AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Erm... Wow, five follows. What was interesting here, I wonder? *shot*
And, oh. Imagine them wearing the clothes they wore in the song's PV.
"What happened?"
In the hospital hall, the voice of the stranger, who claimed himself to be the Time Master, echoed as he spoke, though he wasn't there. Not even his silhouette.
"What do you remember that happened to you?"
They thought.
"I collapsed..." each of them said to themselves. It seemed that even though they didn't say it verbally, the stranger heard it.
"An effect of my choosing of players – you have collapsed and fell in a deep, restful sleep. What a way to rest your tired bodies!" he said, voice amused. "Your bored souls would enjoy my grand, well-thought game!"
It was not very nice and thoughtful of him to be amused when their current situation was that horrible. Judging from the scene before themselves and the Time Master's statement, they were just souls that escaped their own bodies, because they were called.
Len straightened up, wiped his tears away from his eyes and yelled.
"WHY US?!"
They felt the Master smirk. "I have been playing with older humans, and it became quite mundane. So I chose younger ones. I chose the four of you – a combination of different personalities, living in one interesting area. One a man of sport, one gentle and kind-hearted, one boisterous and expressive, and one a genius."
"We will see who of these personalities will survive this game," he finished in a sing-song way. The four teenagers felt their stomachs twisting and turning into ice, though they already knew that they were just souls now.
A game – a game of life and death among the four. A dreadful game, however, they couldn't back down. It was already said that once they do, the world will end.
It would end, literally.
All they could do was gulp and shake in fear.
The boisterous player inhaled and spoke up, not wanting to be idle and probably start the world's end if they didn't react quickly.
"What is the game's mechanics?" she asked, voice firm.
The world around them swirled and turned back to white, which wasn't surprising for the four anymore.
"I'm glad that you opted to join now, even though I know you are just forced to because you know you couldn't back down," the stranger said, his silhouette figure appearing from far away, walking towards them, but his real face couldn't be seen.
They were still doubting whether this was just an imagination, given the fact that he was just a silhouette.
"Because you forced us, damnit!" Rin yelled.
"As for the rules," the stranger went, not paying attention to the blonde's reactions, "You are to collect the hundred dark ghosts that I set free. They possessed various people in the world."
The world? It would be too hard!
"You will be able to see them, don't worry, since you are currently just mere ghosts. You are to complete your mission before the time limit I would set."
Time limit?
"How could we get all of them when they're scattered all around the world? And what do we do to secure one?" Miku asked. She might be a genius, but she believed her whole life that the supernatural wasn't real. Therefore, she didn't know how this would work.
"You will, without any warning, be transferred in different places. I will give you small daggers to be used to cut off their heads."
"Psh." Len raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Daggers are so 1800's."
"You don't have anything to use, you insolent fool," the Time Master returned.
"Don't we have something to put the ghosts somewhere?" Luka asked.
"You don't have to. Once their heads are cut off, they will go straight back to their own, say, prison cells. They may be ghosts, but you couldn't pass your hands through them like what you think. They're solid."
Len's eyes widened. "Ah! That's why you feel solid, Miku!" he whispered – nearly a seethe, turning to the tealette. "I poked you, remember?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Lastly – I would warn you that those ghosts fight back, hence the 'who would survive and win this game'. You could die. But I won't say 'good luck', because I made this game. Use your knowledge. The game will end in a year. Also..."
They waited for his continuation as they felt him chuckle and smirk.
"While you four are in motion, they die."
Abruptly, a clanging sound rang in the air – seemingly, the Time Master hit his staff on the floor – and the bright white space around them spun around them, turning to a canvas of hazy colors, mostly green and grey. They felt their heads ache. Next thing they knew, they were back to their city, and the headaches subsided.
They were standing by the city's heart – the city's marble and porcelain fountain.
There were people around them, walking by them, past them, but they didn't notice the four teenagers.
"Eh?"
Rin tried to skip around, wave at people's faces, but how they continued walking past them confirmed that they couldn't see nor feel them. They became just mere ghosts, since their awakening in the white world.
"You know what..." Luka started, voice soft and uncertain. The other three turned towards her.
"What is it, Luka-chan?" Rin asked.
"Did you hear what the Time Master said before we got here?" she asked, looking up at the three with curious eyes.
"Oh" was all Len said in response. He nodded.
"I wonder who are they..." Luka mused, but a little loud for them to hear.
"'While you four are in motion, they die...' the Master said. Who will die?" Miku asked, putting her fist under her chin, trying to think.
"Yo! Look over here!" Len called after a few seconds. The two were snapped out of their thoughts as they heard his slightly high-pitched voice summoning them.
"It seems that, like in some supernatural media, the daggers the old man told us about went straight into our pockets," the blond boy announced, taking one out of his trouser's pocket.
It looked brand-new, though plain. A normal dagger. A black handle and a shiny, silver blade.
"The Master said that that is the only weapon we will use to catch those ghosts, right?" Rin asked. She felt her own pocket, and took out hers. "Oh! Mine's here!"
Len suddenly took his free hand up, and without warning, injured his free hand's pinky with a brief swipe of the blade, which left a small cut with little droplets of blood oozing.
"Len!" Rin yelled.
Len awkwardly grinned. "I'm guessing this only cuts through ghosts, and not humans..." He patted his cut with his clothes, letting it dry.
The three girls sighed. Luka and Miku found their own daggers in their skirt pockets.
"Why does it have to be us? I mean, there are lots of other people..." Luka said.
Ding... Dong...
There came that sound, but they didn't know where it came from.
Little did they know it was the start of the Master's timer which was on his hands, and they were the only ones who could hear it.
=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=
[Time Left]
= 365d : 19h =
[Players' Status]
= Luka Megurine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
= Miku Hatsune =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
= Len Kagamine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
= Rin Kagamine =
Captured: 0
Status: Alive
=:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=
We wouldn't want us to turn to "Deceased", "Injured" or "Immobile", and we would complete this game – capture all hundred ghosts – before the time limit reaches "00d:00h:00s", to prevent the world from ending.
Who are "they" who will die, as we are in motion?
We then turned around, only to see one of the people around us disappear without any warning. Like a gust of wind, suddenly blowing, that person disappeared.
"Did...you just...see that, guys...?"
Our questions were answered. While we were moving around, one person would disappear without warning. Die. And no one wouldn't remember them. Even evidences of their existence were erased, as shown by how even what the person carried around or wore vanished in thin air.
Nonpersons. Unpersons.
All we could think of was one thing...
Our families... Our friends...
AruuYuda-ShoriKyuyu: Yeeeaaah. I'm so boring. Huehue. Anyways, the last parts were the four's thoughts, collectively. Like, they're thinking of the same things. And the players' stats were just nothing... Hehe...
And at the last part, I was thinking of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell... Hence, the "unpersons" part. *flips table*
Anyways, reviews, please! owo