Marni smiled sweetly and Aura choked up. She trained her eyes on Ash next. “You must be Ash. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
The boy almost blushed as he introduced himself, trying to make a good first impression on the buxom beauty. “So, you’re an old friend of Aura’s? Tell me, was he always such a vulgar numb-skull?”
Aura made a sound like he objected the question. Marni laughed softly, her smile practically lit up the room. “Believe it or not, he was much worse in the days of our youth, back when he was my bodyguard.”
Lorin stepped in to interrupt. “Excuse me Marni,” she said, gesturing across the room. “We’ve got more important company.”
Ash followed her gaze back to where they came from, by the registration table. There an unfamiliar man stood staring in their direction.
“Ah, it’s Vashi,” Marni said to herself and waved the man over. “Lord Vashi! Lord Vashi!” At her gesture, the man known as Vashi started wandering toward them.
“Who’s this guy?” Aura asked.
“Vashi Tansa, an up-and-coming Noble merchant,” Marni informed them. “He’s made a lot of charitable donations to me. He’s a most valuable client, and happens to be quite the fan of Devil’s Duel.”
Aura shrugged. “Looks like a tool to me.”
Lorin shot him a dirty glare. “Hold your tongue or move along.” The guys stood there silently with Lorin and watched Marni step forward to greet her special guest.
Vashi Tansa was a plump, fluffy looking Noble decked out in white robes of the highest quality. His bright red beard dominated the lower portion of his face, his puffy white hat was adorned with a bright, long feather that stretched so far it hung down behind his back. A pleasant smile poked out of his beard as he waddled up to Marni with open arms. He paid the boys no mind at all.
“Ms. Narnya, I’m pleased to see the turnout today has far exceeded anything I could have imagined!”
“This is only the beginning, Lord Vashi,” said Marni, embracing her associate and allowing him to plant fake kisses on her cheeks. “Devil’s Duel is my magnum opus. It’s going to breath new life into this establishment like we’ve never seen before.”
“That’s what makes me so pleased to be included in your grand designs,” the plump Noble said. “I do hope that our business associations will not affect my ability to take part in today’s tournament…”
“Of course not my Lord,” Marni replied assuringly. “You are free to compete, just as anyone else is.”
“Excellent, excellent,” the Noble said, stroking his long beard. “I’ll be off now to prepare a proper deck. Wonderful turnout. Bye bye now.”
Marni bowed gracefully. “Best of luck to you today.” After Vashi left, Marni turned to face Ash and Aura again. “Sorry for the interruption. Now where were we?”
“That guy actually plays?” Ash asked, astonished. The Nobles he’d met in Hell so far didn’t seem like the types to waste time on a card game.
“Oh yes, Vashi’s quite skilled actually,” Marni said, adopting a serious tone. “I play games with him on occasion, and I’m not proud to admit that I’m rarely the victor.”
Ash whistled. “That is some skill, being able to go toe-to-toe with the game’s creator.”
“He’s not just a generous donor and a good player; Vashi also provides me with detailed information on new demon specimens for my cards. The Devil’s Duel catalogue is still growing, and with Lord Vashi’s consult I’m putting out new cards faster than ever.”
“If you need new cards, why not make one out of me?” Aura asked, adorning his most photogenic smile as if posing for the card illustration.
“Marni’s not interested in making any deals with you.” Lorin shot a dangerous glare at Aura. “Not unless they involve paying off that mountain of debt you left her with.”
Marni paused a moment, lost in contemplation. “A death toucher expansion might prove to be popular…”
“We really should move on,” Lorin said to her master. “You have a tournament to run.”
“We need to get moving too,” Aura said. “We’ve got a tournament to win.”
The death toucher nudged his human friend toward the nearest exit. Ash bid the women farewell but his words were lost to a commotion nearby.
It started with a girl’s voice calling out for Marni. Ash paused long enough to see the girl come forward, enthusiastically pursuing the game creator. Ash noticed an irritated roll of Marni’s eyes. Lorin stepped ahead, ready to block the girl if need be.
