A full moon was shining down on a strange and sudden forest. Owls and other nocturnal creatures called out into the night air.

  A cold wind blew past me, heading toward a mansion at the end of a forest road.

  Sprinting to escape the spooky atmosphere behind me, I approached the castle. I gave the door a few frantic knocks in the hopes someone would answer.

  Some old butler man in a suit answered, then bowed kindly to me.

  “Ah, we’ve been expecting you, Lady Yalda.” The butler dude said.

  He had a virtual nametag above him that read ‘Geeves.’

  “Mister Geeves, where am I?” I asked, not quite able to remember what I was doing before I got into this spooky forest. Wasn't I settling down for a nap?

  “Why, you're back in the land of dreams, of course,” he claimed.

  Oh no! Not this place again!

  I grit my fists and put up my ducks! I mean dukes!

  *Quack!*

  Crap! Actual ducks spawned in my hands because this was a dream! They quickly jumped away and vanished.

  “Is that demon lord back at it again? I swear I’ll teach him another lesson if he is!”

  Geeves waved his hand and chortled.

  “You have been invited here and may leave at any time you wish. But please, we humbly request you hear out what our master has to say first.”

  Well, when he put it like that, I guess I could just check things out. Besides, if I needed to, I could force myself to wake up through system commands. Nothing was preventing me from leaving.

  I followed Geeves to a room inside the house that looked like an abandoned Halloween attraction. Geeves clearly didn’t do his job, because this place could use some tidying up. Those cobwebs were huge!

  Geeves paused in front of a very tall door and pressed it forward. A hint of warm fireplace light spilled out as he revealed more of the room.

  Shelves stood on all sides of the interior, housing thousands of books of all kinds. It was an impressive collection.

  But the real point of interest wasn’t the books, nor the fireplace, not even the big window that overlooked a full moon. It was the head of this household, the owner of it all.

  “Lord Belphegor. I have brought Lady Yalda, as you requested,” said the butler.

  Belphegor was sitting quietly at a small table in the center of the room. Moonlight bathed him in just the right glow to make his red eyes stand out in the blue shadows.

  “You may leave, Geeves.”

  Belphegor waved him away.

  “As you wish, my lord…” Geeves bowed, then turned into dust and blew away.

  Belphegor offered me a seat at his small table, which I decided to take up.

  “Is this another one of your worlds, or are you messing with reality again?” I asked.

  “Neither. This is your dream,” he replied. “I noticed you don’t tend to have pleasant ones. Why don’t you take a break from that?”

  How did he know I didn’t have good dreams?

  Wait, he’s a demon lord of slumber. I should have expected him to know a lot more about me then I may have wanted.

  All that being said, it sounded like he was genuine about trying to give me a break from my bad dreams. What did that mean?

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  “If you’re trying to start another fight, then bring it on,” I told him with a scowl, testing his reaction a bit.

  He merely shook his head. “You misunderstand. Consider this a kindness, if you must.” He reached under the table, placing a chess board over it and decorating it with all the proper black and white pieces. “Although, I’m not here just for your sake.”

  He wasn’t here to cause mayhem? That’s a first.

  “So, what do you have to gain by being in my dream?” I asked.

  “It’s been a while since anyone has challenged me in a game of chess. I see a lot of potential in you. However, your skills are terribly lacking.”

  Ugh! He didn’t have to be so rude.

  “I can beat you at chess with my eyes closed.” Actually, I probably could. I just needed to look through my crystal heart. was that cheating? Nope. Just ingenuity.

  “I accept your challenge. But feel free to keep your eyes open.”

  He finally put down the last piece in place. Then I sat forward and examined the whole board to make sure it was all set up properly. The black pieces were on my side for some reason.

  “Hey, I want the white pieces,” I said. “Demons are supposed to get the black ones.”

  “Is life that black and white to you?” he asked. “Tell you what… Beat me tonight, and I’ll let you use whatever colour you want.”

  Sounded like a good deal! I’d be sure to kick his evil butt right out of its seat. Blue chess pieces, here I come!

  ~☆☆☆~

  “I win,” his dry tone was accompanied by a neutral expression, showing a significant lack of interest. “That makes three games in a row.”

  Crud! I couldn’t believe he was so much better at this game than me, and I was using some of the most advanced chess-bots I had to give me the edge. After losing the first match, it felt like the best tool to put him in his place. Obviously, it didn’t work.

  “Are you cheating?” I asked.

  “If I am, could you prove it?”

  I had no idea if he was or not, so he had a point there. But to be honest, It really felt like things just seemed to work out well for him, no matter how much I planned my strategy out.

  “You on the other hand seem to be comfortable cheating,” he smirked.

  “Eh… No I’m not,” I lied.

  “Do you know how easy computer opponents are for me? Every move they make has such a lack of subtlety, very little creativity. They’re a bore. Your first match was all your own failure, but it was still more interesting than anything after you pulled out for aid.”

  That’s such a weird thing to be able to point out. There’s no way he could tell I was using a chess-bot to cheat…I mean…help me win.

  But, there is one thing I had to admit. At first I thought that using it against a demon would be fine, but now I just felt dirty. I didn’t know why.

  “I don’t really get what the problem with that is,” I said. “It’s a resource I have access to, right? It’s part of me.”

  “How would you feel if I stepped away from the game for a nap and replaced myself with a computer program I made?” he asked.

  “I’d probably think you weren’t very interested in the game.”

  “Or perhaps, I think very little of your skills.” He started arranging the pieces back in place on the board. “You clearly weren’t invested enough to actually try against me. No respect.”

  I think I looked at it more like he needed to be defeated, and I was willing to use whatever I had to do it. Plus, it was clear I wasn’t very good at this game.

  Something did feel off about me lately. I seemed to be willing to do some pretty underhanded things to get what I wanted. For instance, I kinda cheated… No, I literally cheated at the clam game to get that blue pearl. Not only that, but I rationalized it was being for a greater good. I did the same thing here.

  There was no good in cheating, regardless of the result. What was going on with me?

  “Whatever the reason might be, your true skills did not show,” the demon lord claimed. “You didn’t put in your own creativity, and you surely didn’t challenge mine. A crutch such as a computer program will only get you so far before adversity does you in.”

  I had an ethereal computer for a brain, so utility like that would always be available to me. I couldn’t just lose one of my senses, they’d always be here. Why wouldn’t someone take advantage of that?

  “Are you saying you want me to beat you without using a chess-bot?” I asked.

  “There’s only been one person in all of time who was patient enough to best me. I can assure you, it was all by his own power, not some computer program.” Belphegor’s grin turned sinister. His head tilted down, catching just enough of the moonlight to appear spooky. “But if you could find a way to cheat without me knowing, I’d be all the more flattered to see you try.”

  Wait, now he wants me to cheat? This guy's all over the place!

  “Sounds like you’re a hypocrite,” I commented.

  “Cheating is only a problem if you get caught doing it. Or admit to it, like you did.”

  I didn’t know if I liked that advice very much… But heck, I guess even a broken clock was right twice a day.

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