a ♛ fool ♛ dethroned [Riordan's Death]

[Tom]

Riordan Einfallen

All kings fall.

Thrones lay empty with treasures stolen.

Bones aching and body shaking from the pain of death.

There's no escape from the inevitable.

Riordan had learned this all too soon.

Blood. It pours from his skin with numbness as it spreads throughout his body. Cold. It's the first thing he can feel after Lucas O'Hara is gone. Eyes stare up into the sky, drugs vanishing from his body, the creatures swirl above, free and alive. There's nothing more than death coming for him. There's no running from the inevitable. Death were just wounds that couldn't be repaired. All he can do is wonder how much time he has left in their pathetic world. He's seen them all. Naveen. Theseus. Jequirity. Their eyes hollowing him out from the inside. The drugs had made him lose it all. Life. Freedom. Strength.

This is the fate of a weak man.

There's so many voices that spread through his mind when the blade cut deep into his leg. Walking was no longer an option. He was so tired of just feeling average. The voices in his head filling him with the guilt of his selfish wish. There's nothing left for him in Six anyways. There's nothing waiting for him there, except Tempus and guilty faces that would tear him open. Insides vulnerable to the rugged weather of every single soul. Naveen is staring at him now. Sewn lips gone from her face as the small smile that fills his heart with love of the past comes forward. She's free in death. He can feel it in himself.

There's so much pain.

"Just breathe Rio, all will be better soon."

The friend of the past leaves him, in a flash of sunlight that casts down on him. Sunsets were always his favorite time of day. Times of sitting upon a gravestone and watching the sun turn from yellow to orange to black with the night sky. There's so much that no one knew about him. No one would know of how he used to build blanket forts with his father. No one would know of how he used to go down to the basement of Tempus when Theseus was around, playing games with the cast, until he eventually fell asleep upon Theo's shoulder. No one would know of how he first heard Jequirity play the violin and broke down in tears after the audition. There's so much that no one would know about Riordan Einfallen.

No one would know what types of food he preferred. Or the color that made him feel better. The way he sleeps and how he could snore when he was restless. The words that he used to whisper to himself to get him through to the next day. The routine of placing flowers on the graves of every dead person he could. The way he enjoyed acting for everyone to see. The way that he sat when comfortable, legs sprawled out forward. The time he asked for a pet, was denied, and instead collected snails that he kept in a box.

No one would know who Riordan Einfallen truly was.

All they would know is who Riordan Einfallen was in the games.

Bloodied, battered, and a dead man.

They'd know him as the guy who wore a crown and only could talk down his opponents. The way he killed the mutts before him with precision. The way he fled from Bloodbath with nothing, but a crayon. They would remember the way he climbed a tree only to fail a few times. The battle to avenge Callixtus Shim. There's only Riordan Einfallen, the District Six male who tried to be a king, but was only a fool. A fool who couldn't kill an artist. A fool who couldn't save Callixtus Shim or Anarchy Brice. They wouldn't speak of his name for generations to come.

This was the fate of the selfish.

The fate of the weak man who wore a fake crown made by crayon.

Cassie was still out there. He was leaving her behind in a world corrupted by death and sins. Tears calmly fall out of his eyes as he can't feel his legs anymore. Torn apart by assaults for days now. Cassiopeia Shaw was out there, with anger and broken emotions. There was a connection to her from the moment he ran into her on day one. Something that would grow over time. Cassie had proven to him that she was worthy of carrying something more than just friendship. She was worthy of carrying him home in his mind. If things had gone differently and he had faced her on this day. He would be in the same situation as he was. A broken body on the ground, bleeding until the world went black.

Cassiopeia Shaw wasn't the only person he was leaving behind.

Elettra Eckhart was still somewhere out there. Love for him in her heart, unless it was the fear talking. Either way, Riordan was with her. Elettra or Cassiopeia had to make it for him. They carried two halves of him with them. Lips flare to life as he can remember Elettra's lips upon his own. The words that flow into his head only causing more tears to fall out of his eyes. Death wasn't a pretty thing like people thought. Everything rushes to him like a film continuously looping his life over and over again.

