The mist’s intrusion on the town was a surprise to Barry, though it was suspected to happen at any moment given the unpredictability of the forest’s nature. Luckily, he was glad he made the suggestion of having his whole party equipped with one of Shaco’s lanterns. ‘What sucks though is that I managed to lose sight of Puck and Shaco while we were searching through one of these buildings together. Why would they walk out without telling me.’ He was alone by himself in this ghost town, wandering on the look out for the others. ‘The other four should be fine as long as they stick together, I’ll find everyone eventually.’
About ten minutes passed and Barry still hadn’t found anyone from his group, he continuously triggered his pulse scanning ability to familiarize his surroundings and what laid up ahead where he couldn’t see. ‘Ophen’s journal…I keep thinking about the box Puck and Shaco discovered; there was definitely something else in it based on what Ophen wrote. And yet, there wasn’t…could it be that Shaco…was hiding whatever it was?’ He only skimmed through the book the moment he got his hands on it before regrouping with the two. The book hinted about some evidence tucked away in the tool shed about a certain boy that went by the name of “Malven”.
Soon after thinking to himself, his ears picked up a voice beckoning from the ambience. “Oh shoot…my lantern…friends! Where are you!” Barry assumed that this voice belonged to none other than Shaco himself; and so he used his voice as his guide through the mist.
Moments later, Barry was able to detect a highlighted figure from his pulse scan; the lone person stood in the center of a street. ‘Yup, that’s him alright.’ He concluded, Shaco’s hunched posture was a dead give away. “Shaco, this is Barry. I’m coming to you.” When he arrived, Shaco was there waiting, holding his unlit lantern in hand but no sign of Puck. “Shaco, where’s Puck? I thought he was with you?”
“What? I thought the same thing and figured he was buddying with you?” Shaco clapped both hands on his face, his ink mask morphing to one of terror. “Oh no, our little chum is somewhere out there lost on his own! We must fan out and go looking for him; here, I’ll go this way and you go-”
“No, no, we’re not doing any of that..” Barry denied, thinking it was a bad idea to split up on their own, especially if it meant he couldn’t keep his eye on Shaco. “We’re travelling together and that’s what we’re…” His voice trailed off as he witnessed his inventory menu flashing; this was odd to him, and so he opened it. ‘The star amulet Puck gave to me. It’s flashing just like way back when I was trying to find him before.’ He took it out of his inventory, holding the radiant amulet in front of him.
Shaco was intrigued by the amulet in his hands, he couldn’t help but ask Barry what it was exactly. “What a shiny trinket you have there; why is it glowing if you don’t mind sating my curiosity. Hmm?”
“Puck gave me this when we first met as a gift for being considered a friend by him. This is the second time this has happened but from my understanding…” Barry moved the amulet around in different directions, causing it to dim in all but one direction. “It tells me where he is when I want to find him.” He was thankful to be reminded of how useful the amulet can be, serving as his compass. Barry waved his hand towards the way his amulet was telling him. “This way, let’s go.”
Barry took the lead, pathing down the cobblestone streets, remaining vigilant of any potential oncoming danger. And as he followed Barry, Shaco’s mind was on something particular ever since Barry told him how he was given a gift from Puck. So much so that he went ahead and inquired about it some more. “What a beauty that amulet is; such wonderful craftsmanship from a lovable Kobold such as Puck. Ah! How did you two meet by the way?”
It was the way Shaco spoke that made it sound like he was being nosey, yet even so, Barry chose to entertain him rather than ignore him. “We met each other about less than a month ago if I recall. I helped him a couple of times and he did the same in return; after that, I asked if he’d like to journey with me on my travels and he happily took up the offer. That’s the jist of it, but please, let’s just focus on-”
“But you don’t seem to be very fond of being friends with anyone. Am I correct?” Shaco interrupted. There wasn’t an ounce of hostility in his voice but still…
This caught Barry off guard, wondering what could be the meaning behind Shaco’s questions towards him. “Shaco…” He sighed, deciding to give him an answer to his oddity one last time. “Aside from Puck…no, I refuse to build any sort of relationship with the rest of the party and simply keep it professional. I have my own goals to accomplish, and dividing my attention to any others will only hinder me. That said, I think that’s enough trivial questions for now. So can we-”
“You don’t know how good you have it.” Were words that Barry believed to have heard slip out of Shaco’s mouth.
