{Author's Note}- Hello again everyone, here I am again! Surprised I got a chapter out so soon? (LMAO does a whole month count as soon T-T) But anyway, it's good to be writing again. I've had a bit of trouble in the past of starting these stories (and honestly still do) but I really do get inspired particularly with this story. I hope the characters and pacing are to everyone's liking, although I'll admit some bits are way too long. Please enjoy the chapter!
Our Sacrificial Waltz To Everlasting Memory
Chapter 1
{ Light Fragment 1/3 }
"Everyone's eyes are on you, so take to the floor and bow with me."
"I wish to dance for one final moment…"
"To share my life, and sing…"
Moon and Sun
It didn't take long after the announcement for the deadly air to return amongst the group. They had become eerily quiet in the realization of the exact nature of the killing game, and no one dared utter a word to break it.
Prince could only attempt to steady himself within the suffocating atmosphere, both to try and reassure everyone, but also to calm his own heart which was close to beating out of his chest. Everything that happened was impossible to comprehend. To be trapped in the manor for the rest of his life was one thing, but to kill someone else to escape such a fate… how could anyone justify that? Why was that their only option to leave?
His list of questions was only met with silence, which forced a great deal of worry into his aching heart. But despite the anxious feeling crawling along his back, what hurt him worst of all was seeing everyone else's similarly pained eyes.
'How in the world did we get to this point?' Prince wondered sadly as he hugged himself, 'just why is this happening to all of us?' His broken thoughts tangled around his mind, forcing him only to think of only the present moment. It seemed that everyone was similarly doing the same…
Except for one person it seemed, who suddenly let out a joyful giggle that shattered the air.
"Wow, now what an intriguing fellow!" Hagoromo laughed, leaning over to the side as she glanced around in amusement, "to first show us a beautiful demonstration of magic, followed by an order to kill for our survival! Ho ho~! And people thought comedy was on the decline these days!"
Everyone stared at the demonologist in utter confusion, Prince included who had wide eyes pointed at her, 'is she really l-laughing over a matter like that…? How is she not bothered by this?'
"And what do you think you're going on laughing about?" Xiuying was the first to point out her odd behavior, albeit with a much more forceful tone than Prince would've liked, "you find this funny? Do you delight in this shared chaos somehow?" She sneered, holding a sharp finish to her words.
Hagoromo's smile dropped quickly in response, replaced with bewildered eyes as she adjusted her coat, "woah woah woah… what's with the fuss doll~?" She asked innocently," I was just trying to lighten the mood! It was getting too boring around here with everyone being all quiet, and besides, we gotta talk at some point like human beings, right?"
"Even then Momo, this is not a laughing matter," Stefano informed, his voice still relatively calm, but his expression steely, "we're in a serious crisis now. We've just been ordered to murder someone if we want to leave this place alive or we'll be forced to live here… forever."
Prince shuddered to hear the word "murder" come out of the exorcist's mouth. He was all too aware of the alternative method thanks to Alexander, but now hearing it from someone as peaceful as Stefano truly put into perspective how horrific the idea sounded.
"M-Murder? N-No, we can't do such a horrible t-thing…" Aimi softly sputtered. The poor girl had found her way toward the back of the group, being comforted by Tadatake and Fudo respectively as she was holding back tears, "c-can we just… think of happy t-things instead, please? Like baked s-sweets maybe? C-Can we just f-forget this ever happened?" She suggested meekly.
"And what, just ignore the issue entirely?" Albion scoffed, turning his gaze toward the dining room table and gritting his teeth, "don't be so ignorant, as long as we're trapped here, that Alexander freak and his little merry band of morons are gonna force us to play his twisted game."
"If we don't… then we'll just die here, old and withered like he said," Anata added as she fiddled with her dog tags, but her movements were slow and rigid, as if she was lost in her own mind.
"I can't believe he just tells us we gotta stay here and then poofs off!" Fudo muttered into his scarf. The magician had a clear frown on his face, not at all happy about the situation. A harsh squeak from a frustrated Minnie revealed the same issue on her end as well. "That's right Minnie, he deserves the ugliest nickname possible! I just need to think of a good one first. Something related to garbage or something-!"
"That's not going to accomplish anything-!" Koji stopped short and breathed uneasily with clenched fists, his once sharp eyes narrowing tightly in irritation, "what even is the point of such a twisted game? We didn't even do anything to deserve this."
"Well, I can understand a few of you being put here," Amelie quickly butted in, "but I know for a fact I shouldn't be here! I have never done anything to warrant being put into a death game." She began to ramble on with her complaints, stomping one of her heels into the ground in protest.
Thankfully for everyone, Lukas stepped in and was able to calm her down to a slight degree, "do not worry, I will do whatever I can in my power to make sure nothing bad happens to any of you during our time here."
"Hmph, you say such a thing as if you weren't completely decimated earlier," Xiuying rolled her eyes as she put her hands to her hips, "you fools will believe anything if it suits your own desire, I can't believe they forced some of us in here with the likes of you all. Not to mention, the idea of this preposterous game is all in bad taste. Only a complete imbecile would be idiotic enough to participate."
Tadatake nodded in agreement, his face scrunching up in determination, "that's right, this whole game has gotta be a massive joke or something. Some kind of stunt or prank maybe. I mean, nothing they said made any sense. Who would even follow this weird stuff anyway?"
"He most certainly wasn't joking," Uta snapped bitterly, crossing his arms over his uniformed outfit, "everything we've seen is proof that madman intends to keep us here indefinitely if we don't follow his little game."
"It's all so strange though," Jun remarked, staring curiously at the swordsman, "Alexander made it very clear we have to stay here, but why? It doesn't seem to outwardly benefit him in any way to keep us here..." The escort began to mutter quietly to himself, his eyes intensely focused as if picking apart the mystery in his own head.
"Uta already pointed it out, we're dealing with a madman here," Kanon answered in an annoyed tone, breaking Jun's concentration, "there are people in the world who completely lose sight of reality, and it looks like we were unfortunate enough to be captured by someone who fits that bill perfectly."
"Hmm, I wonder if that truly is the case," Amaya pondered with thoughtful eyes, "his previous comments were… destressing to say the very least-" she pointed out "-it's possible then, given his state of mind before he left, that he could have a personal motive for doing all this, even though this entire matter is disgraceful."
"Personal motive?" Luna slowly repeated, closing her eyes softly, "then perhaps he has a personal affiliation with us that we are not yet aware of, considering we don't remember how we ended up in his domain."
"But how is that even possible though?" Fudo asked, translating for Minnie who squeaked in his ear, "I mean, these are the very clothes me and Minnie were wearing when I read my acceptance letter! And we don't feel very different at all!"
No one had an answer for the magician, and Prince himself sunk back into the group as the paranoia from his own mind grabbed onto his throat, "i-it's… too impossible. All of this is way too impossible to understand." The words slipped out of his mouth, his eyes went wide with fear as the total weight of the situation settled into his soul, " w-we don't even know how we even got here or what even happened to all of our families or our friends. J-Just… why? Why is this happening to us?"
The sudden force behind his words triggered an unholy sound of fearful comments from everyone else, completely drowning the dining room in a terrifying noise that snapped Prince out of his worry.
