As Gavin entered the training room he expected some dojo or some military training facility, but pushing through a cloud of smoke he was surprised to see a casino table and his ‘teacher’ sitting with a bottle he didn’t recognize the label for.
“You can call me Sai. And what I want to do is play a simple card game with you. You do know how to play, right?” Gavin glared at him, trying to get a read on this man. He seemed confident and relaxed. Probably played a lot, but Gavin reinvented this game. There was no way he could lose. As he sat down, Sai explained, “Ante is simple. Every hand we lose or fold we have to answer one question the other has. The winner decides if they want to ask the question or walk away.”
Gavin laughed, “Shortest training I’ve ever been given.” He took a drink of the liquor that Sai had poured and paused, “What the hell is this?”
Sai laughed and shook his finger, “Win a hand. Then you can ask.” Dealing the cards out, Sai leaned back in his chair, drinking deep from his cup. Gavin adjusted his cards a little, hiding his efforts to try and mark them with little tears. “Wow, you really don’t waste time, do you?” Gavin froze but Sai made no attempt to stop him. In fact, Sai seemed to be motioning him to continue.
Gavin felt a chill up his back. Did this man really know that he was cheating? Why would he just let him cheat? It didn’t matter. If this man didn’t mind him taking advantage then he wouldn’t hesitate. He wanted out of this. Unsure of the strength of his middling hand, Gavin exchanged his cards and marked the new ones as well. Still not a great hand but he wasn’t too worried. This would work fine. Until he got his turn to shuffle he would just have to make due.
When the hands were revealed, Gavin froze. Sai’s hand was the same as… “I win. Guess that means you have to answer my question.” Sai’s knowing smile told Gavin everything he needed to know. “My first question is an easy one. Why a top hat?”
Gavin hesitated a moment as he considered his options. He smiled and said with a chuckle, “Just love the way they look. Not to mention you can hide all kinds of stuff in it.” Sai laughed, clearly not buying it. Gavin did his best to try but Sai could see clean through him. Relenting, Gavin answered honestly, “Someone saved my life when I got in too deep trying to make a name for myself. So the hat makes me feel like I carry them with me.”
Sai nodded and stated, “That’s a hell of a good reason. I’m sure he saw what I do. Shame you got lost along the way,” Gavin bristled at the comment. Sai motioned him to sit down and shuffle the deck. “Go ahead and play your game.” Gavin was about to demand an answer to what he meant, but Sai just motioned to the table as if asking him to get his answers at the table.
Gavin shuffled the deck as flashy as he could, still trying to hide his cheating somewhat, but he was a good enough read of character to know that this old drunk wasn’t worried. Probably had some tricks of his own. He would just have to watch for them. He dealt out the hands, making sure to give Sai a dead hand. Nothing he could do with that and when he went for more cards he would just I’ve him more dead cards. He would be done with this guy in no time.
Sai looked at the hand he was given and laughed before taking another drink of his cup. “Best part about this place is that I never have to refill the glass. As for this hand, I think it will work just fine.” Gavin laughed with him, clearly thinking he was joking, but when the time came to change cards, he didn’t trade any in. Maybe he just knew it wouldn’t do any good. Gavin took another drink from his glass and was amazed again at the quality of the booze.
When time came to reveal, Gavin won, as expected. He wanted to walk away from here, but since he had control of the deck now, it would be a good time to get his own answers. “Alright, so where did this little selection come from?”
Sai laughed and stated, “When Shawn killed Emperor Taventus, a special memorial brew was released. It was supposed to be in honor of him as their ruler but most of the cosmos just drank it to celebrate his passing. Taventus Brandy became a rare commodity because of how much was of it was drank as soon as it was made available.” He took another deep drink from his cup, “Man was a disappointing monster, but they did bring out the highest quality brew in his name.” Gavin took another sip of the drink and reflected on the story and as he wondered if he should try to sneak a bonus question, Sai continued, “I drink it to remind myself that no matter how sweet the victory, it has consequences. Because of his death, the Falos went on a bloody quest to avenge him and lots of innocent people on both sides suffered. All because of what I did.”
Sai took the deck and shuffled it, but there was no tricks or distractions. None that Gavin could see anyway. The hand he held seemed worse than before. He tried to change out the cards but these ones were even weaker. He tried to check the markings on Sai’s hand but he seemed to put them into one gathered stack. A single card isn’t enough to gauge a hand from. When the cards were revealed, Gavin froze again. Another familiar hand. Sai smirked and asked his next question, “So, was your savior that one that got you out of Permiso’s Pierrot?”
