Disclaimer: I own nothing of the properties within this story. All rights go to the creators and companies of said properties.
Beta by Old man of the mountain/Darklord331 and Slothful
Chapter 4: Magical Girl Gem
When I accepted Agatha's challenge, I expected a death game, not me being her pack mule.
I groan as I set the several bags filled to the brim with dresses, make-up, and jewelry. All of which was paid for by me. Thank god the original Ren was responsible with his money, or else I would be worried.
I rub my stiff shoulders, trying to loosen the tense muscles as I stare at Agatha, who is eating a fruit parfait.
"I thought you wanted me to play your game. Not be your butler." I said to the otherworldly creature disguised as a young girl.
"And you will. Just think of this as you are having a date with a cute lady." Agatha winks at me. I can swear I saw a little star popping from her eye when she winked.
"Yes. I'm happy knowing that several people have their hands on their phones, ready to report me to the police for being a lolicon. I heard juvie is lovely this time of year." I said sarcastically. I know it's a dumb move to piss off someone stronger than you, but I'm starting to become rather annoyed with Agatha. It's becoming night, and I still have things to do, but Agatha is wasting my time and money.
Agatha lightly glared at me before giving me a smirk. "It would seem it's time to start your game," she said, finishing her parfait and jumping up from her seat.
"Good. I was beginning to think you didn't have an opponent for me to face." I said.
As I follow Agatha toward where she is holding my challenge, I notice a crowd of people thickening the longer I follow the pink-dressed girl. Thankfully for me, the crowd doesn't pay any attention to the two of us as we make our way through the thick ring of people. My ears pick up on hush whispers as I comb through the crowd.
"I hear one of them escaped prison this morning."
"People are saying there are people still in there!"
"Why aren't the police doing anything?! What good is paying my taxes when the police aren't going to protect us?!"
Once Agatha and I break through the people, I see a large ring of police officers blocking people from Kuoh's supermarket. Several people and reporters were yelling at the cops, asking questions, though I couldn't tell what those questions were due to all the noise.
"Your opponent is in there." Agatha points at the supermarket, confirming my worries. "Let's go."
"And how do we get there? I doubt the police will let two minors pass their barrier." I point.
"We simply use magic," Agatha said causally, raising her hand as I felt mana coming from it.
I quickly grabbed Agatha's hand before she could complete the spell. The human-shaped peacock gives me a heated glare. "Let go." Agatha orders. An intense wave of magic hits me, but I refuse to let go.
"You realize most humans believe magic doesn't exist. You should be using magic so openly!" I whisper to Agatha, making sure other people don't overhear us.
"And when did I start caring about what humans think of me?" Agatha dryly asks.
"While you might not care, I do." I pinch my brow. "If you use magic, I'll face the fallout for your actions. There are also people whose attention I don't want to draw in right now." While I don't deal with Rias or Sona, I know that's nothing more than wishful thinking. I saved Mittlet, and soon, the other fallen will come looking for her, and when they arrive, Rias and Sona won't be too far behind. But that doesn't mean I want to rush into meeting them. I want to be able to protect myself, be it through my powers or demons.
"Again, I should care because?" Agatha rolls her eyes.
I grit my teeth in frustration. I can't think of a proper reason why Agatha should care. I can't think of a problem Agatha simply can't solve with brute force. Wait. That's it.
"You should care because it wouldn't be cute." Agatha raised a brow at my answer. She wasn't expecting that kind of answer. "You certainly can force your way through things. I doubt there's anybody in this entire city or even Japan as a whole who can stop you even if they want to. But we can't deny that method is far from cute as it could be."
Agatha's face twisted to a displeased frown. She is mowing over what I said, picturing how it would play out if Agatha did it her way. Agatha lets out a small sigh. "You're right. It definitely won't be cute." Agatha puts her index finger on her chin (I'm betting she thinks that pose is cute), thinking of how we can get in and make it cute. The young girl in pink begins to pace back and forth. After several seconds, Agatha suddenly stops, her lips twisting to a smirk.
Why do I feel like I made things worse somehow?
{Chisaki Miyazaki's P.O.V.}
Of all the days we needed to go grocery shopping, it had to be the day a group of armed criminals decided to rob the store.
