Seam searched around for his friend, calling out his name and checking in every room to see if he was there. Not a single reply came back to his ears. There was no laughter, no footsteps, not even the jingling of his little bells to accompany the echoes that Seam sent across the empty hall. Nighttime in the castle was a dismal thing, a smattering of dark shadows lay across every wall, leaving only a dim eerie glow to illuminate from sparse windows. Jevil hated that. 'No light, no joy, such a sad, sad thing.'
The magician sighed again. Had he not been so stupid he might have been able to stop him running off. Seam felt he wouldn't find his companion again unless he wanted to be found. 'If only I could have put my prideful self after him!' Jevil was family, and never hesitated to make him feel happy, even if it meant the jester was humiliated.
The cat reached the end of the castle, and sighed as he looked out over the waving grass outside. He wouldn't venture out there, he knew Jevil never came this way alone. But he had looked everywhere. Not a single sign that the jester had been there. As if he had just vanished. And it's all your fault. Seam slumped aginst the wall miserably, closed his eyes, and for the first time in years, a teardrop slipped and fell to the floor.
But as he sat there he noticed a bright light shining behind his eyelids. Cracking one eye open, he peered out, the hall's details blending together through his bleary gaze. Strangely, it was pitch black, not a trace of light peircing through. Odd, it felt almost as if someone was watching him. He closed his eyes again, ready to get lost in his thoughts again. A bell tinkled nearby. They snapped open and quickly darted around. Nothing. No-one. But how, when he could hear chuckling close.
Rising, Seam stepped tentatively down the hallway. He called out his friend's name softly, and padded slowly back towards the castle. There was only another laugh in reply, and the bells grew further away. But there was no mistaking them this time. They were undoubtedly Jevil's, and the magician broke into a run to catch them. "Jevil, please come back, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"
He followed the darkness up staircases, and through twisting hallways, the familiar jingling always one step in front, no matter how fast he ran. Seam did not take in the surroundings, and before he knew it, he was heading down in an elevator bound for who-knows-where. It arrived at the destination, wherever that was, and as he stepped out, the door shut and locked behind him. He turned, though shrugged, only a minor issue, and it didn't matter, not when his friend could be in reach.
Racing down the steep steps, almost tripping over his own paws, Seam found himself faced with a gaping entrance to a massive cavern, blanketed in inky blackness, though the exterior was reasonably well-lit. He sighed and with a final glance stepped into it.
The first thing he noticed in the dark was that it felt... alive, somehow. Though he could physically feel no difference, the whole place was thrumming with energy, and almost breathing somehow. But, still he moved forwards, and turned the corner to see a figure, face half covered in the shadows, standing, staring at him.
Jevil.
Seam ran forwards, arms outstretched to hug his friend. Pulling him into a warm embrace, he joyfully spoke and the words came tumbling out, "Jevil! Oh my friend I am so sorry, it's my fault, it's all my fault, I'm sorry"
The jester just strangely smiled, not a truly happy one yet not a truly sad one. "It doesn't matter, matter! I See now Seam, I See!"
"What do you mean?"
"I know the Truth"
"I still don't understand"
"Here, let me show you..." Out of nowhere, two hands wrapped themselves around his face, and he blinked as he Saw right through the middle, into the void. Only a few seconds had passed when he finally came back to their reality, but it felt like a lifetime. He looked up at Jevil and smiled, "I can See it now, thank you, thank you!"
"Nothing matters when the world is a game, game!"
"Chaos will set them free!"
"Why don't we go and play"