I hadn’t fallen unconscious or, well, I was pretty sure I hadn’t fallen unconscious. Everything was dark, still, and entirely silent. The only thing I could hear was my own pumping heart and even that slowly was slowly consumed by the noiseless abyss around me.
Even if I had a joke to tell, no one would have heard it. I wouldn’t have been able to hear their laughter.
“Jamboree Butler.”
I couldn’t move. That was only the only reason I didn’t jump out of my own skin as I felt all the hair on my body vibrate from the force of the voice that echoed through the void.
“You have been selected.”
The void in front of me moved closer. No, not the void, the almost indistinguishable figure cloaked in the abyss, their tall form looming over me. As my eyes were forced upwards, I met the gaze of something old and my arm began to burn.
You have been marked for the Rune Games.
Was I breathing? I couldn’t even tell. Everything was indistinct, entirely without presence or feeling. I could barely understand the message in front of me.
“Let the games begin.”
It was at that moment, I knew the being before me. The Cardmaker, the creator of Runesouls, the almighty Duelist that few ever saw and lived to tell the tale.
He, uh, he was a lot cuter in the commercials.
And then I was back on the streets of Echelon, a nervous giggle spilling from my lips as I fell to my knees, my arm burning.
“Hey kid, hurry up,” My aunt looked back at me, her eyes widening as she strode over faster than I'd expected, falling to her knees beside me, “Hey, hey, what happened? I looked away for a second.”
I couldn’t stop giggling, holding my arm, “Um, I, uh, haha, I…it was dark and I, pfft, got…got…”
My aunt pulled up my sleeve and emblazoned across the tan skin of my right arm was the 12 Runes of Runesouls glowing with a fierce, purple energy that slowly, ever so slowly, began to dim.
My eyes were burning, tears streaming down my cheeks, “Um, uh, haha, I…what do I do?”
She stared at the symbols for a moment longer, a myriad of expressions crossing her face that I couldn’t even begin to hope to decipher, before she pulled my sleeve down and looked around, “We need to get to my shop, come on.”
----------------------------------------
Making our way across the city, I hummed some old carnival tunes to myself to try and keep myself calm, but I wasn’t really able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Echelon like I'd wanted to.
I just kept looking at my hub, checking it to see if I had imagined everything. Fun fact, I hadn’t!
Jamboree Butler
[Level 3 Duelist; Participant]
Duel Energy: 3/6
Current Deck Archetype: Carnivally
Duelist Skills
The Show Goes On [Destined; Rank 2]: Every “Show” card played by the Duelist increases their Life by 3 after it resolves.
The Fool’s Rebuke [Rank 2]: Once per duel, the Duelist can negate the activation of a spell card and deal damage equal to the Rune cost of the card to any target.
I was a participant in the Rune Games. I was a participant in the Rune Games and I was [Level 3]. What was I going to do? I only knew bits and pieces of the game and none of it was good.
Was I just gonna die?
“We’re here,” My aunt had said little on our way over, but finally spoke as we came upon a storefront. With colorful lettering and a goofy design I wished I could appreciate more, I took in the sight of my aunt’s card shop, Happy Time Cards.
A great name for a colorful place and I wanted to go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare, please.
I giggled, putting my stuff down like it was the most normal thing in the world and everything was fine, “Auntie, uh, am I…am I gonna die?”
“My name’s Lara Happy, not Auntie. If you gotta call me something other than Lara, call me Boss.” She wasn’t even looking at me, just putting her things away.
“Haha, ok, uh, Boss Happy.” That was a cute mix of names, right? Boss Happy sounded like a fun little title for my new aunt, yeah?
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Boss Happy looked over at me, “You didn’t paint that on yourself, right? That symbol?”
“Nope!” I giggled, opening up one of my prop suitcases and taking out a horn, “It was dark and the Cardmaker was…and I…haha…I…”
I honked my horn to fill the silence of my words. It was hard to think right now and I just wanted to go to bed. If Boss Happy disliked the honking noises, she didn’t say anything.
“Should I call my parents?” I asked myself.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“What?” I looked over at my aunt, “But, uh, they need to know! I, ah, I…what if I die? And I…they…”
My aunt came over, having taken off her jacket and put away her things, and wrapped me up in a big hug that I returned immediately.
She whispered in my ears, “If you call them, and they come, all they'll do is become another way that the other participants can hurt you and trick you, got that? Don’t make friends until you’ve won, don’t sympathize with anyone, or you die.”
I pulled back from her, my head buzzing with everything she just said, “What?”
