Hide and Seek—Let's Play
Life is fun! So many new things, so many new sounds. Everything is new and grand.
Yet we exist to serve and cannot always play. We must remember to follow our lord's will, for why else were we given life?
Yet fear not—what he asks of us is simple. So let's play a game of hide and seek, and only when we find those hiding do we have to give a choice.
Only when they don't agree is the chore we must face before we go back to more hide and seek.
First mission to Luma, guiding the children of dark
Phase Four, Day Four
The game was afoot, and the city was their board game to be played for the new children of the dark. Luma led the chase, seeking all the cracks the unseen may hide, his small form zipping through alleys light as air, flowing freely through the slums. Behind him, his new siblings followed, giggling and cheering with every twist and turn. They called their game "Hide and Seek," but it was a game with a singular purpose.
"Found one!" a little voice squeaked, a shadow child pointing a stubby finger at a door to a cellar where all could sense a family huddled in.
Luma slipped into the small space first, leading the way, his eyes made of pure darkness seeing easily enough in the small space as he scanned the terrified faces. He smiled, a simple, happy gesture. "Our Lord has an offer for you," he said, his voice a soft echo of the shadows around them. "He gives you a choice."
He extended his hand for the family to embrace him, the other kids now gathering, laughing and whispering, wondering when the next hunt would begin, losing interest before an answer was even given.
The mother, a hand clasped over her child's mouth, whimpered, "A choice?" Confusion mixed with her fear upon her face.
Another shadow child, a small girl with flowing shadow hair, floated forward, patting the young child's head, making the mother pull back to escape their touch as the shadow girl spoke. "You can join our Lord and play with us!" she offered, her voice as innocent as any human child's.
The father's eyes darted from the smiling children to the coiling shadows that filled the room behind them. He shook his head vigorously. "What... what happens if we don't?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Luma's smile didn't falter. "This will be a city for darkness. So there will be only us in darkness."
The family's fear never wavered even as the children pushed each other, waiting for an answer. The mother clutched her child tighter. Finally, she spoke their answer. "No," she said, her voice a fierce whisper. "We do not serve the dark. We serve the Light."
The moment the words were spoken, the laughter of Luma's siblings ceased. Their forms, once fluid and playful, became sharp and still. The game was over. Luma felt a small, familiar twinge of responsibility, a reminder from his Lord's will. This was no longer a game, but a chore. The first-born had a job to do.
"Oh, okay," he said, his voice losing its innocent cheer. "We eat you, then."
The children's forms surged forward, their darkness consuming the family's screams. It was not a violent, messy feast. It was a silent, clean process. The shadows simply engulfed the bodies like a slime, and within it many mouths formed and consumed the flesh, absorbing their essence. When it receded, nothing remained but a small, empty space. Beyond reformed shadow children, all unhappy it ended like this...
"I wanted to play with the child, not eat him," one of the kids complained to Luma. Others nodded their heads, also disappointed their first game ended like this.
Luma agreed and reassured them. "This is only the first—there are many more to play with. Not all will say no, but we must judge those that do, okay?"
"OK!" the chorus agreed.
The laughter and chatter returned as the children gathered around Luma. "Ready to play again?" a voice asked eagerly, jumping up and down, already forgetting this family even existed in their game.
Luma nodded, his form a perfect silhouette in the gloom. The game was fun—he liked finding the people, and the chore wasn't so bad. It was easy to eat them. True, he did not like it any more than his siblings, but he had a great sense of purpose now and that made it worth it. Besides, the city was a vast playground, and there were so many people left to find. Why care about those that said no?
The game went on for hours. So many said no, which always surprised the children. Why did they fear their lord? He offered them life? Yet they kept choosing death...
Their favorite was when they said yes, though. They let them drink the dark from their hand—a promise of trust and a gift of darkness. They loved when they found other kids who said yes, and now many chose to chase through the streets with them, seeking to help where they could. But Luma put his foot down and made sure they stayed out more than not...
He said they were the judgment, not the others. It was wasting their gift of being free, putting them at risk of getting hurt. The children did not agree and thought Luma was just being mean... till they faced their first real fight.
A blade, a strike. They came randomly from these new people they found. They yelled, then even tried to bite when they saw nothing else worked and were desperate to harm them, calling them a blight...
The kids were unsure how to react to such hostility. It even scared them being attacked so openly, and most scattered when the event happened, emboldening those doing the assault to think it was a success. Till Luma came.
"You chose to attack before a choice was even offered. This marks your choice." Luma spoke clearly, as the other kids still fearfully watched, despite knowing they were meant to kill those that denied them. But even when they fought back? It was harder to still want to do their lord's will when they had never been struck before.
