"That last deal?"
Reader looked down and then looked back up at Ernest. Reader's hand gripping harder.
"Yes Reader, the one about the twins."
"Haha to be honest that whole exchange wasn't very fair was it?"
"No it wasn't."
"It wasn't really a bargain."
"Nope."
"Let me up Ernest."
"What was that? I think I feel your hand slipping. So slick with sweat."
"Let me up Ernest!"
He seemed suddenly distracted.
"Y-You know what Ernest, call off that last agreement. It's null. Void. Doesn't count!"
"Well I thought that right now would be a great time to talk about the pair."
"The twins?!"
"Yeah."
"NOW!?"
"Well I have your undivided attention. Do you have some other appointment at the moment? Would be a pity. So enticed with such conversation earlier... Would have thought..."
He mumbled off. One hand holding Reader's life in his grip. The other casually scratching his nose.
"Ernest, this isn't fair!"
"No Reader I suppose not. You seem rather uncomfortable."
With a grunt. Swing. Staggered half toss. Reader's hand finally grasped the edge of the cliff face. With a mighty heave Ernest pulled Reader onto solid ground. He sat down cross-legged while Reader knelt on all fours gasping for breath.
"You look pale. Are you alright Reader?"
"I-I'm fine. How did you get here anyways?"
"You were taking a while so I decided to climb down then up to meet you."
"Ah..."
He climbed all the way down? Then up? What is this guy made of??? What a beast.
"So you wanted to ask about the twins Reader?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Ask away."
Reader was thrown off by this forward response.
I mean the guy has only been avoiding this kind of talk for well - forever.
Looking over Ernest's shoulder Reader saw the mouth of the cave. Passing wind elected a hollow sound from that hungry maw.
Shiver.
"Ernest, can we take this conversation somewhere else?"
"I feel pretty comfortable right here."
"The point is that I don't."
"A bit testy. Did something happen in there?"
"There? Haha. Nothing really."
"You sure? Perhaps I should take a look."
"No!"
"Hmm? Did you find anything that will get us out?"
"No. Ah. Yes. No. Wait."
Reader shuffled around, hands searching the body. Suddenly the parchment with the key symbol snapped up.
"This!"
"Oh. I know where that goes. Good job."
Ernest seemed rather impressed. He patted Reader on the shoulder and moved to walk on the wooden bridge.
"Wait!"
His foot hit the first plank. It groaned in pleasure.
"Er-?"
Ernest pointed at a sign that was on this side of the bridge. Ernest and Reader with heart signs.
The pair walked across the bridge through fog and clouds.
"So what happened in there Reader? Were you given a puzzle?"
"Uh. Yeah. Something like that."
"Did you have to fight anything?"
"N-No nothing like that."
"Was it a trap or something?"
"You could say that."
"Huh."
"What?"
"They must like you or something."
"???"
"The twins Reader. Usually that key is pretty hard to get. Yet you had a simple puzzle with a trap. They must like you. For some reason. Are you alright? You seem tense."
"Haa... I'm fine."
So he doesn't know yet. Whew... Wait. Why do I want to keep this a secret?
He was going to talk about the Twins...
"Hey Ernest. Are the Twins uh... family to you?"
They stopped. He turned slowly. Reader had never before seen such a sad expression on Ernest's face.
"Family? No. They are not part of my family."
They continued their walk into the jungle again. Ernest recovered his focus and stayed alert on the paths they moved through. It was a maze of fallen trees, scattered rocks and nameless animal tracks.
How does he know where he's going all the time?
"You said you knew where this goes?"
Reader pulled out the key the Twins gave them earlier.
"You've been here before Ernest?"
Ernest nodded while helping Reader up a particularly jumbled mess of tree roots and rocks.
"That's right. I've been in these games for about a year remember? I've been to most of the locations you've experienced several times. The goal isn't always the same. But these places are similar enough."
No wonder...
They took a break next to a mountain stream.
I'm starting to get dizzy. Altitude sickness?
After a few deep breaths, Reader started the questioning again.
"So the twins aren't family members."
"No Reader. I have brothers and sisters, but the Twins are not amongst them."
"They just seemed so familiar ... or well they talked uhm..-"
"It's just how they are."
"So you have family."
"That's right. Mother. Father. Brothers and Sisters."
"How many siblings?"
This isn't so bad. A rather normal conversation.
"Hmm... I think. 30?"
