“Pawn to e4; why do you think I made my win condition what I did? Why would I want you to bring happiness and joy to the world?”
“Pawn to e5; it’s because you have a boner for being a good person. You want to be some great kind person that changes the world around you. Your wants seem selfless from an outside perspective, but truly deep down they are a selfish desire.”
“Knight to c3; ouch. Well, I believe that the purpose of life is to bring little happinesses and joys to the world around me. What do you think the purpose of life is?”
“Pawn to f6; from the history you have taught me, the answer should be that we are like these pawns in some massive game to the gods.”
“Pawn to d3; that a bitch answer. That’s the answer of someone who would’ve been content to stay a slave for the rest of their life. But you didn’t, you are more than that. So, what drives you?”
“Bishop to b4; life here on the Frozen Continent is hard and cruel. I was taught from a young age that Life was not a kind god. Life takes away your warmth until there is nothing left. I became chief to preserve the warmth of my tribe and those that I loved.”
“Bishop to d2; so, you are on the defensive? Life attacks, and you defend until you eventually succumb to the cold and numbness?”
“Bishop takes knight on c3.”
The memory washed over the boy. He finds himself seeing sunshine as a child. There was a man in the field, his father. He toiled in the field and sweat poured down his shoulders as he put in the day’s work. Winter had just passed, and through Joy eyes the boy watched sunshine pierce through the clouds and bring spring with it.
“Bishop takes bishop on c3.”
Joy found himself living a memory of starvation. A forgotten face stared down at him. Her features were blurry and indistinct as she sang a sad song to the boy. Tears streamed down the boy’s face, and Joy felt the tears appear in his own eyes, he felt his stomach fight. The hunger consumed all, but the sadness was even worse, because he had seen the blurry face give him all her food. Her hunger could only be worse, and yet she continued singing telling the boy that everything would be fine.
“Pawn to d5; that was much more intense than I thought it would be.”
“Bishop to a5; yes, it was.”
“Pawn to b6; going back to your question, the weak can only defend against life. To fight back against life is a luxury of the privileged and powerful.”
“Bishop to b4; but you are powerful. You have armies of monsters that come to your beck and call. I don’t understand why you are all so obsessed with power, you have plenty enough to relocate the entirety of your tribe and live a happy life in the hills on the Heart continent.”
“Knight to a6; and live under the thumb of some new and more powerful figure? No.”
“Bishop to c3; but you could be rid of this life and be freer.”
“Pawn to c5; but we would still not be free.”
“Queen to h5, check; what is freedom to you then?”
“Pawn to g6; to have no one to tell me what to do, no one that can control me, no one that can make me a slave again.”
“Queen to f3; but are you not a slave to your people? Would their needs and wants not control how you act? You purposefully enslave yourself to them and yet you preach of freedom.”
“Pawn to d4; don’t twist my words, Joy. I love them and will help them through all their trials and tribulations because of that love. There is no enslavement if I choose to love and help them.”
“Castling king side; but still that is not true freedom in the way you described it. By making yourself leader of this group you have limited yourself and your options, thus showing a lack of freedom.”
“Knight to h6; and what else was I supposed to do, Joy? Remove the previous chief then leave them all to live my own perfect free life?”
“Bishop to d2; of course not. What I am saying is that these bindings that tie us are vitally important. They keep us from floating off into the realm of the gods and true freedom, but they also are what make life worth living. Love and kindness are what matter.”
“Knight to f5.”
“Pawn to g4.”
“Knight to h4; I think I understand where you are coming from. You say that bringing happiness to those around you is worth is because of the ties that bind us together. Your love will make the people around you happier.”
“Queen to g3; yes, thank you for thinking about it.”
“Pawn to g5; my problem with that is that I don’t think I have enough love to give. I have duty and rationality, but I don’t know if I care the way you seem to.”
“Pawn to b3; why do you take care of your people if you do not love them the way you say I do?”
“Pawn to f5; because I am so full of hatred for them.”
“Pawn takes pawn on f5.”
