Songs of Fire and Ice

Chapter 8

In-between Weeks

Christoph munched on some cold pizza, wondering just what'll happen next. Looking around, he saw other people beginning to appear, most of them staying unconscious, some waking up and looking around, few of them getting up and talking with others, as just about all of them stayed in the spots they came into being in. Only a couple of people caught Christoph's eye.

One young man, looking around eighteen, sat and read a book, sneering up at anyone that tried talking with him. His black hoodie covered most of his face, but his mouth was visible when he looked up, and he also sat cross-legged in jeans. Christoph once noticed a familiar gleam of light on reflective glass. Probably wore glasses. His hair was unseen, except for when some kid ran up and flipped the hood, showing disheveled dirty blond hair and brown eyes, which were hidden once he flipped the hoodie back up.

Another of the people that caught his attention was a girl that looked two years older, who was glaring at him, and hardened it when he looked at her directly. The best way to describe her? Punk rocker. Her red hair was obviously dyed, yellow streaks seen here and there, and went down to her shoulders. Her t-shirt showed the British flag being stabbed by a guitar, and her legs were barely covered by torn-to-hell jeans and black boots. As she gave Christoph the bird, to which he raised an eyebrow, he saw a spiked bracelet on her right wrist.

After those two, the other people weren't as interesting, Christoph thought, finishing his cold pizza's crust. Turning to the sulking Max, Christoph said, "Come on dude, so he's changed, maybe your brother's still in there?" for the umpteenth time. No response, as usual.

Turning back to the fridge, Christoph saw it steadily disappearing. He would have whined if he weren't being looked at by so many people, as he hadn't finished the last slice of pizza in the box. Shoes on gravel were heard as Pietro's voice said, "Vell, ze Composer and I haff given your girlfriends' families zheir daughters back, so, as such, you shall not haff to vorry about your girlfriends anymore, as zey shall not be carried over to ze next Game you two shall be playing." Christoph and Max regarded the man warily, as if expecting there to be a catch to this, Max doing so sulkily. Chuckling, Pietro spoke Japanese to the assembled Players, switching to English for a few Players.

"Velcome to ze Reaper's Game. Ze reason you are all here is because you are unable to join your relatives in whatever place zhey are in, as you are undetermined in zhat aspect. A few of you may have gone zhrough zhis before, but, I shall tell you just vhat happens in ze beginning. Ve take ze zhing you cherish most, vhich is your Entry Fee for the Game, vhich may change at any time in ze Game. However, zhat does not mean zat ve shall take zat zhing. Just zat you shall haff a new zhing for us to take in ze next Game you play.

"Also, be avare zat zhere are people in ze Game called Reapers, who shall sic Noise on you during the Veek of ze Game. Noise are beings that take the form of animals, some frogs, some volves, some bears, and even moles. I shall leave ze rest of ze Noise's forms to your Imagination. Ze Noise are eizher veak or strong, as zhey can appear in solitude, or in numbers." Pietro took a second to breathe and let everyone soak up the knowledge they had just been given.

The next few minutes were spent by Pietro giving the assembled Players the warning: "You shall not be able to go through ze Game without a Partner Player, who shall help you fight ze Noise after you haff made a Pact. If you do not have a Partner by ze time ze first few Noise appear, expect to be erased." Pietro would have continued but one of the few people there that only spoke English raised a hand and asked what being erased meant. Pietro answered quite simply, "You shall lose your right to exist, as you are now, instead of living beings, dead souls that are awaiting judgment. Zhat judgment is eizher erasure, or vinning. You shall know how to vin at ze end of ze Veek, on Day Seven, if you make it zhat far."

Pietro gave the Players one last look, and then said, "And now, I say farevell, as I have given ze explanation that is needed for most first timers." He gave a sweeping bow, and…disappeared. At this, the Players began blacking out, Christoph and Max being the last Players to do so.

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A young girl, probably about the age of fifteen to sixteen, was running through the streets of Shibuya, screaming at the top of her lungs about someone chasing after her with a weapon. It was about 12:00 AM, so everyone dismissed this as a shot to get some attention from a teenage girl. As much as they thought it was, this wasn't some desperate attempt to get some attention.

The girl was wearing a punk-rocker outfit, and had her hair dyed red with yellow streaks going through it. For once, her iPod headphones weren't in her ears, rather, they were in her pockets, along with her phone, and a bunch of other crap, including her favorite lighter.

Eventually, her pursuer, who was simply wearing a black hoodie and jeans, chased her into the Udagawa district. On her way up the stairs, Rachael tripped and sprained her ankle. She looked up at her pursuer and growled, anger quickly replacing fear.

"Go on, shoot. You ain't got the courage to do it."

Oh, how she wished she was wrong right now. The chaser shot her in the knee-cap, causing her to hold onto it in pain. "DAMNIT! What the hell is wrong with you, you bloody wankah!" She said, writhing in pain. "…Why are you doing this, and who sent you?" She asked, trying to at least get some answers before she got taken out.

The chaser spoke up, finally. "No one sent me. But we're about to play a game. Get up." He said, and tossed her another gun.

"We each have ten seconds to load our guns and shoot each other. The winner walks away with their life." He said, smiling like a maniac. "GO!"

Rachael wasn't exactly a gun expert. Sure, her father may have showed her how to load a hunting rifle once, but never really showed her how to load a handgun.

She shouted again, taking up her full ten seconds to finally figure it out and load the gun. The gunmen took another shot, this time the bullet plunged deep into her heart. The girl now lay on the ground of the Udagawa district, dead. The Reaper flicked a black pin onto her body, and simply walked away. He quickly picked up his gun and disappeared into the night.

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Walking into Shibuya's Scramble Crossing, Chris Schliefert had a feeling today would be just fine. The eighteen year old walked along with his friends and fellow tourists, going from store to store, and a few restaurants.

His girlfriend just so happened to have gone into the restroom when Chris ate a spicy tuna roll, but didn't think that it would expand in his throat. Nothing helped it go down, not water, not soda, and, after a few painful seconds, Chris collapsed, lifeless, in his chair.

No one noticed a man in a red hoodie flick a black pin with a skull on it onto Chris' face, no one noticed the man just disappear, and, most of all, no one even bothered to look at Chris' eyes to see that they flashed for a second. In that second, the memories of Chris Schliefert steadily disappeared from his girlfriend's memory when, by Monday afternoon, they disappeared altogether.