Note: I will literally just be stealing from Hearthstone (and by extension WOW) for a bit. Sorry.

Edit: Yeap caught that Jaune should've won in that one, changed it so he lost. Sorry


They say wherever the White Knight goes,

The eyes of Lady Luck follows,

When asked he humbly laughs,

And says he won her gaze in a game.


Jaune Arc was bored. Very bored. Extremely bored. He learned his lesson about wandering during the winter and was staying in a bit more. He was going to still hop towns as the seasons changed, but he'd do it safely next time. And by that he meant hopping a ride with a caravan. They could probably use the extra muscle and he just wanted a free ride. Anyways, while he was bored, he settled down in a tavern and got to drinking some non-alcoholic beverage. He learned his lesson last time and decided to not to risk it. The place was pretty empty, all things considered. To be fair, the town was big enough so that people did have things to do during winter other then drink away at a bar.

"Hey, you there!" He heard someone call out to him and turned around, seeing a group of three others at a table with cards. "Want to play a game? It's a slow winter day, so why not?" Hmmm, he was really bored. Eh, no harm in trying.

"Sure." He hopped over and was shocked to see that there were already chips set up for him. There were around two hundred of them, white with golden trims, just like the Arc family crest. He nodded at the craft, they were pretty well made. They felt, odd, for some reason. He couldn't put his finger on it. Regardless, he looked up to analyze who he was playing with. The one who called him over was definitely a gambler, she had a very nice checkered suit, slicked back hair, a roulette wheel pin, and a smile that never cracked. By her side was a very nice looking deck of cards. To be polite, he introduced himself.

"My name's Darling, I will be your dealer for this game. The other two besides you are Reynal and Jack." They both nodded towards him. They had blue and green chips respectively. He noticed that he had significantly more chips than those two, but he shrugged it off as some quirk of the game. "Today, we will be playing blackjack. I assume you all know how to play?" They all nodded. It was pretty simple, draw cards until you either think you can beat the dealer or you bust and get higher than 21. "Good, now, be careful about how you spend your chips. There's a very valuable price in it for you if you win." Jaune bet five of his chips, Jack put twenty, Reynal placed ten.

"Got it, deal them cards." Reynal was impatient. Jack just seemed bored. Jaune was indifferent as well. Darling dealt their cards and played dealer. One of her cards was eight, the other remained nebulous. Jaune had gotten an ace and an eight. Nineteen in total. There was pretty much no reason to hit, so he stayed for the round and watched the others. Reynal hit too many times and ended up busting. Jack stayed after drawing a card.

The round ended when Darling revealed her hidden card: 10. Jack had a five, a four, and a 8. Jack had just barely lost while he barely won. As he got five extra chips, he actually felt a bit good about himself, a little more energized from the win. It was probably just a mental feedback loop that casinos abuse to hook on gamblers, but he had to admit, it was a nice feeling. Warm, too. Meanwhile, Jack seemed like the loss physically drained him while Reynal seemed a bit more irritated. Shrugging, he got back to the game. He decided to bet a little more this time, no harm, right? He felt ballsy and bet 135. Jack bet 8, Reynal bet 10.

Darling dealt the cards. Her visible one was nine. When Jack got his cards, he immediately turned them over to reveal blackjack, which he got four chips plus his initial bet for. Reynal looked at his cards, took another, and then stayed. Jaune looked at his cards, seeing ten and seven. He would be better off just staying, so he did. He took enough of a risk earlier. So, at the end of the round, they all showed their cards. Reynal had twenty, with a nine, a three, and an eight. Darling revealed her other card to be four. Jaune smiled again, but only for a moment as she drew another card.

Then he remembered the rule of soft 17.

Jaune could've sworn Darling was smiling right at him as she drew five, causing him to be the only loser of the round. When his chips slid over the desk, he could practically feel the energy drain out of him. In hindsight, he probably should've noticed something was off at that moment, but he was too invested in the game to really do that. With a sigh, he got ready for the next round.

And for a good thirty minutes, they more or less went back and forth like that. Jaune learned his lesson and didn't make any more risky bets and he kept at around that same range. His losses drained him a bit and his wins filled him up with energy, but not so much like before. It was a pretty time-killing experience. Given that there was no money on the line, he didn't really have to worry about anything beyond pride. Again, in hindsight, he really should've noticed something was off.

Reynal seemed to be in the same comfortable spot as he was, more or less sticking to around his 90 chips without much of a worry. Jack, having even less stake in this, made ludicrous gambles that somehow got him to win more than he lost. Eventually, the rush of energy he gained from winning got boring.

"Hey, can I leave? Watching paint dry gets more exciting." Darling sighed melodramatically, though she never lost that same smile.

"Very well, but before you do, at least make a bet all in." Jack did so, shrugging as he got his cards and stayed immediately. Jaune made a small bet of 3 while Reynal put 15 on the line. Meanwhile, Jack bet all in with his 500 chips. At the end of the round, Darling revealed her cards: An ace and a ten. Blackjack, she just won. Jaune and Reynal shoved their chips to Darling's side of the table, but she kept her enigmatic smile on Jack, who seemed, spooked. Why? He didn't care about the game. Why would he be spooked?

He fell face first onto the table, shaking the piles of chips stuck on it.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Reynal was the one to yell. He was closest to Jack and felt his heart. "HE'S DEAD!"

"Oh, not so quite dead, Mr. Reynal. He's right here, after all." Darling pulled out a fancy poker chip, ceramic, with emerald trims, and Jack's sleeping face on it. "Now, you two, I would recommend you not to walk away from this table. Because, you see, these chips are quite special. They represent bits of your soul." And that was when Jaune realized why he was feeling more energized or de-energized every single time he won or lost. He shifted his senses to detect his own aura and found that he was at 77%. And it wasn't growing back.

He just bet parts of his soul. He LOST PARTS OF HIS SOUL! Jaune was horrified. First of all, poor Jack's life was literally in the hands of the woman who was grinning like a madwoman. Second of all, 23% of his aura was also in the hands of said madwoman. Reynal wasn't as calm, he practically tried throttling Darling, but only found that to hurt himself.