"I think I love you, Rio."

"You can't."

There's no reason to love a dying man. The dead have no purpose for love, except to haunt the living lover left behind. Riordan couldn't do that for her. Riordan couldn't become Elettra's Jequirity. Moments of hiding away with tears and drunken states come back in his mind. Jequirity's standing in front of him now. There's no happiness to her eyes. There's only sadness in her eyes. He's failed her every time for a different reason. Death was inevitable, but he could have prolonged it. He could have avoided it for Jequirity's sake, but in the end, he threw it all away for the dead. A body to be taken back home and placed in a grave as strangers put roses to show their appreciation and love.

He can hear her words now. The soft and whispered words that she never spoke to him.

"This isn't how you were meant to die."

"I know, Jeq."

She vanishes into the colorful rose that lays sprawled out upon his palm. The flower reminding him of the youngest Eckhart in the arena. Iris Eckhart's hand is still resting in his own as he's losing himself to death. Small tears touching his face as she cries for him. This wasn't what he wanted. This isn't what he thought would happen when he died. He expected it to be quick and carry no weight to it. The small tears vanish into the air where nothing is left, but silence. Death was slow in his walk to Riordan.

This only added to the pain that he was feeling.

Remembrance was the worst part of death.

Remembering every single thing that he's ever down was driving him mad.

He can feel the giving away of his body. Riordan feels like he's going to fly away from the body that he carries. Memories of Jequirity's death comes to his mind. The tune of the harp that plays for her, mourning the scene of her death. The perfect way that she left the world in comfort of a tune that could send her asleep. All he would hear is a cannon fire in his name. No tune to play in the background to soothe his tired and weak self. This would be his final act. His final performance in a world that has abused him in every form possible.

There's so much he's seen and lived through, even though he's only eighteen. A guy who had just become a man, experiencing so much in eighteen years. A mother who pushed him to his limits at such a young age, forcing him to run from his problems. Naveen Casovnik, who took him under her wing and become a good friend to him. A busy Tempus that had brought so many emotions to crowds that watched with all of their attention. The laughs that he shared with Theseus Rhodium while playing games in the basement with the cast and crew. Facing their deaths alone in an empty Tempus building, while surviving his own demons of drinking so much. Reborn through the opening of Tempus again with a new cast and crew. Jequirity's silence that struck a chord with him, sending him spiraling down once she was reaped and perished. The drugs that he had taken after her death. The tears he let out when he was beaten to a pulp. The days of sitting next to graves watching sunsets. The day he volunteered and made friends who he watched die around him. Until Lucas O'Hara's knife and his own drugged state of throwing axes tearing him apart.

This was the final act of his life.

Hands reach in his bag, that now was stained with blood. A red and thick pool that coats the ground and bag. As he reaches in, he can feel the fire that burns through his body for a second as it goes cold once again. This is his final act. The performance was ending and every ending deserves a curtain closing or last bow. He's got ahold of the object. The plain cylinder that contains his final performance. Tears already fill his eyes. The dead and the living vanishing before him. The memories fading away fast from his mind. Pain and the slow death that he's enduring coming close to ending. Death's scythe getting closer and closer to his throat.

The cap comes off of the plan cylinder.

The sky becomes a rainbow of colors. Orange. Red. Yellow. Blue. Green. Purple. They all shine in the light of the sun as he stares at them. The puff of air that comes from the cylinder letting him know that it was all done. Rose in his palm facing upwards in an attempt to catch some of it. Everything that glitters isn't considered gold. The glittering pieces are all a speck of something good in his life. There's more that he needed to add to it. There's so much more that he wish he could have added to the pieces that rain down upon his bloodied body. There's so much glitter in the air. Each one a piece of himself. A memory of his life that flickers upon a piece of glitter.

This was the way to go out.

