The boy advanced to the table, followed by Hun. They both sat down, then the specter opened the box to reveal two packs of cards. They were not traditional playing cards, but two decks of "Fantasies and Legends", a collectible strategy card game, which took characters from throughout Mother's history and fantasy.

—You've got to be kidding me— said Arturo— How did you get this game? This is from my world.

—Surprised? It was brought by a human I devoured a couple of months ago, I think he was running away from his masters. I loved it and have been practicing a lot since then. Do you want me to explain the rules?

—No, thank you.

—Are you sure? You think you can beat me just because it's a game from your world? I might know a secret or two that you don't know.

—Choose which deck you'll use, I'll beat you with the other one— said Arturo.

Both Hun and the girls were surprised at his arrogance, but the former continued anyway. He took the deck on his right, the boy took the other one. They quickly shuffled, prepared the decks to their left and drew seven cards.

—Perfect— muttered Arturo.

—Oh, that game— remembered Liliana.

—What's wrong with that game?— asked Erica.

—I think Arturo didn't like it, but I don't remember why— she admitted.

Erica started to get scared.

—Could it be because he lost too many times?

Liliana put a hand to her head, trying to remember.

—Why was it?

Meanwhile, Hun and Arturo started the game. First Hun deposited a money card, which served to summon the rest of the cards. The more money cards a player had, the more things he could summon. Surprisingly, Hun immediately used it to deposit a soldier with a spear next to his deck.

—I summon my veteran— he said.

He could not make him attack, as it was forbidden on the first turn. He ended his turn by drawing a card from his deck. With that, Arturo put down a money card and drew a card from his deck, ending his first turn.

—Hey, aren't you going to do anything?— Hun asked.

—I can't do anything yet— admitted Arturo— Go ahead.

With that, the specter used his money card again to summon another warrior.

—I summon my swift spearman! Go ahead, both attack!

The spearman and the veteran attacked Arturo, which meant that Arturo had to remove three cards from his deck and leave them in the graveyard. According to the rules of Fantasies and Legends, each attack removed cards from the opponent's deck. Whoever ran out of cards in the deck lost.

Finally Hun finished his turn. Then Arturo put another money card behind his deck and drew one from it again, ending his turn.

—You're not going to do anything?! At this rate you're going to lose—Hun celebrated.

—I'll be fine— assured Arturo.

They continued like this for several turns, Hun leaving another warrior in his ranks and Arturo stealing without doing anything and taking damage to his deck, until Hun had a whole army and Arturo had six measly cards left in his deck.

—Hahahaha, didn't you say you'd beat me?— remembered Hun.

—That's what I said— replied a calm Arturo.

Hun finished his turn by drawing a card from his deck, so it was Arturo's turn again. However, this time he did not end it immediately. Instead, he spent almost all of his gold he had saved up until then to draw down a card he had had in his hand from the beginning.

—Oh, I remember!— exclaimed Liliana.

—Of what?

—Why Arturo didn't like that game— she said— he said he was bored because he won all the time.

—What?

—I summon my "Good-natured Thief”— said Arturo, victorious— His ability allows me to search for a spell card in the graveyard and use it immediately and at no cost.

—What?!— cried Hun.

Then he saw Arturo's graveyard, which consisted of almost his entire deck. In that situation, the "Good-natured Thief" allowed him to search through practically all of his cards. The boy quickly looked for the one he wanted and showed it to his opponent.

—And I'll use "Divine Justice" which removes cards from your deck until we both have the same.

—What?!— yelled Hun— How can there be such a powerful card?!

Because it normally costs ten cards of money and sacrificing three soldiers with strength greater than 7. But thanks to my "Good-natured Thief" I can skip the requirements.

—No way!— Hun shouted.

He had to remove cards from his deck until he had only six left.

—And now— Arturo spent the rest of his remaining money to summon another card— I summon my "Mad Priestess"! She lets me summon any warrior card in the graveyard and put it in my field, as long as I sacrifice her and another warrior card I have in play.

Then Arturo sent the "Mad Priestess" and his "Good-natured Thief" both to the graveyard, and then looked for another card and put it on the field.

—I present to you "Salvador, the Revolutionary". His charisma allows me to control all the warrior cards you have for one turn and attack you directly!

With that, Hun looked at his own field, where he had at least nine different warriors. Then he looked at his deck, where he had just six cards.

 

—Now, soldiers, attack your own master!

—NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooohhhhhhh...!

Hun's deck collapsed and he lost the game completely. Arturo got up and went to his friends, who patted him on the back.

—You were phenomenal!— celebrated Erica— I didn't know you played that!

—I don't, not since I was ten— said the boy.

—Since you were ten years old?! And you played like that?!

—You were about to be the national champion— Liliana recalled.

—Yes, since then I didn't want to play anymore— he admitted.

—Why, did you lose?— asked Erica.

—He didn’t. The day of the finals were the same they of his mom's birthday— said Liliana— Arturo didn't want to leave her alone, so he missed the championship.