"Please Brother and Sisters, I'm sure there's an explanation to all of this madness," Amaya attempted to reason, but her words were seemingly lost to all but Prince, "even in disorder, pieces of a puzzle can indeed be found, so we cannot despair just yet. Until we find a proper way to settle this matter, we should try and stay rational." She lightly grabbed Prince's hand, and for a moment he felt like he was safely planted back in reality.
"R-Right… but… what else can we do in the meantime then?" He asked, slightly flubbing over his words as he glanced around, "we're stuck in an impossible dilemma."
"You're right, it is impossible," Koji said with tightly shut eyes, "there's nothing that could explain this horror of a game. Just why are we here?"
"My family… w-what happened to them?" Aimi shook and tightly grabbed Fudo's hand for support.
"All the boys back at home… " Tadatake sighed with a frustrated look, "shit… Yoshio… Mitsu…"
"My precious chain of perfume stores!" Amelie sighed dramatically and almost fell into Lukas's arms.
"EVERYBODY JUST CHILL OUT!" Everyone quieted down as Machi's voice echoed around the room. She stood on the table with a determined look, the same one she had when she defied Alexander's words.
"M-Machi?" Prince stuttered out, a bit surprised her voice could even get that loud.
"What the hell do you think you're doing shouting like that?" Albion grumbled as he rubbed his ears. Now that all eyes were on her, Machi seemingly registered back into reality and stood awkwardly on the table.
"Oh uh- sorry 'bout that!" A nervous laugh escaped her as she clapped her hands together, "I didn't mean to yell, it's just that… well… all this worrying and panicking right now is exactly what Alexander and the others want to see! They want to see us freak out over this situation and doubt our resolve! And if we do that, then they win, and we can't let that happen!"
"Are you saying... we shouldn't worry... then…?" Hania questioned, narrowing her eyes at the mediator.
"Huh? Oh no no no! It's completely normal to worry!" Machi clarified with a quick wave of her hand, "and I'm not saying you shouldn't. This whole scenario is definitely not what any of us signed up for, so it makes sense to be afraid. But we don't have to be! All we have to do is just take a deep breath and figure this out step by step. I mean, stressing over this stuff all by yourself will only complicate things, so we should lend each other our strengths and sort this whole issue out as a team!"
"That's a good point," Jun agreed with a small snap of his fingers, "if we focus too much on our predicament, we might get bogged down by the stress and details of our own situation, rather than actually handling it like a proper group."
"Yep! That's exactly what I was trying to get at!" Machi's grin widened as she whirled back to the rest of the group, "so for now, let's try and keep things simple and just work as a team guys! If we do, we'll definitely be able to get out of here, and then we can attend Grandview together! Like we were supposed to!"
The entire dining room went silent once again as Machi's speech slowly settled in, leaving the mediator to slowly look around for a brief moment and let out a chuckle of worry, "uh… did I say something wrong?"
"On the contrary Sister Machi!" Amaya beamed, helping the mediator gently off the table, "I believe your speech just now is exactly what everyone needed to hear!
"That's right, we gotta listen to what Miss Machi says!" Fudo nodded his head confidently, "we can't panic right now! That would make Alexander feel like he's won, so we gotta work together from now!"
"You said it Pip!" Tadatake said with a grin, "with a proper team, we can set our sights on just enjoying our time here instead of participating in that game or whatever. And once we do that, we'll totally figure out how to bust outta this joint!"
"I'm sure everyone still wants to return home as soon as possible, but you all can help each other achieve that goal!" Kanna exclaimed with a shy smile, "I'll also help in any way I can, so you can all g-go home safe!"
Luna nodded in approval as she formed a small smile, "yes… the feeling of returning home is overpowering for us all, but it'd be best for us all to be corporate, just as Machi had stated. It would be risky to attempt anything without proper understanding."
Slowly but surely, the entire group began to relax, and for a brief moment, it seemed that some semblance of peace was restored. Only a few people like Uta, Xiuying, and Amelie seemed a little annoyed at the idea, but Prince felt his own paranoia ease out at the sight of everyone relaxing, and he allowed himself to simply enjoy the presence of his fellow friends. He turned to look over at Machi then, who was scratching her cheek with a somewhat flustered look.
"I can't believe that speech actually worked…" Machi quietly laughed to herself before realizing what she just said, "I-I mean, I hoped it would obviously! I really did! But you know, it was kind of like- a heat in the moment type speech."
"W-Well Machi… I think you said it better than m-most of us could," Prince expressed with a soft smile, "it was very inspiring, and it's better t-that we're all together in this than alone. A-At least with other people, we can feel confident dealing with all this together… so, we should t-try and think on the bright side of things."
"Exactly! And none of us are going to follow along with this game either, Miss Machi!" Fudo declared brightly, much to everyone else's relief, "that much at least me and Minnie are one thousand percent sure of!"
"That's quite the percentage Brother Fudo, but you're correct," Amaya lightly chuckled before a bright look entered into her blue eyes, "so as long as we abide by the rules of this place, everyone will be able to work alongside each other without fear, just as you had said, Sister Machi!"
Machi's ever-present smile grew all the wider as she flusteredly twirled a red strand in her hair, "aw guys, you flatter me too much!" She laughed before turning her attention back to Amaya, "oh, but Amaya! Speaking of rules, now that everything's calmed down, we should be able to read all of them now!"
"Seems you finally got around to bringing that up," Albion smirked, already having the app presented and ready unlike everyone else, "you know, for all this friendship talk you've been spewing about, you almost forget the one thing we have that can give us some kind of info."
"Oh yeah… we actually uh… did almost f-forgot that it finally opened, sorry." Slowly, Prince pulled up his own watch and noted that the 'rules' app was indeed open to them now, along with the 'announcement' app as well with a small notification, "if Omen is keen on punishing rulebreakers… we s-should probably review them now so we're all caught up… and y'know… not anger him."
"And we should also see what the blinking notification for the announcements is as well!" Hagoromo chimed in with a grin.
"Understood then," Lukas nodded before bringing up his watch, "we should examine the apps we have available to us at once."
Everyone did the same and examined the rest of the apps. Notably, the profile section now had everyone's information filled up, and it seemed like the announcement app had also been opened up with its own messages from… Alexander.
"It looks like Alexander sent an announcement of some kind," Kanna pointed out with a small frown, "s-should we check on that first before moving on Machi?" Everyone turned toward Machi then, who looked a little confused at the sudden attention.
"Hmm, well… just to see what it says," Machi declared as she clicked on the app, "it can't be anything too bad. We just got here after all!"
Prince followed Machi's example and slowly went through the message in question, trying to ignore the utter fear pounding in his heart as he did so.
A small reminder from your lovely owner~
The Coronation has come to pass, and now the real fun can begin for us all! I apologize for getting as elated as I did toward the end of it, but it truly was a pleasure to meet all of you, and I hope today will mark the start of many future memories to share together. Remember though to be wise during your stay here, especially when it comes to the rules unless you wish for the worst to happen~
From yours truly, Alexander
Prince let out a soft sigh and shook his head. What was it with this guy who was trying to coat a nice layer of gentleness over everything? He treated them to dinner and spoke on and on about his joy to meet all of them, but then forced them into this manor and wanted them to kill. Every time he tried to think of some kind of motive he had, he only drew a blank.
"Now isn't this quite the ominous message~?" Hagoromo laughed, appearing to be the only one unaffected, "it seems to be a lighthearted attempt to reassure us, but in reality, it's done quite the opposite!"
