Lowell
Haza would struggle to make it home, typically using the backstreets and alleyways as a network of shortcuts around obstacles and away from the sounds of combat in other places across Traverse Town. A huff... A puff... A grunt when moving through the aches and pains. He barely managed to sneak into his backyard before he felt his legs give out beneath him. He expected to feel his body crash against the ground before his consciousness faded, but...


He kept falling... Deeper and deeper into an inky black void. Was this... Death? No... He didn't feel cold... Not too cold... No, it felt... Warm. Candle-lit. His eyes would snap open as he found himself standing up not in his yard, but... On another sort of green ground. Crouching down, he'd feel the strange fuzz beneath him. It was... Baize. The very thing that covers card and snooker tables. Getting up and looking around, he'd see this large table was... A circle. One with no counter to place drinks or cards on. Whatever light was here seemed to only be emanating off of the surface of the ground beneath him as well.

"What is this pla-"
Seymour
"Is this place really that unfamiliar to you?"

A mysterious voice would chuckle. It got Haza freaked out enough to spin himself to near dizziness in search for where the echoing voice was coming from, to no avail.

"You told me you were a gambler at heart."
Lowell
The voice sounded old... Gruff. It wasn't his father, but the five cards that appeared in his hand told him who it was plenty. The old man he had won the Heirophant off of. Turning his hand would reveal the presumptive fate of the elder street rat...

The Queen of Hearts, the Aces of Spades and Clubs, and the Eights of Spades and Clubs...

The Dead Man's Hand.

Out of panic, Haza would quickly shake his hands as if the cards were stuck to his palm. He couldn't seem to control the Heirophant like he could ever since he got it.
Seymour
The elder voice would let off a hearty laugh, it was almost deafening to Haza as his mind rattled,

"Relax, boy! This is a test. I warned you, for better or worse, you'd wield these cards. Now it's time to choose which of those two it is."

He'd say as the cards quickly turned into a full deck, then flew off to the side of the table to make a spiral staircase as the voice finally fell silent.
Lowell
All Haza could really hear was the white noise of a fan humming and the subtle flickering of flames from what he guessed were candles as he walked down the staircase.

Another layer down, he'd find his bag of dice and a tiny specter. It was in the shape of his favorite rat that lived in the alleyways of Traverse town. A smile would form on his face as he walked over and crouched down, only for the smile to drop as the tiny spirit vanished as he grabbed his bag.

"What am I even supposed to do here?"

He'd quietly ask himself before turning around and seeing the deck of cards floating before him, almost beckoning him to draw. He'd reach over and only manage to pull a single card. It... Was unfamiliar to all other games he'd played before. Holding it up, the art of the card would depict a door which seemed neither ominous nor promising... Neither light or dark. The card's number was 0, and it had a name... "The Fool".

The sound of... Something happening got him to quickly put the card down, causing the deck to slip into his hand as he saw a door on the edge of the table *Exactly* Behind where he held the card up.

"Guess my only path is forward..."

He'd mutter to himself as he walked to the door and grabbed the handle. He felt a sudden surge of power that confused him, but he'd push those questions aside as he struggled to open the door, eventually making it through.

On the other side were the alleyways which he won the Hierophant in. Frustration racked in his mind as he only was given more questions, then hearing the strange sounds of those freakish watermelon heartless appearing again.

He'd quickly arm himself with a hand of his cards before seeing... A White Mushroom. It wasn't... Attacking? What the *Hell* Was going on?

"Hey... Aren't you supposed to try to kill me?"

All it would do was fan itself... Reaching into his dice bag, Haza would just be confused before rolling his D20, causing a random spell that seemed to have instantly made the Heartless vanish into a storm of shadows that rushed to throw Haza into the sky.

He'd continue to tumble through the air before he finally saw where he was about to land, his backyard and then-

He'd gasp, sitting up. Breathing heavy, he could still feel that newfound power, but didn't understand anything at all. What was *Happening*?