Chapter 13 - Turn 13 - M 0100 | A 0300

               “I am?” she muses, squinting at the vague shape that used to be Annie. “B-by how much? I can’t… I can’t shee.”
 
               Annie gives an inquisitive thrum. “How much? Oh, by just 100 life points. Perhaps I was too excited, I didn’t quite calculate properly… But, we can’t quite continue if you can’t see, can we? Who could tell what cards you’re playing, when you’re blind as a bat… Kekeke…” Millie can hear some shuffling, and just barely she can see Annie hold something before her. “But I can help… I’m always about giving people what they want, you know…”
 
               Millie reaches out, but her hand brushes past naught but air. “Ah- how can you, um… H-help? Are you… Ish it… Y’know...” 
 
               Annie clicks her tongue. “With glasses. You’re a bright girl; I think you would’ve figured that out yourself…” she jabs. “But, as for how to obtain them, let’s say you just need to say a magic word…”
 
               Millie gives a soft whine. “... Pleashe?”
 
               “Please what?
 
               “P-puh… Pleashe give me the glasshesh?”
 
               Annie gives a soft tut-tut. “How assertive! Dare I say rude - and don’t you want to be better than that?” 
 
               A sour look falls over Millie’s face. Despite the… Cruel scenario that led her to become like this… Truthfully, she did. If people wanted her taken down a peg for her demeanor and rudeness… If nothing else, this was a fine lesson in how to properly conduct herself. She… Didn’t even consider it in a clinical sense, or an exchange of pleasantries for allegiance - if she was… A nicer person, people would be happier. Wasn’t that enough…? “M-may I pleashe have the glasshesh?”
 
               “May I please have the glasses… Whom? Kekeke...”
 
               “Hnnnnn… M-may I p-puh-pleashe have the g-glasshesh, Annie!”
 
               “You’re getting warmer, but… I think I’m about ready to assume my proper title. Maybe it doesn’t matter to you much now, but I know you used to understand that a woman of power needs that to be recognized…”
 
               Red-faced and wincing, Millie finally blurts out “MayIpleashehavetheglasshesh…! P-president Annie?”
               
               With a frustratingly-unsure groan, Annie eventually concludes. “Fiiiine.” and deposits the glasses in Millie’s sweaty hand. It takes a bit of blind fiddling to properly orient them - but when Millie puts them on…
 
               Her vision is still largely dark. Oh - wait, that’s just her hair… Brushing it out of the way, she finds her vision cleared up - and sees Annie holding up the mirror once more. Millie… Hardly recognized her reflection. The messy, dark hair, the befreckled pallor of her skin, the brace-clad teeth she bore, and  now the addition of round, thick glasses - big enough to magnify her eyes and accentuate her now-muddy, brown irises… It painted a vivid image of someone she would’ve looked down upon from her absurdly high horse. A nerd. A dork. A geek. A loser…
 
               And, with only a sliver of life points left, she felt like that might be  the case. She… Was roped into this duel because she was… Acting terribly. It was up to her and her deck to absolve herself, but… Did she fail her cards? Even with Annie’s manipulation, she couldn’t help but place the blame for all of this squarely upon herself. After being taunted by Annie; degraded by her… A loser was exactly what she felt like.
 
               “It’s down to the wire now, Millie…” Annie reminds her. “My turn is over… And unless you have a secret weapon packed away in that deck of yours, the game is too~”
 
               Annie was right - it all came down to this. This could very well be her last draw, and… Even if it wasn’t, she had no game plan for how to bring down Kendama. I can… Use Dried Winds to put it down, but she can bring it back. I’ll need… Rosemary - even Jasmine. With the garden’s power, they can finish this right here and now. If I can’t knock out Kendama now, then… She can just knock my monster out, and if she gets another…! 
 
               Millie can feel herself panting and softly snorting as she mulls over the worst case  scenario of the duel. Even the more positive scenarios seemed bleak - as crafty as Annie had been, she might have something waiting in her graveyard yet to be triggered, or some effect she’d been waiting to activate just to crush Millie during her ascent to victory… 
 
               But, all these what-ifs only served to scare  her further - not get her closer to victory. Fear - and, eh, magic - was what Annie counted on to lead her to victory, more than her cards ever could. Millie looked at her deck, then to the cards on her field, and… Even if she couldn’t stop her hands from trembling, or the sweat from rolling down her face, or the pangs of tension and hunger in her gut… She was prepared to draw. 
 
               Tentatively, she draws her card - and is greeted to the familiar sight of Aroma Gardening. It joined Aroma Garden in her hand of cards she had no use for, but… 
 
               Did she need to play something this turn? Her eyes turn to her graveyard… And a plan starts to form. 
 
               “I end my turn…” she drones out; her tone utterly defeated.