~ Day Six ~

Despairing Crescendo

Emptiness strikes you out of nowhere,

Emptiness, don't need any heaven,

Feel the longing that's fading out of me,

Emptiness drives you into silence,

Emptiness makes people live life,

Feel the fading that's lighting your way out…

Blake awoke the following morning with a start. He hadn't wanted to fall asleep the day before, but he simply could not find the strength to resist the Game Master's will. He immediately began searching for his partner nearby, though a part of him hoped she'd still be asleep, free of the Game for just a few more precious moments.

No such luck. Celia was already awake, too, and sat curled up against a nearby wall, staring blankly towards the street without truly seeing anything. Her expression was emotionless and inscrutable, but a short glance made it clear that she had been awake for quite some time already.

"Good morning," Blake said hesitantly.

"Good morning," Celia replied automatically, her voice raspy and faint.

Blake stood there for some time, unsure as to what to say. "Celia… I'm sorry," he finally said.

Celia only closed her eyes and put her head down against her knees.

"If… if you need someone to talk to… I mean, I know I'm probably the last person you'd choose, but… well, I'm here. I'll listen. We're still partners, right? That's the least I can do," Blake offered.

"Thank you," Celia said in a muffled tone, without looking up.

Partners. Blake would have scoffed aloud at the thought, if it weren't for how thoroughly miserable Celia looked already. It all seemed to be a cruel, humorless joke. Pact or no pact, the week was nearly over, and he had yet to offer his supposed partner anything more than pain and frustration.

Even Faith, the man who had so thoroughly deceived them, the man who had orchestrated their torture from the sidelines, had proven himself to be a better partner to her. Celia and Faith had seemed flawless together, working in perfect unison and finding a level of trust and empathy that Blake could only dream of sharing with anyone.

Blake stepped away from Celia. "Not now," he berated himself in a soft whisper, shaking away his self-pity. "She's already a wreck… who can blame her? But if I fall apart now, we're both finished." He took a deep breath, then reached for his phone.

No mission.

"Fine. More time for me to think," Blake said. He began looking around, and to his surprise, he immediately recognized where they were. He was standing at the edge of the parking lot where he and Celia had faced the chess king, Rex Cantus. Behind him, Celia was leaning against a supporting stone column, right beside the bench which he had sat on that day.

Graham and Jason were standing fairly close by, Laura and Vivian just a bit farther. Six more people who looked to be Players were wandering around the lot as well. Shimmering, translucent barriers of blue light sealed every way out of the immediate area, unseen to those in the Realground, for pedestrians and cars alike moved in and out of them without a fuss.

"Are we the only ones left alive, then?" Blake guessed. "Well, the only ones not erased, anyways. I think we're technically all dead, still."

Blake began considering the barriers more carefully then. He knew it was no accident that all the Players were starting out together, and the barriers must have been Faith's way of keeping them corralled together, at least until the mission arrived. It was also the first time the walls had been clearly visible, he realized.

"They must be part of the mission, too," Blake muttered. "And since we're all here, the Reapers must want us to work together again." Of course, Faith could have trapped them together in an attempt to make them compete with one another, but that didn't seem likely. As much as Blake hated to admit it, there did seem to be a certain method to the Game Master's apparent madness.

Blake glanced back at Celia, who still had not moved. Then he understood what he had to do, and a knot tightened in his stomach as he looked over at Graham and Jason.

"She's your partner. She can't help you right now, but you might still be able to help her. Suck it up," Blake reminded himself firmly. With that said, he took a deep breath and approached the other two Players.

~ LINEBREAK ~

Asleep or awake, regardless of whether her eyes were closed or open, Celia could only see shadows looming all around her. The Noise, the Reapers, even the other Players.

She could sense him lurking behind them, just out of sight. She knew he was the puppet master, tugging at unseen strings, endlessly turning the wheels of the Reapers' Game. He was the one standing between her and the other Players and their lives.

And yet she could neither fear nor hate him. For one intimate, fleeting moment, the two of them had found absolute harmony. Even though she hadn't realized who he was, she had trusted him, and he, in turn, had trusted her. Every feeling that had gone through his mind and heart had gone through hers as well, and looking back, she could share in his subtle, darker emotions as well. Veiled behind his joy and triumph, there was helplessness and dread, sorrow and regret.

She wanted to reach out to him, to push through the Reapers' Game and the crumbled ruins of her dreams. She also wanted to pull away, to leave him and her suffering behind.

"Help me," she pleaded in an inaudible whisper, praying that he could still sense her now despite their pact being sundered, hoping beyond hope that he would reach out to her.

~ LINEBREAK ~

"Faith Hollow, Game Master of Seattle's third Reapers' Game."

Upon hearing Faith's declaration, Celia felt her entire body grow numb. She felt as if she were about to collapse, and if it wasn't for a quiet voice in her head, begging her to stand strong, she likely would have.

"Game Master," Celia echoed hollowly.

"Yes. This game is mine to run, its missions for me to decide," Faith confirmed. "And after just one more mission, we will reach the seventh day. On that day, I will be granted the priviledge of challenging and erasing any surviving Players directly."

"But… but Michael said…" Celia began, glancing towards Rex Cantus. Michael's words came back to her then, and a lump welled in her throat as she realized the truth. When Michael had indicated to her and Blake that they were already acquainted with the Game Master, she had only assumed that he had been speaking of Wilson and Rex Cantus. In hindsight, it didn't surprise her that Michael had known the details of her and Blake's deaths.

"Yes, Ariel knew. Sometimes, it felt like he knew everything," Faith said, as if he could hear her unspoken thoughts. Then his expression grew thoughtful. "Everything except how powerful Minamimoto really was, it seems," he corrected himself.

"Sir, is the Conductor gone now, too?" Selena interrupted.

Faith shook his head. "No. Minamimoto is still in the Hall with Dolphus. He knows he's gone too far, and his little game has run its course, anyways. He'll know better than to trouble me anytime soon."

"Then what was that you were just battling against, sir?" Selena asked.

"That was an echo," Faith explained. "When a powerful Noise leaves a significant mark upon the Underground, it often leaves an image of itself behind. In this case, in his victory over Ariel, Minamimoto left a copy of himself and his Noise form."

"He created a copy of himself?" Dennis gasped.

"Sure. That's what happens when you've experimented with Noise as much as Minamimoto has," Faith said wryly. "Even without his Noise form, he's more Noise than he is Reaper or man. Taboo Noise, in fact, which is why I doubted Ariel when he chose to confront Minamimoto alone."

"Is that why you broke my pact with Celia, too?" Blake demanded angrily. "So you could rope her into helping you clean up your mess?"

"Precisely," Faith agreed shamelessly. "Please forgive my imposition. Incidentally, you two should take this chance to forge a new pact."

"Faith, wait!" Celia tried to interrupt, but even as she spoke, she felt the connection between them disappear.