I cling closer to my mom when one of the criminals gives us a lustful look. While I'm no stranger to receiving looks like that from school, it coming from a criminal sends shivers down my spine. My mom sensed my unease because she tightened her hold on me, pushing herself slightly forward.
"Are you bastards done cleaning up the registers yet?!" the man, most likely the leader, yells. He has dyed blonde hair in a shortcut with triple sevens tattooed on his forehead. Despite how ridiculous his appearance is, nobody says anything for fear of the gun the man is waving around. Somebody tried being a hero earlier, only to get shot for his reward. I'm not sure if that man is even alive now.
The feeling of disgust swells inside me as his eyes roam over my and my mother's bodies, his eyes pausing uncomfortably long on our chests.
"We're done. We just started emptying the safe in the manager's office." One of the thugs said, armed with a baseball bat.
"And what about the cops?" The leader asks, his eyes never straying too far from my mother or me.
"They caved. They already sent a bus with the hundred million yen we demanded for the hostages' release." A second member answers, his crowbar tapping his shoulder.
Our release? Are they going to let us go?
The leader lets out a loud laugh. A feeling of dread grows inside me when I hear his laughter. "What fucking idiots. Do they think we'll release our lifeline for a mere hundred million?" The leader chuckles. "The moment we release the hostages, the police will fill this place to the brim with tear gas." Great. He's being sensible with his decisions. "The moment when the bus arrives, we all grab a hostage, so the police can't make any moves as we transfer the money to the bus. Make sure the hostages we take are women, children, or old folks. That way, we don't have to worry about them pulling something stupid. If they do try anything stupid, you can be rough with them. Just make sure you don't kill them on accident."
I heard a child begin to cry, which was quickly silenced by one of the thugs as he gave the small child a harsh slip.
"I call dibs on these two." the leader said, pointing at my mother and me. I can feel the blood drain from my face as he walks towards us, crouching down so we are at face level. "Don't worry, you two. If you both behave and do as I say, nothing terrible will happen to you. You might even like it by the end." The man chuckles. His reach forward, clearly aiming for my breasts.
I can only close my eyes as the feeling of disgust grows inside me, already accepting that by the end of today, I will lose my virginity to some scumbag.
"Hold it right there, villain!" a young girl's voice rings out.
I creak open one of my eyes, seeing the man's hand mere centimeters from groping my breasts. The leader draws his hand back, looking upset that someone interrupted his fun.
"Alright. Which one of you idiot kids wanted to be a hero?" The leader's voice shows how annoyed he is.
"Up here!" the voice yells. My eyes turn upwards.
Is that girl floating in midair? No. It must be some kind of trick.
While I can't get a good look at the girl's face as she's too far away, I can tell that she is blonde and her dress is sparkling.
"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?!" The thug with the bat demands.
A light laughter rings out, sounding similarly to bells.
"I'm the defender of all things cute in this world! I'm the hero all people look up to while criminals like you fear. I'm the magical girl of Kuoh. My name is magical girl Gem!" the girl yells out. It feels like I'm rewatching an anime I used to watch as a kid.
After several seconds of stunned silence, the criminals break into laughter.
"I don't know what trick you used to hang yourself from the ceiling, but you better get down before I get angry, brat." The thug with the crowbar said through his chuckles.
Then his laughter stopped. He stopped moving entirely. It's almost like he became a statue.
Then, parts of his body grow some strange lumps. However, calling them lumps is wrong. A lump shouldn't have a pointed end!
And just like pressing a needle into a balloon, the man popped from the inside out. His blood, muscle, cartilage, and fragments of his skin and bone cover my mother and me.
I want to scream, but nothing comes out of my mouth. I cover my mouth as bile quickly floods my mouth. Unable to hold back, I throw up on the ground. Despite the horrible acidic taste in my mouth and the thick smell of blood on my clothes, my focus was on where the man was standing.
Where once was a person, a human, now stands a crystal pillar, the same size as the man. I can't tell what kind of crystal or jewel the pillar is made of because blood and gore cover it. As I continued to throw up, I noticed that mixed in the piles of flesh and blood were several pieces of candy, mostly konpeito.
