Chapter 1: Let the Games Begin

Karakura University, Karakura Town

Three years after the defeat of Yuu

Hisana

"Hisana, are you ready to go?" said the tall woman behind me.

I turned away from my painting and smiled up at her.

"Yes, Evelyn, I think I've done enough for one day." I replied.

The woman smiled at me with her bright amber eyes. "Alright, I'll be waiting in the hallway."

I nodded and made to collect my things. My name is Hisana Takanashi. I look like an adult, I act like an adult, and I think like an adult, but the truth is- I'm really only three years old. You see, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'normal'. I have two mothers, neither of which are human, and an older sister, Shinzo Takanashi (though technically we are the same age, she was born a few minutes before I was, a fact she never fails to remind me of). Mama says I am the spitting image of kaa-san, the only difference being that my eyes are sapphire blue instead of emerald green. Everyone in my family may look normal, but we have a few secrets that we keep hidden from the general public: We can see the dead, we have an unusually high resistance to pain, my birth mother is ghostly pale, my kaa-san is a vampire, and my sister and I have these special swords that mama calls 'zanpakuto', which supposedly have names, but neither me or my sister have yet to figure them out. We use these swords to fight evil lost spirits called 'hollows'. Very few people are aware of these secrets. Evelyn Koutari is one of them, since she is similar in several ways to me and Shinzo. She is also my best friend, and stuck with me even when I entered Karakura University to get my degree in art. I finished collecting my things, and went outside to join my tall tan friend. Honestly, I'm a little jealous of Evelyn. She's at least half a foot taller than me and Shinzo, has long flowing lavender hair, beautiful amber eyes, naturally tan skin, and is a bit more…developed in the chest area. I walked alongside my tall friend as we made our way through the halls of the university and out into downtown Karakura. There was a dark haired woman leaning on a green sports car waiting for us by the side of the road. Seeing us, she stared through her glasses and settled her emerald eyes on me.

"There you are, you two. Have a good day?" she said in a melodious voice.

I nodded and smiled happily. "Yes we did, nee-chan."

Shinzo smiled. "Good to hear, Hisana."

My sister opened the passenger side door and gestured toward it.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady."

Giggling lightly, I said farewell to Evelyn and climbed inside the car. Shinzo started it up and we were on our way home. The drive usually takes around 20 minutes, since we live close to the riverbank, so Shinzo figured she'd turn on the radio and listen to some music. Luckily for me, there was a marathon of songs by Yousei Teikoku, my favorite band. Shinzo smiled as I hummed along to the music, she knew I loved the band. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew about the marathon today. She always loved to make me happy. However, right as they were entering the second verse of 'Warheit', the station got interrupted.

"Attention! This is an emergency broadcast! All citizens in all worlds must listen!" came the voice of a worried announcer.

"All worlds? What do you think it could be, nee-chan?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but they hardly ever broadcast across the whole multiverse, so it must be important." replied Shinzo.

Thanks to a massive event three years ago, every world in the multiverse was now connected. In the event of another cross-dimensional scale crisis, the emergency broadcast station was set up.

"An enormous dark sphere is appearing in the sky of every world!" continued the announcer. "It does not appear to be doing anything, but—wait, what's that? Oh…oh my god! There are creatures coming out of the sphere! Strange white creatures without faces! Oh my god, they're everywhere! They're attacking everything! Wait—no, no get away from me! No…NO….AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!(static)"

Both Shinzo and I looked at each other with shocked faces. The shock fading, we both nodded and Shinzo stepped on the gas. We both knew that if something big was happening, then there was someone we had to notify: mama. Mama was a powerful warrior, and had been responsible for ending the last war. If anyone could shed some light on the situation, it was her. Shinzo slammed on the brakes, and we came to screeching halt at the end of our driveway. My sister turned to me.

"Hisana, go tell mama about what's happening! I'm gonna go get Evelyn and Ms. Inoue!" she instructed.

I nodded. "Got it! Be careful, nee-chan."

"You too, nee-san. I couldn't live with myself if I lost you."

Quickly, I got out of the car and ran up to our house. Looking up, I saw that the announcer had been right. There was a gargantuan orb of swirling darkness hovering in the sky. It looked like some kind of miniature black sun. Ignoring the orb, I ran inside the house.

"Mama? Yomi kaa-san?" I called.

I heard no answer. I called again.

"Hi…san…a…" came a weak voice.

I ran into the living room, instantly recognizing my birth mother's voice. I froze when I saw the scene laid out before me. The living room was torn apart, with blue/black blood and green/back blood scattered about everywhere. Achreios, a magic demon-slaying sword my mother had been given by a great warrior, was stuck into the wall. And in the middle of it all lay mama, her face wet with blood and tears as her head rested in a pile of ash.

"Mama!" I cried as I ran to her.

I knelt down and held my mother in my arms, gasping when I caught sight of a bloody fist sized hole in the center of her chest. My mother gasped for breath and weakly opened her eyes to look at me.

