WARNING: This chapter is sort of gory (not too much, but still), and the feels are intense, like, seriously. Just wanted to warn you.

Games

Ch 9: Squids

"Have fun!" the GameMaster says, grinning evilly as he snaps his fingers again and disappears in a puff of smoke. The latch on the squids' cage door falls open, and the squids look up at me with cruel, disturbing smiles.

"Oh, we will," says the smallest of the squids. The squids crawl out of the cage and toward me, opening their mouths to reveal unnaturally-sharpened teeth that seem to almost have a pulse – they look like they're inflating and then deflating slightly with each breath of the squids.

"Uh, come on, guys! You know I didn't mean all those bad things I said about you!" I laugh nervously, backing up and pressing my back against the door.

"Did you mean it when you constantly ordered your army to attack us? Did you mean it when you rather consistently chopped our heads off with your 'budder' swords?" one of the squids asks.

"I-I, uh... I'm... sorry?"

"Sorry isn't enough, buddy."

"B-But, b-but I probably taste horrible!"

"But your screams will probably be horrifically satisfying, and your blood will be most satisfactory."

NO. NO, THERE IS NOTHING SATISFACTORY ABOUT CHEWING THROUGH A PERSON'S FLESH OR SIPPING THEIR BLOOD.

The squids lunge toward me, and I gasp as they sink their razor-sharp teeth into my right forearm and the right side of my torso. Then I cry out as they rip the blade-like teeth out of my skin and pierce them in again in different spots. "N-No way am I letting a bunch of filthy squids eat me," I mutter, tearing away from the squids and spinning around to push the door open. Luckily, it's unlocked, and I run out into the room that I first fell into. After quickly glancing around and using the dim light from the other room to actually see some of my surroundings, I spot a narrow staircase embedded in the wall. It takes a full three seconds for my slightly-distracted brain to realize that I should probably run up the stairs rather than just staring at them like an idiot.

"You can't run, Sky!" one of the squids screams as it chases me up the staircase.

"I'm running right now, aren't I?" I ask, sprinting up the stairs as fast as I can. After several flights of stairs – seriously, I've been running for, like, ten minutes now, and my legs burn – I finally reach what must be the top. There's a trap door above me, and I fiddle with the latch for a while, but I think it's locked.

Oh, please, no.

I pound on the trap door, messing with the handle and then giving up and just trying to break it open. The squids are literally one block behind me now, and I have no where to run. I turn around slowly to smile fearfully at them. "H-Hey! How's it g-going?"

The squid grins, revealing those scarily sharp teeth. "It's going good. You?"

"U-Uh, I'm good, just waiting to be torn apart and eaten by a bunch of squids."

"Cool," the squid says. He lunges forward and pierces his teeth through my shoulder, and I cry out in pain. Then I'm pounding on the trap door as all the squids attack me at once, biting and tearing and chewing.

Finally, the trap door breaks open, and I practically fly out of the dark staircase and into a dimly lit room. Knowing I don't have much time until the squids are feasting on my skin again, I glance quickly around the room and then dart toward a light blue door on one of the walls. I fling it open, run through, and then slam it shut behind me, putting my weight against it to hold it shut while I flip the lock.

"Sky!" several people shout. Most of Team Crafted rushes over to me – Seto is just sitting at a table and semi-calmly eating some pie.

"Sky, are you okay? What happened to you? Oh Notch, Sky, you're really hurt, what happened!?" Ty asks quickly, scanning me with wide eyes.

I let out a shaky breath, not bothering to say anything other than "Oh my Notch, Ty," as I literally fall into his arms, completely exhausted.

His eyes widen even more as he wraps his arms around me gently and sinks down to the floor, still holding me. "Sky?" he asks softly. I shake my head, breathing heavily and burying my face in his shoulder. "Sky, come on, you have to tell me what happened."

I let out a sob, losing the last of my composure. "The G-GameMaster... a-and the mini-challenge, and no c-choice, and... and s-squids, e-eating me, a-and..."

"Squids eating you?" Ty asks, tightening his hold on me protectively. Seto chokes on his pie.

I nod, bursting into tears and snuggling farther into Ty's embrace.

"Why'd you slam the door so quickly?" Mitch asks, playing with the lock on the door I just ran out of. "What's in here?" He starts to unlock it-

"NO! Please no! Please, no, no, no!" I sob, gripping Ty's shirt.

Mitch's eyes widen, and he backs away from the door slowly. "Okay, then."

"Shh, it's gonna be alright, Sky," Ty coos, playing with my hair while I cry. "You're okay, you're alright. Let's go back to our rooms, we'll try to find something to patch up those... um... bites? Are those teeth marks all over you?"

