They put Tasha in the room where Selena and Thalia were staying. It seemed that they had extra room. They waited in silence for the fighting to stop or for Tasha to wake up or for both. All were lost in their own thoughts. Marcus had closed his eyes and was thinking about Memory. He wondered if he should go to sleep now or wait for Tasha to wake up first. He needed answers from both of them.

  Time passed and soon the fighting stopped. Some demons opened the door and informed them that it was all over now but they were still confined in the room till tomorrow.

  The demons also inquired about Tasha’s status and got the response that she was still unconscious. They seemed to be satisfied with the answer and left.

  Few hours passed and soon the door to Selena and Thalia’s room opened. Tasha stepped out cautiously. Marcus could see that she had a spell ready which she cancelled when she saw the other adventurers.

  Tamara greeted her this time which was in stark contrast to how she had acted towards Marcus when he had met him. Tasha sat down on the sofa with Tamara and Tim while the others remained standing. Marcus made his way towards the kitchen and sat on a stool overlooking the sofa.

  Tamara asked Tasha about what she was doing here and what was the escape plan. She also talked about what the Game Masters were planning. Tasha explained to everyone what she was doing here. She explained that she and Marcus were a contingency in case the Game Masters failed in their negotiations.

  Tasha told her part, leaving certain key things out which Marcus noticed like how they travelled to Twarftha and who she was. Marcus did not comment. It was not his place to say what Tasha did not want to tell to the rest of the adventurers.

  Tasha explained till Marcus had gotten captured and paused. Marcus took this opportunity to ask, “What have you been doing since I was captured? I mean it would not have been easy hiding amongst the demons.”

  Tasha looked at Marcus and nodded, “I was with the resistance. There are a bunch of demons that are not happy with Lucifer. They want to be free of this planet and believe that Lucifer is not doing anything to make it happen. The recent demon wars scenario on Una has incited the demons. They are tired of being pawns to Game Masters whims.”

  Marcus raised an eyebrow, “The demons’ words I presume?”

  “Harados’ to be exact.”

  “That is not true thought”, said Tamara slowly.

  Tasha looked sharply at her, “What do you mean?”

  Tamara sighed and said, “Do you know why the negotiation between the Game Masters and Lucifer failed the first time? It was because Lucifer asked for freedom of certain specific demon lords. Five demon lords to be freed for release of five adventurers. Seemed like a fair deal to me but the Game Masters refused. Considering the way that they reacted it seemed as if Lucifer was asking for their first born or something.”

  Tasha shook her head, “To understand the Game Masters reaction, we need to understand why the demons have been imprisoned on Twarftha in the first place.”

  Tasha paused at that time. She got a bottle of water out of thin air and drank from it. The other adventurers were surprised but Marcus was used to it. He had travelled with Tasha after all and seen some of her magic.

  Tasha continued, “This goes back to the Original Demon Wars as the Game Masters tell them. For you to understand why these wars happened, I need to give you a basic understanding of what the Game Masters do.”

  “There are many planets in the Universe with intelligent life. When I say many, I mean a lot more than you can imagine. No one has a record of the number of planets with intelligent life. I am getting off point. Most of these planets have resources sufficient enough to sustain life on them for a long time.”

  “However, there are certain planets which do not have sufficient resources. These planets are dying. This is where the Game Masters come in. They pick a dying planet and offer the primary species of that planet a deal. They would save their species in return for their planet. In return they would claim that planet as their own. With their power they would rehabilitate the planet. They only want the primary species unwavering and unquestioning loyalty in return.”

  “Now judging from your expressions, you may think that this is a bad deal; that the Game Masters are taking advantage of the inhabitants of the planet. But bear in mind, without the intervention of the Game Masters, the planet would definitely be destroyed. Yes, the planet, not just its inhabitants, the entire planet. The Game Masters intervene only in extreme circumstances with a way out. Also, it is an optional way out. The primary species of the planet does have the liberty to say no.”