"He can't seriously be this tone-deaf, right?" Anata sighed, appearing almost peeved over the message, "does he not realize the situation he's put us in?"
"Oh no, it seems like he's enjoying himself plenty at our expense," Albion scoffed with a furrowed brow, "and to think we somehow got captured by this lunatic. Who the hell does he think he is?"
"We shouldn't lose our temper to someone like him," Stefano tried to advise as he carefully looked over his own watch, "he's certainly not worth the energy anyway. We should concern ourselves with these so-called 'rules' that we almost got killed over. That way, we won't have any problem staying here."
"Must we dare listen to a word those imbéciles say?" Amelie almost laughed to herself as she shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed tightly in annoyance, "they're supposed to be the staff of this manor, no? They should be the ones taking orders from moi, not the other way around."
"Unfortunately, there's no knowing for sure with these people," Luna expressed, her eyes even more downcast than usual as she looked over the announcement, "we already saw what we'd be forced to deal with if we did attempt to break the rules, so we just need to be careful with whatever waters we decide to tread from now on."
"O-Of course, should I read the first rule then?" Kanna asked politely, "just to start us off?"
"Oh… how generous of you Kanna," Luna complimented, glancing at the assistant's way and offering him a small nod, "please read away for us."
"O-Okay, thank you...!" Kanna took the compliment and smiled back before reading the first rule aloud, "rule… number o-one. Guests are required to spend the rest of their foreseeable futures within the manor. Do note that any attempts at escape are pointless."
"Way for him to really rub it in at the end," Fudo groaned as he softly petted Minnie, "but he's right, as much as it sucks to admit. The front door vanished from thin air, all the windows were frozen over, and from what me and Minnie have seen… it doesn't look like there's another way outta this place."
"We just weren't looking hard enough dude!" Tadatake declared with a large grin, "I'm positive that if we search this place again, top to bottom, we'll likely find a way out! And if it comes down to it, we can always still break a window!"
"But there's still the issue of that storm to deal with…" Lukas said hesitantly, as if almost nervous to bring the topic up, "we could get frostbite in that weather. Worse than that, hypothermia."
"Oh right… I kinda forgot that…" Tadatake laughed off the comment as he rubbed his neck.
"Besides, even if we wanted to, the rules wouldn't allow it," Machi regrettably spoke as she suddenly read aloud something else on the app, "rule number two here says that destruction of the manor's property will be met with immediate punishment. This includes breaking open windows, doors, or furniture, the destruction of security cameras, your personal security watches, or the badges we have."
"Yo, are you serious? I could've gotten punished?" Tadatake clicked his tongue in disappointment and looked away, "guess it's a good thing you guys stopped me before, but damn… I should've just broken open some kinda door before this killing game stuff started hitting the fan. Maybe they'd count it as an accident or something since I didn't know."
"With all the cameras around, they'd probably catch you in the act anyway…" Anata pointed out as she brushed the curls of her hair out of the way,
Kanon scoffed under her breath, "unbelievable, that should've been the first thing that came to mind. Haven't we already gone over this anyway? We're in no shape to be breaking open windows and venturing into that kind of weather. Get that through your thick skulls already."
Koji gripped tightly onto his jacket and sighed deeply, "so we really are trapped in here and can't even force our way out either," he reiterated to himself as he tiredly rubbed his forehead, "are we really fated to just rot away in this place with no exit in sight?"
"And that's a problem… how, hm?" Amelie raised an eyebrow, her lips upturned bitterly into a frown, "again, this place is absolutely magnifique! It certainly suits my style at least, so as long as you mongrels keep your petty drama to yourself, I can see myself living lavishly here."
"That's rich… coming… from you…" Hania muttered nearby, but thankfully it didn't seem like Amelie caught it.
"Although she could've worded it better, Amelle is half right," Jun smiled, "out of all the places we could've ended up kidnapped in, I gotta admit, a mansion of this magnitude is certainly better than say… a broken-down school or prison."
"Or a large tower or spaceship!" Machi joked, "imagine being trapped in a place that high up! Haha, yikes, no thank you!"
"I must say this is a rather lovely estate we've found ourselves in," Amaya dreamily said as she gestured around the brilliant surroundings, "there's enough space for us to use as we please, and we have access to many wonderful rooms. As long as we don't destroy any of the property, residing here will at least prove to be comfortable for us all!"
"That seems to be the case.." Stefano said aloud with raised eyebrows, though he didn't seem entirely convinced about something, "ah- pardon me, I'm confused on one matter though. It pertains to rule number two. I understand them not wanting us to break the cameras, watches, and doors, but it's strange that we can't get rid of the badges on our clothes. Why is that?"
Almost instinctively, everyone reached for their badge, with Prince particularly tugging on his in a nervous sweat. Before he never really put too much thought into it, but now they stuck out like a sore thumb, "we never had the chance to ask him what t-they were about. Maybe they're meant to identify us?" He guessed quietly.
"It's a possibility, but they already have different means of keeping tabs on us," Luna informed as the tip of her pale fingers grazed her badge, "regardless, if it's against the rules, we shouldn't be going around trying to take them off now."
"Pourquoi-! To think they stamped this ugly badge onto my gorgeous beret without my permission, ugh," Amelie let out a sharp breath and fiercely crossed her arms, "someone read the next rule right now before I start to lose it."
"Very well then," Lukas spoke as he lifted up his watch to read the next rule. "rule number three… "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 8 am. During this time, some areas past the gym and cafe will be off-limits. Any attempt to access these areas during this time will be met with punishment."
"What the hell man, we got a curfew now?" Tadatake crossed his arms and laughed, "what kinda game is this where we gotta follow a damn curfew? We're all practically adults!"
"Well, not all of us," Kanon said, peeking a glare at Fudo.
"H-Hey! Why are you singling me out?" Fudo grumbled as he stubbornly crossed his arms, "I'm plenty old enough to do late-night magic shows, my Pa says so! And Aimi and Stefano are close to my age too so they should get the same treatment... no offense," he quickly added.
"Do not worry, I do not get easily offended," Stefano explained with a glowing smile, "besides, I may be fourteen, but I go out on late nights to do various exorcisms. My parents trust me to be responsible for my own hours."
"Same h-here…" Aimi nodded before clumsily adding, "but I don't stay up late for… um… ghosts stuff, only to close up the dessert shop on busy nights. Sorry, I didn't make that too c-clear-"
"None of that's important," Kanon scoffed, "it's more about responsibility if anything, which to be honest, is clearly something Fudo… and Tadatake lack.".
"Woah, why are you roping me into this!?" Tadatake asked in disbelief.
"I doubt age or responsibility matters in their eyes," Anata countered with a shake of her head, "I think it's more than us wandering around at night that would prove to be troublesome for them if we tried anything… so they'd have to limit our activity as much as possible."
"So we can walk around at nighttime… it's just that e-everything past the gym and cafe that point will be closed off," Aimi sadly spoke, her head lowering in defeat, "aw… but that means the k-kitchen and dining hall will be off-limits. I can't bake any late-night treats for you all then."
"Don't worry Sister Aimi," Amaya softly expressed as she took her hands, "we can whip up something fresh and tasty during the day, whatever you want for the whole group!" Upon hearing this Aimi's eyes lit up with joy.
