"Did you enjoy everything?" Bleck asks you. You instantly forget about feeling rejected and remember all the wonders you've seen here. Finding out your true name, all the artifacts, the sky, the garden, O'Chunks, Mimi,

A Mr. L who listens.

"Yes! It was so amazing. I found things that I didn't even know about myself. And the stars and moon were so... well, Magical!" You beam.

"You like it here, don't you, my King." He says. You immediately nod. "Yes. Very much so. It's far superior to that imperfect mess I currently call home," You chuckle.

"I'm glad you think so," He says. "You know... you could stay here forever. THIS could be your home if you wanted."

"Wait?" You ask, eyes lighting up at the thought. "You mean that?"

"Why of course," Nastasia adds. "We can play the piano, play games, Bleck will cook your favorite foods, we'll give you anything you could ever dream of!"

They pull out your chair and sit you down at the dinner table. "Really?!" You ask, excited by the idea of not having to ever go back to that wasteland you were in before, where nothing interesting or worthwhile ever happens. Where the world is filled with flaws.

"Yes," Bleck says. "There's just one tiny thing you need to do."

"What is it?" You ask, excited.

"It's a surprise!" Nastasia sings, pushing your chair in behind you. Then, she stands across the table from you, standing next to Bleck. Bleck beams then reaches down to grab a small box. It's wrapped in wrapping paper, a red bow tied neatly at the top, like a Christmas gift.

"What's this?" You ask, a smile on your face. "You got me a gift?"

"Yes," Bleck responds, handing you the box. "It's for you, our King."

You tear the paper off and open the box to see-

Your smile fades and a confused expression sweeps across your masked face.

There are two yellow gems in the box, along with a needle and thread.

"Yellow is traditional," Bleck starts. "But if you prefer red... or blue... or purple!"

You look up at him, as he laughs to himself.

"No, not purple. You might make me jealous," He chuckles.

"NO WAY!" You say, immediately pushing the box away from you. "You're not sowing gems into my eyes!!!"

"Oh, but we need a yes," Bleck politely says. "If you want to stay here."

"Yeah," Nastasia says, picking up the needle and pressing it to her thumb. "It's so sharp, you won't feel a thing!"

Bleck casts her a quick glare and steps on her foot, causing her to yelp a quick, "Ow!"

Then they both smile again. Bleck takes the box and places it in your hands. "Now, it's your decision, my king. After all, we only want what is best for you."

"Uhhh," You start, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. "I'm going to bed! Right now!"

You stand up, backing away as they both cast you confused looks. "Bed?" Bleck asks. "Before dinner," Nastasia adds.

"Yeah, I uh, I'm quite tired," You say, backing away more. You force yourself to yawn. "I just need... to sleep on it."

"Well, of course, my king. We'd be happy to see you to your room," Bleck says.

"Oh, no thank you! Y-you've already done so much!"

"Well, you're welcome." He says, smiling warmly at you. "And don't worry. I..." He quickly grabs Nastasia by the arm. "WE, aren't worried at all. Soon you'll see things... our way."

You feel oddly unsettled. You slowly walk past them to where your room is. Their yellow eyes follow you as you walk off. Once you're out of their sight, you take off sprinting for your room. Once you're in you slam the door shut, breathing heavily. Already, the world seems much less bright. You run over to the dresser and use all your strength to shove it in front of the door. "I'm going home," You tell yourself. "And I won't be returning."

Once the dresser is blocking the door, you rush to your perfect bed and throw the covers over yourself, hiding in them, your heart racing.

Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep, you tell yourself, trying to force yourself to fall asleep so you can wake up in the real world.

It takes a long time, but eventually sleep does find you. You wake up, and immediately throw the covers off, expecting to see a dark cave.

"I'M HOME-" You start when suddenly your heart stops. You're not home. You're still in the alternate world. You're still there.

"Oh, Grambi" You mutter, getting out of bed. "I'm still here?!"

You clench your fists, then remember the small door you came in through when first getting here. The one in the inner sanctum. You shove the dresser aside, knocking it over, then sprint to the inner sanctum. Only to find the door to get into the inner sanctum is locked. You desperately try to open the door, but it doesn't budge.

Then, you hear a single piano note being played slowly. 

Over... 

And over... 

And over again.

You shiver, then slowly follow the sound to Nastasia's room. Inside, she sits at the piano facing away from you, slouched over and exhausted looking, playing that note again, and again, and again.

"Hey!" You say, storming towards her. "Where's the alternate Bleck?!"

She presses that note slightly faster and harder as if she's trying to cover your voice up.

"I want to go home," You say almost angrily. Then she turns around, holding a finger up. She looks exhausted, and almost drunk, an empty expression on her face.

"Oh, be swell, as soon as Bleck is refreshed... his strength is ours-" She says drunkenly when suddenly the two mechanical hands come right out of the piano. But instead of making her play, they cover her mouth, snap her neck to the side so she's facing them, and shake a finger in front of her nose, indicating for her not to finish that sentence. You wince as it grabs her by the jaw and turns her around to face away from you again. Her glasses fall off. Her voice is empty. "Mustn't talk... when Bleck is not here."

You clench your fists. "If you won't even talk to me, then I'm gonna find the alternate L. He'll help me."

"No point..." She says, her pitch dropping. She slowly turns to you and hooks her fingers into the corners of her mouth. Then, she starts stretching her face. "He pulled a loooooong face, and Bleck didn't like it-"

You step back and gasp at the horrifying image she was painting with her face, when the hands came back out of the piano and shut her mouth, violently turning her around and slamming her head into the piano. You immediately turn and start sprinting off in fear as you could hear her muffled voice protesting.

