(I'm posting this on Friday [today] because I'm going to Nebraska tonight [YAY, A TRIP!] and I won't be able to post during the weekend. Now, onto the chapter...)

*sobs* I'm such a horrible person! Like, seriously, I just- ugh...

Do not be encouraged by the happy title. This is not a cute chapter. This is anything but a cute chapter.

Games

Ch 43: Cuddle

The orbs, all of different colors, fling themselves at different members of the Team. Seto and I don't get one, but we're still freaking out (mainly because everyone else is). "Ack!" Quentin squeaks, closing his eyes as a blue and orange orb shatters against his chest and then disappears. A few seconds later, he opens his eyes, one at a time. "Oh, it... it doesn't hurt."

Ian, who was hit with a white orb with red polka dots, glances down at himself. "Um... Well... that was pointless."

"GUYS, I CAN FLY," Jason tells us, and I turn slightly to observe him as he accidentally flies right into the wall of the Living Quarters.

My eyes widen. "Notch, are you okay?" I ask, jogging towards him. Distract myself with Jason, everything will be okay. Oh, snap, what if Jason is seriously hurt by the impact and he dies, too? I can't handle this, I can't handle this, I can't-

"Oh, their powers!" Seto laughs.

Jerome gently feels the end of one of his fangs with his paw. "Uh, I think my fangs just grew an inch or two. And my claws, as well."

Mitch opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it. His eyes widen slightly as he stares in the direction of the GameMaster's body. "I-Is- What is that?"

A greyish mist is spewing from William's open mouth. Oh, ew. "W-What do you think it does?" I ask, finally reaching the Living Quarters and helping Jason up (he fell :/).

"Let's find out!" the Fluffy yells excitedly, stepping right into the growing fog. "Eek, my fur is damp- this is gross- oh my Notch."

"What is it?" Mitch asks, sounding concerned as he steps cautiously toward the fog.

"Biggums, I just- Hey, you need it, too!" He steps out of the fog only long enough to pull Mitch in.

"What are we- oh, Notch!"

"What the heck is going on?" Ian asks, walking towards the fog. A few seconds after entering it, he shouts, "I remember everything! It's the mist, it's the freaking mist!"

"Wait, the mist gives you your memory back?" Seto asks.

"QUENTIN, ENTER THE MIST," Ian orders, running out of it and jumping around like a kid.

"Erm, okay..?" The hesitant fish starts for the fog, but the fog reaches him before he can reach it. "Oh my good Notch! I do remember everything!"

"Jason?" I ask, turning to him. He's staring in awe at the mist, which is quickly moving towards him.

As soon as it touches him, his eyes widen. "Oh my goodness," he whispers.

The mist wanders off towards the Spawn Area, and my friends and I direct our attention back to the remaining orbs that are hovering over my fathers' dead bodies.

That sounded creepy.

Wait.

Wait, oh my Notch, I killed my dad, and-

Jason, somehow sensing the fact that I am close to a panic attack, grabs onto my hand and squeezes it tightly. I breathe deeply and then whisper the words, "Thank you."

"So what are the rest of these things for?" Ian asks, unaware of my quickly fading dilemma.

"I assume they're the powers of everyone else who has ever played in these games," Seto shrugs. The orbs fidget a bit more in the air, and then they zip off toward the budder arch at the entrance to the Spawn Area. Once there, they whirl around the top of the arch in a never-ending circle while one small, purple orb strays a bit lower, as if it's lost or doesn't know where to go.

"Oh my Notch, it's Ty's," I breathe as the realization hits. The orb doesn't know whether to go to Ty's body or hover with the rest of the orbs. "That one is Ty's."

"Shh, don't think about that," Jason says quietly, squeezing my hand again. I close my eyes and nod.

"Uh, h-how are we going to get... out?" Jerome asks.

"Oh, snap," I say, biting my lip as my eyes fly open. "How are we going to get out?"

"We'll have to find the game show's energy source and then shut it down, at which point – hopefully – the barriers preventing me from using my teleportation powers will shut down," Seto explains to us.

"But where would the power source be?" Quentin asks.

Seto and I exchange glances. "I may have an idea."

We're all gathered in the Spawn Area, Seto and I searching for the blobby aura while the others stand around uselessly. "I can't manage to- Notch dang it," I huff in frustration as I open my eyes. "They keep glitching around." The weird mass of auras is very clearly being contained in some space near the Spawn Area, but- well, think of it like this. Imagine that you've just spawned a bajillion mobs in a single block of confined space. They're gonna glitch in and out, right? Right. So that's what the auras are doing, and it makes it insanely hard to figure out where they're all trapped.

None of us even really know why the flip there are auras in the middle of the Spawn Area; Seto has a theory that when a person dies in the game show, their energy is taken over here to be used as an energy source.

Whatever that means.

While Seto continues to try to locate the source and the others continue to either talk or imitate cheerleaders, I sigh and wander over to the door of the Challenge Room. Ty is still in there.

I mean, sort of. Kind of.

Not really.

The others don't notice (or at least pretend not to notice) as I open the door a crack and silently slip in. I can hear my friends outside freaking out slightly as they lose their light source and wonder if I've either died or stupidly put my sunglasses back on, but Seto yells at them to shut up so he can focus. Then a dim, purplish light streaks through the cracks between the door and the wall, and I assume he's put up some kind of magicky light orb.

With light, tip-toeing steps so as not to disturb the dead, I make my way over to Ty's body. The metallic smell of blood floats around it, but I ignore that as I carefully sit down next to him. His eyes are still open, but they are glazed over. He isn't seeing anything. He isn't in there anymore.

I sigh and reach forward, gently closing his eyes for him since he can't do it on his own. Notch, what did he do to deserve this? Nothing, he did absolutely nothing. He was there for me, he helped me through the game show, he cared for me, loved me even- and what did he get for it?

Death.

A quiet sob escapes my lips, and I clamp them shut. I don't want one of my friends to get worried and try to come comfort me. I don't need comfort right now, not unless it's from Ty.

That gives me an idea.

Slowly, I lie down next to Ty's body, ignoring the small puddles of blood on the floor there. I lift his limp, lifeless arm up and drape it over my chest as I curl into him.

As if we were cuddling.

As if he was alive.

As if he was right here, right now, right next to me.

Too bad he's not.