“Oh Satan, not her again,” Marni said. “Let’s get this over quickly.”
The boisterous girl approached Lorin knowing Marni couldn’t be far away. Her hair was a mixture of bright pink, purple, and black strands pulled back into twin tails. She dressed in all black, except for the plaid skirt and the bright red tie hanging from her slender neck. Her tall black boots were adorned with all matter of buttons and buckles.
“Yo Ms. Marni!” she called again when she was within eyesight of her. “Can we talk? I think you should reconsider my offer. I’ll even start for free, what do you say? Please Ms. Marni, I’m a hard worker and super dependable! Tons of people depend on me all the time! So what do you say, huh? Why not give me a shot! I could be the greatest mistake you never made!”
Ash cracked at a smile at the girl’s tenacity. Bold, he thought. What a straightforward and somewhat desperate attempt to gain favor. Amusing as the scene was, Aura was antsy to get away from Lorin. Ash turned his back on the strange girls for now. Following Aura’s lead, they moved into the competitor’s area to wait for the tournament to start.
Marni’s hand landed gently on Lorin’s shoulder, signaling it was okay to let the girl pass. Lorin backed off, and the vibrant-haired girl moved in.
“What do you say, huh? Am I finally in or what? Don’t make me wait any longer! Let me join your crew and start making some real skorch!”
Marni locked eyes with the girl. “Aralia. Listen. I’m aware of your…situation. I like you. You even remind me of myself to a degree, when I was much younger. But in your case, youth is exactly the dilemma. I just don’t think you’ve developed the necessary skills to be of any use to me right now. I’m flattered that you’ve heard of how well-compensated my employees are, but until you can demonstrate something – anything – some kind of skill that sets you apart from the rest, I’m afraid there’s no place for you on my team.”
Aralia didn’t look phased at all. “I’ve got plenty of skills! Watch!”
The energetic girl produced a butterfly knife and flipped it open in her hand. Lorin almost drew her sword, but trusted that Aralia wouldn’t move to harm her master. Instead Aralia flicked the small blade up and down, whipping it around rapidly in her hand in a display of dexterity and talent. She traded it between hands, juggling the knife like a toy, confident in her skills.
Aralia flipped the butterfly knife high into the air to catch it in a grand fashion for the big finale. The knife landed in her hand blade down. Her soft pink flesh gripped the sharp blade edge tightly.
She let out a shriek and fumbled the knife, nearly dropping it on the floor. Blood trickled from her hand. The girl produced bandages that she was in the habit of carrying with her for just such an occasion and started wrapping the wound mechanically.
“So, what do you say?” she asked as if nothing had happened.
Ms. Marni sighed. She lost count of how many times the spunky girl had approached her asking for a job. She never failed to leave an impression on Marni, though not usually a positive one. The girl tended to annoy her.
But today Marni was feeling generous.
“Tell you what,” she said with a clever grin. “Did you see those two guys I was talking to before you arrived?”
“Yep! One was a good looking dude with long black hair and the other was an average kid with brown hair. See? I’m observant! And that’s a skill.”
“Do you know who those boys were, by any chance?”
“No
I don’t, but I will do everything in my power to find out for you.”
“How about this then, Aralia. I’ll consider giving you a job. All you have to do is impress me.”
“I’ll impress you any which way you want, Ms. Marni. Just tell me how to do it.”
“You can start by knocking those two boys out of this tournament.”
Aralia smiled and nodded, overjoyed to have finally been given her chance.
Chapter Two: Aralia
The competitor’s entrance led to a small room connected to the main gaming arena. It was directly underneath the stands where spectators gathered to watch the day’s hot card game action. To Ash it sounded like a whole herd of demon elephants were stomping around above him.
A varied group of competitors lounged on leather couches, tweaking their decks one last time before the tournament officially kicks off. Ash followed Aura to the end of the room where there was no dividing wall between the competitor’s area and the arena, like a dugout in a baseball stadium. There were even seats there for them to sit and watch each matchup if they cared.
