Chapter 51: A Matchless Greed
From the comfort of her bed in the VIP chamber, Neptune used magic to observe the on-going activity in her casino.
On the surface it was like any other day. A plethora of aliens gambled away their hard earnings, while Priscilla or her fellow bouncers took out the ne'er-do-wells.
But there was dark magic in the air. A faint trace that only someone of her level could sense. It weaved through her casino like a spider constructing a web, never stopping for anyone.
It was but a thimble strand, nothing that'd interfere with the patrons time. But it had a clear path in mind. She knew it right away. It was coming for her.
With a intrigued pucker she gazed towards her upper right portal and saw a little peckish imp scurrying between the legs of much bigger clientele.
Magical creatures weren't foreign here. Goblins especially loved to come to this place. But this imp? It was made of solid gold, with eyes of emeralds and tiny horns of silver.
It was as blunt of an invitation as any from an aggressor saying "You know I'm here, you know what I want."
"Let its mischief be..." She murmured with a glowing smile, "For the time has come at last."
The dark magic stirred through the first floor of her casino and towards the train station. Soon it would climb to her place and infiltrate her room.
There was no suspense to this mystery. The dark magic was but a mailman in ethereal form come to deliver a letter of invitation to her from her greatest enemy...
With a wave of the hand her visions of the casino turned to mist and she rose from her bed with pool stick in her grasp. She tapped the ground twice with it and wiggled her nose.
She felt no shakes in her body, or fog clouding her judgment. This was a day worth waiting for, for all two-thousand years it took to finally arrive.
She began a brisk stroll towards the secret door, the dark magic's approach riddling her fine skin with goosebumps.
She bent towards the door's bottom and pinched the expected letter right as it spawned from a dark nothingness.
It was embroidered in gold, obviously, with both addresses written in blood red runes. A quick, novice puzzle solved with a wave of the hand.
Her name, her real name, flashed above the space coordinates to her casino. The return address was one line long, giving up only the deliverers name...
"The Endless of Greed, Aava'ris."
She closed her eyes with a giggling hum and returned to her bed, giving her stick a little twirl beside her. She sat down, laid the stick beside the bed, and gently creased her finger under the flap to open it.
An entire scroll sprung out of the envelop and unfurled before her. More runes were burned into the paper a letter at a time, forcing her to keep pace.
"Belle of Planet Y'Tol, or should I say...Aurian Neptune?
You have caught my interest for a long time, most blatantly in fact. I know what you want. You're no different from the rest inflicted with this bug this...fever of greed.
But of the many who claim to match me in wealth all crash and burn in poverty eventually EXCEPT...for you. You have amassed a terrifying treasure trove in such a short time. Almost, I MUST EMPHASIS ALMOST, matching my hoard...
This cannot stand.
Only one can be the wealthiest, richest, most fortuitous being in the universe. I want everything you have...you want everything I have...
I think its time we met. Person to person, greed against greed...
You can deny my offer, surely. But by now you've noticed my little treasure imps wandering your casino, yes? With a click of my jaw they will empty the pockets of all your patrons, and if the ensuing riot doesn't dismantle your operations, the bad publicity surely will...
If you accept this meeting, then all you must do is touch my calling sign on the envelope.
Inviting you lovingly...Aava'ris."
The scroll turned solid gold and then smashed to pieces on the ground. Neptune kicked her crossed legs up and tapped her fingers on the edge of the bed.
"Me thinks this demon tries too hard..." She smiled and giggled, "There was no doubt I'd go from the start."
But before she accepted the invite, she called her dear wife up with a spell. The moment Priscilla entered the room, Neptune raised the envelope before her mouth.
"Is something the matter darling?" Priscilla stopped in the middle of the entrance to their bedroom and stared wide-eyed at the envelope.
"Its time." Neptune uttered lightly.
Priscilla put a hand on her hip and spoke, "You finally got the invitation."
"Yes, seems our greedy 'friend' finally got tired of me hogging his hoard."
Neptune flipped the envelope around while Priscilla walked to her side, "You've been waiting a long time for this. Nervous?"
