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havana-story-time · 6 years

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The sound of seagulls were heard over the small ferry that carried passengers from the Mainlands of the city to the small and cozy isles in the distance. A young woman looked out at the edge towards the distance where she saw a silhouette of other islands and a ship poking out of the water, not quite sunken. The sky was a bright blue with a few clouds lazily passing by overhead, a gently breeze picking up the fresh smell of the sea and gently brushing the woman's hair to the side. She lifted up her hand and gently nudged her hair pack to its place and held it there as she leaned onto the railing as she continued to admire the view. Soft footsteps were heard walking on the wooden floors of the ferry as another young woman came over. She was holding up a map, her face scrunched up in thought and a bit of annoyance as she twisted the map this way and that way in her hands. She spoke, but grunted when she didn't get a reply, and went over to the woman and repeated herself once more, a bit louder.

"Red, didn't you hear me?"

The other woman, Red, snapped out of her trance and looked to the young woman. Red saw her sister, Delly, puffed out her cheeks and tap her foot impatiently as she scrunched the map in one of her fists, which she rested on her hips. "I'm sorry, Delly dear. What did you say?"

Delly sighed and shook her head. She had short black hair and wore lots of pink: a small pink pillbox hat, a pink sundress with ruffles and lace, and pink flats. Even her make up was lots of pink: eye shadow, lipstick and blush. "I said: What Isle is where we meet up with Honey and Constance? Where's the Theater?"

Red looked over the map and took out a red marker from her purse and circled a few areas as she explained each one. "Here, the third Isle is where we're landing. It's a big city here, but there's the harbor we're going to. Over here is the theater where the manager will meet us to meet Sally once Constance and Honey arrive. It'll be a few days, but we can look around until then. Let's see..." Red studied the map and flipped over a page where the third isle was shown to be much bigger and detailed. "There's a lot of office buldings here, but there's a few restaurants and hotels here. We'll be staying in one of these while we're here." Red turned to the next page and it showed the second Isle. "This one has a roller coaster, a castle, a pyramid, and looks like lots of places to eat at. I mean, it literally looks like a carnival."

"Oh look! A tower! Maybe there's a princess inside!" Delly pipe up as she pointed to a part on the map.

"Maybe, even better, a three-headed dragon!" Red chuckled and flipped to the last page of the map. "Not much here. Looks like the observatory is the only interesting thing here. That and a ferry. Oh, a lighthouse!" Red smiled and circled the lighthouse on the map. "We could see if we can go there and maybe see what's on the other side? Maybe we can see all of the Isles?"

"Neat! Hey, Red! We're almost there!" Delly pointed out to the distance towards the front of there ferry, where there was a few open docks here and there for the ferry to drop off the passengers.

Once the ferry reached port, Red and Delly got off and noticed a rather large red ship docked a few docks down from where they stood. Red recalled their eldest sister, Constance, said she was sailing with a captain and would be in the Isles within the few days they'd arrive. Perhaps this ship was the same one she was on? As if wondering the same thing, Delly looked over to Red, who nodded, and both headed towards the ship. As they got closer, Red watched as the sailors walked up and down the plank carrying large crates to and from the ship, setting them down in two separate piles as they continued like a trail of ants.

"No no no!" somebody cried out. "Fools! You're bring BACK the cargo we just got! Everybody STOP!!" As if on cue, all the sailors stopped what they were doing as a large figure appeared at the top of the ship. He was a large and round human with a black eye patch over his right eye, two pegged legs, a messy black beard around his face and a large red nose. He scowled at his crew and barked back orders, pointing to one pile of the crates. "The shipment we got from the last trip goes over THERE! And the supplies we need are over THERE!" He lifted up a crate that showed a logo on the box. "THIS is what we're here for! If it ain't got the logo, it's a no-go! Meaning we DON'T put it on the ship!" The crew nodded and scurried to fix their mistake. The captain sighed and noticed the two women watching, giggling from behind their hands. He tugged up his belt around his waist and smoothed out his beard before he wwalked down towards the women.

"Ahoy, lassies! What brings you here? Don' reckon I've seen the like a-you's b'fore!" the captain gave a laugh as his belly bounced up and down.

