a second miracle

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

[ A small tea table is just right there, in the middle of the plane. A solitary figure sits at it, and atop it is a chessboard. All of the pieces are scattered across the table except for Bernkastel's and the pink, blonde witch on the other side of the board. Every now and then, she'll take a sip of her tea and maybe rearrange her pieces in a certain way that only she understands, but scatters them again.

Directly in the middle of the board, Bernkastel takes the pieces of the little girl swinging a purse, and sets her in the middle. ]

You can be a stand-in piece.

[ Eventually... she notices a piece that should not be on her game board. She takes it and lifts it up behind her, as if there was someone who would take it from her.

The stars behind her have been disguising thousands of pairs of cats eyes, and finally one large cat emerges from the scenery to sink its teeth into the piece, messily gnashing it to bits until there's nothing. ]

Thank you.

[ Back to her game. ]

Comments

[ex_fatalist246]

[That is creepy. But now it is time to nose into business that does not concern him, as he does.] Planning for a game?

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

Indeed. [ She didn't talk much when she was thinking. ] There's quite a few favorable methods to choose from.

[ex_fatalist246]

[Satoshi takes the chair across from her without asking.] Tell me about them.

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

There's a straightforward method for taking the piece directly that would close the game quickly.

I'm not very interested in it, though.

[ex_fatalist246]

Because then you don't have to think anymore. [And it's boring. That's what he assumes, at any rate.] Are you sure you can win if you play another way?

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

Yes... but one king taking one piece on the chessboard bears no strategy. I need a real opponent.

[ex_fatalist246]

[What he doesn't say is that she needs a real chess set, and it's her own fault for only having so many pieces on the board. He reaches over to pick up Lambda's piece.] Who is this?

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

A fellow witch.

But since she's not here, there's no point in keeping her on the board.

[ex_fatalist246]

You mean even you can't bring her here?

[He has jumped to the conclusion that Bernkastel would want to bring the other chess piece her for a game.]

[ravenchaser.livejournal.com]

[A tall, imposing figure in a drab coat watched her game from a distance, quietly. Tendrils of smoke sprawled out from his lit cigarette reaching for the star-studded roof of the Plane.

After the unwanted piece was disposed of, Gin drew closer, the light rustling of fabric and quiet footfalls the only sound he made. A short, dry laugh.

He couldn't make heads or tails of her little game, but it was just as well.]

Bernkastel. [His voice was calm and almost genial, but unfeeling, with a gravelly texture from his smoking habit.

He stood before her with his hands in his pockets.] A game for one?

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to take the other seat, if you like. [ She starts putting the pieces back in place, leaving the unfamiliar, strawberry-haired girl swinging a purse in the middle, however. ]

I've simply been playing out... strategies.

[ravenchaser.livejournal.com]

Is that so?

[He calmly takes a seat before her, casually dangling a hand on the back of the chair, leaving the rest of his arm to dangle off the back as he leaned back, the fedora coming slightly askew. His body language was relaxed and casual— perhaps overly so— but exuded confidence nonetheless.

A faint metallic scent clung to him, as well as a somewhat stronger scent of something burnt; of course, there was also the usual scent of sulfur. He looked somewhat disheveled, for reasons other than the tipped hat, but he didn't seem to notice or care.]

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

[ A working man, of course. She had to assume whenever he made time for the Plane, it was after 'work'. And perhaps he wanted to check up on Bernkastel's progress since their meeting? She'd simply have to prove she'd been working on her research since then. Ignoring the rules of chess, she picked up two pieces, and put them behind the little girl.

It was the pieces of the man in the yellow suit with glasses and the man with the red hair, occupying the 'king's' piece. When she moved her hands away from them...

Their hair colors had changed. The redhead now had black hair, and the bespectacled one had blue. A nice hint as to how far she had gotten. ]

I'm getting there. Learning the defensive strategy, so to speak.

[ravenchaser.livejournal.com]

[Of course, she'd be right on all accounts.

He watched with mild interest. He wasn't startled by this display of power; compared what he had seen from her before, this was about as shocking as a children's magic show.

But the message hidden in the act was not lost.] I see.

[He was not a talkative one. He seemed to have settled upon watching her for now.]

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

There's a few more I could place... [ But she doesn't deem them worth mentioning.

She takes her piece, standing on the white pedestal, and positions it opposite of the three pieces. Her hands hover over the discarded seeking out one to represent him-- there weren't many good matches. The blondes were all girls, and the two actual snipers were the rabbit girls to add insult to injury. She could... but she didn't think he'd appreciate her sense of humor.

So she just made him a new piece instead. ]

However, this is what I'm working with so far.

[... conversations with Gin can get one-sided very, very quickly? ^o^;]

[ravenchaser.livejournal.com]

[A wise choice, although, to be truthful, it wasn't likely to bother him that much.

He did not respond with words and his features hardly shifted. All he did was watch. It could be assumed that he was listening, however.]

[HAHA it's okay. Bern doesn't talk much either. ]

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

[ That leaves her with one extra piece on her board now with the addition of one... that won't do. She picks up the piece of the golden witch in the ballgown. Worthless. She tosses it behind her shoulder for her cats to once again, lunge out of the scenery to rip apart. Otherwise, she has absolutely no reaction. ]

You've noticed, right?

[ She points to the now black-haired pointing man behind the girl with the purse. ]

In order to win any game of chess, you need to take the king.

someone called for more creepers?

[cruxified]

[Kratos doesn't say anything as he takes in the game from a distance, though there's a trace of alarm in his eyes when the cat utterly destroys the unfamiliar chess piece.

What.]

we can always use more creepers :)

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

[ And yet, she continues to play. ]

awesome :D

[cruxified]

[He's not sure whether he should bother approaching. His mana senses are going haywire every time he looks at her. She's obviously more than she appears.

Probably trouble.

And yet, some part of him doesn't care. If he dies here, yes, someone will be disappointed, but... he finds himself stepping closer anyway, drawn by some curiosity he can't quite explain.

He stops just out of reach and peers at Bern from the other side of the table, noting her tendency to switch things around, then destroy them.]

If anything is to change, you need an opponent.

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

That does seem to be my biggest problem.

[ And she keeps shuffling pieces around. ] Finding one is as well.

[cruxified]

[Heh. He should run, really. But...]

It has been a very long time since I played, but I can try.

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

Black or white? [ She's very to the point. ]

[cruxified]

[So is he.]

White.

[And this is where Kratos might sigh at his mun for not knowing how to play herself, haha.]

[mirakill.livejournal.com]

[ HAHA I don't remember the rules too well myself, so we can just handwave it as they play. ]

[ She turns the chessboard around. ]

You take the first move, then.