[The Jack of Diamonds and the Nickel] My name is Nicholas N. Dirk, and I live in the town of Waddlebrooke. The 'N' doesn't actually stand for anything, but everyone thinks it means Nickel, on account that I'm the Five of Diamonds, but everyone just calls me Nick. You probably already know about The Great Game being played for the future of Waddlebrooke. You also probably know all about the Royals, and the way they strut around town playing 'hands' against each other and trying their best to come up with new and gruesome ways to do each other in. I am glad I'm not a Royal, when I have to play a hand it is never a death match, unless a Royal is in the hand with me, but I try to avoid that. No--when the rest of us play a hand it is just a simple win or lose for the honor of our Suit, and I never like to play a hand when Mr. Soupstone is around, he is crazy. Mr. Soupstone is our Ace, and his magic comes from the God of War. I lost a hand once when Mr. Soupstone was watching and had to listen to lecture for two hours about why I lost and what a dishonor it is to lose. I actually prefer playing hands with the Spades. The other day I was playing a fun hand with some of my friends and Mr. Thanos, the Ace of Spades, was watching. Mr. Thanos is probably the scariest person you'll ever meet, on account his magic comes from the God of Death, but he is also the friendliest person too. I lost the hand against the Spades, but Mr. Thanos praised me on how well I played and gave me advice on how to play better next time, and then he took us all out for ice cream, and never once made me feel bad for losing. My best friends are Aaron Lusium Finley and Michael Mylo Tolio. Aaron is the Eight of Diamonds, and his magic comes from the God of Wind, and Michael just two days ago became the Five of Spades. Michael was one of the few normal people that knew about The Great Game, because we have been friends since pre-school. So, when we were sitting on the little benches in the Court Yard behind our school eating lunch two days ago and the Five of Spades card came flying out of the sky and landed in Michael's hand, he already knew what it was all about. We were all very happy for Michael because now all three of us were Cards now and could play The Great Game together. Mr. Thanos was waiting for us after school and also congratulated Michael, and the best part is, Mr. Thanos didn't forbid us to play together just because Michael is a Spade and we are Diamonds. But--there is a problem. The Five of Spades went missing over one-hundred years ago and even Mr. Thanos doesn't know what Michael's magic is, so he told us we should help Michael try to find his magic and help him stay out of hands until he can play fairly. "Maybe it has something to do with rocks," Aaron says. We are just outside town walking around the skating pond. Other kids are on the pond skating or having snowball fights or building snowmen while we search for Michael's magic. I pick up a rock and hand it to Michael, and he tosses it into the air as if it were a bird he was trying to get to fly. The rock lands with a thunk on the ground. "Nope, not rocks," I say. "Maybe it's something to do with the wind like Aaron's magic." "Can there be two Wind Cards?" Michael says. "Sure, there are two Death Cards," Aaron says. "There is the God of Death and the God of the Dead Cards, but I forget who the other Death Card is." "It's one of the Royals, I think," I say. Michael tries flapping his arms and Aaron laughs. "No, he said Wind magic, not Bird magic." "Well, how do you make your magic work?" Michael says grinning and running around in circles flapping his arms. Aaron moves his hand in a circle and a little dust devil, or better said, a snow devil, swirls around on the ground. "That is so awesome," Michael says. "And I already know how Nick's magic works, everyone does." Michael mimics a big silly smile and sticks his face out. "Very funny, not like that," I say. "Like this." I give Michael a big warm smile, and his shoulders straighten and he seems to get just a bit taller and he returns my smile with a huge grin. "We'll find my magic; I know we will!" Michael says enthusiastically. "Oh… stop that, you're using your magic on me." I laugh. You see, my magic doesn't actually come from a God--not exactly--my magic is from the Spirit; The Spirit of Hope. All I have to do is smile my big warm smile, and I give hope to someone. My class in school has the highest test scores because I always find an excuse to come up to the front of the class and smile before a test. Nobody has ever failed a test in my class. But--it is also why I can almost never win a hand in The Great Game, especially if I'm alone. I can't give myself hope, only other people. I don't mind though, it feels good to give other people hope. "Hey guys," Aaron says. "Royals headed our way." "Those two are trouble; we should run," I say. "Too late, they see us," Aaron says. I step in front of Michael and Aaron joins me. The two Royals stop and give us an odd look. "Isn't that the new Five of Spades," says one of the Royals. I hold my hand up. "If you try to draw a hand and make us choose between The Great Game and our friend, we will choose our friend." "We wouldn't do that," says the other Royal. "I almost lost the Wonky Box because I chose my best friend over The Great Game." "Just leave us alone," Aaron says. "You two are always causing trouble." "You're right; this is too many cards in one place anyway, we'll go." The Royals look like we hurt their feelings and turn around and walk away, but I am worried now, we might have been too mean. I don't like being mean to anyone, but they do cause trouble everywhere they go. "Guys, if they tell Mr. Soupstone you sided with a Spade against them, you'll be in trouble," Michael says. "I know, but they are trouble-makers," I say. "I'm just glad we aren't in any classes with them." "I heard they got in a fight with Arcina Nella Widow and got her in trouble," Aaron says. "What I heard was she started it and cheated," Michael says, "and that's why she got in trouble." "All