Neptune closed her eyes and shook her head, "No. Well..."
She tapped Priscilla on the nose and winked, "Maybe a tiny bit."
Priscilla blushed and tapped her fist on her mouth, "Y-You better be prepared darling. Who knows what underhanded tricks this mastermind will pull on you."
"Hmmm..." Neptune plopped down onto the lip of her bed and Priscilla followed.
"It feels like it hasn't been that long, has it?" She murmured softly.
"Since the day you first learned about this mastermind, right?"
"Yes...On the day I earned my freedom, that demon in charge of the casino told me..."
"To think...that I'd be betrayed by you...I raised you, taught you magic...But you...You were born carrying an insatiable thirst for money...I didn't give you that. Hehehe...your greed will take you far child...I have only seen such a quagmire of avarice in my master's soul...! Heh heh heh...you're not free...You'll NEVER be free...He will take you for himself someday...Greed...consumes...all..."
Neptune sank her head slightly and Priscilla offered her hand as support on the chin, "You are not like him Belle."
Neptune gently grabbed her wrist and pulled it aside, "I DO love money. And gold. And jewels...I am proud of the fortune we have amassed together Priscilla. So when I say 'I won't lose', it is not a temptation of fate...It is a declaration of victory."
"You've never lost at anything darling," Priscilla forced her hand onto Neptune's cheek and glided it over to her hair, "You're a master magician who can turn even defeats into victories."
"But it IS as you say dear..." Neptune looked towards her stick and picked it up, "Our opponent is not to be taken lightly. Even with all the resources we had available to us, from Catherine's smarts to Gravitus' reach and my sister's intuitive eye, this...Aava'ris hid himself perfectly."
"Do you have a plan? Should I come with?" Priscilla voiced equally valid concerns, but...
"I'll be fine." Neptune shot them down with her usual smile and with a flick of the wrist, suddenly had a Queen of Hearts between her fingers.
"But before I go dear, why don't I show you a new magic trick I developed?"
One flashy card trick later, Neptune was now left alone to catch her breath one last time. She looked around her room and marveled at how far she'd come from the little tattered orphan on the streets...
She could never go back to that. This state of wealth and bliss was her present, and forever her future. But there was one black stain on her past keeping it from being spotless, and today, it would be removed.
She took the envelope in hand and glided her finger over the mastermind's name, the lettering cold like gold. A wave of dark magic washed over her and made her body feel like it was on fire. An amateurish deception of the senses, at best.
She kept her eyes peeled wide-open towards the onslaught of shifting dimensions before her. She zoomed past hundreds of them, her body no thinner than a molecule, until she was squeezed between a very narrow space and spat out to her destination.
The envelope, no longer in her hand, allowed her to call her trusty pool stick wand to her grip. Dressed in her best tuxedo, she wandered forward in this strange new land.
It was a rocky start. The ground was littered with goblets and treasure chests overloaded with jewels. One misstep and she'd sink into the ground, never to be seen again.
The area was cavernous, with a melted mix of metals and jewels making up the stalagmites overhead. All these valuables shimmered and glowed, giving all the light necessary for her to see forward.
This treasure horde must've spanned miles, and even that felt like a lowball guess. Curiously though despite the faint traces of magic in the air it didn't feel like she had been pulled into another dimension.
Not at all. This was still the normal dimension, whatever could be considered "normal".
It was more so...this place exists in its own league. The air was sinister and normally, that'd do nothing to her. But now she felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck.
Go back? Nonsense. She could only go forward.
It felt like a long journey thanks to the sights being unchanged throughout. An attempt to wear her down mentally? Again, amateurish.
Finally though, the host started to give up on this act and let themselves be seen in the horizon.
Sitting atop a throne of crystals that glowed with what could only be described as the essence of the soul, there was a centipede. Nothing normal, of course. Fifteen feet of its length was visible, the rest was burrowing under the gold. It was three feet wide and all its limbs were made of bone, with two pronged talons acted as the fingers. Its head was hunched over and a black gem socketed into its right eye, while the left was red with a pin-sized pupil, its shape that of a right triangle.
