"When the paths of two fiends cross in the weave of fate..
And the realities are snapped..
Only then, will thou get the power thy need..
To defeat the gods of madness. "
The voice of her chimed,
" You've gotta be careful. If you see anyone like this, please run. "
She pointed at a drawing of a skeletal figure. I stared blankly at it, not believing it at all. I couldn't care less. The figure was being touched by a human being. His hands outstretched, and the skeleton reaching back out to it. She smiled. Her smile was beautiful, pearly white teeth and luscious brown hair that curled slightly at the ends and bright hazel eyes that complemented her stunning simper. She was a pulchritudinous person.
Even though I didn't believe it, I kept the words in my head. The thought of a dæmon striking at our reality sounded so exciting, nothing everhappened to me.
I was remembering the scene of sitting by a warm fire with her, reading books, when I noticed that I had fallen asleep at my desk. The grainy, beechen desk made a small red mark on my cheek from where I was laying. It throbbed a bit, though I didn't mind.
I sat up, everyone had left class already. I packed up my bags and slowly tucked the textbooks into my desk. I then jogged my way out the classroom and over to the locker rooms. There weren't any children passing by as I wandered the halls in search for my locker.
Quietly opening my locker, I slipped a book into the small compartment in the locker. It was perfect for fitting books I wanted to hide in. I took the moment to look around, people weren't present at all, no teachers, no students. No one.
Something wasn't right. I couldn't find any reason as to why it would be this way. If we had to leave I'd be woken up, right?
Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the school building and started jogging. A chilly breeze overcame me, making me push my bag to my chest to stay warm. I looked around at the view whilst running. There were trees in brick pots that looked over me, proudly standing. The houses were very light, but dull, colours that looked identically to eachother. The grass was bright green and swayed on the cold wind like a dance in a cold winter. The area around the school and around the route home was very pretty - much nicer than the urban area closer to the outside.
I soon came to my house. The small structure had a sign that said ' Kame Game Shop ' . It had LED lights behind it so it would light up at night ; even thought it wasn't open at night. There was a little blackboard sign with chalk writing saying the cheapest offer. I always felt bad when my grandpa would write that sign, even if his back is killing him.
I opened the door, a little bell jingling to show that I came in. My grandpa wasn't standing at the counter like he usually does. I peeked over to the living room area and saw him sitting on a chair, talking to someone. I tardily walked over there to see who he was talking to.
The living room had a small corner sofa and a coffee table in the middle of it. I always would sit there to watch TV and drink hot chocolate. This time it wasn't me on there. My friends were sitting, huddled in a group. Jounouchi, Anzu and Miho were all panikingly talking to my grandpa. That's when my eyes were drawn to something strange.
There was another me. He was layed down on Anzu's lap. He has a red mark on his cheek like me and he looked like he had been unconscious for a very long time.
I wanted them to see me. The real me.
I opened my mouth to talk. Thinking of all the things I could say to get them to notice me, I just simply say;
" Guys...?"
After getting no response from them, I started waving my hand in front of the people's faces. They didn't see me. Like I didn't exist.
I got closer to the other version of myself. Every step I took closer towards ' it ', the more my head throbbed and ached, my fingers twitched and pulsed. I slowly reached out towards it. Before I could touch it, its shape changed.
A version of me I couldn't even comprehend. It had eyes filled with sticky, oozing blood. It's skin looked like it was turned inside out and it's bones were piercing the endless amount of muscle and tissue. I gulped, finding similarities to that of my mother's old stories.
Finding the courage to step forward, I pressed my hand down on the thing. It was squishy, warm. I could feel it moving and shifting as I touched it. It felt like the feeling you get when you put your hand into someone's mouth.
It's mouth opened. I gulped, terrified of whatevers going to happen. It moved itself closer to me and..
CHOMP
It bit down on my hand. I screamed, even though I felt no pain at all. My eyes closed.
Darkness. One of the worst things in my opinion. All my body aches and burned. I felt my breath fastening, my pulse increasing. I heard people's voices fade in
" He hasn't woken up! "
" Maybe we should take him to a doctor.. "
I tried opening my eyes for ages until I finally managed to. Only slightly, but it was better than nothing.
I was on Anzu's lap - I could tell because of her bag that was next to her - and she was petting my head gently. I loved the feeling, I felt like a kitten getting cuddled by its beloved owner, except Anzu didn't own me.
She was telling herself that I'd be okay. She interlocked her hand with mine and I could feel small teardrops falling on my hand.