Upon hearing this, Barry halted in place. “What did you say?” He asked, glancing behind his shoulder with a somewhat irritated look. Although he couldn’t see Shaco’s exact facial expression, only going by whatever his ink-mask was showing, he sensed as if Shaco was looking at him with disgust.
“Did I say something?” Shaco tilted his head, like he truthfully didn’t know what Barry was referring to. “I don’t recall saying anything at all…” He tapped a finger on his chin, pondering what it was. “Perhaps it was the cursed forest playing tricks on you. Don’t let it fool you like it’s done to others, I would hate for you to wind up becoming insane. What would I tell Puck if that were to happen to you?”
Anger festered inside Barry, he swore he had heard Shaco make a rude comment, and the way Shaco spoke to him just now felt like it came off as passive aggressive for whatever reason. ‘What is this guy’s deal? He keeps bringing up Puck with too much interest, why is that? From his concealed face, to his more than unusual behavior, everything in my body is telling me that he’s hiding something…’
“Hmmm…oh my, Barry, your fists; are you okay?” Shaco pointed at Barry’s balled up hands, how they were gripped tight. “Is something frustrating you? Should we take a tea break? Perhaps cool off the stress building in our bodies before resuming our-”
“Sure.” Barry responded to his proposal, causing Shaco to stop talking, as if he wasn’t really expecting him to accept. “Let’s take a tea break. Sounds good to me.” He relaxed his hands, setting aside his fuming rage for now.
“A-Alrighty then! First, allow me to find us some seating through this wretched mist.” Shaco took the lead this time, exuding confidence and renewed vigor in order to locate the best spot possible for them. It didn’t take long for Shaco to navigate through the mist, bringing them to a stop in front of what looked to be a coffee shop. “How about this lavish cafe? Look! It’s even got some cushy chairs outside waiting for someone to snuggle up in.” Shaco wasted no time to partake in his enjoyment, flopping down on a chair and manifesting his tea set on a table.
Barry sat down on one of the chairs, his gaze watching Shaco gleefully prep everything. He kicked his legs up on an adjacent chair, getting comfortable as he brought out ‘Ophen’s Personal Journal’ and began quietly reading nonchalantly.
Shaco hummed a sweet melody to himself, pouring a cup of delectable tea, dropping a few sugar cubes, stirring it to his rhythm before taking a sip. “H-Hot! Hot! Ouch my tongue. Haha, I couldn’t help myself. Barry, my friend, tea is…” His sights landed on the book he was reading. “Wowza, is that the profound ‘Magic Mike’ book you were telling me about? I see you couldn’t help yourself either. Educating oneself with a nice cup of tea goes well hand-in-hand.”
“Yup, educating myself alright.” Barry replied, in a bored tone as he continued being focused on the journal. His eyes shifted all around, scanning every word of every page he was on with precision and speed with determination to find the answers he was seeking.
“Mmmm, well, don’t mind me. I’ll be practicing my delightful flute skills in hopes of becoming an honorary performer one day.” Shaco informed, as he took his colorful instrument from his coat pocket. The sounds he was producing had the potential to be ear damaging to say the least, his energy and enthusiasm was immaculate but not his performance. Despite his annoyance, Barry kept reading, not stopping. Shaco noticed this and halted. “Do tell me if I am interrupting your study time.”
This went on for about ten minutes, loud and horrendous noise spanned far and wide from Shaco. And even still, Barry did not appear to be phased by his awful music in the slightest. Shaco glanced at Barry, aware of how his eyes were glued onto the book intensely. “You’re so absorbed in that book, that I was afraid I was distracting you. I’m glad that was never the case…” He had poured Barry a cup of tea for him and noticed how untouched it was. “Ah! Your tea! You haven’t taken one sip of it; it’s likely cold by now.”
