You struggled to articulate what you were looking at exactly – two glowing red dots peered at you from behind the slits of a helmet. The presence was large and overwhelming, crushing your body under the armor's weight. It was like one of those decorative knight statues had come to life and was on top of you, choking you. You struggled for air as you kicked at him, but the effort was futile. Colors were prickling at the ends of your eyes.

There was a flash of blue and the figure above you was roughly shoved off your person. You coughed and sat up, pain shooting through you in reminder of your wound. Your eyes were wet as you looked up at Aydan, who was gawking at something in the corner of the room. Your head turned to his sight and found the knight-like man on the floor, recovering himself just as you were.

"Oh, this is interesting," the man chortled. " Interesting , indeed."

Your arms shook as you helped yourself to your feet. Your body went into fight or flight mode seeing your aggressor was also standing, but the magus across from you held up his hand before he could pounce on you again. His orange eyes were locked with yours, stepping towards you in fascination. You took a step back, any power you had felt in this situation diminishing under your fright.

"You have a servant," he marveled at you, then shook his head. "That answers everything."

"He is not yours," you growled.

"But he will be," Aydan countered, reaching into his pocket and surfacing a small pistol that was familiar to you. He cocked it and aimed it straight at your head, causing you to hold your breath. His attention was around the room, in search of something.

"Either you come out, or I will kill your master," he warned aloud.

" Don't !" you exclaimed, and before you could blink you felt the barrel pressed firmly against your forehead. Sweat formed on your skin as you stood there, eyes darting to the bodyguard who advanced on you. Making any movement would get you killed.

"Don't," you whispered again, tears welling in your eyes.

The man let out a satisfied noise, and you looked up in time to see Curioso sitting on top of the Grandfather Clock. There was a cocky attitude to the way he crossed his legs and rested his mask in his hand, as if this situation didn't faze him at all. It encouraged you to wipe the fear off your face. If he wasn't afraid, then there was no reason for you to be, either.

"Oh, you are wonderful," Aydan sounded hypnotized, like he was looking at a thing of beauty. "I can see it now. You will entertain my guests and be my personal jester. I'll be a King."

"You should take that gun away before I kill you ," Curioso warned from above.

Ulysses advanced in his direction and the jester didn't even flinch, turning to him with his trademark smile. It was a standoff as the two stared at each other, unmoving and not speaking. Aydan seemed to think about something before nodding to his bodyguard.

"Search the premises for a box. And see if you can find Elise's, too, if you can," he instructed him.

" Master ," the knight's voice was incredibly deep and somewhat warped. It sounded off to you. " I cannot leave; I need to protect you– "

"Go."

At his forceful tone, Ulysses teleported elsewhere. The clock under Curioso felt like it was ticking until the inevitable time his box would be uncovered in your car, and Elise's would be found along with it. The two of you needed to act now. While his head was turned, you threw your fist at the side of Aydan's face, and smiled in satisfaction as your pistol was thrown from his hand. His finger had activated the trigger as it moved, and a deafening blow echoed in the small room.

Your ears rang as you ran after it, but you were grabbed by him and thrown aside. Your body landed forcefully on the hard floor and your mouth fell open as you could feel your stitches opening. The impact caused it to bleed again. You clutched your shirt in pain and tried to apply some pressure to stop it, gritting your teeth at the cold sensation.

You glanced up to see Curioso's pearl-white legs standing in front of you, guarding you from Aydan, who had your pistol back in his possession and held it at his side. It was at this second you wondered where the Hell Elise was. You hadn't asked her to tail you around, but entreated that she stay close and intervene if necessary. This was a great time to step in and overpower Aydan.

She seemed to be on the man's mind as well. "You took her, didn't you? Brainwashed her into helping you?"

"The only one…who brainwashed her…was you," you took deep breaths in-between words, the pain unfathomable but the adrenaline overwhelming. "You don't deserve to have her."

"Hah! That's rich. The only one here who doesn't deserve anything is the fucking Detective who somehow got their hands on a servant for magicians."

