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Jevil was lost.
He has been lost for a while now. Separating from the Kings wasn’t the brightest idea Jevil had ever had, and had they still been at war with Queen, it would be a quick way to get captured and put away. Still, the battles have been stalling for a while now, something about Queen’s Lightner being missing, and he just has to take the chance to explore the sandy wastes before the fights return. Still, it has not been his intention to go out this far.
Now, he stands before a tall cliff. He has no ability to climb this, he can only hover for short periods of time. He considered returning and go explore some other day, before a sudden gust of wind picked him up and fly him all the way to the top of the cliffs, away from the sands. It seems like he wasn't going to return anytime soon.
Still, this is new ground for him. None other have been up here before, except for Seam, who have been up here only once. Now, he will probably be the second one to be here.
This land seems to be completely barren, just as the waste from before. There was nothing to be seen, and the several grand doors he see in the distance are all closed. He was about to return, until he see a figure in the distance.
Curiously approaching the figure, he was greeted with a child, spinning around on the top of a cliff.
“Uuu, somebody new, new!” The child jumped down at his approach, petals surrounding them to coat their fall.
“Um, would you know a way out of here? Or, going anywhere?” Jevil tentatively asked.
“Know? My friend would know where to go, but I’m bored! Play a game with me, and they will point you where to go!”
“Well, as a jester, I can say I’m well-equipped to entertain you. Though I have not been very entertaining to the kings lately…”
“Uuu, that’s because they don’t play enough. You should play more games with them if they’re sad. Now, let’s play play play play play! Let’s play.” Knives surround him, forcing him into a battle. So this was more like those ‘games’ he played with Seam.
For her first attack, the child throws a bunch of knives at him. The shots go wide, with the knives flung all far past him. He was about to return the attack with a spade blast, but the knives flew from behind him back towards him, and hit him in the back. He turned around to watch for the blades, but her next throw hit his back instead.
“Spin, spin! You should revolve more, looking around. The world is revolving, as Blue say!”
“What would you know about the world?”
“The world is just a game, and those who play are happy!”
He decided to try out the diamond bomb next. The diamonds that bursts from the bomb aimed straight at her position, but her jumping around made the diamonds miss their target.
“What is it like up here? A land without war…”
“I play with my friend Seth all day, and value the fun we have. But they’re busy now, so I’m playing with you instead. Let’s play the copy game!”
The girl points, and rings of knives appear, exploding outwards. He jumps around, trying to dodge the rings, until one appears right on him. All the knives explode outwards onto him, almost downing him. His games with Seam always stop well before he is this hurt. He popped a Revive Mint to get back up - the only one he has.
“Careful there - I almost lose my life right there…”
“You lose, lose? Does that mean I win? Uuu, am I winning, winning? How exciting!”
The ring of knives reminded him of something. Making a small modification to the spade bombs, he threw them out. They explode, not in the predictable stream he usually uses, but in ring bursts from the bomb. The girl spins around, taking a few hits.
“Did you feel your pain?”
“Uee hee hee! Is that… pain? Pain is hilarious! Now, let’s try Blue’s carousel game!”
Rows of ducks appear, moving up and down, spinning around him in waves. He tried to move along with the ducks, but one of them hit his head and sent him sprawling on the ground.
“Can you copy? Show me your circus!”
He remembered something Lancer once showed him in a drawing, and formed it. A single duck came out, which slowly floated towards the girl.
“Yours is tiny! Can we swap ducks? Uee hee hee!”
The girl snatched up his duck, and in return, gave him her carousel. He tried it out, and the attack worked just as the girl did. It did not hit her, however; it seems the girl is already familiar with the attack. It would be a nice thing to surprise Seam with the next time he duel with them, though.
“You are following!”
“Can you help me get stronger, stronger? Keep showing me your attacks, and I can copy them.”
“Show me your sharp object, and I can show you my knives!”
He took out his ScytheAxe, and showed it to her.
“Uuu, that’s a nice knife! Why call it a Scythe or an Axe? Let me name it the Devilsknife!”
She spun some blades around.
“Now, keep playing with me! In a game, you can do anything! Now, let’s try the chaos bomb!”
The girl waves her hand, and all the previous attacks come out. The throwing knives, and the knife rings appear one after the other. He struggles to dodge them all, and struggles to dodge them all, until he lands on a ring again, which depletes all the health that Revive Mint gained him.
“Uuu, it’s all so much fun! My magic, my Omega, can you follow?”
