It was an experience without experiencing. Knowledge that something had occurred without understanding what exactly it felt like. It was an unknown object resting behind a door.

The blackness ended almost as soon as it started, like a dreamless sleep. Though, my mind knew instinctively that it had been longer than that. My eyes blinked open to see a black room, the only light source being the lance that sat at my feet.

Other than that, I was alone. No other demons survived the collapse of the realms and the only one that had was a bloody mess not too far away. A deafening tranquility washed over the place; the sheer solitude only now beginning to take shape within my mind. There was nothing else, no one else, but me.

That is, if we only counted humans.

"How long are you going to wait out of view?" I demanded the presences that lingered just outside of my awareness. I knew that they were there, watching me.

The room changed from an endless black to a blinding white. I moved a hand to my face to protect me from the sudden change from no light to unlimited light.

From that eye-watering illumination, five silhouettes stood around me. I could now easily tell which was which regardless of what shape they took. They watched me, offering me muted applause at my accomplishments.

"You've succeeded," Want congratulated. "Forgive the lack of message. The System is quite damaged from the rampage."

"Was all of that truly necessary?" Control asked.

"It was awesome!" Nostalgia butted in.

"Was it so necessary to watch me die?" I asked in return. "I can't help but feel you were being bitter about the entire thing."

"Don't take it the wrong way," Passion said as they approached me. "Sure, we were a little upset that you ripped it all down so quickly, but that's fine. It can always be remade. No, our interest lied in this weapon here."

Passion reached down and lifted the lance. The skin on Passion's hand started to bubble and fizzle from the mana. Passion frowned and squeezed their fists tightly around the lance. The weapon exploded into thousands of pieces of glass. The shards bounced off my skin and burned slightly before the mana completely left the material.

"It's not ours," Passion announced.

"Remorse?" Ecstasy questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I thought they were above meddling with our affairs."

"It's not Remorse either," Passion said. "Doesn't feel like it at all."

"Remorse?" I questioned.

"Our dear sibling and the current manager of the living world," Want explained. "They are the one who decides who is good and who is bad."

"So feeling remorse is the key?" I asked. "Feeling guilt for ones actions is all that matters?"

"Just imbue him with knowledge already, Passion," Control ordered as though my questions were needless distractions. "We need to discuss this…development."

Passion reached down and pressed an oversized finger into my forehead. My eyes rolled back and I felt my body collapse to the ground. The equivalent of a firehouse sprayed my brain with ceaseless information.

Complex equations and schematics that I could barely comprehend swirled in my head. A rapid timeline of the universe expanding pressed against the walls of my skull. I saw creatures from a different time, all chewed up in a world covered in monsters and dungeons and war. I saw creatures formed from nothingness only to grow and thrive before turning back into nothingness. I saw hands made of light massage their fingers against soft clay, molding a slab of dirt into something with arms and legs and a head.

On that head was my face.

It was more information than I could process. I could feel my mind straining under the intense strain, trying desperately to focus on just one topic at a time while the rest was phased out. Soon, I was able to hone in my vision on a particular scene.

A host chimp was chosen on the planet to inherit this new design. I watched them convulse and change into something new something capable of evolving even further. Something capable of being easily corrupted. I saw the figures whisper in its ear and drive them to violence and scorn.

I saw the white room where souls are judged callously; the failed ballots slipped between the cracks only to be grasped in the hungry hands of the Follies.

I watched the construction of this place; a tower made from thin air, populated by negative emotions and dungeons designed to punish. I saw the souls of those led astray by the flimsiest rubrics be tortured and transformed into something other than themselves. They were given technology they could not comprehend and set against one another all in order to avoid the fate of the creatures that were built and destroyed before them.

We were an experiment, a way to learn about how to defeat something else. It was never about the individual. It was never about teaching them some lesson or allowing them to be their true selves. We were an ant farm made of ghosts.

I watched silhouettes of demon after demon march into the throne room only to never appear again. The world changed slightly each time, but never enough to make meaningful change.

It was an illusion of power; it had to be. The world didn't change at all, only specific rules that governed it. The topography never changed, the divisions of levels never changed. The hideous transformations never changed. Not even the throne room changed.

Except, bizarrely, the entire structure would blink in and out of existence intermittently.

I learned that forgetting ones name was a decision made by one of the victors in the great game for the throne; so convinced they were that the creature they became held no resemblance to the person they once were, they decided to make it so that everyone could avoid the shame of being associated with their past self.

Now that I held the key, that lock crumbled before me and a name entered my head. My name.

"My…my name," I said. "I remember my name."

