5 ♡ audio

[dragony]

It's been a while, but I suppose I'm curious—and it's hard to do much for curiosity, once it's born, is there? Some feelings can't be snuffed out, once they exist, no matter how much you might wish for it.

[ The voice is that of a young woman, somewhere between late teens and early twenties, lower-middle pitch and a steady cadence. A little tired, perhaps a little bored, but not irritably so. ]

Darkness, Earth, Water, Light, Wind, or Flame.

Choose one, please. But, before you do, know that there's no right answer, or wrong answer, and there's no moral component to any of them. "Light" doesn't mean good; "darkness" doesn't mean evil. Only whichever suits you. Something a little trivial, perhaps, but I'd like to hear your answers.

Thanks.

Comments

[mousquetaire]

Well, why can't some of us play with you? It's not as if our numbers are small.

I would do it, if you'd show me how.

[dragony]

The rules aren't that difficult, but nobody has the materials to play. It's not like poker, or communal games like that: each duelist has to bring their own deck to the match, and those don't exist in this world.

[mousquetaire]

A deck that represents the elements, correct? It can't be that hard to make.

Or to find a substitute. This world has things all over the place. More than most anyone could need in a lifetime. And plenty that they'll never need or want at all.

[dragony]

Ah, it's a little more complicated than that. Those attributes are a very small portion of the overall game.

Substitutes exist, but they're not the same. I can't say I'm much interested in those.

[mousquetaire]

Oh. Well, all right. That's fair. Your cards were special, is that it? Personal to you.

[dragony]

That's right. The game is a unique construct of my world; it doesn't exist in any other.

[mousquetaire]

I'm sorry, then. But it's interesting. I've never heard of elements connected to cards, before.

You said that only played a small role. What was the rest?

[dragony]

It's a fighting game, consisting of usually two players, referred to as "duelists." Each has their own deck of cards, which consist of three different types: monsters, which do battle; magics, which augment the monsters; and traps, which serve to counter the other two. Each duelist starts with a certain number of "life points," which are depleted through battles between monsters, or the use of magic and trap cards. The winner is the one who drives the other to zero life points, or to zero cards.

Each monster has its type—say, a warrior, or a magician, or a beast, or so forth—and an attribute—its elemental affinity. A monster can be multiple types, but bears only one attribute. Some traps and magics target only monsters of a certain elemental attribute, and some monsters will only support others of their same alignment. It can be important, to some strategies, but it is not necessary for all of them.

[mousquetaire]

[ ...if he had heard this before, he probably wouldn't have even suggested trying to play. This game, clearly, is nothing at all like the games he knows. ]

I'd be lying if I pretended to understand most of that.

But that means you use all the elements. Doesn't it? You don't choose just one.

[dragony]

Ah, it's a little easier to explain with props, but my hands are a little occupied. But no, it's not necessary to use all of the elements. For instance... mmm, if for instance the "theme" of your deck is centered on, say, beasts of the ocean—sharks, fish, mermaids, whales, the great dragons of the deeps—then all those monsters are going to be "water." Undead creatures, like vampires and ghouls, are almost always "darkness." That sort of thing.

You can mix themes together, but a deck is usually strongest when every part of it works together.

But no matter how the deck is put together, each monster can only ever be one attribute.

[mousquetaire]

So, then. Your deck was light. Is that what you're telling me?

What kind of creature would that mean? Presumably birds would mean creatures of air. What's the opposite of a ghoul, an angel? A saint?

[dragony]

[ ding ding ding ]

Angels and fairies are common Light monsters, yes. Magicians, too, and certain types of beasts.

But as I said before—light doesn't mean "good" and darkness doesn't mean "evil." The ones of your own deck will always be your own allies; the ones in your opponent's will be your enemies.

[mousquetaire]

That's complicated.

But I can see why you like it. The competition, the strategy you'd need. How long had you been playing?

[dragony]

I was entered in my first tournament when I was three.

[ Because, you know, three-year-olds generally don't enter themselves into anything. ]

But most of the time, I didn't duel competitively.

[mousquetaire]

When you were three.

[ Is that normal? He doesn't think that's normal. She was still basically a baby, how could she possibly have understood all the nuances she just explained to him? He doesn't think he could follow it now, much less when he was still a toddler. ]

And could you do it, back then? Could you manage all those rules, and beat other people at the game?

[dragony]

For the most part, yes. It's a little more complicated than I can get into, but I was called a prodigy for a reason.

[mousquetaire]

I can see that.

[ A little pause. She was three. ]

Did you win?

[dragony]

Some, but not the whole tournament. My last match then was a no-result conclusion.

[ Shrugs... ]

I don't remember it, myself, but I collapsed midway through, and didn't wake up for a month. I fell into a coma.

[mousquetaire]

You were ill?

[ What in God's name was wrong with her parents? ]

They made you enter a tournament even though you were ill?! That's ridiculous, no matter how much you loved the game.

[dragony]

No... mmm... they didn't know until that day. I can't fault people like that for something they couldn't predict.

[mousquetaire]

So then what happened? Surely the tournament didn't make you sick.

[dragony]

I have a weak heart. Doctors never could figure out what was wrong with it, but I've been sickly my whole life.

[ It may sound like a straightforward answer, but it's still an evasive track. ]

It's not really that interesting.

[mousquetaire]

I'm sorry. It didn't stop you from competing again, though.

[dragony]

Mmh. [ She's basically shrugging. ] It's not really something I'm interested in. Tournaments, I mean.

[mousquetaire]

Why is it that you played, then? If not for the competition.