《Welcome! To Sunlight Institutions!》


 Prologue: Welcome To The String Of Life.

    My name is Jac Miyata, many call me the ultimate shut in, but in truth I¡¯m the ultimate friend, now many may ask what kind of a talent is that? My ultimate talent truly never made any sense to me, however it was given to me by my peers and other officials that hold power over my future¡­ and I suppose it did help me get into the prestigious educational university, the prized crown jewel of where all the ultimate students with remarkable talents go! Sunlight Institutions! So being deemed the ultimate friend by those around me isn¡¯t such a bad thing in the long run.


    Sunlight Institutions has helped flourish the individuals selected to lead the world into radiant positivity, to progress the world into a new era of development that shall heal the very planet we stand on!


    Let me explain it this way, someone like me who has the ultimate talent of being friends with people will be taught how to better utilize this trait of mine for the betterment of the people. In order to even be formally invited into the institution you must reach the highest academic level regarding the field of positivity you personally ¡°work¡± in, I say work loosely cause certain talents may not be considered as work, but also because academic achievement isn¡¯t the only thing you need, it certainly isn¡¯t how I got invited.


    Besides academic studies, you can also be invited through social networking, or other sociology, psychology, just simply making yourself stand out from the rest! You can probably guess how I got invited, I made myself so popular among those I associated with that I was personally recommended by other students, officials, or just regular everyday civilians, and now! Now I have officially received my letter! I¡¯ve made it! I¡¯ve officially made it!


    The letter informed me to meet with the rest of the students in my class at a specific seaside port. I had already packed my most important things and wrote my parents, sisters, and my younger brother a goodbye note because of how early I had to leave. The train ride didn¡¯t help calm how anxious I was feeling, who wouldn¡¯t? I was happy, excited, eager, so many other emotions that I could explain and voice and yet I needed to keep myself together. From train, to bus, to finally walking to the port I checked the boat ID written on my letter and found myself in front of a giant cruise ship¡­ was this really it? Just one more step and my life would change forever! ¡­ but I felt my body tense, I wanted to move, I wanted to take my foot off the wooden deck and step onto the vessel that¡¯ll unlock my mind to all sorts of brilliant things! So I forced my leg up¡­ and immediately missed my step by slipping up my footing. I only had a portion of the tip of my boots actually touch the boat, the rest of my foot was in between the opening of the deck and boat, hence now¡­ it was over, this was it, I completely messed up my life as I fell forward¡­


    ???: ¡°Hey, you okay there pal?¡±


    I felt someone catch me by my hood, and help my back up by pulling me on the boat. I stumbled forward and steadied myself as I turned to thank my savior.


    Jac: ¡°Oh uh- Yeah! Thanks man, I really owe you one.¡±


    ???: ¡°Heh, don¡¯t mention it¡­¡±


    Silence¡­


    ???: ¡°Just remember that whenever you¡¯re taking a step forward, make sure to make it six inches longer than you would¡¯ve initially.¡±


    My mysterious savior was just about to take his leave, his slight Bulgarian accent engraved in my mind.


    Jac: ¡°Hey wait! Do you mind introducing yourself to me! We should be in the same class right?¡±


    The stranger slowed in his tracks and checked his wrist watch, before turning his body to look towards my direction.


    Jermey: ¡°You can address me as Jermey Bacchus, I¡¯m assuming you also want to know my ultimate talent too right? Well I¡¯m officially the youngest, ultimate wine maker, a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    I studied Jermey, his hair was shaggy to an extent and yet it does seem like he tried his best to comb it, perhaps I was more infatuated with how his hair was the color black while the scalp was a tint of orchid that faded the more it moved outward clashing with the black coloring.


    Jac: ¡°Jeremy? Okay, okay¡­ I¡¯m Jac Miyata! It¡¯s also a pleasure to meet you too!¡±


    Jeremy nodded towards my direction and went on his way, the way his white shawl lapel suit flowed through the air made him look much more formal than what the untied tie slung around the back of his neck would suggest to you, hell even his jeans and loafers made your eyes look away from his tie.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The letter specifically told me to wait in the lounge room, which is where I found just about everyone else either standing, sitting, chatting, or sulking among themselves. I spotted a few students that caught my eye, another formally dressed man who wore gloves, except he actually seemed prepared unlike Jeremy.


    A dude with hunter green hair who looked ready to swim at all times, playing with some kind of poker chip in his hands.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    A guy with a puffy jacket and blue scarf dotted with purple dye wrapped along his face covering his nose and mouth, his hair seemed to be this straw colored that looked smooth and flat on the sides, but he did have this peak at the front of his hair alongside shaggy bangs not to mention how comfortable he looked in black elastic pants with white sneakers¡­ although something I didn¡¯t understand is why he had a necklace with a whistle attached to it.


    It seems he was talking to a woman with tangerine colored hair that had these pigtails that ended in an oval shape, something I wouldn¡¯t think to see from someone with blunt bangs, yet despite that appearance she still wore this basic white student uniform with a wide brownish tan cowl collar, khaki pants, for some reason she also had these brown cowboy boots alongside a western, for lack of a better word, cowboy hat¡­ it also seemed she was writing something down in her notebook.


    A few more other things I noticed were a lab coat, black stained apron, glitter hair, a victorian dressed woman with a royal blue lolita dress, a girlypop with these puffy slip on sleeves, a girl wearing a hard hat with a light attached to it, and an ice blonde gal who looks like little red riding hood¡­ mainly for the red hoodie.


    ???: ¡°Yo bro! Excuse me but can you please record me for a minute?¡±


    I turned and saw this cotton candy head with cyan swirls staring at me, clearly dyed¡­ he had a lollipop in his mouth along with all these spikes bracelets on his wrist and a spiked neck collar, skull earrings, some silver finger rings, and I think the most outrageous being his baggy v-neck sweater while wearing boxer shorts¡­ With no shoes or socks! But his eyes did illuminate this golden shine, how did he make his pupils star shape?


    Jac: ¡°Uh- sure? What¡¯s it for?¡±


    I¡¯d hold his phone camera directed at him.


    ???: ¡°Just stay still and watch the show! 3! 2! 1!¡±


    He would clap his fingers, and immediately his already obnoxious grin turned into a full on shine from his white teeth grinning cheek from cheek.


    Cain: ¡°Hey y¡¯all daily update! We all knew this day would come! I¡¯m streaming straight from the cruise taking me to the great Sunlight Institution and when I get back from sweeping the floor with every last one of my classmates, it¡¯ll be a year long subathon!¡±


    Streaming? Subathon?


    Cain: ¡°Get ready world! Cain Dawood is about to take the planet by storm! As I am the one and only ultimate influencer!¡±


    ???: ¡°Psst¡­ Cain, make sure to mention the charity part of the subathon¡­¡±


    Who was that?


    Cain: ¡°Oh and before I forget! Make sure to pocket your life savings as my year long subathon will also consist of a mass collaboration of charities! Keep the peace alive and I¡¯ll hopefully talk to you all later!¡±


    Cain would then take his phone back from me as he ended his vlog.


    Cain: ¡°You sure we don¡¯t need to edit this Abel?¡±


    Abel? Oh that must be the person in a military trench coat sulking in one of the booths, he looked rather reclusive and shy even if his round glasses hid how his eyes darted back and forth attempting to not make any eye contact with anyone else, although it seems he also shared the lollipop taste with Cain, the fashion in earrings despite his being hearts, and the dyed hair with his resembling more of a sunset.


    Abel: ¡°We don¡¯t have time to edit the clip Cain, we have to maximize your content in case our school schedule becomes¡­ limited? No, more so compacted with the responsibilities of being ultimate students.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Yeah, yeah the ultimate economist planning ahead of time, what a surprise.¡±


    So Cain was the ultimate influencer, and Abel the ultimate economist? Were they in cahoots?


    Abel: ¡°Well who else is supposed to keep your career in check?¡±


    Cain: ¡°HAH! Why my one and only bro of course!¡±


    Cain sounded so relaxed and carefree, kinda like those annoying coffee guys I¡¯m forced to walk into whenever I order from the cafe, but his brother was so reclusive¡­ so quiet and polite yet you could just feel that snark barreling around his tongue.


    Cain: ¡°Oh and thanks by the way! I¡¯m Cain, the ultimate influencer in case you forgot, and this is my brother Abel! Pretty much my manager for the most part, helps me keep up with the trends while I interact with my adoring fans.¡±


    Abel: ~Waves~ ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m Abel Dawood, the ultimate economist if you didn¡¯t hear my brother address me before¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°I see¡­ well it was definitely an experience meeting you, I¡¯m Jac Miyata by the way.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Nice meeting ya Jac! Welp see ya around! Come on bro we got more to see before we arrive at the institution!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ???: ¡°ATTENTION! HELLO? HELLO? IS THIS THING ON?¡±


    Everyone heard the speakers chirp as someone announced a very special message.


    ???: ¡°MAY THE STUDENTS PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE TOP OF THE CRUISE SHIP WHERE THE STAGE IS CENTERED!¡±


    I guess I had my next stop, I hurried my way along the crowd as we all rushed to see what was happening. Soon enough all eighteen of us were standing in front of a stage as this fog flooded around our feet.


    ???: ¡°Hey this is dry ice isn¡¯t it? This is so fricken cool!¡±


    ???: ¡°Ugh must you be so fascinated by such trivial things? You aren¡¯t a child¡­¡±


    ???: ¡°Oh shut it nerd! I¡¯m allowed to be in awe at the wonders of the world after losing my leg!¡±


    ???: ¡°¡­How does that- ¡­ Never mind.¡±


    The bickering between two students was quickly drowned out by three figures escalating to the stage, a woman with medium length brown hair while wearing a white gown, with this weird weeping statue mask, seemingly the oldest out of the three. The middle woman in size had long brown hair while wearing a black tailored suit, and a plague doctor mask, and the shortest was gyaru coded¡­ short brown with a failed dye job of greenish copper spots, wearing these pastel gyaru sweater clothing and a Cthulhu mask.


    Atropos: ¡°Greetings! You can call me Atropos! My sisters here are a bit old so I¡¯ll take over from he- ACK!¡±


    It seems the middle sister smacked the youngest on the back of her head.