"There~. Much cuter." The girl said, not faded by how brutally she killed the man.
She has to be the one who killed him. Something like this can't explained by means other than magic. She is flying, after all! So, she must be using magic! She is a magical girl! But she isn't like the ones I saw in anime as a kid! She is a monster!
The second thug lets out a scream of terror and runs as fast as he can away from the floating girl. He even throws away his bat, though I doubt it does much good against the girl.
The man falls over, his stomach starting to bloat like a balloon. The man's belly tears open as several toys spring like some morbid jack-in-the-box or toy chest.
Everyone begins to panic. The children are crying. I hear several sounds of people vomiting their stomachs out because of the gruesome sight they had just seen. One lady was even checking through her vomit, most likely checking if there were any toys, candy, or jewels in it.
The leader fires several shots, but he might as be throwing pebbles. What good can a gun do against that?!
"Yup. Definitely cuter." the girl said, sounding proud of herself.
"I feel more sorry for these people. Blood and flesh is a bitch to wash off clothes and out of hair." Another voice rings out behind us. On impulse, I turn around to see the owner of the voice.
The voice's owner appears to be a young man, sounding close to my age. The man wears a tuxedo, a black tie, and white gloves. But I wasn't focusing on his outfit. My focus was on his face. Or rather, his head.
His head looks like the head of a peacock.
"Also, therapy isn't cheap." The peacock man said. His beak opened and closed as he spoke. The leader spun around, aiming his gun at the bird-headed man, but his revolver made only clicking noises.
Seeing as his gun is now useless (more so than before), the criminal tries to flee, grabbing one of the bags of money from his friend's body. But he didn't get far because the magical girl flew down, swinging her wand at the criminal's leg.
The horrible sound of bones snapping and flesh tearing fills the air, though the criminal's screams of agony quickly replace it.
"I didn't know mutilation is considered cute." the peacock man said, walking past us as if we weren't there. As he (I'm assuming it is a male because of how deep his voice is) approaches us, several of us hostages let out screams of fright. An elderly man was even holding his chest, most likely trying to calm his heart before he had a heart attack. The birdman looks at us before sighing. "Don't worry. We're only here for him." the birdman points at the downed criminal, who is clenching his destroyed leg, yelling out curses at the two inhuman creatures. While I don't trust the birdman's words completely, it does give me, probably the rest of us, a glimmer of hope. "Still, Gem, couldn't you capture the guy causing decades of psychological scaring?"
"Don't give me that! I did all the hard work!" the magical girl stomps the ground. Now that I'm getting a better look at her, I can see that she appears to be around middle school in age, with a golden dress with several precious gemstones embedded in the dress.
"Isn't that the role of a magical girl familiar? To stand on the sideline and make comments?" The birdman said. If the man's head wasn't that of a peacock, I'm positive he would have a smug grin based on his tone. "However, as much as I love making cynical remarks, we should leave before the police storm the building. After those gunshots, I can guarantee they're about to bust down the doors."
The magical girl remained silent, most likely rolling her eyes at her familiar. The girl waves her wand, making several drops of the criminal's blood fall from the heart-shaped gem at the wand's tip. A massive golden gate appears in front of the girl, opening and shooting out two chains, hooking collars around the criminal and the birdman's necks.
The birdman feels the collar around his neck, turning to the magical girl.
"I despise you. I hope you know that." The birdman said before he and the criminal were violently pulled through the doorway, entering some golden liquid that rippled when they entered. The magical girl hums a cheery tune as she skips into the doorway, seeming pleased with herself. Once the girl entered the doorway, the gate closed and quickly vanished, leaving us hostages physically unharmed.
What did we just witness?
{Ren's P.O.V.}
Today has officially become the worst day of my life. And this is my second life.
I had gone along with Agatha's magical girl plan because I figured it would be next to impossible to convince the girl not to use magic, but I wished I had fought harder after that stunt she pulled. Sona and Rias will be on high alert from now on. However, if I want Agatha's prize, I've to accept I will have to see and do things I don't like. I am participating in a game with my life on the line, and if I win, I will send this man to death.
