I just finished Chapter 2. Chapter 2 is MUCH longer than the Prologue and Chapter 1, and is up on the website. Because it's so long, I kept the text at regular size. Enjoy!
Chapter 2 : Answers and the Cards
Aero woke up in a soft bed. It was king sized from what he could tell, and the sheets felt like cotton.
Can I sleep if I’m dreaming? Aero thought. He got a closer look at everything around him after he stood up.
He was still in the marred clothes, and the gauntlet was still on his arm, with the symbol still on the back of his hand and still no visible way to get any of it off. The bed was laid out entirely on shining wood which made up the legs, frame, and even stands that supported mahogany curtains that matched the bed’s comforter. There was a dresser and desk made of the same wood as the bed frame and a carpet beneath the bed that matched the bedspread and curtains. There were no windows, and only one door, which was made out of wood with a golden handle. Mahogany ribbons were tied along the meet of the walls and ceiling.
Aero checked to see if there was anything in the desk or dresser, to hopefully give him a clue as to where he was. Both were empty. He checked the door. It was unlocked. Aero left the room.
He walked down a spiral staircase that only went down. The stairs were made of chipped marble and the handrail was golden like the doorknob of the room and was broken off in certain places. This place seems so nice, Aero thought. Why does everything look destroyed? Aero made it to the bottom of the stairs to find an arch made out of the shining wood. It looked like it had been burned. Recently.
He was now in what he assumed to be the main hall. There was a giant wooden barred door to his right and another archway and spiral staircase across the hall. But the hall itself was incredible. A mahogany carpet stitched with gold thread was rolled down the hall from the giant doors to a pedestal covered in mahogany pillows, which made it look like a beanbag chair. A golden chandelier with a minimum of one hundred candles was hanging to the ceiling by a thread. Everything looked burned, torn and ruined. But even so, the hall looked incredible.
Aero walked up and looked at all the marks on the carpet. Burn marks. The marble floors were torn up and uneven, as if an earthquake had come through. The marble walls were cracked with certain stones making a dangerous statement of being loose. But the cushions on the pedestal remained untouched. Right as Aero turned to look at the giant door, someone spoke up.
“You’re awake.” Aero turned around and looked at the cushions by instinct. Sure enough, someone was there. It was a girl.
She looked a year or two younger then him, with black hair that went an inch or so below her shoulders, pale skin and a white dress that went about a fourth down her thigh. It looked soft. She was leaning against a cushion on her left with her legs to her right. Where did she come from? Aero thought.
“Hello… Aero…” She said. Her voice was soft, like she was shy.
“Who are you?” Aero asked. The girl looked and the torn up floor at the foot of the pedestal, then looked up slowly.
“My name is Ariel,” she said. Aero nodded.
“Nice to meet you, Ariel. How do you know my name?”
“Almost everyone here does,” Ariel replied, getting off of the pedestal. “If they don’t, then they might not belong to you.”
“What are you talking about?” Aero asked.
“Sorry, I’m not the one to tell you that,” Ariel said walking slowly up to him. She wasn’t wearing shoes.
“I feel like no one is right now,” Aero said back.
“Sadly, it’s the way it must be. But, some questions, I can answer.” Finally, Aero thought. Some good news.
“Where am I?”
“You’re in Mahogany Mansion,” Ariel said. “One of the Worlds in Subconscious.”
“What is Subconscious?” Aero asked.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Ariel said. Aero put his next words together.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”
“Some would say that. But truthfully, you’re not.”
“Then where am I?”
“Subconscious.” Ariel said. Aero sighed.
“Who’s subconscious?”
“You’re subconscious,” Ariel said.
“So I am dreaming?” Aero asked again. He started pacing.
“No,” Ariel said.
“We are in your subconscious, which is referred to as Subconscious. Subconscious with a capital S.”
“So then, how am I not dreaming?”
“Have you ever been lost in thought?” Ariel asked.
“Yeah,” Aero replied, still pacing. “But, what does that have to do with any-”
“When you daydream or get lost in thought, you are temporarily in Subconscious.”
