Games

Ch 44: Child-Proof Lid

"Sky!" a voice shouts. "Where are- oh..."

"I can't believe he's gone," someone else says quietly.

"I miss him," another croaks.

"But imagine what Sky must be going through," somebody says sadly. "He's obviously got it worse than any of us."

Someone chuckles and whispers "Skylox forever" right before I yawn and slowly lift my head. Then I reach up and rub my eyes with my fists.

I nearly jump out of my skin when I see the dead body I was curled up next to.

Tears prick at my eyes again, and I shake my head, trying to clear them. "S-Sorry," I apologize to the others as I stand up, refusing to look at the body anymore. "What did you need?"

Seto shakes his head slightly. "Don't be sorry, Sky, we- we understand."

I swallow hard and look down. "O-Okay. What did you need?"

"We think we may have found the energy source."

"Oh, cool," I say, forcing a smile and walking towards the Challenge Room door. "So how do we kill it?"

Seto rolls his eyes but smiles. "Well, to shut it down we'll have to scan it for weak points and then smash it to bits."

"Yes, smashing," I whisper, causing a few of my friends to giggle.

"However, uh... Well, um... I don't think it's something that you'll really enjoy going total destroy mode on."

"What do you mean? What is it?" I ask as we step out into the Spawn Area.

"It's the arch."

"The- what!?"

"Yeah, the budder arch. We're gonna have to smash it."

"Well... dang it."

"That's all?"

I shrug. "We have to get out of here somehow."

"Oh. Um, you're right, I guess. We just thought you would freak out-" Ian starts, but I cut him off.

"Nah, it's fine. Getting home is more important."

"Yeah. U-Uh, yeah. Alright, let's do it."

I walk underneath the arch and look up at it. "How do we scan it?" I ask.

"Uh, scan it like you would scan for auras. I'll do it, too," Seto says.

I nod and close my eyes, focusing my mind entirely on the arch. Yes, now that I'm focused on it, I can tell that this is definitely where that mass of auras is centered. There's a variety of differently colored and shaped auras glitching around inside the arch, and the arch itself seems to be almost trembling with the pressure. When I open my eyes and stare at the arch normally, it appears completely still.

"Is that all one big ball of energy?" I ask, glancing over at Seto, who still has his eyes closed.

His eyes flick open. "No... No, it's... I don't understand."

"What do you mean? You don't understand what?"

"Well, I- Those are auras."

"I kind of guessed that."

"No, no, they're all separate auras."

"Yeah. The energy from- well, you know. People's souls."

"No," he whispers, his eyes widening as realization hits. Then he begins to ramble to himself. "No, it's- it can't be! And yet, it could... Assuming the GameMaster used a certain spell available to powerless people to construct the arch, then he would have been able to store people's auras there after their deaths... He could have drawn energy from this infinite and ever-growing supply. Oh, but why would he have any need for such a large amount of energy unless he had-"

I raise an eyebrow when he fails to continue. "What? What is it?"

"He must have had a spell in never-ending use. He could have tethered the spell to the arch so that the constant energy flow could allow it to stay active forever. That way he could have powered- he could have powered-"

"The game show," I breathe, my eyes widening. My hands immediately move to touch the soft, gray walls around the Spawn Area. "Could all of this be-"

"Well, of course it's been artificially created- but could it be so much so that breaking the spell would cause it all to fall apart?" Seto asks himself.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Mitch asks, smiling a little and looking up at the arch.

"Yeah... Okay, so, see that small black square on top of the arch?" Seto asks.

"Black square- what?" Ian asks as he and everyone else crane their necks in an attempt to see what Seto sees.

"I'm not seeing it," I say, shrugging.

"It's like- it's a little black box, it's right on top of the arch- Really, it's barely noticeable. I didn't even realize it was there until now."

"Oh, there it is!" I exclaim as Jason flies up over the arch and points at the black box.

"Right, I see it now!" Quentin agrees.

"So, what about it?" Jerome asks.

"Well, that black thing is basically the cork in the bottle, the lid on the jar. It's holding in all the auras. So, if we take it off, they should be freed, and the game show should fall apart," Seto explains.

Jason tugs on the black lid thingy with all of his might, but even with his increased Wither strength, it won't budge. I frown and jump a little, trying to remember how to fly. Don't judge me! It's just, it's been so long since I last used any of my powers, and I never really used the flying power before the game show, anyways. I preferred to walk everywhere with the rest of my friends (excluding Jason, who was lazy and only walked with us, like, once a week).