    Lachesis: ¡°Shut it you, anyways you will address me as Lachesis, if you address me as anything else I shall personally beat your ass until you have none.¡±


    Then the oldest stepped in and covered Lachesis¡¯s mouth with a cloth.


    Clotho: ¡°Peace sisters, I apologize for the fright students, I am Clotho¡­ and my sisters and I shall be your headmasters for the foreseeable future¡­¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Headmasters? Well hell the only student you¡¯ll need to keep track of is me! Hikari Teruya! The ultimate pachinko player!¡±


    Pachinko? ¡­ how does someone make people happy by playing pachinko? Why wasn¡¯t he deemed the ultimate gambler actually!? He was the one playing with the poker chip before and always looking ready for a swim, swimming shorts, black tank top, sandals and all.


    Clotho: ¡°Oh I think you misunderstand¡­ we aren¡¯t here for your first impressions¡­ We¡¯re here to apologize for the fright¡­¡±


    The fright? I didn¡¯t understand¡­ until my body got cold, tense, like I was being paralyzed¡­


    ???: ¡°H-hey anyone else feeling cold? Why¡¯s my body so¡­ tight?¡±


    ???: ¡°This isn¡¯t dry ice! T-this paralyzing us by freezing our nerves! Our responsive systems! Wha-what is the m-me-mean- ¡­¡±


    All I could hear were the rest of the students collapsing to their knees, teeth chattering, those trying to keep themselves warm by rubbing their hands together and moving in place¡­ but it was no use¡­ I was already losing consciousness.

 Chapter 0 - Let The Game鈥檚 Begin!

    I felt¡­ groggy¡­ I slowly opened my eyes and blinked, groaning and rubbing my temple with my left hand. I slowly sat up and found myself in this room with bars that had big enough gaps for any normal person to pass through. When I finally stood up I noticed there was a lever attached to this electrical box¡­ should I pull it? Probably not, I should focus on getting out of this room. The thing is this was a square room with three walls yet one opening directly opposite the electric box, this opening was where the four bars were positioned, these bars big enough for someone to walk through, so when I took the steps to walk out of this room¡­ I felt myself fall yet again¡­ there was a gap between the room I woke up in and the bigger room¡­ it¡¯s over¡­ I¡¯ve failed¡­


    Jeremy: ¡°Woah hey there! Didn¡¯t I tell you to always add six inches to your usual steps?¡±


    I remembered that soft Bulgarian voice from the cruise! After steadying myself again I¡¯d look behind Jermey to see two more individuals standing there¡­ looking rather cautious of me.


    Jac: ¡°Thanks dude¡­ who are these two though?¡±


    I shared their caution, after all I was kidnapped and set in what very well may be a prison cell! After I asked my question Jeremy looked to where my gaze was directed.


    Jeremy: ¡°To be honest¡­ no idea! These two woke me up while I was dozing off in a room similar to yours.¡±


    I gazed at where he pointed, just a few feet from my room was another room, same gap in the floor, same four bars with big enough spaces to pass through, but instead it had a boiler.


    Jac: ¡°So where did these two come from? I don¡¯t see any other rooms like ours around¡­ wait how come they didn¡¯t wake me up first?¡±


    ???: ¡°Because you look like a dud! I mean who wears a hoodie that¡¯s as thin as yours and doesn¡¯t button it fully?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Miss Yusuke, please refrain from judging our fellow classmate¡­ Apologises sir in advance, allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Makoto Izanagi, and make sure not to forget that I¡¯m the ultimate butler.¡±


    Makoto, unlike Jermey, actually had combed and slicked back black hair, a single breast tuxedo and white gloves, I especially liked his laced wingtip boots.


    ???: ¡°Aw Izzy! You spoil me with how much attention you reward me!¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Please miss, haven¡¯t I already advised you to call me by my family name, Izanagi instead of Izzy?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Yeah but¡­ where¡¯s the fun in that? Oh also heyo! I¡¯m Valentinia Yusku! The ultimate fortune teller! Pretty I know, I¡¯m just cute like that!¡±


    So this was that girlypop girl I saw on the cruise, some type of no shoulder sleeves crop top blouse? Expressive much? But then again she pulls it off well since she wears these pink tinted sunglasses shaped like hearts, and her puffy slip on sleeves, although I will have to question the existence of her jean shorts¡­ but I suppose all can be forgiven since she has these gorgeous ribbon laced slippers, but still¡­ rather uncharacteristically mainstream for an omani woman, especially with the clashing of rebellious western clothing.


    Makoto: ¡°Charming miss,  a thousand apologizes Mr. ¡­ What is your title again?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Oh right, you two can just call me Jac Miyata, I¡¯d rather we find a way out of here sooner than later though in case our captors come and find us.¡±


    Jeremy sighed as he looked around.


    Jeremy: ¡°What about that vent up there?¡±


    Jeremy pointed to a vent in between the walls that connected my room and the room he was in.


    Jac: ¡°That¡¯s too high for any of us to reach though! It¡¯s be a fucking waste of time to try¡­¡±


    Makoto would take a few steps towards the wall and crouch down.


    Makoto: ¡°In times like these we must do all we must to proceed, Mr. Miyata sir, if you may I¡¯ll elevate you up on my shoulders.¡±


    I was starting to like this guy, sure he was young and sounded rather dissociated with all of this, but that didn¡¯t stop me from standing on his shoulders as he held me up.


    Valentinia: ¡°So? What¡¯s the verdict almighty dud?¡±


    I¡¯d look into the vent¡­ and saw¡­ couches? And¡­ and arm or two?


    Jac: ¡°Furniture, and people, that¡¯s all I can make out.¡±


    I would get down from Makoto¡¯s shoulders and turn around to find an open door, which must be where Valentinia and Makoto came from.


    Jermey: ¡°So there¡¯s an upstairs? Looks like we have somewhere to be then.¡±


    I¡¯d follow as the three went on ahead of me, I of course investigated a little, it seems like the open door led to two more doors, one opposite of it and one to its left, the one opposite of the door I was standing in front of was open and I could make out another vent at the top of the wall connecting two more rooms, similar bars, similar floor gaps, probably a similar electrical box and boiler layout if I investigated more thoroughly, however I followed the three through the closed door and we found ourselves taking stairs next to another set that we had to turn right towards going up, once we arrived at the top we opened another door to be greeted with these Greek and Roman inspired walls, floors, ceilings, definitely a mix of both cultures.


    Jac: ¡°Hey Makoto, you and Valentinia also woke up in rooms similar to Jeremy¡¯s and mine, were you able to look through your vent?¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Makoto: ¡°Yes, and no, Valentinia here couldn¡¯t make out any actual signs because something was blocking the vents'' view, she claims it to be cheap leather.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°My intuition is never wrong! I¡¯m just not always right.¡±


    Ignoring the fact that what Valentinia said makes no sense, we found ourselves following the hallways going right, to the room I got a good view through the vent, there were doors all with these blank plaques on them, but I didn¡¯t bother to examine them any further as the four of us approached a double door pushing it open.


    ???: ¡°Eek! Be away with you evil beasts!¡±


    Jac: ¡°ACK!¡±


    I felt a carrot being thrown at my face, the sharp end to be more specific.


    Jeremy: ¡°Woah! Woah! Chill out, we''re friends! Not evil or beasts!¡±


    The girl resembled little red with her red hood and ice blonde hair, so maybe not a perfect resemblance of little red, but nevertheless she had a pink bow around her hair, a pink shirt, white sneakers, french braids, and a back quiver slung around her.


    Nina: ¡°Oh! Oh I¡¯m sorry! Please forgive me. I''m just a little worked up after the whole paralysis! I¡¯m Nina Hailstorm by the way, the uh- umm¡­ The Ultimate Archer!¡±


    Nina, despite her wavering fear, sounded almost excited? It may be due to her young stature, no older than me, but it seems like she was still easily startled and spooked.


    Jac: ¡°I-I¡¯m Jac Miyata, the guy you just attacked with a carrot and is currently in more pain than I previously would¡¯ve been if you hadn¡¯t attacked me¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Hey I said I was sorry wasn¡¯t I!?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Yeah, yeah it¡¯s fine¡­ I get it, we have no idea where we are so it¡¯s not like you attacked me without any actual reason¡­ Also I don¡¯t mean to be rude but, are you actually qatari?¡±


    Nina would simply stare at me with this blank expression.


    Nina: ¡°Are you asking if my parents come from Qatar?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Well, I¡¯m simply asking if you yourself are¡­ Qatari.¡±


    Nina: ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡±


    Jac: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I¡¯ve never seen an Arab with ice blonde hair before, sorry this is probably coming off as insensitive.¡±


    Nina: ~sigh~ ¡°Jeez this is how you talk to girls? Look I get this all the time, it¡¯s the genetics and has nothing to do with whether or not I¡¯m some mutant.¡±


    Jac: ¡°I-I never implied that! I just mean that two beautiful things are¡­ well rare to come by nowadays¡­¡±


    Nina would blush just a bit.


    Nina: ¡°Oh so now you¡¯re trying to be a smooth talker?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°¡­Hey wait a minute how come you never complimented my blonde hair¡­¡±


    Jeremy would sigh and look beyond this living room area and into some type of kitchen.


    Jeremy: ¡°You can come out, we won¡¯t hurt you¡­¡±


    From behind a paper sliding door poked the head of a girl with these dirt smudges across her face, a hard hat and wearing these fluorescent orange miner overalls with a lime green under suit and boots.


    ???: ¡°Who are you people?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°That depends! Who wants to know? Come on! Don¡¯t be shy! I don''t bite!¡±


    Noir: ¡°¡­I¡¯m Nori Badger, my dirty appearance is due to my talent as the ultimate lead miner¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°You only mine lead?¡±


    Noir: ¡°W-well no¡­ it¡¯s just what I¡¯m most known for finding and providing¡­¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Hmm¡­ You mine? But you don¡¯t exactly look tough.¡±


    Noir would make this pouting expression as she stepped out more.


