Chapter 23- How Good is Your Poker Face?

"Hurry up!" Someone whispered behind Lucy, pushing her into the casino. She stumbled, but quickly regained herself. She frowned behind her, but her friends had already disappeared into the crowd.

She opened her hand and looked at it. Sighing, she clutched it and went up to the machine, feeding it her money as it spit back Tokens labeled "Gamble Go" which was the name of the casino she was at.

Her leg felt weak as she looked around. What should she do? She didn't feel lucky, and this was all they had, if she spent it on nothing, what would her friends say?

Her eyes skimmed over the place, until she saw an empty slot machine. She sat down on the red cushion, and fed the slot machine a few coins. Taking a deep breath, she scrunched her eyes closed and pulled the lever. She heard the wheels spin, and one by one they stopped suddenly. When Lucy opened her eyes, she saw she had no luck. She groaned, and got up.

Thats when she saw a table. She didn't know what it was, but she sat down anyways. The table was green, and curved around a dealer, with stools around the curve. Lucy sat, and gave the dealer a nervous smile.

"Hi," she said timidly as she slid him some coins.

"Welcome to Black Jack, are you ready?" He asked, and she nodded. He put down a card.

"Hit me." Another.

"Hit me." She lost. She gave him more coins, and he put down another card.

"Hit me."

"Hit me." Each time she lost, but she just gave him more. It was when she was down to just enough for one more game that she got worried. She clapped her hands together, asked for a blessing, and muttered "hit me."

She got a seven. "Hit me." Another card. Her total was 15. She closed her eyes tight. "Hit me." There was silence for a minuet, until she had enough courage to open her eyes and accept defeat. But it wasn't defeat.

"Congratulations," the dealer said, "wanna try again." Lucy gave him a nervous smile. She nodded.

"Hey, can you deal me in?" A voice asked. Lucy turned around and saw a man, young, maybe mid-30's. He was dressed nicely, and as he walked over Lucy could hear the many coins jingle in his pockets.

"Sure." Lucy took her reward, and parted with half.

The dealer gave them both a card.

"Skip." Lucy said.

"Hit me." The dealer gave the man a card, and it was a good one. Lucy winced. She shouldn't have skipped.

"Hit me." She was up to 8.

"Hit me."

"Skip."

"Hit me."

It wasn't until later were they both tied, and nearing their final number. Lucy was first to go. She'd lose if she choose wrong. She bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"Hit me." He set the card down slowly. A four.

"I won!" Lucy cheered. "Yeah! Deal me in again!" She took her coins from the dealer, and split it in two. She was on a winning streak for awhile, but soon, her luck started to get sour. She had made triple the amount than when she came in, but it still wasn't enough. She looked at the man next to her, who smiled broadly. She didn't like the looks of the man. She stood up, but felt someone grab her wrist. It was the man.

"Stay, I feel the sun shinning upon this table. It's interesting, no?" She resisted the urge to yank her hand away from him, she didn't want to cause a scene.

"No thanks, I think I'll try something else." She pulled her hand away, causing the man to make a face. Something is so familiar about him, Lucy thought.

She scanned the crowd. She wasn't too familiar with casinos. She thought for a moment. Could she use her spirits? Maybe Gemini could disguise himself as a employee and let Lucy win. But that would just be stealing. Maybe Loke would be able to win something, or Virgo. The more people playing, the better the chances. Or at least she thought.

Lucy snuck around people to the girls bathroom. Outside the bathroom door, Lucy grabbed two keys. "Open, Gate of the Lion, Loke!" She whispered harshly. Loke appeared next to her in a flash of golden light.

"Lucy?" Loke asked in confusion as he looked around.

"We need money. Fast. Here, I'll give you a third of what I got." She handed him some of her money. He eyed her curiously.

"The more who do it, the better our chances. . ." Lucy said. "At least, I think." She mumbled the last part so he couldn't hear her.

"I'm. . . Gambling?" Lucy shrugged.

"I kinda had the feeling you were good at this. . ." Loke laughed, pushing up his glasses with his palm.

"Your feeling is correct. Speaking of feelings, how are you and Natsu?" Lucy blushed.

"Natsu? We're just friends! I have no feelings for him!"

"I'm not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed, Lucy," he said shy, making her face even more red. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck!"

Lucy didn't say anything, staring intensely at the ground. When he left, she took a deep breath. "I'm such a liar." She huffed. She gripped the other key in her hand.

"Open, gate of the virgin! Virgo!" Lucy mumbled unenthusiastically. Virgo came, blank faced. Lucy's face twitched with an idea.

"Virgo, how good is your poker face?"
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An hour later, they all regrouped. Loke looked utterly defeated when he came empty-handed, having spent all of his share.

"I'm a failure! I'm sorry Lucy!" Lucy laughed sheepishly.

"Thats alright, Loke! Calm down. Virgo, how much did you make?" Virgo didn't have anything in her hand, but when she snapped her fingers two men came with briefcases in each hand.

"Four of those thingies." She said blankly. Both Lucy and Loke fainted on the ground.

"Did I fail you, Princess?" Virgo asked, cocking her head. Lucy jumped up and embraced her.

"No! You did wonderful, Virgo! Thank you so much, I owe you immensely."

"Nothing you wouldn't do for us, Lucy." Virgo said, actually cracking a small smile. Lucy grinned at her. She had made about the same as when she came in, but her friends are gonna faint when they see the briefcases. "Sir, please exchange this into Jewels."

"U-um, miss, are you sure you don't want to gamble this away- I mean, try to get more?" The other man elbowed him.

