Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark and freezing cold. Not like normal, though. In the dark world, the dark was normal, like it was supposed to be there. But in this new place, it felt like the dark was no longer normal, but instead was the absence of light. There was shuffling. Hundreds upon hundreds of darkeners were in the cold, wide room whispering and unsure, fear had taken hold. I'll admit, even I was scared. Then, a crack of light for the first time, the shadow of a goat-like boy cast down on the darkeners. With this light came a new feeling: warmth.

When the bunker door had fully opened, Ralsei and his companions had started leading people out of the dark room into the new world. It was certainly crowded outside the bunker; there wasn't enough room in the small patch of empty land in the middle of the trees for the massive population of darkeners. Everyone was itching to get outside and experience this new, kinder world.

Me, however? It didn't feel right for an old cat like me, I felt like I was out of place. I was old, my life was meant for the darkness. This wide old bunker was certainly enough room for me. If it could fit an entire population, it was surely enough for my own humble hobbies.

After most of the darkeners had left the bunker, there were only a few stragglers left behind. Even my feline eyes couldn't see them in the darkness. Ralsei started stepping back into the bunker, he had seen the stragglers and started approaching them with an air of compassion. "Seam.... I understand your hesitation, but there's no future for anyone down here anymore. I think you might find a new life in the light world." He had a new look in his eyes as he said this. His old demeanor was unsure and hesitant, knowing that his life was meaningless compared to that of a lightener, but now that he was among them, he had a new hope and passion in his heart. I'll be honest, it moved me. "I... understand Ralsei. Just forgive this old cat for their fear... I never thought that I'd get to see the day I would feel warmth." After I spoke, Ralsei gave me a reassuring look. It felt strange having such a young boy rekindle a new feeling of hope within my heart. It gave me a push into the new light.

I stepped into the light. It was extremely crowded, darkeners were flooding into the forest because of the lack of space. There were many familiar faces around, even Tenna was there scrambling to find his beloved Mike and dodging his old business partner turned ex-husband. It was certainly uncomfortable, but for some unknown reason the chaos brought a smile to my face. I had started migrating out of the bulk of the crowd and into the trees, finding an old stump to sit on and observe from. The noise had attracted the attention of several lighteners from the town an eighth of a kilometer from the bunker's entrance, and the heroes of light were desperately keeping the two populations separated. There was enough stress to deal with one group of people. If they started mingling with another, it would get messy quickly.

A couple hours had passed. Everyone started finding their places in the trees and patch of land near the bunker, I could hear different demographics speaking about what they wanted to do with their new life in this huge world: many of the pippins wanted to see the new opportunities for gambling and making money, Shadowguys started playing their instruments, honing their skills for the new world to hear, and the Ruddins thought about the new jobs they could slack off in. It was heartwarming in a way to hear the new hopes and passions sparked in the hearts around me. I, however, had no clue what I wanted to do in this new world. Maybe, just maybe I could return to my old magician ways. The light world had not prevented the use of magic, even if it greatly weakened it.

Ralsei had made his way to the lighteners' little village. He acted as a representative for the darkeners, which was met with unanimous agreement. He had gone to ask the newly elected mayor for tents and sources of light and warmth for the coming nightfall, there was certainly not enough for everyone. The large goat man had spared all the resources he could for the new people, and then we had to divide the tents among the people.

I had immediately dismissed myself as a candidate, since my fur and robes were more than enough warmth and comfort for me. I helped make some space among the trees, pushing old logs and taking down some of the smaller plants to make room for the tents. After hours of labor, the tents had been fully set up for about half the darkeners that emerged from the bunker. The rest who emerged were tough enough or had their own sources of warmth and light to make up for the lack of a tent.

I could finally take a moment to relax. I laid down in the grass, looking up through the trees at the purple sky. The sun had been setting for a while now, and it was almost time for the stars to come out... It made me a bit emotional, finally having the chance to see stars. Strangely enough, despite the endless possibilities for the future, my mind had wandered to the past, to old friends I haven't seen in many years because of my hermit-like tendencies back in castle town. My old boss, the King of Spades, Rouxls Kaard in all his.... excellence, and that jester. My god, Jevil. It had been so long since I had seen him and its stupid smile. I chuckled to myself thinking about what he had been getting himself into now that he has a new world to mess around in. These comforting thoughts of an old friend had unfortunately been snuffed out by a deep sense of concern. What chaos could he wreak onto this new world if his mind was still corrupted by the darkness that had forced me to put him away into that cell? I hadn't seen him once in the hours I was outside. Did the hero's keep him down there in that bunker because of his eccentrism? 

