Hello there. Here is a new chapter. I originally wasn't going to have the card game, but it seemed like you guys wanted it?

Update on updates. So, even if something else is going on, I can usually manage to write about 800-1000 words a day. BUT I like to have my chapters closer to 2000 words in length, or even more than that. That means that, at best, once the school year starts, I will post every other day, and, more likely, three times a week.

Thank you for sticking with me.

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Chapter 55: Question the Cards

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Mirage shuffled together three of the four decks, but Sam stopped him before he shuffled in the tarot deck.

"Aw, Sam," complained Mirage, and Sam had to remind herself, yet again, that this wasn't Danny. "Come on, this'll be fun. Besides, the cards are so beautiful."

"Just like our kiss would be," said Paulina, fluffing her hair. Sam distinctly saw Mirage's eye twitch.

"How would a tarot deck even work in a game of Doubt?" asked Sam, ignoring the girl.

"Well, Doubt is all about numbers, right? Tarot cards have numbers," said Mirage, not giving up on the concept despite Paulina's comment.

"What about the trump cards? There are twenty-two of them."

"Oh. I thought that we'd pull them out when we got them, use them to tell our fortunes, or something. Besides, I think this deck is missing most of its trumps." Mirage set the box down on the square stone table he had found for them to play at, and smeared the deck out over its surface. "Yeah, it only has twelve, for some reason."

"And the court cards?"

"I thought that we could just have the pages and knights count as jacks," said Mirage.

"I guess," said Sam, doubtfully.

"Can we hurry this up?" asked Valerie. "It isn't like he isn't putting in three other decks that might or might not have all the cards."

"Right!" said Mirage, teeth bright. "I have these, too!" he added, pulling out two handfuls of mismatched playing cards from... somewhere. How was he doing that?

Sam sighed. "Fine," she said. "Let's do this."

Mirage's grin widened. He began shuffling, and then began dealing the cards out, rapid fire. "So," he said, as he passed out the cards, "the player to the dealer's left plays first, so that'd be you, Paulina, and then Valerie, and then Sam. You say aces first," he added, helpfully, as the dark haired girl frowned prettily at her cards. "Then- Oh! We should take our trumps out first. Those are the ones that have funny names, like the World, or the Fool, or the Hermit." Mirage started to sort through his cards. "It might also help you later if you put your cards in order. Although, that could hurt you if you try to bluff, and someone notices you pulling cards out from the wrong spot. Hm." He began to lay out his cards. "So, it looks like I've got the Tower, Death, the Hanged Man, and the Emperor. I think that's pretty obvious, don't you?"

"What?" said Valerie, face half-hidden behind her own cards. "How is that obvious?"

"Well, the Tower is disaster, and I hate to say it, but you guys being here is kind of a disaster, then Phantom is dead, so, Death, and the Hanged Man is sacrifice, which is something that happens often with Phantom, and the Emperor, well, we are in charge here, aren't we?" said Mirage, talking quickly, tapping each card as he explained it.

"I have the High Priestess," said Paulina, "and," she slyly turned the second card around, "the Empress."

"Cool," said Mirage, either missing or ignoring Paulina's implication, even when she began to inch the second card closer to his Emperor. "But you only got two? What's this, that you put to the side?" asked Mirage, reaching.

"Well, that one isn't very pretty," complained Paulina, trying to keep the card out of his reach.

Sam rolled her eyes and lunged across the table. "Neither is the Tower," she said, examining the card. Her lips twitched up. "The Devil? Ha!"

Paulina snatched the card back, and ripped it in half. Mirage winced.

"Don't listen to her, my love, she's just trying to turn you against me."

"Um. Paulina," said Mirage. "I'm not 'your love.' I'm not in love with you. Neither is Phantom. You have to stop this. Maybe go out with Peter from the senior class. He likes you. You seem to be interested in the same things."

"Yeah, mirrors."

"Sam. Not helping."

"Sorry."

"But he isn't like you," protested Paulina.

"Yeah, and my scooter isn't like a space shuttle," said Sam, "but I'm never going to get a space shuttle, so saying that is kinda pointless."

"No one asked you, you b-"

"Okay!" interrupted Mirage. "Valerie, you want to share?"

Valerie scowled. "I have Judgment, the World, and the Wheel of Fortune."

"Rebirth or conviction, a new beginning or a lack of closure, and either good luck or bad luck," said Mirage.

