"Do you got any Threes?"
"No. Go Fish, my dear."
"Damn it…"
Reina should have been warier of playing a game with a mysterious man with more piercings in one ear than most people had on their whole body, but at least Luxord had been kind enough to allow her to pick which game. Much to his disappointment, she wasn't very knowledgeable about gambling and didn't have any experience with competitive games of luck. Time was of the essence, and they needed to play something they could get through relatively quickly. He had given her a list of card games to choose from, such as BlackJack and Poker, but Reina had no experience in those games. The only card game she had ever played was Go Fish, and it was hard for Luxord to contain his surprise when she pitched the idea. It was clear he regretted letting her choose the game at that moment.
Go Fish lacked the excitement the Gambler of Fate so desperately craved, but he had ultimately decided he needed to go along with her childish tastes in games if he wanted her to take the bait.
"Do you have any Fives?" Luxord asked as he leaned against a nearby tree trunk. Across from him, Reina sat on the grassy floor with her legs crisscrossed, a look of panic on her face.
"Ugh, yeah, I have two…" She grumbled before begrudgingly handing over her precious cards. Even though she was the one who had picked this silly little game, she wasn't in the lead. Luxord had already been racking up quite a few sets of matches. Thankfully, this wasn't like Strip Poker where she'd have to remove an article of clothing every time she lost a round, or else she'd have been fully naked right now. Was Strip Go Fish even a thing? She hoped not.
"Since I got your Fives, I get another turn," Luxord reminded her. "Do you have any Jacks?"
"No…Go Fish."
With her eyes glued to the cards in her hand, Reina could only wonder what favor she would owe Luxord since it was becoming more apparent that he would be the winner. She prayed it wouldn't be anything intimate-or, god forbid, sexual. She may have found his crystal blue eyes and deliciously thick accent appealing before, but all attraction towards him had been washed away by now due to his suspicious behavior and foxlike demeanor. Handsome or not, the guy was suspicious as hell, and it was clear he was planning something. She wasn't sure what his motives were, but she should have known better than to play into his hands, and she had a feeling she would pay the price for it.
"It's your turn, my pet."
Luxord's voice snapped her back to attention.
"Oh! Uh, right…Hm…"
She glanced at the blonde male, hoping to see if she could get a read on what cards were in his hand, when something round and purple materialized out of thin air on a tree branch just above Luxord's head. She was confused at first, wondering why a mysterious object would appear out of nowhere, until a large, crescent-shaped smile came into view.
'The Cheshire Cat? What is he doing here?'
The infamous cat lazily reclined on the tree branch, that mischievous grin playing on his face. Reina must have been gawking at him since Luxord quickly snapped his gaze upwards to see what had captured her attention. The Cheshire Cat, of course, blinked out of existence as soon as Luxord looked up.
"What are you staring so intently at, my dear?" The gambler asked, wondering why she had been fixated on a particular tree branch that was seemingly empty.
"Sorry, I thought I saw something," Reina shrugged, not wanting to call attention to the Cheshire Cat's existence so she could bring her focus back to the game at hand. "Let's see… Do you have any—"
As soon as Luxord looked straight ahead again, the Cheshire Cat reappeared in the same spot. He held up a single paw to his mouth to encourage Reina to be silent as he peered over the older man's shoulder to see what cards he was holding. The playful cat then made eye contact with her before holding up his paw to signal what cards Luxord had in his hand.
The Cheshire Cat wanted to help her? Wasn't that against the rules?
Even so, a part of her wanted to test the waters. Maybe the Cheshire cat was only messing around, or perhaps he was even lying to her when he signaled that Luxord had two Fours.
"Do you have any Fours?" Reina asked.
With a nod, Luxord handed over his cards. Reina just so happened to have two Fours of her own, so she had a complete set now.
"Well done," Luxord commended. "It is your turn again."
Reina glanced up for a single second to see the Cheshire Cat was now wearing a fancy, golden crown on his head. He held up three digits to show her that Luxord had three "crowns," or three Kings, as he tried to insinuate.