My heart raced. I had no clue why this old companion had elicited such a strong rush of emotions in my heart, but my fur was standing on the back of my neck. I sat up from my patch of grass and started looking around. If there was no sign of Jevil during the day, why would he be here now? That hint of rationality was overcome by an unexplainable desire for closure. There was no sign of the jester, so I made my way to Ralsei's tent to ask him directly. After an awkward walk squeezing past the tents and bodies of darkeners, I had made it to Ralsei writing something on the floor of his tent. "Evening Ralsei... I have a...." It took me a second to find the words, but Ralsei seemed patient enough. "...question about a certain person." Despite me being vague with my question, he knew exactly who I was speaking about "Jevil? He is in the bunker still, he insisted to stay down there because his '100 year sleep was not yet finished'. I'm not sure how long he wants to keep pretending to sleep, but it isn't my place to infringe on his rest, I suppose." He snickered to himself by the end of his sentence, "If you want to go see him, be my guest. There isn't anything dangerous in the bunker or anything, just a bunch of big empty rooms." I responded, "Thank you Ralsei, that's all I needed to know" and took my leave quickly and abruptly.

Despite the good news that Jevil had no wish to cause chaos, that felt like the absolute worst answer imaginable. It was now my choice whether to confront the old companion or to ignore him, and neither of the options sounded ideal. I decided to return to my patch of grass to brainstorm it.

I thought about it for a long while, and despite my excitement for them, I never took a glance at the stars that night before falling into my slumber.

When I awoke, it was early in the morning and I immediately returned to my dilemma of whether I should approach my former companion. Before my mind had time to further contemplate, I felt my legs moving on their own towards the door. My mind had hesitated, but my soul knew that this was inevitable. There was no world where I could simply ignore the jester who had directed the course of my life into one of passion before his forced insanity.

I pulled the steel doors as hard as I could. The rusted hinges and heavy metal made opening the door take several seconds, only heightening the anticipation in my beating chest. After what felt like an eternity, I could squeeze into the old bunker. Carrying a lantern, I walked through the cold darkness in search of Jevil.

The lantern only emphasized the extraordinary scale of the bunker. Of course, it had to be huge to fit all the darkeners, but it was incredible just how massive it was. It had never occurred to me that more darkeners could have chosen to stay down here, but very few stragglers remained. Most were seemingly in despair, most likely in a mourning period because of the loss of their home and all possessions left in the dark world. It's easy to forget the life that many built up when being thrown into a bright new world. It makes me think of what I have left behind. At least for me, I can find it.

As I stepped deeper into the darkness, all signs of life had disappeared. Not even the stirring of a Mause was audible, the silence was deafening. That is until- CRACK! I exclaimed in pain as a sharp sensation penetrated my slippers and pierced through the bottom of my foot. "Shit.... god... oww..." The silence in the room had been replaced with soft curses and exclamations of pain, and the pitch black flooring had been covered in a... red stain? It hadn't occurred to me that my soul being untethered from a simple stuffed toy and developing its own body would come with all the side effects of becoming a living being with blood, bones, and organs. The pain had gone from unpleasant to a comfortable reminder that I was alive, but regardless I should get the mystery object out of my foot and care for the wound.

With the knife I had in my robes, I carefully pried out the object, getting more acquainted with my new sense of pain I had developed, and discovered it was a shadow crystal. Looking back at the pile I had stepped on, it seemed as if all the shadow crystals were in that one area, in a pattern that looked like someone was trying to piece it all together again. But with the absence of the dark world, the crystals were nothing more than sharp, dark pieces of glass. I had a feeling I knew the one who wanted to restore the crystals to their original power, and it made speaking with Jevil all the more urgent. Who knows what he would do left alone trying to restore its body and magic to its former glory?

I pocketed the crystal subconsciously and trekked further into the bunker until I saw a white subtle glow in the shape of the 4 suits of cards in the distance. My heart pounded as my slippers' steps reverberated through the room, alerting the jester of my presence. Immediately, it pounced up from its laying position and he stared at me, pupils dilated and ears perked up. "SEAMMYYY!!!!!!" He yelled, almost deafening me with the loud echo that blasted through the room. "IT'S BEEN SO LONG, LONG! I MISSED YOU!!!" His palpable affection was overbearing as he approached me at an almost concerning speed. "Jevs... it's nice to see you, what are you doing down here?" He replied in moments, as if he had rehearsed its next lines- "Practicing to build my kingdom, of course, course!" "Kingdom...?" He looked at me with this manic look in his eyes, his mind was still disturbed despite the shadows having no control of it anymore. "Yes! YES! Look at all this free room here! There's an infinite amount of possibilities, if I can get my magic to what it was like before, fore, I could build the biggest kingdom of freedom and joy and darkness and magic and everything else we could ever want, want!" Its words came out of its mouth at an extraordinary speed, he spoke as if he was a child describing a fantasy, but in the dark world, his words had a truth to them.