"Thirty huh.." Wait what the - 30? That is one big family. Foster? Multiple marriages? Three sets of 10's? Or any combination of multiple births? A twin of Ernest? Would be hard to imagine. Ah, we're moving again.
The ground became rockier the higher they went. It no longer felt warm. Foggy steam now left their lips with each thin breath.
"I know I've said this before Reader.... I didn't want to talk about the Twins for your own safety. But since they gave you a challenge and you survived I guess it's okay to tell you a few things. I will repeat one important fact though."
"What's that?"
"If you see them. Try not to talk to them."
"Why?"
Does he suspect..?
"Because it's dangerous Reader. The things they say. It's a little frustrating to explain. The Twins don't seem particularly real when you're not concentrating... But when you look directly at them... They come into focus. And then everything else loses focus. It becomes... harder to leave. To find your bearings. It becomes harder to escape."
"Escape? From what?"
"From them. From here."
Ernest waved his arm at their surroundings. For once the strangeness of their situation had been forgotten. Reader looked at the cloud jungle with caution once more.
I was so engrossed into the conversation that I forgot how weird and dangerous these places can be.
After a moment's reprieve a rather simple but important question came to mind.
"Ernest... Why are we in here? It seems a bit dangerous to go through all this just for some assignments."
The tree line broke and before them was an opening filled with stones piled on top of each other. At the center of the circular patterns of stone was a particular pile rising high like a pedestal. This place glowed softly in blue hues. To their back was the sun yet its light did not pass into the opening. There was no moon in the sky above this quiet place. Just small motes of light.
Ernest spoke as he walked onto the stone field.
"This is my homework Reader. Going in here... doing something... surviving... and getting out. I don't know why it works but it does. I get closer to being finished. Closer to getting out. Not just from where I am but in here."
He pointed at his head with a smile.
Now that they were closer to the largest pile of stones, Reader could see a smoothly carved pillar rose at its center. Standing next to it, the pillar was waist high, flat at its top. There, in the glittering light, Reader could just make out what appeared to be a keyhole.
Ernest held out his hand and Reader gave him the key.
Ernest paused for a moment in thought, then took Reader's hand into his own.
It started to snow softly.
There was no sound beyond their cloudy breathing.
And beating of their hearts.
Ernest crushed the sheet of paper with the key symbol on it. When he opened his hand a black key materialized into existence. He put the key into the keyhole. His voice came in a whisper as if his thoughts weren't fully formed.
"I don't do this because it's easy Reader. I do it because it's fun. Well maybe that isn't true. I do it... I do it because I must."
With a turn of the key there was a click. Time for just a moment, stopped.
The pair was enveloped in light. The keyhole grew in size, becoming a portal back to the halls.
-*-
For once we weren't covered in that ink. It was one of the many thoughts I had after that exchange. We went our separate ways for the day. A moments reprieve. Now left to my own devices I have time to sit and think aloud. Or walk in restless circles.
Reader walked about. Taking in all that was learned today. Digesting it. Turning it over. And feeling something. Unease? Excitement? Reader went to nowhere in particular.
For whatever reason. My thoughts turn to whether or not I want to stay. To keep doing... This. I can feel it in my pocket. The ticket the Twins gave me... in exchange of the coin I dropped in the locker? It must be. A ticket. It's important.
"I could leave at any moment - I know. I could just stop going. Leave. It would be the end of it. For me at least. My story would end there in relation to all of this. But I don't. Well, I've considered it. But I'm here. Maybe because I could use a little adventure in my life. Or maybe it's just the nagging curiosity about ... well, all of it."
Some time has passed. I have no way of knowing other than this strange itch. I think it is time to go to the locker again. Perhaps Ernest is already waiting. The Twins said the ticket would take us to where Ernest wants. Where could that be?
"I could leave at any moment. Tomorrow I might not come back. But tomorrow I might. If not tomorrow then maybe another time. Like putting down a book and picking it up again. I could grow old. And return to this and think how far I've come since then. I could grow old and find out that I'm still just as clueless, and feel all my youth."
But is that what I want?
"I could leave. Him. There. Alone. And never know what happened. No closure. Nothing..."
Could I really do something like that?
I think a more dangerous question would be...
"What if I'm staying, because I don't want to leave?"
Where would that lead me? Where will this ticket take me?
I can feel it. The next strange adventure just around the corner.
I have already come this far. Whatever comes next, I have a front row seat with this ticket.