"O-Okay then! We can do that!" Aimi smiled, bringing a soft sense of ease into the room.
"Ah- can we get back on topic here people?" Koji breathed out, his eyes slightly poised on his watch as he thought on something, "the rule said only 'some' rooms would be off-limits during nighttime. So… if it's specifying that, doesn't it mean other rooms are open to us during that time frame?"
"I'll go and check the r-rule again!" Kanna offered excitedly. Before anyone could stop him, the assistant quickly went to reading, "okay um… let's see here. Oh-! It says on the bottom here at the bottom of rule three… that these off-limit areas do not include the library, foyer, or weapon room… and more rooms can be added to this list. I-Is that helpful?"
"Extremely helpful!" Machi beamed, which brought a sparkle to Kanna's eye, "now we know at least we can access those areas without any fear of breaking the rules, but it's weird how it's only those three rooms we can go to," she pointed out with a confused look.
"Well, I would assume the foyer has to be open at all times since it's a large connective area for the manor!" Hagoromo grinned, "and as for the library, I propose that it's open late for book freaks like Anata and yours truly~" The storyteller only sighed harshly at the demonologist's attempt to rope her into the conversation.
"But what's this weapon room stuff they're talking about?" Jun asked with a bewildered look, "is there another room I don't know about? I didn't ah… get the chance to explore too much…"
"What a surprise," Kanon dryly said, "it's not like I told you to literally investigate instead of wasting time or anything."
"Do not worry Brother Jun, the manor itself is quite expansive," Amaya noted, pointing a small finger up expectedly, "it is likely we all missed a room or two in our investigation, making it all the more necessary to share our findings with each other! To start, the weapon room contains a multitude of weapons and stationary targets for swordplay, so it seems that the room is custom-tailored for practicing weaponry."
"Yeah, that's gotta be what it's for," Tadatake nodded, "Pip and Shortcake were exploring the room with me before shit went down. We saw a bunch of weapons out in the open. I'm talking swords, axes… some crazy stuff man."
"That sounds perfect for Uta and Lukas then! They can train there whenever they want, right guys?" Jun smiled. Lukas only nodded briefly at the statement, but Uta only shrugged with an uninterested stare.
"As if that's anything to celebrate over," Uta shrugged in an uninterested voice, "keep in mind that if the weapons were all out for use, they are most likely for the game. That way, anyone will be able to access that room and grab whatever they please, both during the day and night."
"I-It seems that way…" Prince sputtered out, attempting to not let the words get to him, "well as long as no one takes anything out of that room… we should be fine. And it should be easy to identify what comes out of that room anyway..."
"We should focus on that issue later then…" Luna nodded in agreement, "focusing back on the rules; however, aside from those three exceptions, every room past the gym and cafe will be off-limits at nighttime. So for example… rooms like the cinema room, game room, and the dining room are off-limits at ten pm the dot."
"So, that's why Omen said that before…" Albion brought up as his gaze hardened, "that if we stayed here in the dining room by nighttime he would be allowed to kill us." Everyone suddenly paused upon hearing the blacksmith's words.
"T-That was only a joke though, right?" Aimi hopefully asked, "I mean that doesn't mean if we break a r-rule, the punishment would mean… d-death… right?"
No one could say anything in reply, but deep down, Prince felt as if they already knew the answer.
"Let's try not to worry about that for now, cause we're not going to break any rules!" Machi reassured, crossing her arms in understanding, "just to be safe though, we should keep the off-limit room thing in mind since it's almost nighttime right about now, yeah?"
"But how? D-Did the day really move by that fast?" Prince couldn't even remember the exact time he woke up, but he believed it was early in the afternoon at least. Was that not the case? Either time moved really fast, or maybe he was an oversleeper and didn't quite realize it.
"Could it have been the magic here-?!" Fudo asked, his eyes lighting up.
"I will literally strangle you if you keep bringing that nonsense up," Kanon warned as she crossed her arms, "besides, the more likely possibility is that we all slept in later than usual from whatever stuff they knocked us out with. I'm not sure what it is yet but considering the situation, it's understandable we'd all be confused over the exact timing of things. And it doesn't help that we didn't learn a single thing about how we got here."
"Tck-! All that beauty sleep wasted for such a pathetic announcement," Xiuying rolled her eyes and tightly crossed her arms, a fiery glare painted across her yellow eyes, "we didn't even learn anything of true value!"
"Oui en effet!" Amelie sternly agreed with a pointed smile, "I could've reserved all of that ample time to prepare something far more extravagant to introduce myself with, although again, this dress is indeed one of my-"
"As if we care about you two and your damn beauty sleep," Albion scoffed, a stern look growing on his face as he turned back to the group, "you do realize the longer you all ramble, the more time we waste standing around to be punished for this stupid nighttime rule?"
"Oh yeah, I don't want to be punished over something as silly as that! " Hagoromo sang as she gleefully pulled up her own watch, and began to methodically tap on the screen, "ahem~ I'll read the next rule then! Let's see here, oh-! Rule number four, violence against Alexander, Empress, or Omen is strictly prohibited and will be met with immediate punishment!"
"That's not really a surprise," Koji harshly muttered, "they probably don't want their perfect game to be ruined by someone getting the jump on them. We already saw the warning of what would happen if we did anyway..." All eyes briefly turned to Prince's and Lukas's way.
Feeling a little embarrassed with all the attention, Prince lowered his eyes and felt the need to apologize once more, "again, I'm uh… I'm sorry I worried y-you all when I got knocked out."
"And I apologize again for putting you all in harm's way because of my actions," Lukas spoke, clearly regretful over what happened as well.
"Um- Hello?! You guys did nothing wrong!" Fudo said with a fierce look, "it's those bullies who are the ones who should apologize! I'll make sure they do by the end of tomorrow! Just you wait, they'll be saying 'sorry' till the next new years!" He promised.
"Hmph, I doubt those crétins even know the meaning of the word," Amelie spat out, her eyes shooting daggers, "especially that metal hog who thinks he's so high and mighty. Ugh, he irritates me so! Lukas, when the time comes for it, I wish for you to execute that brute. Just thinking about him leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"Well considering that didn't go so well last time.. m-maybe… don't-?" Prince pleaded, slightly shaking as he thought back to the events.
"Hold on, I'm curious about a little something~" Hagoromo suddenly asked, her icy blue eyes glowing at a particular swordsman, "oh Uta, might I ask why haven't you taken a crack against these guys yet? I mean, your talent is unrivaled in your field, riggghhhttt? So why don't you go all slashy-slash on these guys?"
"Uta shouldn't be fighting anybody," Jun started to say in a cautious tone, "he's only a teenager, just like the rest of us. We can't just expect him to just be able to fight off these… strangely supernatural people. It's just too risky-."
"Who said I would let you speak for me Jun?" Uta cursed. Despite that, Jun only smiled back at the swordsman, much to Uta's annoyance as he turned back to Hagoromo, "and you, do you take me for a fool? Why would I attack three fully grown and potentially dangerous psychopaths without any proper information first? It'd be suicidal on my end do fight them alone."
"Whenever we fight back then, we gotta take em' all out together!" Tadatake cheered with his fist pumped into the air, "just you wait Uta, when the time comes, it's going to be me, you, Lukas, and Albion leading the charge against these guys and showing them all whose boss!"