"I know, Celia. I should've told you," Faith said apologetically. "I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how. Please believe me."

"Why should she?" Blake spat.

But Celia found that she did believe Faith, if only because she wasn't ready to accept otherwise. "Faith, I…" she began.

"Not now," Faith interrupted her, shaking his head. "We'll see each other soon, Celia. I promise. Until then, sleep well…"

A wave of drowsiness came over Celia, but she tried to resist. "No… Faith, please…" she murmured. She felt herself falling down onto the soft grass. One of her hands closed over a cool, smooth surface.

Then the darkness closed in all around her, and Faith was gone.

~ LINEBREAK ~

"Graham. Jason," Blake said, as he approached the other two Players.

Jason looked at him skeptically, but Graham smiled amicably. "Good morning, Blake," the blond greeted in a friendly manner. "What's up?"

Blake took a deep breath, steeling himself before plunging in. "I need your help," he admitted.

"With what?" Graham asked curiously.

"Celia's in a bad way. It's like she's lost, and there's nothing I can do to reach her," Blake said.

"Gee, the man who got her stuck here can't make her feel any better about it. What a surprise," Jason scoffed.

"Jason!" Graham scolded, shutting his partner up. Then he turned back to Blake. "We don't know Celia any better than you do, Blake. I'm not sure Jason or I can help you there."

"I know. She's going to have to work out her problems herself," Blake said. "I just want to give her the time that she needs. That means keeping us going in this game, but…"

"But Players are almost powerless without their partners," Graham reasoned. "You want us to help you with today's mission."

Blake nodded. "I don't know what the Game Master has in mind, locking us all up like this, but I doubt he's up to any good," he guessed.

"I understand," Graham said. "But if we're going to work together today, there's something I need to know."

Blake grinned shakily. "Perfect. There's something I have to ask you, too, but you can go first," he offered.

"Celia knew the Game Master. So did you, by the sounds of it. How?" Graham asked bluntly.

"Faith was Celia's friend," Blake said. "The morning she died…"

"The morning you killed her," Jason corrected harshly.

"Yes," Blake admitted. "The morning I killed her, she was on her way to meet with him. Faith tried to stop me, killing me in the process, but he was too slow to save her."

"Interesting. That explains why the police never caught him, I suppose. The Reapers seem to have quite a few tricks up their sleeves," Graham said thoughtfully.

"I think Faith was the reason Celia was playing this game," Blake went on. "Her primary reason, anyways. I'm sure she has family, and other friends, too, but I saw the way she looked at Faith. He must have meant a lot to her."

"And now he's our enemy. That does seem a bit rough," Graham said sympathetically. "Well, you've answered my question. What's yours?"

"It's pretty similar to yours, really," Blake said. "Are you or Jason Reapers?"

Both Graham and Jason stared at Blake as if he had suddenly grown a new head.

"I don't know what the Reapers are or aren't capable of," Blake explained. "All I know is that you two have known your way around since the beginning, and that every time someone asks, your answer is the same: the Reapers told you. Maybe it's true. Then again, maybe it's not. I need to know for sure… so please, tell me. Are either of you Reapers?"

"Of course not," Jason said, rolling his eyes. Graham, too, shook his head.

"Are either of you working for or with the Reapers?" Blake asked.

"Not unless you count the missions where the Reapers were sent to work beside us," Graham said. "We are Players, just like you, Blake. Just like every other Player, we died, and now we're stuck here until we win or give up."

Several long seconds went by as Blake stared at Graham calculatingly. Finally, he relented. "Alright, then. I believe you. Please… help me help my partner," he requested.

"Is this about your partner, or about you?" Jason interrupted with a scowl.

"About her," Blake replied evenly. "I don't deserve another chance at life. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. But Celia does. She shouldn't even be here. I owe it to her to get her out of here, no matter what it takes."

"No matter what it takes? Even if it takes erasing her friend, the person you claim may be her best reason for wanting to live again?" Graham challenged.

That stole the bravado from Blake's expression. "I really hope it doesn't come to that," he admitted. "I'm not sure I could defeat Faith, even if I wanted to. I know Celia can't. I don't know what will happen if it comes to that; I can only see one step ahead of me right now, and that's making it through this day. That's the step I want to take."

"Fair enough," Graham said. "We can work together, then. When the mission shows up, anyways. You should go talk to Celia, by the way. We'll want her to stick with us. In the meantime, I'm going to check on the other Players."

"Okay. Thanks," Blake said, watching as Graham left. He then turned and started towards Celia, but Jason quickly stopped him.

"Blake, wait," Jason said nervously.

"What is it?" Blake asked, surprised by the discomfort he saw in Jason's face.

"Look, Graham and I weren't lying. We're not Reapers, and we aren't working for the Reapers, either," Jason began.

"I know. I believe you," Blake said.

"But we're not your friends," Jason went on quietly, glancing over his shoulder at Graham. "Or at least, Graham isn't. We all know that we need to stick together and tough it through this week, but Graham only wants to seem like he has everyone's best interests in mind. He's changed, lately. I've known him for years, but now, even I can't really tell what he's thinking. All I know is that he's only looking out for one person now: himself. Do you understand?"

"I expected as much," Blake admitted. "I still remember how our third mission ended. I know if it comes down to a choice between taking a risk and letting other Players shoulder that risk for you, you two will think of yourselves, first. I was pissed off about it then, but now that I've had time to think, I probably would've done the same thing myself."

"That's not what really happened," Jason said quickly. "Look… I… never mind. Just be careful, alright?"

"Alright," Blake said, looking more confused than ever as he watched Jason scurry away.

Complete the frozen monument. You have 480 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.

- The Reapers

When the mission arrived, Blake read it silently first, before reading it a second time aloud for his partner's sake, as if trying to rouse her from her stupor.

Celia did move then, sitting up straight and rubbing her eyes tiredly. Then she reached into one of her pockets for her phone, silently reading the mission for herself.

"What do you think?" Blake tentatively prompted her.

"I don't know," Celia said listlessly, powering off her phone as timers appeared on their palms.

"Eight hours," Blake noted. "That's the most time we've been given so far, unless we're counting yesterday. This isn't going to be easy."

"No, it isn't," Celia agreed absently.

"Hey, Celia. I talked to Graham and Jason," Blake said. "We'll be working with them today. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure," Celia agreed, her emotionless tone making it clear that she didn't really care either way.

Blake stared at her for a while. "Okay. Good," he finally said, privately doubting he was about to make any more progress than that. "Let's go meet up with them, alright? Then we can see about getting rid of these walls." He looked up, searching for Graham and Jason, but stopped as his eyes locked upon a large pedestal, seemingly carved from ice. "Was that always there?"

"Was what always there?" Celia asked, looking up. She, too, saw the pedestal, but since she hadn't bothered looking earlier, she didn't have an answer for Blake.

