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Not many monsters lived in the old capital these days. Which was fine by Spamton. It meant he could be left alone to stew in bitter old memories. It meant no small talk or invasive questions, both of which drove him nuts. If he was lucky, he could slip deep into the ruins and spot sunlight shining down from the outside world.
He missed the sun. He missed natural light and fresh air and the feeling of wind ruffling his feathers. Flying down here was so much harder, even in the larger caverns like the one Home had been built in. The air was stale and cool, no thermals to catch under his wings and raise him higher, every inch gained a struggle.
But most of all, he missed Tenna. He missed the man’s smile, the way he laughed, the way he really laughed when the two of them were alone. He missed the days of hard work and the tender touches. He missed having help caring for his feathers, because angel forbid he let himself be vulnerable and accept help from anyone else. Even now, as he shook himself out of his thoughts, a couple of loose feathers drifted to the ground. He huffed, kicking them over the edge of the crumbling wall he was perched on, and watched them lazily drift to the dark, empty streets below him.
“SO THIS IS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN HIDING, HIDING?”
Spamton let out a discordant screech, fluffing up his feathers and lifting a few feet in the air before settling back down. He whirled around to face the familiar voice. “Don’t sneak up on a man like that! God, Jevil, it’s like you want to kill me.”
“I WAS HARDLY SNEAKING, SNEAKING,” Jevil replied, slinking forward to perch on the wall next to Spamton. His tail quivered with clear excitement. “YOU WERE TOO WOUND UP IN YOUR MIND TO NOTICE, NOTICE. AS YOU ARE WONT TO DO.”
Scoffing, Spamton edged away hunching his shoulders. “What do you want, clown?”
Jevil cackled, edging closer. “YOU WERE MISSED AT THE MEETING. THE TORTOISE GROWS WORRIED WITH YOUR LITTLE DISAPPEARANCE."
Spamton rolled his eyes. “Please, like anyone there missed me. They’re all happy to wallow in their misery.”
“ARE YOU NOT DOING THE SAME, SAME?”
He whirled around to face Jevil. “No! Everything sucks, but I’m not going to lie here and take it! There has to be a way out. A way beyond the barrier. And I’m going to find it. I’m going to get out of here. I have to. I’m running out of time. We’re running out of time. If I don’t hurry… If I don’t hurry…”
He shook his head quickly. “It’s been 40 years, Jevil. Much longer and… and they’ll all be gone. He’ll be gone. There’s already monsters from the support group that have Fallen Down. I don’t… I can’t—” He took a great heaving breath, trying to fight back the dread. “I can’t die down here! I have to see the surface again. I have to. I need to know if Ant’s ok. I need to see the sun again. I can’t take living this half-life much longer! They may be content to commiserate and live in darkness, but I’m not!”
Jevil chuckled. “HOW SILLY, SILLY. ALL THIS TIME AND YOU STILL FIGHT FATE, DESPITE YOUR LINGERING HATE.”
“I don’t know why I bothered telling you. It’s not like you would get it. Especially after what you did.”
He saw the jester’s smile falter and felt a small twinge of satisfaction that he’d managed to get under his skin, even if only temporary.
“OUR FIGHT WAS ONE OF NECESSITY,” Jevil eventually said with a shrug. “IT WAS UNFORTUNATE, UNFORTUNATE, BUT I KNEW THEY’D UNDERSTAND IN THE END. I WARNED THEM OF THE FATE TO COME AND THEY CHOSE TO VISIT ANYWAY.”
Spamton narrowed his eyes. Jevil appeared outwardly nonchalant. But he knew his mannerisms by now. His fight with Seam bothered him more than he let on. “Yet, you still miss them. Even after gouging out their eye, you think they understand? Yeah, I heard about it. I heard all about it.” He reached forward to jab a finger at Jevil’s chest. “You like to pretend like you’re above everything, like nothing bad ever happened and you’re okay with the hand fate dealt you. But you’re just running away from your guilt.”
Jevil glanced down at Spamton’s finger, devious smile splitting his face. “AT LEAST I’M NOT A YELLOW BELLY THAT LEFT HIS LOVER TO DIE LIKE A COWARD, COWARD.”
Thwack!
Before Spamton realized what he was doing, he hurled a bullet shaped like his face at Jevil, point-blank. It hit the clown right between the eyes, making him stumble back with a mad cackle.