Surrounded by the memories that make him feel warm.

As the last piece falls upon the rose that lays in the boy's palm, it falls.

Eyes become lifeless with no regrets.

The last breath of air escapes his lungs.

The body turns cold and motionless.

The spirit is gone from it's form.

The sun sets as the cannon fires in the distance.

A king has fallen.

[Tom]

Riordan Einfallen

The sparkling pieces of his memory are gone.

He's gone.

Everything is black.

The color that didn't want to see at all.

A voice echoes around him, shaking his body.

"What shall we do with him?"

All that he could think of was that this was in a way god speaking.

That's how it was supposed to go.

A person dies and then meets god, at least that's what his mother always told him. God's voice is not what he expected it to be. The words sounded so different than he had expected them to be. They seemed to be familiar to his ears. They speak again, this time with more ease. The black falters a little bit from his vision. Bright white floods his vision as he feels blind in wherever he was going to go. The voice vibrates through his bones like an electric shock to the system.

"I'm the one that found him."

The white finally fades away as the scene before him comes into his sight. Colors swarm him as he can see fields and fields of flowers, purple, red, blue, orange, yellow, white, any color that a person could imagine. The sky is a light blue with clouds that move past smoothly, sending a new calm through his body. There's two people above him. Instinct screams at him to attack, but he feels weightless, like nothing matters as much as it did in the past. The voice speaks again, down to him.

"Rio, you're awake."

There's disbelief in his eyes.

Hovering above him is none other than Theseus Rhodium and Naveen Casovnik.

His heart beat quickens at the sight of them. There's no way that this was real for him. He can feel the physical touch of Naveen's hand on his cheek. A smile pulling at her cheeks as he can see her and Theo in front of him. This could still be the drugs, but either way, he didn't want it to end. He didn't want to lose them again. Theo is the first one to rush to Riordan's aid when he tries to get up. The shorter male steadying Rio to his feet. There's a small embrace as he can feel Theo's emotions on his own. A reunion of old friends for the first time in years.

"Let's head home, boys. The others are waiting for us. It's our big performance tonight after all."

Naveen says as Riordan watches them in disbelief. They were there. He was there. This couldn't be real. Nothing felt real to him anymore. A man balancing on the edge of fantasy and reality couldn't figure out if this was truly real. The crown upon his head feels right side up, unlike the one from his death. There's no lopsidedness to it at all. He's scared of this Theo and Navy. They couldn't be real. They couldn't be the friends who he had good times with, until their inevitable death that fueled his own sadness. This couldn't be real. This wasn't real. It had to be an illusion.

Illusion or not, Riordan didn't mind going along with them in a heartbeat.

He's spent too many long nights sobbing over the death of his friends.

He deserved this more than anything.

They travel for what seems like awhile, but if he could tell time in wherever they were. It would have been only ten minutes. The fields of flowers continues on in every direction, except he can see a building now. It's wooden exterior and patterned roof reminds him of the building he's spent most of his life in. The building seemed newer than before. Wear and tear of the building had vanished from what he can remember. Hand caresses the handle of the door as Navy and Theo look at him expectedly. Joy was in their eyes, except he was so scared of them still. He speaks softly to himself, but loud enough for Theo and Navy to hear.

"This can't be real. Nothing is real anymore."

He's pulled abruptly into a hug. Riordan can feel the silent tears on his own face as he's pulled down into a smaller body. Theo looks like he's gonna break down. Naveen looks at him with a warming smile that spreads throughout his body. Theo's voice reaches the air first, speaking directly to Rio. There's no place for a king in this world. Riordan would tell they didn't need him here. There's no place for a fool to belong in this world. He needed to continue fighting and beat Lucas O'Hara, except the words that reaches his ears makes him silent.

"Rio, this is real. Your suffering is over. We all missed you."

