Welcome to the sequel to "The Emina Games," which is... "The Emina Games II!"
...I'm getting better and better at this title thing, aren't I?
Onto the important stuff. For anyone new, this is a Hunger Games-ish battle royal of great fandom proportions - as the summary suggests. The fandoms involved are as follows: Tokyo Ghoul, Durarara!, Noragami, Mekaku City Actors/Kagerou Project, Higurashi, Shuuen no Shiori project, Mirai Nikki, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Parasyte, Zankyou no Terror, Deadman Wonderland, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Death Note. However, there will be references to previous players from other fandoms (like Kuroshitsuji, for example).
We'll have our very own game master Muse give us an introduction, so we'll know exactly who's involved. Naturally, this will just be an intro chapter.
This story is written in a way that attempts to include enough detail for even characters you don't know to become vivid over time, so I hope you get to know someone here!
Enough of my blathering, though. I do hope you enjoy!
"Welcome to The Emina Games!" It's a distorted voice, as through a speaker. Unidentifiable, no distinguishing features. Male, female? It's hard to guess. Does it matter? Maybe not. "There are twenty-six contestants that have been miraculously selected to participate in this wonderful time we'll be having! Tune into the show~ We are approaching the end of our sixth day in - let's look at our players, shall we? We have:
"Ken Kaneki of the Realm of Ghouls, who is taking up his own solo group right now in the northern-central part of the city.
"Group Unity, consisting of five members of four different realms: Akira Mado and Ginshi Shirazu of the Realm of Ghouls, Shintaro Kisaragi of the Realm of the Heat-Haze, Light Yagami of the Realm of the Death Note, and Shirou Emiya of the Realm of the Holy Grail. These members now take residence in the northwestern suburban area of the game field.
"Our Unity Task Force, consisting of Izaya Hachimenroppi - or 'Roppi' - of the Realm of Alternate Personalities and Konoha of the Realm of the Heat-Haze. They're making their way into the city now.
"Then there's who I call Group Calamity, consisting of the Yato god and his Nora, whom he calls Hiiro at present - how fun is that? They're from the Realm of the Near and Far Shores.
"Tailing them is Seidou Takizawa of the Realm of Ghouls, making up his own group in the northernmost part of the field.
"The group conglomerate of ten (or perhaps I should say eleven) on the edge of the western forest: Izaya Orihara and Celty Sturluson of the Realm of the Dark Rider; Yukiteru Amano, Aru Akise, and Minene Uryuu of the Realm of Future Diaries; Rika Furude of the Realm of the Hinamizawa Syndrome; Roy Mustang of the Realm of Alchemy; Juuzou Suzuya of the Realm of Ghouls; Twelve of the Realm of the Athena Plan; and A-ya of the Realm of the Bookmark of Demise, who is currently possessed by the Clearing Eyes Snake from the Realm of the Heat-Haze.
"And last but not least, the Outliers group of four making their way towards the western half of the game field: Hideyoshi Nagachika of the Realm of Ghouls, Rin Tohsaka of the Realm of the Holy Grail, Shinichi Izumi of the Realm of Parasytes, and Senji Kiyomasa of the Realm of Deadmen.
"Cast your votes, everyone! Who do you think will win the game? Only time will tell, it seems~ We'll just have to find out, won't we?"
...Click.
"Not all that glitters is gold, right?"
Game Master Aureus stirred, his golden eyes peering through the dim lighting of his secret hideaway with vague annoyance even though they still glimmered with something playful. He'd been banging his head on his counter in frustration, only to lay said cranium down soon after, arms wrapped around it. Not being allowed out of his underground home could be frustrating, especially when he didn't agree with a lot of what was happening above-ground. People didn't often come to visit the poor guy, save for the occasional player who had stumbled across the wooden hatch leading to his abode, only to receive his dorky optimism and his secret items. He was the items master after all.
But looking up now, he wasn't alone. Leaning against the stone walls of his underground space was a bald man in his thirties, a goatee stretching around his wry smile. His arms were crossed over his chest, his bulk giving off the air of someone almost like a bouncer. "Apparently real gold doesn't even glitter," Aureus remarked in answer. "It's kinda dull." He shrugged as he sat up, then proceeded to stretch. The bald one shrugged right back, and Aureus closed one eye, grinning at him. "What's up, Durden?" Another game master.
"Wanted to see what you thought of the badass turnout so far," Durden replied with a lopsided smirk of his own.
"Badass," Aureus repeated, refraining from rolling his eyes in exasperation. "That's a word for it…"
Yeah, Aureus had saved Kiritsugu Emiya, Shirou's father, from the fate of being possessed by the Clearing Eyes Snake – thank God for that. He'd thought his payback from Muse would be having to deal with an enmeshed monster of a person called Izaya Orihara, possessed and very not-okay. Instead the Clearing Eyes Snake had been directed to A-ya, one of his very own handful of extra-special people.
