Chapter 1: The Puzzle of the Gods
1
There is a history of games. The history of games is intertwined with human history, starting in the Egyptian empire five thousand years ago. Ancient games predicted the future for both citizens and kings. As these games were played, fate was decided in magical ceremonies. These were known as "The Shadow Games."
2
There was a hospital room. In it, there was a middle-aged man slumped in a chair, appearing to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and a strange futuristic knight in blue metallic armor.
And, in the center of the room, there was a girl lying on the bed.
She seemed to be asleep... or dead. She did not wake up even with the noisy device used to examine her. Clearly, she was not dead, as pale as her face was, but still, she gave the impression that she might disappear with a puff. That's how insubstantial she seemed.
"So?" asked the man.
The knight nodded slowly.
"She did not have a Trigger Event. I can't be one hundred percent sure without taking her to the Protectorate, but let's say I'm ninety-nine percent sure."
Enough to assume that there was no problem here and to leave. Anyway, he had no reason to think that the family would not cooperate if it turned out that the scanner had failed in some way. Who else would they seek help from?
"Well, I am. I am one hundred percent sure. My daughter would never do anything wrong."
The knight blinked, confused. When he understood, or thought he did, he took a few extra moments to measure his words. He didn't want to mess up. Yes, maybe the pause would be a bit long, but wasn't it better to take the time he needed? At least that's what he thought.
"Hmm? I understand how you feel, Mr. Hebert, but I'm not here for that. While many people who have a Trigger Event due to trauma become supervillains, not all do. Not even the majority. They are capable of overcoming their pain like anyone else."
"I understand. I'm sorry."
Things would be simpler if people said what they thought. Did he really understand or were those just words? He couldn't know. Not just with his own abilities, that is.
But he could understand.
"I'm the one who should apologize. This should never have happened to your daughter."
For example, that was part of the kind of things he had to say, even though it meant nothing. Platitudes and courtesies, the oil for the gears of everyday life. That, at least, he understood perfectly.
"You can't be everywhere."
The knight was sure that that was also just a courtesy. It was so obvious that even he could be sure of it.
"No. It's true..."
He lowered his gaze.
"May I ask what that thing is?" He had finished his duty here, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible and continue with his work. However, he was curious. No Thinker could resist their curiosity. That's why they were Thinkers.
The middle-aged man turned that 'something' over in his hands, his expression darkening even more if possible.
It wouldn't be because of something he had said, right? He would be looking into the past.
"An ancient Egyptian puzzle that her mother gave her before dying. More than once I've caught her trying to solve it during the night... I hope it brings her some peace when she needs it most."
The middle-aged man finally stood up from the chair, approached the bed, and placed the half-finished puzzle on the girl's chest, who still had not flinched. Asleep was too sweet a word to use for her. She wasn't waking up, but that was because she was in a catatonic state. They had cornered her to that point.
Without him knowing.
"My daughter. My little one..." The man began to weep bitterly.
Without being able to do anything.
"Taylor."
3
Another day passed.
Just one day, and the miracle he had been praying for happened. No, he shouldn't call it a miracle. The doctors had told him she would wake up, and there was no reason for her not to wake up.
Yet, he couldn't help but shed tears of happiness this time when he saw her sitting up in bed, working on that puzzle.
He ran and hugged her against his chest, perhaps with a bit more force than he should use with a girl who had been in a catatonic state until a moment ago. Yes, Danny had just stepped out for a moment to get a glass of water, and when he returned, the miracle had occurred.
So who could blame him?
For going a bit overboard, just a little bit. He had the feeling that if he let her go, she would disappear.
As if she was about to fly out the window, or as if she was going to open her eyes and discover that her awakening had been just a dream, and all he was left with was the cruel reality of her catatonia. That someone had done this to his daughter, and he didn't even know who to unleash all this burning rage inside him on.
But she was here.
Definitely here. That's why he couldn't stop crying. He should be strong for Taylor, who needed him, but he couldn't.
"Dad..."
"I was afraid... I..."
"You want to know what happened," she said in an empty voice. There was no happiness, but no pain either. Yet, that unnatural emptiness was proof enough of the magnitude of her suffering.
Taylor had been such a cheerful and lively child, full of life. When had things started to twist? He couldn't understand it. That was the most painful part of all.
"Well, I... just want to finish the puzzle," she continued, in the end. "No, I need to finish it. I won't be saved unless I do."
"What are you talking about?" Danny stepped back a bit. Just enough to look her in the eyes.
Besides, he didn't want to overwhelm her. He needed to relax.
"It's the most important thing. I should never have given up. I should have known that mom gave me this for a reason."
Danny opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, thinking better of it. He decided it didn't matter whether what Taylor was saying made sense or not. She had just woken up, she had suffered a great trauma, and this was what he had wanted, right? The puzzle was giving her something to cling to when she needed it most.
