Part 18: Chapter 18 (Intermission) - On The Cards

Jacquelyn, on one of her regular wanders through the Blue Moon barracks, finds a small group huddled around a table in the main barracks room, and her curiosity is piqued enough that she wanders over to see what they’re up to. She is greeted by Ignat, Felix, Yakov and Inessa, though Ignat and Inessa aren’t paying attention - they’re completed absorbed in a trading card game.

“Well, hello.” Jacquelyn remarks. “You must be the card-game playing youngsters I’ve heard about. What exactly is going on?”

“O-oh, hello!” Felix says, giving Jackie a brief wave. “I’m Felix. You’re, um, Jackie, right?”

“The one and only. You’re Fenya’s little brother, right?”

“He is.” Yakov replies. “And I’m Yakov - but keep it down. They need to concentrate.”

At this, Yakov gestures back to the table, where Inessa and Ignat have barely noticed anything outside of the cards on the table.

“Hm… alright, I’m going to play the Confectioner.” Inessa says, beaming. “That’ll give all my cake-type cards +3/+3 for this turn, and then my Haunted Cake will attack your Planet.”

“My Planet’s got the Hat of Anti-Cake,” Ignat replies, flipping one of his cards over to reveal artwork of a strange-looking hat. “So that doesn’t work.”

“What? No, my Haberdasher is still in play. That negates the effect of any hat cards on the opponent’s field.” Inessa replies. Ignat realises she’s right and winces.

“Damn. So my Planet takes... six damage, and is destroyed.”

“That’s the game! Woo!” Inessa yelps, leaping up. “Oh, man, that was exhilarating! Didn’t think I was going to win after I lost my Muffin Bear…”

“Yeah, not bad.” Ignat replies, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Uh, I’d better get going. Got to, uh, tidy my room. Later.”

Inessa’s face falls. “Oh… I was going to ask for another game. But sure! See you later!”

Ignat walks away, and Inessa pouts for a little bit. “Hm. Anyone else want to have a go?”

“Sure, I’ll try…” Felix murmurs, sitting down. He pulls out his own cards. “This has been a lot of fun. I wasn’t sure about this game when Ignat first introduced it to us, but it is really fun once you get it down.”

“Yeah, definitely! Just wish he stuck around after the matches. I wanna talk about it more, and I’d love to improve!”

Jacquelyn, meanwhile, decides to hasten after Ignat as he wanders away, leaving the group to their game. “Hey, Ignat!”

Ignat turns around and raises an eyebrow. “Mm? You’re Jackie, right?”

“I am! You’re looking unhappy. Guessing you didn’t want to lose that game, huh?”

“I…” Ignat replies. “I introduced them all to the game. Thought it would be a fun way to make new friends, and they all took to it, but Inessa… she’s really good at it. Like, naturally talented. I’ve been playing it for years - why’s she able to beat me so consistently?”

“Ah, I see. You feel a bit frustrated, I’m guessing.” Jackie says. She places a hand on Ignat’s shoulder. “You know, I had a similar situation a while back.”

“You did?”

“I’m a collector. I’m actually interested in collecting cards sometime, which is why I wanted to meet you guys. But a while back, I collected little figurines, and one of my friends got into it as well. Thing is - he was way better at it than me. He’d find the rarest figures, and get them for real cheap.”

Ignat pulls a face. “Man. What did you do?”

Jacquelyn smiles. “I congratulated him!”

“What?”

“It didn’t matter to me how good or bad we were. What mattered is that we were both enjoying something, and bonding over it.” Jackie explains. “Sure, he was better than me, but I never minded. I enjoyed hearing the stories of how he acquired some of his rarer pieces. We loved to chat about our collections.”

Ignat stares at the floor. “...You might be on to something, there. It is nice that everyone enjoys the game so much. I never had anyone at the academy who enjoyed it as much.”

“Well, then. No more moping in your room, young man.” Jackie says, raising an eyebrow. “Go back in there and chat with them. You all love the same thing, so just immerse yourself in that!”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go apologise.” Ignat says. “Thanks, Jackie.”

“Not to worry. I’m happy to help; of course, I’d also love to start collecting these cards. I don’t suppose you’d allow me to join you guys sometime?”

“Oh, of course! Sure, the more the merrier.” Ignat replies. “I’ll be looking forward to it, Jackie.”

“Me too!”