"Ahoy, Captain!" Delly smiled. "I'm Delly. This is my sister, Red. We were wondering if you had somebody named "Constance" on board?"

"Eh? I knew a lad with his ship bein' called "Constance", a "constant pain in the arse" he always told me. But I don't think I do, now that I thinks about it." The Captain tugged at his beard in thought. "Hm... What do they look like?"

"She's got long brown hair that goes to her waist. And she always has that look like she smelled something bad, like sour milk. She's always wears big hoop earrings, too. Well, last we saw her that's what she looked like." Red took a moment to look around, seeing nothing but men working the docks at the moment. "She said she's sailing with a captain to know the ropes on how to command her own ship."

"Oh! Yeah, she quit."

"What?!" Red and Delly looked up at the Captain in shock. "Quit?!"

"Aye. Well, she's her own Captian now!" the Captain smiled proudly and rested his hands on his hips. "I made sure o' that meself! Helped get her own lil' tugboat to start out with, too!" The Captain nodded and smiled. "Aye, she told me all about her wantin' to sail on her own, man her own ship and after sailin' with me she learned everythin' I know how! Last I heard of her she was headin' this way, sayin' she was gonna see her sisters for a performance. Say, wouldn't that be you two?"

Red nodded. "Yes, actually, she's our older sister. We're a Quartet. Our little sister is supposed to arrive here soon. We're going to perform at the theater here in a few days to sing."

"Oh, really? Yer goin' over to see Ms. Stageplay? I'll have to come by and watch! She keeps sayin' somethin' 'bout "ladies from the actual big ol' city" and droppin' off flyers in everyone's faces." As if on cue, the ship spat out a few flyers from its mouth, which floated down and landed in the water below. "Some of them... literally."

Delly picked up a lone flyer that landed by her feet and looked at it. It featured the sisters in mid song, much like the ones in their flyers back home, but was crossed out from their city to read "INKWELL ISLE THREE'S THEATER" marked in bright red paint. "Hey, this looks like the flyers we have at home. Maybe our manager had extras and had Ms. Stageplay use these instead?"

"Either way, as long as they're getting the word out." Red looked over to the Captain and smiled warmly. "We'd best get going, Captain. See you later!" Red and Delly waved and headed out of the docks and over towards the bustling city.

Delly looked up in awe at the tall buildings, much like the ones back home, but still had room in between them and were more colorful than the dull and boring gray back home. Once they stopped to sit down after arriving at the second Inkwell Isle, they took out the map and looked at the page for the second isle. They saw the tower peeking over the trees, the pyramid, the roller coaster, and the castle from where they stood. The two sisters first stopped to check out the castle, but the owner, a woman named "Baroness VonBon Bon" wasn't expecting anyone that day nor was she expecting visitors, as the guard stated. So, they turned around and left to go check out the pyramid. As they reached the door, a note appeared that read "The Great Djimmi is Out to Lunch!". So, in an annoyed state, decided to try and check out the roller coaster. Alas, it was "Out of Order" and was under a maintenance check at the time.

"Man, this sucks!" Delly cried out quite loudly. Red shushed her sister and looked around to notice a few surprised patrons stopping and staring for a moment before going back to their duties.

"Hey, how about we get a bite to eat? We haven't had anything since we left the Mainlands. I think I saw a malt shop we could try." Red took Delly's hands and walked with her to a restaurant, which really was the malt shop, and both ordered a large banana split to share. The ice cream was made from the sea salt and looked blue in hue, like the sea, and tasted sweet.

"Yummy! This is better than the ice creams back home!" Delly put her hand on her cheek as she continued to eat the ice cream. "It's like we're really tasting some of the sea!"

Red nodded and looked out the window as they continued to enjoy their snack. She wondered about when the other two sisters would arrive. Constance she knew would be arriving within the next few days, certainly before the performance, as she was out sailing and exploring. Honey, her youngest sister, said she would arrive around the same time as Constance. Red recalled Honey saying she'd be on her own for a bit as well to learn some new dances or at least explore a bit herself from a teacher from a far off land and would return in time for the performance as well.

"I hope they're alright..."

Red looked over to Delly and smiled reassuringly. "I know they're fine, Delly. They'll be here in a few days, we'll perform, meet the locals and head home after a few more performances."