Jevil was immeasurably powerful at the apex of its strength. He could level a mountain and build a castle in its place, his body was quite literally invincible. He could bathe in magma and be crushed by a meteor and walk out of it with not even a scratch. The truth of the matter was that I never was able to lock him away, not truly. When he had first wreaked chaos after looking into the completed shadow crystal, he was untouchable. When I had confronted him, all it took was an accidental hit to my eye with the back of his hand to blow it out of my head and completely disintegrate it. When he had done that, it was the last time I saw his eyes focus, and it was the moment I threw him into his cell. In truth, the cell's magic seal was definitely powerful, it was my greatest work of magic, but he could have shattered it effortlessly. The only thing keeping him in his cell was the same thing keeping him in this bunker: illusions of true freedom and the promise of his own utopia.

I stared him in the eyes with the one I had left and spoke to him with bluntness, "Do you truly think you have a future down here?" He laughed at me as if I had told him the moon was made of cheese and responded through his chuckles "OF COURSE! I CAN DO ANYTHING, THING! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! I CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!" There was desperation in his voice, he knew he wasn't capable of doing everything anymore, nowhere close to it, but I responded with an unreasonable ask regardless. "Make a statue of yourself in this very room." He chuckled "ASK AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE, CIEVE!" He had begun to create a structure with magic, but it was unstable. In the end, he made what I asked for, but it was barely the size of my palm. "Quite the statue." Jevil looked back at me with disappointment in his eyes, rebutting in a voice much more insecure than the one he had when I entered the room, "I just need time, time! I'll be back right to my incredible self! Statues, kingdoms, all of it will be down here!" His pupils had started to focus for just a moment, before he had relapsed back into his more manic mood. Something in his mind was shifting. "I'M INVINCIBLE I TELL YOU! INDESTRUCTIBLE! INDESCIEVABLE! INCREDIBLE! IMMESURABLE! I CAN TRULY DO ANYTHING, AND I WILL DO ANYTHING!" It started yelling louder with each word, and held his hand out to me, "COME WITH ME... PLEASE. Please. I can show you what I can do, Seam." Jevil stared into my face expectantly, wanting me to take his hand so he could lead me into the darkness with him. Instead, I took his wrist and lightly pressed the glass shard onto his palm, making the lightest of cuts. "ACK!" Jevil exclaimed. It was the first time in years he had felt pain or had suffered an injury, and that pain was further exaggerated by his now mortal body. Blood had streamed down his hands and trickled down his fingers and onto the ground. He stopped levitating, and kneeled on the ground, holding his own wrist with a tight grip and looking at the cut with tears in his eyes.

His eyes... They had a different look, his pupils had enlarged and focused on his hand, a warmth in its pale purple skin had rushed back into its face. "What.... how... but?" He couldn't form a sentence, its entire world had come crashing down right on top of it. His invincibility, his unlimited power, his identity he formed within the freedom it was trapped in all faded into nothingness. "I'm sorry Jevil, I just wanted to-" He looked at me somberly and responded "Go... please." I had no words left in my mind, but I still spoke to it with my heart. "Jevil, please, be free." He looked into my eye, stared back down at his palm, and sat in silence. I stood there for a moment staring at him, tempted to kneel to its level and attempt some form of comfort, but he insisted with his body language that it wanted to be left alone, so I left the bunker.

When I came back out onto the surface, I took a deep breath of fresh air. It felt like hours, but I had been down there for less than 30 minutes. It was still early in the morning, but more darkeners had awoken. Me, however? I wanted nothing more than to rest.

I returned to my little patch of grass in the woods and took a nap.