    Noir: ¡°Look just because I don¡¯t have the testosterone as you doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t work a pickaxe! Besides it¡¯s all in my technique, I don¡¯t rely on strength, I work with efficiency¡­¡±


    This was an interesting group of people¡­ I wonder, would these five have really been my classmates?


    Makoto: ¡°Charming meeting everyone, but perhaps we should focus on our current situation¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°How do we get out of here right?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Correct, where exactly were we taken? The first minute we¡¯re on a cruise towards Sunlight Institutions, the next we end up here after the announcement.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Do you think those three sisters had anything to do with this?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Are you suggesting they hijacked the cruise and kidnapped us?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Yes that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m suggesting¡­ dumbass-¡°


    Jeremy: ¡°What was that?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Nothing! Nothing!¡±


    Valentinia had this cheeky grin on her face as she had gotten away with insulting Jeremy, but instead of squabbling I¡¯d rather figure out what was going on here? I¡¯d check my pockets to try and find my phone¡­ but I couldn¡¯t find it, nor my letter! While searching my pockets however I felt something pressing against my wrist, so when I brought my hand up I noticed a digital watch strapped on my arm.


    Jac: ¡°What the hell is this!?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Oh the watches? No idea¡­¡±


    Well I¡¯ll be damned if I was just gonna have this thing on me! I would attempt to pry it off¡­ but that¡¯s when I felt the bands of the watch grow cold¡­ really! Really! Really fucking cold! This freezing kept the watch from unbuckling itself but it also burned my skin, it burned so deep that my nerves were starting to sting!


    Jac: ¡°ACK! FUCK!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to further attempt to try and pry the watch off.


    Nina: ¡°Woah hey! Oh crap that looks like it hurts!¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°No shit, did you not see him flinch?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Did none of you try to take the watch off before?¡±


    All five of them would shake their heads, meaning I just saved them a whole lot of pain.


    Jac: ¡°Well then¡­ happy of being of use.¡±


    No one seemed to really react to that, of course how were they supposed to? I knew that all of them were relieved that they weren¡¯t the first ones to test out the watch, but would any of them actually voice that? Of course not¡­ and that¡¯s fine.


    Noir: ¡°Hey hang on¡­ how did you four even find us?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°The vent over there, Mr. Miyata there was able to stand upon my shoulders to get a view into this room.¡±


    Makoto pointed towards the vent near the left corner that separated this room and the kitchen.


    Jeremy: ¡°Well¡­ it seems we¡¯ve discovered all we could find in here, hey how about we search the room you couldn¡¯t see in Val?¡±


    Valentinia didn¡¯t respond to Jeremy, she just stared off in the distance swaying back and forth.


    Jeremy: ¡°¡­Miss Yuskue, Valentinia¡­¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh did someone say my name?¡±


    Jeremey groaned and had already begun walking off.


    Nina: ¡°Hey wait, don''t leave us behind! Come on, you were in this together now.¡±


    Nina would take Noir¡¯s hand and follow after Jeremy, and following the conga line of girls Valentinia would follow suit¡­ which left me with Makoto.


    Jac: ¡°How did you put up with her in the beginning?¡±


    Makoto would turn his head towards me just slightly, side eyeing me.


    Makoto: ¡°I didn¡¯t, I just made myself the most patient¡­ Look at it this way, everyone is scared, frightened, and anxious about the situation we¡¯re in, therefore it would do no one any good to start becoming the aggressor.¡±


    When Makoto was done explaining how he seemed so buddy buddy with Valentinia, he also walked off to follow them.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    I noted that within the dining room there were a few bust statues of heads I didn¡¯t recognize, skinned animals, and a few animal skulls hung on the wall. It was like this in the hallways as well. I finally caught up to Jeremy and the rest as they investigated the room Valentinia couldn¡¯t see into.


    ???: ¡°Oh la, la, looks like we have visitors, monsieur clown¡­¡±


    ???: ¡°For the last time my name isn¡¯t clown!¡±


    It seems these two have already gotten acquainted, let¡¯s see here¡­ The man who was addressed as ¡°clown¡± had black braided hair in a crown braid, although it seems his hair has seen better days with all the dye stains¡­ at least I hope it¡¯s dyed, besides that he had a red clown nose and some face paint that made him look more like a yeti, sure the clown aesthetic was there, but he looked really, really, really cold! He also wore a rainbow bow tie clipped between the buttons of his sleeveless clown outfit with a ruff collar, he also had a polka dot shirt along with clown shoes. Regarding the woman, she had these curling black pigtails tied with red ribbons, she was obviously dignified with her eye opening royal blue lolita dress, red heels, fishnet leggings, even her crimson eyes striked a sword through me.


    Jeremy: ¡°Alright love birds we can measure dicks another time, but who the hell are you two?¡±


    The two strangers both glanced at Jeremy.


    Kanji: ~Sigh~ ¡°I¡¯m Kanji Hansteinson, the¡­ ugh, the ultimate clown.¡±


    The monegasque woman simply giggled to herself as she parted her lips glossed in blue lipstick.


    Penelope: ¡°Pardon the low grade entertainment, for I am Penelope Von Yoshinaga, the ultimate entrepreneur¡­¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Pleasure, I¡¯m Makoto Izanagi, ultimate butler for all of your needs.¡±


    Penelope¡¯s eyes fluttered at the mention of Makoto¡¯s ultimate talent, a slight smirk arching across her face.


    Valentinia: ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s all calm the intensity and figure out where the hell we are!¡±


    I would let the group talk amongst themselves as I observed the room. There was a paper map hanging on the wall, drawers with scrolls and records kept in them, a dining table, square seats¡­ just actual square cotton seats that didn¡¯t fit the Roman or Greek fashion, a chalkboard, an actual clock, there wasn¡¯t exactly anything off about this room besides the four valves in the far end.


    Jac: ¡°Is this just a¡­ reading space?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Oh? What makes you say that?¡±


    Jac: ¡°A coffee table, the abundance of parchments in the shelves, a few writing implements, it seems like a space for students to study for the most part¡­ but why are there valves?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Tch~ How should we know? Look are we here to chat or are we here to escape?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Look I get we¡¯re all on edge, but could we please cool down for a moment? We all need to be friends here and not enemies!¡±


    With that, Penelope would sigh and take Makoto¡¯s hand.


    Penelope: ¡°Come now you, you¡¯re my property and as my property I won¡¯t allow these low grades to chip your value to me away.¡±


    Makoto just sorta¡­ seemed really too tired to say anything against her.


    Valentinia: ¡°Hey wait a minute! I¡¯ll be damned if some bitch steals our personal assistant!¡±


    Valentinia chased after Penelope¡­ which of course meant everyone else followed after, me included! I¡¯m not ashamed to admit that.

 Chapter 0.2 - Let The Game鈥檚 Begin!

    To understand the layout of the area we were in, imagine looking at it from a bird¡¯s eye view, the dining room was to the right, the study room to the left, on the bottom left was the door leading to the clerical boxes and boilers, and to the right of that door were nine doors with the empty plaques on them, and opposite of those nine doors were nine doors with empty plaques as well! Facing each other, so imagine a wall in the middle of a giant open space, that¡¯s where the opposing doors are facing the nine doors next to the basement one, make sense? Hope it does, because on the other side of the wall leads, or more so if we¡¯re still using the bird¡¯s eye view, then to the top is another door leading somewhere, which is where the group was heading.


    Penelope continued leading Makoto to the final door that was unlocked¡­ which led us to quite the sight! Bright, very bright, just about the length of a hockey rink, let¡¯s divide this outside space into three sections, the left end zone, the center zone, and the right end zone. On the left end zone were swings, a merry go round, a swing chair, seesaw, and a trampoline. The center zone divided the end zones with flower beds, right in the actual center of the center zone was a structure with a circular structure you could walk under, with a table and a few chairs you could sit and chat in. Finally the right end zone¡­ it was just completely filled with grass, but it had a killer canopy!


    ???: ¡°Hey who¡¯s there! Avrom get behind me!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Jeez Shichiro, chill out, it''s just some randoms¡­¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°You don¡¯t know that! They could be the ones who kidnapped us!¡±


    Makoto would finally take Penelope¡¯s hand off his arm.


    Makoto: ¡°Peace everyone, please let¡¯s all just calm down and introduce ourselves, pleasure meeting you two as I am Makoto Izanagi.¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Oh please monsieur, we shouldn¡¯t concern ourselves with these rags¡­¡±


    Avrom: ¡°I- ¡­ I¡¯m not a rag, I¡¯m Avrom Priddy, my ultimate talent is being the ultimate whistler.¡±


    Avrom would create a pretty seducing tune, not that I¡¯m into it or anything.


    Shichiro: ¡°Avrom! Save your talent for those that deserve it, as for me¡­ You will address me as Shichiro Usui! The ultimate flutist!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Whistler? Flutist? Wait, what''s the difference?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°I can¡¯t play the flute.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°I can¡¯t twist my lips in conjunction with heightening my breath to a low or high pitch.¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­Alright¡­¡±


    I wasn¡¯t expecting them to give me such blunt answers so fast.


    Jeremy: ¡°Alright can we get moving please? I want to see what¡¯s in the other building.¡±


    Jeremy was right, there was another building in front of us, similar in color to the one behind us, but it would definitely be different¡­


    Valentinia: ¡°Aww but I wanted to sky watch!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°You do realize that the sky isn¡¯t actually the sky right?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°¡­ Y-yeah of course¡­ it¡¯s just- you know! Something interesting to do like admiring these flowers¡­¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Those flowers are also fake.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh great, the next thing you¡¯re gonna tell me is that the dirt here is actually sand!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Well actually-¡°


    Shichiro would nudge Jeremy¡¯s shoulder.


    Shichiro: ¡°Look, can we all just move on?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Wait¡­ who are the rest of you?¡±


    Everyone would take their time introducing themselves, even Penelope¡­ then it was my turn.


    Jac: ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ How do I make this interesting? I¡¯m Jac Miyata, J-A-C, not J-A-C-K! Keep that noted.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Noted¡­¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Alright now we can move on, there were three more that woke up out here, but they ventured inside the building you lot wanted to investigate¡­¡±


    I lost track of how many people were around me, first it was a group of four, then six, then eight, now ten, and we all approached the door leading to the next building¡­ and that¡¯s when we discovered the other eight students.


