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“Mage! Mage! A moment of thou’s time?”
The plush cat looked behind their shoulder. “Rouxls Kaard? What can I do for you?”
The younger Squire caught up with the mage, panting from running. “Ah...Yon Majesties haveth a request for thou.”
“Well, who am I to say no to the kings?”
“The King of Diamonds hath noticed a strange ambient magic field appeareths in the ballroom for the past fortnight. He claims that every night, without fail, a strong magic field hath made itself home in the ballroom, and tis impossible to go through. The kings requesteth you to investigate the matter.”
A strange field of strong ambient magic? They could see why the kings would want them on the matter.
“Oh. Is that all? Alright, I’ll look into it tonight.”
Rouxls let out a sigh of relief. “Mine thanks, Mage.”
“Rouxls, please. Call me Seam.”
“N-Nay! Tis not the way to address mine co-worker!”
Seam chuckled and pat the Squire on the back. “Have a good day, Rouxls Kaard.” They walked away, leaving the Squire to gather his wits to return to the kings with the news.
For now, Seam had to get ready for the night. If there was a strange intruder that made itself known at night, then they had to be prepared for a fight. And that meant that the plush cat needed to be fully rested before nightfall. They figured the kings would understand if they took the rest of the day off.
They made their way to the designated Joker’s Room. Seam could already hear a bit of a ruckus going on inside the shared quarters. They peeked inside, not surprised to find the source of the noise.
“Jevil, what are you doing?”
The funny little man was currently balancing on one toe on top of a large ball juggling various objects. Several of the odds and ends scattered around the room were floating as he concentrated on keeping the act together. Jevil was usually like this when he was really focused. The various brushes, makeup tools, and toys floating were just a byproduct that he wasn’t completely aware of.
Seam grinned and pointed a claw at him. A spark popped loudly at the tip. The noise startled the little imp, breaking his focus and causing the objects, floating and juggled, to fall. A mallet hit his head, making him fall off the ball. His spring neck launched his head up into the air with a comical “BOING-OING” sound.
“OW...”
They couldn’t help it. The plush mage burst into laughter at the poor jester’s plight. The Court Jester took it in stride, and smiled when he saw his companion.
“OH, HELLO SEAM! WHAT A TREAT IT IS TO SEE YOU SO EARLY, EARLY!”
Seam settled down and cleared their throat. “Apologies, my friend. You were just so focused, and it was just too easy.”
“WELL, I’M GLAD MY PAIN BRINGS YOU JOY! I DON’T MIND IF THAT’S WHAT YOU ENJOY, ENJOY!”
“That rhyme was a stretch and you know it, Jevil!”
The Jokers shared a hearty laugh. Jevil’s head clicked back into place and he got off of the floor, balancing on his tail to be at eye level with the plush cat.
“BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME, LET’S DISCUSS YOU! WHAT PLAN ARE YOU PLANNING TO SEE THROUGH? PLANNING TO SNOOZE THE DAY AWAY, AWAY?”
“Actually, yes, you funny little man. I have a magic assignment to do. The kings’ orders.”
Jevil bounced a bit on his tail in excitement. “CONSIDER MY INTEREST PIQUED, PIQUED!”
“The King of Diamonds has reported finding a powerful field of thick ambient magic in the ballroom at night. I’m gonna find out the source and get rid of it.”
The imp was vibrating at this point. “EXCITING, EXCITING! I CAN’T TAKE IT, TAKE IT! I WANNA SEE, SEE!”
“Jevil, you’re anxious repeating. You need to calm down.”
“I DON’T WANNA, WANNA! THIS IS SO, SO EXCITING! THE WORLD, WORLD IS SPINNING, SPINNING! A BATTLE OF MAGIC, AND YOU’D BE WINNING, WINNING!”
Seam chuckled and patted the imp’s head. They noticed he combed his hair to show off the black and white separately.
“Oh. Are you going to perform?”
“OH YES! I WAS WARMING UP, UP, UP! BUT THEN I FELL DOWN, DOWN, DOWN! UEE HEE HEE! I WONDER WHY.”
“Well, go warm up somewhere else. I need to rest up for tonight.”
“BOOO! NO FUN, NO FUN! SLEEPING IS MERELY FOR THOSE WHO FEEL THE DAY IS DONE! AND SLEEPING LEAVES NO TIME FOR MORE GAMES, GAMES! HOW CAN YOU PLAY IF YOU SLEEP CLAIMS, CLAIMS?! BUT FINE!” Jevil lowered himself down to his feet. “I’LL LET YOU REST YOUR HEAD! FOR YOU, IT’S TIME FOR BED! NU-HA!”
Jevil gave a spin and disappeared. Seam let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding and climbed into bed. Come to think of it, they never saw Jevil sleep once. Two years, they have been partners, but Jevil has never been seen taking so much as a nap.
Seam fell asleep, imagining the different types of snoring the little jester must’ve had.