Chapter Text

It had been several weeks since the darkeners had emerged from the bunker, and the fusion of the new people and this ancient world have been an incredibly arduous task. The Darkeners had nowhere to stay. And while that was temporarily mended by the tents and small space around the bunker, people who had no shelter were starting to get sick from the cold and unfamiliar environment. I am unfortunately one of these victims. My old body’s immune system had no experience with my new home, and I've been sick with a cold for almost a week now. Despite what the books I have read about the light world have said, it's an extraordinarily uncomfortable experience. Nonetheless, as one of the very few darkeners who had access to information about the light world in our native land, I was one of the people responsible for the more political side of our dilemma. 

Ralsei and other representatives (including myself) for the darkeners had been speaking with Hometowns humble congress, navigating around permits and documents that none of us had ever heard of before. But in the end of these several weeks, we had permission to create a settlement 5 miles east of the small town. This had started the birth of the new “Castletown”, which just started planning a few days ago.

After my long hard work, I had wanted nothing more than rest and to heal my body from exhaustion and illness. But there was still a worry in my mind that had prevented any form of recovery: my missing jester.

Jevil had disappeared after our meeting in the dark, and nobody had seen him for weeks. Most other people were unconcerned with this, Jevil had no malicious intentions or real power in this world and he could handle itself easily. I knew how it felt at the end of our last meeting though, and it made me worry for its safety. I would have started my search, but I had an immense amount of paperwork and a weak body from my exhaustion and sickness. So I had to trust him.

I sat in the spare closet in the public school at night alongside a few other darkeners for shelter. From what I’ve heard, that's where my native dark world was born, so it gives me a subtle comfort. I continued to read documents. Having to research exactly what those documents were for hours had extended my work to an almost intolerable degree, and before I knew it, my eyes had begun to succumb to gravity. My back slumped against the wall in such a comfortable position that there was no escape from the posture I had taken. It took mere moments for me to drift off into a sweet unconsciousness.

That damned jester had overtaken every moment I had to myself and had now taken my most precious time: my sleep. My dreams were invaded by its soft eyes I had seen after I cut his palm. The way it had shown its old habit of curling his tail when he was upset reminded me of the Jevil that guided me through my life when I was lost. After decades, I saw the jester I had formed a bond over the chess board again, and I yearned for his companionship once again. 

My dreams had shifted from the uncomfortable memory of our recent meeting in the dark bunker to the moments we shared as companions in the dark world: the games we had played, the shows it forced me to participate in, and the shows that I volunteered in during the latter years of our partnership. It was a life changing friendship, and I realized that the friend I thought I had lost returned and was missing. The distress had quickly returned, awakening me from my slumber.

The room was pitch black. There were almost a dozen others within the room taking their rest for the night, if I had started shuffling around to leave I would for sure disturb them. I attempted to return to sleep, but it was impossible. The question of where my jester friend was eating away at my mind, I very carefully got up and exited the closet. It was completely black outside the room, and the clock was impossible to see. Luckily, this old cat was able to cast their magic despite not being in the dark world. I attempted to cast a spark that would create a sizable flame, but it was, for lack of a better word, pitiful. I could understand Jevils frustration in that bunker, my power being so weak felt humiliating. Nonetheless, I could make a hint of light, which was enough to see what the clock read, “3:30 AM.” I had no reason to be up at this time, and it would absolutely impact my ability to do work, but I felt as if there was no choice but to find my companion if I were to be able to sleep.

I stepped out of the school to see if there was anywhere the jester could be. If he were to be out at any time, it would be at an unreasonable time such as now. The moon illuminated the streets, but not by much, seeing was still a challenge. I brainstormed to myself where he would be hiding. The bunker was my first thought, but I would doubt it’d stay put in a place like that with how irritable he has always been. Jevil was anything but logical, so thinking about where he would be was pointless. All I could do was walk down the roads and hope I came upon whatever antics he was up to.

As I walked down the roads, I noticed how incredibly quiet and empty everything was. In the dark world, there was no “nighttime,” so people's sleep patterns would simply be whatever was most convenient for them. The complete silence of the town was a foreign feeling, and frankly it was welcome. It took me about 15 minutes to trek my way through every road the town had to offer, and there was no sign of Jevil. I knew it wouldn't be so easy to find, but I was still disappointed with myself that I couldn't find someone so punctual. 

As I headed back to the school, I decided that I might as well check on the bunker, and to my surprise, I could see in the distance his little magic show. Well, attempt at one. 

When I traveled down the road towards the bunker, I noticed a familiar armament: his “Devils Knife” floating in the air with a light glow around it. That glow was a sign of his “reality manipulation” as he fancifully called it, but it was simply just telekinesis with a side of illusions. I decided to extinguish my source of light to not alert it of my presence, and watched from a short distance as he would work.

