Lucky Rabbit

Loud footsteps echoed up the stairs, and Thaniel whirled, closing the door. The sound of it was too loud, and if their pursuers hadn’t known where they were before, they did now. But Thaniel was distraught and Pandy was still paralyzed, so the point was moot. They were about to be picked out like the last two M&Ms in an otherwise empty bowl.

And now she wanted M&Ms. Which she would probably never have again, because not only should rabbits not eat chocolate, but there were probably no M&Ms in this world, unless she was actually in her world, and Thaniel’s family were the crazy vicars living deep in the English countryside. Vicars? Lairds? What was the word for the rich people who only came out and mingled with the commoners when there were cute little country festivals and they had to judge who grew the biggest potato that year?

Who cared? Focus, Pandy!

Okay, they were trapped in the top of a fifty-foot high tower used primarily by a man who was either a mad scientist, an evil magician, or a complete nutjob, depending on the magical and technological level of this world. It was also possible the Father was some combination of the three, but really, that wasn’t what was important.

They needed to get out. Unfortunately, they couldn’t go down, which had been Pandy’s original plan, so now they were stuck. Any second now, one of those men would throw open the door and- The handle jiggled. Something thudded hard against the door. Quiet cursing sounded from outside. Didn’t they know there was a little boy in here? They shouldn’t be saying things like that where Thaniel could hear them.

Pandy looked up at the boy. His blue eyes were huge, filled with tears, and locked on the shuddering door. Someone out there was bound and determined to break it down, but Pandy wasn’t sure why it hadn’t just opened in the first place. Thaniel had barely remembered to close it, and he certainly hadn’t locked it.

Opening her mouth, she tried to make a sound. Rabbits weren’t much good at noises other than quiet munching and terrible, soul-rending screaming, but she managed to make a loud enough gasp that Thaniel looked at her rather than the door. She twitched an ear, and the boy blinked. Once. Twice.

Thaniel drew in a breath, and Pandy realized he’d been holding it ever since someone tried the door. Now, he gasped, then looked around, his eyes darting around in the blackness, and she could tell that he couldn’t really see. Fortunately, Pandy could see, at least a bit, and there was a familiar shape on a table to their right.

So, Pandy could see, but she could neither speak nor move. Thaniel could speak and move, but not only couldn’t he see, he was utterly terrified. Which she would be, too, if she wasn’t fairly certain she’d have to be made into hasenpfeffer in order to actually die. There was a candle right there, but how did she let the boy know?

Slowly, haltingly, Thaniel began to move. He slid one foot forward until it touched something, then jerked it back. When nothing came after him, he tried again, and this time took a step, bringing him up to a piece of furniture that looked like it was probably a desk. Or a sink. Pandy could see, but not well.

The boy reached out, clutching Pandy to his chest with one hand while he felt around with the other. His fingers brushed over things that looked like books, and then he yanked his hand back with a yelp. “Something bit me,” he whimpered, holding up the offending digit. Dark fluid ran freely down his hand from a deep cut. It dripped onto Pandy’s fur as Thaniel snuggled her close, crying softly.

+2 Corruption Points for Bathing in the Blood of the Innocent

Wait now. Unsurprisingly, the System didn’t respond. Pandy was really starting to worry about what these Corruption Points were, and what would happen if she got too many of them.

Thaniel was still sniffling, but he seemed to realize that he couldn’t let a single small wound stop him from exploring. He moved to the side, switching Pandy to his other arm, which only led to more blood soaking into her fur.

+1 Corruption Point for Bathing in the Blood of the Innocent

Well, that was only one this time, but she had four all together now. Thaniel really needed to stop up that cut. Or put her down. Whichever.

The boy made a triumphant sound as his fingers closed around the candle she’d seen on the table. It was much larger than the slender tapers used in the rest of the house, but it would probably last quite a bit longer as well. Now, Thaniel just had to find a way to light it, and then they needed to find a Batpole down to a hidden Batcave, or maybe a flying carpet, or a teleportation circle. Pandy wasn’t picky.

There was light. There, at the end of Thaniel’s finger, was a flickering golden flame. It only lasted for an instant, and then it was gone, but it definitely wasn’t just a figment of her overactive imagination. Definitely.

“I did it!” Thaniel gasped. His arm tightened around Pandy, and if she wasn’t already broken, that might have done it. The light flickered again, and Thaniel crowed in triumph. “I told Lian I could do it, but he didn’t believe me!”

The next time the light flared, the candle caught, but it didn’t burn with the clean yellow light Pandy expected. No, this flame was such a deep purple that it was nearly black, which went quite well with the black wax it was made of. It stank, too, filling the room with the scent of rotting meat and making Thaniel gag.

Flailing, the boy tried to put out the flame again, but instead, he knocked the candle over. It tumbled onto its side, and the fire licked at a piece of curled, yellowish paper covered in reddish-brown letters that sat on the table next to it. The paper caught, and Thaniel put Pandy down as he desperately began beating at the flames that seemed to jump from one dry, brittle piece of paper to the next.

Pandy couldn’t see much, since she still didn’t have control of any part of her body below her neck. She did see the light of the fire growing, and Thaniel’s shadow outlined on the wall as he picked various objects up, tried to beat out the flames, then threw the newly engulfed item away again.