the Royals are the same, trouble-makers," I say. I hold my hand out, and Aaron puts his hand on top of mine. Michael grins and adds his hand on top of Aarons. "Friends forever," we say together. "Okay, so how do we figure out what Michael's magic is?" I say. "I don't know, but I'm bored," Aaron says. "Let's have a snowball fight." I grab a handful of snow and toss it at Aaron and run into the trees for cover. Michael and Aaron split up and run into the trees also, and we start tossing snowballs at each other. I see Aaron trying to hide behind a tree and run around to get him from the side. I get one snowball off and hit him in the shoulder, then he waves his hand and a snow-devil pops up in front of me. The snow-devil distracts me, and I get pummeled by two snowballs. "Hey, no fair, you can't use your magic," I shout. I run for cover with the snow-devil chasing me and jump behind tree, and another snowball hits me, Michael had been waiting to ambush me and then runs away. I grab some snow and ball it up and chase him, but I trip on a tree root and land face down in the snow. Aaron throws a snowball at Michael as he runs away, but it hits a tree branch, and he escapes. I crawl through the snow until I think I have a good shot and throw another snowball at Michael, but mine hits a tree branch too. I look over at Aaron just in time to see him trip and fall in the snow too. A half-hour later we call a truce to the snowball war and run over to the fire barrel at the skating pond to warm up. Aaron and I are covered in snow, but Michael doesn't look like he got hit once. "That was fun, but I don't think I got you once," I say to Michael while holding my hands out to the fire barrel. "Yea, we're all wet, and you're dry," Aaron says. "Every one of my shots at you hit a tree branch instead, what's that all about, you got the trees on your side?" "I don't know," Michael says and laughs. "We should go get some hot-chocolate." I agree; my feet are cold, and the fire barrel isn't going to dry them out, and all the other kids have left already. We head towards the path that leads back to the road and are about half-way there when we hear voices ahead of us. "Oh no," Aaron says, "Run!" Aaron waves his hand to create a snow-devil to cover our escape, but it's too late. The voices belong to Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle, and she has five other Hearts with her, and she sees us. "Get them!" Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle shouts. We have a little head start and run back towards the pond. Michael is in front and turns into the trees, probably hoping we can lose them in the woods. I jump off the path just as a small fireball passes my head, just missing me. I hear the distinctive ring of a hand being drawn, and if the fireball is any indication, Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle plans to play a death match hand. The Great Game has been picking up speed over the last couple weeks, and the Hearts are playing for keeps. I know we are in serious trouble, even if Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle played an honest hand we would lose with only an Eight and two Fives. But that isn't what this kind of hand is all about--no, this kind of hand is about who has the most magic, and making sure we are out of The Great Game permanently. Michael dashes between trees and we follow right behind him, we can hear the Hearts shouting behind us. Michael jumps behind a stand of trees and stops to catch his breath, he looks scared and I don't blame him, his first hand is probably going to be his last, and he never even got a chance to find his magic. "What do we do?" Aaron says. I peek around the tree and could see the Hearts spreading out looking for us. "We need a place to hide," Michael says. And that is when it got weird--And when things get weird in Waddlebrooke, you can bet it's really weird. The trees we were hiding behind, and the trees near us, got up and moved over to us and formed a tight circle around us until we were standing inside a little tree cave. I was pretty sure there would be no way anyone could see us from outside. Aaron and I stared at Michael. "You got your magic from a Dryad or Tree Goddess, or something?" I say. Michael shrugged and--remember I said when it gets weird in Waddlebrooke--he looks up at the trees and says, "Are you guys helping us?" I watched, with my mouth hanging open, as a tree branch with what can only be described as a hand with long boney branches for fingers reached down and patted Michael fondly on the shoulder. I wasn't sure whether to be amazed, creeped out or both. "Michael, this is seriously strong magic," Aaron says. "Yea, the kind only the Royals usually get," I say. "How are you doing it?" "I don't know," Michael says. "All I did was say we needed a place to hide." "That's it then," I say. "You only have to talk to the trees." "No, I think there's more," Aaron says. "During the snowball fight we couldn't hit you with a snowball because the branches kept getting in the way, and we were tripping all over tree roots. The trees were protecting you." "But they didn't hurt us," I say. "So they must have known it was only a game." The boney tree hand held a boney tree finger up to Michael's lips in the way you tell someone to shush, and then pointed towards the outside. I could hear Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle's voice getting closer. "That is just creepy," I say. The boney tree hand reached over and whapped me on the head and I shushed. Getting scolded by a tree was a whole new experience for me, but then it probably would be for anyone. We could hear the Hearts talking and searching for us. Then they moved off maybe thinking we had managed to circle around and run for town. We waited inside the tree cave for a long time and then the trees moved aside. I could still hear voices, but it sounded like they were down at the skating pond. Someone really needed to do something about the Hearts, they were terrorizing the entire town, and I guessed it would only get worse. "Anyone know which