A few long seconds later, I figure it out, and then I fly unsteadily to the top of the arch. "Here, lemme have a go," I say. Jason steps aside.

I put all my weight into pushing or pulling or popping that thing off, but still it refuses to move even the slightest bit.

"Dang it," I pant, glaring at the thing. "Seto?"

He brings up a hand and, with his purple magic, attempts to shove the lid off. Nothing happens.

"Uh, well..," Seto starts, frowning and blowing up his cheeks with air. "What now?"

"Hmm. Didn't you say something about smashing earlier?" I ask, staring down at the lid again.

"... Yes."

"Then let's smash it!" I shove at the lid while simultaneously spawning lightning and trying to burn through it with my eyes. "Gosh dang it, guys, I need help."

Jason casually grows two Wither heads and begins to shoot exploding skulls at the lid, and Seto sends magical blades, hammers, and even wrenches toward it. Mitch shoots at it with his bow, and Ian, Jerome, and Quentin sit down to watch uselessly.

I huff, asking in defeat, "Why is this so impossible?"

Jason suddenly bursts out laughing. "Omigosh, Sky, look!" he giggles, pointing at the top of the lid.

I raise an eyebrow when I see words engraved on it. Then I read aloud, "Child-Proof Lid – Push down and turn to the right to open." I facepalm, breathing out slowly as I drag my hand down my face. "Goodness gracious. We're idiots."

I push down on the lid and twist it clockwise, and, sure enough, it clicks right off. Immediately, a flood of auras explode from the arch's new opening. Jason and I are knocked backwards off the arch – luckily, we aren't harmed. We cover our faces with our arms as the auras fly past us in a roar of wind and quiet bell chimes. The experience orbs that were previously hovering around the arch now dart out into the flow of auras. Each aura finds an experience orb of matching color to pair with, and then the pairs emit several bunches of sparks.

As soon as the last aura escapes the hollow budder arch, the Living Quarters, the Dining Hall, the Purple Building, and the sky begin to tear themselves down, burning at the edges as though they are made of nothing more than paper. Their colors turn to black as the strange fire chars them, and Jason and I scramble back towards our friends in alarm.

"What's going on!?" Jason shouts, clinging onto my arm.

"I don't know, I- I don't know!" I yell back over the loud, overbearing sound of the clashing auras and experience orbs and the burning buildings. "Seto, what's happening!?"

"I-I don't know, either!" he shrieks. "It's as if the entire game show is just a set, and it's burning to the ground! And the auras, oh, the auras- what are they doing!?"

The grass of the plains biome between the Living Quarters and the Spawn Area begins to disintegrate into nothingness. Soon all we can see is plain brown dirt. Then the dirt splits open in several hundred places, and something – I can't tell what – erupts from each hole.

"Are those- oh my Notch, are those bodies!?" Quentin screeches, burying his head in Ian's shirt. Ian just shudders, keeping his eyes glued on the things – yes, they are most certainly bodies – rising from the ground. The bodies range in condition from bloody, tattered, and decaying to charred and barely human and then all the way to perfectly healthy-looking. I hug Jason closer to me as he squeaks and I swallow hard, holding down puke.

The bodies rise into the air, and their arms float out so that the bodies form 'T' shapes. Then a bright, yellow light flashes around each of them, and an ear-piercing ring fills the air for about three seconds.

The auras buzz a bit, and then they bolt toward different bodies. They crash into the chests of the bodies just as the experience orbs did to my friends earlier. The entire game show set is just a blur of color as auras rush around, trying to locate the proper body.

I guess it's then that I finally understand what's happening. "Guys..," I whisper. Of course, they don't hear, so I raise my voice. "Guys!"

They all glance over at me, hardly able to keep their gazes off the auras for more than a second. I continue anyways. "Guys, the GameMaster has been storing everyone's souls in the arch and all their bodies beneath the game show set! Now the two parts are rejoining to make a whole human again, and the bodies are repairing, and- everyone who's ever died on this game show is respawning."

Everyone's eyes widen.

I fidget giddily because, woah, look at this! There are so many – probably around one hundred twenty-seven – and we've saved them, we've saved them all! We actually defeated the GameMaster, we won!

Jason tugs on my glove slightly, and I turn to face him with a huge smile.

My smile only grows when he mouths the word 'Ty.'

*sigh*

I hate that some of you actually predicted I have enough of a heart to do this.

*double sigh*

I wanted to be the mean person that I am and just leave Ty well enough alone.

*triple sigh*

But, I mean...

*quadruple sigh*

Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!