Danny felt a bit hurt... that the memory of his mother, who was no longer there, was more effective than his clumsy efforts as a father. But that was just childish envy.
He just wanted the best for his daughter.
So it didn't matter if she was talking nonsense. She wouldn't be talking so calmly if the puzzle, if her mother's last gift, wasn't here.
That was enough for him.
"I understand, but the doctors have to examine you to make sure you're okay."
Taylor frowned, thoughtful. And, for a moment... Maybe it was his imagination, no, it definitely was his imagination... But for a moment, she twisted her face in a way that made her not even look like his daughter... For an eternal moment, he had the feeling of looking at the face of a stranger.
"Okay. But make it quick. I need... to work."
Danny nodded and left the room to call the doctors, but first he promised her that he would be right back... that, this time, he wouldn't take his eyes off her.
And Taylor, just returned an empty look, as her hands moved over the puzzle pieces.
The so-called Millennium Puzzle of an unnamed pharaoh, that no one had been able to solve...
4
"Taylor, Emma has come to visit you."
His daughter looked up from the puzzle, which gave Danny false hopes, since her attention returned to the usual after a moment.
"Can she come in? If you prefer that we be alone..."
"Let her in," she said slowly and after a while. "But don't bother me, I need to work."
"Taylor!"
Even he had thought she seemed not to want her here, but hearing her say something like that was too strange. They were childhood friends. Yes, Emma hadn't stopped by the house in a while, but they would see each other at school and...
What?
He shouldn't be surprised or angry because she was perhaps a bit rude. Danny took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Emma. You must understand that after this incident... She still wasn't quite right."
"I understand, Mr. Hebert. Don't worry."
"Come on, call me Danny. Just Danny. I know it's been a long time since we last saw each other, but you'll always have a place in our house."
Emma nodded. Then, hesitantly, she approached Taylor's bed, dragged one of the chairs near, and took a seat.
"Well, I'll leave you alone for a while," said Danny.
Probably, he was just being overly paranoid.
Probably they would be able to laugh together like in the old times. Taylor... kept receiving one blow after another, but at least she had a friend who would be by her side through that.
One single friend was all that was needed.
Quality was always better than quantity.
There were too many so-called 'friends' who were only there for the good times, drinks, and parties, and turned their backs on you when you really needed them.
Danny knew this very well, so he was glad that Taylor had at least one true friend who would make everything more bearable.
5
"You didn't have the guts to tell your dad, huh? Even now."
"If I had told him, you'd say I'm a coward for seeking the help of adults," she said, as Taylor had no intention of taking her gaze off the puzzle or ceasing her persistent effort. "There's no way to earn your respect, but... I absolutely don't care."
"Do you think you're better than me?"
"I have to finish this puzzle. I'm only interested in what you think if you help me finish it... No, even if you were capable, it doesn't make sense unless I do it myself."
"Even if... you were capable? You must have gone crazy in there, Hebert," she spat. "Do you think you can talk to me like that? That I won't make you pay?"
Taylor took the next piece out of the partially open box, placed on the nightstand. She simply had the feeling that it was time to take it. It wasn't like her, but now she was trying to complete the puzzle by instinct.
Thinking too much hadn't led her anywhere. She had failed day after day, night after night for years. In fact, since she had started to let her instinct guide her, she had made great progress. Maybe she would finish it today. Hopefully, she would finish it today.
She would feel as if she could fly.
"Hey! Answer me when I talk to you."
"I've been... paying for years without having done anything to you. What can change what I say? And what exactly do you think you can do to me that's worse than this?"
Emma, surprisingly, fell silent. If looks could kill, she would be dead, but she fell silent.
Good.
She had told dad to let her in because she had wanted to spare herself the headache of explaining the situation, but anyway, she had done nothing but bother her. That was what she was best at. She would enjoy the peace she had earned for however brief it lasted. Sooner or later, she would get bored and go look for another girl to torment in the meantime, or a butterfly to tear the wings off, in any case, she would be out of her sight and out of earshot, it was irrelevant.
Surprisingly, Emma held her tongue for an hour and played the role of a good girl when dad came back into the room. The look of happiness on his face when he saw them 'talking' almost made it worth having let it slide, after all.
Emma was a total snake, but for the moment, it was convenient.
And once she solved the puzzle, Emma would no longer be a problem. Taylor wasn't sure how she would get rid of the problem. It's not like she wanted to jump to murder, haha, but in any case, definitely, the problem would cease to exist.
So that's why she could be patient, swallow her hatred and just work on the Millennium Puzzle.
Just for that.
It's not like she hadn't thought about seriously harming Emma, and Sophia, and all those who had... But what would she gain from that, other than ruining her life? That would be letting them win. Indeed, they wouldn't feel like winners, but going down that path only meant letting them win.