In the resting hours of what was agreed to be “Night Time”, Seam began to make their way to the ballroom. The castle was so quiet, save for a few guard slithering about. The darkness of the halls was held back by the lantern held by a fluffy paw.
Seam rather liked the castle like this. With a companion like Jevil, quiet moments like this were always a treasure. It’s not that they didn’t enjoy the imp’s company. Far from it. Ever since they opened themself up to his friendship, their life had been much brighter and joyful. They just liked quiet moments is all.
The pitter patter of their bare paws against the stone floors echoed against the walls until they stopped in front of a grand door. The ballroom was on the other side of it. And inside the ballroom was their potential adversary.
Seam took a deep breath and pushed the doors open.
The sight that greeted them was not one they had expected.
A wall of pure magic blocked the way a third of the way inside the ballroom. Negative light had emitted from behind the wall. There was something moving on the other side, moving in a somewhat circular pattern
Seam raised their lantern in front of them and pressed onward through the wall. The light from the lantern cut through the negative light from the ambient magic, surrounding them like an air bubble under water. Once they got a good distance, they put out the lantern light. The previously blocked magic rushed toward them.
In an instant, the scene had changed. The ballroom had become bright in a warm sort of way. They were surrounded by faceless beings in pairs that danced in a waltz. Seam had realized that there was music playing from somewhere.
The music was going in 3/4 time. It sounded so somber, yet grand. The sound of it wrapped around their soul in a comforting warmth. Safe, secure, comforted...so why did it have such sad undertones?
The mage made their way to the center of the room. A smile stretched across the fabric of their face. They had an inkling of whom the culprit could be.
There he was. That funny little man. Unlike the faceless pairs dancing in a waltz, Jevil was dancing in what could be surmised to be a ballet. Not any ballet that Seam had ever seen, but one that must’ve come from the jester’s mind. His eyes were closed, and his face was the most peaceful they had ever seen. His head hung a bit low as he Pirouetted in a meticulous manner.
“Jevil? What are you doing?”
The imp gave no response, transitioning from the Pirouette to a Grande Jeté, landing in an Arabesque position.
Seam, feeling a sense of deja vu, pointed a claw at the black joker and made a spark pop. Unlike last time, Jevil didn’t even flinch at the noise.
They looked a bit closer at Jevil’s expression before a realization dawned on them.
“You’re sleeping, aren’t you?”
Their expression softened. They never would’ve guessed that Jevil was a sleepwalker. Even in his sleep, he loved to be active.
They didn’t know much about ballet, but they figured that this dance routine was not meant to be a Pas de Deux. So, the plush cat waited for his next Grande Jeté to catch him.
With his routine interrupted, Jevil woke up. The ambient magic field slowly faded from the outside in, the faceless dancer fading away with it as the field started to close in around them.
“Hm...? Wha...? Where...Seam? What are you doing, doing? Should you not be getting ready to do battle with the intruder, intruder?”
Seam let out a soft laugh. “No need, Jevil. I found the source.”
“Really?! Who--” Jevil noticed his friend’s expression and scowled. “Me?! No way, no way! Surely you’ve been led astray!”
Seam took a step back and gestured to the magic still surrounding the jokers. They began to waltz to the music with an invisible partner as Jevil’s ears drooped down in shame. Noticing, their companion’s sudden gloom, they offered a paw to the imp.
“Care to dance before the music fades?”
Seam gave him a warm smile, watching the jester’s eyes change from circles to filled hearts. He took the paw, levitating so that he could dance with his much taller partner with greater ease.
The two jokers danced their waltz until the field disappeared from under their tails. The music faded away from their ears, leaving them in the silent darkness. They held each other, enjoying this peaceful moment between them.
“This was nice, Seam...I wish we could dance from dusk till Dawm.”
“Ok, now you’re really stretching for a rhyme!”
“Uee hee hee! But you love me, love me!”
“Sometimes I wonder why.”
“Perhaps we should go to bed, bed.”
“If it’ll keep you from sleepwalking, my friend.”
Jevil let go of one paw, still holding the other in his hand. His face was flushed in embarrassment. He never thought his sleepwalking would be this obvious. He never thought he’d be emitting a great ambient magic.
“You know, I could make you a spell of sorts. I know how much you love playing, so maybe I can fashion you a sleeping spell you can activate on your own so that you can get some real sleep and play in your dreams.”
Jevil looked up at them, the filled hearts growing. “You would do that for me, my friend?! My own little world for me to play and rules to bend?!”
“Of course. Wouldn’t want your body to collapse from exhaustion in the middle of a performance.”
The two jokers made their way to their shared quarters, still dancing with each other in their minds. They would continue their dance in their dreams until morning came.
Well, at least Seam could put the kings at ease with the knowledge that the source of that ambient magic was just a sleepwalking black joker. But now they had to make plans on what kind of spell they could make to help Jevil’s nightly habit...Maybe something that would fit his love for carnivals...