"An..zu.. " I quietly stuttered, she looked down at me and gasped. From her smile I could tell she was happy.
"Oh my god! Guys! Yūgi's awake! "
She shouted to everyone else. My ears rang as she said that.
Jounouchi ran in, " Is he okay?! "
He flipped his blonde, messy hair away from his face and looked down to me concerningly.
"I.. " I mumbled, " Feel.. dizzy.. "
They reassured me, telling me that I'll be fine and that I should rest. Until Miho ran into a hug.
" You worried me so much! "
I wince at her tight hug so she let go. I then asked what had happened.
"You just kinda.. fell.. " Jounouchi shrugged, "You wouldn't wake up, we were so scared. "
I quietly nodded, my eyelids closing a bit.
I sat up, resting against Anzu and Miho for support. My body fell back and I started seeing everything shift.
I took a breath in, " I..m really shleepy.. "
I had a habit where whenever I got tired my lisp would come in and mess up my pronounciaton. That was a way my grandpa would be able to tell when I was tired and ready to sleep.
Anzu gently patted my head like she was doing before. After a bit they let me go up to my room and I could tell that they promptly left.
I flopped down onto my bed. The pillow engulfed me, the warmth made me want to sleep instead of think over what just happened. The other version of myself, the collapse, the lack of students. I was so scared.
As I drifted off to sleep, I was greeted with something that didn't make me anymore comfortable. The area around me was dimly lit, I looked around the place hoping for some answers.
There was a table with a cake on it ; which was revealed by a large chandelier covered in melting candles. I walked up to the table and pulled out one of the two chairs.
"Welcome, you have been successfully submitted to the Alice system program. "
A voice brushing by like a whisper. It felt like cold wind that I didn't want to walk through.
" You will begin the initiation shortly, but first.."
A small figure faded in. She had long blonde locks and a pair of stunning, blue, glassy eyes. Her smile looked very fake, though quite pretty. She wore a pair of hard-toed shoes with a small strap, they were blue. She was also wearing a dress that had a cupcake silhouette and was lined with trails of white lace. It was a baby blue, like the shoes.
At first I thought of a lolita, her outfit and haircut made it appear that way.
" Take a seat. " She smiled again, her voice was soft but also eerie, " Have some cake ~ "
She pushed the cake towards me. I gulped, not really interested in having some cake. Her stare made me take it. I used my fork to cut the cake a bit and took a bite, scared it would be poisonous. It wasn't, which was good news.
" You're the first applicant who has eaten. Wise decision. "
I looked up at her, she did look pretty happy that I ate.
" Why am I here? "
I asked, brushing my hands against the table. She stood up and brang her chair next to mine.
Laughing, she said, " To initiate silly! Aww you're so squishy! "
She poked my cheeks with her small, soft finger and chuckled, "Oh my, it appears my time is up. Whatever you do, don't fail ! "
As quick as she came, she vanished. I tried searching for her but to no avail. I ran to the table and saw something other than a cake on it. A small drink. Seeming as I was supposed to eat the cake, I drunk the drink and instantly regretted it. A sharp pain stabbed me in the neck and I fell to the ground.
As my eyes opened, I saw a reflection of myself. My body was collapsed against a mirror, which showed a clear reflection of my messy hair and purple eyes. I picked myself up and looked around.
" Ah fucking hell, really?! Why the reflection field!? "
Someone yelled,
" Calm down, oh hey theres a new person here. "
There were 4 people. There was one in a hoodie with his face covered entirely by the hood. He had a scary presence. There was another which looked exactly like me, but with red tips and eyes instead of purple. There was a small girl who looked about 10 years old and a boy with smooth black hair and a pair of bright green eyes.
The hooded one went up to me,
" What's ye name? "
From his voice I could tell that he was the one shouting. I shivered a bit and stuttered,
"Y-yūgi.. "
I scuttled back, being stopped by the lookalike of me.
" That's Yami, " the hooded boy said, " I'm Atem. Remember it. "
He pointed at himself confidently and I nodded. The girl and the black haired boy came over,
"I'm Rebecca! I'm the oldest here, so I'm more mature! "
She waved at me, completely adding to the doubt about her being the oldest.