The fact he is a criminal who has no problem killing (I learned that he killed a police officer during his prison escape) does lessen my hesitation slightly, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely comfortable with the fact.
But it doesn't matter how I feel. I'm playing this game.
I feel that my head is about to be torn off by the force of the chain. A part of me swears that Agatha has no actual interest in her games and just wants to kill me. Thankfully, my head was attached to my neck when the chains finished dragging me.
My back slams roughly against the chair, feeling something clamp around my ankles as my collar opens. I guess Agatha doesn't want us to run mid-game.
"What the hell is this?!" the criminal demands. I can tell he is panicking, with his eyes darting around the room. "The fuck do you people want?!"
"I brought you here for a game, Sakai Daimon. I will just say this now. You have no right to refuse my game." Agatha is enjoying the criminal's frustration as she smirks smugly.
"You fucking bitc-" A butler whose head is that of a peacock cuts off Daimon's curse by covering his mouth. The uniform looks oddly familiar now that I'm looking at it.
"Did you seriously dress me up as one of your servants?" I asked Agatha, who gave me a smirk.
"I think you have what it takes to be high-class furniture," Agatha says cheerily, acting as if she was highly praising me.
"Thanks for the compliment, though I think we should start the game." The peacock servant glares at me. Or at least I'm assuming he is. It's hard to tell. "I'm betting we're playing a game based on gambling."
"Oh?" Agatha raises an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"
"Because of this guy's stupid tattoo," Daimon yells something, but I ignore him. "If he is willing to get a tattoo like that, he must take great pride in his luck."
"Damn right, I do! I'm the best gambler in Kuoh!" Daimon brags.
"Why don't you ruin all the fun?" Agatha pouts for a bit before regaining her cheerful smile. "But you're right! You two are going to play High Poker! Win to earn some fabulous and cute prizes!" Agatha cheers as several peacock servants suddenly appear from the shadow, clapping wildly at their master's performance. Several piles of treasure appear, consisting of gold, silver, and jewelry. There were even several stacks of ten thousand yen bills. I glance over to the criminal, seeing his eyes filled with greed.
I could barely resist rolling my eyes at Daimon's greed. While I'm not much better, with me wanting power instead of money, I'm not blind to the risk of this game.
"The rules of High Poker are the same as regular Poker, but instead of shuffling the used cards back into the deck after each hand, we put them in a discard pile. You are allowed one change-up, and you have ten chips. When the deck runs out of cards, or there aren't enough cards for both players to form a hand, I'll shuffle the discarded cards and the game resumes. Loss all your chips, and it's game over." Agatha explains the rules of her game.
So that's how this game works. In the first few rounds, it's like usual poker, but as the game goes on, high hands and hands consisting of one pair would be better. You might be unable to form hands like straights or flushes because we would have discarded most of the needed cards by that point. The game can end in ten rounds without any additional bets.
A fast and simple game. It's almost too simple if you ask me, but this could just be Agatha's test run. Both for how she will run her games and how well I can entertain her.
Agatha spawns my and Daimon's chips and her deck of cards, giving it a quick shuffle before dealing five cards to me and Daimon. My hand has the three of spades, eight of clubs, nine of hearts, six of diamonds, and the queen of hearts. Like the rest of the room, these playing cards were tacky, with golden backs and gems decorating the suits. On the queen's card is a picture of Agatha wearing a crown fitting the position. I can swear the card winked at me.
"Before the round begins, each side must add a chip to the pot. After that, you change your hands and place bets." Agatha explains. Daimon and I toss a single chip into the center of the table, causing Agatha to nod and smile. "Now, the game can begin properly."
"Give me three cards," Daimon said, tossing out the two of hearts, seven of clubs, and four of spades. With that one move, Daimon brought the total number of hands we can play before a reshuffle from five to four.
"How about you, Renny? Do you want any new cards~?" Agatha brightly smiles at me. Logically, I should change my hand. All I have is Queen High. If it comes to a High Card battle, I will lose if Damion's High Card is a king or ace.
"Nah. I'm good." I said.
Agatha frowns slightly. "Well then, do you want to place a bet?"
"I will. Two chips." Daimon tossed his chips on the table.
