Theo felt himself reforming in Subspace when he noticed the Jumanji game wasn't with him.
"What now?", he asked himself.
As if to answer him, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his magical hand mirror he had forgotten that he had with him. A simple thing it looked like with its glimmering bronze metal in the design of angel wings on the back with a shining gem in the center clear as water. The glass surface shimmered and showed the game which was discovered by what looked like a member of another expedition crew that came later on.
"Man, this is odd. I never knew the lost civilization played games."
Theo tensed as the man picked up the game and carried it back to camp which looked like it was packing up before heading to the ship out in the ocean.
"Jumanji.", Theo said in a bit of shock.
He looked around for a way to go back and after a moment or two, the mirror's surface returned to normal and Theo felt Subspace pull him into a rift again.
"Man, I never get used to that.", he muttered as he felt himself vanishing again.
A flash of light later, Theo smelled the salty sea air as his eyes adjusted. After gaining his sight, he was on the ship and wearing his expedition gear from before. He felt his pocket and sure enough, the mirror was there.
"Sometimes I ask myself why I bother to carry around this thing.", he found himself saying to himself as he recalled an earlier adventure, "Still, it does make a nice keepsake."
"Sir?"
Theo tensed as he noticed what looked like a sailor walk up to him looking a bit curious.
"Are you with the expedition from before?", he asked with his firm voice growing soft as if he was trying to be nice.
Theo thought fast.
"Um, I guess."
The sailor shrugged.
"Well, there's a spare cabin below deck. We should arrive in London soon by tomorrow."
Before the sailor left, Theo suddenly remembered the game.
"Hey, did anyone… find anything back in Africa?", he asked knowing that the expedition was there.
The sailor look a bit scared.
"Between you and me, some of the crew say they keep hearing this rhythm of drum playing like a tribe used to play. It's like an omen and some of the crew is getting worried."
Theo then heard a faint drumming and knew it was the same drumming like the community Jumanji used to live in. The sailor didn't seem to hear it as he looked at Theo now confused.
"You okay?", he asked.
The drumming ceased and Theo slapped on a straight face.
"Yeah, just… not used to being at sea."
The sailor smiled.
"Guess you're still gaining your sea legs.", he said, "See you around."
He left and Theo started going down below deck. The ship looked old-fashioned so Theo guessed he was in the 1800's and then pulled his mirror out trying to recall what was said to the previous owner.
"This mirror will show you what you want and don't want to see.", he thought to himself, "Guess I'll never know how to work this thing."
He put it back in his pocket as the ship swayed. This was going to be a long day since it was reaching noon.
/
After getting below deck, Theo found a cabin where he guess he was supposed to sleep since there was a bed, but not much of a mattress. Still, it was what it was like in the time so Theo chose to ignore it and try to find the game. As he did, the memory of Van Pelt and the spell Jumanji had used echoed in his mind.
"What kind of magic was that?", he thought to himself.
Just when Theo thought he had searched enough, a drum rhythm started and caught his ears. As he followed it, he came to a bunch of stuff which he started rummaging through until he found the game. Only then did the drums stop. Theo ran his hand over the cover and he couldn't help but feel guilty.
"I'm sorry Jumanji. I really am.", he said quietly.
"Sir?"
Theo jumped and turned to see what looked like a member of the expedition looking his way a bit confused.
"You okay?"
Theo thought fast.
"Yeah, I just… wanted a closer look at this relic we recovered."
The explorer shrugged and went off which Theo then took the game and set it on a barrel nearby before opening it to show the Amulet of Africa now in the center of the board with the four corners having white spheres and a path of blank squares leading to the center.
"Man, this looks just like before.", Theo said to himself.
He then reached over to a little compartment in the game's side and saw the four tokens that were once the idols of Jumanji's home.
"Sir?"
Theo shut the game and looked to see yet another member of the expedition who came over looking interested.
"That's a pretty unique looking relic.", he said as he adjusted his glasses, "What do you think it is?"
Theo knew what it was, but he doubted the man would believe him anyway.
"I don't know.", he answered, "But it looks like… a game."
The explorer looked interested.
