I stood there, my bag sliding down my arm, as I watched my bus drive away. I was on the corner of the street, and I had nearly made it. Sighing, I took off my already loosened tie, once again cursing the fact that my school required uniforms. My bag slumped to the ground, and I stared at it for a minute, my mind empty.
Whatever. Guess I'm not going to school today.
Picking up my bag, I turned back around. I could always grab my bike, but now that I had decided, I didn't want to go. Most days, I had no desire to attend school, but I was so close to graduating that I still almost tried.
I felt something wet fall onto my face, and then my arms. Look, another reason not to go to school. It would be terrible to ride my bike in this weather. Usually I enjoyed biking–my mom said it was my only hobby–but that was when I chose to do it.
The rain began to come down even harder, and a major part of me enjoyed the coolness of the weather. It felt refreshing, like everything bad in the world was being washed away, for even just a few hours.
I stopped at the street that would lead back to my house, debating. I didn't really want to stay cooped up in there, as it was practically the same thing as going to school. I still entered, but I wouldn't stay for long. Dropping off my bag and changing into comfortable clothes, I grabbed a small foldable umbrella that would fit in my jacket pocket. Bidding farewell to my responsibilities, I left.
There wasn't much direction to my steps, but I still moved forward. Flipping my hood over my head, I enjoyed the sounds of the tapping rain and its clean smell.
Our neighborhood was quiet, but close to the main street of our town where all the shops were. My feet took me there, the sidewalks empty besides me due to the rain. I looked through the windows of all the stores, each one easily recognizable. Me and mom had been here since I was born, and had never left. There was something comforting about the familiar town, but also stifling. Sometimes I felt I would never leave.
Past the small Chinese restaurant that had great food was a squashed looking abandoned church. When I was about ten, everyone in my grade had still been scared of it, making up stories about how it was haunted. It was kind of creepy still, with its white wall long turned gray and its creaky wooden door that never seemed fully shut.
A man sat next to the door, the overhang protecting him from the rain. I had never seen him around, and didn’t recognize his face. He seemed to be fiddling with something in his hands, his mouth moving quickly, smiling at times. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, so I moved on. However, as soon as I was about to pass the church steps, I saw the old man's head pop up and turn towards me.
“Hey, hey!” He laughed, waving towards me. “It must be my lucky day!” By now I had stopped, startled and just a little creeped out. “Come here, come here, I got somethin’ to show ya.”
I didn’t move. Contrary to my mother’s beliefs, I did not approach strangers and take their offered drugs. And apparently, creepy old men who probably wanted to show me something inappropriate. The guy had stood from his stoup, smiling and beckoning me to get closer. He seemed to fall disappointed when I just stared. Even though I knew I should just walk on, my curiosity was much stronger than my self preservation, seemingly.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad!” He finished with a creepy smile, which did not assure me at all. I thought about it, then shrugged. What could it hurt? I wouldn’t find out unless I talked to him.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I walked up the steps. Once I got to the overhang, I removed my hood and ran a hand through my brown hair, the tips slightly damp. Now that I was closer, the old man was no longer hidden through a thin sheet of rain. He had a surprisingly full head of hair that was a shock of white. His eyebrows were bushy, coving dark eyes that glittered with crafty intelligence. His face was full of wrinkles, lines that had no doubt formed from years of smiling.
“What is it?” I asked, hoping he would answer quickly so my curiosity would be satiated and I could leave.
He rubbed his hands together, delight filling his face. “Ho, ho, eager are we? Can’t say I’m not myself.” He sat back down on a blanket that covered the hard stone. “Take a seat, take a seat, then we can get started!” I followed his directions, crossing my legs as I sat.
“Now, let's begin with introductions!” He held his arms out wide, declaring, “I am the Vaticinator!” There was an awkward pause, as if he was expecting applause or something. Admittedly, I also had no idea what that word meant, so it didn’t have much impact for me. When nothing happened, he cleared his throat with a cheeky grin on his face. “But you, my friend, can just call me Neo.”
I hesitated, but he looked at me expectantly. “I’m… just Maddox.”