"Call." I toss my chips onto the center of the table, growing the pot to six chips. We both reveal our hands, me with Queen High and Daimon with a straight flush, consisting of the ace through five diamond cards. Daimon claims his chips, and Agatha deals out the second round's hands.
I think I know how I'm going to win this game.
{Agatha's P.O.V.}
Renny certainly doesn't have luck on his side. Losing three rounds in a row makes that fact clear. However, Ren never changed his hands. His second hand was Eight High, a terrible hand, but he didn't change it. Either he's planning something, or he has simply given up. Hopefully, that wasn't the case. It would be disappointing if that's the case.
"Give me another card." Daimon requests, throwing away the five of Spades card and taking the last card from the deck. Judging by how he grimaced, he wasn't happy with what he got. Both men open their hands, Ren winning his first hand with Nine High. "Good for you. You finally win a pot. Shame it was such a small pot." Daimon mocks, playing with his chips.
"Thank you. Though it's easy to figure what hands are possible at this point." Ren said, taking the two chips. He doesn't seem all that worried for someone about to lose. He also revealed his strategy for counting cards. "Excuse me, Agatha. Do you happen to have a cigarette?"
I raise an eyebrow at the request. Ren hasn't smoked once since we met. But I have no reason to deny his request, even if I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. I keep some around for my sisters. I ordered one of my furniture to bring some cigarettes and a lighter, a task they finished in seconds. Ren picks up the cigarette and raises his left hand's index finger.
Oh~? I see what he's doing now.
Ren's finger sparks a small flame, allowing Ren to light the cigarette. And Ren got the reaction he wanted. For us, magic is something that we're used to seeing, but for Daimon, it's something else.
"What the hell kind of magic trick was that?" Daimon asks, his eyes never moving away from Ren's freshly lit cigarette.
"There's no trick. It's simply magic." Ren answers. "When Agatha told me that you were my opponent, I was expecting you to be able to use magic to some degree, but all you are is some lowlife that relies on luck."
"You expect me to believe that?!" Daimon slams his hands on the table in rage. "I know this tiny bitch can use magic, but I doubt you can! You had to use some cheap sideshow magic trick to light that smoke!" I don't know why he refuses to believe that his opponent can use magic, but some people refuse to believe in something unless there's undeniable proof. Daimon probably assumes his opponent is human like him.
Surprisingly, Ren doesn't deny the claim. "You're right. I could do some crazy trick, but I wonder how you can explain this." Ren pulls out his phone. What is he going to do with that?
My answer came in the form of a small and cute snowman creature.
"Hee-ho!" The little creature cheers as it hops around before fading away.
"What the fuck was that?!" Daimon's eyes didn't move from the spot where the snowman faded.
"A demon. One of my several demons. Some that are so small that they can fit in the palm of my hand." Ren said, taking a long drag of his cigarette. I can see his hand clenching his armrest, trying not to choke on the smoke he inhaled. So that's his plan.
He doesn't need to beat his opponent through luck or skill. He can beat them by applying psychological pressure. Ren hasn't used magic or his demons during the previous hands, probably because he knows I would catch him cheating, but Daimon doesn't know that. That reveal must have placed an intense amount of pressure on Daimon.
"S-So what?! I bet you haven't used any of your tricks! Besides, if you did, then bitch would have noticed!" My eye twitched at the insult. If Daimon does win, I will seal him somewhere alone until I'm ready for my next game. I promised him treasure if he won. I never said anything about letting him go after the match.
"She wouldn't care," Ren said. "We're here for her amusement. She wouldn't care what we do as long it's amusing." Ah. A half-truth. Ren is correct that I wouldn't care if they cheated. However, he also knows that I will punish them if their cheat gets exposed, but he's purposely leaving that detail out. I could inform Daimon that Ren hasn't been using magic, but I won't. His panicked expression is far too funny.
"It doesn't matter if you do cheat! Today is my lucky day! My horoscope said so! I was able to escape prison because today is my lucky day!" Daimon shouts, panicking more by the second. I let out a small giggle. You wouldn't expect someone with sixteen chips over his opponent to be the one panicking.
