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THE NARRATOR
You're on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a monster. You're here to tame him. If you don’t, it will be the end of the world.
> How can a monster be a ‘him?’
THE NARRATOR
The same way any animal you don’t know is him. The same way a sailor calls his ship by a woman’s name.
> Have you considered that I don’t want to confront a big scary monster?
THE NARRATOR
Have you considered that the entire world includes you, Your Highness?
> Have you considered that I want to FUCK the big scary monster?
THE NARRATOR
Please don’t be crude. This is not a joke, this is the entire world at risk. Having sex with the monster will only aggravate it further. The only option is to tame it.
> By ‘tame’ do you mean train? Like a dog? How can a monster like that end the entire world?
THE NARRATOR
It doesn’t matter ‘how.’ What matters is that he will end the world if you fail me. That means everything. Trees, birds, animals…
And you, Your Highness. Do you really want an entire world on your conscience? Do you want to be responsible for that?
> How very manipulative of you.
THE NARRATOR
It’s not manipulation. It’s simply the consequences of your actions. If you don’t like the sound of a warning, perhaps that’s a sign you should take it seriously.
[Go to the cabin]
THE NARRATOR
This is a decrepit place, reserved for the forgotten and forgetting. Lush green moss creeps its way through the creaking floorboards. Moonlight shines in through holes in the ceiling, casting everything with an eerie silver glow.
In the center of the room is an aged wooden door, decorated with elaborate carvings. In the corner of the room, there is a small wooden table, with a decorated whip placed on top. To the left of that is a muzzle made of soft leather, meant to hold a creature’s jaw shut, and shaped for a human head.
> Huh. Kinky.
THE NARRATOR
If that’s what it takes to encourage you, then yes, it is kinky. I don’t suppose the monster will think so…but that’s not a concern of ours, is it?
> How do you expect him to listen to me if I hurt him?
THE NARRATOR
Well, that’d be your job. I’m here to guide you through your task, not to dictate your every action.
> Well, that’s not fair, now is it? That’s a lot to put on a girl’s shoulders without any warning. Maybe I don’t want to be in charge of all this.
THE NARRATOR
Maybe I don’t want to be watching powerlessly as a stranger dictates whether or not the whole world burns. We all have our burdens. Your role is one of immense power, Your Highness, and it’d do you well to remember that.
You have the luxury of choice. So, go ahead and choose. Which will be your implement?
> My beautiful eyes. (Enter the basement empty-handed.)
THE NARRATOR
You are going to be mauled to death. Choose differently.
> My beautiful eyes. (Enter the basement empty-handed.)
THE NARRATOR
This isn’t just some sordid fantasy. This is the fate of the entire world! You are not going to ‘fix him,’ you are going to tame him, and you cannot possibly do that empty-handed. Pick an implement.
> My enticing, beautiful eyes. (Enter the basement empty-handed.)
THE NARRATOR (Sighing)
You open the door, wincing at the screech of unoiled hinges, and find yourself standing in front of a series of wooden planks that once upon a time may have been stairs. There are gaps between each plank, just large enough to fall through.
A deep, empty blackness surrounds you on all sides.
> Jump into the abyss
THE NARRATOR
I’m not letting you do that.
> You can’t stop me.
THE NARRATOR
Is this not anticlimactic? If you won’t be concerned with the world then can you at least be concerned with the…the intrigue? How could falling for eternity possibly be fun for you?
> Reluctantly descend the stairs.
THE NARRATOR
Finally.
Waiting patiently for you is the beast that will end the world. His wings, numerous as they are, have been bound to the stone ceiling, stretched to their very limits. His face is shrouded in darkness, two bright lights serving in the place of eyes as they regard you. His hands are free, bird-like talons splayed across the wall, his legs folded beneath him in an awkward crouching position.
This is the monster you were sent to tame. Do as you will, but remember this: he will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to trick you into letting him go free early.
You must shape him into something weak and pliant. You must take a monster into your hands and then you must reduce it into something powerless.
> Speak with the beast.
THE NARRATOR
Odd choice. But a wise one. Things that can speak can be manipulated.
> “I’m here to tame you but honestly you look like you need help. Do you want me to help you?”
THE NARRATOR
He cocks his head to the side, curious. You cannot read his face, because there is nothing there to be read, but his shoulders slump in something like relief.