“Maddox it is! You, young man, are the first human I have encountered today. The world has aligned, bringing you to me. And now, my luck is high, and your fate is sealed.” Neo’s tone darkened, and I felt shivers run up my spine, not because of the cold.
I knew I could just leave. I could stand up, walk away, and never wonder what could have happened if I stayed. But a part of that shiver was pure excitement, despite his foreboding words.
Neo froze, his smile dropping. His eyes were pits that bore into my own. “Maddox. Would you like to play a game?” Seriousness drenched over his words, and not a hint of the laughing man was to be found.
A game? What game? Why was he so intense? His demeanor screamed that I take this seriously, and answer honestly. Everything about Neo was so interesting, and yes, I wanted to play his game.
“Yes, I want to play a game.” My words were formal, as if they were being guided by something other than myself.
Neo broke into crazed laughter, delight stark on his face. “Yes, yes! Then let us play!”
Reaching to all his stuff behind him, Neo pulled out a large wooden square that was folded in half, held together by hinges. It sort of looked like the game mancala, just bigger. The wood was dark, scratched and worn from age and use. He placed the board between us, and unfolded it.
It seemed to sink into place, and I felt that nothing in this world would be able to move it.
There was a depression in the wood on either side of the board, near the edge. They were rectangular, the size of a card. Two more were on each side, closer to the center. Rune like symbols ran along the edge, black and thick like they had been painted on recently.
“This game is called ‘End Encounter,’” Neo told me, “or ‘Double E,’ as some like to say,” he grinned, waggling his thick eyebrows. He pulled out a deck of cards from his patchwork jacket, the backs dark black and faintly reflecting the dim light.
“There are two main cards.” He separated two from the pile, and they had shining silver patterns decorating the back to distinguish them from the others. “You have The Sun, and Time.” He flipped the cards, showing me their fronts.
The Sun card depicted an insanely realistic picture of a burning star, and it seemed to be heating the air around it. It’s title was at the top of the card, written in flourishing letters, and a bold 10 was at the bottom of the card.
The Time card showed a fancy hourglass, with black sand slowly trickling to the bottom. I rubbed my eyes, as I had sworn it was actually moving. When I looked back, it was no longer in motion. The Time card also had a 10 underneath its picture.
“The game centers around these cards. I’m gonna shuffle them, and let you pick first.” He put the two cards in one palm, holding it flat. I frowned in confusion. My jaw then dropped in shock as the cards began to float, then move so fast they were only blurs to the eyes. It only lasted about five seconds, before they dropped back to Neo’s hand, looking entirely too innocent.
“W-what the fuck…” I stuttered, my mind blown. Neo only laughed at me, amused by my reaction.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Ha! I forgot there ain’t no magic here. Don’t you worry your little head about it, cause you’re about to see a lot more.” He held out his hand towards me, and the two cards rose again, separating. “Now choose.”
I lifted a hesitant hand, and took the left card. I flipped it, finding I had chosen Time.
“Looks like Time is on your side, Maddox.” Neo told me. “Put it in the card holder at your end.” Doing as I was told, I set the card into the indentation, and it fit perfectly. Neo did the same, placing The Sun card on his side.
Holding the rest of the deck, he separated it into two even stacks. He shuffled the piles separately, before taking two cards from each deck and putting them on my side of the board, then repeating the process and giving himself four cards as well. He then placed a stack on each side of the game board.
“This is your beginning hand. There are two decks of twenty cards: the Attackers, and the Defenders.” He gestured with his hands, indicating left side for Attackers, right the Defenders. “You have two cards of each at the beginning. Throughout the game, you can only have four total cards in your hand,” he explained.
“Does it matter how much of each?” I asked. “Or can you only have two Attackers and two Defenders?”
He shook his head, answering. “It does not matter after we begin. You can have four Attackers, for all the game cares.
“Now, the card names should be self explanatory. Attackers attack, essentially. At the bottom of each card, you will find its hit points. As you can see, The Sun and Time have ten, but they do not use them. They only sit, and observe.”
