I have to pee.

The climb ended. Henry and Riku were now on the roof.

“Oh man, I was really hoping this wouldn’t be another multiple chapters thing.” Henry complained about the height or something.

“What makes you say that?” Riku used his knowledge of human anatomy to reassure him.

“We just had a couple of action-packed chapters back-to-back. I figured it was going to be some time before the next one. I still hope I’m right.” Henry thanked him for making him feel better.

“I’m sure you are. This is a comedy story, not an action one.” Riku grabbed some wall dust from the ground and threw it on Henry's face.

“Why on Earfh did you do that?!”

Oh. My bad. Everyone was ignoring my inputs and I thought they didn’t matter anymore. Please ignore that and go on.

“Anyways, see that life-sized statue of a tent? The skull is inside that.”

Riku pointed at the other end of the roof, where, as he had aptly described, stood a stone tent. The tent wasn’t a camping one, however, but a circus one, complete with small flags of stone on the tips of stone and lamps of stone emitting light of stone. It was made of stone. Or maybe marble. The wind and dust covered its surface gray and made it impossible to know. The only thing that wasn’t made of rock was the beam supporting the entrance. It was in fact made of stick. Not sticks; stick, singular.

“Listen, I already have a structurally flawed cave to go to at school, I don’t need another one to go.” Henry reacted to the narration that followed Riku’s dialogue line. Yes I’m still angry they ignored me before.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll hold up.”

“Don’t say that! Can’t you make the handler come out to us?”

“I told you, he can’t move.”

They walked closer to the entrance, and to the mounds of rubbish piled around it. They surrounded the tent like a necklace around a… neck. Obviously.

“I’m surprised there is so much trash even on the roof.”

“That’s not trash.”

Henry took a closer look. And regretted it. He initially thought that the white color of the trash was due to the fact it was mostly walls and construction materials. He was very upset to learn he was wrong. It wasn’t trash, it was bones.

For age rating reasons, I will simply say that the bones were of animal nature.

“ ” Henry was speechless.

Riku kept walking, uncaring of the environment as always. But Henry was moved to act by his common sense.

"Listen Riku, I know you said you have problems understanding what is normal and what isn't, but surely you can realize that if a place is surrounded by bones, that's a bad sign!"

"Can you be sure? Have you ever been in a place surrounded by bones?"

“No, but it’s a fair assumption to say it’s bad! And I could ask you the same thing! How do you know that place is safe? Have you ever been in a place surrounded by bones?”

“I haven’t. I guess there is only one way to find out.” Riku marched towards the stone or marble circus.

“No! …Wait, does that mean you’ve never been in that tent?”

“No, it’s my first time here.”

Henry’s processor was starting to overheat.

“Who told you this heirloom of yours would be here?”

“No one told me. Before my parents died they left me a box, with the instruction to only open it after I turned 16. Inside the box there was a letter describing the hakutaku skull and its importance as a family heirloom, plus all the information I would need to find it.”

Henry bluescreened.

Riku used the time it took him to reboot to finally enter the tent. Henry turned himself back on, and ultimately decided to follow the only flesh person he could call a friend. He walked past the entrance stick and inside the growing darkness of the “room”. His eyes needed a few seconds to adjust, and what they saw was so worrying that it needed its own paragraph.

The walls of the tent were covered in cuts and gashes, as if a cyclone of blades had spun around inside it. Pieces of them had crumbled on the ground, leaving behind impact marks and fissures. The ground itself was like a warzone, or what remained of it after a terrible battle. War trenches filled the room, and the bullet holes left in them showed that they had been used profusely. In the middle of it all, a throne. A large chair, not made of gold, but made of steel weapons. From claymores to shurikens, from morning stars to sai, from bear traps to katanas. The grand chair did not have a real place to sit on, and yet the person bound to it with metal chains did not seem uncomfortable. The handler was calm, his arms on the jagged armrests and his back on the many spikes that formed the backrest. He wore a long coat made of black leather, torn and filled with holes, five leather belts over his stomach, red boots that reached up to his knees, filled with spikes and thorns, and red gloves, missing the fingers. His overall body was covered in dark red studs.

Next to him, the only source of light. A red candle on a tall, black stand.

“Are you Saisentan?” Riku was standing in front of him.

The man slowly raised his head, and looked at him with a smile.

“Yo, I recognize you, you are Riku, wassup!
I haven’t seen you since you were a little pup!
But now you’re not a kid anymore, you’ve grown up!
Why don't you come right here and give me a big hug!”

"Your clothes make it a bit difficult to hug." Riku only saw one problem with the situation.

"Is he… rapping??" Henry clearly saw many.

"I'm letting my soul speak!
Otherwise I'd be weak.
Now, are you with his clique?
Congrats, you've reached the peak!"

"He's Henry, a friend of mine. He's here to help me get the hakutaku skull. Do you know where it is?"

"It's finally the moment!
I have been very patient.
The hakutaku's placement.
Is hidden in the basement."

"The basement?! Why did we climb all the way to the roof if we needed to go down to the basement?!" Henry's anger was moved by his sore legs and sore heart.

"I think that you should feel blessed!
To have your life effervesced.
I am giving you a test!
Ever heard of a fetch quest?"

“...Effervesced?” Henry was unsure of the word’s meaning.

“Don’t worry about him,” Riku told Saisentan, “He complains now, but he’s still going to help me in the end.”

“Good friend that you bring.
Happy words I sing.
Go and spread your wings…”

Riku and Saisentan smiled at each other. Henry third-wheeled them.

An awkward second of silence later, Riku decided there was nothing else to say and walked away. Henry followed him towards the exit, but then realized something.

“Wait, are we not… Taking his chains off?”

“I don’t think he wants us to.”

“But…” Henry turned back to the handler. “Can I ask what is all of this? Why are you in this situation?”

“It’s a sexual thing.”

“.............................................................................................................................................................................................................oh.”

Henry turned to Riku and pushed him to walk forward.

“We are going to leave now.”

POSTFACE

RIPETITIOUS DEFININGTIONS OF WORDLES:

New moon: Every 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds, the celestial bodies in the sky align, and a vampire sparkles.