  “What if they say no, now you may ask. Then, discreetly the Game Masters would take the DNA sample of all the species of the planet and store them in their archives for record keeping and future use. How they do it, I shall not be explaining, nor shall I explain what exactly the future use is. You are not authorized for that information.”

  “Continuing the original point, if the primary species accept Game Masters' offer, then the Game Masters ensure the survival of the planet. They make sure that the planet, the solar system and all life in that little universe is stabilized and not wiped out. They do this by converting the planet into a Game World.”

  “Now I will not go into the history or explanation behind why they convert the planet into a Game World. It is a long story and I will tell you if I am ever in the mood for it. It is not relevant to our current conversation. Suffice to say, that the Game Masters are called Game Masters because of this reason; that they convert the dying worlds into Game Worlds.”

  “The Game Masters found a dying world. It was called Daemondi. The primary species of the planet was as you guessed it, demons. Daemondi was dying. The demons had ravaged the planet and its resources to such an extent that the planet had a few years before it was going to implode on itself.”

  “So, the Game Masters visited the planet and negotiated with the demon leaders. There were many Demon Kings during that time. The negotiations were long and tiring. The Game Masters were confident that they would sway the demons to their side. However, something went wrong. The Game Masters don’t even know what went wrong but the demons decided not to take the Game Masters’ offer.”

  “That would have been okay. The Game Masters would have gone away and left Daemondi to its fate. Instead the demons did something that the Game Masters had never anticipated. The demons attacked the Game Masters. They poisoned several of the Game Masters to weaken and kill them.”

  “No Game Masters died but they were highly surprised by the demons’ approach. Highly surprised followed by becoming highly angry. Let me tell you, the wrath of a single Game Master is terrible. It can destroy an entire solar system. Now imagine the wrath of twenty Game Masters. That was the number of Game Masters negotiating with the Demon Kings at that time.”

  “Not one Demon King survived. The Game Masters did not even give demons an option. They wiped out half of their population and enslaved the rest. They imprisoned them on this planet, Twarftha. They empowered the suns of this solar system to keep the demons on Twarftha weak and they started using the demons as villains for scenarios in other Game Worlds.”

  “One may argue that the punishment was too harsh and the Game Masters overreacted. However, you may forget that Game Masters are powerful, the most powerful beings in the Universe and once they make their decision, they do not change their mind, for millions of years. And yes, the Game Masters are immortal.”

  “Lucifer was not the original Demon King but he became one over the years with the rise in his power. He is now from a generation of demons that do not care about the past mistake of their ancestors. He wants freedom for his species, so do other demon lords on Twarftha. That is why they have been kept divided and restricted to certain towns, cities or villages.”

  “The Game Masters are never going to release the demons and so the negotiation was always going to fail from the start. That is why the Game Masters sent me and Marcus. As a contingency plan.”

  Tasha finished her explanation with this.

  Tim muttered under his breath, “That was a gorking long ass explanation.”

  Everyone heard him but no one reacted. They all had their questions. Their doubts which they asked one after the other. Tasha answered some of them. Marcus was, however, silent. He was digesting what he had learned from Tasha. He was also recalling a conversation that he had with Marbas a long time ago. What Tasha had said in a way matched with what Marbas had told him. However, the perspectives were a bit different even though the gist of the scenario was the same.

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  Tamara asked, “I am confused. If the Game Masters are strong enough to enslave all the demons including demon lords and a demon king, then why the gork are they negotiating for our release? Why the gork are they not just getting us out of here?”

  Tasha said, “Alright. I will try to explain this in a way that does not disclose any Game Master business. Hmmm. Okay. The best explanation that I can give is that there is not only one Game Master who is keeping the demons imprisoned on Twarftha. There are many. Do not ask me for the number. Suffice to say, it is safer for Game Masters Shadowfang and Lightweaver to negotiate with Lucifer for your release.”

  “That does not make sense”, said Tamara.

  Tasha tsked as she said, “I know. To you it won’t. But I told you before. You guys are neither Game Masters nor Game Masters in training. There is only so much information that I can give you.”