Perhaps the worst of all. In the eyes of the rest of the world, that would justify what she had suffered.
Moreover, they would no longer be aggressors... Killing them, she would turn them into damn martyrs... She couldn't think of a more unbearable thought!
So she couldn't run away, she couldn't kill them, but the puzzle would give her an answer. And it's not like she was giving up, seeking salvation in a higher power. She would earn her happy future. By solving this puzzle, she would earn the key to the future she desired with her own hands, with her blood, sweat, and tears.
She was making good progress, now that she let herself be guided by her impulses and hunches, now that she let herself... be carried by the current.
She would complete it, she would definitely complete it. Tonight. Tonight. Tonight!
Night came, and... she was close, but she hadn't achieved it.
Still, it was all a matter of time. She couldn't lose hope and throw in the towel, as she had done years ago. All the suffering she had been experiencing since then... was nothing but the just punishment for abandoning her duty.
So, once she completed the puzzle, that evil flow would be cut off forever.
Once...
"You need to sleep. I understand it's not easy, but it will only be a few days. We'll be able to go home soon." Dad was still there. Of course. And, of course, he was worried... It hurt to see him, but she couldn't do anything. Not when the only thing she could do about it was what caused him that pain.
"You're the one who needs to rest," Taylor spoke the truth.
But, without looking him in the eyes.
She didn't even look him in the eyes. It was as if an invisible force was holding her by the back of the head, fixing her gaze on the puzzle, whether she wanted to or not. The tense muscles of her neck slowly creaked, just like the pieces she moved here and there or rotated.
"Taylor..." He sighed. Then, he decided to change tactics. "If I fall asleep first, will you at least try?"
"Okay."
"Alright."
Dad dragged his chair against the wall, closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall. It was the closest to comfort he could be without another bed. Taylor continued working in silence. And, after a while, when she was convinced, she spoke.
"I know you wanted to pretend to fall asleep, but you've already fallen asleep, huh? Good. Rest. I... I'll rest when I have the puzzle hanging from my neck. Only then will I be able to rest. When I finish the puzzle, no one will be able to hurt us again. That is my wish. My only wish. And this puzzle will grant me that wish. For sure. Something you can show, but you can't see..."
Her heart... stopped abruptly. Now, the only 'darkness' of the puzzle was right in the center. Just one more gap to fill... one last piece for her broken heart.
Her hand blindly reached for the box and... found nothing.
If her heart had already stopped just from the excitement of being close to finishing, this fright almost made it unable to start again.
Impossible.
It's the last piece. The last of dozens, the last of so many, it can't have disappeared now, not just now, just one more to make my wish come true, why now, when my wish would be fulfilled?, it's just a gap, one last piece, it's like all the problems of my life had been reduced to something the size of a flea, so why, why, how can it not be there?, it's impossible, impossible, impossible...
Then... it clicked... and her heart, for the first time, filled with true murderous rage... Although before she might have had the opportunity and the means, surely she wouldn't have been able to do it in the end. But now, if Taylor had her in front of her, she would definitely kill her.
Her teeth chattered.
"Emma."
6
"I thought you would never notice."
A disgusting laugh.
And Taylor was hearing that... because she remembered it. Much to her regret, she still perfectly remembered her phone number. It was one of the very few things that hadn't changed in the last few years.
"What's up, Taylor? Were you finally about to finish your stupid puzzle?"
"Where?"
"What..."
"Don't give me that bullshit, you little shit! Where? I'll come wherever you want, so come out if you have the guts! Just give me a place and time, damn bitchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
More laughter, as if all this were a joke.
"I never thought I'd hear you talk like that. I guess it was worth it. Alright, listen."
7
Taylor and Emma met under the moonlight. They didn't exchange greetings, of course. Emma simply pulled a small piece from the pocket of her jacket. A small piece, but the most important one, the one that had to go right in the center. The heart of the puzzle.
"For something as insignificant as this, you've come here in a robe and barefoot. In Brockton Bay, that's incredible, hahahaha. Although I don't think any thug would want to lay hands on someone as disgusting as you."
"Give it back."
"Or what? I've already told you, do you think you have power over me? Do you think you're better than me? You're not even a shadow of what you were, and you were never much!"
Then Emma did the stupidest thing she had done in her life. As she gloated, the puzzle piece slipped through her fingers... and bounced towards Taylor. She, of course, saw it as a mysterious sign. But she didn't wait for the piece to fall into her hands. She lunged forward just as Emma did...
She was the first to get there.
Emma screamed like a banshee and threw her to the ground, but it didn't matter. Taylor had already forgotten about her. With a manic smile, she inserted the last piece.