"Mama! What happened?"

"A man…with pink hair…he attacked us…reopened my old wound…took what was left…of Soul Edge out of me…" my mother wheezed.

"Where's Yomi kaa-san?" I looked around for my other mother.

Mama glanced over at the pile of ash at her side. "Yomi…didn't make it…"

My eyes widened as realization struck me. The pile of ash was all that was left of kaa-san. Somehow, someone had managed to kill her. Mama coughed violently in my arms, spewing up a fair amount of blue/black blood.

"Mama!" I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes.

My mother forced herself to smile at me. "Hisana…I'm so proud of you and Shinzo…you've become such a good girl…I'm happy…that I got to have…such wonderful children…maybe this time…I'll finally get to heaven…"

"Mama…please…don't go…" I begged. I could feel tears streaming down my face. This couldn't be happening. How could anyone possibly beat mama?

My mother gave me a weak hug. "I love you…Hisana…my wonderful daughter…"

"Mama!" I wrapped my arms around her.

I felt her twitch a little then rest her head on my shoulder.

"Before…I go…I have…a gift…"

I felt something go through me. Looking down, I saw mama sticking a glowing blue sword of energy into my chest. Surprisingly, I felt no pain. Instead, I felt…powerful. Mama held the sword in place for a moment longer before it faded and she collapsed against me.

"There…that should do it…" she gasped.

"What did you…?"

"I gave you…the last of my…spiritual energy…use it…it will help you… learn the name…of your zanpakuto…" her breathing was more ragged now. She was nearly gone.

"Mama…"

"Find…your sister…use…my power…take down…the bastard who did this…but above…all else…" she managed to lift her head to look at my face. With a final forced smile, she whispered her last words. "Be…safe…"

With that, she closed her eyes and was still. I sat there for a moment, tears flowing from my eyes as I came to terms with what had just happened. My mother, the mighty warrior who had saved the entire multiverse, and had given birth to me and my sister, was dead. I wrapped my arms around my mother's still form, and cried like I had never cried before. When I had finally shed all of my tears, I went outside, Achreios and a small satchel slung across my back and my mother's star pendant clutched tightly in my hand. As I began to walk down the driveway, I felt a large tremor surge thought the ground. I turned back to my house. Suddenly, a large holographic projection of a man in a black coat appeared in front of the dark orb in the sky. The man had blue eyes, and wavy shoulder length pink hair. His lips were curled up in a devious smile. I had no doubt just by looking at him that this man was the one who had killed my mothers.

"Greetings, citizens of the multiverse." the hologram said. "I am Marluxia, the one who created these mysterious dark spheres and unleashed my armies of dusks and other foul monsters on your worlds. Just moments ago, I slew Ebony Takanashi, your most powerful champion. There is no doubt that my armies have taken over your worlds, and if not then are in the process of doing so. I will be blunt, they are without end and they cannot be stopped. As of now, all of your worlds belong to me."

I glared at the hologram. So Marluxia was his name. Good, now I know what to write on his tombstone.

"However," Marluxia's hologram continued. "I am not so terrible a dictator as to not give you a chance. Where would the fun in that be? I am prepared to offer you all a chance to win back your freedom, in the form of…a tournament!"

I stared in confusion. "Tournament?"

"Yes, a tournament." as if he could actually hear me. "I have 42 powerful guardians serving under me that have been scattered across fourteen worlds. However, you will not be able to face the final three until the other 39 have been defeated or destroyed. If one of your warriors manages to best my champions, then I will allow them a chance to face me in battle. If they should win then, I will call back my armies and surrender. Sound fair enough to you?"

Of course not. 42 guardians? If they were anything like Marluxia, then it would be impossible. Only a fool would try to compete in a tournament like that.

"Oh, and to make things more interesting, I will grant the winner any wish they desire. With the power I have obtained, anything is possible for me. I can make you rich, make you a god, I could even, say…bring someone back to life."

It felt as though that last statement had been directed at me. Even the hologram seemed to be staring down at me, as if challenging me to participate. I glared at the hologram. Fine, if he wanted me to play his game, then he couldn't have given me any better motivation.

The hologram smiled, as if reading my thoughts. "I hope you don't disappoint me. Good luck challengers, let the games begin."

The hologram of Marluxia disappeared. With vengeance on my mind, I set out into the city to find my sister and friend. If winning this game would bring mama back and give me chance to kick Marluxia's ass, then that was a risk I was willing to take.

A/N: And so it begins again, the tournament has returned! Lol. I actually hadn't planned on making this a story, but the idea got in my head and it wouldn't go away until I wrote it so there you go. I will try to make this story as good as Game of Blades, maybe even better. Who knows, maybe it'll be even more popular than that one! By the way, I have not decided on who all of the guardians are yet, so if there's someone you want to see show up for a fight in this story, then let me know via review or pm. It can anyone from anything, hero or villain (although villain is preferred.) Well, that's all for now. Till next time! DarkNovelist out.