“We battled, and the humorless one, in his final moments, used his last breath to plead for me to bring back to life your snowwoman.” The Elder One laughed. “And somehow, the child believed I would honor his request. Never have I seen such naivete in a nightmare.”
Erzili shook her head. “He is not dead.”
“This one made sure of his demise.”
She closed her eyes. Gesturing with her hands into the air, she invoked upon her master’s name a second time, writing out the words in the ancient script: Display_Master_Contract.
Master Contract
Current Master: Janus
Species: High Ghilan
Influence: Demiurge
[Epithet Skills]: Duality | Gatekeeper
Status: Alive
It worked.
The RETURN command had worked.
“It seems my Master managed to get the better of you.”
Giggles’ lips contorted into a frown. “That cannot be possible. This one killed the Demiurge. Of this, there is no doubt.”
“Erzili’s contract says otherwise, and Erzili is more than willing to believe it.”
She was pleased with the turn of events, although somewhat curious. Dreamer had told her the specific conditions of the RETURN command, but she had never seen its effect. She had no way of being sure Dreamer hadn’t been lying to her, deceiving her as he deceived them all. The problem was the anchored of the command was different depending on who used it.
It was supposed to return them to the person who had given them the most happiness. She believed, after their sexual encounter, she qualified for that title. Yet, Janus had not returned to her. So who then, was it, that had given him the most happiness in the world?
Where have you gone oh troublesome Master of mine?
“…if the humorless one managed to somehow survive… then it is as this one feared.”
She was amused. “Feared?”
“You cannot be a fool as to not know the being that named your Master. The Book of Nightly-Ones is in your possession.”
“What is your point Laugher?”
“Your master is a servant of the Sage of Perpetual Insanity. You have chosen a Master who serves the Avatar of Omega. A master who serves the Incarnation of the End.”
“And?”
The Nuckelavee let out a frustrated sound that rang like music to her ears.
“Have you already forgotten the insanity present in a Demiurge? Have you forgotten what Morpheus did to us? How he betrayed us? Have you come to forget, how he narrated delusions of a god-ordained task? Have you already forgotten, Erzili?!”
“Erzili remembers.”
Laugher huffed. “You surely must not. Else, you would not choose to serve a being like the humorless one. Unlike Morpheus, the humorless one is backed by a power that may allow him to accomplish the impossible.”
“Erzili will not let that happen.”
“How many times, Erzili? How many times have you uttered those words, only to realize you had no control over the situation? Is this not the third Demiurge you have picked up as a pet? Did you not lose the first to the Leporinian God-King, and lose the second to the Anathema Epsilon? When will you understand that you cannot control destiny? Morpheus’ existence was a one-in-a-billion occurrence. No other Demiurges can escape their natural fate. Their lifespan is one-fifth of a decade for a reason.”
She closed her eyes, humming underneath her breath. There was always merit in what Laugher said. Sometimes she hated him, for being so knowledgeable, other times, she adored him, his knowledge, his foresight, his wisdom.
“...or is it, that you have come to desire the world’s end as the Mad Sage does?”
“I have too many desires unfulfilled to wish the world end.”
“Surely this cannot still be about revenge?”
“What else would it be about?”
“You do not need another Demiurge for your goal. Should you join the Court – ”
“And be at their beck and call? Their every whim and command? No, Laugher. Erzili will not beg to serve in the legend of another when Erzili can reign in a legend of one’s own.”
“Your bottomless ambition will be the end of you Erzili.”
She sneered. “Rather excess ambition, than none at all. Look at you, Laugher. You were the Night Emperor of Sloth. Even long before Erzili joined the Nine, Erzili heard tales of your legend, fables of your power and cruelty. You once went toe-to-toe with the Anathema Triton and lived to tell the tale. You killed the Midwarf Champion Jotunfinn and mounted his wives and daughters atop his corpse in the presence of his people, laughing through it all with blood-coated lips. You were the most terrifying of the Nine Night Emperors, the most fearsome amongst Alamir’s most powerful.”
She glanced at the aged being. “And now, look at you. Look at what you’ve become. After Dreamer’s betrayal, you are but a mere shadow of your former self. Now you sit here, a lagoon in the middle of nowhere acting as a glorified guardian for an insignificant village.”
“This one came to understand that the meaninglessness of it all. A nightmare is to be as a nightmare must be. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Your existence is a mockery of the being Erzili once adored. Cowardly. Ambitionless. Pathetic.”
The Elder One of Cosmic Humor sighed. “Lovelorn one – ”
“Enough.” Erzili crossed her arms. “Leave, Laugher. Erzili possesses a Demiurge’s authority. Out of the admiration Erzili has for the being you once were, Erzili will refrain from deleting you from the records of existence. But you must leave. Leave this lagoon. Leave and never come back.”
“…as you wish, lovelorn one.”
Neither sound nor motion accompanied the removal of his presence from the Lagoon. She was pleased that he was gone. She was angry, that he was gone. Laugher had so much potential. If only she possessed a fraction of the power he did. If only she could motivate him back to return to their glory days, where he blurred through settlements, a red mist in the