"That's strange." Ren comments, his brow raised.
"What's so strange about today being my lucky day?!" Daimon questions, hiding his panic with rage.
"Because if today is your lucky day, then you wouldn't be here. Betting your life on a game of cards is the farthest you can get from luck as you can get." Ren explains, causing Daimon's face to go white. While I doubt Daimon overlooked such details, he probably pushed it to the back of his mind with what he could win. However, Ren now put it out in the open. It doesn't matter how much money Daimon can win from this bet. It would never be enough to be willing to bet his own life.
"As much I enjoy you two talking, it's time for the next round," I said, dealing out their cards.
"Give me three cards!" Daimon demands rudely. I said nothing and gave him his three new cards, enjoying his frustrated expression. I guess he didn't get what he wanted.
"I bet a chip," Ren said, tossing his last chip into the pot.
Daimon looked at the pot and back at his hand before tossing his cards away, signaling he folded. "You must have a strong hand to bet your last chip, but you're tricking me into betting more chips."
Ren put down his cards to gather his chips, revealing the hand he was willing to bet his life on.
"What kind of trash hand is that?!" Daimon yells, not that I can blame him. Ren just betted his life on Seven High, the worst hand possible.
"Trash hand? No. This hand is my best hand yet." Ren smirks.
"It's fucking Seven High! If we had a showdown, I would have won with any hand!" Daimon roars.
"But instead, you folded. You folded against my trash hand." Ren mocks, causing Daimon to pull his short, blonde hair. "Besides, this hand serves a second purpose."
"A second purpose?" I ask. How can a hand like that serve two purposes?
"The second purpose is to steal your luck." Ren stares down at Daimon, making the man flinch slightly. "You could have won there and then, but you let victory slip your grasp. Now, you will never get a chance like that again."
"Shut up!" Daimon turns to me, his eyes filled with anger, panic, and fear. "Hurry up and deal the next hand!"
"Another thing I notice is you change your hand every round." Ren comments. "If you are lucky, you wouldn't need to do that."
"Shut up! I bet three chips!" Daimon angrily throws his chips on the table, but they bounce off due to how hard Daimon throws them. My furniture quickly gathers the chips and places them gently at the center.
"Call." Ren gently tosses his chips.
The both of them reveal their hands, both of them one pair, but Ren's six pair beat Daimon's fives.
"FUCK!" Daimon shouts as the game almost returns to its starting point.
After that hand, things begin to snowball in Ren's favor. Ren continues playing High Card or one pair hands, but Daimon's hand has suffered immensely. In the earlier rounds of the game, he made hands consisting of straights and flushes. Now he's having trouble forming one pair hands. And those hands were always worse than Ren's if they had a showdown, though most of the time, Daimon folds whenever Ren bets. He must be debating if Ren is insane enough to bet his life on another trash hand.
The situation from earlier has reversed, with Daimon having two chips and Ren having eighteen.
"Fold," Daimon said through gritted teeth.
Unless a comeback happens, this next round will be the last. But I noticed something. Daimon was aiming for a reshuffle, which was a good move. A reshuffle allows the construction of better hands, and you can't keep track of the cards used. It turns into a battle of luck and reading your opponent.
I deal out their cards, and Daimon tosses his remaining chip into the pot, but Ren shoves all his chips into the pot. "What are you doing?" I ask. What is Ren planning this time?
"I want to make this game more fun. This game has been going on for a while and is starting to get boring. A game should end with an exciting climax with both sides betting it all, not a one-sided victory. Plus, it's getting late, and I have stuff to do." While I do agree with Ren to a degree, there is an issue.
"The bet isn't equal. There is no point in betting more than a chip." I point out. "You will gain nothing from it."
"Some people say that real gambling only happens when you are about to fall into ruin. Besides, if you have an issue with the difference in betting amount, you can add something to the pot." Ren said.
"What are you getting at?" I lean over, staring at Ren, but his smirk doesn't falter.
"Join the bet. If I win, you give me something even better for winning. But if I lose, I will become your furniture." Ren said.
My lips twist into a smile. My smile must have shaken Ren to his core because while the smirk on his face never leaves, a bead of sweat trails down his face.