"A game?", he asked, "Of what?"
Theo shrugged feigning that he didn't know.
"I have no idea."
That seemed to put the man's mind at ease and he headed off while Theo looked a bit confused.
"So, what now?"", he asked himself, "Where do I go now?"
As if it heard him, the amulet in the game's center shimmered and Theo looked to see a rhyme appear.
"A town in the past is where a game will start. A journey for a player your help embarks.", Theo read before shrugging with a smirk, "Still can't stop making rhymes can you Jumanji?"
/
Theo shut the game and kept it close as he enjoyed lunch with the crew before going out to the bow and see the setting sun. As beautiful as it looked, Theo wasn't too into it. His mind was wondering as he tried to recall events before Subspace. All he could recall is that he once lived in a land with magic and wonder though the details were hazy at best, but he still had parents even if he could barely make them out.
"I couldn't have been an only child.", he decided, "Cause I feel like there was more than just me in my parent's lives. So what made it all go away?"
The more Theo thought about it, the more it seemed to slip his mind. How could that be? Still, the thought lingered until Theo looked to his mirror which he had brought out wondering.
"Could this show me?", he wondered.
But just as he was about to ask, another memory came to mind. A flash of bright light in a place of pure darkness, a loud, malevolent cackle, and a pain searing his body like fire. That was enough to make him turn the mirror's glass away from his face as he shivered for a moment as dread flooded his spine and sides tense.
"I'm guessing I have to find out on my own.", he guessed as he put the mirror away.
He looked back at the sunset just as it touched the horizon which helped put him at ease with his previous feelings.
"Why can't I recall where I come from?", he asked himself, "Why is it that the truth about me alludes me like a… oh, I don't know, but something."
Then the drums started up again, but Theo sighed in annoyance this time.
"What?", he asked as if Jumanji himself was near him and not a board game.
He opened it up and the center lit up with another rhyme.
"A journey will take you many places. Maybe your answer is in other faces.", Theo read and raised an eyebrow, "Jumanji, what are you trying to tell me?"
Nothing happened, but Theo had a feeling the rhyme was about as much help as Jumanji could provide so he let it go and focus on why he was here in this reality. By focusing a bit, he could make out a little more about before he became Subspace's latest resident. A song he had memorized and somehow it still echoed in his mind so often that he couldn't help but sing along.
"Come on you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead, make your choice! I'm a very busy person and I haven't got all day. Just decide now, and rejoice! You poor unfortunate soul! It's sad, but true. If you want to earn your place my friend, you have to play the game. Skim the print and take a breath and go ahead and sign your name!"
Theo recalled he had made deals using this same song, but at least his were more fair and didn't focus on taking more than the other. Still, the tune was so catchy that it stuck to him the moment he heard it. It helped him remember his past vaguely, but at least that part wasn't fading like the others were. Theo felt as if the song had been sung to him before he became part of Subspace, but who was doing the singing and persuading to him? Whoever it was, they were good and undoing the deal was not easy. Theo sighed as he put a hand on the pocket that had his mirror recalling how he got it. At least that part was still fresh enough in his mind to remember more clearly.
/
Theo couldn't help but smile as he recalled a previous adventure he had shortly after arriving in Subspace.
"Oh, the trouble I went through just to get a hold of you.", Theo snickered as his fingers clutched the fabric, "All those days I spent chasing that girl and her father through "once upon a time" and in a land where those old fairy tales you hear about as a child come true."
He looked out to the sunset as the sun was now halfway past the horizon and the skies were bathed in a gorgeous orange with indigo seeping into it.
"Nothing like a sunset on the ocean to help the memories.", he sighed before he felt a yawn and looked out on the ocean before an idea came to mind.
He stood up and went to the front of the bow like an old tale he recalled back in his home world. As a melody started playing in his mind (a more serene and soothing one this time), Theo stepped up on the rail and pulled himself up. Keeping himself steady, he opened his arms and it looked like he was really flying over the surface of the waters. He couldn't help but laugh and smile.
"Man, now I know why they did it.", he said recalling the tale of a so called "unsinkable" ship and two passengers who fell in love, "I don't think I want the moment to end."