"Let's go take a closer look," Blake said, trying to sound encouraging. He offered Celia a hand, helping her to her feet, and together, they went to join the other Players grouped around the pedestal.

Resting atop the frozen pedestal was a partially-completed sculpture of a medieval castle. Its outer walls formed a hexagon, with six towers, standing at each corner. One wall was missing entirely, presumably for the entrance. Within the walls, there was only a single doorway, offset from the center slightly towards the missing wall.

Two pins rested nearby, a blue pin decorated with a black decal shaped like a key, and a pin similar to their Player pins, with an icon of a hammer set against the snowflake background.

Laura was in the midst of reaching for one of the pins when Blake and Celia arrived.

"Don't touch it," Vivian warned, and Laura retracted her hand quickly, as if she had been burned. "It could be a trap."

"Trap or no trap, we don't have any other way to proceed," Graham reasoned aloud. "We're locked in here, and this has to be the monument the mission spoke of. Unless someone's got a box of puzzle pieces lying around, these pins have to be the key to solving this mission."

"Maybe we're supposed to make our own pieces from ice cubes," another Player suggested.

"And just where are we going to find ice cubes? The supermarket that's blocked off by a wall?" Laura asked impatiently.

Before anyone could stop him, Graham reached over and scooped up both of the pins. "Not a trap," he said a moment later, when nothing happened. "But… not useful, either." He passed the pins over to Laura.

"The hammer pin only contains part of a psych, it feels like," Laura noted. "There's power in there, but it's incomplete."

"What about the other pin?" Blake asked.

"It also carries a psych, but I don't know how to use it," Laura admitted. "I'm trying to call to it, but it isn't responding. Maybe I'm using it wrong."

"May I try?" one of the Players, a scruffy-looking man with an impressive mustache, requested. Laura passed the pin over to him, and he closed his eyes, focusing on it.

"It feels like it wants to get rid of something," he mumbled. "Are we supposed to use this to remove additions that we don't like?"

"Let me see it," Blake asked. The other man shrugged and handed the pin over, and Blake did the same thing, reaching for the pins psych with his mind.

"A pin that undoes mistakes, and a pin that… doesn't do anything," Graham mused. "That's not very helpful."

"This pin isn't for undoing mistakes," Blake corrected, understanding the pin's purpose. "It's for removing walls."

"For removing walls?" Jason asked blankly. "Are you sure?"

"Why would the Reapers put up these walls, then give us a pin to remove them?" Graham asked skeptically. "They could have removed the walls themselves as soon as the pedestal appeared."

"I don't know. It's just a guess," Blake admitted. "But the pin's definitely trying to remove something, and we're not getting anything done stuck in here with these two pins. Plus, it's blue, and the walls keeping us in are blue. Mind if I try it out?"

When no one objected, Blake began strolling towards the nearest blue wall. The others followed curiously, save for Celia, who tagged along but appeared to still be lost in thought. Once he was standing before the nearest wall of blue light, Blake tried invoking the blue pin once more.

White lines creased that section of the wall, separating it into small, diamond-shaped tiles. Then the tiles shrank away, and their way was clear.

"Good guess," Graham remarked. "Our mission's beginning to make some sense." He pointed down the now-open road. Some of the sides were blocked by walls of gray light, while one was blocked by a wall of green light. A Reaper Blake didn't recognize stood in front of the wall with his wings extended, marking him clearly for the Players to see.

"The hammer pin isn't a complete psych," Vivian understood. "We have to collect the rest of the pins, then use them to finish assembling the model castle."

"And in order to collect the rest of the pins, we'll have to find the other key pins to clear the walls," Graham said. "It's a maze, basically. We might not be able to clear the gray walls at all. They seem almost out of place beside the green one and the blue ones we left behind."

"Let's go ask that Reaper about his wall," Laura suggested, gesturing towards the Reaper by the green wall. "He's looking this way. I think he's waiting for us to approach him."

In answer, Graham looked back towards the three translucent blue walls behind them. "We shouldn't all go," he said. "The pins we're searching for – both the key pins and the ones we need for finishing the castle – could be pretty much anywhere. The other blue walls can't be just for show, either."

"We should split up to cover more ground," Vivian reasoned, grasping Graham's meaning at once. "Especially since we don't know how long it will take to put the model together when we have all the pins."

"Precisely," Graham said. "Blake, could I have the blue key?"

Blake handed the key over without a fuss, but he glanced at Celia uneasily, fearing that he and Celia would need to move off on their own, too.

"Blake, Celia, Jason, and I will keep moving around, removing the walls," Graham suggested, inspecting the keys. "Everyone else can just pick a direction and start pushing outward. If you come across any of the pins, bring the keys back to us, and leave the building pins on the pedestal where we started. If you get stuck with a colored barrier, come check with us and see if we've got the key. If you hit a dead end, just pick another path and go."

"That seems to be a sound plan," Vivian agreed immediately. "Laura and I can handle this one." With that, she and Laura set off, making their way towards the distant Reaper.

"Back the way we came, then," Graham said, leading the way back to the next of the blue walls.

After the fourth blue wall went down, Graham collected the green pin from Laura and Vivian. Then the two women returned to their own route, forging out further as planned.

Behind the other three blue walls were a green wall, a red wall, and a fork leading to a green and red wall. At the end of the path leading to a lone red wall, Selena was waiting. As two Players set off to deal with whatever challenge she offered, Graham moved to unseal the rest of the green walls. Then one of the Players brought back the red key pin, and Graham began removing the red barriers, too.

"That's the last red one, at least that we know of," Graham announced, when the wall in front of them went down. Behind it, the path seemed fairly open, and forked both left and right. Unfortunately, the rest of the Players had split up long ago, leaving just Blake, Celia, Graham, and Jason together.

"Which way?" Graham asked, glancing at his companions.

Blake looked left, then right. Both paths were lined with gray walls, reaching far and curving so that it wasn't immediately apparent which key pins they would need to proceed further. "Doesn't matter to me," he said.

"Blake and I will go right. You two can head left," Celia said, her first words in quite some time.

Graham rounded on her, surprised. "Are you sure, Celia?" he asked sympathetically.

"Not really. Would you two rather go right? If so, Blake and I can go left," Celia offered.

The other three exchanged questioning glances. Finally, Graham shrugged. "Left is fine with us. You two take care, alright?"

"We will," Blake promised, setting off after Celia, who had already started away.

"Celia, are you sure about this?" Blake asked, as soon as he was alone with his partner.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Celia asked nonchalantly.

"You don't look well," Blake admitted.

"I don't? That's a surprise," Celia said mildly.

Blake winced. "Sorry. That was a stupid thing to say," he apologized quickly. "I just meant…"

"It's alright, Blake," Celia said reassuringly. "Thank you for worrying. You're right, too; I don't feel well at all. But our situation hasn't changed. We're still dead, and if we don't make it through this game, dead we'll stay."