He emphasized the word, and he had a point. These were no ordinary servants who kept a house and took care of a family. They were almost like Gods, able to conjure up anything they wished and were powerful creatures who could teleport wherever they wanted. You remember how confused you had been with the book, unable to wrap your head around the encrypted text. Aydan would've been able to find his way around it with no problem.

But you were not Aydan. You did not force yourself on Curioso and treated him like you would anyone else. You could not fathom forcing him to grovel at your feet like the magus so desperately wished to do.

"Get him," you ordered quietly.

It was a sight you could barely comprehend as he lurched forward at Aydan and brawled with him. He used his sorcery to force the jester back and send blows his way while Curioso burned his hands and fingers. There were some physical punches and kicks thrown, which worked to your love's advantage as he did not feel any pain when his artificial knuckles cracked under Aydan's jaw. That particular blow sent him backwards, clutching his face and groaning.

Something flashed and the jester was propelled, nearly sent into the wall as he rolled onto the floor. He looked up and teleported away at what he saw. Ulysses had returned and you froze at the sight. He held Elise by the collar of her suit, throwing her down and stepping harshly on her stomach.

" Traitor ," he spoke with malice.

"I-I'm sorry, Detective…" she whimpered under the pressure. "I tried my best to hide the boxes. He was chasing me. There was little I could do–"

"That'll be enough ," Aydan stepped forward and spat on her, which made you flinch in disgust. "You betrayed me, Elise. You understand what this means."

Ulysses provided the floral box you'd had before, which was taken and you heard her gasp. You watched with helpless eyes as he began pressing the gems in a pattern you'd only read about. A pair of shackles and chains magically encircled her gloved wrists, and her hands fell to the floor under the sudden weight. It looked like all the color had drained from her form as she crumbled to her knees, now without her power.

" Please ," she sobbed. Aydan picked her up by the sleeve and practically chucked her onto his desk.

"You wait this one out, sweetheart. We'll have a good talk after this Detective is taken care of."

Attention was drawn back to you. You were sprawled out on the floor, concerned with the small puddle of blood that had formed underneath you. God, you felt so weak. You couldn't stand or do much of anything during this entire confrontation. You held back a whimper as Ulysses walked over to you, and inhaled sharply when he forced you to sit up.

Aydan was in front of you, holding Curioso's box in your reach and smiling kindly. You wanted to spit in his face like he'd done with his maid not a minute ago.

"I will ask nicely first," he began. "Hand over your servant to me, and maybe I'll let you live," his tone dropped. "But if you try anything funny, I will not hesitate to have Ulysses crush your skull in."

You shook your head, feeling dizzy as the world spun around you. "No."

"Don't be stupid. You and I both know it's just a few buttons to press. Do that , and this will all be over."

Blood bubbled in your throat as you looked at him defiantly. "I'd rather you kill me."

"And believe me, that's not a problem," he grinned down at you. "With you dead, I can take his soul using this box right here."

"He will not…give it to you," you managed under a breath. Aydan tsked, surfacing your pistol again and checking if it was loaded. With a satisfied hum, he pointed it straight at you, inbetwixt your eyes. You'd had this happen to you thrice tonight, so you were unmoved.

"I'll enjoy this," he whispered ecstatically.

"Wait!"

It felt like your heart caved in on itself when your jester resurfaced in the room, lowering himself to his knees and bowing his head. It was a gesture so unlike him that you blinked in surprise, unable to understand why he was giving up. Your life was not worth this. He was immortal, he could live forever and eventually find a way out again. Why was he doing this?

"Curioso, no ," you held your hand up weakly in his direction.

"Ah, so Curioso is your name," Aydan stood to his full height. Ulysses refused to part from your side. "I like it. It's fitting. 'Fool' is just a bit too on the nose, isn't it?"

"If you spare their life, I will be your servant," he said in a tone that was not at all recognizable to you.

"Stop!" you hissed, wishing you could put an end to what was happening.

"It's alright," he assured you, his mask fixated on you from afar. You didn't believe a word of it and narrowed your eyes at him, feeling betrayed that he was willing to give up his soul for this monster.