"Don't encourage her!"

"No," Virgo said, "Princess must be on her way."

"Princess?" One asked, but the other man dragged him away. As they exchanged the coins for Jewels, Lucy glanced across the room, her gaze meeting the man from blackjack. He smiled at her, and she shivered and looked away. She inched closer to Loke. He glanced at her curiously.

"Whats wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, just a bad feeling." She looked back towards the man, but he was gone.

It took awhile, but eventually the men came back with the same cases, but this time, Lucy suspected they weren't coins. The handed Virgo the cases, and she nodded in thanks.

Virgo gave the cases to Lucy, and bowed. "I can't thank you enough, Virgo!" She said gratefully. "You may go if you want, you too Loke. Thank you both! I owe you a lot!" Loke smiled and the two spirits glowed and then disappeared.

Lucy wobbled slowly outside, looking for her friends. She walked around, and spotted a small ice cream place across the street. She heard yelling and a loud crash sound. She dead-panned. Of course.

She hurried across the road to the ice cream place. No one noticed her at first since it was dark and she was buried behind four tall cases.

"Um, guys?" The all looked at her and their eyes bulged. Lucy set the cases down on the table. "I'm ready for a good nights sleep."

"Good Lord!" Gray yelled, opening one of the cases. Erza was speechless as Natsu's eyes shinned mischievously. Gajeel licked his lips in Greed.

"H-how much is that?" Wendy stuttered.

"Enough for a two hotel rooms, and then some," Lucy said proudly. "Thank Virgo, she nearly bankrupted that casino."

"I knew it was a good idea to send Lucy!" Natsu yelled. Lucy blushed.

"You idiot, it was my idea!" Gray yelled back. Lucy smiled sheepishly.

"How about we just find a room?" She squeaked when Gray, Natsu, and Happy bowed in front of her. "Stop! You're embarrassing me."

"Yes, mistress!" They said in unison, causing Lucy to face-palm.

"I hate you." She whispered.

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Lucy jumped on her bed, feeling the soft pillow under her face, and the fluffy comforter under her stomach. Erza was taking a bath, and then Lucy was gonna go. There were two beds in the room, Erza got her own while Lucy and Wendy would share. Lucy wished she had packed some clothes, and a hairbrush. Maybe she could get one from the office. There was a laundry mat downstairs she could use. She dug through the room's closet, finding a robe.

"Yes!" She peaked around to make sure Wendy wasn't watching. She stripped her clothes off and wrapped the robe around herself. She picked up her and Erza's laundry. "I'm gonna wash my clothes, Wendy, do you need to wash yours?" Lucy called.

"No, it's fine," she said, standing up from the couch. "I'll wash mine when I'm in the bath." Lucy nodded.

She closed the door behind her, and walked on the soft carpet with strange geometric shapes patterns scatter about. She pressed the elevator button. When she stepped in, she was glad to be alone.

She washed her clothes quickly, and managed to get a hair brush and three tooth brushes from the office. When her clothes were dried half and hour later, she returned to her room. Erza was just getting out, wrapped in a towel. Lucy handed Erza her clothes.

"Thanks," Erza said. She glanced at Lucy hesitantly. "Lucy?"

"Yes?"

"Take it easy." Lucy frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean? I haven't exactly done anything."

"You've done more than you can imagine. Thank you. Take it easy, this quest would not and will not succeed without you." Lucy didn't know if that was suppose to make her feel better or not. It certainly didn't. In fact, it added more pressure. Tomorrow was the last day.

But Lucy just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, of course."

She entered the bathroom, running the bath as she neatly folded her clothes on the toilet seat. She took a quick bath to clean herself, and drained the water before running it again. She took ten minuets to just relax and soak, stretching. She sighed in content and sunk lower into the water, blowing air bubbles.

She thought deeply about what Erza said, but couldn't come to any conclusion. She washed her hair quickly, and then got out. She wrapped a towel around herself and her hair. As the water drained, Lucy brushed her teeth and hair. She got dressed when she was dry, and left the towels to dry on the rack.

She yawned as she came out, stretching her arms before lying down in the bed. "Goodnight, minna." She said before passing out.
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Defiantly not my best chapter, and certainly uneventful, but then again, we are just surfacing our final two chapters! Oh holy cow! Or maybe there's three? Nah, I wanna leave it on a 25-note. Can you guys believe it's already been way over a year since I've began writing this? And it's like my 2 1/2 Wattpad anniversary! ^~^ I hope you guys are ready for the next chapters, and my last. Honestly, while this has been fun, it was a roller coaster for me! I still haven't felt any inspiration for this story, and quite frankly I have no clue when the next chapters will come out. My family and I are moving, so defiantly not soon. Lots of unpacking. . . Blaugh.

Anyway, don't forget to vote and comment! Moral support is always my inspiration for writing. Also, I'd like to thank Christiancountrygirl because she leaves oh so many nice comments that make me feel so happy :) And check out her story, too!

I'm rambling but that's okay, my author note, and people can just skip it. I haven't slept in so long. I'm so tired. Also, Happy Birthday Canada! I'm sorry if the 4th of July is stealing your thunder, I hope all of you Canadians and Canada-lovers have an awesome celebration!

And to those in the UK and Europe who are suffering from the heatwave, I'm praying for you because I hate heat, and people are gonna get hurt, and there are some severe life risks. Please check out Tumblr because they have huge lists from people who understand what its like to have no AC in an area thats super hot and humid and they have great tips on how to stay cool. Keep an eye on elderly and children.