Flipping another page, Barry replied half-heartedly without shifting his attention. “I guess not…I’m just as engrossed in this book as you said…” And it was true, the further he dug deep in the journal, the more he was invested in unveiling the truth in it.
“...” Unsure of what to say next, Shaco sipped his tea and rose from his seat. “Well, I think we’ve both settled our quaking nerves. Shall we continue our search for Puck?”
Barry got up as well, though his eyes were still latched onto his book. “Yeah, yeah…” His eyes glanced at the coffee shop for a moment and spoke. “Say, do you think there’s any edible cake in there by chance? I’m kind of craving some right now; but then again, if there was any, all of it is likely past their expiration date-”
“Oh pish-posh, don’t worry about that sort of thing. My wondrous magic is able to transform even food back to edible tasty goodness.” Shaco reassured as he strolled through the cafe doors. “I’ll only be a moment, friend.”
And while Shaco took his time to rummage inside, Barry flipped a few pages back from his book, checking something real quick before the masked merchant returned holding a plastic container with an almond cake inside. “I have returned with a scrumptious and beautiful cake! Here, allow me to cut both of us a slice, I assure you will not get food poisoning.” And just as he was cutting it, an idea flickered in his head. “Ah, yes! Some black tea would go well with the sweet nutty flavor. It would be a shame to eat this without it.” Shaco got to it, quickly making the tea.
It didn’t take long and Barry was handed his treats; he picked at the cake, skeptical if he really was going to get poisoned or not from eating it. Barry sighed and took a small bite from it, he waited a few moments and realized that it wasn’t bad. Shaco found his expression amusing. “See, I told you it wouldn’t taste horrible. Now try the tea with it. You’ll be just as surprised as you are now of how great they go together.”
Still reluctant to test the tea, he ate some more of his cake and tasted his tea. Barry had to admit, it was a good combination. “You’re right…they both taste good together.” The two quickly finished their treats, agreeing not to stay any longer. “Now let’s go find Puck.” He once again manifested his amulet, using it to guide them on their search.
Not a word was spoken between one another while Barry focused on navigating through the misty town, whose thoughts were currently thinking about the moment they had a couple of minutes ago. The light from his amulet slowly grew brighter as they travelled, a possible sign to them that they were getting closer to Puck’s whereabouts.
Overtime, Barry would scan his surroundings as usual, but sometimes also feel as though Shaco’s was stealing glances at him…or more specifically his amulet. ‘I can’t tell what his expression really is behind that damn ink mask. I’d rather you keep talking my ear off than remain silent the entire time.’
“Hey Barry…” Shaco’s voice broke through his current thoughts, bringing him Barry’s attention. “Sorry if I’ve been quiet since our last break, I’ve been thinking a lot about that book you’ve been reading. You seemed really into it and I was wondering if it would be alright for me to sample it while we walk. You wouldn’t mind that would you?”
His request wasn’t a total surprise to Barry, he was actually expecting Shaco to ask to hold his amulet rather than read ‘Ophen’s Journal’. But still, this definitely put Barry in a tight spot because he didn’t trust Shaco at all, especially if what he read inside it held any truth. “Eh, not now; another time when we regroup with the others. We can’t afford to distract ourselves at this time-”
“Pleeeeeease, dear Barry.” Shaco pleaded. “The curiosity inside me is overwhelming, I must know what was so interesting inside it that made you so glued to it. Just a peek is all I’ll take, not a peep more. I promise-”
“No.” Barry denied in a firm and clear tone. “You can wait till later. I don’t know exactly how much farther we are from Puck but the amulet is definitely showing us the right…way…” When he looked behind himself to check on Shaco, disbelief flowed through his body upon realizing that Shaco had gone missing. ‘Fuck…are you serious…’
“BARRY!” Shaco cried out in the mist from where they had travelled from. “HELP! THE SHADOWS THEY’VE CAUGHT ME! AAAAH!” The screams of the merchant echoed across the town, distancing further and further.
