"What if we could create a place, a place that was free, completely free from all of this?"

"Silly fool, as long as you are by my side, I have my freedom."

~~~

"Doesn't a life like this bore you, Seam? Don't you ever wish for something new, new, exciting, exciting?"

Seam frowned, extinguishing the wisp of fire that had been dancing on his fingertip. "And what would that entail, little jester?"

Jevil's eyes twinkled with mischief as he turned to the old cat from his position on the shelf. "We've been confined to this life! Nothing changes around us! But we, we have the position to change it all! Add a little chaos to things..."

Seam's eyes darkened slightly. The fool had only begun saying such things recently, and as much as Seam pressed, he still could not find out the source of this newfound wish for chaos.

"And why might we do that?" he continued conversationally, wishing to hold onto the momentarily calm atmosphere.

"If this life is nothing but a game, why not test the limits? If this life is nothing but a game, why not prove you're in it? Join me, old cat, and we'll find why we were placed here. Join me, and life will appear much easier to steer."

Jevil's face had contorted into a sneer, and Seam found himself stunned, unable to recognize his old partner. His words became carousels that seemed to swirl about in Seam's head. What did they mean? Seam was struggling to figure this out. He allowed his thoughts to still a moment as he turned ever so slightly away from the jester.

"As for me," he began slowly, "I think I am content as I am. Why we were placed here... is a concept I allow to stay in the dark. Is it not more exciting to allow life to come as it will...?"

Jevil's sneer faded into a soft grin. "Perhaps you are right, my friend... or perhaps my words are not enough to convince you."

With that, he floated down from the shelf and left the room with a quiet jingle.

Seam grimaced after him, knowing his words had not resonated with the old fool, just as his hadn't with Seam.

Days passed normally, Jevil performing with Seam as usual, but Seam could sense it. Jevil was testing his boundaries. Every show, he added something new. Soon he was spouting words, jokes, things he might not be permitted to say under normal circumstances. But he was never a normal circumstance. He was a jester, and joking was his game. Beloved by all, cheered for ceaselessly.

Yet, how many of those things he exclaimed remained as jokes? And how long would he be able to pass them off as such?

Finally, three months after the discussion he had held with Jevil, he did it. Jevil had reached the limits of the game he had created.

Seam watched the clown's face as the kings' voices took on an air of fury. It was as if he was watching Lucifer himself being cast out of heaven.

He had pushed the boundaries farther than they could stretch. Was this what he wanted?

The fallen angel's expression never faltered, simply increasing the ire of the royalty above. How could Seam fix this? Could he fix this? Was it out of his hands?

He finally turned to the kings, and he received his answer.

"You, take him away!"

The words pushed a chill down Seam's back. He opened his mouth, about to plead, but he couldn't find the words.

Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. A place completely free from all of this...

His head turned slowly to his former partner, and what he saw placed a stilling fear within him.

Jevil was grinning ear-to-ear. A triumphant grin, a knowing grin. He had wished for this.

Moments ticked by, and Seam finally nodded in resignation, procuring a chain of light as he walked towards the jester.

Jevil hovered, drinking in the silence that hung in the air like a thick miasma.

The chains chinked lightly as they attached themselves to the jokester's limbs. He gave no resistance, the smile never leaving his lips.

Was Jevil really okay with this? This is what he wanted? Should Seam have listened to him more? Could he have prevented this? What had changed him?

Seam's thoughts were spinning, spinning, speeding up with no signs of stopping as he escorted the old fool out of the arena.

Jevil said nothing, hovering after the cat whose eyes were now locked upon the floor as they moved forward ever slower, yet slower.

They reached the elevator of the palace. Where should they go? The basement? Seam was no longer sure. He felt a beating in his ears as he turned back slowly to look at his old friend.

"What do I do with you...?" he whispered. "Why would you go so far...? Are you proud of who you've become? Is this what you wanted?" His voice wavered more with each question, threatening to break at any moment.

But the fool remained silent, his face unchanging and sending Seam's thoughts back into a frenzy.

The old cat turned away, his breaths becoming labored as he reached his answer. He had to bring Jevil where no one could reach him.

At least, he thought, let those who were not present in that moment remember him how he once was.

Extending his paw, he rubbed the metal under the buttons on the elevator, revealing a new one that held no label.

The ride was quiet, so quiet, and it seemed to Seam to take an eternity. Faster, faster his thoughts flew, trying to put together any comprehensive reason for Jevil's sudden change in behavior.

Seam hadn't seen Jevil at all on the day prior to his mind's unraveling. Is that when it had happened? Where could he have been? What had he done?

The elevator came to a sudden stop with a resounding thud, silence filling in the space left behind. Seam's thoughts were brought to a hush momentarily as he gripped the chains tighter.

Walking out, they reached a long, long staircase. Taking a breath, Seam began making his way down, still never once feeling any tugs of resistance from the figure hovering behind him.

They came to a halt at the bottom, and Seam exhaled deeply before reaching his paw out once again.

Slowly, ever slowly, a room appeared. Whether it was designed after Jevil's growing madness, or Seam's ceaseless thoughts, Seam didn't know.

The room revolved as if the very foundation were merely a carousel, and stationed in front of it was a wall of steel bars. Seam breathed upon these, imbuing them with a strong magic he knew the jester had never bothered to learn.

After these things were accomplished, the magician held on tightly to the chains and concentrated deeply. He cracked them like a whip, and when his eyes opened, the end of the chain now appeared behind the bars, and with it, his partner.

"I suppose this is goodbye... Jevil." The words stuck to the roof of Seam's mouth, almost refusing to be vocalized.

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no, old cat. It is strange for you to stand in such a place as that. Does this not simply place the entire world behind bars? It's as if you've locked up the very stars."

Seam stood stunned at the sudden reply, unsure of how to respond.

"You said it yourself, once upon a time. You had your freedom as long as I stood by your side."

Seam's eyes widened. He was pulled into memories of finding Jevil in the fields, giggling softly at seemingly nothing on the day he seemed to lose himself. He had struck a conversation with him, and the clown was making less sense than usual. He had begun speaking of a new life, a life separate from their current one, as if their very reality existed inside another. Whether to sate Jevil, or if the words he spoke were true, Seam had told the jester that he was his freedom.

A sinking feeling entered Seam's chest. What was the right thing to do...?

He almost believed he should lock himself away with the fool, but he knew it could never be. The only one who could keep Jevil in these confines was Seam himself, and he couldn't allow the clown any chances at convincing him to free him.

No, this cage must never be opened again. With one final wave of his hand, the chains disappeared, severing the last of his connections to the stranger who now stood before him.

Severing the last of his connections with his freedom.

"Goodbye..." Seam repeated once more, beginning his long climb up the staircase and back into the elevator.

"Goodbye for now, goodbye my friend. But the man who speaks in hands may one day reunite us again..."