The Fractured Mage

Chapter 10 - Lilac(Part 1)

"Knock knock, I'm coming in!"

"There's no point in saying that after you've already barged in, Li...or rather, instead of literally saying 'knock knock', just actually knock on the door like a normal person, and then wait till I say you can come in before barging in," I sighed in exasperation, as I set down my book.

"Oh, never mind all that. Come on, I'm bored, let's hang out," She grinned in response.

"I'll pass."

"Don't be like that, I mean, it's not like you're doing anything important right now, so let's do something together," Lilac replied as she pulled on my arm.

"On the contrary, I'm in the middle of reading, and it was just getting good...so leave me alone," I muttered wearily.

About a week has passed, and it was currently early in the evening, a couple of hours after we'd had lunch. Iris and Ifeus were busy with the Magic Guild, so it was just Lilac and I in the house.

Which sucks, because it means that all her attention inevitably lands on me. I spent a bit more time in training this morning than I usually do, so I'm more tired than I typically am at this point...but yeah, mainly, I just want to laze about and read my book for right now...

"I wanna try that new board game dad bought the other day, let's open it up and give it a whirl! Oh, and we've got these really good cookies from a fancy confectionery place, I'll eat 'em all if you don't come with me!" She warned me, as she continued pulling on my arm.

"Fine by me, I don't know how good or bad they are, so it doesn't really make a difference to-...," I began, before she cut me off by swiftly putting something in my mouth.

What did she just-...hm? Oh, wow, that's really good...a slight sugary crunch on the outside, and it's soft and buttery on the inside, and there's chocolate chips that just melt in my mouth...

Damn it...that was absolutely delectable, but it was so small, it's already gone. Tch, well played...it's the kind of snack that leaves you craving for more, she really thought this through.

"Hehehe, and now you know...there's a box full of these little bites of heaven, and I'll hog every single one if you don't join me. I've hidden the box, just in case you stubbornly refuse to join me, so I'm holding all the cards on the table, while you've got none to draw," She smirked triumphantly.

"That...doesn't really make sense. No wonder you always lose when we play card games," I replied wryly, before relenting with a sigh, "Alright, fine, you win...I'll hang out with you, but just for a little bit."

"Yay! Come on, let's go!" She grinned as her eyes lit up, before she dragged me out of my room and down the stairs.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the living room, she gave me the new board game she mentioned, asking me to set it up while she goes to get the box of cookies.

Well, whatever, I guess I am a bit curious to see what kind of a game this is...I opened up the box and took out the board, setting it on the coffee table between the couches and then fishing out a small pouch from the box, as well as an instruction manual.

Let's see...okay, it's basically like snakes and ladders, you roll a dice to move your piece, and whoever gets to the end first wins. There are fifty squares, unlike the hundred squares in snakes and ladders.

Huh? What the...? More than half the squares have negative consequences if you land on them...moving back a certain number of spaces, losing a specified number of turns. If you land on the forty-ninth square, the second to last one, you go back to the start.

Yeah, uh...I can already tell that this game is gonna suck. With enough bad luck, you could literally end up never reaching the finish line. Whoever came up with this game is a psycho...

"Hey, I'm back!" Lilac called out, as she came bounding down the stairs and pranced over with a large box in her hands.

"I don't think we should play this game...seriously, the game balance on this thing is completely out of whack, let's play something else," I suggested apprehensively.

"What? No way, that's no fun! Even if it isn't good, we might as well play through it once, right?" She pointed out, as she glanced at the board, before sitting beside me, playfully bumping her shoulder against mine as she added, "Looks like we don't need to sit across each other for this game, we can play it right next to each other."

"Fine, whatever, I'm mainly here for the cookies anyway," I relented with a shrug, as I took the box from her and opened it up, picking up a cookie and tossing it into the air, before catching it between my teeth and crunching it inside my mouth with a satisfied hum.

"Ooh, do me," She shook my shoulder, before tilting her head up and opening her mouth.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, before smirking as I flicked a finger into her open mouth, my fingernail smacking against her tongue.

"Ow! Hey!" She frowned indignantly, before sharply nipping onto my finger as I began to draw my hand back.

"Heh, sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist...here, you can have this if you let go of my finger," I responded with a wry smile, as I picked up a cookie and held it near her mouth.

"Hmph...," She pouted as she opened her mouth and let go of my finger, before chomping onto the cookie and adding with her mouth full, "Come on, toss one, I wanna try catching it."

"Okay, ready? Here!" I replied as I tossed a cookie up, which she managed to get her mouth under...before letting out a sharp cough as it fell into her mouth and hit the back of her throat.

"A-at least I caught it...," She muttered as she munched on the cookie.

"You, uh...you okay?" I asked her, before she nodded in response and gave me a thumbs up.

"Mhm, I'm good. Alright, let's play!" She declared, as she picked up the dice, "Mind if I go first?"

"Sure, go ahead. Oh, I read the rulebook, and you don't need a one or six to start, you can start with any number. But if you do roll a six, you get another roll in the same turn," I informed her.

"Sweet...gimme a six!" She grinned, as she rolled the dice onto the table, "I got a three...one, two, thr-...huh? It says 'go back two spaces'...but I just started!"

Yeah...this game already sucks...