me hand, you bloody imbecile!" she yelped, trying to pull free.

"I don't think so, kitten," he said smugly. With a third hand, he pushed up her right sleeve. Tied to her white wrist with a length of ribbon was a thin stack of cards. "You've been cheatin' this whole time. You get people's hopes up with your big stack of crappy cards, and then on the last round you whip out a selection from your secret arsenal!"

The crowd gasped in horror and began booing Felina for her fraudulent business practices. She stood up hotly from her deal table and shook her fist in Jack's face. "Now look what you done, you soddin' idiot!" she hissed. "I was makin' a pretty profit here, and you just mucked it up!"

Jack blinked at her innocently. "Hey, I haven't done anything wrong here," he said defensively. "All I did was uphold the law and protect these fine people from your underhanded schemes."

"What?" Felina laughed derisively. "Don't give me that! Why, anyone wif eyes could see that you're a criminal, too! So what are you, mugger or pickpocket?"

"Whoa, don't take this out on me!" he shot back angrily. "Someone was bound to catch on to your scam sooner or later! Just be grateful that I'm goin' easy on you!"

"Goin' easy on me?" she repeated scornfully. "You just drove away a whole mob of potential customers!"

"And let that be a lesson to you," he replied haughtily. "Now since I found you out, I think I'm entitled to seventy-four hundred gil in prize money."

The blond's pale face flushed in anger. "You want to say that again, mate?"

"Jack!" His head whipped around in surprise to see Claire and Kuja walking up to him. "Where have you been all this time?" Claire asked. "The cable car's been here for almost ten minutes. It's going to leave without us if we don't hurry."

"Yeah, okay," he answered. Picking up his cards along with his profits, he turned and began to follow them.

"Oi, hold up there!" Felina said furiously, scooping up her cards and running after him. "I'm not finished wif you! Come back here wif me money!"

Kuja sighed and turned around to face Jack. "Whose day did you ruin now?" he asked flatly.

Jack began to splutter in protestation, but Felina caught up with him, burning with rage. "Now look here, mate, I ain't leavin' you be until you give me back the money I rightfully stole!"

"Jack," Claire said impatiently, "just give her back her money, and let's go!"

"Frick!" he shouted furiously, throwing up all four of his hands. "I didn't do anything wrong! This girl was cheatin' at cards, and I exposed her! She got what was comin' to her!"

"It doesn't matter," Kuja said firmly. "Give her the money or don't, but either way, we're leaving. Come on, Claire." He took the brunette's arm, and they headed off in the direction of the cable car.

Yelling in frustration, Jack took off after them, Felina persistently at his heels. Stopping at the entrance to the Berkmea, he showed his gate pass to the operator. "I hope you got a book to read, kitten," he told the blond, "because you're in for a long ride."

Felina growled and followed him onto the car, flashing her gate pass as well. "And I hope you like leeches, mate," she retorted, "because until you give me back me money, you're stuck wif me!"

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A/N: Aaand chaos ensues. Well, there it is! Before you ask me how there can be a girl with a Cockney accent on Gaia, let me ask you this: how come Ruby has a Southern accent? Yup, nothing makes sense. Food for thought. Anyway, I had to play that stinkin' Tetra Master game a whole lot, so that I could write with some authority about it. Needless to say, I lost a lot. But you know, it's actually kind of fun! And hey, next time you're in Daguerreo, ask Jack to play cards with you. He is good, and he really does have nothing but airship cards. But I'm rambling again. Review and tell me what you think of Felina, you loyal reader, you.

-Wakizashi