way the road is?" I say. Michael looked up at the trees. "Can you tell us which way the road is?" The trees moved again and formed a path straight to the road. We ran along the path, and I looked back over my shoulder, the trees were closing the path behind us. I still thought Michael's magic was a little creepy, but also that it would come in handy for making short-cuts to where we wanted to go. We ran the whole way back to town and stopped to walk again when we got to the first road leading into town. The road was quiet, and nobody was around, which was a good thing because Waddlebrooke weirdness wasn't done with us yet. Mr. Thanos, the Ace of Spades, was waiting for us outside the first building into town. He didn't have his scary death robe on and was dressed in a normal, long and soft looking wool coat. "Well played hand, boys," Mr. Thanos says. "The hand counts as a loss for the Hearts, and a win goes to the Diamonds, and the Spades; I like the team work. I also see you have found Michael's magic, good job, but I think you should tell your friends they have to stay in the woods." Mr. Thanos points behind us, and we turn around to look. Waddlebrooke weirdness knows no limits, there is a long line of saplings standing behind Michael, they must have followed us to town. Michael kneels down and holds his arms out, and the saplings shuffle over and surround him. "Hey guys, thanks for making sure we got to town safely," Michael says, "but you have to stay in the woods, okay?" The little tree limbs on the saplings sag in disappointment. "I promise I'll come visit soon," Michael says. The saplings perk up a little bit, and I swear they all gave him a hug and then marched in an orderly line back towards the woods. I shake my head and turn back to face Mr. Thanos. "Sir, how is Michael's magic so strong?" I say. "I don't believe that by himself it would be that strong," Mr. Thanos says, "but friendship is a type of magic too, and you three are likely boosting each other's magic with your extraordinarily strong friendship. I certainly wouldn't want to draw a hand against you three." We look at each other and grin at the praise. Mr. Thanos always has a way of knowing just the right words. I wish I was a Spade sometimes. "I think you three should come with me," Mr. Thanos says. We look at each other, curious, but we know Mr. Thanos wouldn't hurt us, and we follow him. He leads us several streets over to a plain looking dusty red brick building and then around to the back door. We follow him inside and the moment we walk through the door clapping and shouting erupts. "Good job, Michael." "Well done, Diamonds." "Cheers to the Diamonds." "Congratulations, great hand." I don't recognize everyone inside the big room, but I know many of them. I think every Spade is there, but more surprising is there are several Clubs, Diamonds, and even two Hearts are in the room clapping. Mr. Thanos walks up to the front of the room and holding his hands up, asks everyone to take a seat. Everyone moves towards the long benches in the room, and we find a seat too and sit down. I look around the room, and my jaw drops in shock. I see Neal Larimstraum Soupstone III, the Two of Diamonds and heir to become the Ace of Diamonds one day sitting next to a a girl I know is a Heart, though I don't remember her name, and they are holding hands. I lean over to Aaron and whisper. "What's going on here?" Aaron shrugs and then Mr. Thanos begins to speak. "We have three guests that have proven themselves by overcoming the barrier between Suits and forged a strong friendship." Everyone in the room claps and Mr. Thanos waits for everyone to settle down. "I want to go over the rules for our guests so they can decide if they want to," Mr. Thanos says. "We will never ask you to betray your Suit, or tell us your Suit's strategies, or ever throw a hand because you are a member of this group." I watch everyone nod their heads in agreement; they have obviously heard this before. "Nothing here is a secret and you can tell your Ace's everything that happens and who comes here, if you wish. But, remember that though you are free to speak of anything to anyone, you must exercise common sense and not spread idle gossip that could harm another person." I understand exactly what Mr. Thanos is cautioning, if Mr. Soupstone knew his son was seeing a Heart girl, Neil might be in deep trouble. Yes, I understand, it is between Neil and his father and nobody else's business to spread gossip about who Neil is seeing. I liked Mr. Thanos before, but now he is really getting my respect. "The last rule is the most important," Mr. Thanos says. "I can not order the other Suits to obey this, but no Spade is to draw a hand that will compromise a friendship of anyone in this room." Mr. Thanos looks right at me and Aaron. "Boys, that means no Spade will ever try to force you to play a hand against your friend," Mr. Thanos says, "and I would hope that the same respect is given by you to the other Suits in this room." I look at Aaron and Michael and they both nod. I won't betray my Suit, but maybe Mr. Thanos has figured out a better way to play The Great Game or maybe something else. I stand up, and every head turns to look at me. "Sir, should the Box be opened or not?" "My personal belief is that magic is a natural part of this world and should be set free, but I will never try to convince you of that, only you can decide. I ask only that you learn to play The Great Game with honesty, fairness, and respect for the other players." I need no further convincing. "I'm with you, Sir." "Me too," Aaron shouts. The room erupts in clapping again, and I sit down. Maybe Mr. Thanos is right, maybe magic should be set free. I'm not sure yet, but I know what he is saying I like a lot. Mr. Thanos holds his hands up and waits for order to restore. "Welcome to the group, boys," Mr. Thanos says. "Now let's move on with today's lesson. I would like to discuss techniques you can use to protect yourself from dishonest players." I listen intently to every word Mr. Thanos says. Gee, I wish I was a Spade.