Obsidian stillness.
A vast void of hollow emptiness consumed in an eternal starless night.
Jack wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed.
"How long have I been here?" Jack thought.
The dark, dreadful, silence stretched for what seemed an eternity.
He had spent his final moments in Libast with Jinx. His head was in her lap as she gently ran her fingers through his pink hair. He confided in her and revealed where he was truly to be while the others were sent out on their assignments; he was going home. No more than silhouettes in his mind's eye, he could hardly recall what his family looked like. It had been more that five hundred years since he had last been to his homeland and his memory of it and them were faded.
This wasn't at all how he remembered his home world growing up. Where were the fields of green grass? Where was the mansion he and the other children were raised in? The more Jack tried to remember, the foggier his memory became. Did he use the correct spell to get there? Did he perhaps mess it up since it had been forever since he'd used it? Jack sat with his thoughts alone in the still darkness. Funny how time works when there is nothing to measure it by, no light, no rising or setting of the sun, nothing to orient from. His thoughts were just as disoriented as his senses. After an immeasurable amount of time, Jack finally decided he should just leave and go back to Libast. He took a deep inhale filling his lungs, closed his eyes, and positioned his palms out in front of him where the portal would soon manifest. As he exhaled, the magic would be released and flow through him as he meditated on the correct spell. Nothing happened. His powers weren't working.
"What's going on?" Jack uttered, even his words fell victim to the emptiness.
Just then something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. It was a small light so dim he wouldn't have noticed it if this hadn't been the first light, he'd seen in what felt like an eternity. He turned and began to walk toward the light.
"Normally I'd avoid the light, but this is my only choice for now I guess." Jack thought to himself. As he approached the light it began to take shape, slowly growing and gaining in definition with each step he took froward.
"A DOOR!" Jack shouted.
Gripping the doorknob with excitement, he flung it open, excited to finally see something beyond darkness. But he wasn't greeted with bright colors or anything for that matter, just more emptiness. Jack had no mirror but could tell sadness quickly ran over his face.
"This is worse than being stuck in that cave for three hundred years. At least then I had the goblins and bugs to keep me company, this is just boring." Jack said going through the door regardless.
When he got to the other side something strange happened. He didn't feel the stillness he'd gotten so painfully used to. Wind was flowing through his hair, faster and faster until it finally dawned on him… he was falling. He got lost in the moment and began doing sky diving tricks and flips. After falling for a few moments, the buttons on his velvet vest tore off and all that could be heard was a whipping from the vest slapping him through the air. Jack quickly became annoyed with the loud sound.
Some time had passed, how much is uncertain. Jack had turned his back down and wrapped his arms across his chest to halt the annoying sound of his clothes whipping to the best of his ability. He wondered how long he'd be falling before something happened, anything... and why was his sense of time so off here in this place, why could he still not remember. The thoughts whipped across his mind softly tormenting him in the same way his hair did as it whipped across his forehead as he fell. Was that another light that just appeared?
"No, the sun." As Jack uttered those words he crashed into the earth.
Debris flew everywhere. As the dust settled, a larger crater in the field became visible, inside it lay Jack. Not having magic was becoming a problem, as Jack could feel every ounce of pain coursing through his body. As he climbed out of the crater his eyes met a man dressed as a butler.
"Greetings Lord Jack, welcome home." the man said, smiling and giving a slight bow.
"Thank you!" Jack said, trying to hide his grimacing face from the butler.
"Right this way please, and please do forgive us for your long wait. I hope it wasn't too much trouble; preparations needed to be done for your arrival." the butler said, leading the way to the mansion.
Jack followed behind the butler at a respectful distance, limping along. With each step he was met with considerable pain, sweat began to bead his forehead. The butler would glace back at Jack every so often and assure him that the mansion was only just ahead. Every time he did, Jack quickly straightened his posture and poised his face in the stoic smirk he was famous for wearing and then returned to limping as soon as he no longer had eyes on him.
The mansion was three stories tall; the walls were all painted black, the windows showed no light or life, and a blood red roof crowned the mansion. "Has it always looked like this?" Jack thought to himself.
The walked up the black marble staircase that led to two black, grand, oak doors. They were oversized and heavy. The blood red door knockers gave it an ominous feeling as Jack approached taking in the sight. The butler grabbed the onyx doorknobs and led them both inside. Jack was immediately met with the sharp sounds of a quartet; they had a masterful lead violinist. Each note hit precisely its mark sending chills straight down his spine. The feeling of the song was being embedded into Jack's very soul; it gave him the odd feeling he was being watched from somewhere. After being encompassed by the music Jack finally looked around to see quite the dreary scenery. Curtains were a mix of blues and gray fabrics that appeared to be normal cloth way beyond its years; there were many holes in them, yet no light peered through the windows. A piano laid empty next to the quartet with a thick layer of dust on top as if it hadn't been used in years.
