Ghastly
Silence had never been so deafening.
The four of them were looking at each other, waiting for someone to break the silence. After what felt like hours to them, Koko broke the silence.
"What do you want to know?" he asked. "All you have to do is participate in the game. Win, and you get your wish granted. Lose, and you get yourself enslaved to a contract of granting the one who beat you one wish."
"Don't talk as if this is not important. I'm taking part in this, so I must know what is going on. There must be more than this. For instance, what are you doing here?" Natsume pressed.
Koko seemed to be thinking of something. His right hand was beneath the elbow of his left head, which was touching his lips. He let silence filled the room once again, though this time, it wasn't as awkward and deafening as it was.
"Alright. I'll tell you everything I know. But I do not want any information from you. With Sumire though, it's another matter. She said she wants to know about her past, you give her information about her past."
"I'll tell you what I know about you, Permy, once you tell us what you know," Mikan promised.
"But, are you suggesting that you want something else?" Natsume clarified.
"You're a smart one! I like you! Yes, in exchange for my information, I want you guys to do something for me. I will only tell you what it is after you've agreed to do it. Fair enough?"
Natsume and S exchanged glances, waiting for any violent objections from the other person. While they were silently discussing, Sumire took the chance to grab Koko's shoulder and brought his ear closer to her mouth.
"What are you planning?" She whispered softly, but loud enough just for him to hear.
Koko smirked mysteriously.
"You'll see."
Natsume looked at the two faieries sitting opposite of them, after ascertaining S's opinion.
"Deal."
Hotaru knew that it was a joke. Throughout the time she had played this game, (which was just days, really) she never heard of the existence of the Shadow Faieries. They had followed her back to her hiding place. N was resting in bed.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"We're not," The guy with maroon hair, replied. If her memory served her correct, his name was Hayate.
"You said you're going to help us win," Hotaru paused. She would not continue until at least one of them looked like they were listening to her. When she saw their looks on her, she knew she had their attention. She used the chance to continue.
"And how are you going to do that? What's a Shadow Faierie anyway?"
"We used to be like him too. We used to be a Made Faierie. We won the game but decided to stay in Fay since there is really no point in living as humans. And as you know, by winning and staying, we still have the 12 powers we earned during the game," The other faierie, Rui explained.
Hotaru eyes widened when she heard the newfound fact.
"12 powers?"
"Yes. And imagine this: The two of us team up with you. It will be like extra 24 powers in addition to the powers you have. In short, that will make you the favorite to win this Jeux," Hayate deduced, trying to bait her into being in the same team with all those information.
Under normal circumstances, she would never take up offers from anyone. But power gives one the advantage to win the Jeux, and she needed to win badly. It was the shortest and quickest decision she had ever make in her entire life. She stole a glance on N, who was too weak to have a say in this matter. But one look on his face explained what he wanted to say. She nodded.
"Of course, if we are a team, we will heal the Madé Faierie over there. We have the power of healing," Hayate added.
Stealing one last look on N, Hotaru looked at the Shadow Faierie, determined.
"I, no... We, We accept."
Hayate gave her a smirk. He was obviously happy that she had agreed to be in a team together.
"That's what I was talking about!"
A paper suddenly solidified from the surrounding air. Rui took the paper and hand it over to Hotaru.
"We need you and your Madé Faierie to sign this. This is the paper of agreement that as of now, Hayate and I are going to help you win by being in the same team."
Hotaru snatched the paper away and signed the paper. She handed the paper to N who struggled to sign the paper. Once the pair signed the agreement, the paper shot up the sky.
"Well, I look forward to working with you, partner."
"Fay runs by a ranking system. The Good Folks are more of the citizens of Fay. We're higher in rank than the Madé Faierie, but we're still lower than the Ancient Faierie and the Elder Faieries," Sumire said.
"Ancient Faerie?" Natsume asked.
"Yes. The Ancient Faierie is the Head, the highest in rank. They only exist one at a time. So there will never be a case of having two Ancient Faieries. The Elder Faierie is the second highest. The Shadow Faerie follows it. Next, would be us, the Good Folk. Then the Madé Faieries and of course, the human is the last," Koko answered. He said his words slowly, so that they would be able to process it in their head.