Faced with a choice to rescue him or not, Barry chose the former and made haste; yet despite the current predicament, Barry couldn’t help but sense that something was off. He utilized his pulse scanner to look ahead through the mist and soon discovered Shaco’s body being dragged across the circle plaza they had recently left. The wisps in his lantern had died out, making it a perfect opportunity for the two shades by his sides to kidnap him. Swiftly, Barry pulled his trident from his inventory and hurled it at one of the shades. His attack managed to disrupt its form somewhat, allowing Shaco to resist against the other and pull away. “To me! Now!” Barry demanded him, while he retracted his trident and threw it again to slow the other down.
Shaco scurried over to him, sprawling on all fours before running on both legs until out of the mist came another hostile shadow lunging towards him. “Ack!” He dove over the shadow, avoiding the confrontation but unfortunately landed on top of Barry, knocking them both down to the ground. “I-I’m so sorry, Barry. A-Are you alright!?” Shaco asked, expressing his concern as he inspected him for any injuries.
This act of concern caused Barry to frustratingly resist against him, inevitably pushing him off. “I’m fine!” He stood up, trident in hand, his focus back on the surrounding shadows lingering around them. The glow of his lantern was keeping them at bay, for if they came too close, they would dissipate from existence. ‘Please leave us the fuck alone and go away…’ He backed up slowly, tapping Shaco on the shoulder as he passed. “Get up and let’s leave while we still can; and get your lantern to work again, if mine dies out we’re fucked.”
Together they moved away, retreating and once more following Barry’s lead. Now more conscious of his surroundings than before, Barry insisted that they pick up the pace. From time to time, Barry caught glimpses of shadows darting about, trailing them as they went. ‘How much farther do we have to go? It can’t be that long right?’
He checked on Shaco behind himself, and when he did, for a split second it looked as if Shaco had just swung his arms back to his sides; his face glancing around like he was being alert. ‘...’ Barry wondered what that was about and looked ahead again; a couple moments later, he pretended to have seen something pass by them, just so he could try to catch Shaco doing anything suspicious. But the only thing he witnessed was Shaco fidgeting with his fingers close to his coat. ‘...Shaco…’
His intuition was telling him to check on his inventory, wondering if there was something in ‘Ophen’s journal’ that would explain anything important to him. And when he opened his storage, he was stunned. ‘The journal, it’s gone. I swore I put it back inside, so how did it get out? It doesn’t make sense how something stored in my system inventory can be removed…unless…’ What he was about to do next might be risky depending on how Shaco would react. He slowed their pacing down. “Hey Shaco.”
“Y-Yes, Barry.” Shaco responded in a startled tone. “Do you require my assistance?”
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“No, but I think I might have dropped my book during our confrontation with those shadows. I really liked that book, it was very educational.” Barry stopped in place, turning to face him. “You wouldn’t happen to have picked it up, would you?”
Barry’s blank yet menacing gaze locked onto Shaco, who could feel the pressure of it piling on and on the longer he remained silent to his question. “O-Oh not at all! I was too fixated on skidaddling out of that mess. I’m so sorry that you lost it, but like you said before, we should continue pushing forward to look for the others. I’m sure it’ll be right where we-”
“You know Shaco, I really despise people who lie for no good reason other than for their own selfish desires…” Barry interrupted, his voice steadily getting darker as he approached him. “It’s also one of the reasons why I choose to make friends with others. Call me paranoid or skeptical, I really don’t care, but I don’t entirely trust just anyone unless I am sure I have the download on someone. Especially when it comes to someone who wears a mask like you…”
Shaco backed away, matching Barry’s steps to put distance between them. “B-Barry, friend. I-If you are insinuating that it was I that stole your book, I swear on the goodness of my heart that I did no such thing! A-And as for my mask, I-I wear it for…for…r-reasons.”
“What kind of reasons?” Barry pressed on, never stopping his progression. “Do you have a medical condition? Are you afraid of what I’ll see under it? What is it, Shaco? Tell me; I’d be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t curious from the moment we first met.”