The doors of Tempus opens as he is swallowed up with a wave of warmth. People are swarming inside the building, working on the stage and sitting in the audience. Faces that he can recognize and some that he can not recognize at all. Feet take him inside the building with awe struck across his face. There's a warm and a glow to the building that he can see and feel. It's like everyone's love was made into one place. That's when someone approached him with a smile upon their face.

Little Iris Eckhart reaches for his hand and holds it, teeth showing in admiration. Tears well up in his eyes as he can feel Iris pulling him off in a certain direction. A small laugh falling from her mouth. Theo and Navy both shout to him as they move to get ready for the show.

"Don't be late for the show, Rio!"

Iris leads him to a section of the audience that he begins to recognize. The section is dedicated to the Eckharts as he can tell. Lucy Eckhart, Amerika Eckhart, and Elvania Eckhart are all there. Smiles upon their faces. Amerika shakes his hand with a lovely smile as she moves out of his way. Iris pulls him away from the Eckharts, down to the front where the orchestra would be. That's when his heart gets stuck in his throat.

Jequirity Eckhart stands before him, violin in hand.

Everything feels different. There's so much he wants to tell her, yet so much that he would rather not tell her. The silence fills between the two of them as Iris decides to hug her sister. Riordan is left speechless and everything feels different. There's no crush on her anymore. There's no tears to be shed for her anymore as he's already wasted them all in the past. Her voice is soft as he knows she used to be afraid to talk. He can read everything on her face like he used to do.

"Welcome home, Rio."

His voice catches the air.

"How? How is this possible?"

Jequirity just smiles back at him as the theater quiets down again. Lights flash, making it his cue to take a seat as the show is about to start or wherever Iris takes him that is. Jequirity prepares her violin as she plays a melody that rings in his ears. All he wants to do is cry, if this was an illusion, Riordan was going to break. Something like this couldn't be an illusion. It had to be real. It had to be real for his sake. That's when they left Jequirity and heard Naveen and Theseus looking for him.

"There you are! C'mon Rio, get ready, you remember your lines right?"

They hand him a paper containing a scene. Eyes scan it only to see that it was about himself. There's a shock to his gasp as he drops the papers in his hand. Naveen and Theseus look at him terrified as he can watch them. Had it all been fake in the first place? There's nothing that proved it could have been real or fake. Was it all in his mind as he dreamt the entirety of the scenes in his head. All he could do was breathe as he can see the title of the play.

The King of Fools.

It's typed neatly onto the white paper. There's no sign of it being written hours ago. It seems to be a real play in his hands, but he knew that he had experienced it. There's nothing that could show him that he dreamt it up. As they rush him around, preparing for the final scene now. Riordan can feel himself growing nervous all of a sudden. The nerves flood his system as he paces back and forth in his room that used to have a bed to lay in. A room that used to be trashed with rubble that he had created. There's only a moment until his heart lurches.

The door opens then.

Elettra Eckhart steps into the room, looking gorgeous in every way possible.

There's a slight blush to her skin as she speaks to him.

"Are you ready, Rio? Your palace awaits."

A laugh falls from his lips as he can feel the uneasiness of the dream or life before disappear in his mind. Everything felt clearer in this place. Everything felt weightless. Everything felt better over the reality. Fantasy became his reality as he forgot it all with a play. Lips brush Elettra's cheek as he can remember that it's okay to love the living. It's okay to feel something for someone else, especially since he didn't have to possibly kill her. Her light blush deepens as he rushes out of the room. Words falling from his lips.

"I hope you'll be watching Elettra!"

The scene goes with the king of fools death. A tragedy of every proportion. Anger in his crazed voice as a monster attacks him. Riordan fakes the death as he stares up at the roof of Tempus. Emotions lying within his skin as he reaches a palm up with glitter raining down on him. This was his home. This was a play about the king of fools. Riordan wasn't a king of fools, but a man surrounded by friends, family, and love. This was where he belonged. This was the reality that he could accept.