"Please, Mr. Reynal, be civil! You wouldn't want to end up like Mr. Jack, now would you?" That got Reynal to sit down. He grumbled. "Now, now. You lost a quarter of your soul, would you like to walk away and cut your losses? Or perhaps, if you win, you could gain more power." And there was the kicker. Theoretically, could playing this game give him more max aura? Was that a thing? How? It was a mind boggling idea, while you could train yourself to use aura more efficiently and in more precise ways, there was no way to really increase the amount held. Now, that wasn't exactly a problem. A good aura user could effectively block as many hits as a poor aura user with five times as much aura could before it shattered. The theoretical wins were enticing, if he wasn't looking at his possible fate. He also realized something, Darling meant for this to happen. Jack's wins weren't accidental, she was hustling him. Making him bored to bet all in, only for her to swoop in and steal his soul.

"Fine, I'm leaving if I get enough of my chips back." If Jaune remembered, Reynal started the game with 96 chips. He was currently at 75. But if Darling was cheating, even as the house, to win their souls, she was going to make very sure to manipulate him in order to win it all. Jaune didn't trust her with card games, especially as the dealer.

"Why not change the game? Why trust you as the dealer if you're obviously going to cheat?" Jaune's eyes were sharp now. He had to play to win. If he was right, then the deck of cards by her side was magic. And he couldn't just let this psychopath go free with it, he needed to win it somehow. If he couldn't, then she'd just go around stealing the souls of more unlucky saps.

"Fine, what's your suggestion?" Darling's smile was curious. Her eyes appraised Jaune, almost sizing him up like he was a rival animal in the wild. "I've got many games in these pockets of mine. Anything and everything. We will have to modify the rules a bit to accomodate for our, unique, stakes."

"I'll choose, this is my soul I'm trying to get. You." He looked at Jaune. "Wait for a moment, I'll go first. Don't want you getting in my way." While a little gruff, Jaune could understand and excuse it. He did see a man basically die right in front of him and is now having to bet his life as well on a game of his choosing. "I choose Hearthcard, you got that in your little deck?" That only made Darling smile more.

"Oh do I!? Well, let's play! I'll give you a little time to assemble your deck." Out from her deck, Darling slammed a large leather satchel on the table, pushing it over to Reynal. Out from it, Jaune saw a plethora of character tokens, damage tokens, cards, and other items. Darling pulled out her own deck and character token to play with, After a while, they had assemebled their decks.

"I'm playing druid." Darling smiled and shuffled her cards before placing them at her side.

"I'm playing warlock." Reynal seemed confident. They flipped a coin and landed on heads. "And I'm going first." He drew three cards and tossed the coin to Darling, who drew out four cards. Jaune decided to pull out his scroll and search up what the heck Hearthcard was in order to understand the entire game.

"I suppose you are. For the rules of this game, we'll go with a winner takes all system. If you win, I return all of your chips, and thus fore, your soul, to you! If you don't, your soul will be mine!" Darling said with a little more flair than necessary. She chuckled knowingly, was that a joke of some sorts? Anyways, Jaune managed to get the basic rules of the game down. It was a collectible card game where they place down minion and cast spell cards using a resources called mana. It starts at one for each of them at the start of the game and grows by one each turn until it was at ten. It seemed that druid and warlock were 'classes' they could play. Jaune sat back and watched how it would go.

For his first turn, Reynal placed down a card called 'kobold librarian,' which made him take two damage and let him draw a card. Jaune wondered for a moment why exactly he'd do that until he realized: it was strategic sacrifice. The possible benefits of drawing another card could outweigh two health if the player knew what they were doing. And if they didn't, well at least the game would be over slightly quicker. Darling used the coin, which Jaune learned was essentially one temporary mana, and used it to cast 'wild growth,' which meant he gained another permenant mana crystal. Jaune nodded, seeing that as a wise choice for long-term benefit.

Then, Reynal placed down a 'flame imp' for one mana. It had better stats than it should for a one mana card, but in return it dealt damage to Reynal again. Was he trying to get an early advantage on Darling so these sacrifices wouldn't mean anything in the long run? It fit for him being an impatient man, he supposed. Then, using his second mana crystal, Reynal placed down a 'lightwarden.' Jaune rose an eyebrow, its description text said that whenever a character was healed, it'd gain attack. Given Reynal was a warlock, he wondered why he placed it down. Still, he chose the game, he must have a plan of some sort. He ended the turn by slamming Darling's face with the kobold librarian, bringing him down to 28 HP.

Darling used another wild growth card. Jaune was curious, was he sacrificing the early game? He just used two turns to use wild growth, what was he doing? He supposed this was a good thing, since he kinda was rooting for Reynal to win, after all. Darling still had cards in his hand, though, so Jaune didn't count him out yet. Reynal used his hero power and took two damage to draw a card. Searching up what that meant, it essentially was an effect that he could activate once per turn for two mana. The kobold librarian was objectively better than the hero power, but it was limited in how many times it could be used per game. The hero power was theoretically not. After that, Reynal slammed Darling with all of his minions, leaving him at 22 hp.

Darling used up all of his mana and a turn in order to gain two more mana crystals. He used the two new rejuvenated mana crystals in order to cast 'wrath' and deal three damage to the flame imp, killing it instantly. Jaune was worried, was Darling playing at a large game? Or was he blindly sacrificing potshots in order to gain early momentum? Only time and luck would tell.

Reynal placed a chain gang, a minion that would copy itself. It also had taunt, which meant that all other minions had to attack the minion(s) with taunt before it could attack anything else. Or at least, if attack wasn't completely random in target, they had to. Jaune supposed taunt was a useful thing to have, kind of like a shield of sorts. And the fact that the chain gang split up was also extremely useful. It was sort of like having two seperate targets that were necessary to defeat first. It made them harder to deal with than one singular target that was as strong as both combined.