Joy saw the endless expanse of snow and ice. He had been left behind, the slaves were told to keep up or die, and he had not kept up. The cold was seeping into his bones at every step, but he knew that he had to find his slaving crew soon or else he would truly die. He ran in the snow trying to find anyone. Bitterness and loneliness filled the boy’s soul and Joy experienced it all.
“Bishop takes pawn on f5.”
The boy felt the sunshine on his face as he looked at the faces of Joy’s parents. Both gave the young man big hugs and smiles tinged with a bit of sadness. Neither of them approved of Joy’s need to go out and explore in life, but they were not going to stop him. With a heart filled with homesickness and pure giddiness Joy stepped onto the river barge that would take him on his adventure.
“Bishop takes pawn on g5.”
Joy felt the chains that gripped the boy’s body rip into him. The boy had angered the chief by forgetting to put two lemon slices on his drink. He had only put one in the drink because he was so starved that he couldn’t think. The pain was excruciating, the barbs ripped into him as he howled at the chief’s court about the unfairness.
“Queen to c8; they needed someone strong to save them, but why did it have to be me? Why did I have to save them when they did nothing for me. I saved every single one of us from those chains and that pain, and yet they still asked for more, from the boy who had done nothing but give for them. It never ends.”
“Pawn takes pawn on f5.”
Joy was in the boy’s mind again, far beyond his days as a little slave boy. He sits upon the rocky shore of another continent. He had overthrown the previous chief hours ago and had found out the man’s biggest secret. None of them had to live on that Water damned continent, there was a whole other world that they could be living in; but that man had kept it all for himself. Their riches and their pleasures were used to make his life lavish while the slaves had starved. The boy wept upon the shores of the land that could have saved him.
“Queen takes pawn on f5.”
The boy smelled the aura of booze that radiated off a pig nosed man through Joy’s nose. Joy was barely seven years old, and he had snuck onto a river barge without his parents knowing. He sat in front of this booze covered man and picked up his first ever hand of poker. It was five card draw and he had the most beautiful royal flush that anyone had ever seen. The world shone upon Joy as he basked in its glow and love.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Queen takes knight on h4.”
Joy, though the body of the boy, sat in a small hovel of a home. The bodies were packed together and there was no such thing as privacy. The slaves were thrown in these little places to keep them out of sight since they were ‘dirty things’ that ‘ruined the chief’s perfect afternoon stroll.’ Hate simmered in the room, but no one dared to say it; the hate could be felt in the air though, it seeped into everyone’s soul and festered there.
“Pawn to e4.”
“Pawn takes pawn on e4.”
Again, Joy was thrust into the boy’s memories. Except this time, he was playing in the snow. He had found that if he covered the tattoos of chains well enough, the other kids would play with him. He laughed and smiled just like a normal child should. It was a beautiful day with snowballs flying this way and that, until the chief stood over the boy and beat him half to death for shirking his duties. He cried and cried as the kicks continued falling on him, even the other children joined in, thinking it was some sort of game. Tears turned to ice on the boy’s face and blood seeped into the white snow.
“Queen to g6.”
“Bishop takes knight on a6.”
Joy saw an old seer through the boy’s eyes. She had a name at one point, but now everyone just called her ‘hag.’ She even seemed to like it. Her gift showed her visions of the future, but she had to bear immense pain for them. The more pain she was willing to bear, the more her visions showed. For this vision, she had all her bones broken and mended by a healer for an entire day. She said that she saw a beautiful stick, and that with it, the boy would be able to free the world from their sins, and that the gods’ game would finally be over. The boy felt the weight of the world rest upon his shoulders, but he refused to budge from the burden, he would free them all.
“Pawn to b5.”
“Bishop to b7; why are you such a rash player? You are at times a timid boy, barely able to speak for himself, and at others you are a bloodhound who gets so engrossed in the scent of blood that he cannot help himself?”
“Rook to b8; you have seen the memories. You know the things that define me. I am defined by the burdens I carry for my tribe and my hope. Yet I am full of a seething hatred towards them all.”
