Hhhh... hhhh...
I couldn't sleep.
Not really.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the mask. That fucking Truth-Seer mask.
Even though it was gone—turned to dust—I could still feel it. Like phantom pain. Like it had left something behind.
You're terrified, the voice whispered in my head.
"Shut up. You're not real anymore."
Are you sure? Or are you just lying to yourself again?
I opened my eyes.
The foyer was quiet. Lucy, Gery, and Somi were resting. Actually sleeping somehow.
But me? Nah. My brain wouldn't shut off.
Because here's the thing about seeing the truth about yourself—you can't unsee it.
I knew I was scared. I'd always known. But KNOWING knowing is different. It's like... before, I could pretend. Make jokes. Act casual.
Now? Now I could see through my own bullshit.
Every joke was a defense mechanism.
Every casual comment was a shield.
Every smile was fake.
You're performing too, the voice said. Just like the Queen. Just like the puppets. You're playing a role. 'Sidd the Chill Guy.' 'Sidd the Joker.' But that's not you. That's just another mask.
"SHUT UP!"
I said it too loud.
Lucy stirred. "Sidd? You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Liar.
"Just... couldn't sleep."
She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Me neither, honestly. My head keeps... I keep thinking everything will be fine. Even though it won't. The mask did something to me."
"Same," I admitted. "Mine won't shut up."
"Yours talks to you?"
"Sort of. It showed me truths. And now I can't stop seeing them. Everywhere. In everything."
I looked at her. Really looked.
And I saw it.
The tiny cracks in her hopeful facade. The fear she was hiding behind her smile. The doubt she wouldn't admit.
She's scared too, the voice said. She's just better at hiding it than you.
"Sidd?" Lucy looked concerned. "You're staring."
"Sorry. Sorry, I'm just..." I rubbed my face. "The mask fucked me up."
Morning came. If you could call it morning. There was no sun in this place. Just the eternal dim light of the theater.
We gathered in front of the third door.
The singing was louder now. Crystal clear. Hundreds—no, thousands—of voices singing in perfect harmony.
It was beautiful.
And terrifying.
"Everyone ready?" Somi asked.
"No," I said honestly.
At least you're being truthful, the voice mocked.
"But let's go anyway."
Gery nodded. "Together. No matter what we hear in there, we stick together."
"Agreed," Lucy said.
We pushed open the door.
The room was massive.
No—not a room. An amphitheater. Like those ancient Greek theaters you see in history books.
Stone seats rising up in circles. Hundreds of levels.
And on every seat... a person.
Or something that looked like a person.
All of them singing.
The same song. The same melody. Perfect synchronization.
Their mouths moved in unison. Their heads tilted at the same angle. Their hands made the same gestures.
Like a fucking hive mind.
Hhhh... hhhh... hhhh...
"Oh fuck no," I whispered.
The singing got louder as we walked down the center aisle toward the stage.
And I started to hear words.
Not the lyrics they were singing.
Different words. In my head.
Join us.
Sing with us.
Be one with us.
Stop being alone.
Stop being afraid.
Stop being YOU.
"Guys?" I called out. "You hearing that?"
"Yeah," Lucy replied. Her voice was shaky.
"Hearing what?" Gery asked.
"The voices," Somi said. "They're not just singing. They're... calling to us."
The singing swelled. Louder. LOUDER.
It wasn't just sound anymore. It was pressure. Like the music itself was pushing into our heads. Trying to force its way inside.
Join the chorus. Become part of something greater. Stop struggling. Stop resisting. Just sing.
I covered my ears.
It didn't help.
The sound wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from INSIDE my head.
We reached the stage at the center of the amphitheater.
On it, a conductor stood. Or something that looked like a conductor.
Tall. Thin. Dressed in a black suit with tails. Holding a white baton.
No face.
Just a blank, smooth surface where a face should be.
But somehow, I knew it was watching us.
"Welcome to the Choir," it said. Its voice was many voices. Speaking in unison.
"What is this?" Somi demanded.