The curtains close in front of him as the entire cast and crew line up together. Theo, Navy, Jequirity, him, Elettra, and Iris all stand together, hand in hand as they hear the curtains opening. They bow to the crowd of familiar faces that he can see. Brooke Destin. Atlas Lumiere. Zanita Luzell. Scarlett Stroms. Diorite Fray. Ronnie Cheyne. Eszter Summit. Callixtus Shim. Anarchy Brice. They all are in the crowd, applauding the show that they had just put on. There's a warmth that floods the building. This felt right. This was right.

Riordan felt at home with them all. As the show ended, the last curtain closes.

They all move downstairs to the basement. A few decks of cards in their hands as people begin dealing out the deck. Dumb party games of spin the bottle, never have I ever, and so many more come out of the works. They play until the sun starts to set, when Riordan needs a breath of fresh air. There's a stillness to the Tempus house. Theo watches him careful, but lets him go. Navy gives him a wink as she continues to destroy Theo at poker once again. Elettra looks at him with adoration and care, but continues to play. Everyone seems to look to him with kindness and admiration. He can feel himself feel the same towards them all.

Outside the air is cold. He feels the chills lovingly as he watches the sun slowly set. Flowers turn orange with the sun as he can feel the heat leaving the earth. The light breeze adds to the calmness of the new Tempus house. There's only peace in the place they are. This felt right. This looked right. This was right. He belonged there with everyone. After suffering through everything, this place felt right. This had to be his reality, a place to reside in forever. If he could live there forever, he would.

Jequirity's hand touches his shoulder. Fear flows through him, but he relaxes once he realizes it's her. A girl that he mourned for what felt like years. There's so much he wanted to say to her, but now that he was before her. He knew the truth. He was dead. There's a body of who he was back in reality, but he ignored that insistent itch of knowing that. Instead he ignored the truth to look at what was before. Ignore the pain to find the happiness. It's a lesson that took him a lifetime to learn. Her words come out next.

"What do you think?"

A joking answer escapes his throat as smiles at her.

"Of?"

Her face tell him her response. He wasn't clueless of what she was talking about. All he could do was speak the truth to her. He's worried about everyone still in reality, but he was gonna push past that. Caspar would learn how to live. His mother and father already lived without him in the world. Cassie would find a way to live and if not, he would welcome her with open arms. There's so much that still had to happen, but for now he felt like he could rest at ease.

"It's strange, but it feels right. I feel like I don't have any worries here. I'm happy for once."

The comfortable silence fills the air as he watches the sunset. Jequirity stays for a moment more, a smile upon her face. She leaves soon after, leaving him alone. The air goes cold as the sun dips over the horizon. Memories of everything before being left behind for the fantasy that he was in. Flowers glow in the dark with a warm feeling. It felt right in the end. This was the true final act of his life. A place where everyone was together like he imagined it would be. Gravestones with wooden coffins forgotten in his mind.

Every flower represents the good times to come.

The moon comes out as Riordan closes his eyes for a moment.

He was home.

The crown is taken off of his head, placed on the railing.

Riordan Einfallen walks away from it as he heads back inside for the party.

Everything was right where it should be.

He's finally free of all the human worries and stresses.

This was his home.

This is where he belonged.

Surrounded by loved ones that he could spend an eternity with.

A paper lies on the deck of the building.

The words read out in a bold black ink.

The Final Act: Not all things that glitters is gold

[Tom]

Thank Yous

First of all, there's so many people to thank this games, that I will probably miss people, so if I miss you, I am sorry, but thank you for everything you did for me and overall to make this a great experience! You all deserve some love for something that you've done.

gm bourgeois decadence [aya] L△LIA: Thank you both for making this games interesting. Your hard work and dedication to make the seventy fifth a fun and fair games is appreciated. Thank you for legit answering all of my questions, even if some were not that great questions and ones that I should have known. Thank you for letting me go a little wild in my ideas and then helping make them interesting with changes. You two are the reason I was able to have more fun with my character and provide a closing to his story altogether. Thank you so much!

