Elvis of Dragonhaven

Chapter 22 Tricks and Games

~In the morning~

Rose sat on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair. Elvis and Ash were in the kitchen, having breakfast. Elli was in her room, looking in the mirror. Elli unbuttoned a few of her shirt buttons and looked at the stone in her chest. The stone glowed green, like the one on Ash's sword. Rose got up, walked down the hall to Elli's room, and knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Elli?" Rose hesitantly opened the door. "Oh, hi Rose," Elli turned around to face her.

Rose gasped and took a step back, "The stone...Ash has that stone on her sword...R-Ratchet?" "Yes, it's me Ratchet...Elli is..dead," she sighed. "I'm confused," Rose raised an eyebrow, "If you're Ratchet, who is dead, and Elli's also dead..then how is her spirit not here?" "My mission isn't complete yet," she explained, "I'm an angel now and Elli isn't..her spirit is in Heaven with the Lord." "I thought I recognized you from somewhere," Rose pressed her lips together, "It all makes sense now." The green aura shot out from Elli's chest, her body falling to the ground. The stone in her chest disappeared. "I'll see you around," Ratchet said and the light vanished. "That was...strange," Rose scratched her head.

~A couple hours later~

Elvis moaned, waking up. "Huh? Where are we?" He rubbed his eyes. Rose and Ash were still asleep. Rose was lying on top of her. "GAH! Get off of me!! I'm suffocating here," Ash shouted. "Wha-? Oh! S-sorry," Rose quickly got up. "Geez, woman," Ash straightened her back, "You must weigh a trillion pounds!" "I said I was sorry," Rose shrugged, looking around.

They were in a big room with beautiful antique furniture. There was a big golden mirror on the wall. Elvis stood up and looked in the mirror. A black aura shone inside the mirror and a tall man wearing a black and red jester outfit stepped out. Elvis gasped and staggered back. "Hello, hello," the man said. He had black shaggy hair, red eyes, and a cheeky demeanor about his face. A puppet-looking girl followed behind, "Hiya!" She giggled. Ash and Rose looked at each other with a funny look. "Um, who are you?" Elvis asked. "The name's Ace," the man grinned. He had an energetic sounding voice, "And this here is my friend Dolly." "Umm..hi, I guess," Rose shook Ace's hand. Dolly had black and red hair tied up in pig tails, she had red rosy cheeks, red eyes, and lines drawn on her face like a puppet's face. She wore big clown shoes and a black and pink dress with a big red bow tie, and a wind-up mechanism sticking out of her back.

"Would you like to play with us?" Dolly asked. "No, thanks," Elvis shook his head. "Yeah, no time for games," Ash made her way to the door, "Let's get out of here." She tried to open the door but it was locked. "Sorry, kiddo," Ace chuckled, "To escape this room, you have to play along with us!" "Ugh, fine," Ash scowled. "Oh, c'mon," Rose sighed, "Can't you please just let us go?" "No can do," Dolly giggled, "But don't worry! It'll be fun!"

"...'Said the spider to the fly'," Elvis's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Lighten up, little man," Ace ruffled Elvis's hair, "Don't be so boring." "Ugh," Elvis grumbled, crossing his arms. "Hey, kid, wanna play a game of cards?" Ace smiled at Ash and held up a deck of cards, "Pick a card, any card!" "Uhh, okay..." Ash picked the one on the top. It was a queen. A hand reached up out of the card and grabbed Ash, "WAAAAAH!! PUT ME DOWN!!" Rose gasped in horror, "ASH!" Elvis reached for his sword, but it was gone. "Wait, where's our weapons!?" He asked. "Sorry, kiddo," Dolly shrugged, "You can't have your little weapons until we're finished having fun!" "We're not having fun!!" Ash screeched.

"Aww, that's too bad," Ace grinned, "C'mon, little guy, I wanna play with you," He picked Elvis up. "Just like a life-sized Ken doll," he laughed. "Let me go..please," Elvis begged. "ROSE! HELP ME!" Ash cried. Rose rushed over and tried to get the hand to let go of Ash. She pulled on it, tried to smack it away, but it's grip was too strong. Dolly took Rose aside and pulled out a knife, "Come on, let's play!" She giggled. "N-no," Rose gasped. Dolly pushed Rose against a big target on the wall. She strapped Rose to it with some duct tape.

Rose grunted and panted, trying to break free. Dolly hurled the knife, aiming for Rose's head. She just barely missed, the knife whizzed past Rose and stuck in the wall right beside her. Rose looked over at Elvis. Ace was holding him upside down. "STOP!! STOP!!" Elvis kicked and screamed. Ace threw him to the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some dice, "Lucky number seven," he quietly said to himself, shaking up the dice in his hand. He dropped the dice in front of Elvis. Seven! An electric shock came from the dice, electrocuting Elvis. "AAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" He screamed, "STOP!!! PLEASE!! STOP!!" Ace laughed and snapped his fingers, the dice turned off. "Hey, I was just having some fun," he chuckled. Elvis couldn't feel his legs, he was numb. "What game should we play now?" Ace put a finger to his lip, "Let me think.." "No..I-I d-don't wanna play," Elvis moaned, tears in his eyes.

"My friends are in danger," Ash mumbled. She thought for a moment. "MMMPH!!" She bit the hand as hard as she could. It started to loosen its grip on her. She shot a fireball from her mouth and the hand disintegrated. "I'm free!" She cheered. "Hey! Dolly! It's my turn to play," she grinned, taking the knife from her. "W-what?" Dolly backed up. Ash tried to stab Dolly, but Dolly kept dodging. Ash cornered her into a wall. "No! Please don't kill me, little fairy," Dolly cried. "RAAH!!" Ash stabbed her in the stomach. Dolly gagged, coughing up blood, she fell to the ground and died.

Ash quickly rushed over and helped Rose get free. "Thanks, Ash," Rose smiled. "I'm sorry for being bossy back there," Ash scratched the back of her neck. "That's alright," Rose said, "I'm sorry too...I said some things I didn't mean." Rose looked over and gasped and quickly ran over to Elvis, "Baby boy, are you okay?" "I-I can't feel my legs," he coughed. Ace growled and quickly threw a card on the ground, "Stupid fairy! You killed my best friend! I only wanted some one to play with us...now you will suffer!" The card opened up into a big dark hole in the floor. He pushed them into it. "AAAAAHH!!!" They screamed, falling in the pitch darkness. It felt like they would just be falling forever in a bottomless pit.