Chapter Text
In the midst of a well lit industrial workshop, a middle-aged businessman with silver-streaked ebony hair and an elderly engineer sit parallel to a peculiar, weathered robot with features that were something out of an ancient sci-fi flick (that didn't resemble any machines in the year of 2077 at all). It was bluish grey with two broken antennae, a missing left arm and two big wheels below. Its head was covered with several constantly changing multi-colored lights. At the centre of its torso, a candy dispenser slide caught their eyes along with a silver label affixed to its chest which read: "The Candy Cadet."
"So what's this thing again Mr Burrows?" The engineer adjusts his glasses, scooting his rolling chair closer to the machine.
"An old relic we found in the storage room, I want you to see if it can still function. Perhaps we can repurpose it as a bot at the Pizzaplex Plus?"
The engineer meticulously examined the robot, searching for any buttons, wires or power connections to bring it to life until he spotted two coin slots at the very bottom.
Pulling out his wallet, he inserts one of his four antique Fazcoins into the Robot which instantly stirs to life, its multicoloured lights flashing as it spoke its first words so long:
Thank you for your Fazcoin....Unfortunately, I have no candy at my disposal but nonetheless, I shall a reward you with a trilogy of woe: The tale of a Heartless Prince and a Humble Inventor whose lives, when entwined, ended in tragedy.
Once upon a time in a far-off kingdom, there lived a young prince Liam. His peculiar condition set him apart from others, for he was said to be born without a heart, leaving him seemingly devoid of empathy. Despite the questions and whispers that surrounded his strange existence, his parents, the reigning king and queen, showed no concern, as they had an heir to carry on their rule, even if it was to be ruthless.
One fateful day, the king decided to visit a nearby village where a group of skilled craftsmen had gathered to display their finest creations. Among the craftsmen, a brilliant inventor had caught the king's eye with his remarkable singing Automatons. Impressed by his talents, the king appointed him as his Royal Inventor, granting him and his shy son Einri a place to live in the palace.
Einri was a solitary child, spending much of his time alone in the vast palace. It was here that he crossed paths with Prince Liam, who reached out to the lonesome boy. Thus began a unique friendship between the prince and Einri, who was the only child his age living within the castle walls.
As the years passed, Liam and Einri grew up together, eventually taking up their fathers' roles after they passed away. However, while Einri remained a kind-hearted soul, Liam's heartlessness began to manifest itself. He concealed his true nature behind a friendly facade, keeping his darker desires and ambitions hidden.
What's more, after a near-death experience after falling off a horse into a ravine and being scarred, Liam's had begun to develop a fear of death that over the years, had grown into an obsession. He longed for immortality at any cost, believing that eternal life would fill the void in his empty heart. Determined to attain this unattainable dream, he delved into the dark arts and alchemy in his relentless quest.
Meanwhile while he carried out his research in secret, Liam's best and only friend Einri, fell in love with a simple cottage woman, and they had a daughter together. This new family brought him great joy, and he spent more and more time away from the castle, leaving Liam to seethe with jealousy. His envy reached a breaking point when he could stand it no longer.
In a sinister plot, Liam orchestrated a tragic "accident" that claimed the lives of both Einri's wife and child, intent on driving Einri into the depths of despair which would make him return to the castle and relieve Liam of his solitude.
The plan succeeded and Einri found himself spiralling into an abyss of sorrow. However, still remaining desperate to reunite with at least his daughter somehow, Liam offered him a chilling bargain: Showing to him the dark arts he had been practising, a magic spell that would enable him to raise the dead.
However, to do so would require the souls of others. Many souls. And he wanted a way to acquire many of them as fast as possible. It was then they formulated a plan: Enri would build automatons to kidnap innocent people in the night, a dark task that tormented his soul.
When he had gathered enough people, Einri begged for his daughter back but Liam did not fulfil the end of his bargain and exiled him from the kingdom, leaving him with a weight of guilt.
And After that day, Einri was never seen again. He'd left behind his dreadful creations and his former friend who had become a monstrous and heartless tyrant for he was unable to do anything to stop him.
And so, Part 1 of this dark tale comes to a haunting close, setting the stage for the shadows and secrets that will unfold in Part 2
"Well what are you waiting for? I want to hear the rest of it." Mr Burrows nudges the engineer, "This is riveting stuff".
The Engineer nods and inserts another old Fazcoin to enable the robot to continue the story.