It had mandibles that, when they began to stretch, the creases of his vulnerable underbelly seemed to smile as well.
"Welcome, Belle of Y'Tol..." Said the creature with an unnatural set of clicking sounds, "To my Golden Globe."
It unlocked its many crossed arms and pulled itself off its throne, sifting through the gold to get closer. It suddenly lurched its face down within a foot of hers and chuckled.
"Fancy yourself a gold lover do you? Think that you..." It curled around the other side of her head with surprising speed, "Can outmatch me?"
Neptune closed her eyes as the creature breathed its putrid slime onto her face, and then tapped the center of its face with her stick, "I will rob you of everything you own, Aava'ris...Your money, your infamy, and then your life."
"Heh hehehe...!" Aava'ris retreated to his throne fiddling his prehensile talons together, "You're a delight. I wish your hunger for greed was under my service again, little Belle..."
Neptune narrowly glared at the bug and said, "Are we going to start, or do you have as many mouths as you do arms, Endless of Greed?"
He clicked his hands together and the air became still, and thicker. He hunched his head down further and his body began to twist around.
"You're right. Our ultimate game shouldn't be delayed any further. We understand each other. We're friends in all but the word...What's mine, can be yours..." He gestured his highest hand out and chuckled, "If you're brave enough to offer what's of equal value...Your existence."
Neptune felt a slight twitch in her heart and gulped. She steadied her hand out towards the centipede and said, "My existence? Dare I ask what you mean?"
"I am not the simpleton sinner you take me for...Gold, jewels, treasure..." He graced his hands towards the ceiling with little a care in his mannerisms, "They're fine. Beautiful I'd go as far to say...But its not enough."
He pointed to his head, "Knowledge, emotions, spirit...That which cannot be seen yet holds the most value, I have spent my lifetime hoarding all these things for myself. You wish to take everything that I am away? Then its only fair I take yours too..."
Aava'ris pointed at her and clicked his jaw, "What does it mean to exist? Why, its how much you affect the world around you. A ladybug may not catch a human's eye but it still eats, grows, and dies...It left a mark somewhere for someone to know it was alive."
"What happens when a person who has affected so many lives suddenly never existed at all...?" The creature's whole body curled with a smile, "I am eager to find out. Though...who is to say I haven't already? Ha ha ha ha...!"
Neptune closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I see, you will steal away the life I lived in this world."
"It'll be like you were never even born." Aava'ris said, stirring with anticipation.
"My Casino wouldn't exist...My sister would have struggled alone. And Priscilla..." Neptune's body shook, she felt a moment of hesitation stir within.
She opened her eyes with a curling smile and brandished her stick towards the creature, "I do not lose, Endless of Greed. I will play whatever game you want, and win!"
Aava'ris leaned comfortably into his throne and waved a hand around, "Oh but we're not playing one game...We're playing 501 of them!"
"A marathon eh?" Neptune was intrigued.
"Yes, a grand duel for existence. The rules are simple...As long as we stick within the terms set for each game, we're allowed to use whatever tricks we have up our sleeves to win, as long as we don't directly target each other."
"That's fair."
"Are you sure? You know nothing about me, but I know plenty about you..."
Neptune gestured her hand down and a card slid from the sleeve into her hand. She flicked it straight out and nearly cut the side of the centipede's face. As he flinched, she called the card back with magic and chuckled.
"You're so sure of yourself..." Neptune extend her hand out in a majestic sweep of the air, "I accept your challenge without regret!"
"Very well...Then let us begin!" Aava'ris peeled himself away from his throne and stretched his arms out, "Game 1...! A rousing round of Rock, Paper, Scissors...! But the goal isn't to beat one hand...!"
He started wiggling all his limbs around in the air, clacking them together like a cacophony of monkeys on tambourines, "You must beat the majority of them!"
Neptune flicked her fist out and gave it a few shakes.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" And when the two had said the magic words, she threw out Scissors.
Aava'ris had his talons spread apart for Scissors, used magic to make thin sheets of paper, but the majority of his hands were closed together for Rock...