"If you refuse, you'll never be allowed to play again," Luma said calmly to the children. Fear—that did inspire them.
"NO!" A sea of voices spoke their fears. The weapons never hurt, and the words had no real bite—it just startled them. They rushed the random strikers after that, easily overpowering them, and the kids soon learned how silly those fears were. Their lord gave them life—he would not let them get hurt so easily.
"THANK YOU, LUMA! THANK YOU, LORD!" the children sang as they ran through, attacking all those that tried to hurt them, messing up their game. They were happy they could play and not be hurt.
Yet once more they were given pause. Up till now they faced those that agreed, those that did not, and random one or two that fought. But now? Hundreds huddled in an enormous barricaded area, and they were unsure how to handle so many. It couldn't be all saying no, could they? How would they know who to save?
Yet once more, Luma knew what they did not and offered them a choice.
His voice echoed loud and clear beyond the barricade as the other children huddled, unsure how this would play out. Even a few newly turned dark wandered closer to witness the fate of those that still defied the lord and thought they were making a better choice.
"THE LORD OFFERS ALL ONE CHANCE AT A CHOICE. WE WISH YOU TO JOIN US." Luma tried pleading with the wall even as people climbed the sides to confront him.
"FUCK OFF, DEMON SPAWN!" one shouted while lighting a bottle and throwing it at Luma. It shattered, spreading flame, scaring the other shadow kids, even making a few onlookers flee, unsure how this would play out.
Luma stood calmly in the flame and used a bit of shadow to dampen the flame, even as arrows and random debris were being shot and thrown at him as he still stood calm and open.
"LAY DOWN AND PLEAD FOR MERCY, BUT DO NOT LOOK, FOR ANY EYES I MEET WILL BE MET WITH DEATH TILL I OFFER MERCY." Luma's words were clear and confused the children. He wanted to fight them all at once? But there were so many...
"NO!" the children pouted and did not want to go, yet Luma was firm and reminded them—no more games if this was what they chose. They hated being forced, and now more than ever they knew why it was called a chore. It was not fun and was stupid work...
But the work needed to be done. Luma was not stupid and knew he could make even this a game. "You know, if we do a good job, he will probably reward us. Won't that be fun?"
"YEA!" the kids agreed, seeing a reward for doing what he claimed. Luma was worried—speaking for his lord when he had no way to prove or offer what he claimed. He wasn't sure if he overstepped when a voice calmed him and sent the kids into a frenzy.
I approve, and you all have done well. End this threat, and your reward will be no more chores. I will handle the rest that don't agree. I ask only that you offer all at least once a choice while you play.
More flames rained down upon Luma amongst the arrows, but he did not notice any more than the kids, entranced by their lord speaking to them. He only regained focus along with the children after it was over, as they all rushed forward, slipping between the cracks of wood, flowing easily within their walls.
Many were huddled in the middle, and all the kids circled not once but twice, making sure to engrave all the eyes that watched them—with hate, with fear, with despair. They did it not to mock but to ensure they did not miss one person who followed his words to the letter and kept their head down. There were not many, but they were there, cowering in fear, some in filth of their own piss, but still followed orders.
The first they struck, and all kids agreed, were those that beat those that tried to listen. Even as they got punched, kicked, and raised up with yells and jeers, they desperately tried to keep their eyes closed. And to that, the kids thought, made them the most worthy of being first to save. They tried to follow the rules, and the children knew rules must be followed and would protect those that listened.
It happened quickly and silently, confusing the people at first. The random yells and fear from so many made it hard to know what was happening—children of darkness running around and turning into blobs? Just to run around more? Yet it soon became clear as the numbers started thinning and the only ones left were cowering in fear, never looking.
A few tried to mimic what saved others, but it was too late—they watched when ordered to never look. And to the kids, this was a new version of hide and seek: you were told not to look, now we find those that did. You lose.
A few in the number tried to fight to the very end. Even as their numbers went from hundreds to less than fifty, of those numbers thirty never watched as even the last few met their end, kicking and screaming into the abyss.
The kids were tireless and now happy they could forever play. They let them drink and join the dark as they sought out the rest. Luma did not share their joy and felt a need to keep trying, even with Abaddon's approval, as he was the overseer to the children even if he was one himself.
Phase Five, Day Five
The day passed easily enough. They managed to find everyone in every crack and offered a choice. It was a shock to the people when the kids just left—they assumed a worse fate would be meeting them and thought life would return to normalcy.
But Luma knew better. Their reward and true gift beyond less chores was their lord had expanded their home. It happened in the slums first and they loved dancing and playing there—the air was so pure and clean. They chased and followed as it extended into the middle district, and they got their first shock watching what happened to those that refused the gift.