"You heard him," the box was shoved in front of you again. "Give me his soul."

Ulysses grabbed your wrist and forced it on top of the gems on the box. Tears streamed down your face at the pain you felt in your heart and your body. You could not betray him like this. You could never do this to Curioso. You did not want to lose his soul, his trust, his love –

You cried out as Aydan began forcing your fingers down in the needed combination. You fought against the iron grip on your hand, but it was useless. Seconds later, the box sprang to life and it reacted to Aydan's touch. He grinned at the sight, having a pep in his step as he stood and walked over to Curioso, who was bowing to him on the ground below.

"And as a precaution," he began, moving his fingers quickly.

You felt completely hollow as the same sight as before happened, where shackles and chains had somehow made their way onto your jester's wrists. Unlike Elise, he did not falter under their burden, and instead raised his mask to look at Aydan.

" No !" It was Elise's turn to cry out, shimmying off the desk and running over to them. Ulysses delivered a hefty smack to her face, sending her falling again and laying limply on the floor.

You remembered when Curioso told you about his time at the circus, his enchantress used to put those same restraints on his wrists as a punishment. It completely deterred his magic, rendering him useless. You panicked at this reality, knowing now that there was no help for any of you.

You felt just like he did, a prisoner unable to do anything.

"Wonderful," the magus sounded giddy. "Another servant to my collection. Pretty soon I will have all of them in the world. I speculate there's only five of you around. And now I have three. Fascinating, isn't it?"

The room grew quiet beyond your heavy breathing. He looked back at you and frowned, pretending to look concerned as he regarded your condition. You had no fight left in you.

"You're not looking so good, Detective. You're leaving quite the nasty stain on my floor."

Your eyes were nearly fluttering to a close, wanting to fall asleep. You were finished. You'd left a mark on the world, solving cases and helping people. You'd even saved a few lives. But you couldn't stop this organization in time, and that was what disappointed you the most. You couldn't save Elise or Curioso…you were a failure and you deserved to die already.

Aydan must've seen the acceptance in your eyes, as he reached forward and patted you gently. "There, there. I'll take good care of him while you're gone."

A bellow of rage erupted in the room, and your jaw dropped in shock when Aydan jumped out of your view. Curioso was screaming, putting an ample amount of pressure on the chains that hindered him. It looked to be futile at first, until you could hear the strain and see the chain cracking. The magus backed onto the wall, looking at the scene before him with incredulousness.

"No, you can't be-"

A loud snapping noise came, and the shackles easily slid off of him. The first thing Curioso did was charge at Ulysses. The knight was forced onto his back as the jester conjured some magical string – you'd seen it before, used to encircle the wrists of Raymond, Julia, and even Andrew Collins. Treating them like his puppets. But now the string was being forcefully wrapped around the bodyguard's neck, restraining his movement when his arms and legs were tied together. He flailed around but could not free himself.

Aydan fumbled with the box, pressing different gemstones to try and hinder him again. But nothing was working. Curioso left Ulysses on the floor and approached Elise, gripping the chain between her hands and easily snapping it into two. She slowly rose from the floor, reaching for his shoulders to steady herself.

"He's yours," he granted, grinning deviously at her.

And that was when he ran over to you, discarding your old bandage and wrapping up a new one tightly around your wound. You wanted to thank him, to say something , but words failed to leave your throat. You were so weak you felt like you couldn't move at all. He reached underneath you and held you close to him, his mask pressed against your forehead.

You didn't know what was happening while he held you. You heard different noises, Aydan's groans of pain accompanied by Elise's triumphant exclamations. You assumed she was carrying out her justice and only wished you could help. When your head lolled against his shoulder, his box was gently pushed against your chest.

"Take back my soul, Detective," he told you quietly. "It is yours and no one else's."

All you had to do was touch it. When you applied pressure to one of the gemstones, it gave in under your fingertip. You released a sigh of relief. You glanced over his shoulder and saw Aydan laying against the desk, his hands tied behind him while blood seeped out of his nose. He was still breathing, which meant he would receive his sentencing. You were surprised Elise had withheld from taking his life entirely.