"You lose the first game, Belle of Y'Tol." He smirked and uttered a deep laugh.
She squirmed in response but kept her smile going, "500 to go then..."
Game 27: Ball in a Cup
Aava'ris, with a cup in each hand, commanded a rubber ball to go bounce around between them rapidly. Ultimately it'd stop in one.
Paying attention to the ball itself would cause a migraine. She instead looked to the cups for any signs of wobbling. The game master kept a surprisingly steady hand, so the cups only moved when the ball went in.
After two minutes of playing tricks, the ball settled in one spot and Aava'ris leered at her to pick. Neptune tapped her chin a couple times, playing with the centipede's expectations.
It was in the second down from the upper right corner. No fooling her.
Aava'ris frowned and wiggled the ball out of that cup, then flicked the cups out of his hands, "Hmph...now you're only down by two."
"Can't expend too much brain power on the easy ones. For this to work, I need to concentrate..." Neptune readied herself for what's to come.
Game 96: Eight-Ball
Aava'ris dug up an old pool table he snagged a long time ago for them to play on. Neptune masterfully glided around the table from ball to ball, sinking them into the pockets without breaking a sweat.
When Aava'ris was allowed a turn, he struggled to get into position over the table without bending his body in the shape of a "U". And with such garish posture he fumbled with making his shots.
She sank the last ball in as an act of mercy, then brushed her knuckles against her chest.
Aava'ris snapped his pool stick on the table in the meantime. Neptune then smirked at him and said, "Seems I've acquired a three-point lead."
"For now. But this is only the beginning...! The centipede growled.
Game 139: Whirlwind Solitaire
It was a simple match of Solitaire on the surface. The two had their own tables to work with. But every ten seconds a gust of wind shuffled all the cards that were still in play, forcing them to recollect where they were.
Neptune hustled to flip over and match cards with their suits. She managed her first complete set in a minute, and from there it would prove easier to get the rest.
But despite his many setbacks, the numerous limbs at the centipede's disposal allowed him to handle cards much faster.
He slapped his hands down on the table, signifying his victory. Neptune stared at the one card she had left, a King of Spades, and sighed.
"Finally, I have broken our tie..." Aava'ris boasted right in her face.
Neptune pressed her remaining card against his face and it stuck there until he took it off himself.
Game 194: Ball-o-Rama
This round was utter chaos. Balls bouncing around everywhere, and the goal was to catch as many as possible.
Neptune used her stick as a makeshift flying broom and zipped around, snagging them in a magic bag. Aava'ris coiled around the room and snagged tons of balls in his hands with ease.
He held a clear and present advantage yet again, but she kept going until there were no balls left.
Something told her she wasn't the victor when she saw at least two balls in each of Aava'ris' many hands. Sure enough he dropped them down into a pile next to her own and his easily doubled hers in size.
"Now I lead by five-points. Your chances of victory are dwindling, lil' Belle..."
"Hardly." She replied.
Game 245: Mahjong
Mahjong isn't her area of expertise. It can be played with two people but generally speaking you get the full experience with four.
The goal is to the gather enough tiles to complete sets. There can only be 13 in each hand, so when another is added from the pile you have to either toss it away or keep it and toss another tile.
There's multiple types of hands to make and once its completely, you win that round.
As money is of no importance the value of these hands doesn't matter, even going for a basic "Three matches" would be fine. Buuuuuut for the sake of styling on that arrogant roach, Neptune's decided to go for the rarest hand of them all...13 Orphans.
All she needs is one more tile, either Aava'ris slips or she draws it. The centipede eyes her from across the table, glancing at his hand with the other eye.
"Hmmm...HMMMM!" He's frustrated, tense. He's going to play right into her hand and he knows it.
With great aplomb he slapped a tile down from his rack and slowly let go. Neptune smirked, snatched the tile up and then laid her rack flat on the table to complete the set.
"13 Orphans." She coolly declared.
"Ghhh...!" Aava'ris pounded the edge of his table and declared, "You sneaky girl...! You could've ended this sooner and you know it!"
"Two behind..." She said with a wily smile.
