Gemlike Flame
Chapter One: The Message
The screen at first was completely white. There was a moment of silence before a melancholy, but light piano tune began playing. Navy blue text then came into focus on the centre of the screen.
YOU'RE GOING TO BE MEETING EIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE.
A young woman then appeared on the screen. She had brown hair that was tied loosely into a high bun. She had a bright smile on her face though her eyes were obscured by a black lace mask. Black tulle, with decorative spiders within it, was cast over the mask, similar to a veil. With the mask, she looked elegant and delicate. She then began to laugh awkwardly, bringing a hand up to cover the luminescent smile.
"Do I stand right here?" a muffled male voice rang out over the small piano tune as the woman disappeared from the screen. A young man jumped in. His blue eyes were the first thing that came into focus. A simple, blue gas mask covered the bottom half of his face. Even with the gas mask, his face was incredibly expressive. He beamed cheerfully towards the camera.
As the young man disappeared, another woman appeared on the screen. She had fiery orange hair that seemed to tangle in itself the more she moved. The only feature that wasn't covered by a mask were her tinted lips. They were a soft peachy colour and glossed to reflect the light. Her mask was asymmetrically parted into smaller sections, each section a different, bright metallic colour. The camera's reflection could be seen on the mask. Her hands were on her hair, trying to tame it so it'd be presentable.
The next young woman to appear on the scene didn't say anything or do anything. But it was hard not to be captivated by her. She didn't wear a mask. Instead, her face was painted into that of a sugar skull. It was purple-themed and a rather simplistic design. The most captivating thing about her face was the hundreds of rhinestones on her face, corresponding with the sugar skull design. Her thick black hair was styled into a loose side braid. There was a single blond streak beginning in her bangs and intertwining into the braid. The young woman blinked once then let out a smile, the rhinestones glimmering off the light.
"Do I look scary?" a more juvenile voice asked off-screen. Then, a teenage male jumped up and playfully growled. The first noticeable thing about his appearance was his mask. It covered his nose and mouth comfortably. A large, grotesque tiki mouth was painted onto the mask. The next noticeable thing was his messy, shaggy blonde hair. When he pushed his hair out of his face, bright emerald-green eyes caught the attention of the camera.
"I feel a little overdressed," another man laughed. When he appeared on the screen, he was adjusting his tie. He wore a grey suit, complete with a simple, white mask. It was shaped like the famous Phantom of the Opera's mask. His hair was the shade of red velvet cake and there wasn't a hair out of place. He smiled then, showcasing straight, pearly white teeth.
Flowers were the dominant feature of the next young woman. Her mask was made entirely out of flowers. They only obscured her eyes and her plum-coloured lips were curved into a pout. Her straight bangs mingled with her mask and the rest of her ebony hair cascaded past her shoulders. Her pout grew as she began to poke at her round cheeks. She looked incredibly unsure of what she was supposed to do in front of a screen.
The last young man also didn't wear a mask. Instead, he wore face paint. His face was a metallic silver, with accents and a design that mimicked a knight's visor. His eyes were the colour of molten golden. His black hair was spiked up with silver sprayed onto the tips. He let out a soft, embarrassed chuckle before pressing his hands to his cheeks, as they too were painted a metallic silver.
When the white screen faded back in, navy blue text was centred on the screen again.
THEY HAVE LIKES AND DISLIKES, PASSIONS AND FEARS.
The young people then were asked questions. None of the questions could be heard, but it was clear that they were listening to someone. Then, in the order that they appeared in, they all began to answer them.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I've always dreamed to dance on a stage. Turns out dancing on stages is a lot harder than it looks, so I've stuck to baking!" The young woman laughed near the end, visibly loosening up.
"I really like science. Especially biology. I could go on for hours about the subject."
The next young woman could be seen thinking, her lips twisted in the slightest. "Oh! I don't like pickles. Pickled anything. I can't stand salty foods!"