Now I shall continue the tragedy but from...another perspective. While Einri married the Cottage girl, Liam too had taken a wife for his own too. She was a mermaid princess from the Kingdom of the Sea with a beautiful voice who could go back and forth between the forms of a human and a merfolk. Her name was Viola.
She had loved him with all her heart but on the other hand, he had not loved her. Not truly as for him, this marriage was one of convenience...to keep the peace with the King of the Sea and strengthen his Kingdom with alliances. He'd loved her for her beauty and nothing more, showing her off to people like the exotic caged animals and dazzling automatons he'd kept in the castle. He also wouldn't allow Viola to return to the ocean where she could splash around with her tail again. Even for a few minutes. As he claimed he needed her at the castle constantly to take care of the children they sired.
After Einri left, Liam's relentless pursuit of immortality continued to consume his life and once-thriving seemingly relationship with the Mermaid Queen steadily declined, weighed down by his ceaseless quest and the dark secrets that he hid from her.
Then, Tragedy struck their family as their three children met untimely deaths. The youngest child falls victim to a jousting accident, while the eldest, a knight, perishes in battle. Their daughter meets her demise at sea, drowning after her ship capsizes in a ferocious storm.
The palace, once echoing with the laughter of children, becomes a desolate, haunting place. The Queen, now isolated and mourning, yearns for her former life in the ocean more after that but Liam's control over her prevented her from returning to the sea and she wondered where her friends and family could be.
One day, a careless servant accidentally leaves a door unlocked, a place forbidden for the Queen to explore. Curiosity overtakes her, and she ventures into the basement of the castle, discovering a dreadful secret. In the darkness, she finds kidnapped children, some still alive in chains and cages and others as tormented ghosts. They reveal the horrifying truth: The King had used dark magic to transform these stolen children into various exotic animals, keeping them within the castle as mere entertainment for his unsuspecting guests. What was even more sinister was that night after night, he drained their life force to maintain his youthful appearance and beauty, believing it would lead him closer to immortality.
The Queen, horrified by her husband's cruelty, promises to free them and devises a plan. On the night of the next full moon, she creates a distraction by starting a fire. The chaos diverts the guards' attention, allowing her to guide the living children to escape. They flee back to their village, free from the shackles of Liam's malevolence.
However, Liam learns of his wife's betrayal and attempts to murder her. In a twist of fate, the vengeful ghosts rise up against their captor and drag him into the consuming flames of the castle, sealing his terrible fate.
The Queen flees to her true home, the ocean, discarding her royal trappings as her legs transforming into a majestic tail. She watches from afar as the palace burns and the ghosts ascend to their final rest in the heavens before returning to the depths.
When she tried to return to her sea kingdom, she'd discovered Liam had gone to war with it and destroyed her land entirely. It was now nothing but a distant memory, perhaps even less than that. Lost and wandering, she is unexpectedly ensnared in a fisherman's net and comes face to face with Einri, the Royal Inventor that Liam exiled.
Einri recognizes her as Liam's wife but is captivated by her newfound form. He calls her beautiful and invites her into his home, offering her food and companionship and gradually, they fall in love, having a child, and finding happiness together for many decades.
And thus, Part 2 ends.
"Do you want to hear –"
"Of course!" Mr Burrows snaps, "Insert another coin. I want to know how the story ends".
"Alright. You didn't have to be so rude about it..." The man grumbles and inserts his second last Fazcoin inside.
Now we come to the close.
Time passes, the former Mermaid Queen and The Inventor live happily. Their son is grown up and has moved away from their seaside home. However, tragedy strikes and Viola passes away long before Einri, turning into seafoam in his hands. Once again, Einri grieves...living alone near the endless sea.
However, there is a knock at the door and upon opening it, encounters an undead, shambling corpse in armour. Einri screams but the undead knight begs him for help pitifully.
He reveals he is the eldest son of the Mermaid Queen who died in battle. He explains that although he died, his father had resurrected him and several others with necromancy to be his servants but he broke free from his control.
Confused, the Inventor asks him how it's possible that his father is alive as he was told he burned to death to which the zombie explains that his Father is now an Eldritch Beast capable of raising the dead by making a deal with a demon in Hell and is wreaking havoc across the lands.
What's more, he also reveals that the discovered Inventor's daughter had never moved on after dying and was clinging to her favourite doll. He shows the father the doll he brought with him and there is a heartfelt reunion.
