Well, it's about time…I started this as a Halloween fic, and I don't even get it finished before Victoria Day…that's a Canadian holiday for those that don't know. It's STILL not done completely, but I just wanted everybody that wants to know about my progress that it hasn't been forgotten.

Also, about that disclaimer in the last chapter…yes, I was probably overreacting. But at least it got the point across, so I don't have to say it again…right?

Soren was thinking over the events of the night as he continued towards the building in sight. After leaving his only allies in a port town in order to reach a rumoured trouble with haste, he had run into a red-cloaked geezer that had given him an ominous and overall stupid-sounding warning. Now, he was trapped in some large illusion, and was either in as much trouble as the man, or at the man's mercy.

At this point, Soren had deduced that it was all one large trick, and was not in any actual danger. After all, not only would it probably take more than ten Sage's power to reach a world of death…which did NOT exist, the tactician reminded himself…but also, this world was inconsistent. One guy had no face. Another wanted him to be a 'permanent resident'. A third was a semi-happy garbage dweller. If they were all dead, and had died as villains, they should have suffered similar fates, right? And the last person he talked to wasn't even a PERSON; it was a wall, for crying out loud! How is THAT possible?!

No matter the circumstances, Soren decided to enter the building. Though the type of building had not been specified before, now that he was right outside the entrance, it was evident to Soren that it was an elaborate castle. Getting out of this illusion, finding out who would put him in this mess…all of the answers he sought were bound to be inside.

I am the clown with the tear-away face,
Here in a flash and gone without a trace.

As soon as Soren entered the dark castle, a spear flew right past him and got stuck on a wall. "Don't tell me that idiot Maijin beat me here…" Soren muttered to himself, before the lights came on and he could clearly see the attacker. It was yet another man he had killed, yet this one was much higher on the chain of command. In fact, it was Ashnard's right-hand man, General Bryce.

"Well, well, if it isn't the insane general of the Mad King. I'm certain you have something to tell me involving your revenge, but I really have no time for such petty conversation. So, I'll make this quick," Soren told the man before he pulled out the lance, none other than the oddly-named Wishblade used in their confrontation, and chucked it at the man. Soren was never experienced in anything other than magic, but Bryce hadn't moved an inch, so he thought he could at least hit a motionless target on the first try. And he would have, if the evil general hadn't disappeared in a flash right when he would've been struck.

Soren stared for a moment, shrugged, and decided to continue. After all, it didn't seem that he'd be bothered again any time soon by the man…then again, it wouldn't be the first time tonight that things weren't as they seemed. As soon as that thought entered his head, he heard the quiet sound of an object in motion through the air; he ducked just in time to avoid being decapitated. Soren grabbed the Wishblade again, and turned around so he was face-to-face with Bryce once more.

"So, that's the game you want to play?" Soren asked. "Surprise me, let me think I've won, and repeat? Listen, you bloody tart; I am NOT in the mood for another mind game." Soren then turned back again, slung the Wishblade over his shoulder, and continued. He didn't get three more steps until Bryce materialized in front of him, and pulled off his own face. As a faceless man was the first thing Soren had seen in this illusion, the tactician merely sighed, and walked right past him.

I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair.

Thankfully, as Soren continued to search the castle, not only did Bryce decide not to show up again, he also found no other resistance. Plus, inexperienced as he was with the Wishblade, he now had something to protect himself with should another foe appear. After a few more minutes of exploring the castle, he eventually found a winding staircase leading upwards. Since anything of importance always seemed to be at the top of a castle, the master of winds trekked upwards, dragging the lance behind him.

When he reached the top, the person awaiting him was…well, to Soren, quite expected. After all, ever since he had gotten here, he'd been running from one evil Daein commander to the next. Since he had just gotten past the 2nd-in-command, who else was left but the Mad King, Ashnard, himself?

"I was wondering if you would last this long, foolish tactician," Ashnard, as human as anyone else in this world was, said with a smug grin. "Ever since I had first heard rumour that you had stumbled upon this land, I wondered how long you would last. Evidently, you have far more luck than I would have guessed to get all the way here. Actually, I'm kind of glad you lasted; you may not be anything like that moronic commander of yours that knocked me down, but your head will still look lovely hanging on my walls!"

"…I've got a few things to say to you, you psychopath," Soren replied, looking equally smug. "First off, if I was a fool, I certainly wouldn't be a tactician, would I? Second, luck is for card games; I've gotten this far by using my skill, which is vastly superior to yours. Third, though I don't have as much strength as Ike does, I can certainly beat you twenty times over; not only are you an illusion, but both Ike and I have had even more adventures since the day you died, and you'd just be child's play in comparison to some of our more-recent foes. And finally…hanging my head on the wall? That is both disgusting and cliché at the same time."

"Did you say I'm an illusion? You're a bigger numbskull than I would have guessed if you haven't realised the truth yet. Let's see if an illusion could do THIS!" the Mad King Ashnard yelled as he charged forward, prepared to thrust his sword right through the Arch Sage Soren's body. Of course, the protagonist of this tale dodged the blow, by merely stepping to the side. As Ashnard thundered past, the tactician lifted the Wishblade up and impaled the insane man with it.