“So right now, I’m just thinking about all of this happening?” Aero asked still confused.
“Technically, yes. But you’re not just thinking about it. You’re literally lost in thought. You could say that, in a way, your mind has taken you.” Aero stopped and looked at Ariel.
“So I’m stuck here?” Aero asked.
“Currently, yes.” Ariel replied simply.
“Why?” Aero asked. “Why is this happening to me?”
“You’re creative,” Ariel replied. “You think a lot. Therefor, your mind is always coming up with new ideas without you knowing it. So when you have a brainstorm, your mind is just feeding you information it’s come up with. Do you remember your accident?” Do I remember… What kind of question is that?
“Yeah, of course, but, what does that have to do with-”
“How are you not in the hospital?” Ariel asked.
“I don’t know… Maybe-”
“Why aren’t you there?”
“I DON’T KNOW!” Aero shouted. Ariel gave him time to calm down and breathe.
“You are in the hospital, Aero.” Ariel pointed at a stained glass window behind the pedestal. But instead of a piece of artwork there, he was there.
He looked beat up. He was in a standard hospital gown and in bed. He was cut up. Badly. From the looks of it, they had him on some kind of medicine or drug for the pain and a fair amount of his bones were in casts. There was someone there to visit him.
She had chocolate brown hair that went down two inches below her shoulders. She had brown eyes and olive skin. She was wearing a blue shirt underneath an orange sweatshirt. She also was wearing jeans and tan boots.
“You know her, Aero,” Ariel said. “Don’t you?” Aero could only nod so prevent Ariel from hearing his voice choked up. He was holding back tears. After some time, he could answer.
“That’s Bey…” Aero answered. “She’s… She’s a friend…” He gasped as he saw Bey speak in the window.
“Aero… I hope you can hear me…” And then he was gone. He and Bey had vanished from the window. Aero sniffed.
“Am I dead?” It took her time to answer.
“No,” she said. “But he is coming for you.”
“Who is?” Aero asked.
“Death. He feels cheated that your imagination took you so you could recover and evade him. He struck Subconscious with all that he had in an attempt to get us to turn you in to him. So he could take you.”
“So that’s why everything is destroyed…” Aero understood now. His imagination had caused all of this. His imagination took him and hid him from Death when he was meant to be taken.
“You’re imagination caused you to evade Death.” Ariel continued. “But it also made Subconscious.”
“Yeah,” Aero said. He thought he understood. “You said that my mind makes things without me knowing. Subconscious is what was made without me knowing.”
“Not entirely,” Ariel said. “Some portions of Subconscious couldn’t be filled in by your mind alone. So it took your memories and filled in the blanks. Like a writer without inspiration.”
“So, some people and places here, are memories?”
“Memories of what is real, and memories of what you’ve created.” Aero understood.
“So Death is hunting me… What would happen if I were to wake up?” Aero asked.
“That’s the downside…” Ariel said. “Because Subconscious took you, and hid you from Death, Subconscious won’t let you go until you have repaid your debt to Death.”
“So I can’t go, unless I die?” Aero asked.
“Normally, yes.” Ariel said. “But Death, like so many others, likes to play games. His favorite game is Cards.”
“What, like Solitaire?” Aero asked.
“Not even close.” Ariel replied. “Cards is a game of skill and fighting. Cards is the fight between two or more people in an attempt to beat the other so close to death that they surrender. When they surrender, you win.” Aero thought about this.
“So I need to play Cards with Death, don’t I?” Aero asked.
“Yes. And I think it’s only fair that you know that no one has beaten Death in Cards.” Ariel said sadly. “But I believe in you. If you’re going to beat him, if you’re going to make it home to Bey, you’re going to need more than your own fighting skills.
“What fighting skills?” Aero asked.
“The gauntlet on your arm is more that just a fashion statement,” Ariel said simply. “Focus like you did when you obtained your gauntlet. Focus all of your energy to the tips of your fingers.”
