A tap of a finger upon a gilded throne, the sound reverberating through the strings of reality. Far away, men die screaming.

"I wonder . . ." His words, a delicate whisper. His court grows silent. ". . . . How should I end this play?" He slowly rises . . .

Music is playing. It is not beautiful. No, it is sickening. A sound that bleeds into the mind and rips away reason. It grows in volume.

-- fact, it even seems to rival the sun in how it lights up the sky. A low chuckle, intermixed with the crack of breaking bones and --

-- the squelch of flesh being pulled through a grate. "On a moonlit night. Fitting for this tragedy~"

"Ah. But it is not time . . ." The moon vanishes, hidden behind clouds. "Not yet."

A low laugh. Echoing like a thousand insects feasting upon carrion. The gnashing of teeth as they are shattered upon white bone. "Soon."

"Dear boy. I am never gone. I watch. After all, your shows are interesting to watch."

"This world. The curtain is falling. The final act is rushing towards them like an arrow. Ahahahahahahahaha~"

"Ah . . . . I can feel it . . . The glass that separates me from H E R slowly cracking. Soon, I shall have what I need."

He presses against the empty air. Cracks suddenly tear through it, like glass about to shatter under a heavy blow. So close . . .

"Ah . . . Can you hear? The glass cracking." A tap against the air, and the air cracks. Another tap and the spiderweb of cracks grows.

"But . . . the glass has not cracked enough. I cannot break it yet." He pulls his finger away, the cracks receding back into nonexistence.

-- screams of terror, of anguish. It echoes from his rotting throne in Carcosa, it reverberates through the strings of reality. The sound --

-- is wondrous, like the playing of an ochestra tuned from stretched vocal chords. It is sickening, like the harsh gurgling of a man --

-- choking upon his own blood. His fingers reach for yellow wrap, once again masking his visage.

"Screaming howls . . . The universe turns to one point . . . His dream? His nightmare made flesh . . ."

The king is silent. However, he set another piece upon the board. A king reigning upon a black throne . . .