Upon his request, Dreadlilocks told Jack what she knew of Gin’s demise, including the fate of Kyloe.

As he listened, his face slowly reverted to its usual gloomy demeanor. “…I guess I should’ve seen it coming,” he said when she’d finished. “I always had a feeling the two of them would kill each other, one day…”

“Why?” Dreadlilocks asked. “Did they really hate each other…?”

“No, they…well, I guess they probably did. But I was thinking of it more like…a matter of fate.”

“Both of them are characters my mother wrote, who I “saved” at some point,” he explained. “One I didn’t give enough, and she suffered for it…the other I gave everything, and yet, nothing that could truly heal her pain…ah, that’s a good line…”

He pulled a worn, leather-bound book out of his jacket, and scribbled something in it with a quill pen. “…Anyway, considering how their lives turned out despite my best efforts, I started to think, ‘wouldn’t it be just perfect if they ended up destroying each other…?’ You know, just to really drive home to point of my failure…and lo and behold, now you tell me it’s actually happened.” He looked up into the empty sky. “…It’s damn near poetic,” he finished.

Dreadli furrowed her brows. “I…I don’t know about Kyloe, but…if you saved Gin and helped her to be the person she was, then I don’t think you failed,” she said. “She was generous, and caring…she was a little cold, and you could tell she had some sad memories…but everyone has a few of those. You can’t…fix all of someone’s problems.”

Jack mumbled something incoherent.

“…I know you just wanted them to be happy,” she continued. “And I know what it’s like to want to help people and…not be able to. But you can’t just get mopey and give up. You have to keep trying; if not for them, then for everyone! It’s…the right thing to do.”

Jack looked down at her, and then looked away. “…‘The world needs triers’,” he said. “‘Nothing would ever get done without them’.”

Dreadli grinned.

“…Unfortunately, like all things, the time for trying eventually comes to an end,” he added. “Nothing left to do now but wait for oblivion…which is what I was doing, before you interrupted me…”

He placed his hat back over his face and returned to his original position, lounging across the rocking chair. Then he flicked away the Caramel Odsplut, who zipped back to Dreadlilocks’ shoulder, chirping indignantly.

By now, the grin was gone from Dreadli’s face. She stared at Jack, incredulous. “W…wait,” she said. “Are you saying you’re not going to do…anything??”

“Yyyep,” Jack replied.

“But…I came all the way here to convince you to help! That’s what Gin asked me to do! Are you saying you don’t even care?!”

“…It’s not that I don’t care; I’ve just accepted defeat. I mean, what do you expect me to do…?”

“I expect you to stop lying around in that chair!” Dreadlilocks shouted, growing annoyed. “I expect you to get up and walk out of this prison that isn’t even locked, and I expect you to make an effort to save this world before it’s too late!!”

“…Not bad. You always had a lot of sharp dialogue for someone your age.” Jack folded his arms behind his head and yawned. “I was almost moved just now…”

“…What??”

“…By the way, this prison might not be locked, but it’s very well guarded. I suspect the Odsplut let you in without a fight just so it could trap you here with me…which was pretty crafty, I gotta admit.”

“…WE APPRECIATE THE COMPLIMENT.”

Suddenly, the black tiles on the floor swelled and exploded upwards, twisting into the inky form of the original Odsplut.

Its caramel cousin cowered behind Dreadli’s sleeve, and Dreadlilocks herself was more than a little unsettled by the grinning fiend’s reappearance.

“NOW THAT THIS LITTLE ONE IS HERE, PERHAPS YOU CAN MAKE HER UNDERSTAND THE…FUTILITY OF HER EFFORTS, MASTER JACK,” it said. “DESPITE WHAT SHE MAY THINK OF US, WE ARE NOT CRUEL. WE WOULD PREFER TO SEE THE TWO OF YOU AT PEACE, WHEN THE TIME COMES FOR US TO FINALLY WELCOME YOU INTO THE VOID.”

“Well, I can try…” Jack muttered.

“Don’t listen to that thing…!” Dreadli cried. “It’s…not so tough! It said I would never reach the moon, but I did! It was supposed to kill me, and it failed twice already!”

“WE ASSURE YOU, WE WILL NOT FAIL A THIRD TIME,” the Odsplut replied. “IN ANY CASE, ONCE THE YOUNG MASTER IS UNWRITTEN, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY CEASE TO EXIST.”

“It’s true,” added Jack.

Dreadlilocks balled her fists, but couldn’t think of anything else to say. She stared down at her shoes, exasperated.

“…WHEN NEXT WE RETURN, IT WILL BE TO TAKE YOU WITH US,” the Odsplut said as it sank back into the floor. “WE URGE YOU TO CONSIDER SURRENDER. AFTER ALL, THERE IS STILL ONE HAPPY ENDING AVAILABLE TO YOU: THE HERO’S NOBLE DEATH.”