A drop of sweat fell before her eyes and splashed on the table. She flattened her smile and gently stroked her face. It was damp.
Her stomach then made a gurgling sound.
"Its been...eighteen hours? No, longer than that..." She looked Aava'ris in the eyes and saw him no worse for the wear. He gave a knowing sneer and she took a moment to catch her breath.
"This isn't just a battle of the minds, but a test of endurance too. Halfway there...Can't lose sight of tomorrow."
Game 307: Poker
Unlike in Mahjong they are using chips to determine when the game is over. But what it essentially boiled down to was "Who'd be cocky enough to go all-in first?" which in turn could be answered by "Whoever's lucky enough to get the first Straight Flush without grinning like an idiot."
Neptune looked at her current hand. It could become something, if she draws correctly. Aava'ris was staring up from his hand, then quickly back down when he was caught red-handed.
He then reached for his chips and shoved them all forward, "I'm going all-in."
He had lost the last few hands so this reeked of desperation. A bluff, a terrible one at that. She may be feeling a little drowsy but that didn't give him an excuse to try and pull one over on her.
She had the potential for a Four-of-a-Kind. Was it worth the risk? Right now he had a three point lead in games and they were past the halfway mark. But at the same time this game was wasting a lot of time, pushing her mind and patience to its limits.
"It might be worth losing the battle to win the war..." She pushed her chips in and locked in her bet in silence.
"Very well..." Aava'ris reached down and flipped the first card over. It matched her pair already in hand.
"Three..." He flipped the next card, it was a mismatch.
Then, slowly, he flipped the last one over...And it was a mismatch too. A three-of-a-kind is decent, but she was doubtful it'd be enough.
Aava'ris guffawed and laid his cards on the table. A Straight Flush...!
Neptune froze and swallowed quietly. He stretched his greedy claws towards the chips and piled them against his chest, speaking grimly, "Four ahead..."
Game 393: Cribbage
"Sorry, but you've lost." Neptune slapped her hand of cards down. A 24 point hand, and her next move gave her a 20 point crib. With a stunning 44 point jump across the board, she stamped her peg into the end space and put her feet up on the table.
Aava'ris stared at the board, finding himself behind the skunk line, and then glared her square in the eyes, "You cheated."
"I did not. You're just bad at counting. Must be hard when nothing you own has value." Neptune gladly rubbed that in his face as she clattered his mandibles in frustration.
"Hmph...! You've only regained a one point advantage lil' Belle...I am still in peak condition!"
Certainly he had a point. For however long they'd been going at this now, her clothes were positively soaked with sweat and her stomach might as well be an endless organ of noise.
As she peeled off her tuxedo and pants to remain in her undershirt and panties, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath, "Just a little over a hundred left. Keep focused on the future..."
Game 442: Old Maid
It was down to the wire. Either side just needed one pair to win. Neptune was stuck with the Old Maid, and fiddled the cards around so he wouldn't guess which one was it.
He plucked the Old Maid out and visibly winced, "Dhhh...!"
He then pulled the same stunt on her, and she wound up grabbing the Old Maid.
"Hmmm..." She repeated her trick, and he pulled it out again.
"What in the...?"
They've been at this phase of combat for an hour now.
He shuffled the cards around, she grabbed the Old Maid. She shuffled the cards, he grabbed the Old Maid.
"This is dumb!" He blatantly shoved his half of the last pair at her face and said, "Take it! I'll accept your lead growing just to escape this hell!"
"There's a reason that shuffling is not allowed in this game, Endless of Greed." She replied as she took the card and set the last pair on the table.
She then smiled weakly and whispered, "I'm ahead by two."
Game 475: 01 Darts
The goal of the game is simple. Throw darts at the board to reduce the score from 2101 to 0. If either goes over, the score resets to the last number before the darts were thrown.
Three darts per possession. There were plenty of bulls-eyes to go around.
Neptune's vision was damp and shaky. This was the end of a second day of games...? Was it? No. Stay awake. So close to the end...
Her ability to land darts was terrible. Aava'ris wasn't losing any stamina. He nailed every throw he wanted, down to the bitter end...