"I don't believe in this stuff anyway," muttered Valerie.

"Neither do I, really, but it's fun. What do you have, Sam?"

Sam blushed. Her cards were a bit weird. "I have the Lovers and the Chariot, and I don't need you to interpret them for me." Love and victory.

"Okay," said Mirage. "So, Paulina, you go first. Aces."

But Paulina ignored him, choosing instead to stare at Sam, who, for her part, glared right back. "You- You didn't get the Lovers. That's my card. You must have stolen it somehow!"

"That'd be a trick," mumbled Mirage. "Paulina, please, it doesn't matter, but it's your turn. You need to play a card. Or cards. Aces."

Paulina's glare softened into syrupy sweetness as she switched her gaze to Mirage, and Sam had to restrain herself from kicking the other girl. The 'no fighting' rule was unlikely to exclude Sam, after all, and she didn't want to give Danny, or his shadows, extra trouble.

"If you really want me to," said Paulina, leaning towards Mirage even as he leaned away.

"Oh my god," said Valerie abruptly, clearly having enough of the whole situation. "You do realize that Phantom's dead, right? A ghost? Does that not register to you? Even if you ignore that, he looks like he belongs in elementary school."

"He was in high school before he died," complained Mirage. He turned to Sam. "I don't look that young. do I?"

"You look fine," said Sam.

"Love conquers all," said Paulina dramatically. "It defeats every barrier, tramples every wall, batters down every door. As long as out love is true-"

"Paulina, please listen to me, Phantom does not love you," said Mirage, a little desperately. "You're an okay person, if a bit vindictive, considering that you waited seven years to get back at Valerie, and you went out with Danny to get back at Sam for calling you shallow, and you've been leading Dale on for years, just because he chased you around with pond scum when you were ten, and- Where was I going with this?" asked Mirage, cutting himself off, and staring into the middle distance, blinking. "Oh. But, yeah, you're an okay person because you help Star out, and Ashley, too, most of the times, and you volunteer a lot, and you aren't stupid. But Phantom doesn't love you, and honestly, you don't love him either. You like the idea of being in love with him, and you do support him, and he appreciates that, but you don't know him. So, please, stop doing this."

The sickly sweet smile washed off of Paulina's face like syrup being washed off of a plate with hot water. "What would you know about it?" she snapped. "You aren't him!"

"You know what, I'm not even going to dissect that. How many aces did you put down?"

"Four," huffed Paulina.

"Great," said Mirage.

"Six twos," said Valerie, laying down a mismatched handful of cards.

Play proceeded. It was an interesting game. The number of cards that they themselves had meant nothing, what with all the extra cards Mirage had put in. They all had to rely on tells. Mirage had some of Danny's tells, but not all of them, and he seemed to have picked up a few of his own... At least, that's what it looked like to Sam before he bluffed Valerie into calling 'doubt' on him, and made her pick up the pile. Paulina was too angry to lie effectively, but she watched Sam like a hawk, and apparently knew Valerie well enough to tell when she was lying, so she called 'doubt' on the two of them more often than not.

"So," said Valerie, glaring at Mirage over her cards. "What is the relationship between you and Danielle, anyway?"

"I'll tell you if you win," said Mirage.

"Not like that, I mean, socially, what's your relationship like?"

"We don't have a social relationship. She's never met me."

"Between Danielle and Phantom."

"They're cousins."

"And that means something to ghosts?"

"Clearly," said Mirage. He set his cards down almost as soon as Sam had called hers. He sighed. "They've claimed each other. They're family."

"So, he, what? Provides for her? Gives her shelter? Because the first time I met her, she was on the run. It doesn't seem like he's taking very good care of her."

"They're kids, Valerie," said Sam. "There's a limit on what he can do."

"He has this place, doesn't he?"

"I don't think he knew it existed," said Sam.

"Excuse me," interjected Paulina. "Who is Danielle? And I've got nine."

Mirage didn't even look at her. "Doubt," he said. Paulina scowled and gathered up the cards. "Danielle is Phantom's cousin. She goes by Ellie, now. You've probably seen her around Amity Park with Phantom. She looks a lot like him. Ellie places more emphasis on personal freedom and safety than Phantom does, she likes to travel, and you might have noticed that she was on the run from Plasmius that first time you met. Even now, Phantom has difficulty with him. Still. It is mostly Ellie's choice not to stay."