"I'll fetch tonight's host, Master Jack, I shall return momentarily." the butler said giving a slight bow and turning on his heel.
Jack nodded as he continued looking around the house, the main stairwell lay below a crooked chandelier that looked like it hadn't been lit in a long time. Cobwebs covered the ceiling, the stairs themselves seemed to be warped or missing. "Why can't I remember any of this place?" Jack thought. Looking back in his memories this home was bright and cheerful. This grand hall made the room feel like it was spinning, Jack began to get dizzy. He couldn't think straight. The violins soon got much louder than his own thoughts, as it all became too much a door opened.
"Master Jack, this way, they await you." the butler called out. As he did, silence fell on the room the quartet vanished.
"Am I going crazy?" Jack thought as he headed towards the butler.
As soon as Jack passed the door. It slowly creaked shut, then darkness again fell upon him.
...
...
...
"What happened?" Jack moaned.
He was chained to the wall in a tiny stone room. There was little light to see with but from the faint glow, he could tell there was an iron door directly opposite of him. His head hurt immensely. Even the slightest movement caused a cascade of sharp pains throughout his head and body. He gritted his teeth, determined to gather his barring, he lifted his head against the protest of his nervous system. He rested the back of his head on the wall and noticed a new pain. Jack concluded that it must be a welt and most likely the source of his current state, he was knocked out.
"Such things are unbecoming of me, how long was I out for?" he thought.
"Hello, anyone wanna explain what's going on?" Jack cried out.
"Oh, he ought to be awake." A voice said from beyond the door with a thick accent.
"Go get Charlotte!" he continued.
Moments later the iron door burst open, a loud ringing bang echoed through the tiny stone room, and pain echoed through Jacks head from the sound of it. There in the threshold stood a tiny woman in a tattered pink dress with torn laces all around it. It was once probably very beautiful dress in its prime, nothing now compared to its former glory, much like Jack in this predicament.
"My broken puppet has finally returned." the girl let out with a smile that clearly meant nothing good.
"Broken puppet?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you know what trouble I had to go through to find the world you were sent too and correct your mistakes?" she carried on not acknowledging his question.
"A broken horn... how did that happen?" Her gaze on him was deadly.
"It's been like that as long as I can remember." Jack said.
"Mhmm. I send my demon lords to different worlds to terrorize people, why is it you've been saving them?" she demanded.
"Saving them?.... I'm not, I've been just doing as I please." Jack said, smirking.
"As YOU please? You live for ME not for you. It's a good thing I sent a real demon lord to your assigned world to get the job done some time ago, when it appeared you vanished." she said, smirking.
"There are more of us?" Jack said.
She spun around to address the butler and the bald man next to him, her dress fanning out and sweeping the cobbled floor as she did so.
"Take him to the Nether Chambers. Find out what happened to him and why he's defective, then get rid of him." she ordered.
The butler gave her his slight bow and walked forward into the room with Jack as the woman and bald man walked away down the hallway fading into the darkness. The butler pulled out his large ring of keys, some were of extraordinary size, shape, and color. He fumbled with it a few moments and found a tiny, black, iron key that had been freckled with rust and began undoing the chains from the wall. He grabbed the chains and dragged Jack down the hallway until he managed to get to his feet.
"What did she mean by puppet?" Jack asked.
"You'll see in a few moments."
"I'm so confused. What is going on?" Jack thought.
Soon they entered a new room, shackles were scattered everywhere and fake prosthetics that looked to be a mixture of clay and wood lined the room and filled the shelves. The butler brought him forward and hung him from the middle of the room. The man lifted a massive old blanket from atop the table. A massive cloud of swirling grey dust filled the air, as it settled, it revealed a crystal ball that had been underneath.
"Hey, I'm sorry man, I actually don't need my fortune read today. In fact, I should probably head back home." Jack said smiling.
"Soon enough you won't have a home to return to, and I hope, for your sake, that you can keep your sense of humor, Master Jack." He said lifting a massive whip.
"No home to return to? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying." Jack said, his eyes following the man around the dark dusty old room. Each step disturbed the dust that had probably sat for a few centuries untouched.
"Charlotte has arranged for it to be dismantled." He said, revealing an image of Libast on the crystal ball.
"What does she plan to do?" Jack asked.