Jevil looked exhausted, his eyes were reddened from a lack of sleep, and his movements were sluggish and messy. It wasn't how he worked at all. Something was certainly bothering it if it completely ignored its sloppy movements. The Devil's Knife had floated in the air for a few more moments before it dropped into the dirt suddenly. Jevil simply watched it fall to the ground, stood in silence for a moment, picked it back up and kept going. The process just kept repeating, Jevil emotionlessly kept doing the same routine over and over with no sign of improvement. It was hard to watch him, but interrupting it would just make it feel worse. 

After a painful amount of time watching him do this, he finally changed his routine to include a new trick: extensive cursing.

The knife would keep dropping again and again, and he yelled “SHIT, SHIT!” or “DAMNIT ALL, ALL!”. After another extensive period of time, it snapped and threw the knife into a tree as hard as it could, and as if the universe was mocking the poor jester, it bounced off the tree. Thinking logically, Jevils incredible exhaustion and the wear and tear of the knife dropping repeatedly made the knife bounce off the tree, but to him, it seemed like that was just the world telling it that it was worthless. He fell to his knees for a moment, then laid on the ground on his back, and just sobbed for a moment. 

I couldn't just watch anymore. I walked over to it and laid down on the ground with him. He had no reaction to my presence, and we laid there for a moment together looking into the stars. He spoke after a moment-

“Why, Seam? Why can't I do anything anymore? I used to be such a spectacular performer, and now look at me. Useless, less.”

“Your magic was anchored off the dark worlds' fountains, and now it's just your soul fueling it. It's much weaker and you have to start from square one all again to become as good as it once was.”

He took a moment before speaking again.

“You just know it all, dontcha, cha?

“An educated inference, Jevil.”

“Educated… right… so smart. You can use that big ole brain for everything, cantcha big cat, cat?”

“... Sorry, I suppose I spoke without thinking, I should have been more sensitive. I can tell this is hard for you.”

“You can make an educated inference without thinkin huh? Are you really that much smarter than me, or are you just pulling it all out of your ass to make me feel better, cause it aint workin, kin.”

Its vernacular had a much more crude tone, something it’d always show off when it was infuriated.

“Jevil, it was a figure of speech. I’m not trying to insinuate you are dumb or anything, just wanted to answer your question.”

It sat up with a scowl, went over to its Devil's Knife and picked it up.

“You… you took it from me didn't ya, ya?”

“What?”

“Ever since you cut my palm… I haven't been able to improve or nothin. That shard… It took my power, didn't it? It's your fault, fault.”

Its grip tightened.

“Jevil, that shard was just glass”—Partially a lie. Indeed its original purpose was much greater than that, but in this world, it was worthless.

“Nah I know what it was, it was that shadow crystal-thingamajig wasn't it? I remember it, back when it was whole, when I looked in and became the strongest anyone has ever been. Guess it wanted that power back huh, took all of my magic alongside it, leavin just a speck left, you were just listenin to it,it.”

“Jevil, that's impossible. The former crystal is powerless now, just like the rest of us.”

“Right… that an educated inference too,too?”

“Its the truth.”

“Fuck you Seam, Seam”

After he said those words, we both went completely silent, and we made uncomfortable eye contact. 

“I would never do that to you, Jevs. You know that.”

“Please, give it back, back.”

“I can't."

“Please, I want it back, I miss my art. I miss my talent, the laughs I could bring, the games we could play, the performances I could put on,on.”

“You still can, Jevil. You haven't lost any of your physical talent, and you can bring back a good potion of the magic you have lost”

“I want all of it, I want the art I could create from light, the knives I could summon and make fly around,round.”

Its demeanor had gone from anger to despair, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke.

“I… I don't know if you can get it all back, Jevil, but with practice im sure you could get back that magic… if you ever need any help-”

“I don't need help. Not from you,you.”

“Ah… well-”

“Why-dya come here anyways? To laugh at me? All you’ve said was drivel and then ‘keep practicing’.I was gonna, I don't need you to tell me that, that.”

“You asked me questions and I answered them, don't get mad at me for that, Jevil. I want to help you.”

“I never asked for you to be here, here.”

“I wanted to be here with you Jevs.”

“Stop saying my name, stop talking to me, go away, away.”

“Jevil-”

“Stop saying my name and just leave, leave”

He said that with tears in his eyes and his voice trembling. It was putting on this face of anger towards me, but everything else showed he was a lot more angry with himself. The logical part of me wanted to go armchair psychologist and talk to it about how he was projecting, but even someone as socially inept as I could tell that was only going to make it much worse. So, I held my tongue.