…
…
…
"Yeah for future reference, just keep us out of your brain-dead plans in the future," Albion scowled.
"Honestly, do you even have the ability to think?" Uta scoffed.
"Um… I believe it would be best if we take a different course of action," Lukas suggested politely.
"Come on dudes, you're not even giving the plan a chance…" Tadatake grumbled, clearly defeated.
"Are you done with the theatrics yet?" Xiuying groaned, "I'd like to get this whole review over with so I can properly leave you all to your own pathetic devices." The fabric pattern maker glared harshly at the entire group, quieting them all down. Seeing as she wasn't being disturbed, she raised her watch as if it were poison and spoke aloud, "let's see here… rule number five. Anyone who kills a fellow guest will become the "blackened" and therefore have the chance to leave, unless they are discovered by the rest of the group..."
Though Xiuying spoke the words without a problem, a dreadful silence took over once more at the mention of the game. Prince himself shook and grabbed Amaya's hand, which she took without hesitation and calmly reassured him.
"Alright, we.. should just get this out of the way right now," Anata suddenly spoke as she looked over at everyone else, "is… anyone even thinking about killing another person to leave this place?"
Prince almost choked upon hearing Anata of all people bluntly state the idea, "w-what? Absolutely not!" He sputtered, "why w-would we even consider doing a thing these people say?"
"Because the alternative is being stuck here with two loose cannons and the equivalent of an emotionless ghost roaming around," the storyteller pointed out, her once flowing voice now becoming as sharp as glass, "it's not exactly the perfect setting you'd wish to spend the rest of your days in after being accepted into a prestigious school."
"But even then… to kill s-someone is too immoral," Kanna softly brought up, a look of hope in his eyes, "we should only work together from now on, so everyone else can escape!"
Suddenly, a brief but hallowing sigh sounded from behind them, coming from Uta as he harshly stared down on the group, "how willfully ignorant of you to say that. Just because that's what you believe, you think everyone else will follow blindly in your stead, but there is no such thing as a human who won't murder in a dire situation."
"Brother Uta," Amaya began, her eyes growing surprisingly stern as she took a step forward, "these horrible things you say, they are not ideals we should carry with us if we wish to cooperate in the future! I understand the fear of the situation, but as long as we pool in our efforts, the desire to follow Alexander's game will lessen, until eventually-"
"You say that, but one must always be open to the possibility," Uta informed with a darkened glare, "while you all sing and dance promising not to hurt each other, someone in this very room could be planning to do the deed right as we speak and betray that unity. I'm just laying out the simple fact that we must all be knowing of."
Machi sighed and shook his head, "come on now Uta, let's not be like that. Again, even if the possibility is open, we shouldn't be doubting each other! Alexander literally is banking on that happening."
"Shouldn't that idea alone be ringing some alarm bells?" Koji suddenly spoke up once again, his voice low and eyes extremely tense, "if Alexander is betting on us doubting each other, then that means he designed the game with that intent in mind. So… if even one person lies through their teeth about working together, then it's over for. Trusting anyone is a mistake-"
"Koji, stop it, no one here is going to b-betray anyone…" Prince attempted to reassure. But he could feel his breath quicken at the thought of someone painting a target on his back already.
"It's annoying to think about… but it's a possibility…" Hania muttered, her eyes still neutral but now having an apparent frown on her face, "this game is designed in a way… that one person might think to stab... anyone... in the back."
"If that's the case, no one better lay a finger on me," Amelie warned as she pulled Lukas to her side, "if you do, my personal chevalier will make sure you regret it!"
"Madam Amelie…" Lukas regretfully sighed.
"Everyone please, we must try and stay calm and rational during times like this!" Amaya expressed, her eyes gently going over everyone in the dining room, "as regrettable as it is to be forced into this position… we should stay calm and accept our standing. After all, If we fall for Sir Alexander's words, then there is no going back once what is done is done. For now, we all need to work together and stay strong, as I am sure there are others outside better equipped to provide us aid."
Leaving on that hopeful note, Prince looked around quietly to find most of everyone's tense eyes to have vanished, at least briefly. Only Koji and Anata seemed to keep that guard up, and Uta... well he always had his guard up it seemed.
The more relaxed person in the room however quickly laughed in the silence, making himself known once again, "well... if no one's gonna talk, I guess I'll just continue with the rules then!" Tadatake grinned, swiftly going over everyone's worries and reading the next rule, "okay… here's rule number six! If a guest commits... oh..." He voice suddenly dropped, "if a guest commits suicide, every remaining guest will be punished accordingly."
"So they even factored... s-suicide into the equation," Kanna breathed out, his eyes a little weary, "I'm sure they don't w-want us to hurt ourselves?"
"Right, because they care so much for our wellbeing," Kanon sarcastically said with a roll of her eyes, "they obviously want us to fall in line with the game this way."
"Fall in line?" Prince repeated, as he clutched his arms, "why would they d-do that?"
"Isn't it obvious already?" Kanon scoffed as she bitterly closed her eyes, "if we took our own lives instead of someone else's, it would just spit in the face of their whole sadistic plan. They want to see us kill each other, not the other way around."
"Not to mention," Anata spoke with a distant tone, "if anyone did die... we would know for sure that someone here did decide to kill to escape... so it controls our actions and reactions in a way."
Albion answered with a disgruntled huff and turned away with crossed arms, "well it's not like we would've done anything like that if the rule wasn't in place anyway, but since it is, none of you better attempt that. We can't end up dying here because one of you threw in the towel, got that?"
Everyone nodded along with his statement, which gave the blacksmith a brief moment to pull up his own watch and read aloud the next rule, "as for rule number seven… use of Light energy, or magic we all may refer it as, in any specific murder is allowed," he recited sternly, "specifically Lunar and Solar magic. Feel free to converse with Empress for more details, specifically in the angel room..."
"I'm sorry, what was that gibberish that was being spoken?" Xiuying scoffed, narrowing her eyes at her own watch, "Lunar and Solar magic… Light energy? Angel room? Are they still rambling on about that junk?"
"It's not junk, it's magic!" Fudo clapped before his face suddenly dropped, "although uh… I have no idea what any of those words mean. And I've never seen an angel room before."
"O-One of the words is familiar though…" Kanna nervously spoke up as he pulled out the library paper from earlier, "the word Lunar specifically I mean. I found this in the library… and it talks about it briefly… I-I think?"
"Really? Oh, let's take a look then!" Machi beamed.
Everyone shared a quick glance at the paper, but even with the knowledge of the word "Lunar", there was still no real understanding of the words that were written.
"This just looks like a bunch of random words thrown together in all honesty," Kanon said with an annoyed tone, "I doubt it could refer to any of the 'magical' stuff you guys keep on insisting is real."
"Could be a code then…" Hania mumbled, "it does have... the word Lunar on it so… maybe there's something else we're not seeing."
"That is a possibility… although this whole thing feels off to me," Stefano said aloud, squinting his eyes ever so slightly, "for them to go out of the way to add all of these rules, only to throw magic into the mix and barely tell us what it is capable of is rather odd."
"It seems they have a good grasp on… whatever that magic stuff is…" Jun brought up quickly, "so maybe there's a proper explanation behind it, we just have to ask Empress about it when we have time!"
"As if I would ever willingly go up to that lady," Amelie tried to say in a disgusted tone. But to Prince's surprise, it was betrayed by a look of slight concern in her eyes.
