Joy was elated. He had truly enjoyed the challenge in the arena, it was exciting to be surrounded by all those talented people and he had truly enjoyed that final bout with the strong handsome man.

The man’s depression made it a bittersweet fight, but the man himself was truly a natural marvel. His muscles shined with every movement and the breeze always hit his hair just right. It had been truly an iconic fight, one full of panache and vigor.

After Joy had finished his fight with the man, the rest of the competition had whittled itself down to just eight people left. So, they were declared the winners of their bracket and were given little medals that showed they had won.

The only notable person who had passed these initial rounds was the Shovel Knight.

Joy knew he should give each of these knights the proper respect that they deserved, they had all just fought grueling and difficult battles, but he found himself bored with them. They didn’t have any gimmicks or skills that made them cool or noteworthy in Joy’s eyes, they were just there to fill out the roster.

Everyone nearby eyed each other cautiously. There was an unwritten rule that anyone could take someone’s medal and enter the competition in their place. A victor had to continue to defend their place, not merely be content with their small victory.

Everyone’s eyes lingered on Joy. He was an unknown, some random knight that they had never heard of had defeated Ryan, one of the most prominent knights of their generation, before they had even gotten out of the qualifying rounds.

It was sobering to watch one of their most powerful peers get whopped by some guy in a little hat.

But Joy was far too high on life to care about the musings of others. He had received his token of that certified him as a competitor, now he could go celebrate with Lillian and Theo. Everyone had made it into the tournament, so now they needed a well-deserved night out on the town.

Joy skipped all the way back to the prince’s private abode in the second circle of Vena Cava. The massive arenas were positioned in the outer sectors of the city, since they wanted to draw a large crowd to the events. And forcing everyone to go through the rigamarole of having to pass through the different circles seemed impractical.

The people in Vena Cava seemed joyful. There was some special ingredient in the air that night. Something about the festivities that the knight tournament brought made the city come to life. A vibrant energy vibrated around the city and Joy loved it.

He saw a street performer going crazy on couple drums that were hanging from her neck. She beat out an incessant rhythm, one that promised something new and beautiful.

The most amazing part was that everyone who heard the music started walking in time with it. Joy assumed that it was some gift, but it was spectacular nonetheless to see everyone walking at the same pace all around the performer.

Happy couples swayed to the drums, letting the happy mood in the air infect them with new hopes and dreams.

Joy tapped his feet and danced his heart out for a while, simply living in the moment, feeling the drum beat in his soul.

But he had other obligations for the night, so he bayed the performer a good night after giving her a hefty sum of gold for her time. She truly was a fantastic musician that deserved his praise.

He walked through the farms of the inner circles. No one flew him through the mazes of corn and potatoes, but he enjoyed walking through the fields, it made him feel close to Nature and his own nature as a person.

He was not weighed down here surrounded by the greenery, the music still pumping through his soul. He was Joy.

His musings on his own freedom and the nature of self eventually ended. He met up with Lillian and Theo, both sporting a beautiful coin just like his own, marking them as winners of the round robin, and competitors of the true tournament.

“We weren’t sure you were going to make it.” Lillian said with a sly grin on her face. She was only half joking of course.

“I was a little worried for you.” Theo said without even a hint of sarcasm. What a noble soul, truly a kind man at his heart. Joy saw through the man’s icy façade easier than looking through a windowpane.

Joy linked arms with the other two and said, “let us journey to the part of town with the parties, we need to celebrate!”

Even as Theo complained that Joy should report his success to the prince, Joy dragged everyone along with him through the lush greenery.

On a second pass, he felt more at home with the love of his friends. Maybe freedom was the lie that loneliness needed to thrive.

They traveled back to the lively outer rings where the people danced, and the alcohol poured freely. Theo and Lillian had gone to many parties with the prince, but there was something much warmer about this lively atmosphere.

The prince’s parties always had an undercurrent of icy calculations. Everyone was calculating who to talk to and who to give favors to. There was none of that here, it was pure rowdy fun.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Joy led his friends back to the square where the woman had been playing her drums earlier in that night. She was there, singing a soft little tune along with her rhythmic beating of the drums.

Joy watched as Lillian and Theo became entranced by the performer just like everyone who entered the square. The two of them began to dance, not the stiff dances of the royal court, but the loose free form dance of the impoverished.

The dance of those who are unburdened by the others watching them.

Joy sat down next to the woman and stole one of her drums. She looked vaguely annoyed at the act and tried to smack him while keeping the song going.

She was surprisingly adept at swatting at him while keeping the beat steady.

Joy simply laughed and relaxed in the moment. He let his hand strike the drum. Then he struck with both of his hands in a vicious assault. The melodic tune that the woman had been singing before he entered the area became suddenly discordant and Joy began his own music that opposed the woman’s.

She paused as she listened to his music and then matched him. His discordant music suddenly finding harmony with her own, the clashes stopped, and a new melody took their place.