"But what about Faith?" Blake asked.

"What about him?" Celia asked.

"He's a Reaper," Blake reminded. "He's the one who's been keeping us in this game. He's the one who's been writing missions for us to fail, and granting the Harriers permission to hunt us down with Noise. He finally showed himself yesterday, only to use you like a tool."

"He showed himself yesterday to save us," Celia corrected. "The Noise we were fighting – the Conductor's shadow or echo or whatever – would have erased us both if Faith hadn't stepped in."

Blake stared at her incredulously. "You can't honestly believe he was just there to help us," he said disbelievingly.

Celia shook her head slowly. "I don't know what to believe, but I do know that if he really wanted us gone, he could've let the Taboo Noise finish us both off yesterday. Or he could have erased us earlier, by permitting Bradley and Trevor to use more Noise against us," she pointed out.

"I guess," Blake conceded reluctantly, seeming unconvinced. "But do you really think he's your friend, still?"

"I don't know what he is," Celia admitted unhappily. "I trusted him, but he's been keeping secrets from me this whole time. Maybe he didn't trust me, or maybe he didn't think I'd believe him. Or maybe he had another reason entirely. I just don't know. I think… I think I want to believe he's still my friend, and for that, I need answers. I need to find him."

"But don't you remember what Michael said?" Blake reminded her uncomfortably. "The seventh day's mission is to erase the Game Master. That's Faith. He's going to be the last one standing between us and living again."

"I know," Celia said wearily. "But… the world ends with me."

Blake looked at her, puzzled.

"That's what Hanekoma told me. That man in the coffee shop, remember?" Celia said. "He told me to expand my world, and to push my horizons out as far as they'll go. I think I'm beginning to understand what he meant. I know what I want, see? I want to find Faith, and to hear him tell me that everything's going to be alright. I want to live again, to go back to my life as if none of this had ever happened."

Blake stared at her speechlessly, as if he was afraid she had gone mad.

"I know. It's childish and stupid, and in the end, that's not what's important anyways. What's important is, I don't want this to be the end," Celia said. She gestured around them, indicating the magical walls shepherding them along a pre-determined path, and sidewalks crowded with living, breathing people who couldn't see the Players or any part of the Underground. "Even if no direction feels quite right, the only thing I know for sure is that staying still would be wrong. That means I'll just have to pick a direction and go. I'm going to keep playing this game. I'm going to keep believing that Faith is my friend, and I'm going to keep trusting my friend, even… even if there's a chance that I might be wrong."

"This is all from the advice of a stranger in a coffee shop?" Blake finally managed.

"It's all I have left, really," Celia admitted with a shrug. "Also, I don't know what it was exactly, but there was something a bit strange about Hanekoma."

"Something more than just a creepy tourist chatting up a girl at least ten years younger than he was?" Blake asked dryly.

Celia nodded. "When Faith and I were fighting the Conductor's Noise, the pin Hanekoma gave me did something strange. It was blank when he gave it to me, but during the fight, the pin was calling to me, and a pattern had formed on it."

"Really?" Blake said, adopting a curious look.

Celia reached into her pocket for a pin. To her surprise, she found more pins that she expected. "Where did all of these come from?" she asked, fishing them out. The pin Hanekoma had given her was blank once more, but she found two black pins she did not recognize. The symbol for pi was embossed on one pin in white. The other displayed a white leonine skull.

"Don't you remember?" Blake frowned. "Right before we fell asleep, you dropped one of your pins. I think those two were on the ground beside it, and you scooped them up without looking."

"I did?" Celia murmured. She tried to recall the moment she fell asleep, but it was all a bit hazy, and several seconds later she was no wiser as to what had happened.

"You looked a bit out of it," Blake said. "Whatever. What about that blank pin? Isn't that the one that guy from the coffee shop gave you?"

"I don't understand," Celia said, bewildered. "There was definitely a design on it yesterday when I was using it."

"Let me see it?" Blake requested. Celia handed the blank pin over, and Blake shook it up and down in an almost comical manner. "Nothing. No psych, no design, no nothing," he declared, handing it back. "What about the other pins?"

Celia tried the pin with the lion's skull first, and immediately, she found herself standing behind Blake instead. "So this is how that Noise kept disappearing and reappearing around me," she guessed thoughtfully.

"Or maybe he could do that on his own, and when you erased him, he turned into a pin," Blake suggested. Celia gave him an odd look, and he smiled crookedly. "Okay, maybe not. What about the other pin?"

Celia focused on the pin with the pi symbol, and in her mind's eye, she saw the same symbol hovering before her. The pin definitely contained power of some sort, but she couldn't quite shape it or project it. "It's not doing anything," she finally said. "Do you want to try it?"

"Sure," Blake agreed, accepting the pin. He concentrated on the pin, then gave it a puzzled look. Then he shut his eyes. "I see a giant pi symbol. Figures. I've never seen anyone quite so obsessed with math before."

"Is that really all it does?" Celia said doubtfully, hiding her disappointment. "It felt like there was something more to it."

"It does, doesn't it?" Blake mused. "Hmm… pi!" he suddenly shouted, causing Celia to jump. "Sine? Cosine! Tangent! Infinity!"

"I think that's enough, Blake," Celia said hastily.

But Blake wasn't finished. "Radians! Degrees! Dodecahedrons!" he called. "Three point one four!" As he shouted off the first three digits of pi, the pin suddenly flashed, taking both him and his partner by surprise. When he stopped, a small flash of light burst forwards from the pin.

"Three point one four?" Celia repeated dubiously. "Pi?"

Blake carefully pointed the pin away from Celia. "Three point one four one five nine two six five four," he chanted. The pin flared brighter this time, but the ensuing burst surrounded the pin instead of shooting forward as it had done before, stinging Blake's hand and causing him to drop the pin. "Ouch!"

"So more digits makes it more dangerous to yourself," Celia noted, shaking her head. "Let's just toss it, Blake."

"No, I think that was my fault," Blake said, bending down to retrieve the pin. "That time, it felt almost like the pin itself was angry with me." He lifted the pin up and chanted off the same numbers again, this time stopping after the second five. A sizable flare of light shot outwards and exploded impressively before him. "I guess the next digit isn't a four," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I guess you can keep it if you want it," Celia said hesitantly, though it still seemed incredibly unpredictable and dangerous to her. "Do you want the other one, too?"

"No thanks. I have a pin that lets me do the same thing already," Blake replied. "Now come on. We've been standing still far too long. We're supposed to be checking out this path, remember?"

"Right," Celia agreed. "Let's go."

Celia and Blake soon came across a shimmering wall of golden light, barring them from going any further. Standing by the wall was Dennis, who looked immensely uncomfortable when he spotted the two approaching players.