A part of me wanted to listen to its request, but I thought it'd be irresponsible of me to leave someone so upset and hurt alone with a large weapon. I stopped speaking, didn't move an inch and pulled out some papers I had in my robe, and started reading. Jevil looked at me with confusion on its face as I read the already signed documents, and after a moment, his breathing had mellowed out and he dropped its weapon on the ground. The jester walked over to my side and sat, wiping its eyes as it started focusing on the paper with me.

“You understand this stuff, Jevil?”

“... No, not really, really.”

“I barely get any of it either, but if it doesn't get signed we can't build our town. So, all you can do is hope they haven't trapped us in a contract.” I let off a pitiful chuckle after saying that. It was a genuine concern thinking about it now.

“You guys are building a town, town?”

“You haven't heard about it?”

“No, I haven't talked to anyone besides you since I left the bunker,ker.”

“That isn't like you. There is a diner, you know. You could go spread some of your mayhem there like you always would back after our performances in the castle”

“I know… I just don't feel like I can show my face in my current state, state.”

“Gosh, so self-loathing!” I gave him a sly look as I said that, it gave me a light chuckle.

“You don't get it, I'm not funny anymore,more!”

“You? Not funny? I don't believe that in a million years. I could take all your magic, knicknacks and doodads and you'd still get a laugh out of me!”

Jevil gave me a genuine smile, something I haven't seen in years. It gave me a weird feeling in my heart.

He let out a sigh, and spoke, “You’re right, I've never needed some lousy magic or crazy gadgets to make someone laugh, I dont know what im missing that's making me so… boring, ing.”

“Well, I would start with some sleep. You look like you haven't had rest in a week.”

“I haven't,n’t.” 

“Oh. Well, you probably should.”

“Yeah, Yeah.”

It laid down on the ground and closed its eyes. I sat with him for a long while, and then fell asleep alongside him.

When I woke up, the sun was directly over my face, beaming right into my eye. When the black spots in my eye had dissipated, I noticed the jester I fell asleep next to had disappeared. Nothing new for the mischievous fellow, all I could do was trust in it. I got up, and walked back to the town. I had certainly overslept every single important meeting I was supposed to be there for and it's even better than nobody could find me the entire morning, so coming back to town, I was met with the disappointed glares of some of my fellow colleagues. 

After many apologies and fake excuses, I had no choice but to get back to work, and so I did.

Chapter Text

Another month passes, life has been passing me by at an exceptional rate. Construction on New Castletown has finally started, and temporary settlements have been put up for the darkeners, no longer will we have to sleep in spare closets and closed stores. We can finally rest our backs on something that isn't concrete, and a nice bed was all I could think about.

Well, that and Jevil.

Jevil has been very briefly spotted in the past month and a half we've been in the light world, and the only person who's bothered to confront it in those sightings was me. I wonder every night how he is doing, but I never go out of my way to find him. The last time I saw him he said a lot of hurtful things, and while I know in my mind it only said them because of the pain it was feeling, it still hurt me to hear. Perhaps it's a bit selfish to avoid the jester because of some words it said, but I don't think I could handle another argument like that again. It's not the only person who's been having a… rough time acclimating to the new world.

I walked over to New Castletown's very first buildings, most of which were apartment buildings, but some were planned to be stores. Fortunately, I was given a recreation of my old shop back in the dark world as both lodging and somewhere I could sell old knicknacks like I used to. It wasn't exactly the same, you can't exactly make a building out of cloth in the light world, but it was recognizable enough. It felt like home again.

I opened the door to the new shop and was met with a decently sized room for whatever I wanted to sell, a good bit larger than the store I had back in the dark world. The main thing I was worried about however was my lodging. I walked to the very back and went behind the counter. There were two doors: storage, and an unmarked door. I opened the unmarked door and was met with a comfortable living space. Walking around I spotted a sizable living room with a sofa, a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. It was very empty, but I had no concern for anything productive. I had to lay my back on something soft. Desperately. 

I immediately kicked off my slippers and laid on the sofa, it was incredibly euphoric to finally have a sense of comfort after the endless stress I have dealt with for several months. That comfort lulled me into a sleep within moments, and I slept the afternoon away. I woke up in my lantern-lit living room at 2 AM. I was still getting used to the light worlds concept of time but I knew I should probably be asleep right now. I would have returned to sleep, but my body felt restless. I returned to my slippers and decided to further straighten up whatever was in my home. 