Thomas Bohannon.

It felt bizarre; foreign. A name that belonged to someone that I once was but am no longer. It rolled around in my head like a ball bearing, never quite nestling into the right place. No, I was Ishmael now.

However, my revelations were ignored by the powerful entities that lingered by me. They had thrown aside the fanfare and congratulations to discuss things that mattered more to them, leaving me as the neglected child at a birthday party nobody came to.

"You think it's actually them?" I heard Nostalgia ask as the Follies ignored my return from my stupor. "It's been so long since I last saw them."

"It's our only option," Control answered. "Unless one of you somehow grew smart enough to betray me, this is not our work."

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"Should we inform Remorse?" Ecstasy questioned. "I'm sure they won't be happy to know that one of us is prancing around their little utopia and sticking curious hands where they don't belong. Conquer Hell to conquer Heaven, that's what Mikha'el said."

"They deserve to know nothing from us," Passion bristled. "If they want nothing to do with us, I want nothing to do with them."

"More importantly, Remorse may be involved, even if indirectly," Want added. "We shouldn't tip our hands prematurely."

"I agree with Passion and Want," Control stated. "We will keep this to ourselves. LEt's deal with them both after we begin the next phase of the plan."

"Did you figure out the culprit?" I interrupted. "Another sibling I don't know about?"

"Ah, you broke free from your awakening," Ecstasy cooed. "It's quite painful, isn't it? The human mind isn't designed to carry so much information. Your brain chooses what it believes to be the most important and discards the rest. For your own survival. But, yes, we believe that the one known as Grace may very well be a sibling that didn't want anything to do with us. Imagine that; cold, isn't it?"

"We knew they were still active," Want continued. "Their influence dwells deep within the hearts of every person. It disguises itself as a pure blessing, motivating you to press through hardship; but it is the very same thing that will constantly let you down and perpetually cast yourself into delusion without the logic of change. It is the very essence that bandied those fools around Mikha'el's banner."

"Hope," Control said. "The seventh and final Folly is Hope."

"And you had a fight?"

"A difference of opinion," Want clarified. "They thought our solution brutish and wanted no parts in it. They themselves are the drunkest on their own delusions that the situation would simply work itself out."

"Though it seems that they've come around to our construction," Control continued. "Of course, it now represents the biggest hope for all of humanity. We should have known that our sibling wouldn't be able to restrain themselves in the face of this much potential. Still, they lacked the decency to approach us directly."

"Like you'd allow them back anyways," Ecstasy giggled.

"Tell me what this has to do with your request," I demanded. "What do you want done with this place that you could not do before?"

"You saw the history of this place," Control said. "You saw the choices of those that came before you. What did you notice?"

"Nothing ultimately changed," I answered. "They all made superficial changes that led to nothing but more of the same."

"Is that true?" Control pressed. "Is that all you noticed? Numerous demons who fought for centuries to sit at the top of this place did absolutely nothing with the power that they were given?"

My mind instantly returned to the flickering of the structure. It couldn't possibly be a mistake in the flow of information in my head. My thoughts opened and I realized that I was not so different than the ones that won before me. Given supreme power over a world that was little more than an experiment of some higher beings.

"They chose to end everything," I reasoned. "But, it didn't end."

"It did, in a way," Want said. "You see, we made a copy of the world right when the request is made. We rebuild the realms from the copy, placing every demon but the one that made the wish back into the world and continue to run the experiment."

"The only exception being the first winner," Passion said. "Instead of wishing the world gone, he wished for his and everyone else's memories to be wiped and to be returned down to the lower realms. Thousands of years of conflict, destroyed in but an instance only to be done from scratch all over again. Perfection."

"I don't know if he hoped something different would happen or he would gain additional wisdom," Want added. "But he kept winning and kept choosing the same reward despite knowing he already had."

"It was such a luxurious feeling," Ecstasy claimed. "Ramming your head into the wall endlessly in the hopes that you somehow change."

"I wish I knew he was going to give himself such a garish name for the last iteration," Control lamented. "I would have deleted him instead."

"I think his choice of name showcased his frustrations with this world and with himself," Want reasoned. "No wonder he continued to reject magic even when he had forgotten the reason to do so; his hatred ran too deep."

"The Aspect of Wrath," I commented. "Does that mean that you will delete only me and rebuild the world if I ask?"

"This time, we would acquiesce," Control replied. "We do not have any time left to make any more meaningful conclusions. There is no point continuing to pile resources into a resolved experiment, don't you think?"