“Y-You want me to r-remove my mask!? P-Please Barry, I c-can’t do that. Friends are not supposed to force things upon others if they d-don’t want to.” Shaco trembled in fear of what Barry might do in the next couple of moments. “Ah! The cursed forest! It must have invaded your mind! Barry, p-please fight against it, don’t let it get to you or else-”
“Or else what, ‘Malven’…” Barry finally said it, deciding to take a shot in the dark to see what kind of reaction he could get out of Shaco. And what he got as a result of his opportunity, made Barry witness an uncanny moment on Shaco’s end. Though it was only a few seconds, the atmosphere between them was suspenseful and rewarding in Barry’s eyes. “What are you going to do to me?”
The moment he called out the name, Shaco froze in place, quietly uttering a few unintelligible words. Barry couldn’t make sense of what he just said, but it was what came after that changed the energy around them. “Malven…” Shaco repeated, followed by an assumingly small chuckle. “My name isn't Malven, silly. It’s Shaco, I don’t know how you got that wrong but-”
“Malven. A boy who lived in this exact ghost town by that coffee shop we just left; he enjoyed treating himself to some almond cake and black tea whenever he felt like shit. And aside from that, he loved playing with animals but they never liked him just like how the people of this unforsaken town treated him...like a disease.” Barry spilled out info that he read from ‘Ophen’s Journal’. “The mistreat that was brought upon him was due to the fact that he was, blatantly, terrifyingly hideous. Affection to him was like a miracle, a rare gift that came too few in his lifetime. And through his struggles of hardships, his mentality would deteriorate to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore…” Barry had backed him against the wall of a house. They were a few feet apart from each other. “Shaco…does that story sound familiar to you? Now that you’ve snooped in that book I was reading?”
Total silence, not a sound was heard, it was just them by their lonesome. Barry stood firm, awaiting Shaco’s response to his rant. Suddenly, the air around them picked up slightly, the wisps inside Barry’s lantern flickered. ‘Something's up alright…and I get a feeling I’m not going to like what’s going to happen next…’
“...is there any point in hiding it…” Shaco mumbled to himself, he placed both hands on his face. Barry tensed up, readying himself for anything. “Why…why…WHY!” His shout reverberated all throughout the area, Barry scanned his surroundings; catching glimpses of shadows darting about. “Look at you, spouting out a story about this pitiful boy like you know him…” The mist was beginning to get thicker. “How wretched is it for someone such as you to try and relate to him when I know for sure you’ve never experienced it first-hand.”
Anger was something that Barry could understand, but Shaco was right about not knowing what it was like to be disgusted by others. “You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to be hated for all my life. But listen to me, I’m not-”
“SHUT UP!” Shaco screamed, jabbing a finger at him. A swirling vortex of mist intercepted between the two, swallowing Barry for a moment until it dispersed. Shaco was no longer in sight, apparently vanishing. The lantern at Barry’s hips was showing more clear signs of it giving out, wisps inside taking even longer to shine. “Now that you've decided to share some sensitive information about this boy. Allow me to share my thoughts about YOU!”
From the hazy mist, Barry spotted a few objects being hurried at him, ducking in time to avoid getting struck by some chairs. “You hate making friends, yet you’re clearly followed by those that can be!” A barrage of metal poles came zooming at him, dashing and evading them; if it wasn’t for his pulse scanner, he’d have a difficult time dodging. “Remember when I said, ‘You don’t know how good you have it?’, well that’s EXACTLY what I mean! And you take their unwanted friendship FOR GRANTED!”
The very ground beneath him began turning into mud, hindering his movement. Barry jumped out and got on top of one of the houses. “Malven, I get it; you wish you had friends. I don’t want to fight you so let’s-”
Barry slipped, the tiles under him became loose, causing him to fall and come crashing down inside the building from the weak dilapidated structure. He landed on an old bed, breaking both it and his fall. “MY NAME ISN’T MALVEN!” Shaco barked upon violently swinging the door room open and entering. Barry attempted to get off the bed but was restrained by the bed sheets and bed frame suddenly animating to hold him down. “And no, YOU don’t get it! And YOU don’t deserve to have ANY!”
‘Alright, he doesn’t like that name. Understood. And now that he’s shown his true side, he’s clearly the root of all this mess. I can possibly break free but what’s my plan after?’ Barry quickly picked his words to keep him talking. “Yeah, I really don’t deserve any. I agree with you there; so tell me what makes someone worthy of getting a friend?”
