[15.4] Not Your Average Games

Cyrus and I stood in silence, looking around the dark space we were now stuck in. I clicked my tongue, "Still. I didn't think whoever made this trap would be so cruel."

Cyrus brushed himself off nonchalantly, "This is an illusion made by a demon and demons are cruel. What did you expect?"

"I don't think they are all bad…"

Zephyr is annoying and may have tried to take over my body, but I really don't think he's a bad person. He seems more like a child who was never taught right from wrong.

I shook my head, "This isn't the time for a moral debate. Do you know how we can leave?"

Before he could answer, an ominous and unfamiliar voice echoed through the space, "...Did you enjoy my game?"

I frowned and crossed my arms, "Do you even know the definition of a game?"

The voice answered mockingly, "Ah. If you didn't have fun then I really should apologize. I'm not being a good host."

I nodded in agreement, "Exactly. You are a terrible host, so you should let us go already."

"Now, now. I've gone through all this effort to bring you here. The least you can do is entertain me."

In front of us, a black mist started forming and took the shape of a human. However, I couldn't make out any features except for the form looking like an adult man.

Bright orange eyes peered through the darkness. Feeling its eyes upon me, an unmistakable chill traveled up my spine. I protectively pushed Cyrus behind me while keeping my eyes on the shadow man before us.

He tilted his head, "Now… Shall we play a new game?"

I shook my head, "No way. I'm not in the mood for another game."

Cyrus poked his head out from behind me, "I am also not in the mood."

"What a shame." An eerie chuckle echoed in the darkness, "You already started playing."

As soon as the shadow man disappeared, a new room formed around us. This one looked like an old and creepy basement. I could see brooms and gloves on a shelf against the wall starting to collect dust. My gaze stopped on a wooden door with a single key sticking out of the keyhole, waiting to be turned.

The voice echoed, "Only one can leave this room. All you need to do is turn the key… However, whoever does so will be electrocuted and will die. Have fun choosing the victim~"

As if on cue, electricity danced around the key. We both stared at it with grim expressions. We couldn't use magic and this was our only way of leaving.

I felt my feet getting wet and looked to the floor. Water slowly started pouring into the room, filling it up at an alarming rate.

The voice chuckled, "You only have a few moments to decide before the water fills the room and you both get electrocuted."

Cyrus sighed, "...I will open it. It's my fault we got into this mess… It's only right if-"

I held him back and rolled my eyes, "No way. You don't get to be the hero."

"Huh? But don't you realize that-"

I ignored him and walked to the shelf. I picked up the pair of rubber gloves that had yet to get wet and put them on. I went to the key and turned it. My fingers tingled a bit, but the gloves did the trick.

The door opened up and the water poured out.

The voice: "..."

Cyrus: "..."

I took off my gloves with a smug grin, "What? You think I don't know how electricity works? Pah! I learned how to solve his kind of thing as a child."

Cyrus looked at me in disbelief, "H-How did you learn this?!"

I smiled at him, "I visited an Earthquake museum before and they taught me how to properly respond to emergencies. For example, if there is a door passing electricity through it, then you should make sure you have rubber gloves to protect you."

Cyrus stared at me as if my words went way over his head, "What… What is that?"

I frowned, "You don't know what an earthquake is?"

"I do… But what is a museum?"

As we walked through the doorway, I explained, "It's a place where they put old items or paintings for the public to look at and learn about history. You've really never heard of that?"

"We don't have those in this kingdom."

I gasped, "Please tell me you are lying."

"Where are you from again?"

I averted my eyes, "A faraway place."

"Well, we don't have museums. All of our ancient relics are protected by the King or the Headmaster."

I turned my head full of interest, "The Headmaster has relics?"

Cyrus looked back at me, "You live with him and you don't even know? The Headmaster is obsessed with relics. However, they are all thousands of years old and extremely dangerous… Like that rock you swallowed."

I cleared my throat and changed the subject, "So… Um. Do we get to leave now?"

"No." The bodiless voice answered me, "I have more games."

I groaned, "Come on, man. I'm tired. Can't you just play by yourself?"

"That wouldn't be any fun~"

I muttered to myself, "Fun for me."

Three doors suddenly appeared before us.

One read: Beware! Danger inside!

The middle read: Super deadly! Enter if you dare!

The last one read: Nothing bad here~

I looked at all three doors, "It's obvious which one we need to choose."

Cyrus looked at me hesitantly, "The 'nothing bad' door?"

I grinned and went to the middle door, "Nope! The super deadly door."

"Why?!"

"Because- duh! It's reverse psychology. The super deadly door is meant to scare you, but it's actually the safest option."

Cyrus didn't have much confidence, "...If you say so."

I nodded with a grin and opened the door, "Trust me. I'm a master at these kinds of things."

As we walked through the door, we were only met with darkness. I walked with my nose held high, "See? Didn't I tell you it would be okay?"

Suddenly, the lights were turned on revealing an abandoned playground. The merry-go-round started spinning on its own.

Cyrus and I both watched it silently.

He leaned over and whispered, "Still think this door was the better choice?"

I forced a smile, "I mean… It's just a spinning merry-go-round. It could be worse."

*squeak squeak squeak*

We both slowly turned to the noise.

Out of the darkness, a creature with a white face, red lips, and blue diamonds painted on his face stepped out of the darkness and into the light.

My face twitched, "What. The. F*ck. Is. That."

Cyrus gulped, "That would be a clown."

The clown pulled out a bloody ax with a wicked smile, "Hehe~ Would you like to play a game?"

Cyrus and I both looked at each other.