As he plucked his darts in victory he twisted his head around and chuckled, "Now I lead by one. And so close to the end too..."
Neptune wiped the thick sweat off her brow and took a deep breath, only for a series of coughs to assault her throat.
"The finish line is in sight...I can't give up now."
Game 500: Pick a Card
Down to the wire...This time Neptune was tasked with taking a deck of cards and picking one that she liked the most. If Aava'ris could guess it, he wins.
"This is the moment of truth...If I win now, its over. If I lose..." She narrowed her gaze and slowly raised the deck she shuffled to her chest.
Taking a deep, unpleasant sounding gulp she closed her eyes and concentrated. Deeper, deeper, where no tiredness could reach...
"Feel it out...Let nothing distract you..." At the very last second her hand, and the card she touched, gave off a faint glow.
She then gestured her hand out and the cards spread out into a wall between her and him.
Aava'ris leaned out and stared at each individual one. With a gleam in his bejeweled eye he gestured towards one in the second row.
"Its this one, obviously..." He plucked it out from the rest. It was the Queen of Hearts.
"...Yes." Neptune said with a sigh.
"Ho ho ho...Then that means we are tied." He flicked the card around between his talons and then gave it a quick look over.
"...This girl on the card..."
Neptune perked up instantly.
"Its your lover isn't it?" He turned the card around, and Priscilla made up both halves of the Queens' face. One in her normal form, the other her dragon half.
Neptune gave a quick nod and then gestured her hand out, "You can keep it if you want...I have other decks at home."
"Hmph...It hardly matters, given my inevitable victory." He placed the card on the front of his throne and then wiggled back out towards her.
"500 games, and we are tied..." He hunched over and clicked his jaw a few times, "I wasn't expecting to be challenged like this after so many eons...You have exhausted me of all my games."
He buried his face into his piles of gold and ruffled around a bit. When he rose in his talons was...a simple, unassuming penny.
"Let us end this grand duel with a true test of luck. A single coin flip. Heads...you win. Tails, I do. Lady Luck will decide who deserves to exist, and who shall disappear forever..."
Neptune stared at the coin and nodded.
"Then let us begin." Aava'ris rose to his full height and flicked the coin into the air.
No more tricks. No more sleights of hand. The coin flipped around and around as it should, and fell at gravity's command.
It plinked upon a flat surface and bounced around for a little while, before settling into place as it should...
Neptune's heart raced. It was all or nothing. Everything would be decided by one coin. And given the extent of her opponent's greed...
"Tails." He uttered coldly.
He should not be trusted.
She stared down at the coin resting on its Tail end and her body felt cold.
"Gwahahhaha..." He laughed slowly into the echoes of his hoard.
"You lose..." He said with a certain, sinister confidence.
His body began to glow with a red and purple aura, draping him in shadows. He extended his hands, each covered by a glyph, then thrust them towards her, wiggling the talons around.
Neptune felt...nothing. Her body was grasping for nourishment, air, and moisture. If her brain could think it must have given up hours ago, and only her spirit had been keeping her going.
She recognized the hands of defeat staring her down. Nay, this was the end of everything. She had lost to a devil's game of deception, played out exactly as he wished from the start.
Perhaps it was her own undoing for trusting a greedy centipede to keep its word. Perhaps it was a moment of arrogance spilling out so close to victory...
No. She had played the game as it was meant to be played, her life on the line be damned.
Aava'ris took this opportunity to gloat as his ethereal hands gripped and grabbed everything she was, and ever has been, "You were a fool to challenge one of the ancient Leviathans of Sin, Belle of Y'Tol. But...you were a worthy opponent. Not that I will even remember you. Yet...I suppose its worth exploring...What are your last words?"
Neptune closed her eyes and took a deep breath one more time, "If nothing else, I have lived as honest a life as I could. I wore my feelings on my sleeve, helped whoever I could, and knew a life of love and loss...If I were to pass, I'd leave with no regrets..."
She snuck two glowing fingers behind her back and began to smile, "So forgive me for cheating...just this once."