Aero closed his eyes and focused. Just like before, sparks of light started spinning around his arm like a corkscrew. They got faster and faster the more he focused. Finally, there was a beam of light enveloping his right arm.
“Now lift your arm, then swing it down and take a step back with your right foot.” Aero raised him arm and breathed. He was still trying to take all of the information in. Then he swung his arm and stepped back.
A thin beam of light shot through his hand and his fingers gripped a leather-bound handle. He was holding a sword.
The hand guard was in the rough shape of a heart with a circle at the top of the handle and a somewhat crown-shaped piece at the hilt. A blade about 5 or 6 feet long came out of the top of the hilt and eventually grew into what seemed to resemble a spade in a deck of cards.
“That is the Lifeblade.” Ariel said. “It is a sacred sword that has been used to confront Death many times. Death always falls to it. That is why he began playing Cards.”
“You said I needed to play Cards with my skill and cards,” Aero said, looking at the sword. “Is this what you meant by skill?” Ariel nodded.
“Yes.”
“So if I fight Death with this, I can beat him?” Aero asked.
“When you fight Death alone, Life will always prevail.” Ariel replied. “But Cards is a shield that protects Death from that sword. You can’t stop Death until you gain the power to beat Cards.”
“Well that’s a bit anticlimactic, isn’t it?” Aero asked with a grin.
“That’s the way it is,” Ariel said nodding. She didn’t smile back.
“How do I gain the power to beat Cards?”
“They say you can’t fight fire with fire, because you will only fan the flame. You make the opponent stronger while you make yourself stronger. But, in the end, the fires burn out, and you need to use your own strength,” Ariel said. “It’s the same with Cards. If you gain enough skill in Cards, you can power up Death’s Cards along with your own to the point where neither of you can use them. Death will need to fight you one-on-one.”
“That’s when I use the Lifeblade,” Aero finished. “Right?” Ariel nodded.
“But you need to make sure that your own flame doesn’t die out before the deed is done. Your Cards need to be strong enough to extinguish Death’s.”
“Where can I get Cards like that?” Aero asked. “Where do I get Cards in general?”
“That’s the hardest part,” Ariel answered. “Cards, just like Subconscious, are made out of your memories and ideas.”
“So, anything I imagine can become a card?”
“No,” Ariel said. “Anything you have already experienced or imagined.”
“Why doesn’t it include now?” Aero asked.
“Because we’re in your subconscious,” Ariel replied. “So your mind can’t create Cards out of things that it hasn’t remembered yet.”
“So I need to use what I already have…” Aero understood. “I’ve made tons of creatures and monsters, so all I need to do is-”
“It’s not that simple, Aero.” Ariel interrupted. “Sometimes, the mind is distracted from everything else when it’s focussing on one thing. Currently, you’re mind has to focus on keeping you asleep so you can evade Death. Because of this, some of your memories have been taken by Subconscious, just like you.”
“But I remember Bey, I remember my accident, I remember…” Aero thought. Nothing.
“I’m sorry, Aero. But in order to get strong Cards, you need to journey to all the different Worlds of Subconscious and find your memories. That is when you’ll be strong enough to fight Death and win.” Aero just stood there. “I am born of your own mind, Aero. You haven’t thought of me yet, but I exist deep within your mind. So I have access to certain memories and ideas,” Ariel explained. “I know of certain memories that can assist you, that can be made into Cards.”
Ariel held up her hand and touched the center of Aero’s forehead. Instantly, three memories rushed back to him. He drew a mouse-like creature in the middle of school that could grow small spikes out of it’s tail and become aggressive when it needed to. He remembered a block monster he drew as a quick sketch that could arrange itself into different shapes made out of cubes and blocks. And he remembered a small blue ball covered in spikes with a blob of living jelly in the center.
“I remember all of these creatures…” Aero said when he was done remembering them.
“Yes. The mouse creature is known as Meece. The block is known as Blok, and the spiked jelly is known as Gel.”
“Meece, Blok and Gel,” Aero repeated. “So they’ll be my first Cards. What happens when I recover more memories? What will happen to Blok, Gel and Meece?”
“They will remain as cards. But they probably won’t be used.”
“What happens if I don’t find any memories, and I need to fight stronger Cards? Then what?”
“When you destroy opponent’s Cards, whatever Cards are in battle will be strengthened, because the memories of the creatures will be stronger,” Ariel explained. “If you make the memories strong enough, you can alter them, and give the Cards new forms. You can make your Cards grow, Aero. That is one of your strengths that Death cannot accomplish.”
“Teach me,” Aero said. “Teach me how to play Cards.” Ariel sighed.
“Very well. Aero, I challenge you to a game of Cards.”
Suddenly, a small circle of light shimmered to life in front of Aero.
“That is known as a Gate,” Ariel said. “Whoever is challenged to a Game of Cards will have to accept the challenge and step on the Gate. Then we will enter battle.” Aero was about to step forward when Ariel stopped him. “Dispel the Lifeblade first,” she warned. “If a weapon is drawn before the battle begins, you will receive a penalty. Penalties prevent you from drawing Cards for a certain period of time.”
“How do I Dispel it?” Aero asked, making sure he stepped away from the Gate.
“Do the opposite of Summoning it,” Ariel replied simply. “Release the energy built up in your hand.” Aero closed his eyes and, for some reason, pictured himself pulling his right arm out of a pool of water. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his hand and just caught a glimpse of the Lifeblade shimmering away into light like he did before he entered Mahogany Mansion.
“Good,” Ariel said. “Now step forward, and say, ‘I, Aero, accept your challenge’.” Aero stepped forward.
“I, Aero, accept your challenge.” And with those simple words, Aero once again disappeared into sparks of light, and when he opened his eyes, was standing in the middle of nowhere.
“Where are we?” Aero asked Ariel.
“We are in the Battlefield.” Ariel said. “Nothing resides here so that we won’t do any damage to anything important.”
“What do you mean by that?” Aero asked, starting to worry.
“The Battlefield is really empty space in your mind, Aero.” Ariel explained. “Nothing resides here. If we were to fight in Subconscious, we could damage your mind if we hit something too hard.”
Aero nodded, signifying that he understood. Suddenly, three glowing Cards appeared in front of him with fancy lining and a Fancy “C” on the back. On the front were pictures of Meece, Blok and Gel.
“Tap whatever Cards you want to use.” Ariel said. “You can only have a total of 50 Cards in a deck at a time. What resides in that deck is completely up to the Player.” Aero tapped all three of them. “Are you ready?” Ariel asked.
“Yeah,” Aero said back. “Let’s go.”
“Field, set!” Ariel shouted as she threw a card to the ground. A wave of white energy flashed across the blank ground. “A Field is the place where you battle,” Ariel explained. “When you set a Field, you can use the Field to your advantage by changing the environment or adding effects to your team or your opponent. Then you can either attack your opponent with your own weapon, or you can deal a monster Card.”
Ariel threw another card at the ground, and a giant bunny burst up in a cloud of fluff.
“Wow…” Aero said. “That’s… Menacing…” Aero threw one of his own cards down. Meece popped up.
Meece looked like a squishy egg with four stub legs, a long spike covered tail and two little dots for eyes.
“Monster Cards show the amount of skill in attack, defense, speed, and other miscellaneous stats, as well as attacks that the monster can perform.” Ariel explained. “Along with that, they show the monster’s Suit.”
“A Suit? Like, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, or Clubs?” Aero asked. Ariel nodded.
“Yes. Spades are effective against Hearts, Hearts are effective against Clubs, Clubs are effective against Diamonds, and Diamonds are effectives against Spades. It’s a circle of strength and weakness.” Aero nodded, thinking about all of that.
“Meece is a Spade, Blok is a Club, and Gel is a Diamond. My monster, Lunny, is a Heart.”
“So Meece is effective against Lunny, but Lunny is effective against Blok.” Aero said.
“That’s right. Each monster comes pre-set with skills and attacks. You can use any of them on the monster Card. Skills and attacks, like the monsters themselves, are given one of the four Suits. Skills normally effect stats and the Field, and attacks normally do damage to your opponent. Sometimes it’s not always like this.” Ariel continued. She held out her hand. “Bounce!”
Lunny jumped up into the air and came down toward Meece. Aero quickly looked over Meece’s Card, but couldn’t find anything.
“Meece! Get out of the way!” Meece obeyed and dashed out of the way of Lunny’s feet.
“Remember,” Ariel said. “You can fight with the Lifeblade.” Aero remembered. He looked over Meece’s Card again.
“Meece!” Aero shouted. “Let’s go with Whip!” Meece dashed towards Lunny, stretched out it’s tail to three times it’s length, and whipped Lunny. Lunny fell to the ground and exploded into sparks of light. The sparks flew back to Ariel’s hand as a Card, and blue sparks burst from the Card and flew into Meece.
“So that was me strengthening the memory of Meece?” Aero asked. Ariel nodded. Meece became sparks of light and went back into Aero’s hand as a card.
“I have one more Lunny. Fight it with your Lifeblade.” Ariel said. Aero nodded in agreement. Another Lunny came up when Ariel threw a Card down. Aero stepped onto the Field and Summoned the Lifeblade.
“Let’s go.”
Lunny bounced up into the air and came down toward Aero. Aero side-stepped and tried to slash at Lunny. As it turns out, the Lifeblade was heavier than it looked. It was even heavier than the Gauntlet on his arm.
“The Lifeblade isn’t made of lightweight metal like your Gauntlet,” Ariel explained. “You’ll need to get momentum if you’re going to win with it.” Aero swung the sword around more and got used to the feel of it.
“Ok, I’m ready.” The monster came rushing forward with small hops. Aero jumped and brought the sword down on the monster’s head, sending it back into a Card. Blue sparks flew into him.
“You can strengthen yourself the same way you strengthen your Cards.” Ariel said. “By defeating Cards with the Lifeblade, you empower the memories of yourself and give yourself strength. This strength allows you to do things that you can’t do in the real world. Run fast, jump high, it can adjust anything that you can do.”
“So will it just…” Aero tried to find the right words. “Happen? Will I suddenly be able to do incredible things?”
“No.” Ariel shook her head. “When you defeat enough Cards, an image of yourself doing the task will flash within your mind, and you’ll know how to perform it. It’s that simple.”
The Field flashed away, and they were back in the Mahogany Mansion. Ariel handed him five Cards.
“Take these Field Cards. They’ll come in handy.” Aero took them.
“Thank you, Ariel… For everything.” Aero said.
“There’s one more thing you’ll need.” Ariel said. Ariel held out her hand, and a ball of light grew around Aero.
“What’s happening? Ariel!” The ball climbed higher into the sky.
“I’m sorry,” Ariel said. “But He’s here. Death has come for you.”
The window behind Ariel’s pedestal exploded into rubble, and millions of shadowy figures entered the room.
“Ariel! Let me fight them! Ariel!” But it was no use. Ariel continued to hold out her hand until Aero was high into the air, and he began to vanish.
“Good-bye… Aero…” Ariel said with hurt in her voice. “And good luck.
Aero couldn’t even speak as his head melted away into light and vanished from the mansion.
A deep voice boomed around the hall.
“Ariel, my darling, you didn’t fulfill your side of the promise…” Ariel said nothing, and only watched as shadows turned her home into a gloomy wasteland.
“And, quite frankly,” the voice continued. “I can still use you… To lure him to me… So I can’t stand to see you die yet… So, I have a solution.” A cold finger touched the place over Ariel’s heart, and shadows began to grow from the spot it touched, spreading like an infection across Ariel’s body. She didn’t say anything as it spread.
“Why are you not panicking?” The voice asked, confused. Right as the shadows reached her neck, she answered.
“Because I know that I’ve done the right thing.” The shadows covered Ariel’s eyes, and she uttered her last words before the darkness covered her.
“You can win, Aero. I know you can.”