Colors shone from outside a nearby window. It was not Curioso's red and blues, but the sirens of police cars pulling up outside. You'd never been so glad to see some backup before.

She joined the two of you, her gloves stained with her master's blood. "I telephoned the police before Ulysses found me."

"Bring me your box," you told her weakly. There was no argument as she picked up the item and held it out to you. You used the last of your strength to press the pattern most familiar to you, and it glowed a brilliant pink in return. Her soul belonged to you now. You smiled at the sight before succumbing to your exhaustion, going limp in his hands.

As you were admitted to a hospital room to properly treat your injuries, you were briefed by the police on their findings. They arrested at least ten patrons of the organization, and Aydan was undergoing questioning. You warned them that these were powerful wizards and maguses, and instead of scoffing at you like they did last time, they took your word in earnest and promised they would be taking necessary precautions.

As you laid in the bed, eying the IV attached to your arm, you fought down laughter. What precautions were there to take? Maybe that was something you'd have to look into. If magical servants could be hindered, then so could their owners, you thought.

The sergeant had approached you earlier, asking if you needed any of your belongings retrieved. You adamantly told them to bring you two decorative boxes – claiming that there was something important inside them that you could just not part with. He obliged to your request, and now you had Curioso and Elise's boxes at your bedside.

There was a new one, too. He found another box at the scene, and brought it along since it looked like the others. He asked if it was yours and you lied in saying it was. This one was completely black with red gemstones and sharply-lined decorations on it. It must contain Ulysses. You already tried to gain control of it, but the gems did not bend to you. The only person it would work with was Aydan, who was in custody and likely wasn't going to see freedom for many years. Unless he died during his time in prison, you weren't going to be able to open it anytime soon.

You were perusing the channels on the small television, trying to find something to sate your boredom. When you flicked onto the next one, you saw Curioso projected onto the screen. He was juggling some balls in his hands with wacky music accompanying his act. You set down the remote and watched the sight, allowing him to humor you for a minute or two. This was just the thing that could lift your spirits after a long day.

"This show sucks," you said aloud, and he let the balls fall from his hands.

"I'd like to see you do any better," his voice was crystal clear from the television, unburdened by the speakers. "How are you feeling, Detective?"

"Great," you did an act of stretching your arms. "Only a few more days and I'll be out of here. Then I've gotta find a way to pay the hospital and ambulance bill."

"You solved a case they couldn't. I'd be surprised if you DIDN'T get a pay raise."

You glanced over at the pink box sitting on the table. "Where's Elise?"

"How should I know?" he started his next act on juggling bowling pins. "Probably sleeping, like you should be."

"Can you guys visit each other? Like in your boxes?" you asked curiously.

"No. Only you can come in," his head turned on the screen to look at the black box sitting further away. "You might have some trouble getting in that one, though."

You shrugged. "I don't trust Aydan with it, and there's no harm in keeping his bodyguard in there. He's dangerous to let out. I don't think I could control him even if I tried."

He caught the pins. "What Elise said is probably true. Ulysses must have lost his humanity. I wonder what happened to cause that."

"I've been thinking about that, too. The curse turned you into something that's not human. It must be easy to forget what you once were."

"If I ever get that way, Detective, please let me know."

"Don't worry, I'll tell you if you ever get a sudden thirst for bloodshed again."

He chuckled, and you raised the remote to flick the screen off. The room went quiet. You clasped your hands together and closed your eyes. He was right. You should be getting some rest. Sleep was imperative to get yourself out of the hospital, and that's exactly what you wanted. To be home. With Curioso…

Everything had worked out in the end, but you had yet to ask him how in the hell he managed to break free from his magic-obstructed spell. You couldn't get it out of your head, the scream he let out and how hard he pulled to break those chains…From Elise and Aydan's reactions, it shouldn't have been possible. His powers should have been far from his reach, but he regained control of them easily. Or maybe it hadn't been so simple. You didn't know.

You put an end to these scrambling thoughts, allowing yourself to drift off as you had so many times before. All you wanted to do was sleep.