Reynal slammed Darling with his lightwarden and kobold, leaving her at 19 health. It was looking pretty good for Reynal, his side of the board had five minions while Darling had just been accruing mana. She then used 'ferocious roar' in order to gain 4 armor and draw a card. It barely did anything to recoup for how much health she lost, but it was something. And since it wasn't actually healing, it didn't activate lightwarden. She used her hero power in order to gain one more armor before ending her turn. Reynal played a legendary card called, 'Prince Keleseth' which apparently gave all minions in his deck a stat buff if there were no minions in it that cost 2 mana. It took Jaune only a moment to realize how powerful that would be when considering how many minions could be a in a single deck. Reynal used the rest of his mana to place down a 'happy ghoul' which wasn't effected by the Prince's buff. To end the turn, Reynal hit Darling's face with his kobold, his light warden, and his chain gangers.

Using six out of nine mana, Darling placed down a 'Gadgetzan Autioneer,' which had pretty poor stats for its cost, but had an interesting effect where a card would be drawn for each spell.

He then cast biology project, where both players would gain 2 mana crystals, which was effectively one free mana in return for giving the opponent extra momentum. The auctioneer's effect activated and Darling drew a card. With four mana left, she cast a 0 cost spell called 'innervate' which gave her one temporary mana that turn. It also activated the auctioneer's effect, leaving her with 5 mana and four cards in her hand. She used one to cast 'barkskin' on her sole minion, giving it three extra health and gaining three armor. Given how it was letting her draw more cards, Jaune assumed that she was just protecting the auctioneer to be careful, and because it was important. Or, it could've been soley to draw another card. Regardless, she used another copy of it on the auctioneer, leaving it at ten health.

Now Jaune was sure that Darling was just drawing cards for the sake of it, because she played one called 'Floop's Glorious Goop' which really had no reason to be played. It had an effect for, during that turn, whenever an enemy died the caster would get one temporary mana crystal. From what Jaune could see, she didn't have any means of destroying minions, so it must've been to draw cards. But why? What was Darling fishing for?

She used a 0 cost spell to kill the kobold, who was tossed into the discard pile quickly. That gave her mana, but she still only had four cards and two mana. She used those two mana on wrath, choosing the option for three damage and aiming it at the happy ghoul before it could ever strike at her.

And so Jaune continued to watch. Darling didn't seem to be going anywhere. Jaune saw an interesting card which changed her hero into a corrupted version of it, giving her a new hero power as well. Reynal, and from what Jaune could tell, warlocks as a whole, used cards with self destructive aspects in the hopes that the benefits could be capitalized on while the damages caused in turn could be minimized. Given the lack of minions Darling was placing on the board, the damages were about as minimal as they could get.

The two were mostly at the same health, Reynal from self damage, and Darling from just tanking hits. She did build up quite a bit of armor though, but it would be a moot point given her opponent's board was filled up entirely. Jaune knew Darling had a trick up her sleeve, but he really couldn't figure it out without knowing the game intimately. And unless he could search through every single card to figure out which one would need her to do this, he wasn't going to get answers until it was too late.

Darling did some token efforts to destroy Reynal's minions, using a pyromancer and spells in order to tear through cannon fodder and even some beefier ones. And then, Reynal used a hero card as well to change his warlock into an even more warlocky-warlock. It seemed that he was trying to reverse the damages done in the early game with a plethora of healing cards. And Darling wasn't looking too good. She had three cards and an empty deck. That meant that whatever those three cards were, they had to count. They had to win her the game, or else she would die from either enemy attacks or fatigue, a mechanic that kicks in once a player's deck is all drawn.

And those three cards did count. First, she played Mecha'thun. It was a ten mana minion with the deathrattle that, if there were no cards in the caster's hand or deck, and no other minions on the board, instantly win the game. That was one hell of a condition, but Jaune though that it wouldn't be fufilled. Darling had two cards left in her hand and no mana. And Reynal had a full board full of minions more than capable of winning the game. But then, she played too cards.

First, she played innervate, giving her one mana. Jaune jumped as he realized what was about to happen. She had one card left and it didn't take a genius to figure out what that card would do. She played naturalize, killing Mecha'thun, and winning the game. Jaune gasped as he saw metallic tentacles rise out from Mecha'thun's card, wrapping around Reynal as he screamed in terror, before squishing him down to a card, the portrait of which showed his face in a terrified scream. Darling picked up the card and put it on her side of the table before looking over to Jaune with a curious smile. She was having fun with this. She had one, she had two, and now? She could have three.

"So, Jaune, what will it be? Will you walk away? Or will you play my game?" Jaune could've, and he really could've, decided to walk away. But that would've meant giving up the lives of Reynal and Jack. And he could not in good conscious do that. Despite what his sense of danger said, he had to play this deadly game, whether he liked it or not. He just had to beat Darling.

"Sure, but I want their souls back." Darling smiled at the challenge but wagged a finger smugly.

"Tsk tsk, Mr. Arc. You only have one soul to bet with. So, please, one at a time. For your soul, I'll bet Mr. Reynal's here. Now, would you like to pick a game?" Jaune thought long and hard about this. Reynal's mistake in choosing that game was that it was really large. There were a multitude of cards and there was always a chance that Darling would pull something like that. So he had to choose something where they'd immediately be on even ground, a simple game that didn't really on pre-obtained knowledge. Because even if he thought he was an expert on a game, he bet that Darling would be twice as knowledgeable as him on it.

Yea, there was a lot of pressure on him. He was gambling with someone wielding a magical deck of cards, which he also probably had to win in a bet against her, while there were two dead bodies at the table. He was, how do you say? Fucked. This was a pretty fucked situation. Extremely screwed, very screwed. He wasn't sure why he hadn't run for the hills, but he had in inkling that it was because of the two dead bodies he had to get the souls of back into. Yea, that was probably it.

Speaking of, why hadn't bloody anyone come in and noticed the two dead bodies!? He would've asked Darling if he wasn't sure any answer she would give was just going to be a cryptic riddle or taunt.

"Fine, let's play Solitanian Roulette." Darling's smile grew a bit more manic.