"Hello, Dennis," Blake greeted.

"H-Hey," Dennis said, glancing nervously at Celia. "Good to see you two. Uh… how are you doing, Celia?"

"About as well as I could have hoped," Celia replied, trying to keep her voice steady. Despite her confident words earlier, she couldn't fully dismiss her nagging doubts.

"Good, good…" Dennis said absently. "Hey, uh… there's something I ought to tell you. Might be a bit late, but…"

"You're the co-worker that Faith mentioned to me," Celia guessed. Then another thought occurred to her, and she winced as a newfound doubt began gnawing at her from within. "When he spoke of you, he called you by a different name, too. I guess he didn't want to risk me knowing you when we met."

Dennis looked at her quizzically. "A different name? Williams, maybe?"

"How did you know?" Celia asked, surprised.

"That's my last name," Dennis clarified. "The Game Master calls pretty much everyone by their last names. He doesn't usually bother with titles, either, not that there's a lot of titles to go around. The Conductor was always just Minamimoto to him."

"Oh," Celia said. Her sudden surge of discomfort faded as quickly as it had come.

"The moment you mentioned the Game Master's name, I figured it out," Dennis admitted. "I mean, there just aren't that many guys named Faith, you know? I thought about saying something, but I wasn't sure how to break it to you. I'm sorry."

"Dennis, Michael told us that the final mission would be to erase the Game Master. Is that true?" Celia asked uncomfortably. "Will we have to erase Faith in order to win?"

Dennis pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I don't know," he finally said. "BJ says that's usually the case, but last week, the mission for the seventh day was something different. Like I said last time, I'm new to this Reaper gig. There's a lot of rules and traditions to pick up, you know?"

"Does that mean we may not have to fight against Faith, after all?" Celia asked neutrally, trying to keep her hopes contained.

Her partner, on the other hand, didn't bother disguising his own relief. "That's good to hear," Blake said. "So, who's BJ?"

"Another Reaper. One of the veterans. Japanese guy, always wears a black hoodie," Dennis described.

"We've met him before," Celia said, nodding in recognition. "But what do you mean by veterans?"

"With Michael gone, there are only four of us Reapers who really understand what's going on. The rest of us are kind of just picking it up on the fly," Dennis explained.

"Four?" Blake asked.

"Four of them, all from Japan," Dennis nodded. "The Conductor, BJ, BJ's buddy, Tenho, who always dresses in red and doesn't speak English, and…"

"And Faith," Celia finished.

"Yeah, him," Dennis said. "To be honest, BJ's the only one I really talk with. I don't know any Japanese, so talking with Tenho is a bit difficult. Talking to the Conductor's difficult no matter how many languages you know. That just leaves the Game Master; he's nice enough, but he's always been a bit distant. He just hangs around in the office doing his own thing, you know? I wasn't even really sure he was a Reaper until he came with us to deal with some Noise the other day, just before this game started."

"I see," Celia said, disappointed. She had been hoping to learn more of Faith, but it was beginning to sound like no one else really knew much about him, either.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think tomorrow's mission will come down to a fight," Dennis guessed.

"Why do you say that?" Celia asked.

"Because the Game Master's pretty damn tough," Dennis answered. "We Reapers have to partner up to deal with the Taboo Noise, but even then, it's a bit of a struggle. The Game Master showed up all alone yesterday and swatted a dozen Noise aside without breaking a sweat."

"That's not very comforting," Blake commented dryly.

"His game's been pretty reasonable so far, hasn't it?" Dennis pointed out. "I doubt he'd assign you Players an impossible mission." Dennis then turned to face Celia, eyeing her sympathetically. "And I don't think he would make you fight him, either," he added.

Dennis's words seem to hang heavily in the air around them. It was the exact answer Celia had been hoping to hear, but his uncertainty was a grim reminder that no one seemed to truly know anything for certain where the mysterious Game Master was concerned.

"Speaking of missions," Blake said, noticing Celia's discomfort and changing the subject. "How do we get through this wall of yours?"

"With this key pin," Dennis said, holding up a golden pin with a black key embossed upon it. "I'm supposed to make you complete some sort of challenge before I give it to you."

"Okay. What do you want us to do?" Celia asked.

Without warning, Dennis lazily flipped the pin towards here. Then he reached into his pocket and retrieved a second pin. "You two should take this one with you, too," he added, showing them the pin, which was decorated with a silhouette of a woodworking saw set against a silver snowflake. He tossed the second pin at Blake. "These used to belong to Michael. Reapers normally can't use our powers in the Realground, but he could, somehow. He spent many afternoons in the office using these pins to work on that little castle of his."

"You're giving them to us? Just like that?" Blake asked, startled.

"I owe Celia that much, at least," Dennis said with a sheepish grin. "Though, if any of the other Reapers ask, do me a favor and tell them you won these pins off me fair and square, alright?" Then, before either Celia or Blake could recover from their surprise, the Reaper turned and spread his wings, soaring up into the sky and gliding off into the distance.

Past the wall of golden light, the corridor of tinted gray walls continued on. By unspoken agreement, Celia and Blake forged on, deciding to explore the rest of their path before returning the key pin to the others. The barriers around them continued as a winding corridor might, with turns and twists but always only a single way forward. As such, it was some time before Celia realized something was wrong.

"Blake, I think we're going in a circle," Celia interrupted, looking up at the street signs.

"How could we be going in circles? There's only been one path forward this entire time," Blake protested.

"I mean, I think we're heading back towards where we first split up with Graham and Jason," Celia amended.

Blake didn't seem overly concerned. "Good. That'll save us a long walk back," he said. Then he noticed Celia's worried expression. "It's nothing to worry about," he insisted. "Good mazes are supposed to have loops, else you could always solve them by the right-hand rule, you know?"

"Right-hand rule?" Celia asked him curiously.

"Sure. If you know the maze doesn't have any loops, always turn right when given a choice. That'll bring you to the exit eventually," Blake explained. "Or in our case, you'd eventually cover the entire thing. It all falls apart if you add a loop, though."

"What happens if you hit a dead end?"

Celia and Blake turned to find Bradley walking up to them, a fierce smile upon his face. Both Players readied their pins as they warily watched the approaching Reaper.

"You two don't seem happy to see me," Bradley said, feigning a wounded look. "Sorry for throwing a wrench into your little puzzle-solving scheme."

Blake shook his head in disgust. "What are you talking about? If you hit a dead end, you just turn right until you see an open path, which is the way back. That's kind of the point of the rule," he said irritably.

"Ah, but how would you two turn back if you're dead?" Bradley teased. Eight Noise sigils appeared around him, forming the points of a regular octagon.

"This again? Why do you keep wasting our time with your useless Noise?" Blake scoffed.

Sixteen more sigils appeared, adding two layers to the pattern around Bradley, who grinned cruelly. "Still think they're useless?" the Reaper growled.