He felt similar in a way when thinking about Empress, just something about her sent a small shiver of fear into his heart, and he wasn't in a rush to find out why that was.
"Are there a-any more rules talking about the magic here?" Prince asked, attempting to rid himself of the uncomfortable feeling, "maybe it explains something else about it?"
"Nope, the last one just speaks on the regulations in general," Machi revealed, "rule number eight just says additional regulations may be added if necessary, so that was the whole bag of things we had to deal with!"
"So t-that was it?" Aimi asked before sighing in relief, "phew… now that wasn't as bad as I t-thought it would be."
"Thankfully so," Luna breathed out, casting her gaze toward the floor, "these rules don't appear to be entirely unreasonable. As long as we ignore the killing rules… all we have to do is maneuver around the manor with caution and not outwardly threaten Alexander or his staff."
"Perfect," Stefano said with a proud smile, "at least if we meet those requirements, we should be fine. Although, it's still not ideal being forced into all of this…"
"That's the understatement of the century if I've ever heard one," Albion scoffed, "we're basically being told to chain ourselves up in here and obediently listen to some lunatic and his merry band of freaks."
"Even then, at least they had the courtesy to us in this beeeaaaauuuutiful manor!" Hagoromo brightly smiled, "I already can't get enough of it! I could explore it all day long if I wished! I really don't mind relaxing her for some time!"
Prince smiled a tiny bit as he looked around. Indeed, things could've turned out way worse for them. The rules seemed relatively straightforward, he was paired with many friendly people for the most part, and the manor itself seemed to be well cared for, "y-yeah, it's a good thing we a-at least we have somewhere n-nice to stay for the time b-being."
"And it does seem that as long as we cooperate with these people… they will allow for us to live comfortably here until we can find a way to escape!" Jun reassured,
"What about this situation is comfortable?" Anata asked with a small frown, "we've been trapped here against our will… and now we're forced to listen to these people we don't know, surrounded by strangers."
"Well, we're not exactly strangers exactly," Machi corrected with a positive look, "we all come from Grandview, so we know there's that connective tissue!"
"As if that makes things any better," Anata suddenly said as she turned on her heels, "even with that connective string, we don't know each other really, you can never know for sure who's being sincere, and who's putting on an act in this situation."
"W-What?" Kanna sputtered with a tinge of sadness in his voice, "Anata, what are you saying?"
The storyteller turned around and suddenly, a cold look entered her eye, "I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm saying things could turn out bad quick if you're not careful. Anyone could be lying about anything, even their true nature…"
"That makes it all the more necessary to corporate Sister Anata!" Amaya reiterated with a smile, "I'm sure if we all stand tall together and learn about each other, we will be able to go against Alexander's wishes for his little game!"
Prince nodded sternly in agreement, gaining a bit of composure from the marionette maker's words. But Anata didn't appear convinced, only sighing as she looked over toward the dining-room door, "I see… I know some of you are adamant to work together, so I won't go on anymore, but if I were to offer some advice to you, don't let yourselves be fooled by someone else's little facade, it could eventually bite you all in the back, hard." And with that, the storyteller left the room first, a cold aura escaping behind her.
"What in the world, why would she say all that?" Fudo questioned, clearly confused, "aside from a few exceptions… everyone here has been nice so far!" He turned to look around for anyone to answer him, but nobody replied. They were all too busy reeling with the sudden swiftness Anata left in.
'Is she really that certain s-someone here could be acting?' Prince thought as he looked around at everyone. He couldn't fathom anyone here hiding anything about themselves, to him at least, everyone seemed rather truthful.
But it seemed like something in Anata's words reached a few people, as Koji stared absently to the floor before suddenly stepping back, his eyes growing sharp, "I'm going to… go off by myself as well. I can't risk dying to anyone yet."
"Oh ho! Leaving so soon?" Hagoromo asked with a curious smile, "don't you want to stay for the afterparty? We haven't exactly planned what we're going to do yet-!"
"I can do what I want, it's stressful, okay?!" Koji suddenly snapped, his face serious, but voice tense as he walked toward the door, "listen, it's… it's almost nighttime, so we can't stay here anyway… so I'm just going to go, alone. Don't follow me, okay?" He spoke the last few words with a certain fierceness and suddenly hurried out of the dining hall, leaving the rest of the group behind in a whirlwind of confusion.
"Ah- t-they're both gone now…" Aimi sighed, as she nervously rubbed her arm, "should we go and check on t-them?"
"I think they just need some time to c-collect their thoughts," Kanna reassured with a soft smile, "we should however invite them to join all of us tomorrow if we can! That way we can build trust again."
"Right, we'll try and invite them back tomorrow," Prince agreed, though he still had a feeling of immense worry for them. If the game really was getting to them that bad, how was everyone else going to take it?
"So much for sticking together though," Uta chimed in, seemingly directed at Jun who only shook his head in response, "well that undertaker is correct, there's no point in staying here, it is almost nighttime after all."
"Oh yeah… it is almost nighttime…" Prince checked the time on his watch and saw it approaching ever nearer, "if we don't want to violate the rules, I guess all we can do is get b-back to those rooms we woke up in… does everyone have their key with them?" Sure enough, everyone pulled out their own room keys, Prince included.
"Are we seriously sleeping here for the night though?" Fudo whined, "I thought we would've found some way out by now…" He said, a dejected look entering upon his and Minnie's face.
"We'll have to make do with what we're given dear," Amaya reassured as she softly brought him to the door, "it would be best for us to clear our heads and rest until tomorrow. That way, we can come up with a better course of action."
"It sounds like a plan then!" Tadatake grinned, "we all rest up, then meet back here for some breakfast or something before making a game plan! And we'll get Bookworm and McCoffin to join us too!" Prince could only imagine how Anata and Koji would react to being called that.
"Sounds good to me," Machi smiled, "in that case, we better get going to those rooms they set up. They did appear to be very well cared for."
"I have been rather excited to dive into that bed!" Hagoromo expressed with a toothy grin, "just imagine how warm and cozy it will be to just surround yourself in those mountains of pillows while the harrowing storm blazes on right outside!"
"That does s-sound appealing…" Aimi nodded her head tiredly, leaning against Kanna for support, "and I… am getting really tired. But… I uh… sort of forgot the room I woke up in."
"Don't worry, I can help you to your room Aimi!" Kanna reassured, "it shouldn't be too hard since the plates for each room have our f-faces."
"Lukas, I wish for you to also escort me to my room as well! I am getting rather lightheaded…" Amelie ordered, to which the knight only could respond with a nod in return as she suddenly fell into his arms, "and you... white-haired boy-" addressing Kanna, "I want a cold glass of water-" she paused, looked over at Xiuying and smiled "-and give one to Xiuying as well. It has been a longue journée."
The fabric maker crossed her arms, letting out a small breath, "hmph, at least one of you are considerate to my needs. I will remember this..." she declared as she widened her eyes to try and stay awake.
Everyone similarly expressed their tiredness, and right on cue Prince felt his own eyes starting to shut, "w-well… we should get going then, right guys?"
"But of course, Sister Anata and Brother Koji already have a head start, so we might as well head there ourselves," Amaya exclaimed as she took hold of Prince's hand and led him out of the room.