"Oh! That'll be fun, you're becoming my favorite player so far." Considering the other two had the souls sucked out of them, that wasn't much of a competition. "But, I still care about safety, so we'll only be using fake shots, alright?" Jaune nodded, being entirely on board with the idea of less danger. So, from her pocket Darling pulled out a revolver. It was a beautiful thing, could qualify as vintage. With black metal, an ivory handle, and gold filled engravings all over it, it was very appealing aesthetically. "This is a Single Action Army, or, as some people call it, a Schnee Atlesian Army." If Jaune remembered his random trivia, it was because this type of gun was given to officers and, in the case-

"Aren't the ones with gold engravings given with medals?" Jaune asked. Darling could only laugh.

"Yes. Some time ago, a veteran wanted his eye back. He had nothing else of equal value, except the compensation he got for the loss of that eye. It was the only thing he could bet. And he lost." Jaune felt a twinge of pity for the poor fool. He not only had lost his eye, but lost the memento that would've made it even slightly worth it. Still, it was a nice gun and he'd rather use that than some rusty thing picked up from god knows where. "So, you picked the game, explain the rules!" Really? Eh, whatever.

"We place one shot in the cylinder and spin it. Then, we take turns pulling the trigger on ourselves. Whoever gets shot loses." Darling only smiled.

"Simple enough! I'll let you do the honors" She handed over the SAA and a single multi-colored toy bullet with a cap. It was good enough for the purposes of their game, so Jaune didn't really mind it. He put it in the cylinder and spun it with all his might. Then, with a few breaths of preparation and reminding himself the bullet wasn't real, he cocked the hammer, put the barrel to his temple, and fired.

Click!

"One down, five to go." Darling's tone was teasing. This was probably a game to her. She cocked the hammer and fired at herself without a moment of hesitation.

Click!

Jaune took it and put it against his temple once more. There was a 25% chance of him losing the game, and by extension, his soul right there. Considering what was at stake, those weren't good odds. Still, they were the best odds he'd get at the moment. And he would bet his life on the fact that, if he tried to run, his soul would be forfeit. So, with heavy heart, he cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger.

Click!

He handed it over to Darling, who put it to her head, and pulled the trigger.

Click!

"Wait, what?" Jaune was stupefied for a moment, did Darling just do that?

"What?"

"You didn't cock the hammer." Jaune raised an eyebrow, staring at Darling. He had his suspicions, but this was the actual confirmation. She wasn't above playing dirty. And by the looks of it, she didn't exactly care that she'd been caught.

"Well, you never said we had to. But, oh no! Whatever shall you do?"

"I could always do the same thing."

"Yes, but then we'd be going at this forever. Wouldn't we? And who lost a significant portion of their chips already? That wouldn't be very good for your long term health, now would it?" Goddammit! She had a point. He couldn't just do the same thing and stall because his lost aura was probably causing some problems by now. She sighed and cocked the hammer. He spun the revolver a bit to calm his nerves before putting it to his temple.

Click!

"Phew." Jaune handed it over to Darling, who did the same thing, and simply pulled the trigger at her head without cocking the hammer. Jaune stared at the gun for a second before realizing something. He put the barrel to his forehead and pulled the trigger without cocking the hammer and, before handing it to her, he cocked the hammer. She caught onto what his plan was and stared at him with an even brighter smile. It was, disturbing, to say the least.

"Oh, you are clever, aren't you? No matter what, we have a gamble on our hands. If I don't lose right now, you'll lose your soul. But, there's a 50% chance that you'll win! I almost didn't expect this, but I'm glad that it's come to happen. Because right now? Chance has us by the neck, who will win? Who will lose? What will happen?" She spun the gun idly, which made Jaune stare at her with disdain. "I'm not going to wait you out, don't worry, I just thought we'd get a little time to chat before we see how the cards were dealt."

"Sure, that deck of cards is magic, isn't it?"

"You caught on well! Yes, this little thing is a relic of an older time, when people had so much more to bet. And as such, it was made. It's such a useful tool, it makes my games so much more interesting!" The fact she literally had the souls of two people in her hand was quite disturbing, mostly because it was practically up to a coin flip to see if Jaune was going to become one of those souls. She smiled, as if she could hear his thoughts. Well, if she had a deck of cards that could pull out any game as long as she could gamble using it, then telepathy isn't exactly out of the question, now was it?

"Are you stalling the game because you're nervous?" Darling only chuckled at the insinuation.

"No! No! Nothing of the sort. I'm merely preparing myself for the thrill of five lifetimes, my friend! You see, it's been a while since I've anticipated a gamble like this! What could happen when I pull the trigger? You must admit, the suspense is killing you."

"No more than what you would do to me if I lost would." The constant teasing of her finger on the trigger (She had no discipline with it whatsoever) was getting tedious really quickly.

"Well, I suppose that is fair. Now, shall I pull?"

"Please do."

And so, he finger tensed.

BANG!

No bullet came out, but the cap attached to the toy bullet made a loud noise. Not Jaune nor Darling flinched at it. They both stared each other down for a moment, as if confirming what they heard. Jaune let out a sigh of relief while Darling merely laughed.

"Well, fair's fair! One life for another." He slid the card containing Reynal's soul to Jaune. "Now, here's the choice of the evening. You could use Mr. Reynal's soul over here in order to up the ante to make me bet both Jack's soul and my deck of cards, or, you could put him back where he belongs and have to play another game with yours truly. While I would love to play more, I think the quality and high stakes of just a single game, where not only your life is at stake, would be well worth sacrificing it. Plus, there's theoretically a higher chance of you winning one game rather than two, so, what do you say? Care to make your decision?"

And Jaune had to think about that. He very well could use Reynal's soul as a poker chip in order to get these stupid games done with. But if he didn't, then they'd all essentially die. And if Jaune did that, he was practically choosing to throw Reynal's life into the ring without asking him. And he was pretty sure he wouldn't be too keen on being used like a poker chip. So, with a sigh, he slid Reynal's card over to his limp body.