"That's quite a lot of Noise," Celia remarked mildly. "Is Faith finally letting you off your leash?" she asked, though she already suspected otherwise.

"No leash can restrain me," Bradley proclaimed angrily. "Least of all one held in the feeble hands of that pup."

Celia narrowed her eyes fiercely, and raised her Lightning Rook pin higher.

"No, Celia," Blake urged, backing up a step and tugging at Celia's arm.

"We can take him," Celia said coldly.

"Really? Perhaps you should take a leaf out of the Conductor's book and learn to count," Bradley gloated. "But just in case…" He gestured, and two more layers of sigils appeared around him. "Wolves, gather!"

All forty sigils pulsed with energy, and Trance Hounds began streaming out of them, forming a swelling, violet tide of Noise.

"Run, Celia," Blake said firmly. "If he's calling this many Noise out, he's clearly not playing by the rules any longer. Even if we can beat the Noise, we'll still have to deal with him."

Celia had half a mind to fight, anyways, but she knew that Blake was probably right. "Fine," she relented.

But she had learned from her attempt to escape the Trance Hounds on the first day, and instead of running, she called to her stylus, which appeared and promptly exploded into motion. A wall of fire emerged from the ground, instantly frying the two Noise closest to them and holding the rest back.

Bradley lifted his pin and fired a jet of water into the fiery blockade, which hissed in protest before dissolving into steam. Still, it had bought Celia the time she needed, and by the time Bradley and his Noise could see again, the two Players were already flapping their newly-drawn wings and gliding away.

"Why do my wings look like Reaper wings?" Blake grumbled.

"Would you rather have wings like mine?" Celia asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, no," Blake admitted.

"That's why," Celia replied, looking ahead. "Hey, why don't we just fly up and over the wall?" she suggested.

Blake nodded and soared up, only to strike an invisible barrier above them. "Damn it," he cried, only barely recovering his balance in time to avoid plummeting down to the ground. "Can't go up," he grumbled.

"Straight ahead, then," Celia offered. But a moment later, that option was lost to them, too, for a translucent wall of red light barred them from continuing any further.

Without any other choice, Blake flew right up to the wall, as if hoping it to be an illusion. He pressed his palms against it and looked at it despairingly, realizing there was no way out. Behind him, Celia turned back warily as the persistent barking grew louder, and the Trance Hounds came into sight once more.

"Now do we fight?" Celia asked, trying to remain calm.

Blake took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Yeah. Time to fight," he agreed.

Celia descended lightly to the ground as the last of the Trance Hounds disappeared. "That wasn't so bad," she said airily.

"Says you," Blake said, panting. "Some of us can't just dangle out of reach of the Noise, blasting away, you know."

"Look sharp," Celia warned, ignoring his complaining.

A second later, Bradley caught up at last, with a few Trance Hounds trotting alongside him. "You've done well, Players, surviving this long. But now the pack leader has arrived, and the hunt can truly begin." He lifted a pair of pins and assumed a combative stance.

"I thought Reapers were forbidden from attacking Players directly," Celia reminded, though she kept her own pins at hand anyways, hardly expecting her comment to dissuade the Reaper.

"Oh, of course," Bradley conceded. "But who's about to stop me? Michael?" The Reaper howled with laughter. "Your little guardian angel can't save you this time."

Jason's voice cut in abruptly, stealing away the Reaper's bluster. "Celia, Blake!" he called, sprinting towards the crimson wall of light from the other side. "Graham, hurry!"

Blake glanced at Jason, then turned back to Bradley, and it was his turn to grin wickedly. "Sounds like the cavalry has arrived," he said nonchalantly. "I have to say, Reaper, I like these odds."

Celia was less interested in bantering with the Reaper, and waved towards Graham as he approached. "Graham, hurry! Take down this wall!" she called. In truth, she wasn't entirely certain if Graham or Jason could intercede if Bradley chose to attack anyways, but at least the Reaper seemed taken aback by the arrival of two more Players.

But Graham stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Bradley. He stared calculatingly at Celia, Blake, and Bradley, then shook his head somberly. "Sorry, Celia. Can't help you," he said regretfully.

"What!?" Jason exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Haven't got the right pin," Graham said with an indifferent shrug, his expression making it clear that he was lying. "Good luck, you two," he said to Celia and Blake, before turning to leave.

"Graham, what the hell!? You can't do this!" Jason cried out in protest, chasing after his partner. "Graham! Wait!"

"Graham?" Celia whispered, not quite comprehending the sudden change in the inscrutable blond.

"Damn it!" Blake swore, as he watched Graham and Jason disappear from sight. "And damn you, too," he added, rounding upon Bradley furiously.

The Reaper grinned. "Thrown to the wolves, eh?" he leered. "Fear not; I'll make this quick and clean."

As soon as Celia found herself alone with Bradley, the Reaper punched forward, his arm elongating and warping into a deadly claw. Celia reacted with her new pin, teleporting herself past the Reaper. She spun and lashed out with Lightning Rook, blasting the burly Reaper off his feet.

Bradley agilely rolled back onto his feet and pounced, slamming into a frozen barrier just before he could reach his victim. Then Celia's stylus turned metallic, and like a spear, it stabbed hard into the Reaper's shoulder.

Celia fired Lightning Rook again, and like a lightning rod, her stylus drew the energy towards it, sending agonizing surges of electricity through the Reaper's sturdy frame.

Bradley's teeth seemed to chatter uncontrollably. Then he was gone, and a shadowed, ghostly image of him appeared several feet away. The duplicate resembled the Reaper almost perfectly, but reminded Celia of the echo of Minamimoto she had battled the day before.

With Bradley's disappearance, Celia's stylus had clattered to the ground, reverting to its normal black color. With a thought, the young artist flipped the stylus back into the air, sketching a pile of fireworks over her new opponent.

Bradley's image leapt at her with a fierce roar, seeming exactly like the real version. Again, Celia avoided it by teleporting past him, moving all the way past her fireworks. Her enemy spun, but at that moment, her fireworks dropped to the ground and went off, shooting flares into the wolfish man's face. A lightning bolt followed through, laying the Reaper's duplicate flat as well.

Then the image was gone, and Bradley reappeared beside it. One of his arms was bleeding violently as if he had been slashed with a large, heavy blade. When he saw Celia, his expression hardened, and he lifted up two pins. A powerful stream of bubbles spewed outwards.

Celia tried to move out of range, but the ground shook at the same time, and she lost her footing. She felt a series of painful stings as the bubbles began hammering into her, and she desperately teleported herself away.

Bradley located her quickly and pounced again, but Celia had just enough time to finish her next sketch. A bow fell into her hands, crafted from silvery, sparkling wood. Elegant wings made of feathers similar to those that had shielded her during her battle against Minamimoto tipped each end of the bow.

