The Carnival

[Kaden]

Something he liked talking about… That was an interesting thought. Truthfully, Kaden had never really considered his past in terms of like or dislike. Obviously, as a series of isolated incidents, he disliked them, but actually talking about was something he just… didn’t do. He never really attributed it to liking or disliking what happened or what he could possibly gain from talking about it. It was something to think about.

“Yeah,” Kaden laughed and planted a hand on top of the girl’s head, to her annoyance. “No problem.”

In the wake of Belle’s story, Kaden found himself wondering why the girl had never tried looking up her mother again. He didn’t voice such a concern, but the idea that the current Belle Hibiki could be seen as weak, in anyone’s eyes, was… stupid. Yeah, there were people out there who were physically stronger or faster, but strength of body only took someone so far, and Belle had a lot more than muscles pushing him.

As Belle slapped Kaden’s hand away from his head, the courier feigned a smile and turned the same inspective eye on himself. He wasn’t strong, or fast, but he did have some power in him, for whatever that was worth. He had never really considered what he might be able to do with it, though. His recent life had been nothing but one insane adventure after another, never really giving him a moment to pause and think about what he would do with that kind of power if he were ever given the chance.

The things that had happened to him, the things that he had watched happen to other people, they made him feel as though there was a greater purpose to be served. Of course, Kaden always dismissed such thoughts as paper-thin rationalizations. If his past had been what given him his strength and the drive to use it, then it was justified and all part of him living out some pre-ordained purpose. It hadn’t just been a horrible person doing horrible things.

With a shake of his head, Kaden brought his train of thought to the immediate situation. There would be time to think over the events of his past when they were all out of Gamer’s overly-elaborate prison. Until then, though, there had to be something he could do to help find a way out their predicament and, sadly, it wasn’t going to be sitting on a bench with Belle. Regardless, the girl looked like she had plenty on her mind. A little alone time, by Kaden’s approximation, would be helpful.

“Well, Belle, I’m going to leave you to your thoughts.” Hopping up from the bench, Kaden as the girl looked up at him. “You look like you’ve got plenty on your mind.”

With another smile and a quick wave, Kaden took his leave. Despite his decision to look for a way to escape Gamer’s nefarious clutches, he didn’t really know where to begin. It occurred to him that volunteering Belle to help his search would have been beneficial, but by the time he seriously considered that option, he had already wandered out of view.

Irritatingly, there didn’t seem to be anything off about the Carnival. The sounds and smells and sights were all pretty spot-on. There were even plenty of “people” roaming about the attractions, talking to one another, enjoying a cotton candy, or just trying their hand at a game that was almost certainly rigged. Though the people looked real, Kaden was fairly certain they were not. Their actions were all too… routine. They moved from one place to the next, speaking at the same intervals and laughing at the same times. Those were not the sporadic, random actions of people trying to enjoy a carnival. There was also the fact that his Sight revealed only a handful of other ki sources within the entire park, but the official party line was that Kaden had come to such conclusions using only his insight.

After hours, or what felt like hours, of carefully scrutinizing everything he came across, the courier had no better idea of how to escape the Carnival. Really, he didn’t even know what he was looking for, just hoping that he’d know it when he saw it. If they were in a big computer, then maybe some kind of glitch would show up or… something. He was one of the least computer-savvy people he knew, having only ever owned a laptop that was just barely qualified to look up porn.

When Kaden stopped actively searching for some kind of magical sign that would point him in the right direction, he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was. He briefly considered calling for Mixie, hoping she could provide him with some directions, but decided against it as he took in his surroundings. Unlike the majority of the park, which was illuminated with the harsh glow of dozens of neon signs, he was practically shrouded in darkness.

To his surprise, he found it a rather welcome change of pace. Since entering Kill Town, his mind had been absorbed in one soul-searching thought after another. Either he had been wrestling with Sophia’s wild mood swings, or leaning on Piper’s shoulder, or discussing his horribly unpleasant past with Belle, or being confronted with his every inadequacy by anyone he seemed to come across and, though he felt like he had internally dealt with most of those things, it had taken his toll. His thoughts were coming slowly and far more clouded than they should be. Both were bad signs.