"Do you have any Kings?" Reina timidly asked.
This time Luxord sighed as he handed her three Kings. Since she already had one, that was another set for her. Victory was still in her hands if she played her cards carefully—literally!
The Cheshire Cat continued to help her for two more rounds before Luxord finally caught on to what was happening. She was just about to ask him for his Sixes before Luxord snapped his fingers and made another card appear in his hand. This card wasn't designed like a regular suit of cards; all it had was a symbol of a skull drawn on it. Before Reina could even ask what he was doing, he threw the card upwards like a throwing knife—right to where the Cheshire Cat was sitting!
The card was sharp as a blade, and had the purple cat not vanished again at that exact moment, he would have been sliced in half from Luxord's sneak attack. Reina's gasp gave it away, and Luxord smirked, knowing that he had caught her cheating red-handed. Since the razor-sharp card had missed its target, the corners were now embedded into the tree's bark.
"Taking guidance from a cat?" Luxord shook his head disapprovingly. "My, my, my, I thought you had more morals than to cheat, my dear."
"What the hell was that for?! You could have killed him!" Reina spat.
Luxord gave a carefree shrug. "If he didn't want to die, he shouldn't have helped you cheat."
"What?! You'd kill someone over a card game?!" Reina could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. "Don't you think that's a little extreme?! He's just a cat!"
Luxord chuckled before glancing down at his hand, absentmindedly shuffling the cards. "Cat or not, I detest cheaters. If he wanted to play, he should have asked nicely to join in instead of trying to help you cheat."
"Fine, fine, you're right. I cheated! But that doesn't mean you need to try and hurt someone for helping me!" Just what was this guy's problem?! That card was as sharp as a knife and could have easily killed her furry friend. Clearly, Luxord wasn't messing around. What kind of person would react in such a hostile manner over a silly little card game?! Reina's shoulders began to shake as her anger rose to alarming heights.
That was it. She had enough playing around.
"You know what? On second thought, I think we're done here. I don't want to play games with someone who'd try and kill someone over a card game."
As Reina threw her cards down on the floor and stood up, Luxord gave her a sly smirk before chuckling to himself. "Oh, please. He's not a person or anything. He's not even a real cat. He's just a-"
"I don't care what he is! You just tried to kill someone in this world! Someone who isn't a Heartless!" Reina stomped her foot angrily on the ground, stepping down on one of Luxord's cards. The blonde was less than enthused over the treatment of his precious King of Spades, but said nothing about it.
"If you forfeit the game, you won't get the potion. And the terms of our agreement will still stand. You will owe me a favor regardless," Luxord's gaze hardened as he stood up from his seat on the ground so he could stand toe to toe with the rebellious brunette. "Is that really what you want to do?"
It was starting to make sense why Xigbar wasn't exactly fond of this guy. She should have never played into his hands like this. To hell with the rules of his game! She had wasted enough time as it was, and Xigbar was bound to wonder why she was taking so insanely long to bathe in a pond.
"Well, you're clearly a homicidal maniac, so I'm out of here." She huffed, turning her back on him. "I don't want that stupid potion, anyways. It's probably just a gimmick, anyway. I'm going back to Xigbar, so just do me a favor and leave us alone, you jerk."
"I knew from the start the Cheshire Cat would dodge my attack. Believe me when I say that if I truly wanted him dead, he'd be nothing but a pile of bones by now," Luxord sighed, trying his best to keep his irritation in check. "My dear, it appears we have gotten off on the wrong hand. Why don't we start over?"
Before Reina could walk away, the Gambler of Fate reached for her arm. He pulled her back towards him, and before she could yank away, he placed something small in her hand and curled her fist around it. He let go of her so she could see what he had slipped into her grasp—a pair of dice.
"Let's do one more round. One quick game of dice. Winner takes all!" He held out his arms dramatically, a friendly smile on his face as he gestured outwards.