"Who are the Shadow Faieries?" Natsume asked. Koko raised his eyebrow, amused by his eagerness to know everything about the system in Fay. Nevertheless, he answered the human.
"They were Made Faieries who won the previous Deadly Jeuxes and decided to stay in Fay because 'there's nothing worth going back for'. Thus, to reward them for winning the Jeux, the Elder Faieries transfer the powers of their human to them," Koko explained. "But I've heard that they don't participate in Jeux."
Sumire spoke suddenly, "I think they're participating as well."
"They are?" Koko questioned, surprised.
"Remember Youichi? He is a Shadow Faierie. He helped me just now."
"That's strange… I've never heard of that..." Koko answered as he frowned. "Anyway, so it seems that they participate in the games too then..."
"That damn hag! She purposely made me say yes! If only she isn't an Elder Faierie, I would have..." Youichi complained once Miss Miranda had left. "Don't you have anything to say, Tsubasa?"
Tsubasa looked up and shrugged. "It's getting boring here in Fay anyway. I think the Jeux is a good entertainment. They shouldn't have stopped us from participating in the first place."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"I think you're insane. And I wonder why they stopped our participation in the first place."
"Why, thank you. I wonder too," Tsubasa smiled. He stood up and stretched a little.
"Where are you going?"
"To find a team to aid. Are you coming or what?"
The atmosphere in the air became thick. One doesn't have to be a genius to know that the matter at hand is serious. A long, deep sigh was then heard from a raven-haired man.
"You still haven't told us about the Good Folk," Natsume demanded.
"I was about to get to that," Koko said. "Stop cutting me, will you? Anyway, back to the topic at hand... The Good Folks. Ah, yeah. The Good Folks. We used to be human too. I think you guys know that much though," Koko started. "We are humans who died under special circumstances."
"What circumstances?" S leaned towards the edge of her seat.
"A human whose death is instigated by an Elder Faierie will reincarnate into a Good Folk."
A short gasp escaped S mouth. Death was a horrible feeling, but at least she died a somewhat natural death. Imagine to have her death instigated by an Elder Faierie! Why on earth would an Elder Faierie do that?
Seeing her expression, a small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Relax, it wasn't that horrible. We are rather grateful to turn into a Good Folk. We now have a second chance in life, by participating in the Jeux. But having this second chance is really... Let's just say our life is at strike."
"Strike?"
"We have a curse. Or at least, we regard it as a curse," Sumire said. "While a Madé Faierie will die if he or she loses the game, we will lose our memories and at the same time, gradually reach the point of insanity. In short, we will go berserk. The only way to avoid insanity is to defeat a team. By defeating a team, we will remember a piece of our past memories," Sumire paused to catch her breath. She looked at the team's expression before continuing.
"I'm sure you've heard cases of humans who fall into a coma, woke up with no memories and became crazy. Yes, they are the Good Folks, who failed to recover their memories and prevent the process of going berserk. Once the Jeux ends, we get reincarnated. Whatever memory we lose and whatever insanity we gain, we bring it to our second life."
Koko nodded at the statement.
"The time for the Deadly Jeux is like a time limit for the Good Folks. When the game commenced, we must defeat teams or make deals with Elder Faieries to regain our memories. The longer we don't defeat a team, the more we will lose our memories and become more insane."
Once Koko finished his explanation, the air became denser and more suffocating. It was hard to breathe and catch one's breath. Who could, when you know that the Deadly Jeux is just one very twisted and cruel game?
Natsume cleared his throat to gain the Good Folks' attention. Once he was sure he got their attention, he proceeded to say what he wanted to say.
"The deal. What is it that you want us to do?"
"Ah yes, the deal. Firstly, I want you guys to team up with us. We may not be as strong as a Shadow Faierie, but we are useful all the same. Secondly," Koko eyed the Made Faierie and the human carefully. "If either one of us reach the point of insanity, I want you guys to find the Elder Faierie that instigated our death."
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