They saw the kids playing and dancing and were losing some of their fear watching them do nothing. But when the clean air reached the people, they choked and gagged and started melting into a puddle of darkness, surprising the kids. That got other onlookers that did not choose the dark to run and scream, trying to avoid the new clean air, which surprised the kids, so they gave chase.
They wanted to watch the scene unfold again and again. It was an odd sight—watching them melt. When they consumed them, they saw nothing, so seeing the fate of those that refused the gift was a rare treat.
Some even drank from the puddles, but Luma chided them—it was not their power to take. The children were shamed, but it seemed their lord was more generous than they knew.
You may drink your fill. You serve me well.
The kids happily drank and played every time a new person fell, but Luma felt the lord was being too nice, even as he secretly drank when he thought nobody was watching...
The air spread and fell over all but could not pass the walls to the upper class. It seemed the walls needed to be melded to darkness to help it flow further along.
Phase Five, Day Six
The kids were getting tired of the game. It was fun for a while, but too much of the same thing was wearing them down. They no longer jumped and played merrily, finding the people and offering them a choice. There were much less in the upper class, but a choice was given all the same. Even then they were tired of looking and mostly were thinking themselves clever, hiding and playing new games...
Luma did not like it but understood. Even he wished to let the rest suffer—they knew their lord existed and did nothing. What did he care about choices...
Yet that's not what it meant to be the first... He had to be better. So he let the other kids play while he kept doing what he must.
He figured if he could find a large amount and let them know, they could tell others. That should be enough...
He sensed a lot of souls in this one building—he got better at that since all the hunts—and slipped between the walls easily enough, overhearing talks.
"A bold claim, Mr. Smith. Your proof?"
"MY WORD."
He wasn't sure what they were yelling about, but it was good they were drawing attention. It made this easier as he slowly went toward them.
"HIS WORD, FOLKS!" the fat man was watching the crowd but overlooked him getting closer.
"AND WHAT HAS HIS... WORD GIVEN US SO FAR? HMMM?"
"FEAR. DOUBT. LIES."
"So thank you for your word... Mr. Smith. But those with more wit than fear will enjoy this party."
This was a party? Sounded fun. As he finally started to pass the people from the back, the light brush of his form as he slipped between them made them look and scream, and fear spread as they parted, making it easier for him to walk forward. Now all eyes were on him.
He wasn't sure how to address them when his lord spoke, surprising him.
That man there. Luma felt the lord direct his sight to a man with many people standing behind him. He was there at the start. Give him first choice. Let him choose who to give our offer beyond these walls, but let them know there will be no tomorrow to wait and see.
Well, it was easier than telling everyone the same thing. As before, he was tired of repeating those words but knew he had to a few more times...
"A choice was given and a choice is brought: drink of the dark or join the rot." Luma spoke clearly, bored from saying it so many times.
He held up his hand and, like a gentle waterfall, darkness flowed from his hand in a slow stream. After drinking from the pool, darkness flowed easier from the children and allowed them more freedom to shift their bodies in control, but all liked the child form and did little beyond that.
"All may drink, but all are only given one chance. Choose." Luma calmly spoke to the room but watched the man before him, waiting bored for it to end. He wasn't sure how much time to give—he was already tired of waiting...
After a few drank, he tried to assure them—even bored, he would not abandon those seeking salvation—and whispered his thoughts to them, or tried, like his lord did. He wasn't sure if it worked—he never tried before...
Be well. You're safe with us.
Yet seeing the same faces stare back with no voice in return, he thought he failed, upsetting him a bit...
"There will be no chance after this. You're free to choose, but it is the best choice."
The man spoke, surprising Luma. Maybe his mind whisper worked a little, but he wanted to make it clear there would be no second chance.
"Those here made this choice and will be offer no other but before nightfall you are free to offer others one last chance for the coming of the light will be their last day."
He wasn't going to let those that stood by just watching get another chance. He was already tired of even this game... He did not want to have to follow them around finding the rest and was depressed he could not play when his lord offered him a gift.
He turned all the extra darkness into a bottle as Abaddon spoke once more to him.
This will be a poison to those that scorn us but a gift for those who wish to join us. I sent Tom to the castle to handle the rest. You've done well.
He was finally going to be done. Getting excited, he gave the last words to be free.
"Offer this to those you wish to save, but be warned: we have eyes. Those that scorn us will taste only poison. The rest, it is a gift."
He ran away with that to join the clean air and other playing kids. Maybe hide and seek with other kids like his kind—it could be fun again now that it wasn't a chore—or they could make new games. He wondered what they would be as he rushed to see what the others had been doing.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqySIfHNjE
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