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    Hikari: ¡°Woah! Hey there, be careful with that!¡±


    ???: ¡°Oh hush you! I¡¯m just having a bit of fun!¡±


    ???: ¡°You do realize that if you fall then the machine will fall on top of you too¡­ killing you¡­¡±


    ???: ¡°Oh fuck off! I can afford to lose my other leg!¡±


    ???: ¡°¡®Oh will you three just step away from there? I¡¯m sick and tired of all of this noise¡­¡±


    To the right was a girl with long white hair, for some reason it had brown streaks with no clear pattern¡­ the most mind boggling thing about her hair though was that it doesn¡¯t seem like she dyed it, she also had a prosthetic leg, that was the first thing I noticed alongside her unbuttoned hawaiian shirt over her sports bra, cut off shorts, one sandal for her non amputated foot, shaking a vending machine. Next to her was a guy who also had white hair that covered his face, a darker shade of white than her¡¯s, with three red loops. He also had safety goggles, a lab coat, black sweatpants, and yet he didn¡¯t wear any footwear, just black socks. The one yelling at the two, and including Hikari, was quite the tall queen with bleached baby pink hair that looked quite rough, seemingly cut by someone without much barbering experience, but it at least curled at the front forming a peak, looked like mash potatoes to me. She had quite a heavy apron smeared in black puffs and stains of smoke, and under that apron was a blue boiler suit plus brown boots.


    Cain: ¡°Hey Abel look! It¡¯s my camera man!¡±


    I felt someone wrap their arms around my neck.


    Cain: ¡°How you doin?¡±


    Cain¡­ it was Cain, and he was talking in a naive voice.


    Abel: ¡°Hey I don¡¯t think it¡¯s nice to be touching people in this situation¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine! I¡¯m sure caramel blonde here doesn¡¯t care that much right?¡±


    Honestly I didn¡¯t have much of a problem with this, I¡¯ve been used as a pillow over the years for many different ¡°friends¡±.


    ???: ¡°Hey¡­ who the hell are these folk?¡±


    Quite the strong Irish accent.


    Cain: ¡°Oh Oscar! Wanna meet my friend?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Friend? Oh jeez are you another victim of these idiots squabbling? I suppose any friend of his is of no danger to me, so I¡¯m Oscar Murphy, world renowned illusionist at your service¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Yep! Oscar here is the ultimate illusionist! We should def set up a magic show for him soon!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°For the last time I¡¯m no magician, I have no magic or any of that shit¡­ I¡¯m simply someone who abuses the way our brain perceives things.¡±


    Cain would pout, his grip tightening round my collar.


    Cain: ¡°Aw you¡¯re no fun¡­¡±


    Abel: ¡°Cain you¡¯re choking your boyfriend¡­¡±


    Cain would let go of me, more so because he was offended at the sound of Abel calling me his boyfriend.


    Cain: ¡°Woah! Woah! Hey! No one here is my boyfriend!¡±


    Soon enough the tall Cambodian woman had the amputee and lab coat individuals in a carry hold as she walked towards us.


    Juno: ¡°Hey there I¡¯m Juno Fischer, ultimate boilermaker who¡¯s been able to install boilers across all of Cambodia, I like to praise myself every now and then.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Hey there¡­ My name is Lapti?a Virgo, and this is a less than ideal way to meet you all¡­ I¡¯m the ultimate forensic scientist by the way.¡±


    Haru: ¡°Heheheh! I¡¯m Haru! Hi-RU! Hi! Haru Kurokawa here! I¡¯m the ultimate perjurer! Fear me peasants!¡±


    Haru wiggled and tried getting out of Juno¡¯s grip, soon enough Hikari joined us.


    Hikari: ¡°Wazup folks! I¡¯m Hikari Teruya as you all know, the greatest pachinko player in the world! You better believe it and remember it!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Aw god my head hurts already¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°You think you¡¯re in pain? I feel myself getting dumber and dumber by the hour¡­¡±


    ???: ¡°Quite the mouth you¡¯ve got there huh Princess?¡±


    A southern accent shot through the room.


    Penelope: ¡°Oh, and who might you be?¡±


    It was clear Penelope was already looking down on this person for her rural accent, sure the southerner may have long wavy brown hair with glitter stuck to it, her blouse definitely didn¡¯t hide her rack¡­ wait why am I looking there? Anyways she had cargo shorts, ariat boots, and a few sport wristbands.


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Yoshiharu Hirotaru, the ultimate Ping Pong player, but you may prefer addressing me as a queen of the sport.¡±


    So this was it, all eighteen students¡­ Where were we? Right now the room we were in was quite¡­ well it was a half circlet for the most part, the door we entered from was a rectangular wall, and there were four garage doors closed to us, in the middle were these fluffy cottons guards that served no purpose other than to be decor, grape vines were also growing along the walls.


    Atropos: ¡°ATTENTION!¡±


    That voice¡­ It was cthulhu mask talking to us through the loudspeaker.


    Atropos: ¡°Hello students of Sunlight Institute! Apologizes for the fright, but it seems you¡¯ve all gotten to make your first impressions, now then if you would please allow me to explain your situation I will lift all small anxieties you may have, the big anxieties however may be proven correct! Whether you listen or not is none of my concern, just know that if you don¡¯t understand anything then we are not liable for your stupidity! Now the room you are in is what we call the gate to Olympus, much will be explained about the gate later, but for now if you exit the gate to Olympus then you¡¯ll enter the Asphodel Meadows! There¡¯s a playground to exert energy, an area to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner outside, and a meadow for you to lay down and rest under the canopy, finally the building opposite to the one you¡¯re all in is the safe haven, filled with all your necessities! Food, living space, comfort, and eventually your quarters! Now may you all please head back to the safe haven! There''s another special announcement to be made.¡±


    Kanji: ¡°¡­We aren¡¯t seriously actually going to follow their orders right?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°What other option do we have?¡±


    Haru: ¡°Yeah what the rich girl said!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Hey aren¡¯t you supposed to be on my side? We can¡¯t trust the three who seemingly kidnapped us!¡±


    Abel: ¡°The clown has a point¡­ should we just willingly follow the orders of our captors?¡±


    Cain: ¡°What happens if we don¡¯t?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Ugh my head hurts, we obviously can¡¯t stay here if they can monitor us, either way we should probably follow their orders with caution.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°You talk like this is our fault for making your head hurt¡­ I- I just hate it here for how crowded things are¡­¡±


    Suddenly¡­ a loud whistle could be heard.


    Hikari: ¡°YO! Everyone shut up for a minute!¡±


    Avrom seemed to have blown the whistle hanging on his necklace, standing next to Hikari.


    Hikari: ¡°Let¡¯s look at the options we have, we either starve to death doing nothing! Or have a fighting chance by going forward together! Now come on if we all go as one class there¡¯s no way anything can go wrong!¡±


    This guy had the goofiest smile on his face, how could he be so optimistic in this scenario?


    Jeremy: ¡°The gambler¡¯s right, we can¡¯t simply just afford to sit here, if we go as a group then hey! At least we tried.¡±


    Wow, was that supposed to make us feel better? ¡­ screw it.


    Jac: ¡°Let¡¯s put it into perspective, we¡¯re all buddies here, so we should watch each other''s backs against the actual enemy here, that being our kidnappers.¡±


    I¡¯d hold out my hand for anyone to take.


    Jac: ¡°Let¡¯s form a line of security¡­ together, all of us.¡±


    ¡­


    Someone would take my hand.


    Cain: ¡°Aw fuck it we all die someday right? At least I die near friends.¡±


    Soon Abel took his brother¡¯s hand, then Jeremy, Valentinia, Noir, Makoto, Penelope, and so on. Soon we all exited the building and into the meadow, and made our way into the building across¡­ I turned the knob¡­ and opened the door bracing for the worse¡­


    ¡­


    I took three steps forward


    ¡­


    Then


    ¡­


    Noir: ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!¡±


    Abel: ¡°W-WHAT IS THAT!¡±


    Cain: ¡°¡­¡± ~scared murmuring~


    Avrom: ~scared stiff~


    What everyone was freaking out about, was the hanging corpse with bleeding coming from there head.


    Makoto: ¡°¡­Relax everyone¡­ it¡¯s just a mannequin¡­ a really convincing one.¡±


    Makoto had tread ahead to examine the corpse, he was followed by Penelope who also examined the corpse, then Noir, Nina, Jeremy, and Valentinia who all confirmed his claim.


    Atropos: ¡°Well! Well! Well! It looks like you¡¯ve discovered your first husk! Perhaps now you¡¯ll finally start taking this seriously if you weren¡¯t already, as it¡¯s time for the investigation¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°Wait what? An investigation!? We aren¡¯t detectives!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Oh I know you aren¡¯t, but let¡¯s just say this is the only way you¡¯ll be able to leave¡­ my sisters and I are your captors and we¡¯d like to play a game with you all first! So just follow this tutorial and we¡¯ll tell you the prerequisite to leave! Now then¡­ chop, chop, I¡¯ve left a very special gift for all of you in the husk¡¯s coat pocket¡­¡±


    Makoto would rummage through the pockets and take out a tablet, as it turned on we saw the corpse¡¯s name.


    Makoto: ¡°Lucifer Saikon¡­ death by suffocation.¡±

 Chapter 0.4 - Let The Game鈥檚 Begin!

    I felt sick, hell everyone around me did¡­


    Cain: ¡°We aren¡¯t seriously actually going to try and figure out how this guy died right? H-how the fuck are we suppose to figure that out!?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°If your brain was as big as your mouth then it should be fairly obvious¡­ we investigate the building, build a case, and reconnect the dots.¡±


    Nina: ¡°Bullshit! We don¡¯t even know who killed him! We can¡¯t solve a case without the actual murderer here!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not entirely true, they never specified what we were actually investigating.¡±


    Cain: ¡°The hell does that mean!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°It means they never disclosed whether or not we need to call out the murderer, look I¡¯m grasping for straws here but we¡¯re definitely just here to investigate this crime and see it done¡­¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Jeez¡­ look I¡¯m just gonna go sit down and clear my head, there¡¯s too much going on in such a fast moving space¡­¡±


    With that, Yoshiharu walked off, not sure where¡­


    Cain: ¡°H-hey wait for me! I don¡¯t want to be here right now either!¡±


    Nina: ¡°Oh you think you don¡¯t want to be here!? What about me! Hey! get back here!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Aw for fuck¡¯s sake¡­ someone¡¯s gotta stop them from driving Yoshiharu mad¡­¡±


    All three, Cain, Nina, and Oscar followed after Yoshiharu¡­ so I turned to Abel.