Alright, I'm guilty. There are people I'm rooting for, too…
…But, come on, those five shouldn't be messed with – it's so not fair…
Aureus closed his eyes.
That was right: Celty Sturluson, A-ya, Yukiteru Amano, Shintaro Kisaragi, and Roppi were his. First there was Yukiteru getting messed with by Rodd, the timekeeper amongst the game masters, which had really worried him at first… Especially just going and telling A-ya that suddenly he had friends to return to! Much to Aureus's relief, A-ya had taken it alright, but now…
'Kuroya,' he mouthed to no one in particular. A musing – what should he call this combo, anyway? …I really don't ship this idea, he thought dully, rubbing at his crooked nose.
Seidou Takizawa was a whole different story. Poor Shintaro and Roppi had been led off-track by Durden – Asshole, he thought – and then there was the tragic ending of Touka Kirishima, who evidently hadn't made it. It wasn't that bad, he tried to tell himself. She died with all those people around her; Kaneki and Akira and Saiko… But it still felt rotten in his chest.
Not to mention, Aureus had been rigid in his seat when Seidou had been contemplating the selection of his special item, begging him not to mentally, then shouting at him as he moved to press the button: "Don't!" all while pulling at his golden hair.
His selection had been FastForward. That frustrated little human CCG officer Seidou had become known as in-game... well, wasn't like that anymore. Now he was a sadistic (and hungry) artificial half-ghoul that wanted to eat pretty much any other player he saw - particularly the Yato god.
Maybe there was some sadistic part of Aureus wriggling with glee when Seidou had made his selection, but it had gone stale quickly. Oh, how he had wanted to ring up Muse, just to say "Jerk," and hang up. Oh, how he had wanted to rewind him right back, but what would the symbolism be in that? And besides, Rodd had jurisdiction over all the time-related items anyway.
And Izaya was pissing him off, trying to mess with Yukiteru (If anything screws with that kid now I'm gonna kick someone's butt!), and A-ya was freaking possessed, which needed no other explanation as to why that bothered him even just a little bit…!
Here was Roppi using the Harrowing Blade, now, the Harrowing Blade being the special item that Aureus himself had given him. As a blade, it draws out the worst of someone when it draws its victim's blood. Aureus's heart had broken, seeing Roppi lashing out at Kaneki with it. He knew Roppi hadn't meant to. Listening to Kaneki beg for merciful death really hurt. He could almost admit it had gotten him to cry. Almost.
That being said, now both Ken Kaneki and Light Yagami were harrowed - that is, they were acting as the worst part of themselves. Fantastic.
Maybe Aureus was proud of Roppi where he was now. He wanted to clean up his own mess. That was good. But now everything was going wrong besides that, so what was he supposed to do?
"I'm pissed," Aureus said to Durden, a blunt statement.
"I mean, I didn't want Touka to die," Durden shrugged. "It really fucking upset me," he added, pointing at Aureus.
"Then why did you aid it?" Aureus cried, his voice breaking.
"It was inevitable. I let her wake up; come on."
"But you also ended her life."
"You know she needed to die," said Durden, crossing his arms again.
"Ugh…" Aureus tugged at the back of his scalp, using his hair for his grip. "I know…"
"Now, I did come here for something." Durden straightened up, pushing off the stone wall and approaching Aureus in his swivel chair.
Aureus raised his eyebrows, sitting cross-legged on his seat. His eyes almost suggested a challenge. "…What?"
"It's about Light," the other answered, leaning forward with one hand pressed to the counter attached to the wall. "You're the 'items master,' still, right? What I'm thinking, well…" He lifted his hand, holding up to Aureus a slip of paper between his index and middle fingers. "Does he get this?"
"A scrap of the Death Note, huh…" Aureus brought his hands to his face, rubbing at his eyes as though he were exhausted. "He's not allowed to kill Roppi."
"He'd need to know his name," Durden pointed out. "For all he knows, his name is Roppi. But it's not. So." He shrugged. "Seraph doesn't want Roppi dead either; God knows that." He added a little bit of an eyeroll to that one.
Seraph. Another game master.
"Hm…" Aureus folded his hands together, his eyes darkening as he thought. "Who would he kill, though?"
"How should I know? Probably try to kill Roppi, first thing."
"Mm…" I have an idea. Aureus closed his eyes. And I really like it. Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly. "Do whatever you want, Durden," said Aureus plainly. "I have plans for Light, too. That's all."
"It's a deal," Durden smiled.
I hope you enjoyed! Though it is an intro and all.
I think for this I will update every Wednesday, so please look forward to it! Feedback is much appreciated, as well uvu
In any case, have a lovely day, everyone~