The man didn't reply. All that was heard after that is the man tearing Jack's jacket and vest off revealing his bare skin. "Sorry master Jack." The butler uttered before the whip rained down on Jack. Sounds of thunder echoed through the musty halls. Jack didn't let himself let out one sound of pain during the whole time he was whipped. Though no sound escaped his lips, his face betrayed him, as his eyes slowly began twitching and watering up. He kept himself as distracted as possible though, filled his mind with thoughts of his friends back home.
"Why did I come here?"
"Why do I exist?"
"Why can't I remember anything?" These thoughts filled Jack's head as his blood splattered across the floor with each lash, slowly painting the floor a deeper shade of red as the butler thundered on.
"You were created here to be sent to another world. Your assigned purpose was to cause fear and anguish amongst the populations. These emotions of the mortal are some of the strongest and provide sustenance for the rulers here, your creators." He said each sentence in between lashes.
As if that were a key, Jack suddenly remembered his childhood, his memory unlocked. When he was created, he was nothing more than a hollow husk, his body an empty shell. His childhood wasn't a childhood at all, he was made a puppet, nothing more, nothing less. He was a hollow husk that they filled with a random cognitive brain.
"Was I really just doing what I wanted?" Jack thought.
The realization that he was just a puppet for someone else broke Jack's spirit to the point that he no longer felt the lashings he was receiving. Tears rolled down his face, but he didn't know why. Jack remembered being tossed into the world shortly after he was made; he fell right in front of a party of heroes, his horns were a dead giveaway he was no good. They took action almost immediately, almost killing Jack right after he arrived in the world. Shortly after, Jack woke up with amnesia, a broken horn, and a strong will to live and make friends. Forgetting every reason why he'd arrived there at all.
"I came back just for them to trap me here and kill me. I lived a good life for a puppet." Jack thought.
Thinking back to meeting Gar, he smiled. He loved Violet's anger and sass toward everyone. Stein was a great reason to be competitive and always kept things lively. Anak was his first friend even though he hadn't realized it and after remembering the time he stuffed him into a bag, Jack busted out laughing.
"You must be a masochist?" the butler questioned.
"They've arrived at your home, I'll let you watch before I end your life as well." he continued.
Jack looked toward the crystal ball as dark ominous portals opened above and around Libast, releasing swarms of creatures that looked to be from Charlotte's nightmares. Down below, it looked like Stein was just returning. Violet's orc army was already back but where was she? The butler left the room and Jack was left hanging in the center of the room with a pool of his own blood around his feet to watch the tragedy unfold. Jack began to realize the tears that steadily streamed from his eyes weren't from the pain of the whip, it was from the pain of realizing he'd never seen his friends again. That was not a fate he'd ever wished to think about.
Jack scanning the room for any possible way out. Unsure where the sudden strength came from, he flipped himself upside down, planting his feet on the ceiling, he unhooked his shackles from the hook hanging him. He fell to the floor in a loud thud. As he stood up, he glanced at the crystal ball. They were still fighting the nightmarish creatures. Anak was flying around the tower launching Fireballs at them blasting them from the sky.
"They're putting up a great fight but clearly outnumbered." Jack thought frantically looking for a way out of the locked room.
There was something in the room that looked out of place compared to the rest of the room. When Jack walked over to it, it was the dark gemstone he kept in his pocket.
"It must've fell when he tore my jacket off!" Jack said excitedly.
Magic doesn't work in this realm unless it's lords allow you to do so, but this wasn't magic it was pure power, an amplifier if you will. So, shatter it and you will return to the source, or so Jack thought. He shattered the gemstone in his hand turning it to dust, but nothing happened. A sour look washed over Jack's face, his only hope of returning gone, he dropped to his knees and the door flung open. The butler stood tall over him watching as Jack's friends got pushed back further and further.
"You really built that kingdom on your own?" the butler asked.
Jack nodded as tears were still falling, diluting the blood from his back onto the floor.
"If by some chance of fate, we meet again, save me a seat in your kingdom." the butler said tracing weird symbols into the air.
Jack suddenly felt warm and alone. He could feel the tower rumbling and hear the sounds of war fill the air. He opened his eyes to find himself resting on Jinx's lap. "Was it a dream?" Jack thought. He lifted his head; he was shirtless, and his blood had soaked Jinx's beautiful form fitted blue dress. Feeling every ounce of pain now, Jack called for Gar, who scurried up the steps to his room.
"Master your back?!" Gar shouted.
"Get me patched up and a new suit I'm needed out there." Jack said grimacing through the pain.