Blue eyes blue snapped open as Mach awoke. But where did he awake" Awake from what? His gaze ticked about frantic as he tried to assess what the hell just happened, where he was, and what he should be doing as it all sort of drew a blank from the man at the moment. He looked out over the empty horizons that stretched out before him, a note of the slow roll of dark clouds above and and the slow churn of dark waves below....or was it the other way around" Reaching out he found he could touch neither and yet somehow he stood between them without anything really to stand upon....odd. A few tentative steps were taken assuring him that he still had legs and yet....he didn't really feel gravity as he thought he should. Didn't perceive anything really....it was all distant lights and sounds, sensations and feelings, devoid of context, isolated. With some focus he could almost pick out bits and pieces that made sense....the trickle of fluid from his nose, the itch of chaotic energy, the throb of a pain from his ribcage, the smell of copper, the sound of familiar voices....Shae" Gothy' ....Serah...

He remembered.

"You are always quick on the uptake."

Blues slid to the voice that spoke into his mind, reverberated without air. It was a voluptuous voice that belonged to a shrouded feminine form with bone white hands and a painted face like a skull that he could never quiet focus upon. "Shit....so I'm in the ether." He took a drag of his cigarette as he considered the figure....wait, that cigarette had always been there....right' There was a slight frown as he worked to remember the rules....or lack there of....of this realm in-between. "Serah must have jolted me good..." He scratched at the side of his head embarrassed. "Man I'm an idiot."

"She did....and you accepted it without trying to block it. I am curious as to why." The woman moved now to a poker table that just sort of existed, a seat taken as she began shuffling a pack of cards that were plucked from thin air. Mach watched the woman a moment, a smirk crossing him as he walked over to sit down.

"Not our usual passing entertainment?" A wry grin pulled on the man.

"Who says that we have not"" There was a tick of brow as he thought on....nibbling and marking of supple flesh, passionate exchanges of lips, the heady rush of....There was a shudder and shake of head to clear his mind of that marathon session....or was it many short term sessions....of intimacy with the shrouded woman that had the oddly strange effect of making him feel less alive. Right....time didn't exactly move forward all the time here.

"Oh....well....so why is this dull talking bit dragging out?" There was a thought as he took a drag of his cigarette. "You know....never mind....I think the answer'll just annoy me. So! What're we playing?"

"Blackjack" There was a motion of hand to deal out the cards, the woman's ante already in the pot and yet she had no stack of chips before her to draw from.

"Blackjack....cute. Alright, I'm game..." Blue eyed blue gaze fell to those chips that sat before him now, a slight frown pulling upon him as he noted the rather meager starting. "I think my starting cash in has gotten smaller since last time I remember....trying to cheat me Reaper?"

The woman folded her hands before her as she watched him from the shadows of her shroud."I do not cheat. You can thank the pink haired woman for dwindling the little precious life you had to gamble with."

Mach just sort of grumbled at that explanation as he snagged a chip, chucking it into the pot before peaking at his cards, a knock on the table to hit him. "Wasn't her fault...I pushed her. Trying to get her to open up....clean out some of that shit that's just festering inside her. Guess I just pushed too hard..." A mild smirk as his gaze ticked to the card that was dealt, eight of spades put him at twenty three....bust.

"Is that why you let her zap you with all that energy knowing what it could do to you?"

The man snorted. "No..." A pause. "Maybe..." Blues ticked to the woman. "Don't you already know?"

"I know a lot about your history Elitia Vance Turner but I never presume to understand your mind. I am, after all, simply a being of observance given form and function by your conscious when ones as you may find yourself at these crossroads."

"And your will is shaped by me and that's why your a sexy, sexy woman and blah, blah, blah." That's right, he'd asked this question before upon one of his previous visits to this place. Maybe it should have concerned him that he visited the doors of oblivion so often that he was screwing the toll keeper. Taking another chip he threw in his ante and tapped to be dealed in.

"It is all true....but most do not push such will to shape one as I as such....it is a curiosity." Another few chips put in from that invisible stack before another hand was dealt.

Mach simply shrugged. "So I'm an idiot....sue me." A few chips tossed in as he split his hand, a tap to each and another....seventeen and twenty with house at eighteen....break even. Another ante up, another tap to deal in as he listened to the scratches of distant voices, a few more in the mix....Claire....Sarai....Lips ticked down in a slight frown as he took a drag of his cigarette. That couldn't be going well....but then that cold chill that raced through him sort of confirmed his suspicions. Someone was trying to magic him and it tasted like Sarai."Damn....hope she doesn't keep that up..."

"Is it not your fault if she does" It would seem she is only trying to help you while ignorant of the constraints of your condition by no fault of her own."

Mach cackled."Am I getting chided for being secretive by a manifestation of death now?"

"Just an observation. Though you seem to keep a lot of important knowledge from those who you associate with. Knowledge that could prevent such difficulties as are arising now from occurring."

The man shrugged. "Knowledge is power and knowledge yeah' Can lead to a lot of complications that I'd rather not deal with."

"Such as someone trying to heal you while your saturated and thus it will only kill you?"

There was a mock laugh from the man. "Har, har....my imagination must be bored and running wild if it's given you a sense of ironic humor!" A smirk escaped him and he anted up, drag taken of cigarette as those blues watched the cards slide in front of him. He'd let his mental autopilot take control as he focused on those actions, those voices that rattled around like strings plucking in the ether.

Unlike most who likely found themselves in this place between places, Mach had a very good idea what had lead him here. That sorted relation he had with magic....the truth of his condition and his life....the cruel joke of what being posted in Rhydin truly was....it was all things he had accepted, or thought he had accepted. But things had a way of changing....life had a way to always stay fresh and damnable. Perhaps it was part of this exact stirring that roused such a panic in the man as he heard Claires voice speaking indifferent and cool....words of locking up and dark reaches....of taking away what was given.

