The Only Game In Town [Adventure]

Joy had spent the last few days wandering through the Dead Continent. He had followed Sam to the town where he had learned the secret beginning of his world, but he had not paid enough attention when he was walking. So, he had to wander to try and find the coast again.

Joy wondered what he was supposed to get out of his experience in the forgotten temple on this gods-forsaken continent.

The problem with seers was that they knew too much. Obviously, Sam had some grand scheme that involved Joy understanding the beginning of the world. It seemed convoluted to Joy, but he wasn't that worried about it.

Everything in this world was made from the corpse of the first god, Eternity.

Eternity represented everything that the gods were. They were infinite beings that existed because they did. They were concepts manifested into shape and form, beyond anything that the human mind could comprehend.

And yet, Eternity died.

What did that death mean?

The time of the gods was supposed to be forever, and somehow, that forever was cut short.

Obviously, the birth of Death, or The End as the cult whose temple he had walked through called them, represented the end of the gods. But why would the gods allow their own end to come?

They were beings that existed outside of the human spectrum. They played with Time and Causality like children; they could exist forever if they so desired.

So, they must have chosen to end.

Why would beings that lived infinite lives of infinite pleasure want to die?

Joy thought about this topic and couldn't come up with a reasonable answer. He had lived a life of pleasure and didn't really want his life to end anytime soon. He loved living life and seeing new wonders. The world was beautiful, and he loved his place in it.

But maybe that was the difference.

He didn't want his life to end soon, but his life ending was always part of the equation. He never doubted the fact that he would someday die. It was natural and good that stories have an ending. But the gods had no ending in sight.

They had no ending in sight and so they could have no goals. The human condition allowed for man to have goals because they knew they were going to die, so they had to accomplish something before that happened. The gods had no such problem; they could put off any real duties and wants for an eternity and there would be no repercussions.

So, the gods were going to die, and they wanted it on some level. Maybe not all of them and maybe not on a conscious level. But the gods yearned for an ending to their lives of endless pleasures.

But if the gods wanted their lives to end, there was no theological reason for David being wrong. Did that mean that Joy could stop fighting David? Could he gladly become a part of David's human god?

Joy had not been raised religious, but it was hard to deny the fact that humans owed their existences to the gods. However, he was a little predisposed towards resentment against them because he had not received a powerful gift when he turned thirteen. So, maybe he didn't care that somehow David's apotheosis was a part of some divine plan, something about the human god stank.

And Joy knew the most important lesson Life could teach someone: if it smells like shit, it probably is shit.

So, what was wrong with David's plan?

He wanted to make a paradise for all of humanity to live forever. They would enjoy their lives without the suffering and finality of this world. What could be more perfect than that?

Joy smacked himself on the forehead. It was so simple.

David was trying to turn humans into gods and yet the gods wanted to die. There was suffering inherent in that eternity and David was refusing to look at it. He was plowing forward with the assumption that humans would enjoy the miserably endless life he was going to give them.

So, what should Joy do now?

He pondered this question. He had knowledge that could maybe convince David to stop his plan. But why had Sam not just shown this information to David? That would have taken out the middle man.

But David was stubborn. He was convinced of his own righteousness and would not be swayed by something as simple as information. What could Joy do to convince David?

He was pretty good in a fight and a mean gambler, but he wasn't a great rhetorician, able to convince the audience of every little thing he said.

So, how was Joy going to convince David to stop eternal humanity? Could he punch David until he agreed?

No, David was trying to become strong enough to topple the gods, he wouldn't be stopped by something as small as violence.

Joy had nothing to give David to convince him. Through brawns or brains, he came up short in every category.

But he still had to try.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Undecided, Joy's feet dragged through the dusty earth. The air was so clear on this continent. Joy hated the fact that he loved the beauty on this continent. It had only come to be through the deaths of every living being that had ever walked on this soil. He should hate this place for all the death and mayhem that it represented.

But he didn't. He was in awe with the austere beauty of it all.

Death had meaning, death had beauty, death was not senseless.

David was going to turn the world into his worshippers. They were all going to be the fount of his power to become the god Humanity. Joy refused to be someone else's battery. He was going to be himself until the day he died.

He thought of Luna. The sanity wrenching woman he had met in Vena Cava during the Knight Tournament. She had given her sense of self up and become a piece of the gods Music. She spoke about wanting to become more than human, and that giving up her ego to become a piece of something larger was a good thing.

But Joy didn't see it that way. Rather than trying to be extraordinary, she gave up her life in the hopes that what she was a part of would amount to more than she ever could in her own lifetime. But every human can affect so many other people.

Maybe the changes her life brought to the world would not have been as fantastical as what the god could do, but she would have made a difference to people who mattered, not just to some ineffable concept.

He could respect her wishes, but he didn't have to think they were good ones.

