A/N: I hate how short this chapter is, but it's kinda less of a chapter and more of an epilogue. I guess I could have drawn it out, but I really hate doing that. I write what feels natural, and sometimes that means that some chapters are shorter than others, and sometimes they're longer. Regardless of the chapter length, I hope you enjoy it, and that you enjoyed this story. Thanks for reading.

Dice sighed and rubbed his forehead. Working at the casino had never been the easiest job. It took a lot of work and clever thinking to come up with new ways to con all of the different kinds of people that came to the casino. Dice didn't have a problem with this. He welcomed the challenge.

No matter how much Dice enjoyed overcoming a difficult problem, he had come across one that was more of a pain than anything.

"Sounds like you're having fun." The Devil leaned towards Dice in an almost predatory way. "What's on your mind, Dice?"

"It's these damn contracts." Dice groaned and pushed away the list he had been looking over. The Devil glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.

"The lost contracts? I thought I told you not to worry about those." The Devil said. "We'll get them back."

"How?" Dice glared at his boss. "We can easily wait until they all die, and you'll just reclaim their souls in Hell, but what's the fun in that?" Dice smirked. "After all, you wouldn't be able to torture their souls in this life, and I know how much you like to do that."

The Devil let out a low chuckle and took out his cigar case from his desk draw. The Devil put a cigar in his mouth, and with a snap of his fingers lit it effortlessly. The Devil took a long, slow drag from the cigar, and then offered it to Dice, who accepted it without a second thought. Dice wasn't much of a smoker, but he wasn't a fool either. One just didn't deny an offer from the Devil, not if they had half a brain.

"There is something different about messing with mortal souls." The Devil admitted. "What did you have in mind, King Dice?"

Dice chuckled around the cigar. He didn't know where the Devil's new nickname for him came from, but he wasn't complaining about it. At first he had thought that the unnecessary title was foolish and embarrassing, an excuse for the gambler's and debtors to not take him seriously, but that couldn't be more wrong. If anything, people seemed to have more respect for him. It made sense though, after all, if the Devil referred to him as 'King', he must be somebody worth respecting. It wasn't long before the name caught on.

It was strange. It hadn't been all that long ago that he had been Caleb Dice, the street gambler that nobody trusted or liked. And now he was King Dice, known and respected by everybody on all three of the Inkwell Isles.

It was funny how life went sometimes.

"I've been thinking about that." Dice said. "You shouldn't have to stoop down to the level of these debtors." That would just cause people to think that the Devil felt threatened by a couple of stray debtors. It could cause an uproar. "You should send somebody else out to collect the contracts for you."

"Interesting," The Devil took back his cigar. "One of my debtors?"

"Not exactly." Dice shrugged. "Some of these creeps have gotten pretty powerful. Not just anybody will be able to take them down."

"You've got a point." The Devil said boredly.

"But we should keep an eye out for the potential we need." Dice folded up the list and got to his feet. "In the meantime, I have work to do." After all, somebody had to make sure the casino floor was running smoothly.

"See if you can collect anymore soul contracts." The Devil leaned comfortably back in his seat. "You've been getting good at that."

Dice smirked. "Any better and I could run you out of the business."

The Devil chuckled. "I'd like to see you try."

"Maybe later." Dice bowed to his boss and left the office. He didn't truly have any intentions of taking over the Devil's business, he was more than content just to work for him. Dice didn't mean to be arrogant, but he was fairly certain that he was the closest to being the Devil's equal that any mortal had ever been, and at the moment, that was good enough for him.

The Devil was right though, Dice had been getting better at collecting soul contracts. As far as he knew, the Devil had been the only one with the power to make a deal like that. Since the Devil had given magic to Dice, even though he was a mortal, he had been able to do all kinds of things. It had been a pleasant surprise for both of them when they had realized that Dice could make a deal involving a soul contract.

Dice had always had an easier time than most telling when a gambler was getting desperate enough to sell their soul away, and now, he could collect the soul himself. He could practically do the entirety of the Devil's job for him, and for a right hand man, that wasn't half bad.