flyss: DUDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE seriously, I don't even know what to say. You are fantastic and I am so proud to have allied with you. You are seriously so cool! Anarchy and Rio had this whole brother/sister bond that expanded more and more, until Anarchy got killed, which sucked, but overall, it was fun being in a games with you. Sorry for pestering you legit most of the games with how stressed I get at times, but you are a fantastic writer, ally, and person. I can't wait to write more with you in the future.

ali: GURLLLLLLL you are fantastic. I am so happy you made it to finale because you deserve to. Cassie is my favorite character this games, it wasn't right away that she became my favorite, but over time she stole my heart. I am so glad I got to actually ally with you for once where you don't die before me. I seriously love you so much. You are an inspiration to keep writing. Bless you and Cassie for everything. I hope to write more with you in the future! It was an honor being apart of Cassie's story and having Cassie apart of Riordan's story. Ily <3

kap: Alright Kaplan. Adding you in later to our alliance was perfect. I am so glad you did as it gave me the chance to read through Sage more closely and seeing what type of character you truly had. I am glad you asked as it was fun threading with you and seeing you grow as a person. You are a wonderful person and your writing is great. I appreciate you throughout this games and hopefully I helped you where it mattered. Bless you!

LAIN 🍽 1M | Mattio: BOY DONT DIE EARLY. I was so excited to plot games stuff with you. You are such a good pal man! I love your writing and you still did fantastic. You wrote Cal so great and he was such a major development point for Riordan in the long run. I am grateful that we were able to write together in the games and able to be in an alliance together. Keep writing Mattio, I'm excited to see more from you.

ghosty: GHOSTY, legit. You are perfection. I am so so so so so so so glad that we got to plot and write together. Elettra/Riordan is my favorite everything. Thank you for being you and writing such amazing things. You made this games for me 1000x better than before. Without Elettra, Rio wouldn't have gotten as much development as he did. You are so lovely and kind and such a great person. Seriously, I love you and everything you do. Let's continue to plot again in the future!

d7m fraser birk ♚ frankel kousei ♚: YOU TWO ARE AMAZING. I loved reading Atlas and Ronnie. I wish you both had gone farther, but stuff happens. You both are such good friends to me and know how to pick me back up when I feel super ugh about games stuff. You really helped me out a lot this games, even though we weren't allies or we were against each other. Bless you two. Lets thread again sometime soon mates.

lance: BRUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH What do I even say to you. Oh yeah, you kill me. D:< But no seriously, Lucas was fun to write with and you're alright I guess. You helped me with calming down and such this games, so that's alright. We can thread sometime if you feel like it. Ship thread coming soon. Anyways, you're amazing, but I tell you that every day and you don't believe me so, yeah. Thanks for everything

Python d1b. xylia fray ♕ kaяi: I decided to group you two up because you both are amazing and did similar things. I loved both Castor and Eszter since the start. They stuck out to me as characters and you both wrote phenomenally. You both are so amazing and both are so sweet. I love you both and thank you!

10th retro gm | paxton hayes Malachor Erso D2 (Cato): When stuff got tough, you both kept me positive. You are like two people who keep me steady in the worst times. I dunno what I would have done if you two weren't there cheering me on and telling me to not give up just yet. I seriously admire you both on the site. You both are so great and I could go on for days. Thank you for everything you did for me.

marguerite harvard d2a (zori): ZORI! Salome was fantastic and you truly made a character I enjoyed. We are pals and this game showed that even more. Threading Day 1.5 with Salome and Cassie is still one of my favorite things in how they were. Salome brought a different side of Riordan to his development that made everything that much more amazing. I praise you for being so calm in every situation to me. Bless your heart.

@everyone else/tribs/members/supporters: Thank you all for everything that made this games such a wonderful experience. All of you helped out in some way or another, small or large. Either way, you all supported me and my writing as a whole and helped me become something better over time. Thank you all for everything that you've done. Without everyone, I wouldn't have been able to make this experience such a great one! Thank you all. ily all!