The Game

Mystery lifts her hat off of the table with a sigh of defeat and takes out her last game. She opens the box and sets out dominoes of silver and gold.
"Would you like to say why you came here?" She say setting up three dominoes in a row.

"Nothing more than curiousity." He says coolly.

"Please help set up the dominoes with me so we can knock them all down and finish this game. How did you get here?" She inquires.

"Walking...what's the impotance?"

"Just curious. Some men just find themselves here from the middle of thier dreams." She continues setting up dominoes slightly wondering why he wouldn't join her in the fun of making the design. "I've tempted you with many things..greed..seduction..accomplishment...fame.. and yet, you never gave in. You must have a very strong heart."

Axel ignored her last statement and began to wonder himself. Why he was here. Had he just been bitten by curiousity? Was it a beckoning.. a calling from the darkness? Impulse maybe.

"A better question would be how you found this place. For it lies with in the deepest of secrets and the darkest of mens hearts."

"I guess I'll ask you that Ms. Magic. How did I find this place?" He said calmly.

"Why would I ask you if I already knew?" She said looking deep into his heart. "Mayhaps it was just a mistake."

"An amazing coincidence?"

"Perhaps." She says finishing up the dominoes. "Now...Why didn't you help me with these again? It wouldn't have hurt you." Se says slightly irratated.

"You're obviously a leading woman. Does it displease you to make a set?" He came back sharply.

"No it's just not fun to play the game by yourself. I've done it several times and it's boring...Oh well." Mystery flips her hair back and puts her hat on. "All you have to do is knock over the dominoes and tell me if they're silver or gold."

"And thus puts the game in motion." He gave a small shove on the last dominoe, sending them all into a grand pattern of a golden fluer de lis.

She smiles at the formation and turns the dominoes into beautiful butterflies. Mystery then turns to Axel and smiles like a cheshire. "I'm free...I'm finally free! You are the first to have beaten me!" She runs to the other side of the table and hugs him tight. Mystery conjures a bottle of blood reds wine and two glasses and begins to pour them. She hands one to Axel and says quickly, "To what shall we toast?"

"To your new found freedom." He says back, still not quite grasping what was happening.

"Huzzah!" She sips her wine and reprimands herself for not explaining earlier. "You see when all this began it was told to me by the hat that if I was ever beaten by a pure heart I would be freed from this prison. As my past life I was a horrible witch of a fairy, always causing trouble,
and mischevious happenings. I didn't want to tell you but I can't quite lie as you can see.." She gets up from her slightly kneeling postition and stands up righting her hat. "Are there any more questions?"

"Yes what now?" He says, with a look of interest.

"Well the second I yank this hat" She points to her head "Off of my head we're free to go home and I return to my original form."

"What a revelation that will be!" He replied, now abuzz with interest in the moment.

She walks over into the middle of the room whispering an incantation that has failed many a time and lifts her arms. Then she takes off her hat. The hat gets bigger and turns into a cocooon of cards swirling around her faster and faster. The piano coming to a high crescendo.

Axel begins to get worried with the frenzy starting around him. He begins to shout at the cocoon for mystery to come out.
"Are you okay! Mystery!"

Then suddenly the cards burst open to reveal a tiny fairy with large quadracolored wings. She is still wearing the top hat. Magic seemingly long gone from it.

"Thats fascinating" He says, watching the newly sprouted wings move and flutter about.

"Yes fascinating, I should be more schoked but with everything else I've witnessed this evening seems a great explanation."

"I've not quite got a hold of this new..I mean my old form. So what do you want to do now? We are no longer slaves to this horrid room." As she says this the window opens up from the wall and the door flings open.

"I'd say theres nothing to ask, so much as what are we to do now? Just leave?"

"We could do that. We could go our seperate way now, or we could simply stay together. This old hat has a bit of magic left in it. I would like to gift you with the hat itself but I'm afraid its much too small for you. We can use it to achieve one of your greatest dreams."

"Yess, I suppose it is. WEll one wish you know it won't be for one of my dreams nor the means to achieve it. So what do you think it is I am wishing for?" He says with a sly smirk.

"To get out of this room?" She guesses.

"That and for my prize..." He stands and walks over to the woman hovering from the ground, petite yet sized, not what he expected a fairy to resemble. "mystery, would you be so kind as to accompany me throughtout my ventures and climb to achieve ment as my friend..or perhaps more?"

"Of course! That sounds much better then what I had planned!" She flies around the room in her excitement.

At that, Axel took Mystery's hand and motioned toward the door, ever close. "What's next, my dear?"

"Tell me Axel where did you come from?" She says with a clear intent on taking him anywhere.

"Twilight Town."

"Twilight it is then!" She lets go of his hand and flies around him as quickly as possible making sure he was coated in the magical dust.
"Are you ready?"

She grabs his hand and steps into the darkness ready for anything that may soon come.

"I'm ready." He says and steps forward with her.


A/N So how did you like it? Its the first thing that I finished so far! YAYZ! But a great portin of thanks goes to my boyfriend for being the part of Axel! YAY!

Axel walks in**

"Can you take these puppet strings off of me now?"

"No."

"Please leave a review so she gets these things off of me!"