Shaco tilted his head, wondering why he was speaking to him in such a calm manner this time. It took a bit to process Barry’s question before answering as he paced around the bedroom, glaring at him. “What makes someone worthy of receiving a friend you say…hmm…” He dragged his fingers across the walls, fidgeting with the trinkets around the place. “Someone who has struggled a lot throughout their life, enduring harsh criticism on things outside of their control…a person who has never experienced affection for once in their despicable life.”
‘Well, from what he must have been through, that’s kinda what I figured he’d say.’ Barry thought to himself while he put a game plan together. He eyed the windows leading outside before glancing back at Shaco. “I’m obviously not the right person to be having this talk with you, but I promise that if you show the rest of my party who you really are and explain why you cursed this whole forest; that they’ll understand you. Whatever you look like underneath that mask, they won’t offend or insult you. So please, consider my-”
“Lies.” Shaco abruptly said in an unpleasant tone. “A bold. Face. Lie. They wouldn’t accept me for who I am. Why? Because I’ve already shown them the ugly side of me; oh how their look of terror matched the same as those I’ve met before…” Barry had a confused expression on his face; Shaco assumed he was wondering when he had time to interact with them during the entire time he was with him and Puck. “A bit puzzled, are you? To put it simply, I’m able to be in multiple places at once. I’ve already finished mingling with everyone besides Puck, who have now become one of my many close friends after taking some…convincing.”
What Shaco was riddling sparked a sense of urgency inside Barry. “Convincing? What the hell does that mean? What did you do to them?” He was thinking about Puck now, Barry couldn’t believe that Shaco would ever try to harm the rest of his party since they were a lot nicer than him. And if he was capable of being in more places all at once, Shaco was likely with Puck as of now.
“Wow, I didn’t know you were able to show concern over your team; perhaps I’ve misjudged you. But do not fret, no harm was done to them. Why, I’ll even show you…” Shaco clapped his hands together three times, waited a few seconds for two shadow figures to enter the room from the darkness. “Do they look familiar to you? Care to take a guess?”
Barry studied the two figures in a short amount of time to realize who they resembled from his party, utterly astonishing him to his core. “No…Anna…and Kat? You…You turned them into those wicked shades!? You really are the problem of this forest! What about Ron and Luna!? What about Puck!? This isn’t ri-”
“Silence!” Shaco barked, as he gestured a commanding hand towards Barry, ordering Anna and Kat to hold him down from his show of resistance. “Had you all kept to yourselves without trying to seek out clues for the problem, we all could have enjoyed ourselves in my wonderful domain for a lifetime! But no! Apparently that’s asking for too much, so much so that I have to rush our friendship. What do you know about what's right or wrong in making friends when you can’t even learn to accept them!”
His words prickled at Barry somewhat, it definitely made him feel something that he couldn’t describe. Shaco approached the end of Barry’s bed, manifesting his own personal journal that was shown during their first tea party. Barry knew something was up with that book in his hands and tried wrestling to break free from his restraints. “Calm down, Barry.” Shaco reassured, continuing to watch Barry struggle. “Despite your cold personality, I am still willing to accept you just like the others. Besides, the more the merrier, I’ll enjoy your company just the same.”
The sheets on the bed started to tear but the metal binds from the frame and his two party members were still constraining him. “Shaco! You can’t be doing this! Puck will be sad when he finds out the truth! He won’t like what you’ve been doing to everyone you’ve come across!”
“Oh be quiet, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. But for now, I’ll be adding you to my new addition of friends. Are you ready?” Shaco opened his personal book, stopping at the page where he had written Barry’s name before. He then showed Barry it. “Remember this? Your fate of becoming my friend was already sealed the moment I was given your name; now relax and imagine all the good times we’ll have together from here on after.”
“SHACO!” Barry activated ‘King’s Commanding Presence’, strengthening himself even further and allowing him to progressively break free upon being boosted.
The purple book in Shaco’s hands visually started seeping out dark purple mist that seeked out Barry, crawling all over him. Shaco began reading off the page in his book like an incantation. “Sir Barry! A hero across space and time! World renowned fighter and friend to all those seeking refuge through dark times! Praise our friend Barry! I welcome you with open arms! My pal forever!” Radiant dark purple energy emitted from out of the book.