"Sure~. I have been needing a new leg rest for a while now~. However, furniture shouldn't be wearing clothes. Those are for people~" I said, already picturing the scene.
"We haven't even gone on a proper date, and you are already trying to get me out of my clothes? So much for being a lady." Ren chuckles.
"But are you sure about this bet? I could let the other guy win. I am the one holding the deck after all~" I said, playing with the deck of cards.
"You wouldn't do that. I would go against your pride." Ren smiles.
"Aw~ We just met today and understand your mistress so well~," I said, cupping my cheek.
"Can we continue the damn game already?" Daimon asks through gritted teeth, his voice heated.
"Oh~? Are you not changing any cards this time?" I ask.
"No. This guy only used one pairs or High Cards. He never changed his hand. So, if I have a good High Card hand or one pair, I'll win. There's no reason to risk worsening my current hand to get something like a straight or a flush." Oh. So, Daimon does have a brain, after all. "I have a pair of aces!"
"Two pair, three over two," Ren said, revealing his hand and winning the game.
Daimon looks at the hand, his face turning redder by the second. "You son of a bitch!" Daimon lunges at Ren, who doesn't react because he knows Daimon can't reach him because the chains attached to Daimon's ankles keep him in place. A collar attached to a chain clamps around Daimon's neck, pulling him back to his chair.
"The game of High Card Poker is over~! The winner of the game is Ren~!" I cheer, my furniture raining Ren in sparkling confetti.
"Let me go for you fucking bitch! IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO, YOU WILL REG-" My slap cuts off Daimon's threat. Oops. I think I heard something snap. It was probably Daimon's jawbone.
Daimon, chair and all, was quickly pulled into the darkness, his scream of panic fading away with his form.
"Congratulations on winning your first game, Ren. How was it?" I ask.
"It could be better, but what should I expect from a test run?" Ren comments. "How about my payment for entertaining you? Can I get that now?"
"Sure. You can have it now. Brace yourself. It's going to hurt. A lot." I give Ren a cute smile at his confused expression.
I plunge my hand into his chest, ripping out his heart. Ren looks at the hole in his chest and the slowly beating heart in my hand, his face full of panic. Ren passed out quickly after that. I wasn't sure if it was because of the blood loss, the pain, or the shock of seeing his heart outside of his chest, but it made the next part easier.
{Ren's P.O.V.}
"FUCK!" I scream as I feel a sharp pain emanating from my chest. The memory of Agatha tearing my heart out was fresh in my mind. I reach my chest, feeling it intact.
What the hell did Agatha do to me?
[Mana Heart] - A heart that pumps mana throughout your body, increasing your mana pool. The stronger your heart becomes, the greater the pool grows.
[Crafting Prodigy] - You learn crafting skills extensively faster than your peers.
[Blessing of the Golden Peacock] - You are blessed by the Golden Peacock of Pride, Agatha. Victory favors the bold.
[Curse of the Golden Peacock] - You have been cursed by the Golden Peacock of Pride, Agatha. You are less likely to back down from a challenge, even if you gain nothing from accepting the challenge.
I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, releasing all the built-up pressure inside me. Talk about a stressful evening. I never knew how emotionally and mentally draining putting up a mask can be, but it would be wrong to say it wasn't worth it. As I push myself up from the ground, I notice I'm in an alleyway, and next to me is a bag containing burgers with a note on the bag. I pick up the bag and read the note.
"I hope you enjoy your prize. Tell that cute fallen angel that I said hi. Love Agatha." I read out loud, balling up the note and tossing it into the dumper. I notice something on my hand. A golden ring is on my index finger. The ring band looks like a peacock's feather, with a peacock's face on the ring's crown.
[The Ring of the Peacock] - Proof that Agatha has chosen you as her piece.
Piece. I don't like that term. But it's too late to worry about that.
I grab a burger from the bag, remove the wrapper, and bite it as I head home.
I'm skipping school tomorrow, too.
Author's Note
I'm also part of the SGO server, so if you want to join and chat, here is a link
/wd3tUYWVCd
I also started my server for anyone who wants to ask me about my fics or to hang out.
/DYqC3uNfbt