Delly smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. You're always right, Red."

After their meal, Delly noticed it was starting to turn to dusk. "Hey, maybe we can go to the observatory to see the stars later? Maybe we can see Constance's ship from there? Oh! Or maybe go to the Lighthouse!"

"Both sound fun!" Red and Delly soon headed towards the first isle and, thanks to the friendly locals, made way to the observatory. Delly tried to open the door but it was locked, a sign post reading "Closed Until Dusk. Go Enjoy the Sunset! Come back later!"

"Man, what rotten luck!" Delly stomped her foot on the ground in frustration and took out the map again and sighed. "Looks like the lighthouse is our only option. Maybe if we take the boat to it we can get inside?"

As they ventured forth, Delly suddenly screamed in anger when she saw the small boat was not docked but was instead being used in the distance by a few figures, each with a pole in hand, as they fished from it. Delly kicked over a bucket in frustration, luckily nothing was inside it, and stomped off in anger.

"Delly!" Red called out and chased after her sister. Luckily, nobody was around to see Delly's outburst and Red trying to calm her down.

"I hate this place! Everything's closed, we can't get to where we wanna go... I wanna go home!!"

"Delly, calm down! Look, there's plenty of places we can still go to." Red took hold of the map and looked through it. Most of the places were bound to close soon... They could try and watch the sunset or maybe head to the hotel for the night?

"Hey, what's this?" Red looked as Delly pulled a small tab from the corner of the map. It was connected to the third isle's map and was hidden away. How did they even miss it? After they unfolded it, it was a mountain with a large opening leading with arrows to the "CASINO". Delly's lips curled up and she had a large grin on her face. "Let's go," she breathed. With no warning, Delly took Red's hand and rushed to the casino. Out of breath, they arrived at the mountain and the entrance.

"The Casino never closes! C'mon, we'll play a few rounds and have a few drinks.. it'll be fun!" Delly marched on inside the mountain and was in awe when she saw the actual building. It looked like, to her, a castle with a large grinning devil at the top. On one side it had a chess piece that was clearly the King's Piece, more than likely the one where the Devil's office (probably) was.

"Delly, I have a bad feeling..." Red started as she followed Delly into the casino. They were stopped by security once they entered and were asked for their identifications. Once they showed the security guard their id's they were given a raised brow and a smirk.

"Sooo..." the guard dragged. "You ladies are from the Mainlands, huh? What part?"

"Havana." Red replied quickly. "We're from all over, really. Never could settle down in one part."

The guard nodded and gave them both a nod and a smile as he stepped aside, lifting up the velvet rope. After passing through, Delly took Red's hand and smiled. "Oh man, Red, c'mon! Let's play some poker!"

"Now, Delly, listen. There's a lot of high rollera here; they'll try to get you to bet more and more until you're out of money. 'The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.' And 'Quit while you’re ahead. All the best gamblers do.' Those are some things Dad told us, right? We can still have some fun at least. C'mon, let's play a few games."

And with that, Red and Delly went around the casino to play the slots, bet on skeleton horses at the horse races, played a few rounds of poker and ended up at the craps table in the end. It seemed luck was on their side more than some of the others. With each win, they started to draw a crowd. After a few rounds of free drinks, it seemed like life couldn't get any sweeter. Delly tossed another roll and struck another win, causing the crowd to cheer.

"These ladies can't lose!" one patron called out.

With this statement, Red saw a figure appear, clad in a fancy purple suit and bow tie, stroll over towards the sisters. He had a large grin on his face, a thin moustache above his lip, a die for a head with purple pips matching his purple suit. The nose was the single pip and connected to the moustache. Red could smell an intoxicating aroma about him, no doubt a high-class cologne.

"Lady luck must be on your side tonight, ladies. Lookit the crowd you drew in over here!" The die smirked as walked around the craps table and bowed to the sister. It was like he had an heir of royalty about him, or just good practice for doing this for so long. "I'm Mr. King Dice. A pleasure, ladies."

"I'm Delphine, but everybody calls me Delly. This is my sister, Red." Red looked over to Delly and nudged her a little in the arm. Delly ignored her and flashed a sweet smile towards the die man.