He was screaming for help now, and she was helpless. She felt something tug on her, as if trying to grab hold of the back of her neck, but it slipped away just as quickly. It was almost as if she could hear the Father’s voice, telling her to protect Thaniel, but the crackling of the flames and the pounding on the door and the boy’s desperate cries drowned it out.

Everything burned. And then something snapped. Something that had wrapped around her, holding her in place, broke loose, releasing her…soul? Consciousness? She felt herself rising up, looking down at the bloody, broken body of a white rabbit with frozen, glassy red eyes.

Your bonds have broken! Will you:

Return to Hell to face eternal damnationKill Nathaniel ConroyWell, that answered the question of whether Thaniel’s parents had really written and illustrated that beautiful book for him. What were the odds that a completely random man and woman – yes, she was assuming gender based on their names – named Conroy were unrelated to a little boy who was also named Conroy?

But wait! Was that really what was important right now? No. No, the important thing was that the System was actually talking to her. Not only that, but it was waiting for her input! Now, what had it said? Helpfully, the words reappeared.

Your bonds have broken! Will you:

Return to Hell to face Eternal DamnationKill Nathaniel ConroyUh, no? She absolutely was not going to kill Thaniel. She couldn’t even if she wanted to. She was an incorporeal spirit. Wasn’t she?

Looking away from the pitiful bunny corpse, Pandy held up her own hand. The fingers were long, slim, and pale. The fingernails were painted a deep red, and each one came to a vicious point. What was that style called? Stiletto? She would have to find some fingernail clippers and chop those off as soon as she got out of this. They could hurt someone!

Your bonds have broken! Will you:

Return to Hell to face Eternal DamnationKill Nathaniel Conroy in order to gain enough Corruption Points to remain on this PlaneWait, wasn’t this getting worse? Was that what Corruption Points were for? Did she have to use them in order to continue un-living?

Pandy’s incorporeal throat convulsed, swallowing hard as she looked around at the chaos caused by one little boy. The whole laboratory was on fire, with Thaniel in the center of it, completely overwhelmed, sitting down and clutching the body of his beloved pet bunny. The door still shook, but even the flames seemed to be flickering in slow motion, as if the whole world was waiting for Pandy to make up her mind.

“None of the above,” she shouted. Thaniel didn’t even look up, so he must not be able to hear her. That was okay, though, because Pandy was talking to the System. Or was she? She was so used to video games that when she saw something that looked like a User Interface, she immediately jumped to that conclusion, but what if that wasn’t right?

“Hey, you! God! Whatever your name is! The guy with all the-,” she gestured at herself, as if that would help anyone understand what was going on in her head. “The muscles. And the toga. And the really pretty garden. I don’t want to go to Hell or whatever, but I’m definitely not going to kill Thaniel. I just want to get him out of here!”

The last choice continued to hang in the air as flames slowly crept toward the weeping boy. He was beginning to gasp as the fire eagerly fed on the oxygen in the air. It must be hot, and he looked so frightened…

A button appeared. A very familiar button, shaped like a heart, with the word SPIN! printed in the middle in a very excited font. It was smoking a little, and one side of it looked slightly darker than the other, but there it was, and just like in Gacha Love, Pandy was faced with two options that she didn’t like.

If this really was her favorite game, and she pressed that button, a third option would appear; an option that would otherwise only have shown up if she’d made a different choice at some point in her playthrough. It might be something as simple as gaining the option to wear a blue dress to a party instead of a green or yellow one, or it might be something game-changing, like being offered a chance to compete for the Prince’s hand in marriage even though you decided to join the Agricultural Track at school.

Pandy smacked the bejeezus out of the button. It flashed a brilliant red, the familiar music sounding a little tinny and off key. At first, she was afraid it wasn’t going to work, but then it settled down, and the question reappeared, sharp white letters hanging in a cloud of smoke.

Your bonds have broken! Will you:

Return to Hell to face Eternal DamnationKill Nathaniel Conroy in order to gain enough Corruption Points to remain on this PlaneSave Nathani¿l C0nroyWell, it might look a bit strange, but Pandy knew a lifeline when she saw one. “C! I choose C!” she shouted.

Options A and B vanished, just as they would have in the game, leaving only C, which turned a pretty, blushing pink. After a moment, it, too, vanished, and another message appeared in its place.

Use One (1) Corruption Point to Extinguish Flames?

“Yes,” Pandy gasped, and something drained out of her, looking like a cloud of pure misery. It was black and moist, roiling more like oil added to a pot than any kind of gas. Whatever it was, it swallowed the flames, smothering them until Thaniel was surrounded by a ring of ashes.

The door shuddered, the side facing them now charred and black. The handle turned, and it was flung open. A figure stood on the landing, limned by the bright light coming from what she could now see was a simple glass sphere, filled with some kind of liquid that glowed like sunlight. The light fell on Thaniel, in his sooty and bloodstained white nightgown, and the figure gasped.

“Thaniel! Oh, thank Ismara, you’re alive!” Lian stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside his younger brother. The bigger boy’s shoulders shook as he clutched at the smaller one, his hands tracing over Thaniel’s body, lingering on a few burns and the small but deep cut on the side of his left hand.

“Lian?” Thaniel’s voice trembled, and then he launched himself forward, little arms going around his brother’s waist. He began to wail, the sound of a lost child who finally found his way home, and a giant hand seemed to wrap itself around Pandy, yanking her back into the body of an undead rabbit.