Assassins in Gaia√

17. The Resort

(Hello everyone!
I'm back with another chapter.
Assassins Creed and Final Fantasy 7 are not mine.
That's a screenshot from a game.
"talking"
'thinking'
Enjoy!)

Cloud pulled Ace and Tifa towards the Chocobo race track where they could see multiple Chocobo racers getting ready to take part in the game. Frigga eyed the large yellow, gold and black birds, curiously from Cloud's shoulder, maybe she should find one for her summoner to use as a ride? Ace decided to bet on a certain yellow Chocobo despite the fact people were betting on the black Chocobo or the gold one. Cloud looked at him questioningly for his choice but shrugged it off, they were here for fun anyway. And surprise, surprise, the yellow Chocobo won the race and Ace smugly collected his winnings.

Tifa pulled them away from the crowd, "How did you know the yellow one would win?"

Ace laughed, "I did not, I just thought he, sorry, she and her rider looked a little down so I told them I would bet on them."

Cloud looked at him dubiously, "Did you cheer them with all of your money?"

Ace grinned, "It worked right? Besides the two of them looked like they had been racing for a long time but no one gave them a glance."

Tifa shook her head, "Only you Ace, only you. Congratulations on winning though. I was not expecting that."

Ace took out his winnings, "Let's exchange this for money at the exchange counter and see what we can get for ourselves. Maybe we can get that camera we want."

Tifa perked up, "Sure, why not."

Cloud agreed, "Sounds good, I wonder what Desmond and Vincent are up to."

Tifa giggled, "I hope, they are having fun on their casino date."

Ace smirked, "Desmond was looking forward to it, actually. He's an old hand at cards."

Tifa looked at where Ace was looking at and saw Desmond with a very amused Vincent standing close by, "I had no idea Desmond could play cards. He never takes part in the games in the village although he is invited to them."

Ace hummed, "That's because the village people are honest to a fault Tifa and if they try to wager and Desmond wins... Well, they'll try to give him what they owe."

Cloud blinked at the sign, "He won four times in a row. That's actually pretty cool."

Ace pulled them along, "Come on! Let's go, get our money first. We can come back and watch him play these suckers."

As they were getting their winning tickets exchanged for money they heard a voice, "Hey kid!"

Cloud noticed one of the finely dressed people look at them ready to move if the man tried something. Ace blinked then waved his hand when he recognized the guy as the winner of the race.

Ace, "Hi there, Mister Rhodea! Many congratulations on your win."

The man chuckled, "Just call me Mark kids, Mister makes me sound old. How did you know to bet on me anyway?"

Ace gave a cheeky grin, "I didn't, your Chocobo just looked a bit lonely so I decided to cheer for her."

Mark looked amused, "Is that so? I feel called out for some reason."

Cloud was looking at Mark contemplatively, 'He was not expecting that, why? Ah! Don't tell me the games were actually rigged!'

Tifa was having similar thoughts, 'No way! It was rigged, those poor, poor souls.'

Ace however was not bothered, he remembered the rigging in Las Vegas, compared to that this was nothing, "Anyway, we are just collecting our win so we can go get one of those fancy cameras over there."