"Say, how about we kick this up a notch, maybe to the VIP section of the casino? Higher wages to those who are REALLY lucky." King Dice flashed a smile and suddenly wrapped his arms around each of the sister's shoulders and pulled them close to him. "C'mon, whatdya say? I got a good feelin' about you two."

Before Red could reply, Delly spoke up. "Okay!" And with that, King Dice smirked and guided the sisters, arms now wrapped around their waists, and quickly lead them to a golden elevator that took them up a few floors of the casino. After leading them towards a large set of doors, he released the sisters, straightened out his bow tie, smoothed out his suit and opened the doors. Inside was really what a VIP would see: velvet red chairs versus the worn out and dull brown from down stairs, golden statues, and a lush red carpet heading to a lone craps table in the middle of the room.

"Fancy..." Delly looked over to Red and took her hand as King Dice lead them inside. There wasn't anybody in the room aside from a few casino workers. Some of them looked at the sisters with raised brows, others raised their brows mostly towards Dice, who just smirked and stood where the craps dealer would stand. Some male casino workers, a cigar-like man in a large coat and a larger man with an 8-Ball for a head, chuckled darkly in one corner as they watched from their seats on a velvet red sofa.

"Now, the rules apply here, too, like the rules on the floor. But... my table is higher wages. More risks. I know you ladies can handle it."

"Why bring us here?" Red asked. "I mean, same rules and all that."

King Dice shrugged and leaned his head over to one shoulder and closed his eyes. "Well, would you rather risk your lives down there after a big win? Or have something bad happen to you after you leave?" King Dice smirked and looked at Red, who looked away in reply. "Thought so. Now." King Dice clapped his hands togheter and appearing in his hands were two pink dice with white pips. He handed the dice over towards the sisters. Before Delly could reach for the dice, King Dice closed his fingers over them. "Now. Before we begin... I actually have a confession."

"Oooh, a confession! You're such a sinner, Dice!"

Red looked over and saw the cigar man laugh as he slapped his knee. Dice chuckled darkly in response, his eyes flashing green and never leaving Red's gaze when she looked back towards him. "Yes, sinners are much more fun. To confess, I'm Mr. King Dice. I'm the Devil's right hand man. The Devil is the owner of this casino. Ever since these two brats came about and clubbed the place, things haven't been goin' too well for us. But now that you two are here, things can get a bit better. Word is goin' round that you two are from the Mainlands and are quite famous. Even if we get one of ya, I'm sure that people would still come 'round to see ya perform. Ain't that right... Boss?"

Red and Delly turned towards the doors when they heard a dark chuckle coming from them. It was the Devil himself. "That's right, Dice. Now, I know you're wonderin' what the bet is." The Devil walked over to the sisters and smirked down at them. Red felt a lump form in her throat as she stared up at this monster of a... demon. Tall guys really made Red nervous, with her short stature compared to King Dice, her head only going to his chest. Red had to lean back on the craps table as the Devil leaned down and towards the sisters, his smirk still on his face.

"If you win this round, you'll have everything in my casino. You'll be living like queens for the rest of your lives."

"And... if we lose?" Red's lips quivered as she looked at the Devil in the eyes, seeing her own reflection in one eye, Delly's in the other.

The devil smirked.

"Then I take one of your souls."

"One of ours?" Delly looked over to Red, who did the same.

"Well, we only have room for one more performer. And I'm only interested in one. Now... who's it gonna be?"

Delly opened her mouth to speak, but shut it. She didn't want to lose to the Devil, if she did, and she didn't want to be stuck here... but she also didn't want her sister to be stuck either.

"I'll bet my soul."

Delly looked to Red and gasped. "Red, no!" she cried out. Red bit her lip before she continued, glaring up at the Devil. "I bet my soul in place of my sister's. If you win... you don't touch her."

The Devil smirked and held out his hand towards Red. "We got a deal." Red continued to glare up at the Devil before she placed her own hand in his, sealing the deal. Red turned towards King Dice as he opened up his hand to reveal the dice. Delly turned as well and took the dice in her hands. She looked at her sister for a moment before she shook the dice in her hands and tossed them onto the table. The air grew heavy and it seemed time stopped for a moment as Red watched the dice roll and soon land.

"Snake Eyes!" King Dice smirked at Red.

"You lose."

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