    Jac: ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna follow your brother?¡±


    Abel: ~shrug~ ¡°I¡¯m not obligated to keep him in check every minute, especially if I''ll be more helpful here¡­ if everyone¡¯s okay with that of course¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°Oh trust me we need all the heads we can gather.¡±


    The following students that dispersed without words were Kanji, Haru, Valentinia, Avrom, Hikari, Shichiro, and Juno.


    I stayed with Jeremy, Makoto, Penelope, Lapti?a, Noir, and Abel to investigate near the body.


    Jeremy: ¡°So what exactly do we know? Other than his cause of death?¡±


    Noir: ¡°W-which is¡­ suffocation right?¡±


    Hey wait, why was Noir here? She doesn¡¯t seem like the type to investigate these kinds of things, nor does she seem mentally capable too¡­ maybe it more so doesn¡¯t have to do with the body, more so that she just wanted to cling around Makoto.


    Makoto: ¡°Yes, suffocation is rather broad however¡­¡±


    Abel: ¡°Wait¡­ we can discuss the cause of death anytime, but shouldn¡¯t we first figure out how the killer was able to hang him by his feet?¡±


    Abel made a good point, the life-like mannequin was hanging upside down by their feet, rope around their right heel, and yet it was also nailed to the ceiling. I think it was worth investigating the rope however, it did have a trail after all on the ceiling that led somewhere.


    Jeremy: ¡°Hey wait, Jac where you heading?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Just some sightseeing¡­¡±


    I¡¯d follow the rope to the right coming from the meadows doorway, the rope was attached to something behind a pedestal in the hallway, looking behind it I found what looked like some kind of mechanism in a tense lock, so the victim was caught in a snare, he must¡¯ve trigger the mechanism when his foot move the rope to pull at the mechanism, hence getting his leg caught as the machine activated to pull against the little pressure and tighten, hence wrapping around the victims leg.


    [Snare Mechanism-)


    Abel: ¡°Hey¡­ did you find anything?¡±


    Abel¡¯s casual quiet tone somehow startled me, we should really get him a bell.


    Jac: ¡°Someone set up a snare here, presumably the killer.¡±


    Abel seemed to note this down on some loose paper he had on him, it seems our captors didn¡¯t steal everything on our personal.


    Abel: ¡°Okay so¡­ the victim stepped in the snare and then was killed from suffocation, but that doesn¡¯t explain the nails hammered into his foot, how could the killer even reach that height?¡±


    Good question Abel! Ask me again when I know. I went back to investigate the body, there were no physical wounds on any part of his body besides his head, the entire rim of his head was slit open, but we know that¡¯s not how he died¡­ so why did the killer do that? No, for now I needed to focus on how and why the killer nailed the victim¡¯s foot into the ceiling.


    ~Tap, tap, tap~


    Lapti?a: ¡°Hello? Mind if we- if I talk to you about something?¡±


    It was the forensic scientist, of course I¡¯d want him to disclose information with me!


    Jac: ¡°Yeah sure, I don¡¯t see why you shouldn¡¯t.¡±


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    Lapti?a: ¡°C-cool¡­ you seem the most approachable out of everyone here, so let me cut to the chase¡­¡±


    My gaze followed his finger as it pointed towards the ground, blood splatters soaked and staining the carpet.


    Jac: ¡°What¡¯s special about that? The blood probably came from the blood dripping from the victim''s head.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°N-no¡­ that¡¯s not exactly the case, well not entirely.¡±


    He¡¯d crouch down and point towards the splatters.


    Lapti?a: ¡°If all of this was from the head, then the blood would slowly drip from his scalp and in one spot, however¡­ There are splatters away from the main spot, which either means the killer caused a mess while slitting the victim¡¯s head open, which is very unlikely because the cuts aren¡¯t deep enough, if we are to believe that the cuts gushed then there should be blood on the walls.¡±


    [Bloody Head Cuts-)


    Jac: ¡°So that means what exactly?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°It means the body fell on its head when the killer was done suffocating him.¡±


    [Suspicious blood splatters-)


    Jac: ¡°Wait not when the killer slit its head?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°No, because there are blood traces along his lips, the killer most definitely caught the victim in a snare, suffocated him, then something went wrong hence the victim fell to the ground and the blood in their mouth splattered.¡±


    [Coughed up Blood-)


    Jac: ¡°So then¡­ why slit his head open?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°To cause confusion maybe?¡±


    That wouldn¡¯t make sense considering everything we know, there¡¯s no reason to cause confusion if we¡¯re given the cause of death beforehand?


    Jac: ¡°Hey Lappy, can you tell me anything else about the body?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Nothing in particular, unless I¡¯m given any actual tools to examine the body all I can deduce is that the victim wasn¡¯t killed by any kind of strangulation or intense physical force, perhaps just covering his mouth and nose killed him¡­¡±


    [No Signs Of Physical Trauma-)


    Jac: ¡°So where exactly can we find the weapon?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°W-weapon? Do you mean if the killer used some kind of¡­ cloth?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Yeah exactly, you know you¡¯re pretty smart for someone who looks and sounds so timid.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    Jac: ¡°It means I want you to come with me as I search for it, after all it may have the victim¡¯s or killer¡¯s DNA on it.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°So you just want me around for my talent?¡±


    Jac: ¡°More or less, but unlike everyone else you¡¯re quite reasonable.¡±


    I just needed to ease him into helping me investigate, truth is I didn¡¯t want to bother having to fetch him every time I find something regarding the victim or killer¡¯s identity, best to bring him along with me for the simplicity of it all.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Fine¡­ I don¡¯t have much to investigate here anyways.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    I had to search in places away from the crime scene, hence why I led Lapti?a to the basement area¡­ hey wait a minute, there was a fourth door now positioned right in front of me, but earlier that wall was just a wall! So obviously I went in and found myself in a room with a glass floor, it¡¯s where all the water you could see from the floor gaps in the basement flowed, so this was our water supply huh?


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Do you hear that?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Hear what?¡±


    Lapti?a pointed to the right where he saw something blocking one of the pipes, so I walked over to it and found a handlebar on the wall, hence I pulled it down to reach in and pull it out.


    Jac: ¡°Don¡¯t let go Rose.¡±


    I¡¯d jokingly tell Lapti?a as he held my waist so I wouldn¡¯t fall in. I reached forward and pulled out a¡­ foldable step seat? I¡¯d fold it open and set it down before closing the wall back up.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Why would someone throw something like this in the water supply? Especially since it blocked one of the pipes.¡±


    It was suspicious¡­ I don¡¯t exactly know why we were allowed such close access to the water supply, I mean we could end up containmenting it at any time! But at least we found this thing.


    [Foldable step seat-)


    Lapti?a: ¡°Hey¡­ could you help me get a sample from here? The killer may have dispatched the weapon you''re looking for in here, so if there¡¯s any trace left we should get it now.¡±


    I was now holding his waist as he scooped three vials of the flowing water, there wasn¡¯t much left here for us now. The two of us went back upstairs¡­


    Noir: ¡°Back away!¡±


    Oh great what did I miss?


    Penelope: ¡°That¡¯s what I should be asking of you¡­¡±


    I moved towards the noise, the study, reading, whatever room with the valves and chalkboard was where the noise was coming from.


    Kenji: ¡°Jesus fucking Christ can you all shut up and let me lay down¡­¡±


    Lapti?a and I saw the situation unfold, Noir and Penelope were grabbing at each other''s necks.


    Noir: ¡°The hell are you to tell me that when you treat Makoto like one of your dolls!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Maybe because he is?¡±


    In the room were Makoto, Penelope, Noir, Kenji, Juno, and Haru. I wonder where Jeremy and Abel were¡­


    Haru: ¡°Fight! Fight! Fight!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Can someone tell me what happened here?¡±


    Haru directed his attention towards me,


    Haru: ¡°My Aussie brother! What are you doing here?¡±


    Jac: ¡°I- hey wait I¡¯m not from Australia my accent came from my mother.¡±


    Haru: ¡°Well I¡¯m a tlingit! Proud Aussie!¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­I think you have your ups and downs mixed up, along with your east and wests¡­¡±


    Haru: ¡°Nah I¡¯m definitely an Aussie even without the accent! Sure was suspiciously cold though for Australia¡­¡±


    Kenji: ¡°Alright shopping cart stop confusing the good boy and let me explain to him what¡¯s going on here.¡±


    Kenji would take my shoulder and point towards Penelope and Noir who were being broken apart by Juno.


    Kenji: ¡°So vampire there was dragging Mr. Doormat around, and weasel had a problem with that, so she confronted vampire about it, and they got into a little scuffle.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°My suit is going to need to be thoroughly ironed after this¡­¡±


    Juno: ¡°Alright you two break it up before I do it for you¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Is that a threat?¡±


    Juno: ¡°Oh if it were a threat I wouldn¡¯t use words to warn ya.¡±


    As far as I could piece together, Noir had a problem with how Penelope treated Makoto, hence the squabble leading to Juno having to intervene. Seems like Kanji and Haru were here first however, how Juno ended up discovering this scene was up in the air to me.


    Makoto: ¡°Can we please just get back to investigating the crime? All of this fighting is bad for my mental.¡±


    Abel: ¡°After all of that I would¡¯ve thought you¡¯d be at least a bit more concerned over how much of a ruckus you¡¯ve caused¡­¡±


    Noir: ¡°Hey wait you¡¯re blaming him!¡±


    Abel: ¡°Well¡­ if we¡¯re being specific¡­ then yes, none of this would have happened if he just told you two to stop being such idiots¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Oh and who made you in charge of such thoughts? You are in no position to be painting such a horrendous image.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°No, Abel has a point¡­¡±


    And with that Makoto took his leave, seemingly to distance himself from this situation, right at that moment Juno had to tighten her grip around Penelope and Noir¡¯s arms.


