[["See? Even the messy Human thinks everything I said about the stupid Human being one of Them made sense. All of it made sense. That Human was just so stupid that she made herself look like one of Them when she wasn't, even though that's the opposite of what you're supposed to do in this game!"]]
Tefiren, that wasn't even Dav-- never mind.
[[He froze as it suddenly sunk in what the messy Human had been saying before all that. (Or the only thing he'd been saying at all. Whatever. It didn't matter.) "You... you can... talk to...?" He tried to frown, to put on a puzzled face - that was stupid, wasn't it? "Why would you do that, when...?"]]
Tefiren, you were literally yelling at a dead person earlier this morning.
[["But... they answer you? One of them did, at least? Not... not Chibi. Well, of course not. He must have better things to be doing, new games to be playing that aren't this one."
What was he talking about? That wasn't how this worked. That wasn't how anything worked. Once someone lost the game, they just...
Unless...
Tefiren suddenly darted away from the group - they didn't matter, this game was boring anyway - towards the place they'd looked for Chibi two mornings ago. The shallow scrape that must have just been some kind of diversion had already flattened away into nothing to the point that he wouldn't have even known he was in the right place. Except, that small scattering of yellow feathers - signs that Chibi wasn't just a normal Pikachu, proof he should have been full of tricks, should have been good at this game - were still there on the formless ground.
But... nothing else. And the white-haired Human, the one who'd made such an unnecessarily dramatic show about losing, the one the messy Human had spoken to today - at the end of his big pointless spectacle, he'd just... vanished, as well.
That wasn't how it worked.
They'd just vanished. Which meant, they weren't...]]
...Dead, you mean, Tefiren? Are we finally getting you to the point of consciously acknowledging that death is a thing?
[[That messy Human, he had a trick to talk to the people who'd vanished - only vanished, nothing else, nothing that meant they'd really lost the game at all. If that Human had that trick, if a trick like that was possible, then surely Tefiren could figure out how to do it, too. He had so many different tricks, unlike the rest of these idiots here; he was so good at thinking up new ones, the best, cleverest ones. Surely he could do that trick, too, somehow - no, not just that trick, something better, something that let him do more than just talk to vanished people. That on its own was no use at all, really, was it?
Tefiren stared wildly at the empty, formless world around him, wishing he had a better idea of how to get started with this. He had to be able to figure out how to do this, surely. He could figure out how to do anything with his tricks. Why had this one never occurred to him to even try before?]]
Hey, Tefiren?
This isn't really about Chibi, is it. You only knew him for a day.
[[Tefiren ignored all the things that didn't matter and broke into a run, spreading his wings to take off into the air. He flew in large, wide circles, high above the group, so high that the rest of them all looked as small as Wurmple down there. They didn't matter. This was just him, and he would figure this out.
Flying was when he did all of his best tricks. So obviously this one, this new trick he was going to figure out, would work best while flying, too. It only made sense that way.]]
Why's that, Tefiren? Oh, let me guess - because Forsira can fly, too?
[["Sira!?" Tefiren faltered in his flight so suddenly he almost fell out of the sky, flapping his wings frantically to stay airborne. "What do you know about her!?"]]
Ah, there we go. He's finally stopped pretending I don't exist.
[["What did you do to her!?" Tefiren demanded at the voice that had been following him this whole time. "Did you make her vanish, before I came here? Are you one of Them?"]]
Alas, no. As much as Dave's author - or whatever he might like to call her, probably something much less flattering than that - might think that'd make a good story, and as much as I kind of agree with her about that, that's not the story I've been writing here.
...Not that it's ever even been Them in this game at all.
[["That's exactly what one of Them would say! Why should I believe you!? It's always Them!"]]
Because you just figured it out yourself. People in this game only vanish. Maybe they're still alive, somewhere - honestly I'm not entirely sure how this works, either. But Them? They kill people, Tefiren. Maybe you're better off in this game than you were back home. Dave survived his last game and is still here, even though he lost it. Maybe in this world you can never die, and you'll just get to play games like this forever and ever. Dave might hate it, but... isn't that actually exactly the kind of thing you'd want, really?
[["Shut up! You don't know anything about me!"]]
...I kind of know everything about you, actually.
[["No, you don't! Because I want to see Sira again! The game was fun when she was around! Sira appreciated my tricks! She knew how clever and unpredictable I am! She knows that I'm the best at this, unlike any of the other people here! Unlike you!"]]
...Look, I'd snark again about how you really clearly aren't the best at this game - and I like how you've actually totally been noticing me saying that all along, by the way - but to be fair, at least some of that has been on me, too.
[[Tefiren ignored the voice talking about irrelevant things. "What did you do with Sira!?"]]
I didn't. At least... not directly? All I did was get the chance to let you take part in this game, and I went for it. Because I thought you'd enjoy it. But I could only let in one person, so Forsira couldn't come.
I... may have had a slight inkling that she might disappear on you shortly before you arrived here, but I wasn't the one who disappeared her. And hey, I figured you wouldn't even mind, because you'd be too busy having fun with your new game to care.
[["Then you don't know anything about me! Of course I care about Sira being gone! Why would you think I wouldn't!?"]]
...Haha. Look at you, talking about how much you care about her like it's obvious. Like it's just as obvious as everything else that's obvious to you.
Had you ever told her that, before you came here? Let's see... I'm pretty sure that right now you'd be roughly at the end of "Doubting", so... No. You haven't told her at all, yet.
Actually, do you ever tell her that, directly? I don't think you do. Man, it's been so long since I even read--
[["What are you talking about!?"]]
Don't worry about it! Not worrying about things is what you're best at!
Anyway, let me rephrase what I said earlier. I knew you'd miss Forsira beneath it all, but I figured that you'd do what you usually do with problems you can't handle and simply avoid thinking about it at all. And you did! For three and a half days, you acted like she didn't even exist!
...Though, to be fair, that is kinda short-lived by your usual standards. Huh. Maybe it'd have lasted longer if this game had actually gone well for you and you'd been having more fun, but still.
[["Whatever! Stop talking and just give her back! Put me back in my game, with her!"]]
I can't. As far as I can tell, the only way that can happen is once this game ends - and even then, I'm not sure about it. Dave's still here, after all. But it's the only chance you've got.
[["So if I just get this over with and win this stupid, boring game already, I'll be back in my game, with Sira again?"]]
Maybe. Hopefully.
Is that seriously what you want, though? If you stayed here, you could play games forever - actual games, with no real life-or-death stakes at all. But in your own life, even if Forsira is there, you know what the stakes are.
[["Shut up! It doesn't matter! I'm the best at every game! None of Them can catch me, no matter what they try! And they won't catch Sira either, not if I'm there!"]]
...You really would rather risk your life with her, for her, than stay here where you're safe and can play real games for eternity but won't ever see her again, huh.
[["Of course I would!"]]
You just admitted it. You all but admitted that you'd d--
[["No, I didn't! I didn't admit anything because I'm not risking anything! How many times to I have to tell you I'm the best at my game!?"
With a furious flap of his wings, Tefiren descended from the part of the sky where he'd been having the argument with that stupid voice (as if it wasn't going to follow him down anyway) and landed on the ground among the others again with a whoosh of air.
"Let's end this stupid game already by getting rid of the black weasel"]] (Nip) [["and then the small brown Human tomorrow if that doesn't work. Easy. Boring. Then I can go back to the better game."
His wing leaves were shaking, just a little. But that only made sense. He'd just been flying for a long time, after all.
]]
...There's no point me trying to warn him what the title of his story is. He already knows it deep down, anyway.