It kind of made me anxious, the way he humanized the game and the cards. It felt like I was being watched, and like every move I would make would be extremely important.
“On your turn,” Neo continued, unaware of my trepidation, “you can do two things. You can draw a new card, or you can place a card.” He leaned forward, making sure I was paying attention. “Now, this is important. You can only have two cards down at the same time, as indicated by the board. And they can only be one of each. One Attacker, and one Defender. If you break this rule, you immediately lose the game. Do not forget.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. From his tone, I knew I would not want to lose. Nodding my head, he seemed satisfied, and continued.
“After you have completed your two actions, your play begins. An Attacker will strike the Defender on the opposing side. Defenders can only block damage, and do not move. If an Attacker’s hit points are higher than the Defender, the Defender dies, and any excess points move to the opposing Attacker, or to the main card.
“Once an Attacker’s hit points are used, it can do nothing further, and is moved to the discard pile. Do you understand so far?” He asked me. To be truthful, I was feeling a bit dizzy from the whole thing. I had never been much of a thinker, and Neo’s explanation was kind of bombarding me from each side.
“So, the attacker loses points when it attacks, equal to what it hit?” I asked, trying to clarify everything.
“That is correct,” he confirmed. “Anything else?”
“No. You can continue.”
“Good, good,” he smiled. “By now, you must be wondering what the end goal is. That is, of course, to kill the opposing main card. In your case, The Sun. You want to protect your own card, and get past my Defender and Attacker to damage my card. Once either card reaches zero, the game is over.”
Neo picked up his four cards, and I did the same. “I think everything has been explained. If it hasn’t, you can learn as you go.” He grinned, a dark eagerness lining his face. “It is time, it is time to play. I grow impatient. I will be kind, and allow the beginner to go first.” His face lit up, as if he had remembered something.
“I almost forgot. The first round, you can take your turn, but your cards can not move so no unfair advantage is made. It is the same for me. On your second turn, your active cards will be put into play.”
I nodded, taking a look at my cards. My two Attackers were mold, with one point, and a grizzly bear with five points. Again, the pictures were extremely detailed; the mold a disgusting green, and the furry brown bear looked frightening, his teeth bared. There was a small ‘A’ on the bottom right corner, indicating the cards type. The defending cards had a similar ‘D’.
My two Defenders were a guardian at five, and a forcefield at three. The guardian was a large knight, covered head to toe in silver armor, determined eyes glaring through his slitted helm. A massive shield the size of his body was held in front of him, his knees braced for impact. The forcefield was a shimmering dome of purple and blue, arcs of electricity running over its surface every second.
A little unsure, I put down the forcefield and the grizzly bear as my starting cards. That concluded my two actions, and then it was Neo’s turn.
“Ah, that pesky bear. Made of pure strength, he is.” Mumbling an afterthought, I barely heard him say, “got me good a few years back, he did.” He placed lava as a Defender, the molten black mass at five points, and a witch, with four points. “I won’t go easy on you,” he grinned.
Gulping, I drew two new cards, one of each, and the game officially began.
I watched in fascination as the hourglass on my Time card melded out of its frame, until a tiny 3D depiction of it began to float in lazy circles above its former home. Its black sand stayed motionless at the top, not trickling down to the bottom. Neo’s Sun card did the same, the burning ball of gas rising from its card to float above it.
And then, my bear moved. A clawed paw stepped out first, before its whole body emerged and faced its opponent. Neo’s defender rose to the challenge, a mass of rolling lava lazily making its way out of its card. The grizzly bear charged, tiny–but deep– roars coming from its jaws. It slashed at the lava, and I watched in fascination as it seemed to droop back into its card. The five at the bottom changed to a zero, and my card did the same. My bear retreated, wearily making it back to his card, its position now curled up in sleep.
“The first move has been made,” Neo happily said. “My lava is discarded, and so is your bear.”
The cards slid off the table, beginning a discard pile on their respectable sides. Neo drew one card and placed a new Defender, a stone wall with two hit points, on his side.