  “Yes, but the information that you are giving me has me asking so many questions”, said Tamara in an exasperated voice.

  “Are they relevant to your escape from this planet”, inquired Tasha.

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “Then they can wait. My first priority is to get you all back to Una.”

  “Who are you, exactly?” asked Selena with wonder.

  Tasha took a moment before answering, “I am Tasha Lightweaver, daughter of Rauros Shadowfang and Leyda Lightweaver, the Game Masters of Una. I am also a Game Master in training.”

  There was a stunned silence from the others after Tasha’s proclamation. Marcus could see that they were all clearly surprised. He already knew and so he was not surprised with Tasha’s reveal, just a bit surprised that Tasha had chosen to share who she was with others.

  “Are you sure you can get us out of here? I mean Lucifer captured you quite easily”, said Thalia and Tasha glared at her. Thalia wilter under Tasha’s glare and she gestured that she was not going to say anything further.

  Tasha then said, “Now tell me. What have you all been doing since you got captured?”

  The others started to explain what had happened to them since their capture. Shania took the lead in explanation with Tamara, Tim and Selena filling in gaps when Shania could not explain. They mostly told the story that they had told Marcus.

  After they had finished Tasha looked at Marcus, her eyes inquiring why he had not said anything.

  Marcus sighed and said, “I have been looking for a way out. Most recently I have been spending more time in the library. I am learning a lot about demons and their culture.”

  “And has it helped in getting out of here?”

  “No.”

  “And you continue because?”

  “It is fun?” said Marcus weakly.

  Tasha stared at him sternly. Marcus felt like squirming under her stare but he held his own and stared back.

  Finally Tasha said, “Do better.”

  “I will”, replied Marcus.

  “Well then”, said Tasha looking out the window, “It seems that the blue sun is quite high in the sky. Let us rest for now. I still feel tired. Tomorrow, when the red sun rises, we start thinking of a plan to get out of here. If I am correct in my assumption, then after my capture, Lucifer will have another round of negotiations with my parents. And he will up his demands this time. I plan to escape before that happens. Are you guys with me?”

  Marcus and Tamara rolled their eyes together as the others cheered. Then they had a brief discussion about tomorrow and general things before turning in. Marcus was eager to turn in after all. He had an appointment with Memory.

  ***

  Tasha watched as he saw Marcus get up and go into a room to sleep, hopefully. She walked into her room with Selena and Thalia. It seemed that they were still sharing. Selena was asking her about something but Tasha was not paying any attention to it. Shania, somehow, was still not talking with her and avoiding her gaze. Tasha understood that. She had scared her quite enough. She had put power behind her gaze when Shania had asked her the question. She will be quiet for some time now.

  Tasha was thinking about Marcus. She wanted to have a private discussion with him. She was pretty sure he had not told her everything with others present. Like how he had fought the demons the day he got captured.

  Tasha had seen him fight while she escaped with Harados. She had felt the magical energy. Marcus had cast spells against the demons and Tasha wondered how he had done so.

  Tasha remembered her conversation with her mother. Leyda had told her that Marcus would be an important companion on this escape and he would surprise Tasha when she least expected it. Tasha hated when her mother was right, sometimes.

  Tasha had a new mystery to solve. She really wanted to know more about this anomaly named Marcus Blank.

  ***

  Marcus was back in the room he knew well by now. However, it seemed that the room had changed. The white did not seem blinding anymore. Marcus felt as if it had a softer tone. The chairs seemed to have changed their colour. The two chairs in front of the mahogany desk were now coloured yellow and purple while the chair behind the desk, where Memory sat was now black in colour.

  Memory looked the same which meant he looked exactly like Marcus. His three piece suit was now black and white instead of being all colourful while the long hat had now changed to a blue baseball cap which Memory wore backwards. The flip flops had changed to sandals and the desk was currently completely empty. There also seemed to be more cabinets in the room than Marcus remembered. And one of them seemed to be glowing.

  Marcus looked around and said, “Redecorating and reinventing yourself, Memory?”