And with that, one by one, everyone slowly left the dining hall, with Prince walking close alongside Amaya, Machi, and Fudo. The three of them somehow seemed to have more energy than anybody else, aside from Hagoromo of course who was rambling on about the condition of the storm. Stefano, Luna, and Jun seemed to be paying attention to her, but Kanon who was walking with them could only block her ears from all the noise. Uta and Albion were further back, so they didn't have to deal with all the noise. Tadatake was helping Kanna carry Aimi who was half asleep in both of their arms. Kanna had also gotten two cold glasses at Amelie's request, which she was sipping delicately with Xiuying. Lukas was quite literally carrying the perfumer, with Hania following close behind the group, her eyes facing the floor.
Prince smiled a bit at the sight of everyone together, seemingly unaffected by the game, but even then, his eyes flickered back out the windows to see the monstrous storm. It was completely pitch black, to the point where not even the bright manor lights could penetrate it.
He wondered then where exactly could they have been for the storm to have such terrible conditions. Where in the world did it snow this bad? He couldn't exactly remember, but at this point, he was sadly getting used to not remembering anything. While the others talked about their previous plans for Grandview, he stood back, taking in the scenery with weary eyes.
Eventually, the entire group made it back to the place they all woke up in. The room itself had since dimmed upon his last being there, with the floating orbs having shifted into bright twinkling dots that resembled stars in a way. The area itself though was as large as ever, holding all twenty of their bedroom doors. Now that he had met everyone, he could now see that all of the boys had rooms that were lined up on the second floor, while all of the girl's rooms were lined up on the first. The only thing that distinguished all of the doors was the faceplates of every single person.
On the first floor from the order of left to right was Aimi, Amaya, Amelie, Anata, Hagoromo, Hania, Kanon, Luna, Machi, and finally Xiuying.
On the second floor from the order of left to right was Albion, Fudo, Jun, Kanna, Koji, Lukas, Prince, Stefano, Tadatake, and finally Uta.
Just as the group stepped foot inside the familiar place, all of their watches suddenly let out a distorted sound of beeping noise. Drawn to it, Prince checked his own and watches were met with the disturbing sight of Alexander sitting in some kind of office, along with Omen and Empress right beside him. The room they were in was professionally well down, with many glass-cased bookshelves lining the dark wood walls, and a large clock above his smoothly designed desk. As soon as they appeared, the video started to play.
{ Nighttime Announcement }
"My dear and beloved guests~" Alexander started with a gleeful tone, "the sun has tucked its sleepy head and the stars have come out to play! Therefore, it is now officially nighttime! Please do remember that some of the areas will temporarily be off-limits during this time, so proceed with caution if you intend to explore the manor-"
"If ya don't, then I'll clobber ya good and proper, got that?!" Omen warned with a delighted giggle, "I'll turn ya into a gooey pile of paste, but instead of it bein'... toothpaste, it'll be blood and guts! Gahaha!" He paused and turned to Empress, "eh?! Eh?! Did that sound threatening?!" He beamed.
Empress didn't even utter a word in response.
"Yes… I think they garnered that from your last example Omen," Alexander said, delightfully nodding away as he turned back to the camera, "other than that… I bid you all pleasant dreams. Lock your doors tight... and please remember, if you ever need anything, we're always available~"
"Especially for a good fight!" Omen brought up as he pounded his fist together, "I dare one of ya to try and challenge me! Especially if ya break a rule! Bring it, I double-dog dare one of ya! I'll show ya who's the real boss around here! GAHAHAHA!"
Omen began madly laughing, completely ignoring both Alexander and Empress's unimpressed stares.
"Well would you look at that, I knew it was a bad idea to involve him in the official announcements…" Alexander sighed as slowly shook his head. She only watched quietly in response as the samurai continued to laugh.
"Anyways, sweet dreams!" Alexander finished off with a small wave and creepy laugh, and then the video went dark.
...
...
...
"Is it just me… or do they seem really disorganized despite trapping us here?" Fudo muttered as he scratched his head.
"Hmph, such fools controlling my life… it's pathetic," Xiuying glared daggers at her watch and shook her head, "we have to listen to those good-for-nothing heathens tell us goodnight every single night?"
"It looks like the announcement is set at the exact time it becomes nighttime, so maybe the same holds true for the daytime as well," Jun commented, looking just as disturbed, "well at least we have an eternal alarm clock… sort of."
"Is there a way to shut it off?" Stefano bluntly asked, his expression more so sour than peaceful. It was a stark contrast from his usual self that Prince couldn't help but laugh a little at the dry delivery of his words.
"A-Aha! Ah- um," Prince attempted to say after swallowing his giggles, "I-I don't think there's a way to turn it off sadly, but that office the three of them were in did pique my interest a b-bit. I don't think I saw an office like that anywhere here." Out of all the rooms he recalled, none of them looked anything close to the office in the video.
"It seems that not a soul found such a room anywhere like that either," Amaya revealed as she shook her head, "I suspect it must be in an undisclosed location, perhaps being a room we have noy yet discovered."
"Whatever, we'll just figure it out in the morning," Albion waved away with a shake of his head, "if you miraculously don't end up dead, you better show the meeting. We need all hands on deck for whatever we plan to do."
"Do not fear everyone, the Eternal One will keep us all safe from harm within our dreams," Luna reassured, "so you need not to worry about sleeping in fear once you enter your personal realm of slumber."
"T-That's right! You'll all be okay when you're in your rooms!" Kanna added as he helped Aimi stand up, "after all, if you all have your key, and the rules forbid breaking d-down doors… no one should be able to get inside without permission!"
"That's good to know…" Fudo yawned loudly and hopped up each of the steps to his room, "well then, I guess we'll see you all in the morning. The Fantastic Fudo and Magnificent Minnie will be taking their leave to bed now! Goodnight everyone!"
"Goodnight… Fudo…" Aimi nodded as she began to sleep on Kanna's shoulder. Before the assistant could say anything, Tadatake quickly offered him a helping hand.
"No worries dude I gotcha," he said with a casual grin as he helped carry Aimi to her room. Kanna muttered out a small "thank you" in reply and the two helped bring the patisserie safely to her room. "We'll make sure Shortcake here gets to bed, we'll see the rest of you guys when we wake up later, ya?" Tadatake smiled.
"But of course, we will!" Hagoromo waved excitedly, "goooodnight my precious dolls~"
"Take care Brothers and Sisters, I shall see you all in the glorious morning!" Amaya smiled with a small wave of her doll, "may you have pleasant dreams and a fulfilling rest!"
Prince waved goodnight to every single one of them before he noted Koji and Anata's room. A brief period of worry overcame him as he wondered if he should go and see how they were holding up. But after a brief debate in his mind, he decided to leave them be, there were too many tired thoughts swarming in his own mind to be of use to anyone.
Before he decided to ascend the staircase to his own room, he looked out over the area one more time. Almost everyone had gone inside their rooms, but interestingly he noticed Uta, Albion, and Lukas were conversing over some matter he couldn't hear. He noted Amelie was also with them, although she looked very tired and probably wanted to drag Lukas away from whatever the three boys were whispering about.
It wasn't just them either. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Machi was still seeing Hania and Xiuying off to their rooms as well, though the two girls didn't seem to enjoy her company and quickly went into their respective bedrooms. As soon as they left, Machi stood alone and rubbed her palms, seemingly nervous.