"The final performance. The ultimate harmony. The erasure of self and the birth of unity."
It gestured with the baton to the thousands of singers.
"They were once like you. Individuals. Scattered. Alone. But now they are ONE. They sing together. Think together. Exist together."
"They're prisoners," Gery growled.
"They are FREE," the conductor corrected. "Free from doubt. Free from fear. Free from the burden of choice. They simply... perform."
Join them, the voice in my head urged. Stop thinking. Stop being scared. Just sing and forget.
I shook my head violently. "No. No fucking way."
The conductor tilted its head. "You resist. But you will sing. Everyone sings eventually."
It raised the baton.
The choir's singing changed. Got aggressive. Demanding.
The words in my head got louder.
SING.
SING.
SING WITH US.
Lucy dropped to her knees, hands over her ears.
"It's too loud!" she screamed. "I can't—they're in my head—"
Gery tried to help her up, but he was struggling too. His face was twisted in concentration. Fighting something internal.
Somi was gritting her teeth, eyes shut tight. "Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't—"
But it was impossible not to listen.
The voices were INSIDE us.
You're alone, they whispered. You're scared. You're weak. But if you join us, you'll never be alone again. Never be scared again. Never be weak again.
Just. Sing.
And the fucked up part?
It sounded tempting.
Because I WAS alone. I WAS scared. I WAS weak.
What if they were right? What if joining them was better?
NO.
That was the Truth-Seer's voice. The lingering effect of the mask.
That's the easy way out. That's giving up. That's dying without dying.
"Fuck you," I muttered. "I don't need a mask to tell me that."
But... it was right.
I looked at Lucy. At Gery. At Somi.
We weren't alone. We had each other.
"GUYS!" I yelled. "Don't listen! They're lying!"
"How do you know?!" Lucy screamed back.
"Because I can see through bullshit now!" I laughed. It sounded manic even to my ears. "The mask fucked up my brain! I see truths whether I want to or not! And the truth is—THEY'RE LYING!"
The conductor pointed its baton at me.
"You resist. Interesting. The Truth-Seer's mark lingers on you. You see through deception. But can you see through yourself?"
The singing changed again.
And this time, it targeted me specifically.
The thousands of voices merged into one. MY voice.
Sidd's voice. Singing.
You're not brave. You're a coward playing pretend.
You're not strong. You're weak and scared.
You're not a hero. You're just a guy who got lucky.
Give up. Give in. Join us. Sing with us.
Become nothing. Become everyone. Become ONE.
My legs gave out. I fell.
The singing was overwhelming. It was my voice. My thoughts. My fears. All amplified and thrown back at me.
Join us join us join us—
I started laughing.
Full-on, crazy laughing.
"Sidd?!" Somi called out. "Sidd, what—"
"It's FUNNY!" I yelled between laughs. "Don't you get it?! They're using my own voice against me! My own insecurities! But I ALREADY KNOW ALL THIS!"
I stood up, still laughing. Still half-crazy from the Truth-Seer's lingering effects.
"I KNOW I'm scared!" I screamed at the conductor. At the choir. At everyone. "I KNOW I'm weak! I KNOW I'm not a hero! The mask already showed me! I've SEEN the truth!"
The singing faltered. Just a little.
"So you can't use it against me! I've already accepted it! Yeah, I'm a coward! Yeah, I'm terrified! Yeah, I'm barely holding it together!"
I spread my arms wide.
"BUT I'M STILL HERE! Still fighting! Still refusing to give up! Because being scared doesn't mean I have to SURRENDER!"
The conductor stepped back.
"You..." It sounded confused. "You embrace your weakness?"
"DAMN RIGHT I DO!" I was still laughing. Half-manic. Half-desperate. "I'm a walking disaster! But I'm MY disaster! Not yours! Not the Queen's! MINE!"
I turned to the others.
"Don't you get it?! They're using our fears! Our doubts! But we've already FACED those! We wore the masks! We saw the truth! So they can't use it against us anymore!"