"I don't want—"
Luxord pressed a single digit to her lips to silence her before using that same finger to point to the pair of dice in her hand. "Just one game. If you win, the potion is yours, and I will leave you alone. If I win, you won't get the potion, but I will still leave you alone. You won't have to owe me a favor or anything. Call it an apology for frightening you with my threats against your feline friend."
Raising a brow, Reina eyed him suspiciously as she pondered his new offer.
This guy just wouldn't quit.
"Come on, Princess Reina," Luxord purred as he stood a bit too close to her for comfort, making her wonder if all members of the Organization were unaware of the importance of personal boundaries. "You know you need my help."
If he thought she needed his help to accomplish her task, he should have just given her the damn potion without insisting she play a stupid game with him. At least the whole "debt" issue was no longer on the table if she lost. Luxord didn't look like the kind of guy she wanted to owe a favor of any kind to, especially after seeing how violent he could be. At least playing one more game would get him off her back regardless.
After a few more seconds of deliberating, Reina finally gave a resigned sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. Let's make it quick before Xigbar starts to worry over what's taking me so long."
"I'm sure Xigbar has his hands full with other obligations at the moment," Luxord replied casually, and before the girl could ask what he meant, he pointed to the dice again. "But let's make it a quick game nonetheless. The rules are simple—you're going to roll the dice once. Before you roll, you're going to decide if the outcome of the number will be odd or even. For example, if you roll a three and a two, that would make five, and the result would be odd. If you guessed "even," you lose. If you guessed "odd," you won. Is that easy enough for you, my dear?"
It sounded a little too easy, but at least it'd be over in a flash, and she could get away from Luxord no matter what the outcome.
"Fine. Let's do this…" Reina glanced down at the dice in her hand, debating whether she should choose "odd" or "even." Just like the game of "Heads or Tails," she had a fifty-fifty chance of winning, and since this game was based on pure luck, there was no technique needed to make her decision. She finally blurted out the word "odd" before she began to roll the dice around in her hand.
Without a table to drop the dice into, she'd just have to drop them to the floor. She gave her fist a few good shakes before dropping the pair of dice on the soil below. She had to catch her breath for a moment before she allowed her gaze to fall to where they were now resting on the floor, but Luxord announced the results before she even got a chance to get a closer look.
"A 'four' and a 'one,'" he stated. "That would make five, and therefore, the result is 'odd.'"
Reina watched as the man bent down to scoop up his dice. "Wait…Does that mean I won?"
Her question made him chuckle. "Yes. Yes, it does, my dear. Well done! You have rightfully earned yourself the magic potion."
With a snap of his fingers, the small vial of ruby red liquid appeared in a puff of smoke right in Reina's hand. Its abrupt emergence made her nearly drop it, but she managed to secure it in her grasp after fumbling around for only a second.
"That seemed a little too easy," Reina said aloud as she stared at the potion. "How do I know this isn't secretly a poison meant to kill me? No offense, but I don't' exactly trust you anymore after witnessing the attempted murder of the Cheshire Cat."
Her skepticism towards him only made the gambler smirk. "You'll immediately trust someone as dubious as Xigbar, but you doubt me?"
She hadn't "immediately" trusted Xigbar at first, either. Men in black leather coats who wield deadly weapons and work for a "secret organization" aren't really at the top of her list of "trustworthy" people, but Xigbar had proved himself to be a noteworthy companion during her adventures in Wonderland. As cliché as it sounded, any man that would throw himself in the throes of danger just to protect her was good in her book, unlike Luxord who seemed to thrive on playing nonsensical mind games with her and waste her time.
"In any case, you are wise to doubt me," Luxord added. "You'd be wise to doubt anyone you encounter on your journey through unfamiliar worlds. You never know who is a friend or foe until it is too late. That being said, perhaps the real test of luck will be what's in the potion itself."
Oh, she did not like where this was going. "If you want me to drink it, I want you to take a sip first." She held out the potion to him, but he shook his head in response.