The man stood up from the table as he cast a look to....to what was he trying to look for in that empty space!" No....that didn't matter. He just had to focus....focus on what he knew was reality....assemble it all to navigate that howl of energies that lay between this realm and life. The black shrouded woman simply watched as Mach growled, struggled to focus, fought against his very fate to try and grab hold of that which was he.

"Don't you dare Claire!!" He growled out into the ether as he could see through eyes that were his own, could feel the muscles of his face move. "Don't you dare!!" The man barred his teeth as he tried to fight through that rush of energy that pushed upon him, worked to eject his very soul from his own body. "Noooo!" He howled against the wind. "NOOO!!!" He screamed again before that tentative hold he had slipped and he came tumbling back to the realm of nothing once more.

Mach hit the floor shivering, his teeth chattering as he held himself to try and warm his cold, dead limbs. The woman in black still sat at the table, hands crossed before her as she watched the man with disinterest.

"Your tenacity is astounding Elitia Vance Turner. Always a wonder to watch in action."

"Get bent..." The words spat out venomously as he slowly stopped quaking, his form straightening with a grown feeling a little more worse for wear. If the woman was offended they showed no sign of such. Climbing back onto his seat Mach would throw in another ante, a tap on table to deal him in. Another few rounds, a net loss but he was still in the game, still had chips. There was a tick of blues to the woman that sat eerily still. "Say.....how would I know if I....you know....not actually going to make it?" The question was asked mildly but with gravity as Mach was fairly positive he'd never spent this long outside of his body before.

"You will just know. Death is natural and at the same time deeply personal to you alone. How you interpret it is up to you."

"So the whole tunnel and family and stuff....total bullshit?"

"If that is your focus, then that is how you will experience it. But if I where a gambling type I would not believe such is the end that you will see."

Mach simply frowned at that non-answer, another ante up, another round. He was finding the other voices had started to blur....mix together like dissonant notes out of tune trying to play a familiar melody. If he focused he could pick out what could be said but really....was it of much worth' Particularly as he could still track two, three, perhaps even a fourth though he just felt that a few of those weren't anywhere near the other two.

Another hand, and another was played, two loses working to dwindle his remaining chips yet still he played onward. The man really didn't care about the game though he was sure it held some greater meaning. If anything, to him it was just a distraction to try and keep his mind off the world of the living, to keep himself from trying to do anything as stupid as he had just tried before. His vessel was full....overflowing with arcane energy that just had to dissipate on it's own. To try and force himself back in....his mind, his soul....not only was it pointless but it was even damaging as he had to fight that howling maelstrom of energy which only worked to buff and fray the tenuous connections that linked his mind and body.

More words, another grimace, another hand as Mach tried to tune out the world....but two words, whispered in the realm of the living, shouted through the mans mind ringing to his very core: kill me.

"No..." Those dazed blues caught fire with life. "No!" The man shouted as he looked around that hellishly empty planescape, looking for another way out.

"I would not if I were you. You have already caused quiet the amount of damage to yourself the first time you pushed back beyond the barrier....you may not survive a second."

Mach glowered at the woman that sat so regally in her chair, shuffling those cards. "And what....sit here like a good boy' Let them even consider that thought!" Mach growled as he looked about like a caged animal. "Like hell I'm going to do that....I didn't push and push just so Serah could get herself killed damnit!"

"But would she not be equally saddened by your own demise" Or the demoness at your side" Would you forsake them""

The woman's words stopped the hunter dead in his tracks, that panicked rage receding just a touch. He couldn't deny those calm words, the logic....and yet when had ever let himself be dictated by such rules" "We call gotta die at some point yeah?" A grin curled upon the man as he pushed his stack of chips into the middle. "All in."

The woman watched the man for a tick, considering his actions."So this is your resolve....your cowardice." The woman's tone was flat and even, no judgement to be had as delicate fingers dealt out those two cards: ace of hearts and three of clubs. The house had a ten and a three with a hit of a seven making twenty. Those where some crap odds....but Mach wasn't one to go down without a fight.

"Hit me!" Mach's tone was harsh as he looked to the sky, his consciousness clawing at reality, clawing through the maelstorm to reach that body of his.....shapes, figures.....confused but not important as he grasped for his voice.

Two of spades

"Hit me!!" He growled as he forced himself into his own head, his mind shouting. "Don't do it Claire! Don't kill her!!!"

Ace of Diamonds

"Hit Me!!!" The words spat back as he clawed at his failing vocal chords, forced the breath from his lungs. "Live Serah! Live damn you!"

Queen of Hearts

"HIT ME!!!!" He howled through the torrent of energy that whipped him about as those blues finally focused on the barely contained face of Sarai who looked so hopeful at the man and his rousing. Sorry... He pushed the muscles of his rugged features, a warm grin and a wink as he...

Jack of Spades

The man felt his fingers break apart as he lost his hold of his body, his mind crashing back into the undercurrent of magic that purveyed everything though he'd not fall back into that dead realm. He'd lost his place there.....lost it all but for a single chip he had palmed. This was Mach after all....always have a backup plan even if that means cheating death itself. Though he wasn't sure exactly how the logistics of this plan should work but he figured he'd deal with that on the back end.

And as he hit that chaos of energy that was the ether he was torn asunder, his soul fragmenting in the tumultuous energy's which carried the remnants of the man in different directions with that sole poker chip following after one voice in particular.

(Point of View adaptation of a live event with the awesome players: Serah Farron, Gothrak, Shae Stormchild, Deviously Charming, and Claire Farron!)