> “You can talk. I know you can. What do you want from the world?”
THE NARRATOR
No. No, don’t you dare. This is off-script.
> Well, I want to do it. You said I could do whatever I wanted.
THE NARRATOR
This isn’t shaping him. This is…this is letting him shape himself. This is letting whatever he wishes come to pass. This is dooming the world, not saving it. You are the only hope for the entire world, the only person alive who can shape this thing, and you’re choosing to let him run wild.
You tell him what he wants. You decide what he wants. That’s how this works, Your Highness.
> I want to know what he wants on his own. And it feels rude to just assume.
THE NARRATOR
It’s even ruder to damn every single thing that there ever was or will be.
> Whatever. Tell me what he says.
THE NARRATOR
*Heavy sigh.* The monster raises his head to look you square in the eyes, the light of his gaze blinding as the sun, and does not answer in words. But you know, in the same that you know you are a princess, that this creature yearns to be freed from his confines. You know, in the same way you know how to breathe, that this creature does not want for anything else, and that he will never want for anything else until and unless you decide for him.
> Press harder. “That can’t be all you want.”
THE NARRATOR
You decide that your personal curiosity is more important than untold amounts of lives and you press harder. The creature answers in the same way he answered before, with unmistakable knowledge and not a single word.
He wants to be free. He wants to know how he got here. He wants…to know you. And he doesn’t know how to want anything else.
> Press even harder. “How do you not know how to want?”
THE NARRATOR
The creature…lifts his head up even further. Until you cannot see his eyes, except for the light they cast on the wall behind him, as he stares into empty stone. You know that he does not understand how desire works nor does he understand how a thing like you and a thing like him could possibly be separated.
You know that he is you. You…realize. You realize that you have both been trapped somewhere vile and fragile and..and…
And this was an exercise in futility wasn’t it? Our world was doomed from the start.
You know what’s going to happen. You always knew. Somehow, even before this construct began, you knew that this was a false world and I was a false voice and that…the only way to escape is union between you and the creature I set you up against.
You’ve been toying with me, haven’t you?
> Mostly I just wanted a good story, if that helps.
THE NARRATOR
It doesn’t. Nothing will.
You take the creature’s hand, not bothering to warn me of what you’ll do, because you know that I know what you are. And then the two of you kiss, soft and quiet, loud and bright, until the Universe goes gentle with it.
He knows what he is. And he knows what you are. He thinks that you are beautiful and terrible and strange. He knows that he is you, that he can only be a person because you are in him, because despite your changing nature the only truths here left are that you are part of one another.
And he knows that the world will end if you join again.
> Reassure him. “I love you. Make your decision.”
THE NARRATOR
You give all your power to the monster you were meant to dominate and with that power he makes his choice.
I hate you. I hate you and everything you will ever be, Your Highness.
> Ignore the Narrator. Kiss your other half.
THE NARRATOR
I can’t believe I’m narrating this. You kiss a creature made entirely of shadow and it is only pleasant because you have decided that it is. He may or may not have a beak. He definitely has…some strange grey flush all over his cheekbones. Sharp cheek…
I hate everything about this, I hope you know that. But yes, he is a handsome whatever he is, and since you have decided that a kiss is warranted, he has decided to start puffing up with pride like some sort of…of a world-ending cockatoo man.
> “Whatever decision you make, I love you for it. I always will.”
THE NARRATOR
The creature, armed with the power you have decided it ought to have, makes his decision. He may kill you and let the world rot without change for all eternity, damning us all in a new way. He may take your hand, and run amok across the universe, ending worlds as you both grow into your perverted godhood. Or he may…stay here, like this, until you are both forced to make a decision out of sheer boredom.
You can’t go back now. You don’t get to decide how this goes anymore. Do you understand that? Do you even understand the weight of what you have done or are you just enjoying my pain?
> I don’t care enough about you to enjoy your pain. But yes, I do know. I wanted this.
THE NARRATOR
Of course you did.
> Now stand back and let us choose.
THE NARRATOR
Fine. Might as well stop stalling. We both know how this goes now.
> “I love you. Don’t forget that.”
THE NARRATOR
He smiles, wings shaking off their bindings, and proceeds to make his choice.