Chapter 51: Cards and Confrontations
The casino glittered like a jewel box, all gold leaf and crystal chandeliers and the constant clatter of chips and wheels. Lucy and Erza descended the grand staircase arm in arm, the rose dress and the black dress drawing appreciative stares from half the room.
"There they are!" Gray waved from a slot machine, a tower of coins already piled beside him. "You guys are slow! I've already won enough to buy dinner for a week!"
"You've been here twenty minutes," Lucy said flatly.
"Time is money, Lucy. TIME IS MONEY."
Beside him, Happy was attempting to insert a fish into a slot machine. "Aye... why won't it take my fish..."
"Because that's not how slots WORK, Happy."
Near the roulette table, Natsu was locked in mortal combat with a spinning wheel and his own terrible luck.
"RED! COME ON, RED!" The ball bounced. Settled. "BLACK?! AGAIN?!" He slammed his fist on the table. "THIS WHEEL IS RIGGED!"
"Natsu, it's not rigged, you're just…"
"THIRTY-SEVEN TIMES, LUCY! THIRTY-SEVEN TIMES I'VE LOST!"
"That's statistically impressive, actually," Erza murmured.
"I DON'T WANT STATISTICS, I WANT MONEY!"
Gray fed another coin into his machine. The reels spun. Cherries. Cherries. Cherries.
"YES! ANOTHER…"
"Gray."
The voice was soft. Feminine. Trembling with barely contained emotion.
Gray turned.
**Juvia Lockser** stood behind him, her blue hair cascading over her shoulders, her eternal rain somehow absent in the climate-controlled casino. She wore a simple dress, her hands clasped nervously in front of her, her eyes wide and hopeful and terrified all at once.
"Juvia..." Gray's expression hardened. "What are you doing here?"
"Juvia decided to tag along," she said quickly. "Juvia wanted to see Gray-sama again, to explain—"
"Explain?" Gray's voice was cold. "You want to explain? You were part of the guild that destroyed our home. That attacked our friends. That kidnapped Lucy and nearly killed Erza and the Master."
Juvia flinched like he'd struck her.
"Juvia knows. Juvia is... Juvia is so sorry."
"Sorry doesn't fix the crater in our floor."
"I know." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Juvia knows sorry is not enough. But Juvia left Phantom Lord. Juvia could not stay after... after everything. Juvia was only following orders from the guild master."
Gray studied her. The pain in her eyes was real. Raw. The kind of pain that couldn't be faked.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Look... I can't blame you for following orders. That's what soldiers do." He paused. "But there's a difference between following orders and following your own code of judgment. You still chose to fight us. You still chose to hurt people."
Juvia nodded, tears brimming.
"Juvia knows. Juvia is trying to get back to that. To having her own judgment. To being... better."
Gray was quiet for a long moment.
Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Alright."
Juvia's head snapped up. "Alright?"
"Alright, I don't blame you. For following orders, anyway." He turned back to his slot machine. "The rest is on you to figure out."
"Juvia... Juvia understands." A pause. "Gray-sama?"
"What?"
"Your coin is stuck."
Gray looked down. His last coin was indeed jammed in the machine.
"SON OF A…"
Across the casino, Natsu had abandoned the roulette table entirely.
"Poker," he muttered, sliding into an empty seat at a green felt table. "Poker is where the real money is."
Happy perched on his shoulder. "Aye! But Natsu, do you even know how to play poker?"
Natsu's grin was sharp. Calculated. Nothing like the frustrated gambler of five minutes ago.
'I know enough.'
The first hand was dealt. Natsu studied his cards, his expression unreadable. Across the table, wealthy tourists and bored businessmen sized him up, a pink-haired kid in a vest, probably easy money.
They had no idea what was coming.
"Raise."
Chips slid forward.
"Call."
More chips.
"Raise again."
The businessman across from him narrowed his eyes. "You're bluffing, kid."
Natsu's smile didn't waver. "Am I?"
The businessman folded.
Natsu pulled in the pot. Happy's eyes went wide. "AYE! WE HAVE MONEY!"
"Shh. Act like you've been here before."
Another hand. Another raise. Another victory.
The pile in front of him grew.
'This is almost too easy,' he thought. 'These people play with emotions. They think they can read faces. They have no idea what a real poker face looks like.'
He had spent weeks wearing a mask. Playing a role. Hiding everything he was behind Natsu Dragneel's easy grin.
These amateurs didn't stand a chance.
"All in."
Gasps around the table. The businessman, the same one from before, was sweating. His cards trembled in his hands.
"You're insane."
"Probably." Natsu leaned back in his chair. "You gonna call or what?"
The businessman folded.
Natsu raked in another mountain of chips. Happy was practically vibrating with joy. "AYE! AYE! AYE!"
"Happy. Chill."
"CHILL IS GRAY'S JOB, I AM HAPPY!"
Two hours later, Natsu rose from the table with enough chips to buy a small house.
"Cash these in," he told the attendant, sliding a fortune across the counter. "And get my cat some fish. The expensive kind."
"AYE! NATSU IS THE BEST!"
He was still grinning, counting his winnings, when he noticed a crowd gathering at a nearby table. Not the polite crowd of spectators. The kind of crowd that formed when something was about to go very wrong.
"Another game?" Happy asked.
Natsu's eyes narrowed. "Let's check it out."
The table was surrounded by onlookers, their faces frozen in various stages of horror. At its center sat a man Natsu didn't recognize, block-headed, muscular, with dead eyes and a hand that rested casually on something beneath the table.
Natsu sat down across from him.
"Mind if I join?"
The man's eyes flickered to him. Assessed him. Found him wanting.
"Suit yourself."
The game began. Natsu played badly on purpose, losing small hands, grumbling, complaining. The man across from him grew more confident, more relaxed.
'I need him off-balance,' Natsu thought. 'Just a little more.'
"This game is rigged!" Natsu slammed his fist on the table. "I've lost five hands in a row!"
The man's lips twitched. "That's how gambling works, kid."
"Don't call me kid."
The man leaned forward. His voice dropped low, meant only for Natsu.
"You know, there are better ways to enjoy yourself in an adult place than complaining about cards."
Natsu blinked. Happy blinked.
"What?"
The man's hand moved.
Suddenly, there was a gun pressed against Natsu's forehead.
SCREAMS.
The casino erupted. People ran in every direction, knocking over chairs, trampling chips, fleeing for the exits. Within seconds, the floor was empty except for the two men at the table and a tiny blue cat frozen in mid-air.
Natsu didn't move.
He didn't flinch.
He smiled.
'So it has finally begun.'
"Wally Buchanan," he said calmly. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
The man's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"
Natsu's smile widened.
"Lucky guess."