“Bishop to d5; you love so hard that it hurts you? You are the gardener tending to a bed of roses, needing to be careful not to get pricked.”
“Rook to f8; life hurts, Joy. I just want it to stop.”
“Pawn to f4.”
“Rook to c8.”
“Pawn to f5.”
“Queen to g7.”
“Queen to h5, check; what do you think a gift is? Like the gift from the gods you received when you turned thirteen.”
“Rook to f7; literature says that it is a choice given to you by the gods depending on the shape of your karma, as determined by Fate.”
“Pawn to f6; I’m glad I taught you how to read; now you can quote literature to me. But, if you look at accounts of people’s lives, many of the history defining heroes didn’t get a choice, they were simply presented with the only one possible.”
“Queen to f8; does that mean I am some history defining man, since I was only allowed my choice from Sin?”
“Bishop takes rook on f7, check; yes, you are.”
Joy saw a feast put upon a massive table. The boy had found the previous chief’s storage of food and decided to host the first party of freedom. He had gotten the teleporting lady, Tera, to even bring some powerful alcohol from the mainland to help lubricate some of the tensions left between the former slaves and the free people of the tribe. They were all free now, it was a blissful time.
“Queen takes rook on f7.”
The boy was in Joy’s mind as he met with the prince for the first time and was offered his job. He was full of odd emotions. On one hand he was entertained at the frivolity of the whole thing. Who needed this much funding? Joy could use his luck and take the wealth of nations, why did this young prince have need of this? But he was also ashamed that he had been corned in such a manner, it had been a long time since he had been truly defeated, so he wanted to try and explore this opportunity to its fullest. He was full of curiosity and wonder.
“Queen takes queen on f7, check.”
Joy was thrown into the boy’s memories. When the slaves of the tribe were of age and received their gifts, they must present them to the chief to see how they could be used ideally. The boy had only been allowed to choose from Sin, and even if he wasn’t sure exactly what would happen, he had an instinctive feeling that it was a powerful gift and that if someone looked at the words on his back, they would be forever changed. So, he didn’t inform the chief of the side effects and let the man gaze upon the writing carved excruciatingly on his own back. The chief’s eyes rolled up into his head and a smoky figure emerged out of his mouth, the figure was almost completely solid, and the previous chief seemed much smaller after the sin had been removed. The sin bound the horrid man in chains like the ones he placed on his own slaves. Then the boy took the throne of the tribe, and all bowed to him.
“King takes queen on f7.”
The boy was thrown into Joy’s memory of when he had received his gift. The cold eyes of Fate stared down at Joy as he declared that ‘his karma was too weak.’ There were no powerful gifts that the gods could offer him, all that his karma could support was a bauble or trinket. The god Miscellaneous took pity on Joy and had given him a deck of cards, so that he would never be without a game. Joy had been shattered; he had been told that his life would amount to nothing. He would create no big changes in the world, he would not be some hero riding off into the sunset surrounded by beautiful men and women. He was nothing in the grand scheme of things. The entire experience caused him to fall into a deep depression, but the memory ended before the wallowing and self-pity truly started.
“Rook to f1; it truly did destroy me, knowing that the gods deemed my life essentially meaningless.”
“Pawn to c4; but you obviously have found some measure of power in life. If this place is not a part of your gift, then where are we, and what is this place?”
“Knight to f3; if you take my king, you can find out for yourself, boy.”
“Pawn to d3; but you seem to be living a meaningful life, you have done so many things that have changed me, Joy.”
“Pawn to c3; my life is a small thing. I am not the man who will save the world, I will not run around rescuing damsels in distress, nor will I be the leader of a redefining age. I am simply a man of happiness and whimsy. I will go around this life being kind and making everyone around me better people. Once they are better people, they will do the same for those around them. It is a never-ending cycle of bringing a little bit of hope to the world. But I am merely the catalyst, I am not the one who changes anything, that is why my presence may make a profound impact on the world, but I am not full of righteous destiny.”
“Rook to d8.”
“Rook to d1.”
“Pawn to a5.”