There was almost nothing in the house. There wasn't any tableware, food in the fridge, toiletries or even a bed came with the home. I wasn't complaining, I'm sure the money the construction team had was extremely tight, but it makes my job much harder. Strangely enough, despite the lack of any essentials, there was a chess board stuffed in the bedroom closet. It was fresh too, the pieces were delicately carved and each were given a unique shape. The colors were even unique, instead of white and black, it was orange and purple, as if it were made just for me. There was no question this was Jevils creation, I stopped playing chess the day that I locked him away, nobody else would even think of giving me this.

I sat on the floor of the bedroom examining each piece, it was an extremely bittersweet feeling. He never lost his artistic touch even after all those years, and it never forgot the games of chess we would share every night. The sweet memories were comfortable to live in, but I had a more pressing question. How the hell did Jevil get into my house?

There were two possibilities, he knew where I lived before it had finished construction and placed it then, or he came into my home while I was sleeping and placed it there. While Jevil was certainly a strange fellow who had no interest in following rules given to it, I don't think he would break into my home while I was sleeping. He would certainly break into my home while I was awake. It's done that several times in the past, but he never invaded my privacy. He made a point of that.

If Jevil knew where I lived before I did, that must mean he's been at New Castletown for a good amount of time. Makes sense thinking about it now, it's both quiet and empty at night, while bustling and unassuming at the day time, a good hideout for someone like him.

There's no doubt Jevil had set up camp nearby, that's what I told myself anyways. Without thinking, I began yet another search for him. Like a magnet, I was drawn to finding him. I wanted to see my companion again, my best friend. I walked, and walked through the dim roads, there were no streetlights yet built, in fact most buildings around me hadn't even been finished. He could be lodging in any one of the buildings, it would take hours to search through them all. 

So I kept walking, aimlessly, caring not if my path made circles over and over in the same place, or if I were to get lost in the darkner-made jungle and never find my way home. It was a familiar feeling, being able to not care about anything again. I’ve had responsibilities and worries shouldered onto me for the past month and a half, but for just a moment I could let them go. I knew I had to go home eventually, rest and take care of myself, then return to my work. But for now? I didn't need to care about anything during my long walk, I had stopped thinking of Jevil after a certain amount of time, I stopped thinking about anything. It was like I wasn't there.

Without even noticing it, I fell back into my old habit of dissociation, everything was too much for me. Suddenly, a snap occurred. I thought it was a theoretical snap back into reality, but it was a literal snap, I tripped on a twig and fell straight on my face. I thought that there was nobody to witness my shameful tumble, but I was proved wrong by the howling laugh I heard a thousand times over back in the day

“EUHUHU!!! YOU ATE DIRT, DIRT!!!!”

I didn't have to look up to know exactly who that was, there's nobody in the world I'd rather be laughed at after tripping than it.

I tilted my head up to respond- “Yeah yeah whatever …. Ugh….” Consciousness had just returned to me, so what I had intended to be a full sentence became slurred and incomprehensible.

“What are ya doin out so late Seamy??? Lookin for little ole me, me?” My heart skipped a beat when he said Seamy… It's been such a long time since its called me that.

I speak as I get up, “You seem to be in a good mood, Jevs.”

“How could I not be! Guess what just happened tonight, night!”

“What happened?”

“For the first time in my month and a half in this light… I have improved, proved!”

“Improved? How so?”

“I went from being able to lift the DevilsKnife with magic from 10 seconds… to eleven, ven!”

“... Any improvement is improvement, I suppose. Congrats Jevil” Despite my attempt to make the sentence sound supportive, Jevil gave me a slight scowl at the word suppose. Despite its seemingly cheerful and laidback attitude, he was still very unstable. I should have chosen my words more carefully.

“Suppose??? SUPPOSE?!? THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE MADE PROGRESS IN ALMOST 2 MONTHS!!! I FINALLY HAVE SOME HOPE, HOPE!” He paused for a moment, holding in his final sentence before it mumbles its next words. “Guess you wouldn't know anything about that, that….”

Fuck. That hurts, but it’s right. “Sorry… I didn't mean it…” My words sounded much more pitiful than I wanted them to, bringing me humiliation as a side to my careless words.

Jevil looked at me with an expression that brought me more pain than if I were to lose my other eye, pity. I still hadn't brushed myself off after my fall, and was kneeling on the ground holding back tears. It makes sense it would pity me, but it was painful.