"I guess I'd have to go with racing and painting. I wonder what a fusion between the two would look like. Race painting?" She let out an amused chuckle, exaggeratedly shrugging her shoulders.
"I really love anime but then again, I really hate anime? It's really hard to explain. The safest answer would be gymnastics. I'm aiming for national championships!" The young man then comically posed. He brought his fist up over his head and his feet were planted farther than shoulder's width.
"Fine dining, opera music and puppies. Who doesn't like puppies?"
"You could say I'm scared of what people are capable of. Every little thing I'm scared of chalks up to that."
"Would it seem really boring if I said I was interested in numbers? But, then again, I absolutely hate memorizing formulas. It's a real love-hate relationship," the young man joked.
The navy blue text appeared on the white screen again. Instead of a melancholy tune in the background, it was a cheery and sweet melody.
THEY ALL HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT WHO THEY ARE.
"I am definitely a lover. I avoid fighting almost at all costs."
"I am someone who my father would be proud of. And that's all I really want."
"I am someone who will stand up to a problem when everyone else is bowing down to it."
"I am a protector."
"I am not my mistakes. And I'm not my successes, either. I'm a mixture of both."
"I am someone who will help others in need."
"I am a simple person, I'd like to think."
"I am happy most of the time. I am sad other times. I am stressed and I am relaxed. Sometimes, I'm adventurous and sometimes, I'm homey. During certain hours of the day, all I am is an accountant. I am so many things that a simple question like that just wouldn't cut it. But most of all, I am me. I am a person."
Suddenly, the music stopped. It was silent for a moment. The blank white screen turned black. Then, white text faded into focus.
FOUR OF THEM ARE CLASSIFIED AS ENEMIES OF THE LAW.
The word 'enemies' was underlined with red. And the word faded the slowest. More text appeared on the screen.
WHY? SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY EAT AND THE WAY THEY WERE BORN.
Again, the words 'eat' and 'born' were underlined with red and they were the last words to fade away into black. The screen continued to stay black. And, instead, of showing everyone's profile, words appeared on the screen. Everyone's voices could be heard with their respective quote.
"If you're prosecuted because of something you can't control, then every single day becomes a struggle to hide. You'll always be afraid. Even if you feel safe, it's not like you actually are. No one wants to live like that." – Black Spider
"No matter how much you'd contribute to society–whether it be through medical or political studies, literature or music, entertaining or informing–your life won't be valued at the end of the day." – Biohazard
"Imagine being told ever since you were born that you weren't good enough. You don't deserve fair treatment. Animals in zoos have more rights than you. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty mad." – Gem
"There are good people and bad people. Humans are not all good and ghouls are not all bad. Humans kill humans just as much as ghouls kill humans. Is there a law saying that policemen kill every convicted human criminal on sight? No." – Ax
"You have feelings. You cry when you're hurt and you laugh when you're happy. Yet, you can never change the way they look at you. You can show them the utmost kindness and all they'll see is a monster." – Puppy
"People will say that the feelings you have for your family will be a mockery. People will say that you're nothing but an actor. A wolf in sheep's clothing. It's kind of funny because when it comes down to it, we are all wolves in sheep's clothing to somebody else out there in the world." – Phantom
"It's a hostile world. Every being out there has a natural predator. Plants have herbivores. Herbivores have carnivores. Carnivores have other carnivores. No one comes out on top in this world. I don't know what made humans think that they were exempt from the natural order." – Fairy
"The law says that ghouls are the enemies. Great. When ghouls are gone, will that stop all the unnecessary killing? No. The law restricts happiness, not violence. If the law said that ghouls stood on equal grounds as humans do, imagine how great everything would be. Imagine how much more people would be happy." – Knight
The black screen began to fade to white again. Instead of music, there was laughter. The voices of the eight young people could be heard in the background. They were joking and laughing at each other's masks and face paint. Puppy's mask got caught in his shaggy hair. However, despite the audio that would've been best accompanied with the visuals of the friends having fun, there was still only the blank white screen.