"I don't have any words...Just two letters."
With a quick gesture and a confident smirk, she sent a bolt of magic past Aava'ris towards the card on his throne, "GG."
A vortex began to open forth, and with an air-shaking roar at his back the centipede turned his head in confusion.
"What in the...?!"
Priscilla grabbed hold of his abdomen in her iron jaw and bit down as hard as she could. His magic dispersed, Aava'ris upper body fell to the ground while Priscilla devoured what was in her mouth, juices and all.
"Ghhhh...! Hhhhh...!" Aava'ris gasped and wheezes, spitting up a white liquid atop his gold, "Y-You...sneaky little...H-How long did you plan this...?"
"From the start," Neptune said comfortably to his face, "Though only as a Plan B on the very high probability that you refused to accept defeat or tried to cheat a victory."
She bent down and picked up the penny, "A coin with two of the same side? You really are an ama..."
She flipped the coin over and saw Heads.
"..." Her face went numb, and the silence was filled by the centipede's weakened laugh.
"L-Look who has egg...on their face now..." His laughter was interrupted by him hacking up blood, "What good are all the riches in the world...when they've been earned dishonestly...?"
"Big words from a demon who stole from men's souls." Said Priscilla, reverting back to normal.
"Ah, but that's the trick...Nothing is more honest than the greed in a mortal's soul..." Aava'ris took what few hands he had to point straight up at Neptune, "And you, Belle of Y'Tol, are the greediest of them all..."
"Heh heh heh...I may die now...But I've left a worthy successor to take my place..." Aava'ris' hands fell flat on the floor and he rubbed the gold around him, "Take my riches, my wealth...And never stop taking. More...more...make everything yours, my little darling...For you are what I've molded you to be...Greed is Endless, and so am I..."
Neptune slowly bent over the centipede's head and looked him straight in the eyes to say, "I'm not you."
The centipede went silent.
"Greed brings out the worst in people, yes...But its never brought out the worst in me. If I am guilty of anything, its being too greedy for the sake of the greater good."
"...You lie. Greed cannot be a force for good." Hissed Aava'ris.
"It can, if you apply it correctly..." Neptune took a stand and look around her, "I don't need your treasure, Aava'ris."
Priscilla stood by her side and she wrapped her arm around her back, "I already have everything I could ever want."
"...I don't understand." He said.
"Riches and wealth aren't the only way to happiness." Neptune stated plainly.
"...Heh..." Aava'ris body began to decay into dust, leaving one last whisper in the air...
"I can't see it your way, Neptune..."
"...Its over." She whispered with one quick, exhausted breath as she fell into the arms of her wife.
Priscilla held her up and said, "You look terrible Belle."
"Well, I never said it'd be an easy win..." She chuckled.
Priscilla huffed flames through her fanged grin and said, "I'm still mad you tricked me into that card you know..."
"Dinner on me then?" She winked at her, "I know I'm famished..."
Priscilla closed her eyes and drew out a long sigh, "Yes, I would like that...But first."
She turned around, "We should claim this treasure for ourselves."
"No, let it be..." Neptune responded curtly.
"What? But..."
"Let this tainted hoard be someone else's temptation..." Neptune leaned in to give her a wife a kiss on the cheek, "I have the purest jewel of all."
Priscilla blushed and forced a cough, "Y-Yes I agree but...Wouldn't it better to be rid of it then?"
Neptune fluttered her eyelashes and then weakly smiled, "You're right, my mind is completely down the drain right now...I'll have Catherine drop this Golden Globe into the sun or something. She'll get a kick out of that."
"For now..." She took up her pool stick and waved it around to make a magic portal, "Lets go home dear."
Priscilla lifted her up in her arms and carried her through the portal. Tomorrow awaited, as stainless as diamonds...
…
…
Two shadowy figures walked through the golden land, happening upon the stain of white blood and the dust that once was Aava'ris.
"Another of them, gone...!" The smaller shadow clutched their fists and growled, "This has gone far enough...! They'll pay for this...!"
Next Time: Solaris vs. Basic Human Decency