Instead of drawing an arrow, Celia held Lightning Rook in her hand as she drew back the string. She released the string carefully, making sure not to accidentally fire her pin with it. A streak of lightning burst forward, catching the Reaper in the chest and throwing him nearly twenty feet backward.

Celia fired again, and then a third time, each shot eliciting another whimper of pain from the Reaper. Then her stylus went to work, and the stinging lightning arrows were followed by a trio of flaming meteors.

Bradley leapt back to his feet, outraged. He then disappeared again, and his duplicate reappeared. Apparently, the image had fared even more poorly against Blake than the real Bradley had done against Celia, for it was now missing an arm entirely, and several punctures went straight through the ghostly silhouette's torso.

Celia promptly loosed another wave of meteors, then brought an avalanche down upon her flat-footed foe. The image crumbled away, and Blake reappeared beside Celia, looking pumped and unharmed.

Bradley backed away with a groan, but to Celia's dismay, he braced himself quickly and crouched forward threateningly.

"I wouldn't do that, dude. Looks to me like they're kicking your ass."

Celia, Blake, and Bradley turned to see the speaker, Trevor, standing right beside where the crimson wall had been. Jason was there, too, a red key clutched in his palm. Graham was conspicuously absent, but two other Reapers were there, the two Japanese Reapers Dennis had called Tenho and BJ.

"Mind your own business," Bradley spat.

"Suit yourself," Trevor said uncaringly. "I just thought you should know that the Game Master's making his rounds. Pretty sure he said eight sigils, and to hand over the pins when the Noise were gone. If he hears about this, I doubt he'll be happy."

"Reapers aren't supposed to attack Players directly," BJ warned.

Tenho muttered something in Japanese.

"And the Game Master is not a forgiving man," BJ added, translating for his friend.

Bradley flinched and straightened. He stared at Celia and Blake for some time, as if struggling to make up his mind. Finally, he grudgingly took a pin from his pocket and tossed it to Celia. "Fine. If that mangy mutt would rather erase his little girlfriend himself, more power to him," the angry Reaper growled. With a huff, he turned and stormed away. The other three Reapers left, too, without another word.

"Celia, Blake, are you two alright?" Jason said, rushing to meet them.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks for coming back for us," Celia said gratefully.

"Look, I'm so sorry about Graham," Jason apologized. "He's not usually like this."

"Quit apologizing. It's not your fault your partner's a treacherous snake," Blake said. "Anyways, we've got two pins, now, plus a key pin."

"It's not really his…" Jason began helplessly, but he seemed unable to finish his sentence. He sighed. "Never mind. Come on, let's get back to the others. When we last checked in, we had four pins, and the psych felt almost complete. I bet those two pins you've got are the last ones."

"We should have said something to the others," Blake grumbled angrily, sitting down on the bench beside Celia at the edge of the parking lot.

Celia shook her head. "Don't," she advised. "It isn't worth it."

"How can you say that?" Blake fumed. "That bastard left us to die back there."

"What would be the point?" Celia said with a helpless shrug. "Sure, we could tell the others. They'd probably be upset, and we'd all get into a big argument about it, and if we have to work with Graham later, no one would trust him."

"No one should trust him," Blake pointed out irritably.

"True," Celia conceded. "But we're not through with today's mission yet. We don't have time to argue with each other."

"We have plenty of time for it. You just don't like arguing," Blake accused, in a slightly harsher tone than he intended.

"You're right. I don't," Celia admitted readily. "Most of the time, everyone walks away unhappy, so why bother?"

Blake sighed and settled back in his seat. "You know, you really need to stand up for yourself more," he said, sounding less angry now, and more resigned. "Whether or not you like arguing, sometimes, you just have to stand your ground, you know? Otherwise people will just push you around or walk right over you."

Celia gave him an odd look.

"Like I did," Blake admitted sheepishly, knowing what was on her mind. "And like Graham just did."

"Perhaps," Celia said softly. "But that's just who I am, Blake. I know I'm not a very assertive person. If I can make myself heard to the people who matter to me, that's good enough. Most of the time, I'm not really sure what I want, anyways. Some say that art is a form of self-expression, but when I draw, I usually feel like I'm just rambling, like I'm trying to straighten out my own thoughts."

Blake shrugged. "I'm the last person with any right to criticize someone for not knowing what they want," he said. "I still don't know what I'll do when I'm alive again, assuming we make it."

"I don't know, either," Celia admitted.

"Well, when you finally do decide on what you want, please, don't hold back," Blake said.

Celia eyed him curiously, for there was a trace of pleading in Blake's tone. "Okay. I won't," she finally promised.

Blake nodded, satisfied, then glanced over to where the other Players were still struggling with the pins. "How long does it take them to finish that damned castle?" he grumbled.

Celia looked over to the pedestal and frowned. She had surrendered the last of Michael's pins to the others before stepping aside. At first, the others had taken turns trying to use the pins, but now, it looked like they had divided up the pins between them. "They seem to be having a hard time with those pins," Celia observed, for though the castle had begun to take shape, the Players using the pins seemed visibly frustrated with one another. "Let's go see if there's anything we can do to help."

"Might as well," Blake agreed, and the two of them rose to rejoin the others.

"How's it going?" Celia asked. The other Players looked up as she approached, then Graham quickly looked away. Celia, deciding not to comment on it, looked to Laura instead.

"Not good," Laura admitted. "We finally figured out how to use the pins, at least. All six of them have to be used together, but none of us can use more than two or three of them at once."

"Is that why you have one pin, Vivian has two, and Graham three?" Blake observed.

"We've been taking turns with them," Vivian explained. "But we're having trouble coordinating the pins. It's a bit hard to explain, but since the six pins share a psych, it's like we're all trying to use that psych at the same time."

"Think of a three-legged race, only worse," Laura said.

"Even when we do successfully add something to the castle, it never looks quite like we were hoping," added another Player, whose name Celia didn't know. "They definitely don't fit with the pieces that were already there."

"We even have a hard time removing the pieces that seem terribly out of place," Jason noted grimly.

"Would you like to try?" Laura said, offering her pin to Celia. Likewise, Vivian held out her two pins to Blake.

"Sure," Celia agreed. She took the pin and began channeling its psych, and was immediately assailed by a discordant jumble of unintelligible thoughts. Then she felt Blake and Graham activate their pins as well, and the cacophony only grew worse.

A few moments later, Celia dismissed her psych with a sigh, understanding the problem.

"See what I mean?" Vivian said with a disappointed half-smile.

"It's like we're trying to do three different things at once," Celia noted quietly. "And none of those directions agree with what we already have. I can see a pattern in Michael's work, like a thread, but I don't see where he meant for it to lead."

"Michael?" Jason asked, surprised.

"According to one of the Reapers, this castle and these six pins used to belong to Michael," Blake explained.