THE NEWS REPORTS YOU SEE ABOUT DEATH. THERE ARE THOSE WHO HURT BECAUSE SOMEONE MINDLESSLY KILLED THOSE PRECIOUS TO THEM.
Puppy, the young teenage boy with the tiki mouth, appeared on the screen. Though muffled, his question had an impact. "Now, who are we talking about? Ghouls or CCG Investigators?"
"Trick question!" Black Spider, the woman who donned the elegant spider mask, suddenly exclaimed as she jumped into the vicinity of the camera, "Both ghouls and CCG Investigators alike mindlessly kill because of what's been engrained into both their ideologies. Ghouls must kill and hunt to survive. Investigators must eradicate the obvious predator. Both parties have unnecessarily brought families grief and pain. This is what we're trying to change. All this bloodshed won't lead to a better future. You know what will?"
"Hm, what's that?"
"Understanding, tolerance and for the extremely hopefully, acceptance. Teaching lessons that appreciate diversity, differences whilst acknowledging the similarities is the way to a better future!"
ALL EIGHT OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE AN EQUAL RIGHT OF LIVING HAPPILY AND SAFELY.
The navy blue text appeared above the two. As the camera panned farther away from them, all eight of the young men and women began to gather around. They hugged each other, Puppy trying to wring in as much people as he could underneath his arms. Gem, the young woman with the fiery hair and the asymmetric reflective mask, dared to put her hands on Knight's silver face and place an affectionate kiss on his lips. The group laughed as Gem's lips and hands turned silver. As the young people, clearly comfortable and happy with one another, began to blur and fade away into whiteness, a logo was placed on the screen.
It was a simple outline of a gem. It was in the same navy colour as the previous text. Underneath the logo, an English title was provided. A website link was also provided underneath. There were no other logos, sponsors or titles.
GHOUL EQUALITY MOVEMENT
gem_co_jp
"We've done it! Sun-Young, it's all thanks to you! Without you, we wouldn't have the opportunity to broadcast this!" Phantom, minus all the overdressed flare that he put on during the commercial, exclaimed as he raised a glass.
"Three cheers for Sun-Young!" Gem, her hair kept tame with two low ponytails, yelled out as she raised her glass, as well.
A small party was being held in a penthouse that looked ideally like the ones in magazines. However, there were people of all ages at the party. Some of them were well-dressed in cocktail dresses and ironed suits. Others sported hoodies and pajama pants. Some had wine in their cups, others had soda, and many had O+. The most important commonality between all of them were the happy and joyous expressions they shared. They were all advocates for equality for ghouls and humans.
"I still think you should've been in the commercial. You were the one who started all this. You were the one who brought us all together," Black Spider murmured, the bright smile she donned the entire commercial gone. She stood out on the patio, the rejoicing company as muffled and distant as the traffic noise down on the ground. A young man was with her, staring nostalgically at his full cup of soda.
"It'd bring all sort of unnecessary trouble to someone important to me if my face was plastered all over T.V," he stated. Although his tone was light and casual, his expression was melancholy. The young man had a grin that could be used to power all of Tokyo, but he hardly wore it.
Black Spider said nothing. Instead, she stared out onto the million-dollar view. All of Tokyo and even farther could be seen from such a height. She wondered what the young man's friend was doing right now. The young man did so much for him and it seemed as though there was hardly any fruits of his labour. To the young man, his friend's idleness meant the world.
"Nonetheless, the public knows what the logo means. More importantly–"
"So does the CCG and Aogiri. We're getting there. I just hope everything goes to according to plan. I want to stay as nonviolent as possible."
A/N: Hello! WhaleTheFatDolphin here! I was really iffy about posting this story, especially since OCs have generally bad connotations with them. Nonetheless, here it is with enough OCs to fill a bus (okay, a little exaggeration but yes, the central focus is on a team so there's going to be a lot)! If you liked it, please follow and favourite! If you want to make the author happy, please leave a review!
Also, that is indeed supposed to be a url, but it's just no working to fit. You still understand, right? ; u ;