Gordan was still alittle bit uncomfortable but he didn't let it show, this Zero person was being friendly so it didn't make sense for Gordan to do anything that might compromise that. Besides this person had come to answer some of his questions, though he didn't quite know what exactly it was that he was supposed to ask about. Zero seemed to understand this and gave an explanation.
"If I'm not mistaken you met a friend of mine this morning. Dark cloak, a rather shadowy figure in general."
Gordan nodded remembering his early encounter with the figure. Zero looked at Gordan seriously, which made Gordan confused.
"Now that that's out of the way, I would like to apologize on behalf of my colleague."
He pushed back some of his hair and rubbed the back of his neck, as if trying to find the best way to say something.
"He has a bit of trouble dealing with people outside of his experience, and can some times be a tad bit forgetful."
Gordan waved away the apology.
=sigh=
"It's not like it was the worst thing to happen to me this week, it actually helped me out of a rather painful situation so I have no reason to be angry with him in the first place."
Zero began smiling again, seemingly happy with the answer.
"That's a relief, most people aren't that understanding after getting pulled into the game."
Gordan tilted his head to one side, wondering what what he was talking about, he then remembered the conversation he had heard between the former king and the strange annoyed lady.
"About that, what exactly is this 'game' anyway?"
Now it was Zero's turn to be confused.
"Just how much did he tell you about what is going on?"
Gordon thought about it for a minute, trying to recall everything that he had been told.
"He asked me what happened, then he said I would do nicely, that the game would start in five years and that he would send me to a safe place until then...
Oh and he also said that I was a jester or something, becouse he found me amusing."
Zero ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, and the light began to flicker in the lantern going out for an instant and then coming back on.
"So you're telling me that he neither told you the rules or asked if you were willing to participate?"
Gordan nodded.
"Yup that about sums it up, by the way do you have any idea what the jester title means?"
Zero snapped his fingers and a table and two chairs appeared in front of the two of them. Zero motioned for Gordan to take a seat.
"let's finish this discussion sitting down, I find that it helps me calm down a bit."
He was smiling a bit to brightly for the situation to be a good one. When they were both seated he waved his hand and two cups of tea appeared, he offered one to Gordan who accepted it politely.
"-sigh- Where to start, I guess I should start with the basics, the game that you were forced to join is called the Game of Rule. It is quite complicated, but basically a group of people are selected and put through various tasks in order to raise their 'rank' in the 'kingdom' the higher the rank the better the perks. Each person will be rewarded at the end of the game according to their rank. The game ends when someone is named king, that person will be declared the winner and on top of the highest reward, they will be given the Power of the King."
Zero took a breath and drank some tea while, Gordan just sat there slowly sipping his own tea listening intently.
"Okay back to business, the game is held about once every who knows how many years but it always takes place on a different world."
Godane frowned slightly, so there were other worlds out there after all. He had thought about that a lot when he was younger but since such thoughts were considered by most people to be blasphemous to logic he had never had the chance to discuss his theories before.
"... which is why you have probably never heard of it before. The person who contacted you into the game gives you a skill or title that can be used to help a participant during the games. In your case you gained the title jester, I am not really sure what it does, that's something that each participant has to figure out for themselves."
Suddenly Zero paused and pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to Gordan.
"Since you didnt receive one from my friend, here. This is an instructor, it might not look like much but always remember you will get out what you put in."
it was an egg that was alittle larger than that of a chicken, it was pure white but as soon as Gordan touched it, the egg turned black.
Gordan was alittle shocked by its sudden change but Zero didnt seem fazed.
"This little one will help you during the games in intellect or battle, which ever it becomes compatible with. Just remember in this state they are extremely delicate so be careful not to damage it.
And in-case you were wondering that is one of the reasons why each of the participants are sent to a safe location, it's mostly for the sake of your instructor. Treat it like you would a young animal or something, remember to feed it and talk at it, that sort of thing, I always found that to be quite comforting myself."
Gordan held the egg carefully in his hand, without thinking he took the flower that he had picked out of his pocket and placed it on the egg, which quickly absorbed it making the color shift slightly to resemble a night sky. Zero smiled at the scene, and he seemed to be recalling a distant memory.
"Just wondering, are there things that I should avoid feeding it?"
Gordan would make sure that he took care of this thing well, not really as much for the game, but more of for the sake of the creature itself. Zero came back to the situation from what ever he had been thinking of.
"Actually the more you feed it the better, it isnt effected by things like poison or rot and it is capable of eating things like metal and stone. It actually uses those things to improve its information limit."
Gordan sighed in relief, and Zero continued to smile. By now Gordan had grown used to Zero's presence and felt rather at ease, but he knew that there was one more thing he needed to know.
"Hypothetical, what would happen if someone spent the five years in a chaotic area?"
Zero turned his head slightly to the side thinking about how to answer.
"Well, first of all the administration wouldn't let that happen, but if it did I'm not quite sure what would happen...
If I had to guess, i would say that they would be rather damaged from the experience, since they would have to jump straight into the whole game thing, which is really stressful. But then again what is dangerous to one person isn't always the same for everyone if you know what I mean."
Gordan nodded his head thinking that he understood the situation, the figure didn't view his situation as dangerous so it must be what all of the other contestants would go through. Gordan shook his head at the thought of what an actual dangerous place would be like.
After finishing their tea they continued talking.
"Um by the way, this is alittle bit off topic but what is this place?"
Zero looked around at the beautiful scene in front of them.
"Oh all this is something I made to lighten up the mood in this place. But we are actually in your mind right now. Well it's called your mind, but it's really more like a space that people who are part of the games can access in order to understand their progress, and accurately gauge their power. Fun fact it is also a nice place to take a break from things around you."
Gordan stopped what he was doing and just stared at Zero without blinking.
"And how exactly would one get to this place?"
Zero smile remember that Gordan hadn't been told about any of the secrets of the games.
"That's easy you just close your eyes and focus on the idea of the tree."
He snapped his fingers and a young tree appeared in front of Gordan.
"Just keep that image in you head and you should be able to access your mind easily."
Gordan turned his attention to the tree in front of him. It came up to his knees and had a twisted trunk with dark almost black leaves. It had a rather eerie feeling to it but somehow that didnt really bother Gordan.
=Crack=
The sound was short and loud, Zero turned his head toward the sound and sighed.
"I guess it's about time for me to head out. It was a pleasure to meet you Gordan, best of luck in the games, and I guess I'll see you around."
He once again shook Gordan's hand and turned around disappearing.