This was his problem with people who always spoke about doing things for the good of the world. None of them actually did any visible good. Good words can only do so much in the world. Incredible ideas and concepts that were on a grander scheme than humans could understand were fine and all, but none of these people ever gave a penny to the weak and downtrodden. None of them handed out bread on the streets to the people who needed it most.

Life is hard and all people can do is try to help each other.

So, Joy would try to help in whatever way he could. His fists, his soul, and his life would be put on the altar to try and save humanity from a fate worse than death.

With his mind made up Joy started walking towards the shore. He knew that he needed to get back to the place where Tera had dropped him off a few days ago. He hadn't exceeded his 30 day limit, so she would be able to teleport him back to the continent where things were alive.

Joy was smiling when he heard a whoomph next to him. Next to him, a portal into what looked like his parent's living room had opened. And on the other side was Lillian, looking none the worse for wear.

She stepped through the portal and walked up to Joy. The portal shut behind her and she looked Joy up and down.

"You look like shit."

"You look great." Joy smiled and ran to give her a hug. Maybe she wasn't expecting it, and she stiffened at his embrace, but she eventually smiled back and gave him a hug.

"I was so worried. Theo and I thought you might never wake up." Joy started walking again, and she followed directly behind him, looking around them in confusion at this alien place.

"It was a near thing, but I eventually got the hang of the dream world. I also got some sweet powers from my time there." Lillian flexed her arms, but Joy could tell that her heart wasn't in it.

"What's wrong?" Joy didn't even try to ask questions about her time in the dream world. He had heard her talk about it and its intricate rules before, but he always got confused after hearing her speak for longer than a minute.

"I want to help you stop king David…" Lillian trailed off as she looked off into the unliving distance. "But Theo wouldn't come with me."

"Well, that makes sense." Joy tried not to sound too defeated by her words, but he had known that Theo wouldn't be coming around to join him. "You have been magically healed and have even become stronger after your ordeal. Theo, on the other hand, is unchanged and scared. He was terrifying during the weeks after your injuries. He spiraled back and forth between depression and rage, and I couldn't help him."

Lillian accepted this without a change in her face. Joy hoped that Theo had become better during his stay in Joy's home village, but something in Lillian's expression convinced him that no magical healing had occurred. Theo was injured and his friends had the fate of humanity on their shoulders and had no time to truly help their comrade.

"Where are we anyways?" Lillian deftly changed the subject.

"We are on the Dead Continent right now and we are trying to get to the teleportation rock that I had set up to get us back to the main continent." Lillian gasped at the mention of the Dead Continent but looked thoughtful as Joy mentioned his predicament on the continent itself.

"I have the power to make anything that I can imagine. Can't I just teleport us back to the mainland? No need to wait for another person to get us out of here."

"That's a good idea. Where should we go though?"

The two of them paused for a moment. What should they do? They wanted to stop David, but did that really look like teleporting into his castle and attacking him right now?

"Maybe teleport us into Vena Cava? Then we can assess the situation from there?"

The two friends did not move with confidence as Lillian pulled a knife out of nowhere and started dragging it through an invisible seam in the world. The knife cleanly cut through it and they saw the ragged remains of Vena Cava.

Much work had been done to fix the damage that occurred from the infamous mouths and the earthquakes, but the city was a shadow of its former self. Ther famous rings of Vena Cava were in ruins and the outer slums had been entirely abandoned.

Joy slowly took a step through the portal and Lillian followed closely behind him. With a pop the portal shut behind the two of them and they stared out at the imposing city.

They had appeared in the abandoned slums. These places used to be filled to the brim with the downtrodden and weak. Now, it was an empty shell of its former self. tents and ramshackle structures had toppled over, and no one was around to right them. Maybe it would have been a sign of happier times, but Joy knew that these people had not been taken to a better place.

"Where to now?" Just after the words escaped Lillian's mouth an explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet.

A few tents went flying as what looked like a miniature scale mountain made of light came crashing down. A few people dressed in black danced around the massive object and brandished swords and spears at their opponent.

Floating down from the sky was a smiling man. The smile was so unfamiliar on the face that Joy nearly didn't recognize him.

Ramses the man who had crushed Lillian and Theo in the Knight Tournament, only to be vanquished by Joy floated down.

"Foul men! I will not let you destroy the world. Face me if you dare." Ramses voiced was filled with passion and the people in black trembled in fear at the sight of him.

"The Freer Men and King David are not trying to destroy the world, you ignorant oaf!" One of the men in black snapped out, overcoming his fear for an instant.

"And yet, where have the men, women, and children gone? I'll tell you. They were eaten by your beneficent king David. Those are not the actions of a savior." Ramses muttered something to himself, and bolt of lightning came down from the sky and formed into the visage of a snake that hissed down at the Freer Men.

Joy looked at Lillian. Lillian looked at Joy. This made their decision easier.

Joy spread his arms and said, "do you want to play a game?"

Lillian splayed her fingers out and hundreds of green bugs started swarming around her.

They had found an ally. Maybe they had also found some direction on how to help in stopping king David and his schemes.