"But Michael wasn't just trying to build a castle," Celia murmured. "If he could use all six of these pins together, building a castle shouldn't have taken long at all. Dennis said Michael spent a long time working on this, though, and it was nowhere near finished."

"What do you think Michael was trying to do, then?" Laura asked curiously.

"Michael must have had something specific in mind," Celia said, studying the castle carefully. "The pieces he built were incredibly detailed. He was trying to create something with meaning, something that could speak to those who looked upon it. Something that could tell a story, perhaps."

"But Michael's gone," Blake reminded.

Celia nodded. "He never had a chance to finish it, and now we'll never know for sure what he intended," she agreed. "That's what our mission about. It's not just a castle; it's a monument for Michael. We have to pick up the pieces he left behind and make something coherent out of it. Something whole," she said, growing more certain of her guess with each passing second.

"Okay. So what does that mean?" Graham asked, growing impatient.

Celia didn't respond. Instead, she spent nearly another full minute examining the castle before speaking again. "Graham, would you please lend me those three pins, too?" she requested.

"You won't be able to use four of them at once," Graham warned.

"There's no harm in letting her try, is there?" Vivian pointed out.

Graham frowned. "I guess not," he conceded, reluctantly handing them over.

Celia closed her eyes and tested the psych, and found that she had no problem invoking the four pins she now held. "Let me see those other two, too, Blake," she said.

"Are you sure you can manage all six at once?" Blake asked quietly, as he passed over the two pins Vivian had given them.

In answer, Celia closed her eyes and began channeling all six fragments of the psych towards the castle. She began with the clumsy additions that the other had made, which obediently melted away. Then, once she had restored the castle to its initial state, she began carefully extending what was already there.

The missing wall formed, leaving an arched doorway warded with a heavy portcullis. Then Celia tried something more complex, creating a moat and drawbridge, and the beginnings of the main structure.

"It's actually working," Laura whispered, awed.

But Celia silently disagreed. She was able to use the six pins together, yes, but emulating Michael's work felt strangely improper. She hadn't truly known Michael, and so she found that she still could not understand what he had been striving for. Her additions outwardly appeared to belong, but somehow, the monument still felt incomplete and devoid of meaning.

"It's empty," Celia whispered, shaking her head.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"This isn't right," Celia tried to explain. "I don't understand what Michael was trying to create. I can finish his castle, but it feels meaningless. Hollow." Even as she spoke her thoughts aloud, another possibility occurred to her.

A chorus of gasps greeted Celia as cracks appeared in all the walls Michael had built. Then the moat grew wider and wider, and the walls began to collapse.

"Wait! Celia, what are you doing!?" Laura shrieked.

Graham lunged for Celia, as if hoping to knock the pins from her hands, but Blake was quick to move into his path.

"Leave her be, Graham," Blake said, glaring dangerously at the blond.

"She's endangering our mission," Graham said, matching Blake's stare.

"If this doesn't work, I'll put it back the way it was," Celia promised serenely, without opening her eyes.

"But…" one of the other Players tried to interrupt.

"She can put it back if she wants to," Blake pointed out firmly. "She's the only one of us who can do that, and the only one of us with a real plan, too. Let her try."

"You don't even know what she's trying to do," Graham pointed out evenly, his eyes glinting challengingly.

"I know she's trying to get us through this mission. You still want that, don't you?" Blake reminded.

Meanwhile, the moat in the pedestal had expanded inwards, forming a shallow, cylindrical pool. Water rose within the pool, creating a pattern of mild waves, which promptly froze in place. Droplets formed in the center of the pool, rising up and breaking through the surface, climbing skyward. As they rose higher and higher, they began to spread and take shape, forming the top of a large, leafless tree. Large branches formed and split into smaller ones as the tree continued to pull itself free of the water.

Snowflakes began appearing just above the tree, sprinkling downwards until the sculpture began to resemble the interior of a snow globe. A gaping hollow opened in the front of a tree, and its knotted branches gradually became more defined. Some of the snow clung to the tree's branches, crystallizing into tiny clear leaves.

When Celia finally ended her psych, the tree looked ancient and full of life, despite being made of ice. The peaceful snowfall continued, lending the scene a sense of both tranquility and finality. The waters around its base remained impossibly and timelessly frozen, and it seemed to be calling to everyone who looked upon it, beckoning them to their fates.

Celia reached into the tree's hollow, three of the pins held in each hand. There, she set the six pins down, stacking them neatly. She then backed away from the monument, knowing that her work was finished.

For a long while, no one spoke. The Players could only stare at the tree in wonder and confusion. Nothing of the castle Michael had started remained.

Finally, Graham looked down at his palm, where his timer was still ticking. "Now what?" he asked.

"Should I change it back?" Celia offered quietly. But even as she spoke, the stack of pins inside the tree's hollow collapsed, merging into one. The new pin then floated out, seemingly of its own accord, and expanded outwards, eventually growing to the same size as the monument itself.

At first, the new pin resembled a large Player pin almost exactly. Then it slowly began to change, starting with the plain gray backdrop, which darkened and began to mimic the persistent snowfall, resembling a peaceful, snowy knight. The snowflake began to change next, its bright silver hue adopting a slight bluish tinge.

Then the monument itself seemed to melt into the pin, becoming two dimensional. The background remained animated, with the snowfall continuing, and the large snowflake twirling peacefully and gradually reshaping itself into new patterns. Elegant golden letters appeared over the tree, as if drawn by an invisible hand.

Winter's Hollow.

"Well done. Mission complete," Faith said quietly, announcing his presence for the first time.

The Players turned to find the Game Master standing behind them, flanked by ten of his Reapers. Faith stepped forward, and the Players in his path instinctively moved aside, leaving his approach clear.

"Interesting," Faith mused. "This isn't really what I had in mind, but…"

"What did you have in mind, then?" Graham interrupted sourly.

"I'm not really sure," Faith admitted readily. "To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with what Ariel started. This, on the other hand… this will do."

"Faith…" Celia whispered, finding her voice at last.

"One more day," Faith said cheerfully, and though it sounded like he was speaking to the group as a whole, Celia felt as if his words were aimed directly at her. "Just one more day. One more mission."

Faith gestured briefly towards the large pin, which promptly shrank and floated towards his waiting hand. Then he turned and began striding away, his Reapers falling in behind him.

"Faith, wait!" Celia called desperately.

But Faith didn't stop, or even slow, and Celia's world began fading to black once again as the sixth day came to an end.

Emptiness strikes you out of nowhere,

Emptiness, don't need any heaven,

Feel the fire that's burning out of me,

Emptiness drives you into silence,

Emptiness makes me want to fly,

Free the darkness that's falling down right here…

Author's Note:

Lyrics taken from Emptiness And. At least, they're my best guess at the lyrics from Emptiness And. The song is a little bit garbled.