There was a golden light, as if it were the immeasurable treasure of an ancient pharaoh, and then…
8
It's written in the Book of the Dead that the one who solves that puzzle inherits the Shadow Games. They become the guardian of right and pass judgment on evil.
9
There was something odd here. Something wrong.
In another time and place, Emma might have dismissed those thoughts as stupid fantasies, a trick of the mind. But now she couldn't.
Maybe because the full moon reigned over the skies, and it was the witching hour...
When the golden flash faded, she had the impression that Taylor was no longer there. The person who stood up with Taylor's body and smiled with her lips couldn't be her.
It was a merciless, cruel smile, and above all, confident.
The smile of someone powerful who had never known defeat.
Somehow, Emma had that impression. No, certainty!
So, she backed away.
Although it was silly, although it had to be Taylor, although she had nothing to fear from her original and much less from the shadow that had been stumbling through life since her mother died.
Emma took a deep breath.
Yes, it was silly. So she had to stop the nonsense and show her who was in charge here, as always.
"You have trespassed on my soul! Therefore, you must play a game with me!" It didn't sound like Taylor's voice at first, but that was also her fooling herself, her mind playing tricks on her.
It was simply that Taylor never sounded so confident. Even before everything that happened, she had never sounded like that, like someone who was... complete. That's why it seemed like the voice of a different person.
Really? Was that all? Taylor had never been very feminine, hers was a deep and rough voice. If she closed her eyes, she might confuse it for the voice of a man...
"What are you talking about?"
"It's just a simple game of dice! People have been gambling their fate on dice since ancient Egypt! Although, back then, we used 'astragali'—the irregular heel bones of calves and sheep."
We? Is that what she had said...? We used...?!
"Now let me explain the rules of this game of fate. The rules are simple! We both roll the dice. I roll first. Whoever rolls the lowest number wins. I'll even let you win in case of a tie! Sounds good?"
Her smile widened. It looked as sharp as a knife.
"However, if I win, then you'll have to play a Penalty Game as punishment."
"Ridiculous. Why would I have to play with you? And... how could I let you punish me... you, someone like you?"
"I'll give you the puzzle if you win. Not a piece, the entire puzzle. Then you can do whatever you want with it. You don't need to say anything, it's evident on your face twisted by evil. I see the answer clearly. Let the game begin."
Then Taylor... didn't throw the die. She simply let it drop from her hand. It bounced against the ground and, slowly, slowly, stopped... on a six.
Emma laughed.
"A six! And you said you would let me win in case of a tie, you said it! Taylor! No matter what number comes up, I win. I don't even have to throw the die. What a pity! Even the heavens spit on you. So much effort to keep crawling on the ground like a worm."
Taylor's expression didn't change a bit. She really must have gone mad. How could her eyes still shine? How could she have that confident smile?
"The odds are in your favor, but the game doesn't end until you throw the die."
Emma clicked her tongue and bent down to pick it up.
"You used to be a depressing little girl, always quiet, and now you won't shut the fuck up! Well, well, well, here, take the die you want so much!"
Emma threw the die at the head of that idiot.
It bounced off her forehead. If she had been paying attention, she would have heard a strange crunch too, but all Emma saw was the die falling to the ground. The result was a one. A strange one, but definitely a one, a single black dot.
If only she had known that it was an eye watching her, judging her... Well, nothing would have really changed, because she had already made her move.
"I win! Give it to me!"
"Look closer."
"Impossible..."
Taylor had lifted the puzzle to protect herself from the die. It hadn't bounced off her forehead, but off the puzzle, and on the ground... the die was split in half. Definitely, on one side there was a one. But on the other, there was a six.
"That doesn't count! You can't say that..."
Emma fell silent.
Taylor had extended an arm and was pointing a finger at her. It was like a judge passing sentence. Yes, she had said it from the start. If she lost, there would be a...
"Penalty Game! Mind Crush!"
Emma couldn't look away.
On Taylor's forehead... it had to be a hallucination, but on Taylor's forehead shone... a third eye, with a golden glow that burned the retina, and that third eye... flew towards her, even passed through her, beyond, to her soul.
Emma Barnes, for the second time in her life, was shattered.
10
"Goodbye, Emma. I have shattered your heart filled with evil. You deserved a worse punishment, but my other self once saw you as a sister. That's why I granted you this special privilege. Now you can reassemble the shattered puzzle of your heart, piece by piece. If you make no mistakes, if you complete it, one day you will return..."
The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, with the Eye of Wdjat still shining on his forehead, stretched his neck back to gaze at the full moon reigning over the night sky.
"Or maybe not! Maybe you'll spend the rest of your life struggling alone in the darkness, kukikikikakkakakahhyahhyaaaahhahhahhahahhhahahhyaaahh!"
The Puzzle of the Gods: FIN