The sun had yet to dawn upon a new day. Although night had grown old and would soon retire, under such a gentle moonlight the world slept comfortably. That is, excluding Pheo, who had snuck out of his abode provided by the princess during the night. With a solemn and dedicated silence, he wandered the dark and slumbering forest, until he found the tallest tree ever seen.
Without a word, Pheo slowly reached out his hand and felt the cold and rough wood of the ancient tree. It was almost haunting if one thinks too hard about it: ancient wood that has withstood hundreds of years of wear and tear, witnessed heartbreak and death likely countless times and stood still and unmoving for the rest of its existence.
Pheo began to think out loud:
"Do trees have feelings? I wonder… If a tree could express itself, what would it do? Cry? Rant? Break completely? I wonder if some trees despise their long lives, despise us. I wonder… about a lot of things actually. Maybe I think too much, maybe, I should think more. Or maybe, I should stop thinking altogether… Perhaps, I'm better off this way, could I have ever been happy if things went as planned?" He pondered countless situations as he stared at the tree.
Soon, he began to climb.
"What if I…"
He found a hold in the grooves of the tree and pulled himself up.
"Maybe then…"
He held onto a branch before swinging on top of it.
"Damn it, I should've just…"
Inch by inch.
"Why didn't I…"
One hand above the other.
"If only I…"
His voice faltered.
His ascent continued.
"Why… Why am I…"
Soon enough, he breached the leaves.
"So…"
His feet held onto branches, and his first sight was the endless starry sky and the elegant and gentle moon.
"Wait, how did I get here?"
His words ceased, this entire time his entire body was tensed, but finally, he let go. His tightened fist relaxed, and he breathed a peaceful breath as he took in the majestic view before him.
He stopped and stared.
Finally, he spoke again, in a much more casual voice, devoid of worry:
"You know what? To hell with it, who cares anyway." A smile stretched across his face, and then he started to giggle, a giggle that turned to laughter, hysterical laughter even.
"Hahahaha! What the hell am I worried about? Come on, I'm in a damn fantasy world about to have a country-saving checkers match with the fairy queen!" His laughter continued as his smile shone brightly as a star.
It is said that on that morning,
There were two suns in the sky.
He laid down, supported caringly by the branches of the tree, and finally, he fell asleep.
His rest would not last long, however. Though his friends rushed to find and wake him, they didn't get the chance as in a single instant everyone was transported into a large stadium all on the bleachers with Pheo and the Queen sitting in the middle as a checkers board between them.
Liz watched anxiously from the crowd as worry filled her mind. She knew the Queen wouldn't be as petty as to cheat by reading his mind. However, the Queen was capable of knowing someone's entire personality and habits throughout their history with a single glare, meaning she knew his tricks. That combined with her intelligence surpassing any known possible human intelligence levels meant that Pheo's chances were below a single percent, yet not zero.
Pheo scanned the crowd and found Eli, Liz, Aurora, and Aria yelling at them, however not a sound got through. Hundreds of fairies in the crowd were cheering and screaming, yet to Pheo it was absolute silence. Liz and others soon realized there was a magic barrier blocking out all sounds, although it was only one way.
The Queen tapped the checkers' board, drawing Pheo's attention, before smiling deceivingly, "I do hope this pleases you, a stadium with hundreds watching, yet entirely quiet as well. Isn't it beautiful?"
Pheo simply nodded in response, "I find it oddly beautiful. However, I didn't come here for a silent date did I?"
Unlike previous interactions Pheo required no warm-up, rather his sassy and cocky attitude was at its peak from the very start: he had begun to adapt, and change.
The Queen's eyes narrowed, "You're already improving… I'm glad actually. I was hoping this wouldn't be simple. I've been bored and unmatched for so long, I'd love to see you, how would you put it again? Ah yes, "show me my place", is I believe you'd say, or at least, I'd like to see you try."
Even now her mocking did not stop, yet Pheo would fire back even quicker. With a smug and seemingly disappointed face, he'd quip back, "Well I'd like to see you cry, but we aren't here to preach our wishes, like children. Don't waste my time, Ma'am."
Though they couldn't hear a sound they watched as the crowd was clearly outraged, if it were any more uncontrolled it may have turned into a mosh pit.
The Queen however felt no offense, rather more interest. "I apologize then, Pheonix. Perhaps I do talk too much, loneliness will do that to a woman such as me. But I digress, we should get started. However, before we do I'd like to get something straight."
Her eyes suddenly shifted from calm and elegant to a fierce gaze that could pierce one's very being, "I of course won't read your mind during the match. However, I already read your habits and history, I know your thought process and all of your little tricks. So I'd like to see you try to get something past me, Sir."
Pheo did not seem to have much of a reaction, rather he stared nonchalantly, and without a word made his first move, and so, it began.
Checkers, a simple game of which everyone knows the rules, one may even consider it children's chess. It is such a simple-minded game that it's nearly impossible to be embarrassed in it, in fact at a certain point in skill every match ends in a tie, at least, in a normal game.