"Like I said, you're child's play," Soren told the figure that certainly acted the part of Ashnard, though the mage was continuously doubtful. "Now, the exit to this stupid illusion is supposed to be around here, isn't it? Be a good king, and tell me where it is."

"Now you want your foes to make things easier for you? I thought it impossible, but you're sounding even MORE idiotic than before," Ashnard uttered before coughing, and mysteriously fading away, taking the Wishblade that pierced his internal organs with him.

"…I suppose that WAS a tad foolish of me, wasn't it?" Soren said to himself before looking around the room. It was a perfect circle, with the door back to the staircase behind him, windows to the left and right, and some sort of crystal (that Ashnard had been standing in front of) right in front of him. It took less than a second to put two and two together, and figure that the crystal had something to do with the exit. However, before Soren could even approach it, it was sliced in two by some mysterious force.

I am the shadow in the moon at night!
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!

"All right; now I'm mad! Show yourself before I start using magic, because one spell is all it will take to turn this place to dust!" Soren shouted out, furious that yet another annoyance had prevented him from finding a way out of this puzzle. On cue, the moonlight poured into the room from the window on the left, and yet another figure from the past materialized in it. Though he was unique from everyone else he had met so far, there was something that they all had in common; Soren didn't fear him, either.

"The Black Knight, also known as Zelgius from Beignon," Soren whispered out. "The man who killed his own mentor, Ike's father, and thousands more…well, supposedly, of course. After all, nothing I've seen so far has proven for a fact that I am trapped in a world that couldn't possibly exist, and I doubt even the man who ruined Commander Ike's life, causing my only friend in the world more pain then the entire army of Daein put together, will be able to prove me wrong."

"…Really?" The BK whispered, but only after dashing right past Soren. The mage became tense, and looked at his arm. The foe hadn't attempted to cause a fatal wound, but he had cut right through Soren's sleeve. And though he could probably state a hundred causes that did not involve being attacked by the spirit of one of their greatest enemies when it came to that, the man had done something which was, to Soren, indescribable.

He was bleeding. The BK had made a tiny cut in Soren's skin, and he could feel the pain coming from it. This was no longer some elaborate illusion. This was REAL.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!

"N-n-no…this defies all possibilities! This is impossible!" Soren babbled, having a bit of a mental breakdown, while he turned a section of the sliced sleeve into a makeshift bandage. "Talking walls? Orange skies? Faceless spectres? A dimension filled with all the souls who have died? It can't be…it shouldn't be…but…"

"It is," the BK finished, while he prepared to launch a more deadly blow. "The land of the dead, which you never believed in, is about to be the very place you will perish!" He then charged forward, only for Soren to snap out of his stupor in the nick of time, and send a blade of Elwind magic towards the man. The magical blast caused the foe to be stunned, and drop the Alondite sword he held.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm quite shocked that such a land is existent, but that's not going to distract me from a powerful foe like you. Now, it's about time you were exorcized, isn't it?" Soren asked, rhetorically, as he charged up his wind magic. He raised both arms above his head, forming a ball of energy that grew large enough to start chipping away at the ceiling.

Soren then launched the magic, Rexcalibur to be precise, at the once-killed conspirator, causing pain that even a ghost could feel. The BK was launched through a wall due to the impact's force, which started a chain reaction. Leaping out of the window to the right, and using his wind magic to slow down his fall, Soren managed to escape the castle before it crumbled and turned to dust. The spirit of Zelgius the Black Knight was not visible in the debris. "Looks like I was right," the tactician muttered to himself, remembering the statement he had made about his power earlier.

"Yes; it seems you were," said a voice from behind, who was slowly applauding at his actions.

Tender lumplings everywhere!
Life's no fun without a good scare!
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween.

Soren turned to face the familiar voice, and saw the very man that had given him that warning back when this mess began. "As you seem to be in even better condition then I am right now, would I be correct in assuming that this entire trek through this miserable land has something to do with you?" the mage asked, raising his hand in case he needs to cast another quick spell.

"I warned you about the danger in not believing in the physically impossible, and that not everything in life can be figured out with logic, didn't I?" the old man questioned in return.

"No you didn't, you geezer! You asked why I ran away from my allies and some townsfolk on a supposedly sinister night. You never said anything along those lines!" Soren shouted back, stopping himself from blasting the coot right there and then.

"Well, I certainly would have, if you weren't in such a hurry to chase rumours," the elderly gent replied. "Either way, I thought it was a lesson that a boy like you wouldn't accept unless it was scared into him. It's something you won't soon forget now, is it?"

"Listen, king of the poltergeists, I've had it past my throat with you! It's time for these mind games to end once and for all!" Soren yelled as he activated the spell, not caring whether or not this man could be his only way out. The old man merely smiled like Ranulf did whenever he caught a bird with his mouth. It was then that Soren realised that his magic, which he had trained in for years, and was more powerful than that of anyone else he had ever met…had somehow been nullified.

In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise!

And that's the end of this exciting segment. Are you eager to read the grand conclusion of this tale? Have you already guessed the identity of the old man in red robes? Don't worry, fair readers; all will be revealed in time!