Gavin’s face went pale at the name and he punched the table. He turned to leave, but realized quickly that the door was gone. Lost in the fog of smoke that he had stepped through to get here. When he tried to push through the fog he found himself back at the table. Sai waited patiently for his answer, rather confident that Gavin couldn’t get out. Eventually, Gavin sat down and formed his thoughts, “He helped motivate me to make my own road out of hell. I was young but I’ve never been stupid.”
Sai nodded, taking another drink. A few moments later he said, “He was my first employer in the old timeline. I needed work and a cover to find my friend.” He rolled up his sleeve and showed Gavin the brand all members are given. “There isn’t a single one of us that didn’t wear long sleeves. That still true here.” Gavin stared at the brand in disbelief before nodding slowly. “I hope someone killed him already. Because if they didn’t…” he trailed off, but Gavin knew those feelings.
Gavin took the deck and shuffled it, rigging it as he had before, but this time he began to follow the sequence. Sai’s reaction would tell him all he needed to know about this game. When Sai picked up his hand and furrowed his brow in thought, he knew the truth. Gavin sighed, “You… you are wasting my time, aren’t you?”
Sai sighed, “Remember, you have to win the hand to ask a question.” The two of them revealed their hands and Sai was the winner. He leaned forward and asked, “What made you help her?”
Gavin refused to make eye contact, “I was reminded of what I had given up just to survive. And I was reminded of how much I hated that. That’s all.”
Sai nodded, “I’ve been there. But it isn’t enough on its own, or you will unwrite reality like I did.” Gavin didn’t look up at his opponent.
Sai dealt out the cards, but Gavin didn’t check the hand. He did his best to ignore the markings on his own cards and locked eyes with Sai. He stated firmly, “You know about it. You have some method of controlling the cards without manipulating the deck. You’ve been toying with me by giving me the illusion of control.”
Sai nodded but countered one aspect, “This situation has always been in your control. You have been marking the cards. I know you stashed some better ones in your sleeves when you shuffled. And I know that you have remote access to the training room servers if you really wanted to. All I did was lock myself in with you.”
“Why?”
Sai paused and took a deep drink from his cup. When the silence grew unbearable, he spoke again, “If you want honest answers from a lion, your best bet is to sit on his tongue. That is to say that if you want to discover the truth, you first have to accept safety as a lie.” He laughed, “Azure Charity documented these findings a long time ago and I always appreciated them.” Gavin tilted his head in confusion and Sai clarified, “While Cosmic Patrol was us, that crossbleed of cultures let us discover the countless heroes that existed before us. What they wrote down and had learned. Marvelous Dragonfly, Azure Charity, and of course the Psyclones from my own planet just for starters.” He snapped his fingers in realization and stated, “Here’s another one from Phantom Schism. Truth is accepted without and found within. If your soul holds no truth the world will enforce one upon you.”
Gavin stared at the cards on the table, looked at the smoke that was preventing his escape and finally rested his eyes on the rambling old drinker. “Why go through all this? If you think I’m a weak coward, why waste your effort?”
Sai shrugged, clearly deciding to give him a freebie, “Because I was too. My early days in the cosmos were spent lying, cheating, and betraying my way to information I needed to save my friend.” His voice got distant, “There was no sensation more crippling to me than the anxiety of it all. Failure meant losing those I cared for most, and success could always come at the cost of those around me. After awhile it became easiest to only surround myself with those I didn’t value, but spend enough time with anyone and they start to mean something.” Gavin got a distant look of his own, mirroring Sai’s own. As if trying to return to the game, Sai stated, “My first word of advice to shake off your anxiety is to learn to stop running away from it. There will be more lessons, but unlearning retreat will be our first focus.”
Gavin nodded and dealt out the next hand as the the two Pierrot continued to swap questions and answers for hours, each using their own tricks when they absolutely needed an answer on something.
And for just a moment, Gavin allowed himself to draw closer to the truth. Much time passed, many stories exchanged, and eventually it began to loosen up completely. “And that’s when I opened the airlock. Poor Steve had NO warning. Nearly spaced all of us, but what do you expect when you arm a fusion det during an arms deal?”
The two men were laughing together, drunk as one can be on illusory spirits. They had forgotten the game long ago and were now trading tales. “Alright, I’ll admit that’s probably the most last second save I’ve ever heard.”
They each took another drink and Sai asked, “So, you got a girl?”
Gavin scoffed, “Do you?”
Sai wagged a finger and said, “Technically no. Kind of screwed all of time and if she does end up remembering me she would be pissed at me for being so selfish.” He thought about her for a moment but then his smile faded, “Actually, not even then. I’m just a replica. So I guess I don’t.”