“Jevil… What have you been doing since I’ve last seen you?” I changed the subject attempting to defend the last bit of pride in my soul.

“Living on a construction site and practicing magic. Clearly not well enough for you, I suppose, pose” It spoke the word suppose with venom, clearly still hurt by my poor choice of wording.

“I'm sorry Jevil, I didn't mean to say ‘suppose’ with maliciousness…”

“Why did you say it then, is it cause I'm not good enough for you, you?”

“You are good enough, I made a mistake with my words. I'm sorry.”

“Good enough to who? It's not like you are impressed! What is your magic already back in full force, you ready to perform without me, me?”

“I’m sorry”

“... Please just say you are proud of me, Seamy, my.”

Knowing my presence has only brought Jevil pain; I spoke my next words intending to break away from him. “It doesn't matter if I'm proud of you… This isn't about me, don't let me bother you.”

“OF COURSE IT MATTERS! I'm doing this for YOU! I want YOU to see my magic, my skill, my jokes! And I want YOU to join in on them! I want US on that stage again, gain!”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. It felt as if an opportunity to return to the past dropped into my lap, but it was excruciatingly painful thinking about it. I felt this sense of doom thinking about returning to that old routine with my partner, as if it would just end the same exact way as it did in the past. It felt like if I didn't run away from this, I would be forced to see my friend fall into the mania he did many years ago. If I lost Jevil like that again, I don't think I could live another day; but am I really living if I don't go back to the passion I once shared with my beloved companion?

Beloved companion…?

There was a long silence before I could give it the only answer I was comfortable committing with. “I don't know. I would like to but… would things be the same after all that's happened?”

“They won't be the same, we can make them better. The world is our canvas, Seam, Seam.”

“... I think… I think there's a lot to do before I can get back up on the stage.”

I realize it was an unsatisfactory answer, but I had no other answer for it.

“I know… it was just a bold dream from a jester like me… I’ve just been thinking about the fun we had together, gether.”

“We could still have good times together, partner. If you want… you can stay at my abode rather than out here in the cold, even if we won't be performing anytime soon, I still want to reignite our companionship.” I filled my sentence with fluff to make what I was asking seem less embarrassing than it really was, as I was essentially asking him to live with me, but Jevil has always been good at embarrassing me. 

“Wow Seamy… I didn't think you felt that way, way…” He spoke in a snarky, teasing tone. Despite making fun of my request, it seemed to cheer it up.

“If you don't want to stay at my place that's fine…” My words did not match my tone, which was screaming “PLEASE SAY YES PLEASE SAY YES”. 

“No- no! I accept your gracious and generous offer, offer!” Jevil gave me a big toothy grin that said both “We’re gonna have a great time!” and “You’re gonna regret this!” at the same time. While I should be worried about what a Jester who's been locked up for years is going to do to my home and peace of mind, its familiar grin and snarkiness returning brought me a comfort that triumphed over my worries.

“I would lead you to my home, but I'm pretty sure you know exactly where it is. I'm also completely lost.”

“Dont worry your tail about it! I know where you live from here, here!”

“You knowing where I live worries me a lot, actually.”

“Then why’d you want me to live with you so bad, bad?”

“... You make me sound like I was yearning for it.”

“What, were you not, not?”

“No..”

“I can tell when you’re lying, that poker face of yours has never worked on me, me!”

We continued our banter through the dark streets back to my abode. Banter is a deceiving word for it, it was more Jevil finding more and more ways to embarrass me. 

We went inside, and sat on the couch. The clock read 3:30, my time out there felt like weeks, yet so little time had actually passed. What wasn't deceiving however, was how exhausted I was. Without a second thought I kicked my slippers off and started getting comfortable on the sofa. However, my first roadblock arrived with my new roommate. There was no room for it to sleep.

“Ah… sorry Jevil, this sofa is the closest thing to a bed in the whole place…”

“Gonna leave your guest to sleep on the floor, huh, huh!?”

“I can sleep on the floor, I'm not bothered by it.”

Jevil looked at me, considering booting me to the carpet, and spoke. “We can take turns with the sofa till you get yourself a bed, you look a lot rougher than me old cat, you can take it for tonight, night.”

I considered offering the sofa to Jevil one more time, but it sounded really comfortable right now, so I decided not to push back against his offer.

“Good night then.”

“Nighty night, night!”

After closing my eyes, a wave of unconsciousness instantly struck me, and I entered my slumber once again.