Valerie put down her cards, calling the number. No one disputed it. "What's up with Plasmius anyway?"

"No one knows what's up with him," said Sam. "He's insane." She put down her own cards. She was getting close.

"Considering what he's managed, he can't be that insane," pointed out Valerie, "and all ghosts are insane, anyway."

"By human standards," said Mirage. "By ghost standards, you're the crazy ones." He put down his cards. "I suppose my answer depends on what, exactly, you're asking about. Be specific."

"What's his relationship with Danielle?"

"Creepy. He isn't actively after her anymore, though. I think they might have made up a bit."

"The last time I saw her, she was trying to beat him to death."

"Yeah. Your point?"

"That wasn't what I meant, either."

"I know what you meant, and I'm not tell you."

"What did he actually want her for anyway?"

"Sam," said Mirage, "I think that it's your turn."

"Don't ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm just telling Sam that it's her turn. Not that I'm going to be answering that question, either."

"Fine," said Valerie, ignoring Sam as she took her turn, and Mirage as he quietly took his. "Then what's Phantom's relationship with Plasmius?"

"Gosh. Complicated. He want to adopt him, though."

"What?" exclaimed Valerie, as Sam almost bit through her tongue.

What was Mirage doing, revealing something like that?

"Yeah. He wants Phantom to be his son, or evil apprentice, or something equally stupid. You've probably heard bits and pieces of this shouted back and forth during fights."

"Maybe," confirmed Valerie.

Okay, so, that made more sense, now. Often, Sam regretted being earthbound during ghost fights. This was one of those times. Even with the Fenton Phones and Tucker's camera work, she missed dozens of conversations, and hundreds of details, during ghost fights. It would be easier if Danny told her and Tucker more, but even when he wasn't trying to protect or spare them from knowledge or worry, he was often too tired, or too busy, to give them a detailed description of events. Actually, it was mostly a case of being too tired. Usually, between the two of them and Jazz, they got a good accounting of injuries, both physical and mental.

The turn made it's way around the table once more. "What is Plasmius, anyway?" asked Valerie.

"I'd rather not give some people ideas," said Mirage.

"Oh," said Valerie, glancing at Paulina. "Yeah, I guess."

"You can tell me anything, you know," said Paulina, apparently deciding that now was the time to switch back to diabetes-flavor.

Mirage didn't say anything. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Why does he want Phantom, anyway? Couldn't he get, like, anyone to be his apprentice? I mean, he's evil enough for any ghost, and he's powerful."

"Lots of people want Phantom," said Mirage, almost absently, before putting down his cards.

"What for?" asked Paulina. It was the most intelligent question she had asked so far, in Sam's opinion.

"Well," said Mirage, taking a moment to think about it, "there are a couple reasons, but I guess that the most pertinent ones are that he's unclaimed, he's a child ghost, and those are rare, and his obsessions are unusual, even for an older ghost. There are lots of ghosts that want children, and children are hard for ghosts to do. Plasmius is just one of those, but he thinks that he has a better claim because he saw him first or something, even though that doesn't really matter."

"I thought Fenton said something about Phantom being adopted, though," said Paulina.

"Yes, but that isn't exactly public knowledge. Clockwork is kind of a private person, and there are ghosts out there who would go after Phantom if they learned that he was connected to Clockwork, so they didn't advertise."

"'Go after' meaning..?" Valerie asked.

"Suck up to. Scam. Threaten. Harass. Beat up. Kidnap. Take hostage. There are plenty of ghosts who would like to turn back time, especially among the Dead. They'd consider Phantom a weak spot. Leverage. There are a few that have already tried."

"I didn't hear about that," said Sam.

"Well, saying 'already tried' might give you the wrong idea. Some you do know about. They were pathetic, or at least not too much trouble. Most of those underestimated Phantom completely. He just forgot to tell you why they were after him. At least one got headed off by Clockwork. A couple don't exist anymore, and never did. It's confusing." Mirage frowned. "I... Don't think he knows about those consciously. I wonder why I do?"

"I don't know," said Sam. She put down her last two cards. "I win, by the way."

"What?" screeched Paulina. "No you don't! Doubt! Doubt!"

Sam flipped her cards over to show two threes, the correct cards. "You have to leave Phantom alone from now on."

"You- You- You-"

"Me, me, me," mocked Sam.

"You can't make me!"

"Maybe not," said Mirage, cheerfully. "But as long as you're here, I can. So."