"Games are only interesting when the stakes are high, wouldn't you agree? There'd be little fun in watching you make a choice if you already knew the outcome." The shimmery blue hue of his eyes that had once charmed Reina were now making her blood turn cold the longer she gazed into them. "Our deal is complete. You won the potion fair and square. Now it is up to you to decide if drinking it is worth the potential risk or not."
"Well, when you put it like that, I think I'd rather just give it back," she grumbled, eager to get the red vial out of her hands. Luxord, however, reached out to close his fist over her hand to trap the potion in her grasp.
"It is yours to keep and do with as your please," he told her. "Just think carefully before you make your choice. You can take a drink and see what the potion has in store for you. I assure you that there is nothing inside that bottle that can kill you—I even swear it on my life-but it is up to you to decide if you can trust me or not. If defeating the Drainer is important to you, I strongly suggest drinking the bottle down to the very last drop. However, I would not fault you for being cautious about taking potions from strangers."
Did he want her to trust him or not? She honestly couldn't tell. The glass bottle felt warm in her palm, almost as if it were trying to draw her attention towards it. He promised nothing inside the bottle could kill her, but sometimes there were worse things than death. What if it scorched her insides until her intestines were nothing but melted slime? What if it made her sprout an extra limb or two, or turn her skin lime green? What if it made her shrink down to the size of an ant or grow taller than a tower?
Logic told her to pour it out on the floor. The fact that Luxord didn't want to take a sip of it first was a bad enough sign. Her thoughts, however, kept drifting back to Xigbar. It was her fault he lost his powers and abilities, rendering him useless in battle. The poor guy couldn't even summon his Arrowguns, and there was no telling if he'd ever regain his strength if the Drainer remained at large. She could try to fight the Drainer on her own without the help of the secret potion, but what if she failed? What if she wasn't strong enough on her own after all?
Xigbar hadn't thought twice about leaping into danger to save her. The least she could do was drink a damn potion and hope she didn't grow an extra eyeball on her forehead. Even if there were catastrophic side effects, it wasn't like she couldn't return to Traverse Town and ask Merlin for help. He was one of the greatest wizards around and could surely reverse any weird spell or curse that might be inflicted upon drinking the mysterious concoction.
She opened the lid of the bottle and curiously took a whiff. It didn't smell like anything suspicious; there was even a hint of raspberry to its aroma. She gave Luxord one final glance before holding up the vial as if to propose a toast.
"Bottoms up!" Reina said with a lopsided grin before bringing the bottle to her lips. Luxord's expression remained far too neutral for her liking as she downed the bottle's contents in just a few gulps. He was neither smirking triumphantly nor feigning worry; he had the perfect poker face.
She didn't feel any different. She didn't feel phenomenal cosmic power surging through her, nor did it look like she was changing physically. All there was left to do was to conjure up a Fire spell to see what would happen.
Her Keyblade materialized in her hand, and just as she was about to cast a spell to test the potion's effects, Luxord stepped forward. "Before you waste any MP, just know that it will take at least a few minutes for the effects to take fruition."
"Well, that answered that question," Reina mumbled.
Luxord's eyes rolled upwards as he slightly scratched at the goatee on his handsome face, lost in thought. He then snapped his finger as if a very important thought had just crossed his mind. "Oh! There is one teeny-tiny detail I forgot to mention. How careless of me!"
Her guts clenched with tension. "…And what would that be?"
"While it takes several minutes to kick in, the effects only last for fifteen minutes."
Reina's gasp could be heard throughout the entire forest. "HUH?!"
His impish smirk gave it away—he hadn't forgotten that specific detail. The sly bastard had left it out on purpose!
"What the hell, Luxord?! Only fifteen minutes?! It will take me way longer than that to get to the Bizarre Room!" With her Keyblade still in hand, she debated if it was worth trying to swing it at his head or not.
"Then I suggest you get a move on. Here, I'll even provide a shortcut for you." After taking a step to the side, a strange, dark portal opened up beside him. "This Corridor of Darkness will lead you straight to the Drainer."