However, this was no normal game, but rather a game between a super genius with knowledge of all their opponents' tricks and an opponent who only tricked.
An impossible tussle was more simple than a bare fistfight, yet more nuanced than a game between two chess masters.
Yet…
It was hardly fair…
It was quickly obvious as well, though both moved with no hesitation and careful consideration, it was completely one-sided. To Pheo's friends' despair, it was a complete embarrassment.
Every single move,
Countered.
A single pawn movement and then,
Captured.
It soon became apparent, that Pheo wasn't even attempting mental tricks, no clever quips, no highly complex moves.
Nothing…
At first Pheo's intense stare at the board seemed to be out of concentration, but, was it simply acceptance in the first place?
Painstakingly, it continues.
Another pawn was captured, and then, as Pheo's turn came back he looked up at The Queen for the first time since the beginning. She smiled with malicious confidence, "I see… It was a bluff, that's really… disappointing… I mean, it makes sense, I told you I know your tactics, after all, no tricks or sleight of hand get past me, and I'm objectively smarter than you, was this all just a desperate attempt from the be-"
He slapped her with no hesitation, and then spoke, "I told you already, shut up."
The crowd roared and jumped in outrage. The Queen, however, didn't care and simply smiled, "How many times must-"
He slapped her again, "Actually look at the board, idiot."
She nearly laughed and sarcastically rolled her eyes, "Oh dear, I guess I must before you sl-" Her eyes widened, her movements froze, and the tension can be felt throughout the entire kingdom, "No…"
Everyone stopped as miraculously the entire crowd reached the same conclusion all at once, except Eli who simply mumbled, "Told you."
Pheo smirked and lifted her chin up to him as their roles began to swap, "Hey, what happened to all that confidence, Queen? Are you too embarrassed to realize your stupidity? Allow me to break it down for you. I realized via the difference between the warrior, Aria, and Aurora: that there are levels to mind reading among fairies. Judging off what Aurora can do, and what you said I already knew you'd have some type of personality reading thing. So it was simple really, I just played checkers. You were so focused on my tricks and my hand that you failed to see the board, the bigger picture, it makes a cute metaphor. You didn't consider for a second, I'm just that damn good at checkers."
The Queen shook her head as she began to tremble in anger and fear of loss, "No… NO… It's not possible… I can still win, I swear…"
Pheo began to laugh mockingly as his demeanor became more malicious and egotistical, "That's what I love about checkers, it's so simple that there is a certain point where skill evens out, meaning if two people with high enough skill even if not equal duel, it'll always be a tie… Unless, one slips up, creating an unrepairable advantage. Here, allow me to demonstrate."
The entire board was set up for a simple few moves.
Triple jump
"Th-then I'll just move here!"
King
"I'll just move out of the way!"
"Yeah, right into my…"
Quintuple jump
"How the hell! Fine then, I'll king this pawn!"
"You're losing your edge, that pawn even as a king still is trapped by my one pawn here, my king at the edge, oh and this,"
King
The Queen froze and stared, deranged and angry at the checkerboard, shaking violently. "I… I…"
"If this was chess, we usually call this a checkmate, but we can go until you lose if you'd like." Pheo mocked growing ever smug and sadistic.
The Queen stared in absolute rage, her bloodlust so apparent it could be felt throughout the kingdom. She glared death at Pheo with her own bloodshot eyes as she shook even more violently than before. As her anger rose her power could be felt throughout the air, it was chilling, yet Pheo did not waver.
As the situation rose in tension, Pheo's allies began to rise in concern, but he held a hand out, ordering them to stop, and so they did.
Pheo continued with no hesitation, even in the maws of a beast, "Go on. Forfeit."
This was the breaking point. In a flash at speeds nearing light, the Queen launched forward with a scream that could pierce the heavens and shake hell. Her fist launched forward at Pheo with an absolutely unstoppable force, until…
It all stopped, as malicious as the Queen was, she could never murder a man in front of a crowd for no justifiable reason, even out of rage.
Pheo knew that, and so he smiled. As the first among women who was known as the Queen, revered as all-powerful and whose very name commanded respect among millions, whose power was nearly unparalleled and presence unmatched, whose very ability was to read into the minds and history of all those she sees, laid in front of Pheo, after losing a match of intelligence, and losing the battle of self-control.
In the end, Pheo was the one who read The Queen down to her very essence and predicted her every move, and that's why he knew he was safe, and she knew that as well.
He smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a sandwich, she stared into his eyes with confused anger as she held her position.
She offered no resistance as his hand grabbed her own, slowly unfurling it and placing the sandwich in her grip.
Suddenly, Pheo smiled with genuine empathy that shone like the sun, "Food always helps me distress! I brought this for you, I knew you'd need it. What can I say, I've always had a knack for reading people!"
The queen began to slowly calm down as her shaking lessened, she slowly brought the sandwich to her mouth and took a bite.
"I suppose… You really do."