"Tsk tsk, well, I suppose I get an extra game with you. No matter what, Mr. Reynal here wins. But what about you? Regardless, I suppose we shall continue on." Jaune checked Reynal's body and found that, yes, he now had a pulse. He wouldn't wake up for a while, but the sliver of life in him was enough for Jaune. So, he tuurned to Darling.

"What's the game? I think it's your turn to choose." This wasn't good. Like any good gambler, Darling would choose a game she was confident she could win with. It was in her best interests, after all. And while she basically admitted she gambled for the thrill, he bet she'd say there's an even greater thrill in cheating and not getting caught, or at least not getting any punishment for it.

"Indeed it is. What shall I choose? I can't very well pick something too complicated." That, at the very least, was a mercy. If he had to play Cities of Remnant to win someone's soul back, he would've been tempted to just give up. He would've continued on anyways, but the temptation would be pretty strong for him. "I know~ How about Uno!?" Jaune would've laughed about betting his entire life on a game of Uno if it wasn't for the fact that he was actually betting his entire life on a game of fucking Uno.

"Fine, what's your initial bet?"

"To be generous, I'll bet both the aura you lost and Jack's soul, how about it?" That was a pretty generous offer, one which Jaune agreed to. "Good! Now, let's draw our cards!" She pulled out an Uno deck, because of course she had one, and began setting up the game. Jaune had a Green 6, a Yellow 0, a Green 5, a Green +2, a Blue 1, a Blue 5, and a Blue Skip. Darling's cards were hidden to him, so he just had to wait and see what would happen. The first card that was placed down was a Blue 2. "Well? You'll have the honors. I chose the game, after all." Jaune took it for what it was and placed down his Blue Skip, then his Blue Five.

"Your turn." She placed a Blue reverse, then a Wild Card to turn the color yellow, just before placing a Yellow 2. Jaune placed down his Yellow 0, while she placed her Yellow 6. It was at that moment, where he realized, that he had no viable cards. So, with a sigh, he drew a Red 2. With another sigh, a bit more dramatic this time, he drew another card. A Green 9. He took a sharp breath in and took another card.

A Green Skip. He noticed Darling chuckle as he drew a Blue 3, a Red 1, and a Red Reverse until finally getting a Yellow 3 and placing it down. All the progress he had made amounted to, quite frankly, nothing. Darling placed down another Yellow 3 (the deck must have duplicates) without even looking at her hand. Jaune decided to initiate a conversation after he placed down his Blue 3.

"So, why do you do this?" Jaune was a bit curious and he wasn't exactly the type to turn down conversation in order to pass the time. Even if it was conversation with somebody he was trying to beat.

"What do you mean?" She drew two cards and then placed down a Green 3.

"Like, why steal souls and all? Is it power or something?" He was pretty sure the deck of cards could facilitate any bet, whether it be for money, land, trinkets, or even intangible things like the soul and freedom. It wasn't too much of a leap in logic, at least he didn't think so. He placed down Green 6.

"Nah, nothing of the sort. I do this because people tend to make great players when under presure." Her cards were face down, she wasn't even bothering to pretend she had to look when she drew a Red 6 from the cards and put it in the center

"Then why trick us at the start?" Jaune placed down his Red Reverse and then his Red 1.

"If I told you what was happening at the beginning, you wouldn't have believed me, now would you? I had to show the stakes. And now? You're taking the game seriously, and I'm having fun." She placed down a Red 5. Jaune sighed. When he had to deal with criminals or others, there were all sorts of motivations. Some did it because they felt like they were forced to, some did it for self-righteous reasons, some did it because they could, many did it because they had something to gain, and some did it for the sheer fun of it. The last of which were the hardest to deal with, because typically they'd do anything to have some fun. And there was no telling what exactly that was.

"I wouldn't say playing the game of my life is fun. At least not for my heart." Since the deadly nature of the game was revealed, his heart had taken to spiking whenever he felt like he was about to lose. With a sigh, he placed down a Green 5.

"Well, for me it is. I'm a bit of a thrill addict. And seeing you claw your way up to topple me? That's pretty thrilling. I'm not going to hold back, of course." She drew another card before putting down a Green nine.

"Jeez, I really don't get you." Jaune placed down his Green Draw 2, adding two more cards to her hand.

"Hey, I'm a simple girl, really. I like thrill, so I play these games." She placed down a Green 3.

"I mean, it's not like you put your life at stake." Jaune put down his Green 9.

"I guess not. But then again, when we read or watch stories with high stakes, we aren't exactly going to be affected by whether or not the characters win or lose, are we? I'm invested in your stories, I want to see what you do under the pressure. It's a simple desire, really." She placed down her Red 9.

"You should've gone to the city, then. People on the frontier already risk their lives constantly by just living out here. People in the city live for something like this, at least some people would." He placed down a Red 2.

"Ah! But it doesn't feel like it, does it? You're a warrior, I can tell, but do you feel the same heart wrenching fear every time you go out in the wild? No! The thrill becomes boring after a while, rote, mundane. Sure, the farmers and hunters and laborers out here all risk their lives, but it's become life for them. So, really, does it matter who I play with? Be it a farmer, a warrior, or even a lord. Everyone has a tipping point where they start playing to win. It just so happens that the ownership of ones soul is that tipping point for most people." She placed down a Red Draw Two, which he complied with without a fuss. He drew a Yellow 7 and a Wild Card. "Plus, the kingdom walls already have their fair share of casinos, I'm just providing what's in rare supply out here." Jaune sighed and rolled his eyes at the remark.

"Hmmm. What about the power you offer? Surely some people would want that." Darling looked almost insulted at the idea as he placed down his Wild Card and his Yellow 7.

"Surely you don't mean me dealing for the rich pigs and fat cats, right? I've done that before, it's rather dull. They only bet low and aren't as tempted. They already have power, so I can't give them much more. Plus, I cannot give status or information, so the only reason they'd play is for the thrill." She placed down a Yellow 3.

"Isn't that what you're doing?" He drew a Green Skip before getting a Yellow Draw Two, which he placed down to further stall Darling.