Barry felt his entire body becoming consumed from the overlayering purple essence; it was a cold sensation flowing throughout his body that he couldn’t shake off. “I can’t…I can’t let you…I have to…” His strength was beginning to die down, the feeling of touch becoming lost. “I have to find…Puck…Puck…”
“Ssshh, it’s okay.” Shaco comforted in words. “I’ll reunite the two of you in due time; so don’t resist anymore and just let this happen. Everyone will have lots of…what…” He stared at the page written with Barry’s name on it. “What is the meaning of this…why is it…disappearing!?” Shaco was bewildered at what was happening to Barry’s written name just as he said. He looked back up at Barry in complete shock to see that he was still not changing into one of his shadows. “I-Impossible! This can’t be!”
Despite the shivers and loss of feeling, Barry was still somehow able to maintain his consciousness and persevere through the distress he was in. “Puck…needs me…what he doesn’t need...is…” Shaco stunningly watched Barry rip away from the bed frame just as easily as he broke free from Anna and Kat. “YOU!” He then lunged at Shaco, taking the book off hands by surprise and kicking him back, sending Shaco to collide against a wall. Anna and Kat attempted to attack him, causing him to evade and retreat by jumping out the window.
When he landed back outside on solid ground, he immediately opened the book back up on the page his name was written on. There, he was only able to see his name briefly before it was completely gone like Shaco was saying. ‘My name…is the reason why I didn’t become one of his shadows because it wasn’t…my true name? I’m actually kind of thankful I don’t know it, at least in this scenario. Now how do I restore everyone-’
“LIAR! YOU TRICKED ME!” Shaco yelled, standing by the shattered window with Anna and Kat by his side. “Have you been lying to the others about your fake name the entire time you’ve been with them!? You just don’t trust anyone do you!?” His malicious magical aura began fanning out all across the house like a plague. “Hand over my book right NOW! If you don’t…” Barry witnessed the house's appearance taking on a sinister form; its porch shaping into a mouth of vicious sharp teeth, the windows manifesting glowing bulbs of terrifying eyes, trees and other uprooted material shaping to serve as its limbs. Shaco had created a literal monster house in that moment. “...this’ll be the last chapter of your life.”
His lantern died out, but that wasn’t the only thing that happened to it, because suddenly it had transformed into an old empty tainted lantern. This must’ve been Shaco’s doing, no longer fueled by his powers and decreasing Barry’s range of vision. He now only had his pulse scanner to rely on. The situation had definitely taken a turn for the worse, but overall, Barry refused to hand the book back over to him and sprinted away with his amulet in hand. ‘I need to find Puck, fast! I’ll have to come up with a plan as I make my way there.’
And as he traversed through the town of mist, the loud sounds and tremors could be sensed chasing him from behind. Barry glanced back to see the monstrous glowing house charging through the streets, bulldozing everything in its wake to reach him. “Scurry! Run! FLEE! I will stop you before you ever reach Puck! There is no escaping what you are destined to be! MY FRIEND!”
From the obscured mist, came a barrage of thin splinters being fired at Barry in an attempt to slow him down. He nimbly maneuvered around a corner to avoid the attack, but was almost caught off guard by what was waiting from around the corner. ‘A-Anna-’ A shadow dagger was thrusted at his gut, to which he swiftly danced around and kept going; yet was ambushed by a beam of black magic from his blindspot, knocking him to the ground. ‘Shit…Kat’s here too…’ He looked to his left to see Kat’s shadowy form, taking aim to launch another beam. Back on his feet, he dashed onwards, evading his once-allied party members' attacks. ‘I’m not sure what would happen if I were to retaliate against them. Would they disappear if defeated? Or will they continue to persist? I don’t want to find out…but from what I’ve noticed, is that I don’t see any other shadow figures jumping out to attack me. Is it because Shaco needs the book of names to summon them out?’
Barry made haste, hoping to reunite once again with Puck while he constructed a plan to put an end to Shaco’s wicked goal of everlasting friendship upon him and his party.
