Gians of Giri

Vikki's Holiday: Part 3

Viki woke up and stretched. She felt a bit sore from yesterday's dancing, but it was alright. She changed into a dark green shirt and black pants. Putting on velvet-colored socks she checked her mail. The card looked like yesterday's, except on the front it read 'Part 2' and inside was a different message: "Three helpers you can have this time. Dress warm, you will journey into the town. Spider and Kitty will be waiting for you. To begin, please go stairs down."

Viki smiled. She knew what the poem meant. Unlike yesterday, she could have three helpers. The second line reminded her that they were going out. She probably would want her cloak. The third line probably meant that Karie and Dava were waiting for her. 'To go stairs down' most likely meant to go down the stairs and eat breakfast or at least unite with the two girls who helped yesterday. So she went downstairs.

"Viki." Viki looked toward the voice and saw Aryn. She waved. The rabbit was playing a homemade math board game with two of the young orphans. "How are you, darling? Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, and you?"

"Splendidly. Which is nice, especially since I am also going shopping for some personal things and to be your riddle guide."

"Getting ready for the ball?"

"And a few gifts I have yet to buy."

"Aryn, it's your turn." Karie said, looking up. When she saw Viki, she jumped up and ran to hug the Rogue of Blood. "Viki!"

"Hello, Karie. How are you?"

"Great. Want to watch us play?"

"I probably should get some breakfast."

"We are going out to eat, though." Dava said. Viki looked at her.

"Oh. I wasn't aware."

"It's fine, darling." Aryn said, as Karie lead her to an empty seat. "We are all going out together. It is part of a few surprises today."

"Ah. Makes sense." Viki looked at the board game. "So how do you play this game?"

"We answer math questions." Karie explained. "Each time we get one right, we get to move a space. But if we get one wrong, we have to move back a space."

"Unless it's a black square" Aryn gestured to the different colored decks. "There are different packs of cards that Brother Ronin made for us. Pink is for the first-year math, so basics like subtraction and addition. Red has those but includes multiplication and division. Orange adds in using higher digits. Yellow adds in basic algebra. Green adds higher algebra. Blue adds basic geometry, and purple is other."

"What do you mean by 'other' ?"

"Well, it can be something else for trivia. Maybe math, maybe how many elements are there, word problems, really just depends on the card." Aryn gestured to the board. There were three colors for squares, if one didn't count the green one at the beginning and the red one at the end. A spinner showed for the main card categories There was one area that was marked 'prison' and was grey. "The red square is where you are supposed to go. The green one is where you start. The white one is a regular card, chosen by the spinner while the purple is the 'other' card deck I just explained. The black squares require you to answer four questions correctly or else you will go to prison."

"How do you get out?"

"Your turn ends, but when your next turn starts, you can try to answer four questions. If you do, you go back to the black square that sent you there. If you don't, then you are stuck for another round. Either way, you can only answer four questions on that turn." Aryn did her own turn so the two girls could continue playing.