    Juno: ¡°And just where do you think you two are going? He clearly wants to be left alone¡­¡±


    I should probably take this time to investigate this room while I¡¯m at it.


    Jac: ¡°You¡¯ve found anything?¡±


    Lapti?a had completely dodged the situation to prioritize the investigation,


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yeah check this out.¡±


    He had this proud look in his eyes, like he was happy to be showing me his findings, and what he had found was a bottle of aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that can create or worsen diseases, especially if you already have a weak immune system.


    [Aspergillus Fumigatus-)


    Jac: ¡°Do you think this is what killed the victim?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Maybe, but it¡¯s definitely not the only thing that killed the victim.¡±


    Jac: ¡°Care to elaborate?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Oh right, I never told you what my test results were huh?¡±


    Jac: ¡°You were actually able to test your samples?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Well of course, they never confiscated my only friend here¡­¡±


    I watched as Lapti?a pulled out what looked like a thermometer, and yet when he dipped the tip into one of the water vials the digital screen started to calculate and gave results of different chemicals, elements, ect and ect as you probably get the point, but the one thing that made my heart drop was the result of radon gas. I immediately bolted to the dining room, busting the door open and telling everyone to stop where they were! They all looked at me like I was crazy, but I walked over to the kitchen sink and turned the water valve¡­ nothing¡­


    Cain: ¡°Yo caramel, what¡¯s got you so on edge?¡±


    Lapti?a: ~exhausted panting~ ¡°We found radon gas in the water supply, that¡¯s why he panicked thinking about the possibility that you guys might¡¯ve just poisoned yourselves¡­¡±


    [Radon Gas-)


    He was right, the moment I saw that radon gas had contaminated the water supply I immediately thought the worse.


    Valentinia: ¡°Radon gas in the water supply? Wait where did you two find the water supply?¡±


    I would explain everything.


    Yoshiharu: ¡°So that complicates things then right? I¡¯ve had time to clear my head and I¡¯ve been thinking that simply suffocating someone hanging upside down shouldn¡¯t be an easy way to kill someone as it¡¯s been made to seem, not only because you¡¯d have to make sure for certain that once they pass out they¡¯re truly dead, but also because the victim is still hanging upside down!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Which is exactly why Lappy and I think that the victim was suffocated with some kind of cloth, a cloth poisoned in something.¡±


    [Potential Murder Weapon-)


    Yoshiharu: ¡°And where is this cloth?¡±


    Jac: ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to figure out¡­ but the water supply being poisoned has to do with something¡­¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Do you have any evidence of that?¡±


    Lapti?a: ~Hand raised~ ¡°Actually¡­ yes¡­ I tested the blood and it does show traces of uranium¡­ and aspergillus fumigatus, meaning that these things were indeed injected into the victim''s body.¡±


    [Mix of Poisons-)


    Yoshiharu: ¡°But do we have any way to know how the killer got this into the victim¡¯s body? The victim could¡¯ve had this done to him before he was suffocated, and was simply targeted because of this.¡±


    Jac: ¡°Look we¡¯ll answer this at the trial, we¡¯re still figuring things out.¡±


    I took the time to investigate the dining room the same way Lappy and I investigated the study room, and that¡¯s where I found a bloody razor blade in a PB&J sandwich.


    [Bloody Razor-)


    ¡­


    Atropos: ¡°Attention! Hello! Hello! Hello! It¡¯s time for the trial! Please move yourself to the gate of Olympus or face the consequences!¡±


    Dammit¡­ I didn¡¯t feel like we had enough evidence, but I suppose we¡¯ll just have to see what happens.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 0.6 - Let The Game鈥檚 Begin!

    Oscar: ¡°Well, what are you dumb lot waiting for?¡±


    Oscar, who had stayed silent until now, was the first to leave for the gate of Olympus, Yoshiharu and Nina followed.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Jac, come on let¡¯s hurry¡­¡±


    I felt him tug at my wrist.


    Cain: ¡°Woah hey what¡¯s with all the touching? He¡¯s my camera man!¡±


    Then Cain tugged at my other wrist.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Oh¡­ sorry but who are you? I don¡¯t see Jac holding a camera here so he¡¯s still my investigation buddy¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°B-Buddy! When did you and him become buddies? Sorry pal but as long as I have my account of him being my camera man, he technically belongs to me¡­¡±


    What¡¯s with these people and trying to own others!?


    Jac: ¡°Can you two just calm down and save this for after the announcement? Look, Lappy can hold my right wrist, and Cain¡­ I guess you hold my left.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°I just want to make sure we all get to the building faster¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Likely story¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t get why Cain tried making himself out to look like a sad puppy¡­ it was working though. I couldn¡¯t figure out if this was from all of his experience being the ultimate influencer, training his facial expressions, practicing different vocal techniques, and testing new Internet personalities behind a screen, or if he was simply weirdly clingy¡­ really, really, really weird¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The three of us ventured out to the meadows.


    Shichiro: ¡°BULLSHIT!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Hey! Calm down you two!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Bullshit?! The hell you mean bullshit! You can¡¯t try to pin this on me!¡±


    Oh great now what?


    Shichiro: ¡°Yes I can! You stole my flute! You were the only one next to me! And Avrom wouldn¡¯t possibly steal it!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°I already explained to you how I was nowhere near you!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Yeah Shichi! Please you gotta believe him, I know he¡¯s been next to me all day and I¡¯ve been in between you two the entire time!¡±


    So Shichiro had their flute stolen? What an unfortunate time to lose it.


    Jac: ¡°Can you three save this until after the announcement?¡±


    All three of them turned to me.


    Shichiro: ¡°Stay out of this!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°No he¡¯s right¡­ Look, we all want to get out of here, and I¡¯ll help you anyway I can to find your flute, just please trust me until we can prove I¡¯m innocent Usui¡­¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°It¡¯s Shi-Chi-Ro! You don¡¯t get to call me by my family name!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Shichi please! Let¡¯s just¡­ drop this for now¡­¡±


    It seems Avrom was the one trying to break things up, social deduction led me to believe that Shichiro had a soft spot for Avrom, but Avrom had some kind of admiration towards Hikari, and Hikari¡¯s plastered smile was still beaming¡­ many would think it was fake, but there¡¯s only one way to get teeth to shine that white.


    Shichiro: ¡°Fine¡­ let¡¯s just get this thing over with, we¡¯re going to the building over there right?¡±


    She pointed towards the gate of Olympus building, and was already walking over there forcefully dragging Avrom with her.


    Jeez¡­ if these are my classmates then I most definitely would¡¯ve graduated alone.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    All eighteen of us gathered at the gate of Olympus building, Penelope being the last one to arrive, everyone was on edge of course¡­ tense and afraid of what their anxieties were telling them.


    Abel: ¡°Hey Cain¡­ I was wondering when you¡¯d get here¡­¡±


    Cain wouldn¡¯t let his grip on my wrist go until Lapti?a did, but that wasn¡¯t the most worrying thing here.


    Jeremy: ~hiccup~ ¡°H-hey Jac! T-took you long enouvv¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­Are you drunk?¡±


    Jeremy had a wine glass in his hand.


    Makoto: ¡°Please forgive me Mr. Miyata I tried stopping him but he insisted on one sip, and well¡­ it appears our ultimate wine maker here can¡¯t handle alcohol well, I humored him and he took one sip, just one sip and he started slurring his words!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Yep! I¡¯m the one who found him the wine bottle by the way! I¡¯m amazing at being nice I know, I know, you can all thank me later.¡±


    Nina: ¡°I think we have different ideas of what being ¡°Nice¡± is¡­ now we¡¯re down a person for whatever these sisters have planned for us because you got our himbo drunk!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°H-hey! I¡¯m no h-himm-HIMb ~hicup~ -oo¡±


    ~Mechanical Noises~


    We had all gathered in as a group moving into the cloudy decor circle on the ground, and that¡¯s when the floor started to shake, break, and elevate.


    Cain: ¡°WHA! What the hell is going on!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Uh it¡¯s obviously an elevator dumbass, what? You to use to traveling on your private jets?¡±


    Cain: ¡°On the contrary¡­ Gas prices on jets are expensive! Which is why I switched to taking private trains, coal prices aren¡¯t so bad when you¡¯re not the one paying for it!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Ugh¡­ you¡¯re an idiot with your money¡­¡±


    Abel: ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m in charge of his spendings¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Jesus fucking Christ can you all shut up?!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Hey dude why the sour look? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be a happy clown?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°No I¡¯m a sad clown, and you¡¯d know what¡¯d make me happy? If you took a long look in the shitter and figured out where your common sense went¡­¡±


    Juno: ¡°If you don¡¯t All shut up I¡¯ll give you a reason to.¡±


    And just like that Juno had everyone in silence, no one was going to talk back against her.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    We all patiently waited until the floor below us was locked in place, almost like we were carried by a cloud as we stared in awe at the area around us! There was quite a big stage in front of us, but the construction between us and the stage were these podiums, eighteen to be exact lined up in a circle.


    Atropos: ¡°HEYO! Hi! Hello! Over here! Look at me!!¡±


    Cthulhu mask was in the middle of the podium circle.


    Atropos: ¡°Please take a stand at your designated seats! And if you don¡¯t¡­ then I¡¯ll punish you!¡±


    She pulled out a gun, which of course caused us to cautiously find the podium with our name plate on it.


    Oscar: ¡°So what exactly are we doing? We investigated a dead body, and now are we here to host a presentation?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Yes! And no! You will be presenting something though! And that¡¯s presenting evidence, claims, and other things during this institutional trial!¡±


    We all froze¡­ a trial?