"What the Hell is this?" Mr Burrows questions, "Why did this story suddenly take a left turn? Why is the King suddenly a demon?"
"I get the feeling it ran out of ideas sir." The engineer jokes.
Not long after, Einri formulated a plan while simultaneously forging weapons for everyone to aid in their battle. He equips the zombie with a s word of golden phoenix fire and his daughter with an iron golem to possess and command.
At last, when everything was prepared, the three went to confront the Eldritch Beast who had been consuming people in a nearby village, an army of the restless undead surrounding him.
The conflict was tumultuous but eventually, his daughter and the undead knight cunningly lead the Beast into the inescapable structure built by Einri. Inside, the beast is consumed by the same phoenix flames that powered the knight's sword, finally ending its existence.
But amidst the flames and the ashes, Einri cannot help but weep for his once-dear friend, who had become an unrecognisable monster driven to madness.
Insert one more coin if you wish. There is an epilogue to the tale.
"Should we?" the Engineer hesitates to use his final coin as he awaits the answer of the other man.
"Well, we've come this far...Why not hear it out?".
The engineer nods and puts his final, rusted coin in.
In the epilogue of this haunting tale, the three explored the wreckage of the trap Once the fire dies. Suddenly, a shadow-being burst forth, escaping too into the woods from the direction where the beast had died.
The knight wanted to chase after it but the inventor stopped him for there was something else emerging from where the beast had died: There was an infant there: part human and part devil.
Instead of dying, the Eldritch beast it seemed had reverted to an infant state. Confused and shocked, the three tried to kill it again, but the same thing happened. It did not die.
Baffled by this revelation, they come to the grim realization that the beast is, in fact, immortal. Killing it is a futile endeavor.
The inventive Einri devises a new plan: a cage that will trap the childlike monster for all eternity. By day, the monster will be guarded and subjected to torment, while at night, it will be haunted by endless nightmares.
The knight, who harboured a deep-seated hatred for the creature that was once his father, accepts the responsibility of guarding the cage and inflicting daily torment. Likewise, the people who suffered at the monster's hands and lost loved ones to its cruelty join in the torment, seeking their own form of vengeance.
But within the cage, the monster surprisingly held no hatred for its tormentors, only feelings of fear, misery, and confusion. It was a creature without memory of its past crimes, a tragic figure shaped by its own existence.
Seven years later, a compassionate bear stumbles upon the suffering monster and takes pity on it, telling him of a magic healing spring in the mountains that could potentially transform the monster into something better, breaking its cycle of torment and suffering. However, to enter the spring they had to convince the three angels who guarded it to let them through: A red crocodile, a golden bear, and a ... a ...a a...
The machine stutters, almost as though it was breaking down and promptly, the engineer gently knocks it with his wrench, prompting it to reboot itself the old fashioned way.
T-T-The monster child agreed to the bear's proposition, for anything was better than being in a cage for the rest of his life and so, using its claws, it freed him by breaking the magic seal and they escaped into the unknown where they would conflict with the knight, the daughter and the Inventor once more while also defeating the Shadow Demon left behind by the Eldritch Beast who was once the Heartless King and freeing plus befriending their brainwashed slaves in the woods: A wolf, an alligator, a blue rabbit, a chicken and a masked witch.
And so, this dark and intricate tale comes to a close with a glimmer of hope, as the bear and the former monster venture forth on a quest for redemption and transformation, leaving behind a legacy of both tragedy and the possibility of a brighter future. But in the face of this new beginning, you can't help but wonder what awaits them on their journey or how this will continue...
Both men and the robot go silent upon its last words.
"What the Hell? This ended on such a rushed cliffhanger?! Is there anymore? I didn't sit here for thirty minutes to be left hanging. Please tell me you have more Fazcoins." Mr Burrows beseeched the engineer.
"I don't. And besides, it's said its story has already ended." The engineer leaned backwards, "So, what do you think? Shall we add this one to the Pizzaplex?"
"Eh Probably in the arcade. I don't think it will be that popular though as all it does is tell weird stories and give candy in exchange for money but it will make for a good prop... Just maybe...spruce it up with a new design will you?
"Certainly Mr Burrows, the design is a little...outdated anyways".
"That's great to hear Edwin." The businessman leaves the workshop, "Hook it to our Storyteller network and I'll see you around, yeah".
= RECAP END =