—It's a boring game anyway.

—Wow!— gasped Erica.

Then the three of them turned to Hun, who was leaning over the table, apparently frustrated. Erica sighed.

—I think it's my turn— she guessed.

Hun jumped to his feet.

—That's right, there's still one game left!— he remembered— Are you ready to...?

—Yeah, yeah. Just do that thing with the lights. We know you're not that threatening, you don't have to pretend.

—But... but... I could still beat you and devour your soul.

—Really? Can you? —Erica asked with a demanding tone —Can you actually do it?! Because I seriously doubt it!

—I... I think. Maybe I could, if I try really hard.

—Come on, we don't have all day!

—Okey, alright.

Hun snapped his fingers. This time he illuminated a section next to the wall. There were two chairs, a TV and a video game console with two controllers.

—You're kidding me— Erica bellowed.

—A racing game!— presented Hun, with renewed energy— Come on, girlie, do you think you can beat me at this technological marvel?! Here you not only need speed, you'll also need unparalleled visual motor coordination to beat me. Try if you can, even with the reflexes of a feline you won't be able to catch me.

Quickly the specter went and sat down on a chair. Erica sat in the other one. In less than a minute they chose characters, vehicles, the track where they would run and the countdown to the race began.

In that moment the girl turned to Hun, he looked excited even though he had already lost twice, he was smiling even though he had no eyes, with his four rows of hideous teeth. Erica had seen that before and it took her no time to remember where.

"GAME START!" said the narrator's voice.

Hun's car took off immediately, while Erica's car lagged behind due to her distraction. Even so, driving between curves, dodging obstacles and throwing projectiles at the other cars to leave them behind, the girl quickly reached the lead, while Hun was fighting in seventh place against the one in front who wouldn't let him pass and the one behind, who was attacking him with bananas and missiles. Erica had never played that particular game, but all racing games were familiar to her. She soon became understood the controls, reaction times and physics inherent in the game. Hun, on the other hand, slipped at every turn, fell into every trap and simply couldn't advance beyond fifth place.

Suddenly Erica took a straight line, she was so far ahead of the rest that no one was bothering her, no one was throwing things at her. She turned to look at Hun once more. He looked focused, just like she did when she was a kid and that kind of game was hard for her.

Then she pressed the pause button. the screen froze for both of them.

—What are you doing?!— exclaimed the specter.

—Hun.

He turned to her, between confused and annoyed, but when he saw her serious expression he realized that she was not stopping the game to be annoying.

—Do you really want to devour our souls?— the girl asked.

—Yes!— he answered, ready to play again.

—Really, don't you just need a playmate?

Hun froze where he was, unable to answer. Erica realized she had hit the nail on the head.

—Have any of the souls you've devoured ever actually lost to you in a game?

Hun ducked his head in frustration.

—No— he admitted.

—What?!— exclaimed Liliana and Arturo, who were approaching at that moment.

Erica felt she was getting somewhere, so she kept going.

—How did they end up being eaten, or as your toys?— asked the brika.

Hun sighed, sadly.

—They... didn't want to play with me— he pouted with his creepy mouth— when I explained about the game, they would try to run away or attack me right away. No one had taken the time to go along with me on this...

—That's why you made them into toys— Arturo deduced— to play with them even if they didn't want to.

Hun put his hands to his face and began to sob, even without eyes. Stupefied, the children looked at each other's faces, wondering what to do. Liliana reached out a hand to rest it on the specter's shoulder. Arturo and Erica did the same.

—It's okay, you don't have to be sad— Erica said, not sure what to say.

—You played with us, didn't you?— Liliana told him— Wasn't it fun?

—And even if we can't play forever, we can go on a little longer— suggested Arturo— There's still a blizzard outside, by the way.

Hun stood up and turned around. He was still crying, but his face was hopeful, somehow.

—Really?

—As long as you don't eat our souls or turn us into toys, we can be friends.

Liliana and Arturo nodded. Hun hugged all three of them, so tightly that he lifted them off the ground.

—Ooooh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't believe I have friends! You guys are the best!

—But first, can we eat?— asked Arturo— I'm starving.

—Of course! Come with me... or stay here... or do whatever you like, wherever you like. I'll go right now and fix you something.

—We can all go and cook, that way it will be more fun!— suggested Liliana.

—But what a GOOD IDEA!— burst out Hun, before leaving like lightning up the stairs.

 

Between the four of them, they cooked, ate, rested and played some more. Then they went to the living room by the fireplace to talk and tell each other stories. Hun had a lot of stories about his victims, and was very interested in what the children were saying. Finally they went up to their rooms and went to bed, exhausted.

By morning, the blizzard had stopped. Hun made them a big breakfast and gave them a couple of sacks of food for the trip. He admitted to being sad that they were leaving so soon, but he felt very grateful to them. The children, for their part, promised to come back someday to play some more.