RP: [ON/OFF]

[Sleuth]

Raven - Casino:

Phew! That was a relief...

I lowered my sword, and with a quick flourish, sheathed it away and tucked it into my coat.

"That was a close one," I muttered under my breath. For a moment there, I was worried that I'd have to fight...

The man had started to leave, but I figured it would be rude to just let him go. I didn't want there to be any animosity between us, after all...

"Hold on there, sir," I said, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, "It's not often that I get to meet another swordsman... What's your name?"

[Kruiser666]

Kami shoke off the man's hand. And turned to meet him.

"You don't deserve my name." Kami said.

With that he turned back around and headed for the casino door.

Spoiler : :

Wolf, When is this story event thingy gonna start?

[Wolf Speaker]

Spoiler : :

So sorry for the lateness!

-Chapter Two-
Interactive

THE CASINO

You look around. All of the thugs seem to have either escaped or been defeated. The leader, in particular, is slumped against the wall, blood trickling from his stomach wound. Someone has yanked out the weapon that caused his death. The sight makes you slightly squeamish, but just as you are about to turn away, a glint of gold catches your eye. Just as you're about to step closer, a red-haired young man pokes his head out from behind a column and approaches the bleeding body. He wrinkles his nose as he bends down over it.

"This thing here..." you hear him say. He gingerly reaches into the man's half-torn breast pocket and pulls out a small bottle with two fingers. A frown flits across his face. He carefully uncorks it and takes a sniff.

"Fortuna Major," he announces to nobody in particular. He gives the bottle a little shake. Golden droplets fly out and seem to hang, suspended, in the air.

"Seized," the man explains. "Luck potions and the like are illegal in casinos like this. These guys," he nudges the dead man's leg, "must have ingested it some time ago. Some advanced luck potions are undetectable by common barriers when they've already taken effect. Explains how they kept on winning. So, I'll just be taking this--" He pauses. His eyes stray over you and the group of people who helped you take down the thugs. You might be imagining it, but they seem to rest a bit longer on your weapons.

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't be fair," the red-haired man says, finally. His expression is regretful. "There's still a fair bit in here." He holds out the bottle, whose contents seem to have been immobilized. "We'll have to take it out of a two-hundred-meter radius of the casino, but I reckon there's enough for everyone."

He pauses again. His expression is suddenly of incredulity. He turns his nose up and sniffs the air. Then, slowly, he kneels back down besides the body and reaches into the outside pockets. You watch, startled, as his arm disappears into the pocket all at once. An expansion charm, you realize. And then the young man starts pulling out bundles and bundles of cloth that ring when shaken in the way only one thing does: gold.

He looks up at you again. "Well, this makes things easier. There's about a fortune in here. Take your share, I guess, and," he twirls the potion bottle in his hands, "win the rest."

________________________________________________________

All in all, your share of the loot comes to 250 000 gil. It's already half of your ticket paid. Of course, you'll have to gain the other half--by winning it, the man said? You are outside the casino, and the red-haired youth is pouring liquid gold (in more ways than one) into the cup you're holding (you don't question where the man pulled them out from; he has the look of an eastern merchant). This is, confirmedly, illegal. However, it is the only way for you to rack up enough money to get on board the Zephyr. And you did help save the casino itself--you don't suppose the owners would mind... much. Well, they're probably too scared of you by now, anyway. That crazy guy with the sword didn't help relations with them much--you suspect they're hiding under the tables in the basement somewhere.

[Drey Wilkins]

Cayle looked down at his cup, before pulling out an empty flask and pouring the golden liquid into it.
"A luck potion of this quality shouldn't be wasted on something as petty as gambling." He spoke to no-one in particular, but for the benefit of everyone around him. "Besides. If you really want to cheat, there are less expensive and complicated ways."

He looked around at the cluster of people as he placed the vial in his pack. An odd group, to say the least.

[GuardianDreamer]

Antoinette - Casino

"W-What!? But cheating like that would be wrong... wait, I have an idea. I wonder how much this sells for." Annie said, looking at the cup. She had no clue about the prices for something like this. Sure, one of her parents was a merchant, but it wasn't like that meant she knew about every single item to ever exist. Another thought crossed her mind. She could just drink this, and then sneak on board the ship, saving money. But she quickly stopped thinking about that plan. It was against her morals. There was no way that she could use it like that. Becoming a criminal wasn't what she came here to do. First, she'd have to check to make sure the casino owners were fine. Perhaps they would know how much it would sell for?

With that in mind, Annie searched around the Casino, trying to find the owners. They were likely hiding somewhere, so she made sure to look carefully.

[Wolf Speaker]

Raen - Casino

What, Raen thought, is wrong with these people?

He hadn't drunk his share of the potion, of course. There was no need for that, since he had enough money to get both himself and Andreus on board. But these guys? They were pretty broke, by the looks of it. Definitely not rich enough, anyway.

So why were some of them not using the Fortuna?

He watched in mild frustration as a few people discreetly pocketed their portion of the elixir. It was like they didn't want to succeed, or something. What was up with them? And after he'd been generous enough to give them some, too! He filled the last cup, staring at the golden liquid regretfully, shoving it into the hands of whoever it was. It was so not fair. If he'd known they'd just--just--squander it and save it for themselves for later, whenever that was, and actually be smart, he'd have just taken the whole bottle! Grumbling, he plopped down onto the grass.

I know, he thought gloomily, twirling a strand of green around his finger. If they're not going to drink it now, I'll just charge them for it later whenever they have the money.

[Drey Wilkins]

Cayle - Casino:

Leaving the group to their drinks - and the merchant to his little tantrum - Cayle walked back to the door of the casion - although he sincerely doubted that it would still be open after all the killing that had just happened inside it. Seriously. The guards in this place were lazy.