Dice walked out onto the casino floor and wasn't surprised to see that there weren't very many gamblers out. It was still fairly early, and there were rarely more than a handful of gamblers around at this time. But just because there weren't many of them didn't mean that none of the gamblers were worth attention.

"Is there anybody interesting out?" Dice asked as he walked up to Mr. Wheezy, who was usually the one in charge on the floor when neither Dice nor the Devil were there.

Mr. Wheezy shrugged. "Depends what you mean by interesting." The cigar gestured towards the craps tables. "A couple of kids are here."

Dice frowned slightly. "What's so interesting about that? A number of gamblers bring their children along."

Mr. Wheezy shook his head. "No, I mean a couple of kids are here on their own. No parents or guardians in sight."

Dice raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He wanted to see this for himself.

Mr. Wheezy seemed to recognize that Dice was intrigued, because he led led him closer to the craps tables so he could see the kids. It didn't take Dice long to recognize the kids that Mr. Wheezy had been talking about. Two small boys stood at the table. Dice recognized their types instantly. One was more bold, outgoing, and not afraid to take a few risks. The other boy was more timid and cautious, but didn't have the guts to stand up to his brother's reckless gambling. Pairs like this were frequents at the casino, but there was something else about these boys that caught his interest.

Dice narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. He had never seen these boys before, so this was the first time that they had ever been in the casino. There was still something about them that felt vaguely familiar, but when would he have ever encountered a pair of chinaware like them?

Chinaware...that gave him an idea.

"Keep an eye on these boys." Dice told Mr. Wheezy. "Don't let them leave." He had something to check up on.

"You got it, boss." Mr. Wheezy nodded. Dice trusted him to follow these simple directions, at least for a few minutes. It should give him the opportunity to check up on something. Dice headed back to the Devil's office. They had files in there not only on the debtors, but also on anybody of interest that lived on one of the isles, whether they were a gambler or not.

The Devil watched as Dice came into the room and began going through the files. "Are you looking for something specific?"

"...I think so." Dice pushed aside anything that had to do with debtors and gamblers. There wasn't a lot of information about those who were neither, as there were only so many people who weren't involved with the Devil that had caught his interest. There were a few though, and it didn't take Dice long to find what he was looking for.

Sure enough, after just a few minutes Dice found the file he had come in there for. Dice looked it over, and smirked. It was better than he could have hoped.

The Devil, intrigued by Dice's smug joy, came over to look at the file as well. The Devil raised an eyebrow when he saw it. "Elder Kettle? Who's this guy?"

"Right now, nobody special." Dice said as he flipped through the file. "The man is a mystery. Some say he was a knight. Some say he was an alchemist. Everybody agrees that he has access to incredible powers."

The Devil snarled. "Powers that don't come from me."

"Precisely." Dice nodded. "The old coot's as straight as they come, but it seems his grandchildren are another story."

The Devil's eyes flashed red for a moment. "A real family man, is he?"

"Absolutely." Dice agreed. "His boys just so happen to be in this casino. If they get themselves into a bit of trouble, I imagine Elder Kettle would do whatever he could to get them out of it." Even using magic that nobody had seen him use in years.

"I like the way you think." The Devil chuckled. "Go work your magic, Dice."

"I'll do my best, sir." Dice closed the file and made his way back out of the room again. If everything went well, but the end of the day not only would they be able to see for themselves just how powerful Elder Kettle's powers really were, but they might also have a solution to their missing soul contract problem.

Dice joined the boys at the craps table. "Well, well, well, how are you lads doing this afternoon?"

"Great!" The confident boy wearing red exclaimed. "We've got more money than we came here with."

"Sounds like you boys are on a roll." Dice smiled. "I'd like to see a roll for myself." Dice really wanted to see everything that the boys had up their sleeves. He had to be patient though, gain the boy's trust. Get them feeling comfortable and confident. Feed their greed until they were willing to give up anything, even their very souls. When that happened, that was when the true fun would begin.