Seeing this, Prince couldn't help but venture over to her and offer a small laugh, "you doing o-okay there Machi?" He asked.
"Me?" She whirled around, a bit surprised, but quickly joined in on the laughter once she realized it was Prince, "oh um, yeah, I'm doing fine all things considered! Especially after that whole killing game announcement, I couldn't be better!" she joked, brushing a part of her away with a playful hand,
"I can't tell if that's s-sarcastic or not, but I'll take you for your word…" Prince smiled.
"Thanks… ah… how about you?" She asked with raised brows, "are you doing alright with all… this?" She gestured to the entire room, and Prince could only sigh.
"U-Uh… maybe a bit," Prince spoke, feeling as if he could at least speak truthfully given the comfortable atmosphere, "I just can't believe what happened here. I thought… we'd be better off at least once w-we woke up in a manor, but I guess appearances can be deceiving as Anata said earlier."
"Yeah… it's still not the best situation," Machi nodded in understanding and leaned against the wall, "but you know, we'll have to try and do our best while we're stuck here, and as long as we have each other, we should be fine!" She brightly said.
"Yeah, it's good t-to have other people here…" Prince agreed as he joined her. The two looked up at the orbs floating around the ceiling, and he sighed, "you know… you really took charge today. Back at the dining room." He recalled briefly how she stood up against Alexander, and quickly attempted to rally them all together. Thinking on it more, he could only wonder, "how… did you do that? I mean… you didn't really seem worried about what's going on at all."
"Oh… all that, aha… um…" Machi rubbed her arms and sighed, still keeping her small smile as she spoke, "again, it was kind of a heat in the moment sort of decision," she restated, "I couldn't just stand there and let that random stranger talk us all down as if he knew us. That's just not been my thing."
"Well as the Grand Mediator… I suppose that isn't i-in the cards for you, yeah…" Prince nodded.
"It usually isn't," Machi laughed, "for as long as I've been around, I've dealt with countless arguments, quarrels, and disagreements. Nothing as big as like… countries fighting though, but I guess I resolved enough disputes that Grandview saw me as something special…" She looked down at the floor and shook her head, "so I thought I could settle this matter too but… it didn't quite work out this time. But even then, I appreciate what you said back there!"
"W-What I said?" After everything that had happened, his mind drew a blank on the past few moments.
"You know, when you told me that what I said was inspiring," she brought up with a bright look in her eye, "I mean I hoped it would be of course, and it seemed like it did the trick so that's a plus! But you know, I am glad that at least you said that."
"O-Oh… uh… of course," Prince looked down and nodded to himself, "I mean, you really did take charge in that moment, and again when you stood up to A-Alexander as well. Both of those things, they really were inspiring."
"Really now?" Machi nodded to herself and suddenly laughed, "I mean personally I was totally shaking when I said all that to him cause he seems kinda… crazy." She whirled her finger near her head in a crazy motion and the two of them laughed, "but yeah, hopefully he sees soon that no one is going to hurt anyone, and then he'll get bored with this dumb game and we'll all be able to go home."
"Home…" Prince said the word in a bittersweet way, not sure of what to make of it. Now that he was in a peaceful moment, he realized the word sounded foreign to him. What was his home? What could he return to if he escaped with everyone?
Machi must've seen the dreariness on his face because she quickly took his hand, "oh, sorry. I completely forgot. Do you… still not remember anything?"
He shook his head and lowered his gaze, "I don't know why… I-I just… everytime I try to even think back on something before this… or anything else at all… my mind draws a blank."
"Hmmm… so you still have trouble recalling specific things." Machi took a small look at Prince and lightened up, offering him a big smile, "tell you what, how about we try and do a broader memory search tomorrow, if we have some spare time of course which it seems like… we obviously will."
"A broader memory search?" Prince questioned, "w-well that sounds kinda like a handful, your not gonna slam me with any trivia terms about movies right?"
"Of course not, don't worry!" Machi reassured, "I'll just tell you everything I can about Grandview and myself, and we'll see if it jogs your memory! Deal?" She raised a hand for him to shake and grinned.
Prince looked at her and smiled, taking it immediately, "a-alright, I'll count on you then… and… thank you Machi." Although the conversation was short, he was glad that at least he was able to have a quick chat with her before the day ended, and he also had something else to look forward to for tomorrow.
The two said goodnight to one another, promising to meet up in the dining room with everyone else. Now alone, he looked around to find everyone else had left. He quickly went to his room then and locked the door with his key. He checked the knob twice to make sure it really was locked before remembering that rule two made it pretty much unnecessary to do so. Realizing this, he wearily sighed, allowing his body to finally relax as he walked over to his bedroom.
The place looked exactly the same as he left it, but he somehow felt even more cramped once he stepped inside it, as if the walls were attempting to close in on him. Now knowing the reality that was Alexander's game, he could see clearly just how much the man had prepared for their extended stay. The kitchen, bathroom, study, and living space were all fully stocked with an assortment of things. If the manor outside didn't exist, he could very much just live in the room as it appeared like a small apartment. But tomorrow was a big day of investigating the manor again, and he was sure not to miss it.
He walked over to the bedroom, trying to hold in the coming yawn he was about to let out before he noticed a small box on the center of his bed. It was wrapped in blue paper and had a red ribbon atop it. He stopped short, confused about it's placement as he had not seen such a thing before when he looked into the room. He slowly walked over to it… and although hesitant, decided to open it carefully.
There were nice grey pajamas inside, with the same triquetra badge sewn into them. Alongside them was, shocker, another note from Alexander, but unlike every other note that had come before, this one was by far the creepiest.
Sweet dreams Prince ~ Alexander
That was the only thing written on the note, and he slightly cringed upon reading it. No matter what was written, anything made by Alexander seemed like it was dipped in a sickening layer of obscurity. Just what was his purpose with all of this?
He tried not to focus on that idea too much and begrudgingly changed into them. He noted they were actually very comfortable, but even then still felt an uneasy feeling be given all this stuff. He wondered if the others were offered similar gifts, and he could only speculate at who would reject them or accept them.
He sighed and just allowed the feeling of tiredness to envelop him once again and collapsed into his bed, hoping that everything he had experienced was just an awful dream.
'Let's hope… everything turns out better… tomorrow…' And with that, he was plunged into a deep sleep.
~ Killing Game Rules Simplified ~
- Rule 1. Guests are required to spend the rest of their foreseeable futures within the manor. Do note that any attempts at escape are pointless.
- Rule 2. Destruction of the manor's property will be met with immediate punishment. This includes breaking open windows, doors, or furniture, the destruction of security cameras, personal security watches, or badges.
- Rule 3. "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 8 am. During this time, some areas past the gym and cafe will be off-limits. Any attempt to access these areas during this time will be met with punishment. These off-limit areas do not include the foyer, library, or weapons room.
- Rule 4. Violence against Alexander, Empress, or Omen is strictly prohibited and will be met with immediate punishment.
- Rule 5. Anyone who kills a fellow guest will become the "blackened" and therefore have the chance to leave, unless they are discovered by the rest of the group.
- Rule 6. If a guest commits suicide, every remaining guest will be punished.
- Rule 7. Use of Light energy in any specific murder is allowed (specifically Lunar and Solar magic). Feel free to converse with Empress for more details regarding this subject.
- Rule 8. Additional regulations may be added if necessary~