"Yes, but I'd rather my players be desperate. The most interesting games I have are typically with peasants. I once played a farmer who bet their pinky, their eye, and their tongue just to get enough money to pay their rent. He was more than willing to bet more. I've seen captains bet their ships in order to have a chance at fame and fortune. I've seen a lesser lord bet his life and his land in a high stakes game of chess against me, so that he might be able to overthrow his king and claim the throne. And you! You've bet your eternal soul twice over in order to reclaim the lives of people you don't know! It's fascinating seeing what people are willing to put on the line as collateral just for the chance at something of greater value." Well, Jaune wasn't one to bash others for their taste in entertainment, but hers was quite literally seeing desperate people bet it all to try and rise above their station. She placed down a Blue Draw 2, making him draw Red 1 and Blue 9. In return, he placed down his Blue 1. She placed down her Yellow 1.

"I guess. How many desperate lives have you stolen." He placed down his Red 1.

"I don't know. Well, the world probably would've swallowed them up anyways." She placed down her Green 1.

"Uno."

"What?"

"You have one card left, I called Uno, draw 2." She looked down at the table and found that, indeed, she had one card left. She just didn't notice because she wasn't looking down. She chuckled a bit.

"Good play." She drew two cards and actually looked at them for a moment. She shrugged before placing down Green 9.

"Yes, it was." He placed down Blue 9.

"Now, Uno!" She placed down a Blue Skip before he could say anything. Fortunately, she didn't have a card that could match it and had to draw a Blue Five, place it down, and say it again before it was his turn again.

"UNO!" Jaune placed down his Green Skip and then put down his Green 5, winning the game. With the final card placed, Darling whistled in appreciation.

"Well, you got me there." She pulled out the poker chip representing Jack's soul and flipped it at the body. It instantly went through it and Jaune could hear sounds resembling that of a vending machine's coming out of it as the soul went back into place. Just to be sure, Jaune put a hand to Jack's chest and found a pulse, thankfully.

"Alright, one final match for that deck of cards." Darling merely smiled in anticipation.

"Oh, I suppose it is time now. I could always walk away." Ah, then he really couldn't do anything. If that deck of cards was magical, then he'd probably have to win it in a bet. "But, I feel as if we put it all in one game, then it'd be over much too quickly. Let's do it this way then, we'll play a series of games! If you win even once, you'll get the deck. But with every single loss, I'll take the functionality of one of your body parts!" Oh, that sounded very appealing, but it didn't take a genius to sense that Darling probably had a trick up her sleeves. "So, what do you say?"

"Fine." Jaune sighed, he really didn't have much of a choice. And if he wanted to finish this up quickly, he'd have to go along. Plus, it was pretty much a test of pure luck, so he didn't have to worry about Darling pulling out some weird card combo or anything.

"Rock!" Jaune jerked his hand up and down for the first one. His mind worked overdrive figuring out which of three options he could choose. Really, the first round of rock paper scissors was the most up to chance. It was the second one where he would have to worry the most. But the prospect of losing one of his bodily functions wasn't exactly an attractive one. If Darling so wished it, she could win his lungs and cause him to stop breathing. But he had a feeling she wouldn't do that, just to make sure the game doesn't end too early.

"Paper!" There were three possible ways this game could turn out. One, he could win and be done with the whole thing. That was the best case scenario, but between Darling being the best at all games and Jaune being both the luckiest and unluckiest person on Remnant, he wasn't very sure about that. Situation two, they tie, in which case nothing happens at all. That would also be favorable, because that means that Jaune could get a read on what move to do next. And finally, the third scenario: He loses. That means he'd get some information to use in the next game, but he'd lose the functionality of one of his body parts. If it was legs or toes, so be it, but losing something like his eyes or ears would be rather bad in the case of playing rock paper scissors. It'd be even worse if she claimed the movement of one of his fingers, which would essentially lock in what his throw would be.

"Scissors!" And then there was the question of what he was going to do if he won in the first place. He supposed he could just burn the deck of cards. Maybe he could sell it? No, the chances of it being abused were too high. Well, then there was the question of if it would burn. Could it? It was magic, but could magical artifacts really burn? Who knows.

"Shoot!" Jaune decided to throw out scissors, while Darling put out rock.

"Hah! Well, for my first victory, I'll go easy on you. I'll take your left hand." That was the hand he wasn't using. He felt his left hand go limp as all sensations were cut off. His muscles were unpullable and nerve endings were blocked. It was relatively merciful for a win, given that she could literally just make his heart stop beating. So, without much more of a pause, they went at it again.

"Rock!" He lost last time using scissors. Here was where the mind games started. Would Darling try predicting him using paper to counter rock by throwing scissors? Would he predict Jaune predicting that and countering it by throwing rock by throwing paper? Or would it go around once more and Darling would predict Jaune predicted Darling would predict Jaune would pick scissors and thus pick rock again?

"Paper!" If he picked scissors, he could lose another body part in order to lull Darling into a false sense of security, then he could actually win by pulling out paper when he uses rock a second time, if he does. Though there was no guarantee of Darling falling for it or even noticing a pattern. But, if he did, he could actually just go scissors a few times and then pull out paper whenever he feels like it. Realistically, there was really no way to counter that, because if Darling noticed the pattern, the only way he could realistically avoid the trap was to predict which match Jaune would switch it up. Otherwise, it'd be a piss poor gamble with bad odds for Darling. Really, this game was rigged in his favor in terms of the rules, but there was no sense in forgoing caution.

Scissors!" And then Jaune thought about the three outcomes of this match. If he won, he won. And the whole thing would be over. He decided to use scissors again, in order to pull off the long term strategy he thought up of before. If he tied, then Darling would probably test out rock again to see if he was actually just using scissors over and over again. If he lost, then she might use rock again to continue the pattern. He was still taking as large as a gamble as before, because all of this hinged on Darling not deciding that the game was boring and to just instantly kill him.

"Shoot!" He used scissors, she used rock.

"Hmmm, I'll take your right eye next." And now he could only see out of one eye, brilliant. Well, it wasn't as bad as a loss. Sure, he only had one eye, but at least he had his left. He angled himself slightly better, keeping in mind not to disturb his left arm, in order to make the most out of his singular functional eye. "Now, time for the next round!"