And as trouble was brewing on Barry’s end of things; from within the manor of horror that Anna and Kat met their unlikely demise by Shaco’s influence, sat a simple dresser inside of a living room. It remained motionless and still, absolutely nothing going on inside in the quiet darkness. A couple more minutes passed and the dresser began to take shape, forming back into a creeped out Ron due to madness going on inside.
‘No paranormal activity here…I really hate that this has happened to us. I heard screams that could be one of the girls a while ago, please don’t let me be the only one alive in this damn horror house…’ Ron thought to himself, peeking out of the door leading to the hallway which was clear for now. He did his best to avoid making any noise, unsure whether it mattered or not.
And as he moved through the darkness, the deafening silence came to an end when he heard a cry for help echoing down the hallway. “GET AWAY FROM ME! SOMEONE! HELP! ANNA, WHERE ARE YOU!?” The voice was recognized as being from Luna, though this was the first time he had ever heard her scream at the top of her lungs.
Though fear channeled throughout his entire body, Ron knew that Luna was in danger and that he was probably the only one available to help. Believing that he needed to take action, he hurried no matter the danger that awaited him and sprinted. But it would not take long for him to see what was going on when he saw Luna dash out of the corner of the hallway at the end. “Luna!” He called out, seeing the trauma and terror bestowed upon her face. “I’m here! Come to-”
Luna placed a finger on her lips while sprinting towards him, a sign that he instinctively knew to be quiet. When she reached him, Luna randomly chose a door, cloned herself and passed his lantern to it before sending the duplicate inside the room and shutting it. She then dragged him further down the hall to enter another room. Ron wondered why she would abandon their only lantern, noticing that she had lost hers. He was about to ask why but was cut off by Luna in a whispering tone. “Ron. Hide us. Please, please, hide us.” Tears of fright were crawling down her face, Ron had never seen her look so terrified before.
Not questioning the state she was in, Ron did as told and did all he could to disguise themselves furniture inside the room. They hid close to the door in case they needed to make an escape. The two kept quiet, hoping that whatever was lurking out in the halls would pass. In less than a minute, the noise of a door slamming shut bounced across the hall, tensing the two up a bit. “Luna…” Ron whispered. “What’s out th-”
Luna placed a hand on his mouth, shaking her head in total dread. He shut up, hoping that they’d just make it out alive. Nothing happened for the next few minutes until the door to their room opened up, and a foot stepped inside, making the floor creak. “Luna…you in here?” A familiar voice spoke in a soft tone. “Nice attempt, trying to trick me with one of your clones. I almost thought I had caught the real you…”
Entering the room was a person resembling the same figure as their friend Shaco; however, there was one thing different about him this time. The back of Shaco’s head was visible to them, and that alone was enough to disturb them entirely as they wondered what his face was going to be. His face did not turn to them, currently focused on scanning the room about.
‘S-Shaco!? T-That’s him!?’ Ron’s mind began racing, wondering why Shaco’s ink-mask was removed. ‘H-His mask is gone! Why is he acting like he’s hunting us down? What will he do once he finds us!? What does…what does he look- Oh…oh…’
Ron stood frozen, as did Luna, because the moment Shaco turned around to walk back out the door. His eyes latched upon them near the door, almost like he knew they were disguising themselves as one of the furniture resting around in the room. His appearance turned Ron and Luna pale white, it was so terrifying that they felt the urge to rush out of the room but held back so much in fear of what would happen once they blew their cover. “Was that always here?” Shaco questioned, trying to remember if there had always been a cabinet near the door.
They were approached by Shaco, eyeing them from head to toe. Chills shivered all around the two’s bodies, Shaco was about to reach and open whatever was inside the fake cabinet when suddenly they heard some ruckus going on out in the hallway. “Ah, that must be Luna. Haha, not very good at hide-and-seek, are you?” Shaco left the room to find out what it was.
In truth, it was one of Luna’s clones that she had made to distract Shaco from before. Now knowing the reason why Luna wanted to hide, Ron was grateful to have found one of his friends and the two discussed what to do next.
