Wundrous Adventures and Mishaps.

His Greatest Fear.

@themxderntypewriter inspired me for this. It may seem like copyright, and if it is, I'll delete it as soon as I check. Enjoy reading, and please suggest and comment in the comments. (Kind of obvious.)

"Pay up," Cadence said, stretching her hand out to Hawthorne and making the 'gimme' gesture, her other hand moving her figurine on top of his castle. "If you don't have money, I'm burning your land."

Jack, who was lounging on a green beanbag ("Thank goodness the Deucalion gave me a green one," Jack had said, eyeing the others, which were red, with distaste), flicked through the rulebook of Tax Collector 2.

"She can't do that, can she?" Hawthorne asked, sorting out a pile of one-hundred dollar bills in his hand.

"She can," Morrigan said, moving her character onto his castle as well. "And so can I."

Hawthorne threw his hands down in frustration. "I don't have enough money to pay both of you!"

"So pay Cadence," Jack said, looking up. "And let Mog burn your castle."

Tearfully, (And dramatically, Morrigan thought) Hawthorne passed a bundle of green paper to Cadence, who withdrew her person. Morrigan then proceeded to burn his biggest property with the little torch her figurine held.

"I need FOOD!" declared Hawthorne. "I need to drown myself in my sorrows - after the food, of course. Can you get me some chocolate or chips?"

"Sure." Jack rolled his eyes, standing up. "Anyone else want anything?"

Cadence ordered a small bowl of popcorn and Morrigan said she only needed a plate of scones. Then, in unison, the three of them shooed Jack away, pretending that he was a waiter. The eyepatched boy bowed, playing along with their joke. He left, and Hawthorne lay back, discarding his handful of his remaining money.

"We should play I Dare You or Truth or Dare," he said gleefully. "Mwahahahaha..."

"We could." Cadence shrugged, carefully moving the board away. "But we'll continue playing Tax Collector once Jack's back."

Morrigan sighed; the dragon rider had been trying to make her do a bunch of weird things (and tell him who her crush was, her guilty pleasure, what she did when no one was looking, et cetera) ever since he had found out about the game from Homer, his brother, and she never answered him, because she didn't want to get into any trouble. Hawthorne looked around, stroking an imaginary beard, when a sudden crash echoed from the kitchen below them.

"I'll go see what's wrong," Morrigan stated, walking towards the door.

"Why are you in a hurry to leave?" Hawthorne asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Perhaps... there's something you don't want to say or do?"

Morrigan rolled her eyes, her heart constricting slightly at his words. "I have no idea what you're talking about. As I was saying, I'll go check on Jack."

Cadence's brown eyes glimmered dangerously as she swung her braid over her shoulder. "Funny how Jack comes to your mind so fast," she said mysteriously. At that, both she and Hawthorne burst into giggles.

Morrigan flushed slightly, wondering if Hawthorne had done something to the mesmerist, causing her to start giggling and agreeing with him.

Trying not to make it seem like she was desperate to leave, she walked out the door, quickly closing it a second before Hawthorne yelled, "You'll be in the kitchens together! Probably alone!" followed by Cadence saying, "Shut up, you dolt. They're never gonna get together if Jupiter hears you. You know he's protective of both of them."

Groaning in exasperation, Morrigan hurried down the desolate hall, down the stairs and turned right to make her way into the kitchens.

As soon as she turned the doorknob, someone shouted, "DON'T COME IN. WHATEVER YOU DO, STAY THERE AND CLOSE THE DOORS."