They stepped out into the arena, Aura’s eyes scouring every inch of their surroundings. Ash noted his friend’s uncanny ability to scope out an entire room and immediately locate the most beautiful women present, which was what he was clearly doing right now. While scanning the stands, Aura spotted a familiar set of faces, faces that he wasn’t expecting to see. He turned to Ash and gripped his friend’s shoulder extra hard.
“Hey buddy, you wouldn’t happen to know why my dad and Nora showed up here today, would you now?”
Ash swatted his buddy’s clenched hand off him. “Ow! Okay, I admit… I may have let slip during our last weapons training sesh that we were planning on taking part in the tournament. But I didn’t think they’d really come watch!”
By now Amos had spotted the boys and was waving at them. He prodded his blind daughter, Nora, letting her know he saw them. There was no escaping them now.
“I don’t want them knowing about my various dealings and debts with Marni, okay?” Aura looked like he was going to start sweating. “That topic’s taboo, okay?”
“Relax, we’ll find other topics,” Ash assured him.
The boys climbed the steps up into the audience seating as people slowly filled the stands. The game proved popular among young and old alike, devils of all ages made up the crowd.
“Amos!” said Ash, pretending to be surprised to see his weapons instructor standing there smiling and waving at him. Aura’s twin sister Nora sat gripping her father’s arm. Nora was blind and depended on her father to lead her around.
“Dad, sis,” said Aura, faking a smile. “What’s up? What are you guys doing here?”
“Hello boys, great to see you both! We’re so glad Ash invited us.”
“Oh he did, did he?” Aura glared at Ash.
“Invited is such strong language,” Ash replied with a shrug. “I think informed is the more accurate phrasing.”
Amos was in a good mood and didn’t pick up on his son’s odd behavior. “Did you hear the big news? I was at the castle this morning and happened to overhear The Royal Advisor telling some of his staff. It seems the Summer Soulstice Festival is nearly upon us! Isn’t that good news?”
Nora scowled. “Dad, quit gabbing! No one cares about current events or Soulstices. Aura, are you going to give me Soul Sight or what?”
Amos took a more serious tone. “That’s right. Quit being lazy and do the thing!” he said, pushing his son’s shoulder to egg him on.
“Oh yeah, sorry Nora,” Aura said. He held up his right hand, removed the metal gauntlet he wore all the time to hide his death touching hand. Aura concentrated a little bit of his soul power into the hand and the deep blue electricity jolted off it. “Soul sight!” With a gentle fist bump against his sister’s face, the power leapt off Aura’s hand and into Nora’s hollowed-out eye sockets.
Nora opened her eyelids. Instead of the usual hollowness, there was a swirling spherical vortex of electrical soul power borrowed from her brother. Aura called this trick Soul Sight, and it allowed his sister to see again.
Sort of.
Soul Sight made people’s inner soul power visible. Aura used it to locate enemies and gauge how strong their souls are, but Nora used the technique just to see something. She could make out broad, ghostly images of the souls that surrounded her. Devil souls came in all colors, and even though the shapes didn’t look much like actual people Nora still felt some comfort at knowing she wasn’t alone. It made her feel like she was living in a beautiful painting. Everywhere she looked she saw color moving, swirling, growing, and shrinking as people around her moved casually.
Much better than the eternal darkness she was used to, that’s for sure.
Her face lit up and Nora smiled. “Thanks bro,” she said, letting go of her father’s arm. Nora was a pretty girl, which was kind of weird to think about since she was basically a female version of Aura. The two were twin siblings, after all.
“It’s no problem sis, I got your back,” Aura said, giving his sister a thumbs up. A small trickle of blood flowed from his mouth and his legs trembled.
“You okay, Aura?” asked Ash.
“I’m fine!” said shot back, but it was too late. Nora became suspicious.
“What is it this time?” she asked with her arms crossed.