Physically he was as good as he was going to get while stuck in a bizarre video-game-from-hell. Or maybe that was part of the problem. The courier had never considered that, since they were strapped into some machine, doing anything would put some strain on their minds. They certainly weren’t moving their physical bodies, but their in-game commands had to have been coming from somewhere. Regardless of the cause, Kaden needed to rest his mind. Sadly, for him, that meant getting as far away from anything and everything as he could. His stupid brain simply refused to stop if there was anything to consider.

Scanning his surroundings, he realized his aimless wandering had been fairly serendipitous. There was basically nothing around him. Off in the distance he saw a couple wandering through the same section of the park, though it took no insightful deductions to discern where their focus lay. Casting a glance around, he looked for a reasonable place to let his mind rest. The stalls and attractions around him were largely abandoned, making any one of them a good place to take refuge, all he needed was to find the most comfortable one.

Turning to his left, he almost smacked into a large, cast-iron gate. Rapping his knuckles against it, he realized that it was barring access to a small staircase. His interest piqued, the courier snapped his fingers, producing an orb of ki that floated above his head and illuminated the area around him. It was, of all things, a dunk tank. Inside of the tank was a long board, long enough for him to lay across, and the fact that it was too dark to see into meant the chances of him being disturbed were very low. The ball of light above his head dissipated as Kaden hopped over the metal gate and made his way into the tank.

--

“That thing… looks asleep. Underwater,” Ashe’s voice was filled with disbelief as they both stared at the slumbering Snorlax.

“I noticed,” Kaden replied. He almost winced at the irritation in his voice. Definitely not intended, though he hoped it was understandable.

The two took a seat at the front of the attraction, Snorlax’s half-drowned snoring a surprisingly comfortable backdrop. The courier, despite being soaked to the bone and smelling faintly of wet… monster-thing, smiled as Ashe pulled her hat down over her eyes. As she tried to withdraw as much as she could, the courier pulled off his jacket and tossed it in front of him. He had to repress the concern that water could damage it, since it was just digital.

“Now now,” Kaden reached out and placed his hand underneath Ashe’s chin, gently directing her gaze in his direction. “We can’t have you hiding those beautiful green eyes…”

With his free hand, the courier pulled up the edge of the girl’s hat until her eyes were just visible. Flashing a smile, the courier’s countenance finally broke as he let his hands fall to his sides and gave a light laugh.

“… is the kind of thing Ander would say.” Kaden made a show of looking around, since he already knew the answer to the question he was about to ask. “He isn’t with you this time, is he?”

“Ander? Oh.” The girl followed Kaden’s example and looked around. “I guess not.”

“Just as well,” Kaden leaned back, propping himself on his arms. “He’d just get in the way. Though, I have to admit, he does it pretty masterfully.”

With a quick sigh, Kaden shook any thoughts of the black-haired bandit from his mind. The accompanying action, though, flicked drops of water from his hair in every direction. Beside him, Ashe winced as several drops splashed against her face. Before he even thought about it, Kaden reached out and wiped a stray droplet from her cheek.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

As Kaden tugged at the black shirt plastered to his chest, Ashe hopped off the platform of the dunk tank and turned. With a somewhat sheepish smile, she motioned for Kaden to follow her, which he did with little urging.

“C’mon,” the girl said. “There are some clothing shops not to far away.”

“Oh yes.” Kaden said slowly. “Not sure how happy they’ll be to see me, though.”

“What was that?” Ashe said, slowing her pace to let Kaden catch up.

“Nothing at all,” the courier smiled and waved the question off, not really feeling like going into detail about helping Belle trash the last store they had been in. “I guess it won’t take long to grab a new outfit,” he thought out loud.

“You’re not just going to buy more of the same thing, are you?” Ashe obviously disapproved of that tactic.

“Well why not? It’s comfortably. And besides, why waste time shopping for clothes?”

“Why waste…” Ashe shook her head, unable to fathom the answer to such a preposterous question. “You just don’t understand.”

“I… well… yeah. Fair enough.”