    Nina: ¡°A trial? ¡­ as in court?¡±


    Lachesis: ~Appearing on Stage~ ¡°I shall take things from here before Atropos leads you all astray, but yes¡­ You can call this a court trial, it¡¯s self explanatory but I¡¯ll explain it to all of you in the simplest way I can: You have all discovered a dead body, as per the rules you will now be forced to figure out what happened via a trial, a trial that uses evidence and jury to be exact, you are the jury that shall present evidence.¡±


    Oscar: ¡°What? That¡¯s stupid! We don¡¯t even know who killed him!¡±


    Jac: ~I¡¯d raise my hand~ ¡°Hang on, what exactly is the point of this trial? Are we actually trying to find out who killed the victim?¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ are you?¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­No¡­ No, we''re here trying to figure out just how he died, piecing the story together, not trying to find the culprit itself.¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°If that¡¯s how you see this case, then you better see it through¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Hold it! What makes you think any of us are just gonna play your game? And what are these fucking rules you puke about!?¡±


    Atropos pulled the bolt of her pistol¡­ which shouldn¡¯t exactly be possible but I wouldn¡¯t put it past them to customize their firearms.


    Kanji: ¡°¡­duly noted¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°So that¡¯s it? All we have to do is solve the case on how the unworthy fell victim to their own stupidity? Sounds easy enough.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Did you even investigate with us?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°I investigate with those that are equal to my status, and higher than my standards, none of you meet either of those things¡­ So I took the liberty of investigating it on my own!¡±


    Noir: ¡°Oh great now we have to listen to Mrs. Monopoly¡­¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°It seems you¡¯re all ready to proceed with the trial, the case of how Lucifer Saikon, the ultimate traitor, was killed.¡±


    ^Light within the Night. Darkness clouded by Brightness. One question. Two Answers. Under one Eclipse.^


    Jac: ¡°Okay so¡­ we should establish the victim before we get into the nitty gritty.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°The victim is Lucifer Saikon correct?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Yes my little fine dressed mutt.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Noir: ¡°M-MUTT!? He¡¯s not a mutt!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Ugh we¡¯re getting off track¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Yeah we already know that the guy died from suffocating right? So can we be done now? He died from suffocation! There we figured out how he died¡­¡±


    Haru: ¡°Dumbass! We''re also supposed to figure out how he was killed by the culprit! Not just the initial cause of death.¡±


    Atropos: ¡°And you should all figure out what the culprit did to prepare for their scheme, and what they did after!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Wait we didn¡¯t agree to that did we?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Who¡¯s holding the weapon here?¡±


    Oscar: ~groaning~


    Abel: ¡°So¡­ can we all agree that the culprit killed the victim while he was hanging upside down?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°What? No that¡¯s stupid, how could the killer suffocate the victim while he¡¯s upside down? Obviously the culprit suffocated the victim before hanging them upside down!¡±


    Abel: ¡°What makes you say that? You weren¡¯t even there to investigate the body with us¡­¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Duh! I did my own investigation of course! And also because my intuition says so¡­¡±


    We won¡¯t be able to proceed if a debate like this keeps spiraling¡­ I gotta put an end to it!


    {Non-Stop Debate}


    1.Abel: ¡°The killer set up a snare trap.¡±


    2. Abel: ¡°Then he waited¡­¡±


    3. Abel: ¡°Till the culprit was caught to suffocate him.¡±


    4. Valentinia: ¡°No that¡¯s not how it happened!¡±


    5. Valentinia: ¡°It would make no sense for the killer to attack the culprit while they would be in a fight or flight situation!¡±


    6. Valentinia: ¡°That¡¯s why the killer first attacked the victim before hanging them up!¡±


    7. Valentinia: ¡°And there¡¯s absolutely nothing that proves that the killer set this up ahead of time!¡±


    ¡­I found it¡­ the wrong verdict! I knew what was wrong with one of their arguments!


    1.Abel: ¡°The killer set up a snare trap.¡±


    2. Abel: ¡°Then he waited¡­¡±


    3. Abel: ¡°Till the culprit was caught to suffocate him.¡±


    4. Valentinia: ¡°No that¡¯s not how it happened!¡±


    5. Valentinia: ¡°It would make no sense for the killer to attack the culprit while they would be in a fight or flight situation!¡±


    6. Valentinia: ¡°That¡¯s why the killer first attacked the victim before hanging them up!¡±


    7. Valentinia: ¡°And there¡¯s absolutely nothing that proves that the killer set this up ahead of time!¡±


    [Snare Mechanism-)


    {Counter}


    Jac: ¡°NO THAT¡¯S WRONG! Look Valentinia I don¡¯t mean to be mean¡­ but kindly stop talking unless you actually know what you¡¯re talking about, because we have proof the killer did set this up ahead of time, and killed the victim while they were hung up.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh yeah? How?! Go on you little rascal! Your boyfriends can¡¯t save you from my smarts!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Then what can you tell me about the snare mechanism?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°The uh- ¡­ s-snare what now?¡±


    Abel: ¡°Yeah, Jac and I found this domino effect machine behind one of the pedestal¡¯s in the hall, the rope that suspended the victim in the air traveled on top of the roof, to the wall, then behind the pedestal where once the initial loop around the victims heel tugged away at the device behind the pedestal, that¡¯s when the machine would pull back and snare whoever activated it.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh is that so? ¡­ o-oh is that¡­ so?¡±


    Haru: ¡°Aw don¡¯t feel so bad! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve gotten many customers for your talent!¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Y-yeah! I¡¯ve read the fortunes of many patrons! I just got things wrong tonight, but my intuition never steers me wrong!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Oh I think you misunderstood, I meant that you got your customers through your lewd look! There¡¯s no possible way they actually paid to be next to you cuz they were confident in your abilities, I mean come on you look like a pole girl for crying out loud¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Can we go back on topic¡­¡±


    Abel: ¡°Right, so we can clear up any misconceptions about how the victim died, they were snared in the air and suffocated.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°How so though?¡±


    Abel: ¡°¡­Elaborate¡­¡±


    Avrom: ¡°There¡¯s blood in the ground right? If the killer suffocated them then the victim¡¯s blood shouldn¡¯t be anywhere on the ground, isn¡¯t it more plausible that the killer first cut the victim¡¯s head open, then suffocated them?¡±


    No¡­ that can¡¯t be it, because!


    [Suspicious Blood Splatters-)


    Jac: ¡°Look at this, Lappy proved without a shadow of a doubt that this blood was as old at the blood on the victim¡¯s lips, and the blood in one goop are still a bit fresh, it¡¯s more plausible that the killer¡¯s snare gave in and the victim fell, the force of gravity caused the blood from the victim¡¯s mouth to gush out, and then the killer reascended them.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°So where did the rest of the blood come from?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Duh, from the head of course!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Exactly, why did the killer do that then?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh good point¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Maybe to create a bigger scene?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Why can¡¯t we all be as smart as you¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Hey I know that tone! No need to be mean about it!¡±


    Abel: ¡°We should probably go over that¡­ it¡¯s puzzled me as well¡­¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Agreed¡­ let¡¯s see what we have to work with.¡±


    Crud¡­ we need to figure out why the killer cut the victim¡¯s head open if we wish to understand their method.


    {Non-Stop Debate}


    1.Nina: ¡°Perhaps they just wanted to create a spectacle to boast about their kill?¡±


    2. Kanji: ¡°Idiot¡­ they obviously did it to cover up their blunder¡­¡±


    3. Oscar: ¡°How do we know that it wasn¡¯t an accident?¡±


    4. Abel: ¡°An accident?


    5. Abel: ¡°No of course not, it¡¯s more plausible to believe they simply wanted to hurt the victim more.¡±


    6. Haru: ¡°Maybe they just like blood!¡±


    7. Makoto: ¡°Self inflicted perhaps?¡±


    8. Jeremy: ¡°M-maybe he just had SuCH a GoOoD tiMMe tHat ThEY gOT cARRiEd aWaY!¡±


    ¡­I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m agreeing with you¡­


    1.Nina: ¡°Perhaps they just wanted to create a spectacle to boast about their kill?¡±


    2. Kanji: ¡°Idiot¡­ they obviously did it to cover up their blunder¡­¡±


    3. Oscar: ¡°How do we know that it wasn¡¯t an accident?¡±


    4. Abel: ¡°An accident?


    5. Abel: ¡°No of course not, it¡¯s more plausible to believe they simply wanted to hurt the victim more.¡±


    6. Haru: ¡°Maybe they just like blood!¡±


    7. Makoto: ¡°Self inflicted perhaps?¡±


    8. Jeremy: ¡°M-maybe he just had SuCH a GoOoD tiMMe tHat ThEY gOT cARRiEd aWaY!¡±


    [Coughed Up Blood-)


    {Consent}


    Jac: ¡°Hey Kanji, I think you might be onto something.¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Of course I am¡­ I didn¡¯t investigate the scene for nothing.¡±


    Abel: ¡°Wait you did?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Yeah, no one was there though so I just decided to do it on my own¡­ and the most bizarre thing happened! The body fell but I caught it in time, thankfully no blood got on me¡­ but then I heard this weird sound, a cranking sound, and then snap! The snare activated again before a voice said something along the lines of, ¡°Third Try¡± or something stupid like that.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°T-that changes everything!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°It does?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°It does¡­ because now we know for certain the killer had a failsafe for if the victim did fall or escape, the snare would reactivate if any of those conclusions happened.¡±


    Nina: ¡°So that means the victim could have fallen!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Exactly, the victim fell, blood went splat, so the killer had nothing to lose¡­ hence they made a distraction to cover up the blood that came from the victim¡¯s mouth.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°But¡­ why? Wouldn¡¯t others have the same information we got?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Jeez you¡¯re naive¡­ hey middle tits!?¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°Are you referring to me?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Yeah! Look, answer this question! Would anyone but us have the tablet of information you gave us?¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°Interesting¡­ to answer your question to keep this a fair trial, no¡­ The only reason you have this information beforehand is to make it as fair as we can make it for the newbies.¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Exactly my point, others would¡¯ve thought the victim died from blood loss, not from suffocation, but because we knew that ahead of time we can write off the blood dripping from the head, does that satisfy you blower?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°¡­Yes¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Good, now then let¡¯s move on shall we? My mouth is getting tired from educating you all¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Sooo¡­ what exactly did the killer use to suffocate the victim then?¡±