"Rock!" With another motion, he got to thinking. He could throw scissors one more time in order to essentially guarantee Darling's next move. Or he could try breaking the pattern now and try his luck to see if Darling was fooled enough. It was really all a gamble, one with such high stakes that his heart and head was racing. It was all about risk and reward. If he gave up the pattern now, there was a good chance he was about to make all his previous losses for nothing. If he didn't and lost again, then he'd be giving another chance for Darling to instantly win this by making him unable to continue competing, by forcing the cesation of his heart.

"Paper!" And from the curious smile on Darling's face, Jaune was half sure that she was still entertained at the moment. But there was no telling when her attitude could flip like a coin. And Jaune wasn't exactly comfortable betting his entire life on her whims. Then again, he wasn't exactly comfortable with betting his entire life on a game of rock paper scissors, but the die was cast and he drew his lots. He probably could bet on being able to sacrifice another round without Darling getting bored, but the uncertainty of it all was very nerve-wracking. But was it better than the other option? Where he bet it all on changing his game-plan and choosing to deviate from the short-lived pattern he'd already created. It was a decision he had to make very soon.

"Scissors!" In the end, what could he possibly lose by deciding to mix up what he was throwing? Sure, if he lost or tied he might lose the set-up, but then he'd be back on even ground and he could try again. The mix up might even entertain Darling further, buying him some more theoretical time. Plus, he had plenty of body parts that could be taken, so it wasn't like it was a matter of five rounds until Darling would take his kidneys or something. Jaune decided in the end to risk it all in order to try and get a win early.

"Shoot!" His eyes focused on the match as he threw out rock. And, with his hastened thinking, he noticed how Darling's throw subtly only started after he threw his hand. And she threw paper. Honestly, he really should've expected it. Darling wasn't going to play fair and she basically was going to be impossible to beat.

"I take your lungs!"

FUCK! God damnit! He felt himself unable to breath anymore as he slowly began suffocating. He was able to position himself in order to fully make use of the remaining breath he had. Darling seemingly got off to the sense of dread in his eyes and watched as he feebly put his fist up for one last game. It was all or nothing, he had to win.

"Rock!" By Jaune's predictions, he had one last game in him. After that, the lack of air would render him unconscious. From there, he'd die. Truly, a painful way to go. Pain was blossoming all over his body as he felt frustration over this whole stupid affair. Was this really how he was going to go? In a rock paper scissors match against some random girl who got a power trip using a deck of cards? Was this really how the cookie crumbled? Was he really that pathetic? At the first motion of his hand, all of his thoughts were essentially just self-loathing yelling. Why did he try this? Why did he put his life on the line for this? Why couldn't he just take the cards from her straight-up? Why not bribe her? Why not walk away after it was all done and keep his life? It was always easier to condemn ones actions in hindsight, but Jaune wasn't going to have the ability to do anything but look in hindsight if he didn't win! But how!? How could he possibly win!?

"Paper!" Darling was capable of seeing what action he'd take using inhuman reflexes and changing her throw accordingly. So if he threw rock, she'd throw paper. If he chose scissors, she'd slam it with rock. If he picked paper, she'd cut it up with scissors. It was a no-win scenario, where the only option he had was what formation his hands would be in as he felt the pain creep into every single part of his body due to his brain trying to force him to breath with negative feedback. His teacher always said he worked best under pressure and by hell he was under some intense fucking pressure at the moment. So, as his head made the fraction of a second before the cards would be revealed into an eternity, he worked it relentlessly to find a way out of the hellish scenario he had just been placed it. What method was there out of this? How in the hell would he beat someone that seemed to be the master of games?

"Scissors!" This was like a casino, wasn't it? With the talk of antes, betting, and stakes. Darling dressed like a dealer and acted like particularly sadistic one, so Jaune supposed it fitted. So he thought back to movies and comics, those were always his forte. X-Ray and Vav didn't always have the luxury of being able to overpower their enemies. In fact, most of the time the villains would be the ones with the upper-hand on the heroes. He just had to do what he always did, think on the spot. He just had to come up with something, something! His head felt like it was ready to explode and his lungs would probably collapse any time soon. The question he was supposed to ask was how does one beat the house? How did X-Ray and Vav climb the ranks in the rigged casino run by Mr. Goldhog? How did the heist crew manage to win the poker tournament where every billionare contestant was cheating in numerous other ways. Wait, that was it! Cheating! He could cheat! Though, he supposed that cheating would be rather hard. He couldn't wait and do what Darling did, he didn't have the dexterity, reflexes, or training to do that with any amount of confidence. So how could he cheat in RPS? How? And then, it hit Jaune.

"Shoot!" Darling, for once, didn't smile as she looked down. She bore a shocked expression as she stared at his weakly held up finger gun that had been put up against her rock. She had expected him to use scissors from his fingers, but she hadn't foreseen this outcome. The sheer sense of triumph in Jaune's fading thoughts was overwhelming. It was a comfort to the man who felt like he was about to die. If he was going to, at the very least, he could do so watching as his final opponent lost. It was petty, yes, it was vindictive, yes, and it was very very pointless, yes. But dead men rarely got such comforts, so he took what he could get. But instead of yelling at him or looking angry at losing in such a childish manner that was borderline cheating, her shocked expression turned into one of extreme bliss. She had begun laughing in an uproarious manner, one that surely would've waken up everyone in town if Jaune wasn't sure she had pulled out a separate pocket dimension just to play this game in. And while she was laughing, she snapped, and all of Jaune's lost functions resumed. He took a sharp intake of breath that felt as if it would make his lungs pop from overflowing, but he was fine after a few raggedy breaths. He was still recovering from almost going unconscious and stretching the parts of him that were stolen while Darling was busy laughing herself up a storm.

It all calmed down in a few moments, where Darling's smile turned from one of condescending fascination to one of joy, like Jaune would expect of mom or dad. She looked at Jaune and begun clapping. Not ironic slow clapping, but genuine clapping, as if she was congratulating him on his victory. He made sure his breathing was alright for a few moments before responding to the strangely fond treatment.