As if on cue, we started sprinting away. We could hear the squeaking clown shoes as it ran after us.

I sobbed, "THIS WORLD HAS F*CKING CLOWNS BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY GOD D*MN MUSEUMS?!"

Cyrus ignored me as he ran, "Look! The door!"

I followed his line of sight and noticed the door we had walked out of just moments before. I screamed out, "Let's go!"

The clown laughed after us, "Don't go! Stay and play!"

As we got close to the door, the clown threw his ax. Cyrus pushed me into the doorway before skillfully jumping inside and slamming the door shut just in time. The ax smashed into the door just inches away from Cyrus's face. He stepped back quickly still tensed and ready to run at any moment.

I stood up and brushed myself off, "That wasn't so bad."

Cyrus looked at me with a sour expression, "Seriously?!"

I walked over to the ax and tapped it with my finger, "Do you think it can come through the door?"

He frowned, "Should we wait and find out?"

"Nope! No way. We should pick a new door."

He pointed to the 'nothing bad' door, "How about this one?"

I shook my head, "I'm telling you. That door will be even worse."

He frowned, "Really? Because so far the really dangerous door was really dangerous."

I went to the 'Beware' door and opened it, "Nope. We are using this door."

He sighed and reluctantly followed me inside. As soon as he did, the door slammed shut behind us. We slowly turned and watched as the door disappeared.

Cyrus turned to me full of sass, "Mhm. So. Still think this door is better than the other?"

I shrugged, "There's no clown at least."

A light suddenly turned on, revealing a long dark hallway.

Cyrus clicked his tongue, "Oh. Look. A long dark hallway."

I shrugged and started walking down the hall, "We might as well see where it goes since we can't turn back."

As we walked through the eerie halls, I heard a strange noise. I grabbed Cyrus who looked at me in confusion, "What is it?"

I held a finger to my lips, "Sh. Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

*crack crack crack*

I frowned, "Doesn't it sound like someone cracking their fingers?"

"....Are you trying to scare me?"

"No! I swear it sounds just like it!"

A pale white girl suddenly appeared right in front of us with a broken neck, "Heh~ It's my neck, not my fingers!"

"EEK!" Cyrus shrieked and threw his fist, however it went straight through the ghost.

I pulled Cyrus back and started running while screaming, "DID YOU JUST TRY TO PUNCH A GHOST?!"

Cyrus screamed back, "I don't like when things pop out at me!!!"

I'm going to make a mental note of that-

Another ghost appeared before us, "Where are you going? Don't you want to play?"

"NO!" I threw my fist.

...Which also went through its head.

We started sprinting down another hall.

Cyrus yelled at me, "You JUST tried to punch a ghost!!"

I cried out, "I thought it was worth trying again!!"

"Look out!"

Cyrus pulled me aside before a chandelier suddenly crashed down from the ceiling. I blinked in shock as I stared at the spikes that would have impaled me.

I forced on a smile, "What a fashionable chandelier. One might even say it's rather sharp."

Cyrus pulled me up and started running, "Is this really a time for jokes?!"

"It's my coping mechanism!!!"

We turned a corner to see another ghost grinning at us with blood pouring from her eyes, "Don't leave… You will make me cry."

I cried out, "You're an ugly b*tch when you cry!!!"

Cryus pulled me into another hallway, "Why are you ANTAGONIZING THEM?!"

"That's also my coping mechanism!!!"

"How many coping mechanisms do you have?!"

I suddenly noticed a door opening and pointed, "THERE!"

We rushed out the door which slammed behind us. The sound of scratching came from the other side of the door as if the hands desperately wanted to claw into our skin. However, it seemed like the ghosts weren't able to open it. We both choked on air as we tried to collect ourselves. We both panted as we stared at the final door.

Cyrus glanced at me, "Now? Can we use that door now?"

I made a face, "It's not like we can go anywhere else!"

Cyrus sighed and opened the door, "This time, I will go first."

Light poured into the dark space through the open door. I watched as Cyrus stepped in and was soon swallowed by it. I stood up and went to follow, but was stopped by the bodiless voice from the unfamiliar shadow man.

"Reika… Let's play some more games another day."

I held up a middle finger, "F*ck off and go learn how to play better games."

Once I stepped through the doorway, I soon realized that it was actually the exit.

D*mn. Cyrus was right about it being the better option….

I'm never going to hear the end of this.

Once I finally left the array, Cyrus stood next to me with a smug expression which I blatantly ignored. I averted my gaze away from him and saw Caldwell and Zephyr panicking around the area we had disappeared at.

Zephyr was clawing at the ground in his fox form as if he was trying to dig us up while Calwell wailed. "YOUNG MASTERRR! COME BACK TO MEEEE!"

Cyrus and I both exchanged an exhausted look.

Cyrus cleared his throat, "Ehem. Caldwell?"

Caldwell spun around at the sound of his voice. His eyes lit up and he sprinted towards Cyrus, "YOUNG MASTER!"

He picked Cyrus up and spun him around happily.

Cyrus's face turned green, "Caldwell! Stop! I'm getting dizzy!"

I walked over to Zephyr and watched as he turned into a human once more. He stared up at me in disbelief, "You didn't die?"

I flicked his forehead, "If I did, do you think you would be alive?"

Zephyr jumped up and grinned cockily, "You're like a bug, aren't you?"

"AAH!"

Everyone flinched at my scream.

Zephyr screamed back at me, "Why did you suddenly yell?!"

Cyrus rushed over to me with a panicked look, "What is it?"

I let out a sigh, "I still have to buy bug-catching equipment."