Lucy looked up, tears streaming down her face. "We... we already know ourselves?"
"EXACTLY!" I pointed at her. "You know you're not just hope! You're doubt too! So own it!"
I turned to Gery. "You know you're not just a guardian! You're human too! So own it!"
I looked at Somi. "You know you can't carry everything! You're fallible! So own it!"
They stared at me.
Then slowly, one by one, they stood up.
"If they want singing," Somi said quietly, "let's give them singing."
"What?" Gery looked confused.
"We sing our OWN song," Lucy realized. "Not theirs. Ours."
"EXACTLY!" I was still half-crazy, but it was working. "We don't join their chorus! We make our own!"
We stood together on the stage.
The conductor raised its baton, commanding the choir to sing louder. To drown us out.
But we sang anyway.
We didn't know any songs. Hell, I can't even carry a tune normally.
But we sang.
Lucy sang about hope mixed with doubt.
Gery sang about protection mixed with humanity.
Somi sang about memory mixed with forgiveness.
And I?
I sang about fear mixed with persistence.
We weren't harmonious. We weren't perfect. We weren't even good.
But we were OURS.
Our voices. Our choices. Our song.
The choir tried to drown us out. The pressure increased. The singing got louder and louder until it felt like my skull would crack.
But we kept singing.
And slowly... the choir started to falter.
Some voices dropped out. Then more. Then more.
Because they couldn't match us.
They were all singing the same song. The same notes. The same words.
But we were singing DIFFERENT songs. Individual songs. Imperfect songs.
And that made us stronger.
Defeating the Conductor
The conductor screamed.
It wasn't a sound. It was a feeling. Like reality itself was screaming.
"NO! You must conform! You must join! You must SING AS ONE!"
"Fuck. That," I said, still laughing. Still half-manic from the mask's lingering madness.
We sang louder.
Our terrible, imperfect, individual songs.
The conductor's body started to crack. Like porcelain breaking.
The choir members began to fade. Disappearing one by one. Released from their eternal performance.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" the conductor shrieked. "THE SONG MUST CONTINUE! THE HARMONY MUST BE PERFECT!"
"THE HARMONY IS BORING!" I yelled back.
Lucy laughed. Then Gery. Then Somi.
We were all laughing and singing and probably looked completely insane.
But we won.
The conductor shattered. Exploded into dust.
The amphitheater started to collapse. The stone seats crumbling. The choir members all fading into light.
And then...
Silence.
After Act III
We stood on the stage, breathing hard.
No more singing. No more voices.
Just us.
"We did it," Lucy whispered.
"We did," Somi confirmed.
"Three acts," Gery said. "All complete."
I was still laughing. Couldn't stop. The mask's effects were still there, making everything feel slightly unreal. Slightly funny. Slightly insane.
"Sidd?" Lucy looked worried. "Are you okay?"
"Probably not," I admitted, still giggling. "The mask fucked me up. I think I'm going slightly crazy. But hey, it helped us win, so... worth it?"
"Is he okay?" Gery asked Somi.
"Define okay," Somi replied.
A door appeared. Golden. Ornate. Beautiful.
Above it, words formed:
THE QUEEN'S THRONE ROOM
That voice came back. Her voice.
But this time, it wasn't distant. It was close. Right there.
"Well done. Oh, well done. You've survived all three acts. You've earned an audience with me."
"Come. Let's meet face to face. Let's see if you're as entertaining in person as you were to watch."
"I'm waiting for you. My stage is prepared. My strings are ready."
"Let's dance, my dear challengers. Let's see if you can cut yourselves free."
We looked at the door.
Then at each other.
"This is it," Lucy said.
"Final boss," Gery added.
"The Marionette Queen," Somi finished.
I was still laughing quietly. Still seeing truths everywhere. Still half-crazy.
"Then let's go fuck up a Queen," I said.
We walked toward the golden door.
Together.
As ourselves.
Imperfect. Scared. Slightly insane.
But free.
Hhhh... hhhh...
Let's finish this.