"Mmhmm," I sniffle.

"They're really deep... Oh, Notch..," Ty trails off, lifting my arm so he can get a better look at the deep gashes caused by the squids' teeth.

"Food," Seto say simply, having recovered from his choking/coughing fit. He walks over and hands me a plate of buttered toast. "With butter."

I manage to smile gratefully at him before shoving the toast into my mouth and going back to sobbing into Ty's now-soaked shirt.

Ty stands up slowly, pulling me with him as gently as possible. When he tries to pull away from me so he can actually walk, though, I cry out and clutch onto his shirt. "No, please don't leave!" I sniff.

Ty sighs. "We have to go back to the Living Quarters so we can get something to help with your cuts... gashes... whatever."

I shake my head. "Th-They'll be fine, the G-GameMaster said that any physical d-d-damage done to me would be f-fixed."

"Actually, I said that any physical damage done to you would be fixed after you completed the mini-challenge. Since you failed to complete the challenge, you'll have to deal with the wounds," the GameMaster says, appearing in the corner of the room. I let out another sob. "It's your fault, anyway. If you had just allowed those squids to eat you..."

"Why were you letting squids eat him!?" Ty shouts angrily, stepping away from me and towards the GameMaster. I follow him, still making sure to keep a reasonable distance between the GameMaster and myself.

The GameMaster shrugs. "It was a mini-challenge."

"And why was only Sky forced to do it?"

"Well, technically, it was a mini-mini-challenge. The real mini-challenge will be tomorrow. That was just a taste of it, to show the audience a little piece of what will be going on tomorrow."

I close my eyes, letting out a shaky breath and leaning into Ty. He puts his arm around my waist protectively as the GameMaster takes a few steps toward us.

"Aw, what's wrong, Skybrine?" the GameMaster asks in a sickly sweet voice. "Did the bad squids scare you?"

"Sh-Shut up," I choke out, hiding my face in Ty's chest.

The GameMaster hums, coming closer still. "Oh, is your boyfriend protecting you from me? How sweet."

Ty tenses slightly and lets his arm drop from my waist. "I-I'm not his boyfriend," he stutters.

"Sure you're not," the GameMaster says, rolling his eyes. Ty side-steps away from me, leaving me to stand somewhat alone. The GameMaster frowns. "Well, there he goes. Looks like he doesn't really care about you that much, if he's willing to give you up that easily." Tears well up in my eyes, but I'm pretty sure no one notices, since I've been crying anyways. I tilt my head down slightly, staring at the floor. Then the last of his words register. Give me up? What does that mean? Is the GameMaster- "Come on, then, Skybrine. We're going to a special place." He walks toward me, reaching out his hand, and I shrink back in fear.

And then Ty is by my side again, clutching my hand. "You are not touching him," he growls. "After that whole squid deal, I'm never leaving his side again."

"You left his side literally three seconds ago."

"Never again," Ty whispers.

"Oh, come on!" the GameMaster insists. "It's not so much a bad place that I'm taking him to! He just has to finish the mini-mini-challenge. His wounds will heal afterward, so that's a plus." He reaches toward me again, and I shake in fear. No, no, no, I do not want to go back into a room with those squids. Please, no. Notch, no.

Ty squeezes my hand. "No. The wounds will heal naturally, he'll be fine. Emotional scars are a lot worse than physical ones."

The GameMaster narrows his eyes. "The audience wants to see the rest of the challenge, they want to see the squids rip Skybrine's flesh from his body. And what the audience wants, the audience gets."

"Is that really want they want, though?" Ty asks, moving threateningly toward the GameMaster. "Or is it what you want? 'Cause you'd have to be pretty sick in the head to enjoy watching this kind of thing, and I'm fairly sure the majority of the world wouldn't like this."

The GameMaster scowls at us, but he is silent. Finally, he says, "Fine. This challenge has been canceled. But remember, Ty, rule number three: No one argues with or rebels against the GameMaster." Then he disappears in a puff of smoke.

The terrified people in the room slowly come out of the paralysis that the GameMaster's presence seems to bring. "Woah," someone whispers. "That guy is mentally sick."

"You're just now noticing?" Seto asks, grimacing at the locked, light blue door that's holding back those squids that were chasing me.

I suck in a shaky breath. "C-Can we go home?" I ask, my voice sounding incredibly small compared to how it usually sounds.

Ty pulls me into a hug, and I rest my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. "No, Sky, I'm sorry. But we can go back to the Living Quarters," he says softly in my ear.

I nod. "Okay."

*insane smile* Oh, how I love this kind of chapter.

And no, I'm not crazy, thank you very much.

I'm just obsessed with Skylox feels. :3

Baiii, my Rulers!