Where am I?

All I can see is darkness. Oh god...Edwin, what have I gotten myself into this time?

I try to sit up. My head hits wood.

I'm in a coffin.

Well, fuck.

I breathe instinctively, then hold my breath. I'll need to save the air if I really am buried alive. What would Father tell me to do? He'd have a way out of this, surely.

Or perhaps not, since it's Father.

I exhale. How did I get here? I try to comb my memories for what I was last doing. Kissing Edwin on the school roof, cuddling, falling asleep holding his hand...

I must have been taken while we slept. How must he feel, knowing that I'm gone? Is he worried? Surely he must be. But the doubt gnaws at me.

My hands search my pockets. My wallet is still there. Everything is, except for my phone. My hand closes around a cube and a rush of relief fills me.

It's short-lived, though. There's still the rather pressing issue of me being six feet under while still breathing.

I reach up to slowly push up at the lid of my wooden prison. To my surprise it slides right off.

When I step to my feet I'm in a small, rectangular room of marble. There are carvings on the walls - I scrutinize them. Me cubing, me with my father, me with Edwin, even one of me and Levi passionately discussing something. Probably politics, possibly George Bush doing 9/11. Hard to tell.

I smile a little at the thought of Edwin and Levi, safe at Hope's Peak. Then my heart sinks at the realization that I have no way of knowing that they actually are safe.

I rush towards the door of the mausoleum - and that's what it is, a mausoleum, the coffin I escaped from on a pedestal in the center of the marble room - and throw it open, rushing out into the night, and almost fall down into a bottomless hole.

I step back just in time, narrowly avoiding falling to my death, and look around.

Everywhere I look, headstones. Some are no better than plaques sunken into the ground, others towering statues. But there's no question about it. I'm in a cemetery.

The hole in front of me is an open grave.

I tiptoe around it, careful not to slip and fall into it, and kneel down to read the headstone.

I fall back in shock.

The headstone displays a carved Rubik's Cube, a heart, and a knife. Below it are the words Here lies Harper 'Malachite' Hargrave, in name and blood. Child of David and Noriko Hargrave, and fiance of Edwin Black. Friend, student, and speedcubing champion. R.I.P.

Harper 'Mal' Hargrave, SHSL Speedcuber

My head slams into another headstone behind me, and I black out.

When I wake up I'm in another coffin. Thankfully, this one is open.

"Hhhh-" I sit up, pulling my knife out of my pocket. "Who's there?!"

A figure with neck-length brown hair dressed in a thin parka is standing facing the door. It turns, and I can see a heart-shaped face framed with hair held back by flower hair clips, bright green eyes staring into my own. "Oh, you're awake!" She exclaims, rushing over to me.

"Yeah. Don't sleep much." I sigh and try to stand up. "Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?"

She smiles brightly. "I just found you passed out against a headstone, so I brought you here!"

I nod, my mind vaguely processing that all of this is indeed happening. "...okay. You a kidnapper or a kidnapee?"

She tilts her head to the side slightly. "...if you're asking if I was brought here without conscious knowledge of it? Then I suppose I was a kidnapee."

"Alright, that's good. I don't have to kill you." I stand up and stretch slightly.

She giggles. "You couldn't kill me anyway."

"...don't be so sure." I scrutinize her. She doesn't look particularly threatening.

"Oh, but I am sure." She looks at me. "...you sure have an awfully weird fashion sense, mister."

I sigh. "Mx. And what's wrong with suits?"

"Oh no, it's the cape that confuses me. Are those really still in style?"

I pale slightly. I'm still wearing it? I reach around my neck. Yes, the chain is still there. "...it's a jacket, and it's my fiance's, and I'm taking it off once I find a secure place to do so."

She nods. "Yes, alright. You do that, Mx...what's your name again?"

I pause for a moment. My name… "Harper Hargrave. Also known as Malachite or Mal. Professional speedcuber. SHSL Speedcuber, in fact, if you're familiar with Hope's Peak."

Speaking of which...I reach into my pocket and pull out my signature cube. Painted malachite - where I get my alias. I start shuffling it, then solving. The familiar motion calms me.

She smiles. "Of course I'm familiar with Hope's Peak. I'm the SHSL Prosthetist, after all." She curtsies. "Mukai Tomoko, at your service."

Mukai Tomoko, SHSL Prosthetist

"Oh. Alright." Shuffle. Solve. Repeat. My fingers begin to hurt.

She nods. "We're both SHSLs, huh...that's weird, isn't it?"

"Perhaps it's why we're in this situation…" Shuffle. Solve. Shuffle. Solve.

She looks at my hands. "That sure is impressive, Harper."

Harper. She called me Harper. I pale. My heart races. "Mal. It's Mal."

"Oh. Alright, Mal."

I nod. "Th-thank you." My heartbeat begins to return to normal.

She gestures to the door. "Do you feel good enough to meet the others?"

Nevermind. There goes my heart, racing again. "There are others?"

Her smile only grows. "Yep, they're outside! Come on, let's meet them!"

Before I can protest she grabs onto my hand with a surprisingly tight grip, pulling me out into the cemetery once again.

Chapter: 0

Survivors: 2/2

A/N: Don't expect me to update this fast, honestly. I'm super disorganized when I don't have SD to keep me motivated. But here it is, Act 0 Chapter 2.

You may notice that I didn't announce the roster. That's intentional. The roster will be announced as characters are revealed, for maximum suspense.

Characters introduced:

Harper 'Mal' Hargrave, SHSL Speedcuber - Criminal Limes

Mukai Tomoko, SHSL Prosthetist - SDproductions

I'll try to introduce three or four characters each chapter from now on, so be prepared for that.

So, question of the chapter. What do you think of our protagonist? What about our setting? Put all answers, compliments, criticisms, insults, and outright hatred in the reviews.

Also, check out Double or Nothing by SDproductions! It's a great story with a great concept and has my favorite of my OCs in it.

And A Flight of Fancy Despair is still a thing. A thing that just updated, in fact. So any reading and reviewing of that would be nice, please and thank you.

-Lime