Gavin patted his shoulder and held his breath a moment before letting out a sigh, “My lady isn’t too different. If she sees me again it’s going to be a coin flip if she shoots me in the head or crushes my bones.” He groaned, “How in the hell did you end up in these situations when you had so much power?”
Sai shook his head, “I didn’t. This crystal wasn’t always this strong. I could handle one, maybe two Falos Mannequins. And that was my limit back in the day. The Phoenixian Crystal has a few quirks most crystals don’t have but I was the driving force.” Gavin looked at him with curiosity, so he clarified, “These abilities draw from a principle I call resonance. Each crystal is attuned to a given value. When we are aligned with those values, we resonate with the stone and like two tuning forks the sound gets louder. That means the more you deepen your understanding of that value, the stronger your resonance and the more power you can tap into.”
Gavin nodded and said under his breath, “So that’s why you want to train our minds…”
Sai laughed, “Hell no!” When Gavin looked at him in surprise. Sai clarified, “Stones or not, the cosmos is a vast and strange place. If you can’t find and stick to your principles while traveling it, you will get proverbially lost and literally eaten. Whether you guys use those crappy one shot stones, find your own, or just continue as you are you will still need focus and self-determination. This cosmos is cruel to those who have no heart.”
Gavin dismissed the idea, reaching to collect his hat when the poker room faded away, the smoke becoming mist and whisking them away. Sai shook his head, “You may think yourself right, but I need to share something with you.” The mist pulled away and revealed woods late in the night. Sai stood staring through the mist to a clearing. There stood a crowd of figures. As the mist parted, Gavin stared in disbelief. There he saw a ring of Falos Knights, the current crown prince, and a man in a sparsely decorated orange combat suit. It’s only identifying marks was a lioness themed helmet, white and gold embroidery, and a cutlass with a roaring lions head as the crossguard.
The Prince spoke firmly, but a smoldering anger was just beneath the surface. “You claim to have slain my father.”
The orange figure spoke in a familiar voice, “I claim nothing. I am simply informing you.”
The Prince struggled against decorum. “Have you come to apologize for your actions? Maybe plead for my forgiveness? Beg me not to cast this system into the abyss after him?” When Shawn didn’t respond the Prince shouted, “Answer me, Murderer! Answer me or answer my blade!” Drawing a highly decorated and regal blade, Gavin recognized it as the one owned by the current emperor.
Shawn stood there motionless, not a single word left his lips. Not a single expression of regret or remorse. Not even an accusation or demand for justice. Just silence. Shawn eventually stated, “Are you finished?” The Prince lashed out with his father’s blade, but it was kicked out of his hand and into a nearby tree. The Prince turned back and tried to strike at Shawn, who was able to dodge. When he tried to return the blows, the Prince blocked them in kind, the two of them having a decent exchange before Shawn stated, “We each must bury our own. I have been burying mine for years. I will shed no tears for slaying a monster. Neither should you.”
“You shall shed it in blood then!“ The Prince lashed out again, but in the skirmish, he took the cutlass. Brandishing it with more precision this time, Shawn had no choice but to retreat, striking one of the knights with a quick haymaker before disappearing into the misty woods. The Prince looked upon the knight he had knocked over and helped them up. The prince sighed and in a loaded tone said, “Burn these woods to the ground. Find him or die trying. I will return to my ship and we will begin the solar detonation.” One of the knights grew nervous and tried to run only to have the cutlass thrown through their chest. The Prince fetched the blade as well as his own and began his return to their flagship in orbit.
Sai explained, “I would find out many years later that his bloody reign was my fault. I killed his father like he was nothing. A disgrace. I was unable to feel shame or sympathy at the time. I always wonder if I had offered an olive branch, or apologized, or did literally anything to soothe his wounded soul maybe it could have been avoided.”
Gavin watched as he absorbed these events that never came to pass here. Questions filled his mind. Uncertainty. Even he didn’t know. How could he? Eventually he replied, “I notice you didn’t have any CPD markings at the time.”
Sai nodded, “Hadn’t been formed. This rise to power and violence was the inciting incident actually.”
Gavin tapped his chin and eventually stated clearly, “I want a copy of this for my room. I need to look it over and think.” Sai nodded and the room returned to the poker room. Gavin grabbed his hat and the smoke cleared somewhat. “Look, I don’t know if I am a convert like Dean, but you brought up some stuff for me to think about. So thank you.”
Sai nodded, “When you know what you want in life and where you want to take yourself, don’t hesitate to talk to me.” Gavin nodded dismissively and left the room.