“SO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE NUMBERS GAME?” Jevil asked, waving a hand over his head to summon a wave of diamond shaped bullets. “HOW FUN, FUN! BUT IN CASE YOU FORGOT. IN GAMES OF CHANCE, I DON’T LOSE.”
Jevil threw his hand forward, and the bullets rained down towards Spamton. He leaped from the wall, diving and fanning out his wings to swoop just feet from the ground, narrowly dodging the brunt of the attack. He flapped madly to gain air, coasting in a wide arc as he created letter-shaped bullets. As he came back around, he threw them in Jevil’s direction, who countered with spades. Most of the bullets struck each other, shattering on impact, but one got through and struck him in the shoulder, sending him spinning and forcing him to focus on balance. But as he righted himself, he saw one of his own slice Jevil across the cheek.
No time to relax. Spamton summoned two egg-shaped bullets and hurled them in Jevil’s direction. One sailed wide, but the other exploded at the clown’s feet, sending stone debris flying. Spamton squinted into the dust cloud in search of Jevil.
Suddenly, a projectile broke free of the dust, flying right towards him. Spamton narrowly barrel-rolled out of the way as Jevil, holding a scythe formed out of magic, struck the air right where he’d been a second prior. He fell, but not before sending heart bullets in Spamton’s direction. Spamton called on his own magic to block them with an envelope shield.
Below, Jevil landed on his feet, hopping from one to the other with excitement. He looked like he was just getting started. Meanwhile, Spamton could already feel himself flagging. He was never a fighter, while Jevil had been battling in the war. And it looked like time hadn’t slowed him down any.
That just meant he had to finish this fast. He made more of the egg-shaped bullets, raining them down from above. But more bullets — diamonds, mostly — flew up to meet them, striking most before they could hit the ground and explode. He blinked as he banked, trying to spot Jevil again to adjust his aim.
Something sharp struck him from behind.
He yelped, trying to right himself, but it was too late, he rolled across the ground, landing in a heap against a statue of the queen. He heaved for breath, trying to get up, but a foot planted on his chest and held him down. Jevil stood over him, grin wide, almost manic, scythe at his side. He raised it, and Spamton brought his hands up defensively with a squeal.
“I yield! I yieldIyieldIyeald!” He stiffened and squeezed his eyes shut, half expecting the blade to come down, but nothing happened. After a moment, the pressure on his chest eased. He slowly brought his hands away from his face and looked up. Jevil was standing a few feet away, tail swishing and scythe gone.
Slowly, Spamton climbed to his feet, wings hanging limply behind him. Everything hurt. He started to sneak away, not keen to say anything else, but Jevil spoke before he could leave.
“WE’RE DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS, YOU AND ME. WE KNEW THAT THIS WAS TO BE, TO BE. I WARNED YOU, DID I NOT? THAT FATE WOULD HURT YOU, IF YOU FOUGHT.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like it hurt you, too,” Spamton spat, “even if you like to pretend it didn’t.”
“PERHAPS,” Jevil conceded, to Spamton’s surprise. “BUT LIFE ISN’T SO BAD IF YOU DON’T THINK ABOUT IT.”
Spamton scoffed. “I wish that were true. How can you not think about it, when we’re trapped down here in the dark?” He sighed, drawing inward. “But we’re never going to agree on this. So, unless you’re going to help me find a way out, why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“WHAT FUN WOULD THERE BE IN THAT? BESIDES, BESIDES, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS.”
Loathe as Spamton was to admit it, Jevil did have a bit of a point. Despite their well-wishes, despite ostensibly being in the same boat as both of them, no one else in the support group really understood. They didn’t have the pain of foresight.
But he was tired, and he refused to give Jevil the satisfaction of a proper response. So he turned away with a long sigh. “I’m leaving.”
“OF COURSE, OF COURSE. BUT SPAMTON.”
He looked back. Jevil had turned away, but twisted his head to show his sharp-toothed grin.
“LET’S PLAY AGAIN SOMETIME.”
“Absolutely not.”
They absolutely would and he knew it, whether he wanted to or not. Jevil always knew how to bring out his anger. And, loathe as he was to admit it… There was something cathartic about fighting, about having an outlet for all the bitterness and frustration that bubbled inside him.