The black haired boy placed his hand on her head, " You don't act it, Becca. "
She tried to hit him but he blocked it,
" I'm Duke, it's a pleasure to meet you, Yūgi-kun. "
I asked them what was going on and they explained. We were all initiated into a program made to kill demons that live inside other people. Every time something gets damaged in the reality space we are in, it happens in the real world. The program will begin every time the entire group is sleeping and the only way to escape the reality is to kill the assigned best. There are different fields that we play on, such as the reflection field ( the one I was on ) .
The area seemed pretty empty, at first. The place began rumbling and my eyes darted around to see the cause.
' WARNING, INCOMING BREACH '
A piece of red text appeared,
' STANDBY '
I suddenly got really nervous. Something appeared in my hands. A large gun that was surprisingly easy to carry, despite its size.
' BRACE '
The text disappeared and Infront of us stood a monster.
It had spindly legs that twirled into a spiral. They were pointed, like a sewing needle, the holes in its legs were the fisheyes. It's fingers where like branches, sticking out in different directions and constantly moving. They had a sharp point and they were clearly very strong. It's body had holes in it and kind of looked like a rotting body. It had breasts like a female and wore what looked to be a tattered dress. It's head had deep, black, vacant holes for eyes and a long, pointy nose. It moved like a glitching screen, jittering in different directions like an error.
I gulped, nervousness took my mind.
"Who is it this time? " Duke shouted,
Atem took a defensive stance and yelled, " No time, gotta brace for first move! "
I was so confused and scared that I don't know what to do. Brace? First move? I didn't know what they meant.
" Yami, head 20 meters left! " Rebecca ordered, " Yūgi, take the right side! "
I slowly did what she said, the monster steered it's glare away from Yami and onto me instead.
I started begging in my head to wake up. I just wanted to go back. But I couldn't. Even though I had my doubts I knew that..
This was all real.
I looked up at the monster and it disappeared.
" What the.. " Atem mumbled, " Fuck! "
I started searching frantically, hoping it wouldn't come for us.
Duke sighed, " It can go invisible.. "
I looked down at the ground, a fuzzy reflection was apparent.
" Atem! " I shouted as loud as I could, " Dodge.. er... 16 meters right! "
Atem stared blankly at me and jumped to where I said. The monster appeared again and strikes at the floor, the mirror cracking and shattering into a void.
" Guys, look at the reflection! " I said and they all nodded. Rebecca commented on how 'impressed' she was but I didn't care for sarcasm.
" Full force, up ahead! " Rebecca jumped happily, " Second phase here I come! "
She pulled out a massive black tube , laughing. The tube was loaded with what looked like a teddy bear and had a massive trigger, it was a bit bigger than her.
" Yami, what's the weak spot? " Duke asked.
Yami remained completely silent. He looked at Atem and ran a corner. He jumped up and threw a large needle into the back of the beasts head. The beast roared and struggled, flinging it's glitching body everywhere.
"Yūgi! Cover Becca! "
Duke yelled and I did what was asked of me. She loaded her launcher and started aiming for the spot Yami hit.
A small red cross hairs appeared where Rebecca was aiming, so I told her what direction to go.
" 3..2..1.. "
She shot the bear and it flew through the sky. It attached to the needle and exploded.
I heard one last deathly roar before it collapsed and slowly faded away. Before me stood a girl. She had long blond hair and was smiling. She wore a small purple jacket.
"Thanks... I'm.. Mai.. "
She waved as she faded away as well. I stared, confused and shaken about what just happened. I felt someone gently pat my back, I turned around to see Yami, his soft, red eyes glowing back at me.
He gave a small smile and I did the same back. Yami chuckled and ran away to Atem, at this point I could tell they were related.
" Well, we can leave right? " Atem asked, Duke answered with a yes and I watched as Atem disappeared with Yami. I observed what Rebecca and Duke did, they put their weapon into their sheath and slowly started fading. I hesitantly did the same.
My eyes opened to the view of my bedroom ceiling. I slowly pushed myself up and stood up, looking around and reality checking to make sure it's real. I nodded and walked downstairs and sat down at the chair. My eyes drifted off to look at the ceiling. Everything seemed back to normal. I snapped out of my dazed focus and looked at the soft fabric of the chair I was on . It was your usual grey sofa, with soft fabric and some pillows scattered around. My hand moved to my left and I felt something strange.
It was metal, with a circular piece in the middle. There was a leather band that layed straight on each side. The leather band had holes put into it in certain intivals. I looked at the watch and flipped of over. It had Jounouchi's name on it.
As I stared at it, I thought;
/ Well.. looks like I have to return it.../