"Events outside of our control are approaching us quickly," Nostalgia added, predicting my next question. "Even if we were to rebuild our toys, they would be broken very soon. You only have two options: destroy it all, or follow our plan."

"Then explain it."

"We are a shattered star," Control began. "We were once a unified force of creation, hanging proudly in the cosmos. From our ever burning heart, we built worlds. We developed sentient creatures with cultures beneath our shining light. We believed ourselves to be great and unerring."

"Then, the other stars arrived," Passion snarled. "Our creations were dragged into the Great Game. They failed miserably and, in punishment for our terrible performance, we were destroyed and split into seven warring parts."

"We have never been able to agree on a creation again," Ecstasy lamented. "Our togetherness torn asunder. We had to take turns building new creations. Somehow, our separate endeavors performed better than our original, but they always, inevitably, died."

"Until Remorse made a mistake with their design," Want explained. "They inadvertently built a window that allowed us to collaborate through our unending competition. You are the most well-rounded, capable creations that any of us had built."

"The only issue is that we are running out of time," Nostalgia said. "We are losing energy and our next creator will never allow such a design flaw to exist."

All eyes turned to Control. Of course, it would be in the Folly's nature to not allow for such a slip to occur.

"Hope would be even worse when it is their turn," Control argued. "Might as well kill ourselves at that point."

"We need our creation to win so that we may wish ourselves whole again," Want explained. "The only issue is that we have continuously failed to create a species that could survive, let alone succeed, in this great game. Except, this time, we managed to get our hands on a System. We can prepare humanity before the game begins; a tutorial of sorts."

"All we need is an enemy suitable of training them to be the ideal participants," Passion said. "We need the heat and pressure necessary to forge humanity to be resilient enough to survive the opening events. That's where this world comes in. With your help, we will unleash all of you upon the Earth, forcing Remorse to unleash their stores souls and release the System to living humans and make them perfect."

"Why need my help to do this?" I questioned. "Why don't you just tip the bucket and release us all onto the planet?"

"As much as we'd love to, some of the stubborn remnants of our origin remain," Control grumbled. "Unfortunately, all of our creations must have free will. Ergo, Humanity must choose to save humanity. Otherwise, Remorse will stand back and watch all of humanity die at your hands just to spite us. Since you are the last winner we will see before it's too late, we must rely on you choosing to create an apocalypse on Earth."

"They have no hope unless I choose this?" I asked.

The world turned from white into a scene on Earth. Green grass pressed down beneath my feet as a great blue sky stretched out overhead.

We were standing outside of a schoolhouse. The construction felt eerily similar to a place that I had been in before. Students sat at their desks looking bored out of their minds. All they wanted was to be dismissed so that they could all do something else. Near one of the windows, staring absentmindedly outside while clicking a pen, was a boy with reddish brown hair and blue eyes.

Gunner.

"If you choose oblivion, everyone will certainly die in the Great Game," Control replied.

"Are you threatening me with my son?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Threaten you?" Control asked with a chuckle. "Stupid beast, I'm telling you what will happen if you destroy this place. If you deny humanity our gift, he will be subjected to the Great Game without any guidance. How long do you think he can haplessly make his way through?"

I thought about the visions I saw in Ecstasy's dungeon. I saw Gunner, completely devoid of survival instincts, stand silently before me as I killed him. The distasteful flavors of his pitiful demise filled my mouth like vomit. If this Great Game were to happen, he would be turned into minced meat immediately.

What kind of father would I be if I allowed my son to die in that way?

"How long do they have?"

"Five years," Control replied. "They have to be ready in five years."

I did not care if the Follies died out. I did not care if humanity was to be crushed under a giant cosmic boot. Their deaths meant nothing to me. Only one person had to make it out alive. Humanity would have to thank him, for his existence was the only reason that they had a hope of making it.

"I'll do it," I relented. "Release the demons and turn me into the end of the world."

The Follies raised their hands in unison and a red portal appeared in the floor between us. I gripped my stomach as a sensation akin to being disemboweled rose from deep within my body. I felt the souls I absorbed into my own be ripped out and sent through the portal like sailors thrown overboard into a raging sea.

A chorus of screaming emanated from Mikha'el's body. The souls experiencing paradise were pulled from Grace's abilities and sent tumbling down into a new hell. The angel's body was lifted off of the ground and cast through the hole.

I dropped to my knee and gasped as much of my energy was drained from me. A powerful hand landed on my shoulder and infused me with an overwhelming amount of power.

"You still need to be the Dragon who Heralds the End. We're doing this for all mankind," Passion reassured as they squeezed on my shoulder. With a strong shove, I was sent through the portal as well.

"For all mankind."

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