“Just a little blood,” said Aura. “And a tiny headache. And a miniscule stomach cramp… Nothing I can’t handle…”
“You idiot!” said Nora, cracking her brother on the side of his head. “I thought we’d trained you better than that by now!”
Using the soul sight technique put a strain on Aura’s body, which manifested itself in headaches, stomach pains, and sometimes vomiting blood. He used to even lose his own eyesight temporarily, but they’d managed to work past that point. Aura usually tried hiding the other afflictions so his sister wouldn’t worry about him.
“I’ll be okay,” Aura said, wiping away the blood from his mouth.
“What’s Shiva up to today?” Nora asked, changing topics. She’d always ask about Shiva whenever she saw Ash or her brother. It seems she’d become fond of Shiva ever since meeting her at their house party. During their periodic weapons training sessions she’d come just to sit and idolize the girl.
“Shiva hates games,” Ash replied. “She flat-out refused to come watch us. She’s probably sitting at home right now just waiting for the demon invasion siren to go off.”
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know much about this Devil’s Duel game you kids are all playing. But uhh…” Amos struggled to think of a relevant question to ask. “What do you boys think of the competition so far?”
“Vashi Tansa worries me,” Ash said.
“Who is Vashi Tansa?”
“Some rich Noble,” Aura replied with a scoff.
“Apparently he’s good enough to play evenly with the game’s creator,” said Ash. “I’d kinda like to play him myself.”
“It could happen,” Aura said. “You just might get your wish. But if you do, you’d better not lose. Or else it’ll be up to me to stop him!”
“And we all know that’ll never happen, because you suck at Devil’s Duel,” Ash teased.
“You’d better not embarrass the family name out there, boy,” Amos warned his son.
“Relax, I can hold my own!” Aura protested in defense. He raised a playful eyebrow. “Besides, I thought I was taught to play by the best, or maybe that wasn’t the case?”
“Just do well out there, you dorks,” Nora said with a smile.
The crowds surged as more people filled in the stadium seating around them. That’s when Ash caught sight of Vashi Tansa as he floated down the stairs past them.
“That’s him!” Ash said, pointing the Noble out to Amos.
The weapons maker let out an apathetic grunt. “Never seen him before.”
“Time for us to get going,” Aura told his father and sister. “C
atch you guys later.”
He gripped Ash’s arm and pulled him away from his family. They followed the Noble down and watched him head into the competitor’s area to take a seat. From their place at the bottom of the stands they could watch him.
“What’s your sudden fascination with that guy?” Ash asked, prying the death toucher’s talon off him again.
“He’s the ringer here, the one to beat. Maybe we should study him. Let’s sit here for a little while and spy on him. Maybe he’ll pull out his deck and we can get a good look at his cards. See what kind of deck he uses.”
The guys parked their rears in the stands for a spell, watching and waiting for an opportune moment to learn something about the man. During their deliberations, the guys knew nothing about the person that was watching them.
Aralia stood at the entrance to the arena, above the stands where she could see everything and everyone spread out before her.
She remembered everything Marni told her, which frankly wasn’t much to go on. Those two guys, the handsome one and the average one, were bugging Marni. It was Aralia’s first assignment to take them out. If she could prove to Marni that she could handle this, she’d be admitted in. Working for Marni would make everything so much easier. And the money! Aralia wouldn’t have to worry about food ever again.
In her hand was a small printed rulebook for Devil’s Duel that Marni had given her. She flipped through the pages, stopping here and there to read short passages, but quickly became bored with it and dropped it on the floor. Aralia fixed her eyes on the boys below.
An announcement blared through a distant megaphone. The entries were set and registration was closed. As soon as everyone wandered in and found their seats, the show would start.
Aralia thought about her odds. She wasn’t very familiar with the game, and would have to depend on luck to place her in a matchup against one of the two boys. She didn’t like leaving everything to chance. Wasn’t there something she could do beforehand to increase her chances of success?
Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) Page 3