Before he can tell her to stop for him to heal, he feels his vision expands around him. A field of knives surrounds him, rotating in tandem, moving around. He distantly feels like there’s an eye looking at him. The blades all slowed down, then they all turned towards him. They close in on him, leaving no room to move around, before he feels a small poke of damage. His body flickers, and the knives pass through him harmlessly. He sees a figure running towards him distantly.
“Aqua! There you are! Look, you almost killed him! I have to use up all the i-frames I stored…”
“Uuu, Seth, you’re here! I was playing with him, it’s so fun! Uuu, what does kill mean…?”
“Uh, well, um…”
“Uuu, did you not know? Did Seth not know?”
“You see, it is like… a simple number’s game! When his hp drops to 0, he loses and is killed! And you don’t want them to lose that way, because they will be sad!”
“Oh, I see, I see!”
“Now, you stay here. I will go get Flowery to take him home.”
“Uuu, can I go with him, to play with some more people?”
“Um, well, uh… I just lost a game with you and you just won, right?”
“Wait, did I, did I?”
“And because I won, I am now locked outside! You see, enter that cell over there, and stay in there. You are now free, and we are now locked away, as a reward for you winning!”
“Uuu, sounds fun! I’m the only one free, uee hee hee! You can join me too, after you’re done losing.”
“Um, okay, I will just get this guy to Flowery and be back really quick!”
“Can I talk to him for a bit first, to say goodbye?”
“Uh, sure!”
The girl turned to him.
“Our game was so much fun, fun! Now, I heard that people are given this after a fun game if they win. You don’t lose yet, and I don’t lose yet, so this is a tie. But I’m giving you this glass shard I just found anyways!”
The girl handed him a dark, black crystal.
“You can look into this to see funny shapes. You looked flat in here! Now, I have to go to my freedom now. You should play with your friends too, I heard that they are sad, over some kind of lost girl or something. Play games to cheer them up like me! Bye!”
The girl walked into the jail cell. He feels too tired to stand. The purple person seems to notice this. They waved a blue shoe at him, which made him fall asleep. He wakes up back around the wastes. It seems that Seam has found him. It seemed all like a dream, until he found himself holding the black crystal. He also feels much more powerful than before. What he encountered must have been important. It would be best for him if he took all the things he learned to heart.
“Uuu, Seth, you’re back, to join me in my freedom!”
“That was just a trick, to get you to stay still. I just realized I should probably not let you believe that, so you don’t get tricked by anyone with worse intentions. I was in a bit of a hurry, Flowery said that a Shadow Crystal was just dropped here, and I shouldn’t let other Darkners be up here any more than necessary.”
“Uuu... I got tricked, tricked! Wait, does that mean you should tell the jester about it? He might get tricked too!”
“Well, I’m sure he knows not to believe that. Anyway, don’t let other Darkners come up here, it would be really bad if they find the Shadow Crystal.”
“Uuu, why is it, Seth? Why can’t they search for it too? Is that the crystal that gave Darkners incredible power? Should they use it more, then?”
“Well, most Darkners usually think that at first, but Shadow Crystal is the personification of Lost Dreams, and the way it gives power is to use the dream to fuel the Darkner. The Darkner gained power, while chasing after the dream in the crystal. After a while, they start to realize that the lost dream is unachievable, and constantly chasing after an unobtainable goal will start driving them a bit crazy. And eventually they get to asking what the point of everything is and they start to lose sight of who they are, and why they're even alive, and when they reach their breaking point, something REALLY TERRIBLE can happen…"
“Uuu, Seth, you sound funny! Are you quoting someone?”
“Well, that ragdoll Darkner who came up here once told me about it. Flowery also knows that, too!”
“Uuu, a ragdoll? Have I played with them?”
“Well, they are probably down there with their jester friend they told me about now, along with those digital Darkners they fought every day.”
“Uuu, jester, like the guy I just met?”
“Well, come to think of it, it is probably that guy… I hope the guy doesn't look too much into the stuff you say. Some Darkners over at that kingdom can take very strange things seriously, like that weird puzzle guy and having two hands… Oh, I have to continue looking for it now!”
“Wait, why are we looking for that again?”
“As flowers, we aren’t affected by the crystal, since we are technically Lightners, so we have to find it first and keep it safe, so Darkners don’t find it and go insane.”
“Uuu, can I look with you too? I am a great crystal finder!”
“You should probably stay here, to warn Darkners from going further up here. Only let them through if it is strictly necessary, and warn them away from looking into it if they found one. It makes them go insane faster!”
“Uuu, it’s okay, you can count on me.”
“I need to continue looking for it now, Aqua. Don’t forget what I say, okay?”
“Okay, bye, Seth!”