    Abel: ¡°¡­Why does that matter?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Cuz suffocation is hard of course! The victim should¡¯ve been able to fight back, no he did fight back according to the snare mechanism resetting!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair, suffocating them should still be hard to do with the victim hanging upside down! So why was it so easy for the killer?¡±


    {Non-Stop Debate}


    1.Nina: ¡°The killer gagged him!¡±


    2. Cain: ¡°What kind of kinky shit are you into?¡±


    3. Nina: ¡°What! No! I¡¯m just saying the killer first gagged the victim¡­¡±


    4. Nina: ¡°Then used the vomit to choke them!¡±


    5. Shichiro: ¡°Okay that¡¯s just gross¡­¡±


    6. Hikari: ¡°But not implausible! You¡¯re doing great Nina!¡±


    7. Noir: ¡°But that falls under poisoning right?¡±


    8. Noir: ¡°And there''s no evidence to support that the victim was poisoned!¡±


    No¡­ there definitely something wrong here


    1.Nina: ¡°The killer gagged him!¡±


    2. Cain: ¡°What kind of kinky shit are you into?¡±


    3. Nina: ¡°What! No! I¡¯m just saying the killer first gagged the victim¡­¡±


    4. Nina: ¡°Then used the vomit to choke them!¡±


    5. Shichiro: ¡°Okay that¡¯s just gross¡­¡±


    6. Hikari: ¡°But not implausible! You¡¯re doing great Nina!¡±


    7. Noir: ¡°But that falls under poisoning right?¡±


    8. Noir: ¡°And there''s no evidence to support that the victim was poisoned!¡±


    [Aspergillum Fumigatus-)


    {Counter}


    Jac: ¡°NO THAT¡¯S WRONG! Lappy and I found a bottle of aspergillus fumigatus in the study room.¡±


    Noir: ¡°A what?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Fungus essentially¡­ But some of it was missing from the bottle, and Lappy has confirmed from testing the blood that there was indeed some fungus in his blood, more specifically the aspergillus.¡±


    Nina: ¡°Oh so he was poisoned!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Well not exactly¡­ because there was also uranium in his blood.¡±


    Juno: ¡°Uranium?¡±


    Oh yeah! Uranium! That¡¯s because¡­


    [Radon Gas-)


    Jac: ¡°Lappy and I investigated the cellars, and found a fourth door that led to the water supply, Lappy then tested the water and found traces of elements that acmulate to radon gas.¡±


    Nina: ¡°Soo what does that mean exactly?¡±


    Jac: ¡°It means that the victim was already sick before being poisoned by the fungus.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°How can we be so sure of that?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°The order of events, are we sure the fungus wasn¡¯t the first thing that poisoned the victim?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yes¡­ because I tested it¡­¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°Anyways, we can deduce that the victim was poisoned through the water supply, then suffocated with fungus to further the infection, killing them.¡±


    Juno: ¡°Hold on a moment!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Hm?¡±


    Juno: ¡°Are we suggesting that we know how the killer poisoned the victim?¡±


    Nina: ¡°It¡¯s obviously a cloth right?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Sure the killer could¡¯ve forced the victim to breathe the fungus in with a cloth, but we can¡¯t be so sure¡­ there are other means after all.¡±


    Abel: ¡°Why do I feel like we¡¯re about to go spinning around again?¡±


    Ugh¡­ this is hurting my head¡­ I just wanna close my eyes and sleep all of this off¡­ sleep? ¡­ yeah¡­ let me just-


    Jac: ¡°¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­¡±


    {Non-Stop Debate}


    1.Avrom: ¡°Syringe, the killer poked a needle and injected the fungus into him.¡±


    2. Cain: ¡°Obviously they fed him some kind of rotting food!¡±


    3. Abel: ¡°All of this would be much simpler if we just claimed it was a cloth¡­¡±


    4. Oscar: ¡°But we can¡¯t be certain of that!¡±


    5. Kanji: ¡°Sometimes it hurts to be too certain¡­¡±


    6. Jeremy: ¡°I KNOW! ORANGE!


    7. Haru: ¡°Aw, our little drunk is so happy!¡±


    8. Nina: ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be drunk if you hadn¡¯t found him that wine!¡±


    Hahaha! I got it! I know what I must do!


    1.Avrom: ¡°Syringe, the killer poked a needle and injected the fungus into him.¡±


    2. Cain: ¡°Obviously they fed him some kind of rotting food!¡±


    3. Abel: ¡°All of this would be much simpler if we just claimed it was a cloth¡­¡±


    4. Oscar: ¡°But we can¡¯t be certain of that!¡±


    5. Kanji: ¡°Sometimes it hurts to be too certain¡­¡±


    6. Jeremy: ¡°I KNOW! ORANGE!


    7. Haru: ¡°Aw, our little drunk is so happy!¡±


    8. Nina: ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be drunk if you hadn¡¯t found him that wine!¡±


    [Potential Murder Weapon-)


    [True Murder Weapon-)


    I¡¯ll manipulate the credibility of this trial!


    Jak: ¡°Nah! All of you are just completely wrong because the weapon really is a piece of cloth!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°H-hey were you just dozing off befo-¡°


    Jak: ¡°Shut up! Now then let¡¯s move away from this topic and discuss the elephant in the room!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°No hang on! If we recount this wrong then we¡¯ll never be allowed to leave!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°There is fabric around the rim of the bottle if that helps¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°This just proves that the killer tipped the bottle over a cloth they used to suffocate the victim! Now then, the elephant!¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°There¡¯s an elephant?¡±


    Jak: ¡°Yes! Why did the killer nail the victim to the roof?¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Wait¡­. How did they even do that?¡±


    Oh you poor soul¡­ time to shut you up!


    [Foldable Step Seat-)


    Jak: ¡°We found this in the water supply, the killer must¡¯ve tried disposing of it but it got caught blocking a water pipe, that¡¯s how the killer was able to reach the ceiling to hammer the nail in the victim¡¯s foot.¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Oh that makes sense, alright! Alright! Continue explaining why the killer nailed them to the roof!¡±


    Jak: ¡°Well that¡¯s the thing¡­ we don¡¯t actually know other than that they just didn¡¯t want the victim to fall again¡­ wait, Kanji you said the body did fall again though right?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°I tried stealing his clothes, they were nice, that¡¯s why the body fell¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­oh¡­ well it looks like we got our understanding of this case then!¡±


    Abel: ¡°So the killer caught the victim in a snare after poisoning the water supply, took advantage by poisoning a piece of cloth in fungus to force them to breathe it in and further the infection that caused them to suffocate, however the victim¡¯s weight caused them to fall hence the killer went to fetch a step stool to nail their foot to the ceiling after the snare reset, correct?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°¡­HOLD IT! I G-GOT SOMET- ~Hiccup~ -THING TO SAY!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Ugh someone knock him out plea-¡°


    Hikari: ¡°Hey let him talk! Even if he¡¯s a little tipsy, everyone deserves a voice here!¡±


    Hikari gave Jeremy a thumbs up, which Jeremy shakily tried lifting his own hand up but instead decided to just put it down to drink his glass again.


    Jeremy: ¡°HOw do yOu EXplAiN THE ~hiccup~ scratches under the carpet?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Scratches?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Y-yeah! After I did the Hokey Pokey I bumped into some walls! You all should join me next time! But I tumbled and found myself on the floor¡­ that¡¯s where my hands just wanted to feel the nice cold floor! And that¡¯s where I found scratches!¡±


    Abel: ¡°¡­Were they made by human nails?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Beats me! Five claw scratches is what I remember! ~Hiccup~¡±


    ¡­This changes¡­ everything¡­


    Jak: ¡°¡­Valentinia, remember what you said before?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Huh? Why are you calling me out again! I already admitted I may have been wrong¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­Well¡­ what if you weren¡¯t?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh? Alright, I''m intrigued!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Jeremy, where did you find these scratches?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°~Hiccup~ I T0LD Yu0! Under T3H carp3T! And some blood¡­¡±


    Blood? Under some blood!?


    Abel: ¡°Wait! Do you know what this means?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°We underestimated just how much the killer wanted to hide! It wasn¡¯t just to hide the victim falling! He was trying to hide the fact that the victim was trying to fight back!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°So Valene was right! The victim wasn¡¯t killed while suspended in the air!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Wait! Hey! Notice me for a second! How do we know the victim wasn¡¯t just clawing their way out of the snare when they were first flipped upside like a sow?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Refrain from talking such nonsense¡­ I¡¯ve had this case figured out from the beginning, but it was such a great display to let you all showcase what you have to offer me in terms of assets¡­ therefore I shall show you a rare sign of generosity.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Thank you Miss Yoshinaga¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Please mutt, call me master.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°¡­As you wish master.¡±


    Blush covered Penelope¡¯s face as she raised her hand.


    Penelope: ¡°Allow me to recount what truly happened, as I took the liberty of truly investigating this case¡­¡±


    Atropos: ¡°O! O! Are you going to give us your answer to how you think the murder was done?!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Yes¡­ Now please I shall only ask for assistance when I truly need it¡­ that is, I¡¯ll only request help from Jack.¡±


    Jak: ¡°It¡¯s Jak now actually!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Sorry but I don¡¯t know how to pronounce Jack with just a C, I¡¯m not that familiar with urban or rural language¡­ I¡¯m more formal than that.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Actually it¡¯s with a K now!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret asking for your help¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Wait a minute! Why are you asking for their help?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Because they understand certain things¡­ Now then! Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    {Closing Argument}


    = Act 1:


    Penelope: ¡°First, we know for certain that the victim was caught by surprise, but not how we first thought!¡±


    Jak: ¡°Right, initially we suspected that they were snared first and then suffocated¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°But in actuality, the killer had somehow gotten the upper hand and forced the victim to somehow breathe fungus into their lungs, continuing to poison the already sick individual due to the uranium poisoning in the water supply.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°We know for a fact there was radon gas in there too due to my tests¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°Yeah thanks for that by the way!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Ahem, who¡¯s the one talking here?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Right! Right! Continue please!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°As I was saying, the killer obviously knew about the uranium poisoning in the water supply, hence why they took the opportunity to kill, but they never suspected the victim to fight back and try to get away¡­ fortunately for the killer however they still got the job done.¡±


    = