Twisted Wonderland Book 6: The Watchman of the Underworld

Chapter 87: The Spirit Inside

A little bit later, Idia is still playing the game and is on a roll with it. Idia is typing on the controller like lightning and is scoring a lot.

Deuce is amazed, "Wow! How are you avoiding that barrage of laser beams?!"

"So, uh, the different colored lasers always come in set numbers and at specific times," Idia still playing the game, "It's easy enough to plan for when you memorize the pattern."

Grim is feeling very dizzy, "Mraaah! I'm gettin' dizzy just watchin'!"

"Wow Idia, you're on a roll," Sereia says.

"Idia's fingers are flying," Epel says, amazed.

They certainly are. They're going so fast it almost looks like he has twice as many," Vil says.

"Boy, I could never do that..." Ace says.

"No kidding, India is really good," Jasper says.

Trinket watches the game and is very curious about it.

Then Ortho explains, ""Star Rogue only supports two players at a time. So once he's done, how about we all play the racing minigame in The Hydra Strikes Back? That supports up to six players."

"Shall I draw up a competitive bracket?" Rook asks.

"Great idea!" Ortho happily says, "We should probably make Idia play holding the controller backwards or something, though. He's super good."

"I see what you're doing, Ortho. Trying to skate by without any handicaps for yourself, huh?" Idia says. "YOU'RE the one who needs extra restrictions, like no items allowed."

"I wanna get some food in my belly before we race," Grim happily says.

"Good call," Ace says, and turns to Briar, "Hey, Briar, is it cool if we bust out the snacks we brought?"

"Sure, I like to have a snack myself," Briar says.

"I would like some as well," Tanzanite says.

And Deuce says, "We should cut up the tart, too. Though cutting slices for this many people might be tricky..."

And then Jamil says, "I'll handle that. You can take over tea duty."

"Jamil, I wanna help!" Kalim happily says.

"You just sit tight and..." Jamil says, but stops to think, "Hm," and then says, "Actually, why don't you get plates and forks for everyone?"

"Sure, can do that!" Kalim says with a smile.

Then Epel says, "Oh, I brought some apple juice too. Would anyone like juice instead of tea?"

"I'll take some," Vil says.

Everyone begins chatting and having a good time together.

Ortho then turns to Idia, "Idia..."

"Hm?" Idia replies.

"We've had friends over to our place to play video games. But today, we've experienced hanging out at a friend's house and playing games with them there," Ortho says.

"HUH?! What are you talking about? That's not what this is," Idia says, shocked.

"Really? But we traveled to the residence of an acquaintance. Does that not count?" Ortho replies.

"No, not at all," Idia says, "It's as different as Elysium and, well...a local park. For one thing, not all of these people are our friends. And Ramshackle Dorm isn't Briar's house. The school owns the building and all of the land, ergo this isn't a friend's house. QED."

"You're getting hung up on technicalities..." Ortho replies with a sigh.

Then says, "Okay, fine. We'll race to see who's right.

Idia grins, "Ohoh. You wanna talk big to ME? Fine, you're on. Time to flex my gaming muscle.

"You best watch what you say, Idia. Don't come crying to me it you embarrass yourself in front of everyone," Ortho says

"All right, we have our competitors for the first race. Idia, Ortho, Epel, Ace, Deuce, and Grim," Rook says.

Everyone then picks up the remote and ready to play

"Does everyone have their controllers?" Ortho asks.

Everyone nods in reply.

Then Ortho says, "Okay, then GO!"

Soon, everyone begins to play the game together.

Vil turns to Rook and says, "I still can't believe that when I pulled Grim out of the Underworld... He had Ortho's memory card lodged in his throat. I suppose miracles really DO happen."

"It may not have been a miracle," Rook points out.

"What do you mean?" Vil asks.

Rook then explains, "The King of the Underworld was incredibly diligent, yes? I say it was turned away at the gate, to avoid bringing the soul of a living being into the land of the dead."

"You're suggesting that a memory card would be considered a soul?" Vil asks.

"Ortho's memory card is no mere mechanical component. It is the embodiment of his very essence. He —or rather, they—chose to try and boost their brother up from the depths below to the skies above," Rook explains. What do you call such love and affection, if not a soul?"

"Heh... You make a good point. I'm inclined to agree," Vil says.