“My turn,” he gleefully said. Neo’s witch, a tiny woman with purple robes and a wand, rose from her card. My forcefield popped out of its own card, the shimmering surface distractingly shifting and moving. The witch stayed in her place, pointing with her wand. Three bolts of light hit the forcefield, and it dissipated, the cards number turning to zero. The witch, now down to one point, moved her aim to the Time card. It expectedly hit, and I watched, slightly fearful, as its number ticked down to nine. A tenth of the black sand fell to the bottom, indicating its damage.
The witch was retired, and my hourglass was hit.
“Ha, ha! Down one already! Things are looking good for me!” Neo celebrated, making me all the more anxious. With no cards currently down, it was my turn.
Glancing at Neo’s side, I gained hope as all he had down was the stone wall with two hit points. I placed my guardian, and an attacking cannon I had gained on my last draw. It had six points, its damage nothing to scoff at.
It rose out slowly, a platform holding it steady. The stone wall came out to meet its doom, the cannon turning to set its sights on it. It fired one cannonball, immediately destroying the wall. Two other shots were placed in quick succession, hitting The Sun straight on. Its number ticked down to a six, and its light noticeably dimmed.
Neo frowned, eyeing the damage. “Celebrated too early, I did. Good shot, kid.”
“Thanks,” I cracked out. Despite myself, the game was intense, making me a little shaky.
Placing down his remaining two cards, he revealed a level one moat as a Defender and a level eight meteor. I groaned at the sight, knowing it would hit my hourglass, my level five guardian not enough to block.
The meteor shot forward with flaming vigor, piercing through the guardian’s shield and slamming into the hourglass. It shook from the impact, more sand dropping and its number changing to six.
“The field has been leveled once again,” Neo commented, looking determined.
I swallowed, deciding my next move. I had no cards down, my only Attacker a level one mold. So I drew a new one, inwardly celebrating as a level seven tornado made its way into my hand. For my second move, I placed down the world tree card I had gained at the same time as the cannon, its hit points at a shocking eight.
Since I had no attacker placed down, it was now Neo’s turn. His hand was empty, and he drew an Attacker. I watched as he visibly snarled, placing down a goblin card with three points.
It quickly attacked my world tree, which grew out of its card and revealed its extended branches and beautiful leaves. The attack barely shook the tree, the goblins sword only leaving a slight dent in the trunk. The goblin retired, and I gulped excitedly. It was time to end this.
My level seven tornado rose out with fearsome winds, plowing towards the pathetic moat. It destroyed it quickly, and I looked to see Neo watching with stunned horror. The tornado, now with six points, quickly headed straight towards The Sun, cracking it and destroying its light. Its points ticked down one by one, until only a zero remained.
“No… No!” Neo jumped up, screaming in anger. “Do you know what you have done? You cannot win! I am the Vaticinator! I did not see this ending!”
I only stared up at him with my mouth stupidly hanging open. Wasn’t it just a game? Sure, it was crazily magical, and I was sure I would wake up soon. I didn’t though, as Neo lunged for me.
I hit my head against the stone steps, the world going blurry. I was no longer protected by the overhang, rain pouring onto my face. Neo grabbed onto my shirt, shaking me.
“Say you forfeit! Say it now! You can’t take me, no one can!” He maniacally yelled the last part into the air, and as my vision focused, I watched as his body slowly decayed, aging at a rate that was impossible.
His skin sunk in, his bones now prominent. Neo’s white hair fell out, and his teeth cracked and then dropped onto my chest. I watched in horror as he turned into nothing but a skeleton, before he disintegrated into dust, floating down to cover me and the ground.
I was frozen, my mind turning as I processed the sudden change of events. I wondered with fear what would have happened to me if I had lost. I sat up, looking around. Everything of Neo’s was gone, except one card. I stood and went to pick it up, trying to distract myself from Neo’s sudden demise.
It was the Time card, restored to its full ten points. Nothing else of the game remained, so I took it and put it in my pocket.
Slowly walking down the church steps, I noticed the rain had stopped. Looking up, I watched as the clouds broke apart and the sun began to peek out. Then, as if the game affected the real world, the sun, the real sun, began to crack and dim like The Sun card had.
And then, the sun went out.