Reina gawked at the ominous gate before shooting a glare at the conman. "You expect me to walk headfirst into something called a Corridor of Darkness? Thanks, but no thanks."
"You were brave enough to drink a potion that could have potentially poisoned you, but it's a portal that you're afraid of?" He raised a single brow at her. "If you'd rather walk, be my guest. You just won't make it in time."
Xigbar also had the ability to open up one of these portals. During their first skirmish with the Drainer, he had opened one of these "doors" and told her to walk through it. He wanted her to use the portal to escape the Drainer, yet here Luxord was opening one to lead her straight into the lion's den. Didn't that seem a little too convenient?
Well, there were worse decisions she could make, right? She had already gone this far accepting Luxord's "help" that she might as well keep going until the very end. Was it a bad move? Probably. Did she really care at that moment? Not really. The clock was ticking, and this looked like it would be the best shortcut she could find.
After taking a deep breath, Reina marched forward toward the creepy, dark portal of unknown peril, but not before cutting her eyes at the Gambler of Fate. "If this turns out to be a trap—"
"If I truly wanted you dead in any capacity," Luxord said in a cold, empty voice void of any real emotion, "I would have already killed you."
That was surprisingly reassuring. She hadn't seen Luxord in combat, but she had plenty to be grateful for if he was anything like Xigbar. If what Xigbar said was true about their little "group" of black coats, then their Organization would certainly need assassins of all kinds to handle the many Heartless across the worlds. Luxord probably had his own set of skills that made him useful against fighting monsters, but that would just be something she could ask Xigbar later. While she was at it, she should prepare herself to ask Xigbar for forgiveness, too. He was bound to be unhappy when he learned about her unplanned "excursion," but surely he wouldn't be too angry since he was about to get his powers back once she took out the Drainer all by herself.
Keyblade still in hand, Reina said nothing else as she stepped into the Corridor of Darkness.
As soon as she was fully enveloped in darkness, Luxord closed the door behind her.
"Safe travels, my dear," he said to himself. "Now, let's see how Xigbar is faring on his own."
How was Xigbar faring?
Not good. Not good at all.
As soon as the princess left to take a dip in the pond, a swarm of Heartless ambushed the Freeshooter at their campsite.
Typically, a few Shadows wouldn't have made a damper on Xigbar's day. Shadows were the weakest of the Heartless, and they wouldn't have ever posed a threat to the second member of Organization XIII, even if they attacked in hoards. Of course, this was the first time he had ever encountered a group of them without having a solid weapon to defend himself with or the ability to manipulate the space around him.
Little Miss Prissy sure chose a bad time for a swim. He could really use her help with his current pest control problem.
Luckily, there wasn't a shortage of sharp, pointy tree branches lying around. Sticks weren't generally his weapon of choice, but they were still effective against lower-ranked Heartless. He had managed to sharpen the tip of a thick branch just enough to create a makeshift spear. It took a lot of running, dodge rolling, and stabbing to take just one of them out since the little buggers were slightly more durable than he would have liked, but at least he had enough strength to penetrate the creature's skull with the sharp end of the stick to kill it.
"Great," Xigbar panted. "One down, sixteen to go."
Just where the hell did these Shadows come from, anyways?! They shouldn't have been attacking him in the first place, let alone even be in the area right now.
His question was soon answered as he heard the sounds of a Corridor of Darkness opening up behind him.
"Need a hand, Number II? You appear to be a little out of sorts today."
Xigbar rolled his one good eye, still clutching onto his spear, as he charged headfirst at another Shadow in his path. Managing to avoid its sharp claws, the tip of his stick jabbed right through the Heartless's chest, and soon it was melting away into specks of dust.
"Thanks for offering, but I'm doing just fine on my own, Luxord."
He didn't even turn his head to look at the Gambler of Fate as he kept his attention solely focused on the Shadows crawling at his feet. Just as Xigbar kicked one away from him as if it were a soccer ball, Luxord so graciously lent a hand.