"T-that's it, you're not mad?"

"Mad?" She spoke as if the idea was preposterous. "WHY WOULD I BE!?"

"Because I won? Because now that deck of cards is mine and you can't use it any longer? Because I'll burn it?" Darling rolled her eyes.

"Mr. Arc, even if you burnt my vessel and set my soul free to wander eternally, I would go with a smile because you have beaten the odds. I sincerely expected you to lose and you just shattered my expectations. It's only once in a blue moon in which a desperate person plays against me and wins. Almost every other time I claim their collateral while they're all but helpless to stop it. But you? You beat me. Sure, you may have pulled out a cheap trick to win a single victory, but a single victory was all you really needed! And moments like these? It's what I live for. What I love more than seeing the desperate gamble away the last scraps of their lives in order to obtain something is when they actually succeed despite the odds. That's why I'm not mad." Wait, something she said was odd.

"Wait, what do you mean about your vessel?" Darling put a hand to her chin before she realized what he meant.

"Oh! Yes, I forgot. How rude of me to not introduce myself properly." And with a snap, her form began to burn away. Her skin peeled off and floated off into nothingness to reveal dark green, not like the skin of a reptile faunas or paint, but a magical shade that almost glowed. Her hair turned into a small field of four leaf clovers. The checkers on her suit flipped over to reveal a pattern of uniquely designed cards and her pin began to constantly spin. Her pupils turned into die that rolled with every blink, the heels of her shoes became levers for the slot machine that had become part of the footwear, and Jaune could've sworn she had mini rabbit's feet earrings. She radiated power that constantly changed in intensity. In one moment, her ethereal magic could be overwhelming to his senses, and in the next, it could feel like nothing. "Though I prefer to go by Darling, I happen to have a few other names like Arbiter, Chance, and Gamby. But the one name people curse and bless in equal measure is the one you'll be familiar with, Lady Luck, at your service or disservice, depending how the die is cast."

Holy fuck, was she an actual deity? He didn't know what he exactly said, but he definitely voiced his confusion.

"I'm not really as powerful as people think, you know. I personally cannot use any of the power I have. I'm merely the dealer of the cards, a representation. Perhaps you could even call me a servant to my nature. I cannot control how the cards are dealt any more than a spirit of the sea can control how waves pass by them. But I am able to work with what I can control by, as you may say, cheating. Anyways, I would politely recommend not burning these cards." She held out the magical deck of cards, the box of which being a bit run down and radiating a constantly fluctuating magical energy similar to that of Darling.

"W-why?" Jaune had quickly gotten accustomed to the rather larger-than-life appearance Darling had decided to take. And now, he was ready to talk without being utterly gobsmacked at the spirit in front of him.

"Because then you would be burning me! And oh how painful it would be for you to burn another sentient being alive."

"You said that was your vessel, not your body. Also, aren't you a spirit?"

"Fuck." A pause before she continued. "My point being, take that deck of cards and me with you! You never know when your journey will get lonely and you'll want to have company. And by company I mean a game of cards." Darling was absentmindedly magically shuffling cards by tossing a deck she pulled from her sleeves into the air and catching it with her other hand, newly shuffled. It was akin to juggling with a slinky in terms of what it looked like. "Or Monopoly, do you like Monopoly?" Jaune was slightly more tempted to burn the deck of cards now. "You don't? Cool. Plus, it's not like I'm going to harm you or anything. I just like to have fun."

"You were literally about to steal their souls."

"No I wasn't! Things like those are meaningless. Why would I want the power of human souls when I am literally a deity? That power is meaningless to me. If you would have lost, I would have given you all back your souls after erasing the memories of this game. In fact, I already erased Mr. Reynal and Jack's memory of the entire event. I'd rather not have someone meddlesome try and track me. Since you won the game, I can't do that to you. In terms of things like money, land, or body parts? Yes, I take them, but they put them on the line with the full knowledge that they could lose them."

"But they were desperate!" Jaune wasn't exactly receptive to her justification for essentially preying on the downtrodden.

"I suppose. But I gave them more of a chance than the world ever would. A peasant who bet their right arm on a dice roll to try and gain riches had more of a chance moving up in society by rolling that dice than if they worked their entire life without pause. Plus, do you know why I'm stuck in this deck of cards?" That was actually an interesting question.

"Why?"

"When I was a free spirit, I would play around with the people without constraint. I would have peasants, lords, clergymen, and kings all rolling the dice and paying the price constantly for it. It was all fun and games until someone realized that I was messing things up. So I was chained to this. Now, if you burn these, I'll be free once more and you wouldn't be able to stop me, now would you?" So this was essentially a prison.

"Why can't I just bury you or something?"

"Chance, my friend. There's a more than 0.00001% chance I might be dug up or I'd free myself from whatever prison you put me in. But that chance drops to zero percent if I accompany you! Because why would I ever seek somewhere else if I have a constant source of entertainment by my side?" Oh, hell. She was actually making a pretty good argument. If not by appealing to his sense of loneliness, then to his sense of duty to other people. And if he had to accompany the luck spirit in order to stop them from causing chaos elsewhere? He supposed he had no choice.

Or well, his choice was already made.

"Fine, come along. It's been a long day and I feel like going on the road again." With a smile, Darling handed over the deck of cards, her resting place, and turned around. She became a card that spun in the air before sliding into the magical deck, where upon it closed. "Well, at least I'm less lonely on the road. Though I can't say she'll do wonders for my sanity."

And so, once again, the White Knight set upon the road. Though this time, he had the eyes of Lady Luck upon him.


AN1: So, this is the first magical artifact Jaune gets! And it's basically useless in most fights! What did you expect? For me to give him an easy 'get out of jail free' tool? NOPE! Darling will basically never help Jaune except to talk with him. Aside from that, she's basically of no help unless he gets creative.

AN2: Is that a motherfucking Jojo reference?

AN3: Is that a motherfucking Hearthstone reference? (BTW the match I wrote is basically disguised toast meccathun I searched up). Sorry if it was boring.