Still, the sun kept sinking and darkness kept creeping into the skies as the first stars became visible. Theo observed the final light of the setting sun before he turned after getting off the rail and then heading back down for sleep.
"Well, time to hit the hay."
As he settled into his cabin and bed, he took a moment to look out his window just in time to see the moon rising up over the horizon.
"Full moon.", he said before retiring to bed, "And another night outside of home."
He settled into his bed before drifting off into sleep. Just as he had settled in and slept for a while until the ship went sideways a bit, but he knew it was probably the sea turning the boat. As he tossed and turned in his bed, he just couldn't sleep.
"Maybe a little something to snack on will help me drift off better.", he decided as he got out of bed and headed to the door.
As he put his hand on the door, a strange feeling rippled through his arm and into his mind. He tried to shake it off and thought it was only seasickness settling in. As he made his way to the hull where a makeshift kitchen was, he sat on a chair as he thought about what to have before trying to get back to sleep.
"Maybe some milk will help to ease the troubled psyche."
After taking some, he felt a bit more tired and decided to hit the hay again. Just as he had gotten to his door, he paused and looked alarmed.
"Jumanji!", he said with realization.
Unfortunately, as he started to bolt down the hall to where he left the game, the area around him rippled like it was a reflection in water and Theo felt uneasy.
"Now what?"
Then the area rippled faster and blurry before Theo's sight went black.
/
Theo barely got to his feet when he found himself in the outskirts of a town not far off, but at least his clothes hadn't changed. The place looked okay when Theo came across a civilian heading out on a horse drawn cart.
"Hey, what year is this?", he asked as if he was wondering.
"It's eighteen-sixty-nine.", the man answered before passing.
Theo tense as he heard running. He turned to see a couple of boys though one looked like he was in his teen years and the other was younger.
"Hey!", he called.
The boys froze and Theo saw them carrying a crate before they saw him and they started running again. Theo hurried after them.
"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!", he called after them.
The boys just ignored them and after loading the crate into the back of a cart, they jumped on the driver's seat and the older of the boys cracked the reigns making the horses pull the cart into the darkness of night. They passed Theo who felt a magical presence in the crate. He needed a ride and saw a horse nearby. Desperate times call for desperate measures so he just jumped on it's back and like magic, a set of reigns appeared and he cracked them making the horse give chase. It took a while for Theo to catch up with the boys, but he only saw the cart and the boys coming back. He halted a bit away so he could hear them, but they wouldn't know he was there. A wolf howl sounded off in the distance as the boys gripped the crate's handles.
"Don't worry, it's only a pack of wolves.", the older boy said, "Come on, we're almost rid of it."
Theo watched as the boys lifted the crate and carried it to a pit that looked like it was dug a long time ago and tossed the crate in. As they turned to grab some shovels, the younger of the boys slipped in and landed on the crate as drums rang out and Theo knew the game was in that crate.
"Caleb, it's after me!", the boy yelped.
Caleb came over quickly and extended his hand which his brother took so he could be lifted out as the drums continued.
"Come on.", the boy said starting to leave.
"No Benjamin.", Caleb said stopping him, "We have to finish this so help me bury it."
He started shoveling dirt into the pit as Benjamin looked curious.
"What if someone digs it up?", he asked.
Caleb looked his brother's way looking both worried and hopeful.
"May God have mercy on a soul.", he said ominously.
A crackle of thunder rang overhead with lightning illuminating the area as Caleb and Benjamin finished burying the crate which held Jumanji. They then just jumped on the cart they brought and hurried off as if Death itself was on their tails. Theo saw the horse he had taken chase after them, but he didn't give it a thought as he looked toward the mound. Just as he heard the drums again, he felt himself vanishing again.
"Jumanji, don't worry, I'll find you!", he called out.
Theo started slipping back to Subspace again and before he blacked out once again, he could still hear the drums being played as images of Caleb and Benjamin playing the game flickered before his eyes. All the damage it caused and all the lives that it changed. That amulet had serious magic and Theo had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time as he vanished away.
(A/N: I used a parody of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from Disney's "The Little Mermaid". I claim nothing.)