Boss Happy grabbed me by the shoulder, staring into my soul with a fierceness in her gaze that made me want to start giggling again, “If you want to win this game, if you want to live, then you need to listen to everything I say.”
I gulped, nodding. I was listening. I was great at listening. Amazing, really.
“The Families and the Companies will either use you or destroy you to win this game,” Boss Happy said, “Now, what Level are you?”
I gave a little honk of my horn, “I’m [Level 3].”
“Fuck, that is way to low,” Boss Happy frowned. “Alright, and your Duelist Skills?”
I just showed her my hub.
Jamboree Butler
[Level 3 Duelist; Participant]
Duel Energy: 3/6
Current Deck Archetype: Carnivally
Duelist Skills
The Show Goes On [Destined; Rank 2]: Every “Show” card played by the Duelist increases their Life by 3 after it resolves.
The Fool’s Rebuke [Rank 2]: Once per duel, the Duelist can negate the activation of a spell card and deal damage equal to the Rune cost of the card to any target.
Her expression faltered even more as she read my hub, “Damn. Alright, go up to your room and get your stuff put away.”
“Huh?”
“Look, kid, I gotta do some thinking, make some calls." Looking even more tired than she had when she picked me up, my aunt brushed aside some of my pink hair, "If the Rune Games are starting, that means a lot of shit is about to go down, crazy shit. So, get up there and sleep while you can, got it?"
As if summoned by the word, I did feel a bit sleepy. The exhaustion of everything suddenly rushing up on me at once.
“Um, ok.” I gave her a weak, fragile smile, “Thanks for letting me stay here, Boss Happy.”
“No problem, kid.”
With that I went upstairs to my room, a cramped little sideroom that I was, uh, happy to call my own. No furniture beyond the small bed in the corner, I laid my stuff to the side and took a moment in the next door bathroom to wash the makeup off my face.
I looked at my white-smudged face in the mirror, cleaning it off meticulously like I did every night before I went to bed. I’d thought I’d, um, walk the town with it on. I didn’t like going places without my makeup, not when I was new and nervous.
And yet, I didn’t feel like walking around the city. I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home and tell my parents I’d made a horrible decision.
And, uh, now…now I…I couldn’t…I couldn’t get them hurt…
More tears flowed down my cheeks, but I quickly finished cleaning my face of makeup before running into my new room and diving into my bed. I clutched my deck to my chest, hoping that today was a nightmare I’d wake up from tomorrow.
Maybe this was all one big misunderstanding?
Sleep came easy, but it was far from pleasant.
----------------------------------------
Someone was talking to me.
“Kid, wake up.”
They sounded all wobbly like, which was kind of funny, but I had to slowly draw my mind back together after such a rough sleep.
“No, seriously, kid. We don’t have the time for this.”
Yawning, I stretched, I opened up my eyes at Boss Happy, “Good morning!”
My aunt had her arms crossed, the bags under her eyes looking even worse than they had yesterday. Why was she in my room?
“Save the pleasantries for later,” Boss Happy grabbed me by the arm and hoisted me up out of my bed, “I need to see you duel.”
See me duel? I grabbed my deck off of my bed. Why would she need to see me duel?
And then I saw the symbol on my arm, the twelve runic markings of Runesoul emblazoned across my skin. Yesterday’s events came flooding back and I…I…
“None of that,” Boss Happy dragged me out of the room and downstairs, “My shop opens in an hour, so I need to see how you duel and quick. I gotta know which plan to use.”
“You, uh, have a plan?” I was still in a bit of daze from sleep and trauma.
Boss Happy nodded, “Yeah, I got a plan. And I got some easy targets for you too.”
Targets? What?
Sitting me down at a small table, Boss Happy sat me down and pulled out her own deck, “Time to see if you’ve got your mom’s skill at the game.”
Wait, we were dueling? Our hubs flashed across from the each of us and I was rewarded with a bit of insight into what exactly I was dueling against here.
Lara Happy
[Level 20 Duelist]
Duel Energy: 27/40
Current Deck Archetype: Retallion
Duelist Skills
Dangerous to Go Alone [Rank 3]: Every Unit with a Rune Cost of 1 creates a Token of itself when played from the Duelist's hand.
Strict Theft Policy [Rank 2]: The Duelist's opponent takes 1 Damage for every card send to the graveyard from the Duelist's hand by their opponent's card effects.
Delayed Fortune [Rank 1]: Instead of drawing at the beginning of their turn, the Duelist draws two cards at the end of their turn.
Return Policy [Rank 4]: Twice per duel, the Duelist is able to cast a card from their graveyard as if playing from their hand.
Oh, uh, haha. Um, why was I dueling my aunt, again? Why was she [Level 20]?