“Knight to e5, check.”
“King to e6; I have already lost, haven’t I?”
“Knight to c6; you lost a long time ago. This entire charade is for me to understand you, and for you to understand a bit of me. I know you are an angry, sad soul, who is trapped with a sense of duty. The world has shown you so much of its hatred, but you have seen pieces of its love. The world loves every single one of us and I am trying to get you to see that in your own memories and mine.”
“Rook to a8; but not everyone can see that love, Joy. It hurts, it all hurts so much sometimes and the love that you see exists just to make the pain hurt even more.”
“Pawn takes pawn on c4.”
Joy saw the boy’s mother singing a sweet song to him. The boy couldn’t have been older than three or four, and her arms did shake as she carried him high into the air, yet her voice never wavered. Her voice kept singing to the boy all the love she had for him, even when it hurt.
“Pawn takes pawn on c4.”
The boy saw through Joy as he sat upon a rock, looking at the expedition that the prince had set up. Joy felt a sense of pride at the achievement, at the amount of work he had put into this to make it happen, but he also felt weary. These were the stories of great heroes now, and Joy was no great hero. Yet, somehow, a seer named Sam convinced him to join in the end, they had shown Joy a world of adventure, and how could he refuse.
“Rook to f1.”
“Pawn to a4.”
“Rook to f5.”
“King to f7.”
“Knight to e5, check; why do you refuse to admit that the world shows you love?”
“King to e8; because it was never the world, it was my mother.”
“Knight takes pawn on c4; the world is an ephemeral being. It doesn’t truly exist. It is simply the feeling that something beyond ourselves, beyond the petty squabbling gods, is there to give us love. To make us happy, to make us enjoy our existence no matter how fleeting.”
Joy found himself experiencing the eyes that followed the young man. It was a beautiful day, the snow shone, and the sunrise was spectacular. Yet, the boy had just become the new chief and everyone's eyes followed him. Their eyes were filled with hope. And the boy struggled under the weight of their expectations. He lived in a world of anxiety and worry, yet he never let it show on his face. He would be everything they needed and more.
“Rook to d8; you talk so fancy, Joy. None of that matters, it doesn’t matter if I feel loved, I need to accomplish my goals and to live by my virtues.”
“Pawn to f7, check; of course it matters. You are the one living, if you feel alone, you will make those around you feel alone.”
“King to f8; maybe you’re right Joy. Maybe it’s time to love other people.”
“Bishop takes rook on d8; that is a beautiful determination, now apply it to yourself, you twerp.”
“Pawn to d2, check! Obviously, I love myself, who doesn’t?”
“Rook takes pawn on d2; you said something very striking to me and the prince. ‘Everyone has sins’ and yet, you couldn’t have read your own back before coming here, since I taught you to read. You don’t even know what is carved into your own back, do you?”
“King to g7; I… I can’t. Everyone has sins, except for you two freaks. And I am no different.”
“Rook to g2, check; the prince explained it to you, you daft idiot. A sin is something you put upon yourself, so you obviously feel guilty for something. Your gift is for that shit.”
“King to f8; what do you mean?”
“Knight to e5; your gift? It is for helping people overcome their trauma and the things they see as sins. You can remove them and help them physically overcome their own burdens. Your gift exists to uplift people and make them stronger and more loving, not this wayward way you create sin slaves and leave the sinners’ minds to rot.”
“Pawn to h5; is my gift truly mean to help? Joy, do you mean it?”
“Knight to d7, checkmate; yes.”
Joy took in the final memory. The boy sat in the crowded room with all the other slaves. His mother was speaking in hushed tones to one of her friends. She kept saying things like, ‘I can’t feed both of us’ and ‘make sure he understands how much I love him.’ The boy was barely five. His mother came up to him and whispered in his ear, she told him that she loved him and that the only reason she was doing this was because she loved him so much. He cried that day but didn’t quite understand why. He watched as his mother walked out into the snow and never came back.
Joy and the boy cried together in that moment, for a beautiful and kind woman lost to the cruelty of man.