  Memory looked up at Marcus. He had been staring down till now. The maniacal grin was still there on his face.

  “Marcus fucking Blank”, said Memory in a sing song voice, “It’s so fucking good to see you. How have you been? You don’t text. You don’t call. How’s little old me gotta fucking getting in touch with you?”

  Marcus narrowed his eyes as he said, “I hope you are not fucking serious.”

  “Nyah! I am just messing with you. How you been?”

  “Mostly fine, you know. You should know. I am fucking sure you were watching.”

  Memory gave a hearty laugh to that statement. He said, “Not all the time Blank. But I do watch sometimes. Sometimes when it is important.”

  “Okay. Can we get on topic please?”

  “What topic?”

  “Why you fucking called me. I have been trying to connect with you regarding my magic but you have been ignoring me. And as soon as I meet Lucifer, you call me. I am ninety nine percent sure it has something to do with the Demon King.”

  “It is”, said Memory, eyeing at the glowing cabinet.

  “Memory, what is that?” asked Marcus cautiously.

  “It’s a spell”, whispered Memory, “A tracking spell.”

  “And what is a trapping spell doing in that cabinet?”

  “Making it fucking glow”, and Memory began to cackle with laughter.

  Marcus rolled his eyes, “Could you be serious for once?”

  “I could. But you won’t fucking like it.”

  “Alright. Then mind telling me what the spell does.”

  “It is a tracking spell Blank. What the fuck do you think it does?”

  “It tracks me.”

  “Bingo.”

  “And it was cast on me by Lucifer.”

  “Bingo.”

  “And you somehow trapped it in a cabinet?”

  “My oh fucking my. Aren’t you clever?”

  Marcus groaned as he said, “Okay Memory. If you can fucking trap the spell in the cabinet, why don’t you, you know, cancel it or dismiss it or get it out of me.”

  “It’s not that fucking easy. If I do that, then Lucifer will come to know. How will you fucking explain to him how you dispelled his spell?”

  Marcus tried to think of something but could not. Then he finally said, “Yes, but I don’t think it is safe to just keep it on me, you know.”

  “I am taking care of it.”

  “But-”

  “I said I am fucking taking care of it.”

  Marcus shut up. There was an intensity in Memory’s voice that Marcus had never heard before. Marcus looked at Memory carefully. There was no change in his expression. The same maniacal grin that he had seen before was still on Memory’s face but his eyes showed a different message.

  Better not push him, thought Marcus, no idea what he would do.

  Aloud he said, “Alright. I have confidence in you.”

  Memory clapped his hands and a loud bang echoed across the room, “Well now that’s settled. Now we come to the main fucking thing. What I want.”

  “And what do you want?”

  “I want you to go back to Una. Fuck the others if you have to. You have wasted so much fucking time on this planet. I fear your plan would fall apart if you idle your time here.”

  Marcus gaped at Memory. Then he said, “Well, I would know if my plan was falling apart if I actually fucking remember what my plan was.”

  “And I have fucking told you before, it is not your problem. It is mine. You go back to Una and gather information about the system there as I had told you before. No distractions now. I am getting a fucking feeling that we are running out of time. And you won’t like it if you are running out of fucking time.”

  “Well, how do I go back then? I have no idea.”

  “You fucking idiot. Research on the circle that brought the adventurers from Una to Twarftha. Use library resources properly for once you fucking moron.”

  “Alright”, nodded Marcus acknowledging Memory’s idea, “I will do that. But I am not going back without the others.”

  Memory gritted his teeth but did not say anything. They sat in silence for some time which surprised Marcus.

  “Are we done?” Marcus asked finally.

  “We are for now. Off you go Marcus Blank. Oh yes! One more fucking thing before you go. As soon as you reach Una, prioritize two things. Get the missing books from your book quest you received from The Librarians. And then finish your Luck quest.”

  “What-” Marcus started to ask but Memory snapped his fingers. The next moment Marcus was whirled out of the office room and deposited not so gently on the bed.

  Marcus woke up.

  “Fuck you Memory.”