There’s A Good Reason For Everything Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet

Swinging.

BOOM

The light from the Moon cut in through windows high into the walls, casting silver pools across the polished marble floor. The air didn’t really smell of anything and a wide red carpet ran straight down the center, bordered with intricate gold stitching.

Pillars on either side had carvings of ancient beasts — wolves, serpents, and horned lions —their stone eyes following Thomlin as he walked.

At the far end, raised upon a wide dais of obsidian steps, sat a throne. And on it, Draken lay sideways, legs dangling over one armrest, his head tilted back so far it almost touched the floor.

“You’re late,” Draken said, not looking up. 

Thomlin smirked. “Didn’t know there was an appointment.”

Draken’s head turned lazily, one golden eye catching the moonlight. “Why are you here?”

“For the shield, obviously,” Thomlin said lightly, hands in his pockets. “Why else?”

Draken’s mouth curved in the faintest smile. “Let me phrase it in another way…why are you here in this room right now?”

“A simple coincidence.”

Draken chuckled. “You expect me to believe that?” He sat properly on the throne now coupling his fingers together. “I must commend you, Thomlin. The sheer will it takes to feign ignorance this long is nothing short of impressive.”

“Funny,” Thomlin replied, stepping forward, boots echoing on the marble. “I was just about to say the same about you.”

Draken tilted his head. “Oh? Then you’re ready to give me an answer?”

“I truly don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you suggesting you wanted me to find you?”

“Wanted? No.” Draken chukled, his presence suddenly heavy. “Expected? Yes.”

“You’re crazy,” Thomlin said flatly. “I told you, I just came here by chance. Are you deaf?”

Draken stood, descending the stairs one slow step at a time. “You’re not that lucky, and we both know it. Since you refuse to play along, I’ll leave you alone. Find me when you can truly answer the question.”

Draken turned to the side and opened the door, leaving. 

“Wait!” Thomlin called out. “You’re right. I came here hoping to see you.”

Draken stopped mid-step. Slowly, he turned, one golden eye glinting like a blade in the moonlight. “Now we’re getting somewhere… Hareeth.”

“Walk with me,” he said, not bothering to look back.

Thomlin followed silently, gazing at his back.

The palace was weirdly empty — no guards, no nothing. Only the long corridors and towering walls carved with scenes of conquest—spears pierced through skulls of beasts, hung like trophies.

“Comfortable place you’ve got here,” Thomlin said lightly, though his eyes kept scanning for movement. “Though it’s a little on the ‘conqueror’s mausoleum’ side.”

“No need for small talk, Hareeth. You came for answers. Ask.”

“Who said I was making small talk?” Thomlin smirked. “Just complimenting the grim décor. But fine. Let’s start with Keiji. What are your plans for him?”

Draken’s golden eye gleamed as they turned down a hall lined with mirrors. Their reflections stretched and warped with each step.

“Keiji…” Draken’s tone was almost bored. “He is the one who will bring us home. Our very own Moses, leading us back to the promised land.”

Thomlin raised an eyebrow. “Dramatic. You really believe that kid is the prophetic hero you’ve been searching for?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Draken’s reflection grinned at him from a dozen angles. “I don’t gamble on a single piece. If he fails, I’ll discard him and find another piece.”

“So that’s it,” Thomlin said, voice flat. “Everyone is a pawn to you. You’re taking this villain thing too seriously.”

“And you don’t?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t act shocked,” Draken went on, facing him. “You train them, sure ….but how many are still breathing? Remember Caldis? Jinn? Or have you drowned their names from memory with cheap ale?”

Thomlin stopped dead, staring at one of the reflection. He saw Caldis, grinning as his torso was cut in half. In another, Kinn stood with his neck snapped at the wrong angle.

“I remember all of them,” he spoke softly, “Difference is, I don’t move them like pieces on a board. I give them the tools to choose their own path. They can defy me. Hell, Ash does it every other day.”

“And that makes you better than me?”

“Damn right it does.” Thomlin’s glare cut to the mirror, where his own reflection stared back, fractured and monstrous.

Draken chuckled. “You know what I’ve never understood? We all came here the same way…from different parts of Earth, yes, but all sharing the same passion. We were supposed to test this place, to push it to its limits. But then…you changed, became soft, started believing this place matters. It doesn’t. It’s just code. Ones and zeros. A sandbox that some shut-in developer forgot to add an eject button….”

“Way I see it, we didn’t change,” Thomlin snapped. “You remained the same game-obsessed kid who thinks every problem is a puzzle to solve. But only a moustache-twirling wannabe can spout the nonsense that came from your mouth. This isn’t a puzzle, Arisu. Look around you…these people laugh, fight, drink and dream. This world may have started as someone’s game, but it’s grown beyond what it was meant to be. We can live here, make something of it.”

Draken laughed suddenly, sharp enough to make the mirrors vibrate. “Live here? Build a life with one of your students? Verra? Grinn or your current pet project…what’s his name…Ash?”

“You seem to know a lot about me.” Thomlin’s voice was calm but edged with steel. “Been spying on me, Arisu? Seems desperate.”

“Just keeping track of my pieces,” Draken said turning slowly. “I laughed for hours when I heard you’d lost your hands in some low-tier dungeon. I suppose I should thank you because it led me to Keiji. At first, I was skeptical but after seeing him defeat my mirror copies…I knew he had potential. Not much but enough to make things interesting.”

He glanced at both their reflection in the warped mirror — former versions of themselves reflected back at them.

Draken slowed, his steps echoing like a metronome in the mirror hall. “You think this is about pawns and boards, Hareeth. But you’re wrong. The board itself is broken.”

Thomlin’s brow furrowed. “Meaning?”

“The dungeons were meant to spawn endlessly, providing an endless loop of gaming experience. That’s why the Guardians keep appearing. They’re not bosses, Hareeth. They’re janitors. The system is trying to fix a bug.”

Thomlin said nothing, but his fingers flexed at his sides.

“I discovered something years ago,” Draken continued. “When two dungeons merge, something… changes. The system shifts, spawning bigger and badder beasts. I thought….what if I force it? Merge more and more dungeons together until the System can’t keep up. “

“And then what?”

Draken smiled faintly. “Then I break it. Once the System collapses, there will be no more dungeon cycles, no resets, no respawns. We will no longer be prisoners of the game.”

“Or we all die when the system unravels.”

“Perhaps,” Draken said with a shrug. “But tell me, Hareeth….wouldn’t that be better than pretending this cage is a home?”

Thomlin took a step forward following Draken outside the mirrored hall. “You might be right there. So how does this plan of yours really work? Who knows, if it’s good, I might side with you.”

Draken’s smile widened. “Come on, Hareeth. You think I’m that stupid to tell you the plan? Give me some credit. That’ll make it harder to be two steps ahead. And speaking of, you should check on your little protégés.”

Thomlin’s brow narrowed. “What did you do?”

Draken turned slightly. “Right now, they are fighting for their lives. Rhennmar and Eliorynna are doing surprisingly well. You should see it…it’s beautiful.”

“You son of a …..”

“Relax. It’s not too late to save them. But you will have to choose. Personally? I would go save the gravedigger. Given what Eliorynna knows about him, she likely won’t stop until he’s dead.“

Thomlin’s fists clenched hard enough to pop his knuckles. “This isn’t over. You….”

“You’ve seen my hand,” Draken cut in smoothly, stepping backward into the shadow. “Now the question is whether you’ll play yours… or fold. Either way, I win.”

And with that, he was gone— leaving Thomlin staring at the shadows, shaking with rage.