[Topaz]

Andreus - Casino

Andreus emerged grinning from the huddle with a cup full of luck. After he'd stepped away, his eyes met with the dissaproval of Raen's. His face drooped to a pouty frown.

"Can't I, just, save it for later maybe?" He asked as he grabbed for a chance to keep this rare potion

[Wolf Speaker]

Raen - Casino

"But then why did I even give it away?" Raen wailed, flapping his arms ludicrously. "Seriously, do you know how much a bottle of this is worth? I could have made a fortune!" Then he sighed. "Well, I suppose you could keep it. I've got enough money for the two of us anyway."

[Sleuth]

Raven - The Casino:

And so, here in my hand, I held fruit of the tree-- A poisoned apple, filled to the brim with the most virulent of poisons...

Luck potion. Could that truly exist? I'd heard stories and such, but I had never thought... For such a thing to work, it would have to alter the very laws of nature in the favor of one man... How terrifying.

The money I had gained weighed heavily in my pocket-- Only 250,000 gil, yet it was heavy with the burden of immorality. No, I couldn't accept it! This money had not come from my own two hands! Not even by gambling had I procured it! No, no, Father would never approve! He always told me: "Son, it is better to be swallowed alive by a Giant Tuna for sixty days than to partake in money that does not belong to you". He also told me that one could live for sixty days on Giant Tuna guts alone, but was slightly less relevant to me at the moment. At any rate, I could not accept it-- This money belonged to the good people who ran the....

Wait. A thought struck me. This money was tainted fruit-- But were I to give it back, would it not merely become more tainted? What good could that do? ...No! I had to repress those thoughts-- Already the money was poisoning my mind! Oh, what a world, where a few shiny coins could so terribly corrupt even the pure-hearted young warrior!

And now this, too! "Luck potion"! What was I to do with this? Vile liquid, one that could bend the laws and fabric of the universe... I imagine that somewhere, a wormhole must be torn open so that a single man may have luck in his day. What a horrific world. It's like my Father had said: "Son, it is better to rely on your sword and any amount of random junk you may find lying around than on luck, because luck always runs out. Usually when you are hanging off of a cliff by a branch and then suddenly find yourself falling hundreds of feet to near-certain death." But again, I think I may be saying more than is necessary.

"Hey, kid!" The owner of the store from before had found me. I had enough to pay him now, but what of the rest? How was I to board the Zephyr without the necessary funds to procure a legitimate admittance of passage? Not that I had enough now, but... Oh, money is really quite a terrible thing for the pure-hearted young warrior.

"Got my money yet?" The man asked, folding his arms.

"As a matter of fact," I said, slowly reaching into my pockets-- But before I could do anything, the man's eyes grew wide at the cup in my hand, expanding like a pair of Mushroom Beetles when exposed to fire "just before exploding into a pile of green goo" like my Father always said. Though it goes without saying that the man's eyes did not explode into green goo, they still grew quite wide, similar to the aforementioned Beetles-- However they did not quite grow THAT wide, no, that was a bit of hyperbole on my part. At any rate, he was very shocked to see it.

"Hold it," He said, snatching the cup from my hands, "Is this... what I think it is?"

"Erm, if you think it is Luck Potion," I replied, unsure of what to say, "Then I suppose it is. However, use of illegal potions is very immoral, and can corrupt the hearts of pure-hearted young--"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," The man said, waving his hand dismissively, "Okay, listen kid, this more than makes up for the crap you broke. I'll take this, and we're square, okay?"

"Um, I'm not sure why I'd like to be a geometric shape, but..." I gave a deep bow. "Thank you for your graciousness. As a warrior of love, I thankfully accept your generosity."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," The man said, walking off with the cup. I know not what became of him, but like my Father said: "A man who walks off muttering to himself will often be found in chains. Or in the belly of a Three-Headed Tiger, but that's less likely unless you're searching long-abandoned caves."

So, with that out of the way, I stood outside of the Casino, that house of villainy that had handed me poisoned fruit into my lap. I had half the money I needed, and no sure way of making the other half.

What was a pure-hearted young warrior to do?

[Blackrune]

Alexandra - Casino

Alexandra eyed the mysterious potion for a long time. She had heard about those fate altering potions. Was this the time to seize that opportunity?

Thinking back, the decent wealth of her family was a result of her parents seizing somewhat ridiculous opportunities here and there. However, those had always been legal. Not paying your taxes? Not worth it, too much time wasted worrying about the possibility of being found out.

Then again, Alexandra wasn't exactly like her parents. She respected them, but had made her own rules. She had followed the path of her ability instead of preparing to take over their business. Would this genuinely haunt her with a bad conscience afterwards? She had already stolen - pardon - charged money from unconscious people.

For what seemed like an eternity, she stared at the potion in her hands, completely tranquilized by its promised effect. She felt as if she was staring at some drug she had promised to never take again, or something. Was it alright to give in, or would she just feel bad about it afterwards? Give in to temptation, or resist?

I make my own rules. What is some money compared to the life I'm trying to save?

During that thought, Alexandra just quickly put the potion on her lips and gulped it all down before any new doubt would be able to cross her mind.

It did not taste particularly well, and for some reason she really didn't feel that good about giving in. But she had expected that, it's too late to have regrets now. Slowly, a warm feeling rose within her. She wasn't sure whether enhanced luck actually felt like this or whether this was just the anticipation of her mind tricking her.

Alexandra got up and headed inside the casino again. The effects were immediately apparent. The dice would pretty much always show the anticipated result. She tried to not be TOO obvious about it. Nobody would buy she'd just get two Royal Flushes in a row.
With this method, it shouldn't take too long to get the required amount of money. Her doubts from earlier began to fade away. She would probably have felt far worse if this first annoying obstacle would have ended her quest as early as at that point.