At Long Last

We were stuck on the Board for a while before we finally encountered someone. Seraph was the first to spot the masked man watching us from the top of a mostly undamaged building. She tugged on my coat and pointed him out to me. I thought for a few moments before waving at him. He promptly vanished.

“Sure that was a good idea?” Seraph asked me.

“We'll see,” I said. “Just play it cool.”

Immediately after saying that, I drew Burner from his sheath and spun around to parry the spear coming down at me.

“Attacking from behind?” I asked the man. “That's original.”

Up close, I could see the man a bit better. He was dressed in black clothing, with straight red hair almost to his shoulders. The mask he had on was broken. His mouth and most of his right cheek were exposed, and what was left of the remaining mask was cracked and chipped away in places. His chin was coated in stubble, and his skin beneath it was deeply tanned. The symbol on the mask resembled most of a spade with the top half of a two or a three on top of it.

I motioned for Seraph and Kyle to step back. The man had enough courtesy to wait for them before attacking me again. His speed was impressive. I've seen better, of course. ParaDan or Damien could've outrun this guy easily, but this guy was still good. I managed to keep pace with him, deflecting his attacks. He vanished a few times, trying to take me by surprise, but I was able to stop his attacks in time and counter. I switched to the offensive and kept slashing at him. He repeatedly blocked me with the pole of his spear. Burner quickly ignited brightly and I swung again, cleaving his spear in two. He teleported a few feet from me, dropping the two pieces of his spear as he dd and drawing a short sword at his side, then he rushed back in.

He was clearly better with this weapon. Without the spear encumbering him, he was able to take back the upper hand and force me onto the defensive. He managed to knock Burner out of my hand, then, with a smile on what could be seen of his face, he vanished again. He appeared in the air above me and began dropping downward fast, sword gripped tightly. I dropped the sheath and raised my left arm above me, picturing a shield as I did. The ring around my middle finger dispersed into light and reformed as a buckler. I braced my legs as his weapon met my shield. I don't know what Abdalin made that buckler out of, but it's certainly durable.

I threw my arm to the side, throwing off the man's balance, and I swung a right hook at him, catching him in the jaw. I summoned Burner back to me and swung my sword the other way, knocking the sword from his grip. I ignited Burner and pointed the sword at the now unarmed man. He stood silently, string at the tip of my sword intently.

“That's enough, Gale,” Came a man's voice.

The guy I was fighting nodded and vanished. I turned around to see another man standing several yards from me. He had semi-short black hair, that was neatly combed and tied up in the back. His clothes must've looked nice at some point, but were now stitched up in places and carried a couple of patches. He stood up straight, with his arms folded professionally behind his back.

“The Ace Of Clubs, I presume?” I said.

“Please,” the man said, smiling. “Call me Giron.”

“All right,” I replied. “I'm Daniel.”

“I'm aware,” he said. “After all...”

He spread his arms wide, drawing attention to the broken landscape around him.

“Your counterpart thoroughly wrecked our shit,” he said.

“I had nothing to do with Red's actions,” I said.

“Yes, I know,” Giron said. “Unfortunately, as much as I wish to trust you, I can only see his visage when I look upon your face.”

“Yeah, I get it,” I said. “I came here for a reason.”

“The Bleeding Crest,” he said. “That book is out of both of our reach, I'm afraid.”

“What do you mean?” I sked.

“The Game Master sealed it shortly before his death,” he replied. “After Alphonse stole a page out of it.”

Of course. The former Ace Of Spades, and Estren's brother, took one of the Game Master's spells before his desertion.

“There has to be-” I started to say.

“There is no way in,” Giron cut in. “I'm afraid that we are all unable to enter without his assistance.”

“Not all of us,” A new voice sounded.

Abdalin appeared a few seconds later, holding a thing, dusty book in his hand. Giron was taken aback by his sudden presence.

“Seriously, did you even try?” Abdalin asked. “I managed to break in, and I had like, thirteen shots beforehand.”

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“A lot of books to look through,” he said, tossing me the tome. “Plus, I can't track you without my mask. Had to look around for you idiots.”

I looked at the book. Inscribed on the cover, in an almost illegible cursive font, was the title “The Bleeding Crest”. This was it. “This was the book the High Blood wanted.

“Abdalin,” Giron said. “I need to talk to-”

“I'm not interested in the position!” Abdalin snapped. “There's already someone else who'd be perfect for the job! Talk to him.”

“But-” Giron said.

“He'd accept,” Abdalin said. “And he'd be much better suited than me...”

I could feel some kind of self-loathing coming from Abdalin when he said that. Without another word, he grabbed me and teleported us both back to the normal world. He then went back for Kyle and Seraph. And the car. We all stood in silence for a while.

“So,” I sid after a bit of time had passed. “Who else is there?”

“Who else is there for what?” Abdalin asked.

“To become the Game Master,” I said. “The way you were talking, it sounded like...”

“It doesn't concern you,” Abdalin said.

I shut my mouth. He obviously didn't want to talk about it.

“One more thing,” he said, pointing to the book in my hands. “I read through that.”

“You did?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “The Red Cap is right. You absolutely cannot allow it to fall into the hands of the High Blood.”

“Why?” I asked. “What's in here?”

“You saw what they did to the Board when Red Daniel brought them there, right?” he asked. “And you know how many Cards died because of it?”

I nodded.

“If they had that book, They would do the same thing to the other Red Cap,” he said. “And any poor bastards who found themselves between the two of them would meet the same fate.”

Shit. That's bad.

“You should destroy it,” he said. “Soon.”

And with that, he vanished. I'm gonna follow his advice. Once I wrap this post up, I'm setting that thing aflame.