You quickly throw the doors open and sprint outside to the garden, running as far and as fast as you could. It no longer glowed. The colors all looked rather dull now.

Eventually, you can't keep running, and you slow to a walk. You don't even know what you're doing anymore at this point.

"I'm getting out of here," You say. "That's what I'm doing."

As you walk further and further away, the world looks more and more fake. Until eventually, you see nothing but white. "Strange..." You note. Perhaps this perfect world only stretches so far. You continue walking forward when you see Castle Bleck in front of you again. It's as if you've walked all the way around this world. "Small world," You breathe, looking behind you.

You don't want to go back to the Castle. Not now. Not ever. But where else can you go? There's nowhere. Except...

Wait a minute.

You remember last night, With L, out on the roof. He pointed past the garden. You didn't understand before, but maybe he was pointing to something. You quickly run back into it, rushing through it until you find a small stone door near the back of it, hidden by vines and English ivy. You push the plants aside to see another small door marked, 'Overthere.'

"Overthere..." You mutter. "Does this door lead to the..."

You pause, before trying to open it. However, you can't. It's locked. Even your key doesn't open the door. You let out a defeated sigh, before turning around.

There's only one thing you can do. Only one place you can go.

But, you really don't want to. You don't want to go back in there.

"Be brave," You tell yourself. "Be brave..."

You slowly step up to the palace, the floor creaking from below you. Then, you push the door open. The inside of the castle is silent. Your footsteps echo, and the door creaks as you shut it. It's much darker in there. You see the door to the inner sanctum and, knowing it's still locked, quickly pick up a staff that was sitting by the front door. You recognize it to be Bleck's staff, but that doesn't matter. You just need something to break the doorknob with.

It takes you a moment of smashing the top of the staff against the doorknob for it to finally break off. Once it does you whisper a small, "Yes!" and swing the door open.

The room is pitch black. You quickly run inside, towards the small door. Your footsteps are loud and they echo throughout the room.

You've almost reached the door, when a large cockroach-like dresser moves in front of it, blocking it. You immediately tense up and step back in disgust.

You gasp as it begins to glow a reddish color. Suddenly the whole room glows, revealing more unsettling bug-like furniture.

"They say even the proudest spirit can be broken... with love," Bleck's voice says from behind you. Your shoulders immediately hunch up, when you hear the door slam behind you.

You feel someone's breath on your neck and shiver, chills going down your spine.

"Of course," His voice whispers in your right ear. "A small treat never hurts. Would you like one?"

You see him holding out a box of small bugs, squirming around. Your breathing falters and you shake your head.

"No?" He asks. "Hmm, more for me I guess."

You hear him walking behind you, then you hear an unsettling crunch as he munches on the bugs. You shiver more.

"I want to go home," You say, your voice quaking. You swallow and make your tone sterner. "I want you to let me go."

You hear his walking stop, and there's a moment of silence.

Then, he walks in front of you so you can see his face. He no longer looks happy. He looks almost angry. He glares at you, like a mother scolding their child.

"That is no way to speak. Especially to me. Have you forgotten who I am? I'm Bleck!" He says.

"You'," You start, holding out your steady hand and pointing at him. "Aren't Bleck."

"Apologize," He demands, towering over you. "At once, Dimentio."

You glare up at him, standing on your tip-toes to make yourself seem a little less small. "No." You say as confidently as you can manage.

He glares down at you, seeming to get angrier and angrier. "I'll give you to the count of three," He says, pushing a finger into your chest so hard that it hurts.

"One...." He starts. You clench your fists and hold your ground.

"Two...." His neck begins to stretch and his face thins out. He begins looking less and less like the Count Bleck you knew. Your eyes go wide in fear of his changing form, but you still do not back down.

"THREE!" He yells, his waste thinning out. He looks like some kind of deformed Count Bleck now, and it's horrifying. He grabs you with his boney, deathly thin hand by the shoulders and starts dragging you away as you kick and scream. You can feel his nails digging into you, cutting your shoulders.

"OW!" You cry. "What are you doing?! Unhand me!!!"

He continues dragging you through the palace as you struggle against him. "Please! Stop! Y-you're hurting me!"

He doesn't say anything. He just grabs tighter and tighter, causing you more and more pain. It's almost unbearable. Your heart races as you wonder what he's going to do to you. Where is he going to take you?! Is he going to sow the gems onto your eyes?!

"HELP!" You cry out, desperately squirming. "PLEASE! ANYONE! HELP!"

You begin to slowly cry, desperate for someone to save you. But who could save you now?

"L!!! L, HELP ME!" You cry. "PLEASE! L!!!!!"

"Shut up," Bleck says. "Your cries are useless. He won't come for you."

You continue squirming when you realize that he's dragged you to the mirror hall Your eyes go wide when he grabs you by the collar and shoves you through a mirror. Not your old false mirror, but a real mirror.

You fall through into a dark room, as if the mirror was not a mirror, but a portal of some kind.

It's dark and dusty on the other side. You cough and turn around to see his face poking through it.

"You may come out when you've learned to be a kind, thankful ruler." He spits, leaning back and disappearing. The mirror becomes a normal mirror and you only see your reflection.

"No," You whisper, before quickly getting up and banging your fists against it. "NO NO NO! LET ME OUT!" 

You begin to hyperventilate as you frantically try breaking the mirror open. "Please... just want to go home," You whisper, slowly leaning your forehead against the glass and sliding down to the ground.

You can't get out from this side. You're trapped.