The look of annoyance never left her eyes, but she was willing to play along with Joy.

The two of them played a game back and forth, trading melodies and instruments. Neither one conceding defeat, they evolved their musical ideas and found new inspiration in the world around them.

The woman had a strong foundation in her song that allowed her to adapt to any changes that Joy threw at her. But Joy was as changeable as the wind, he refused to let his lack of musical skill hamper his musical creativity.

The air hummed as the two of them did their final showdown. The drums beat and the air seemed to explode with the power of their wills colliding.

Finally, Joy laughed and laughed. He laughed so hard that he stopped playing and just laid down on the cobbled streets. His drum forgotten in the laughter of the moment.

When his fit of chuckles finally tapered off, Joy looked around the street. It was entirely silent as every person stared directly at him. There were no looks of wonder or amazement, everyone simply stood there with unthinking eyes directed at Joy.

The woman who had played the drums looked at him.

“You are lucky that you helped me ingrain myself into this crowd so much, otherwise I would be quite cross with you stealing one of my drums.”

The entire street spoke in unison with the woman. Their voices were whispers behind the woman’s authoritative and powerful voice, but it added an ominous feeling to her speech.

“Now that isn’t creepy.” Joy smiled cheekily at the furious woman.

Now that Joy was paying more attention to her rather than her music, he noticed that she was impeccably dressed and well groomed. She took great care in her appearance and wanted the world to have a good impression of her.

Her red hair was straight and pulled into a long ponytail behind her head. Her fingernails were well trimmed, and her clothes all had undertones of green and purple to them. It created a pseudo royal look on her.

The one thing that made her not an exquisite beauty was a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She wore them proudly as a symbol of who she was, however the detracted from the sense of perfection that otherwise exuded from her pores.

“It was meant to be creepy, you idiot, but you were so entranced by your own music that you didn’t notice it. It is a rare person that can resist my gift.” A meaningful look pierced Joy as she said that. But he ignored it as men often do.

“Well, being able to take control of people’s minds and bodies is a terrifying power. What are you doing, trying to start a revolution?” Joy asked only half joking.

The woman jumped at his deduction of her gift, but it was obvious to Joy. Any ability that forced people to dance along to the music was mind control on some level, it just seemed that hers was a bit more intrusive than just a forceful dance.

“Nothing so disruptive. I just want to become a part of Music.” A wistful look entered the woman’s face.

Joy looked at her inquisitively, “you want to become a part of a god? That feels blasphemous.”

She laughed at that. A light chuckle that made her smile shine like the moon. “I guess it is a little, but you can feel it, ya know?”

As she said that she stood up and started spinning in a circle, everyone else in the street followed her example, dancing to some unheard music.

“The more you are known, the closer you get to the god. A god represents their concept at a base level. If you become synonymous with that concept won’t you become a part of that god?”

The woman with red hair smiled at Joy, the smile of someone who had given up on their personal ego and given into their basest desire. She wanted to be known, she wanted to become something eternal, something beyond humanity.

“But it won’t be you anymore. You will give up your sense of self to become a part of something unfathomable, you will give up something precious.” Joy said with a small smile directed at the woman.

“Who knows how I will feel when I become part of Music? There’s only one way to find out.”

She twisted one final time before letting go of the invisible strings that held the people on the street to her whim. The people looked a little confused but just seemed to move on with their days, totally unbothered by the little brainwashing they had just been subjected to.

As the woman started walking into the crowd Joy yelled after her, “What’s your name?”

She turned around and gave a little laugh, “Luna! Watch your back Joy.” With a final twirl she disappeared into the crowd. Her tinkling laughter on the edge of Joy’s awareness, teasing a smile out of him.

What a wonderful name, he thought. But why should he be watching his back?

A rough callused hand touched Joy’s shoulder and stayed there menacingly. Well, that was probably why he was supposed to watch his back.

Joy plastered his most wonderful smile on his face as he turned around to face the owner of the callused hand. Interestingly enough, the callused hand was not attached to a body. The hand itself floated around Joy along with an assortment of other hands of all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Some were children’s hands while others were elderly. Some were firm and others seemed soft. It was a bit freaky-deaky, but Joy wasn’t too worried about any of it.

Beyond the hands, stood two women and a man. The women were twins of some sort, the only distinguishing feature between them was their opposite-colored hair. One had black hair while the other had a platinum blonde.

The man should have had had black half blond hair to finish the trio off, but he instead was just an average looking guy, if a little rotund around the center. He had a wonderfully maintained handlebar moustache though.

“We want your entry coin.” The black-haired woman said.

Well, at least they didn’t waste any time.

“Lillian! Theo!” Joy shouted at the top of his lungs as the hands started flying towards him.

He dodged the initial assault of hands, only suffering a light bruising as they pummeled him. But once the assault ended the two twins were upon him and the fight had begun.

“You wouldn’t mind playing a game with me, would you?” Joy said as a shit-eating grin spread across his face.