In the blink of an eye, each one of the Shadows was taken out by a flying card. The creatures were sliced to bits by the sharp edges of the metallic cards, leaving only green HP orbs and small amounts of Munny behind. After witnessing the total annihilation of his opponents, Xigbar slowly turned to look at the blonde man with a scowl on his face.
"If you're expecting a 'thank you, ' you helped the wrong person."
"And here I thought you were a team player, Xigbar."
Luxord only showed up to help when he was given a direct order or when he wanted something in return. Not in the mood for any games, Xigbar simply dropped the spear he was holding and scratched the back of his head. "Since we both know there's no point in dawdling, just tell me what you want so I can tell you to fuck off. Or, we can just skip the part where you start talking, and I'll just go ahead and tell you to fuck off."
Unphased by the other man's sass, Luxord crossed his arms over his chest and met Xigbar's annoyed gaze with a smirk. "I'm just here to tell you that your princess has run off again."
"Run off?" Xigbar growled. "What the hell do you—"
"Instead of asking questions, I'd suggest running to her aid, oh, valiant hero. It would be a shame for your little adventure to come to a tragic close so shortly after you just got her back." Luxord, who generally loved to hear himself talk, should have anticipated the effect his words would have on his comrade. Xigbar had stormed over and snatched him up by the collar in seconds. His teleportation powers weren't necessary for this instance; he was plenty fast without them.
Luxord grinned as he stood face to face with an extremely pissed-off Xigbar. Before this mission, the two of them didn't particularly hate each other or even get under each other's skin the way other members did. They were similar in age, or at least it appeared that way, and it wasn't uncommon for them to spend an evening together in the Gray Room drinking and playing card games until Saix yelled at them for being too loud. The two of them tolerated each other, to say the least, and rarely got into arguments or butted heads.
But Luxord should have known better than to go near Reina.
"What did you do to her?!" Xigbar growled through gritted teeth, his face only inches away from the gambler. His golden eye was burning with anger, but moreso than that, Luxord could detect a hint of fear. For a man with no heart to feel any real emotions, Xigbar was certainly getting himself worked up over one silly little girl.
"I didn't harm her, if that's what you're wondering," Luxord replied before curling his hand around Xigbar's wrist to pull him away from him. "All I did was point her in the right direction of her opponent. I mean, that's why she's here in the first place, right? To fight the Drainer and get her hands on a magical key? Or am I missing a key detail here?"
He wanted to punch that sly grin off Luxord's face, but he knew his fist would only collide with air. Without his powers, Xigbar was nothing more than an ordinary human, and no average guy could take on a member of Organization XIII and live to tell about it.
"As if! You know damn well why she's here," he hissed back. "So stop playing dumb."
Luxord looked down at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Should we really be standing around here talking? If you swoop in to save the day now, I'll even be kind enough to defeat the Drainer on your behalf and make it look like you were the one who singlehandedly defeated "one of the most powerful Heartless" around. I'm positive a heroic deed like that would make any damsel in distress swoon. She'll have no choice but to fall madly in love with you, just as you planned."
Xigbar pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd need to make a point to remind himself later that Luxord deserved not just one, but two punches to the gut for that remark. The Superior didn't like it when the other members squabbled amongst themselves, but he'd deal with a slap on the wrist from Xemnas just to savor the feeling of his fist pummeling into Luxord's body.
"Luxord, I won't tell you again to buzz off," Xigbar warned him. "You don't know shit about anything. This mission doesn't concern you, and any interference could throw the whole thing off. We've only got one shot at this. If you don't like how I'm running things, you can take it up with Xemnas."
"Speaking of one shot," Luxord said as he created another Corridor of Darkness. "If Reina misses hers, I can only assume you'd both fail the mission."
Xigbar cursed under his breath as he watched the smirk on Luxord's face widen to an insufferable amount. "When I get back to the castle, I will make you regret ever stepping foot here."
"I look forward to it," Luxord beamed. "Now go. Your princess is waiting."