A/N: Hello again my friends! Well, this is one of the theories of how the Jack-o-Lantern came to be.

Yes, this chapter is extremely short, but I couldn't expand this story much farther than it already is. I seem to be having this problem a lot. Oh well. Here's the story of Jack.

I don't own it.


Jester had taken to taking walks in the forest, it helped clear his mind and he could think of jokes or ballads when he did so. The woods were nice in the day, the sunlight dappled the ground, much like the fur of the few cats that escaped the wrath of the villagers, they weren't witch-cats, after all.

He walked and walked, and once, it grew dark before he was back at the castle. There, he met someone, leaning against the tree.

"Hark, wanderer!" the person said. Approaching, Jester found it to be a man a little older than Gunther. Jester returned the greeting.

"Who are you?" asked the Fool. "I have never seen you before."

"I am called Ambrose by some. And you?" Jester remained silent. "Ah, I see. Well. You wouldn't stop by the village for a drink would you?"

"No, I have to get back, I have work."

"Work. Yes, that is good, for idle hands are the devil's workshop. Go on, I shall tend to my own work, I have much I need to do."

"Thank you kindly, Ambrose. I hope to meet you again under better circumstances."

"I too, wanderer." With a polite nod, Jester moved on, heading to the castle.

Behind him, the patch of grass on which Ambrose was standing was slowly dying, yellow curling up the emerald blades, spreading blood-like across the grass. Ambrose smiled to himself. This would be fun.


And so, began a cycle. Jester would go for walks in the wood, and he would always meet Ambrose somewhere, sitting by a tree playing a flute, napping in the sunlight, and they would talk. Soon, the two were friends, and actually looked for each other in the woods.

One day though, Jester and Ambrose were sitting under a tree, talking and laughing, and Jester tricked Ambrose into climbing the tree.

Ambrose was stuck.

As he called for help, Jester laughed, bowed to his friend, and walked off, ignoring him until he heard the crackle of flames.

He spun and instead of his kind friend Ambrose, he saw the Devil encased in hellfire, stuck in the tree and snarling at him.

Jester crossed himself and fled, hearing the Devil curse him, yet screaming the Lord's Prayer.

Somehow, it was stuck deep into his psyche that when he died, he would go to neither Heaven nor Hell, but would wander the darkness forever, with only a turnip lantern for light.


Jester lived in fear for the rest of his life, every night he recited every prayer he knew in every language he knew, begging his Lord and Father to help him with this curse of the fallen Angel. When he was old, he still cowered in the night, and on his deathbed, he wept bitterly.

Blood splashed into his room, gold illuminated the edges of his bed as they sky turned a musky purple high above, orange petals drifting across the sky. God was giving him the most beautiful sunset He had for the last hour of his life, yet Jester, or Adeodatis, took no comfort in that as life flew from his body, taking to the sky, while his soul was bound tighter to Earth.

The mist was everlasting, and his light was so feeble! And there was Ambrose, laughing at him. Laughing, laughing, laughing.


A/N: So a short little story. Originally, it's Jack, and he just tricks the devil, and isn't friends with him. This story is the version created by the Irish, who changed the lantern from turnips to pumpkins when they came to America, because America had more pumpkins than turnips Oh, and I thought Adeodatis meaning God's Gift is sort of...ironic would it be? Oh well. God's gift, friend of the Devil's human form, you know.

So, there is another interesting theory behind the jack o lantern (still Irish, still turnips changed to pumpkins) so the Celts (I think it was) had one of their holiest holidays on what we know as Halloween. So, they wanted to scare off the spirits (they were still out and about even then) by having bonfires and stuff. While they're dancing around with a human skull, they have little turnip lanterns, the turnips having faces in them to terrify the evil spirits. and the human skull is another theory. They had the skull with empty eyes reminding them of their dead loved ones, and then when it became just socially unacceptable, they carved some sort of vegetable (probably turnips) to just substitute.

Well. I suppose I should finish this off in a witty manner. I can't think of one.

Review, please!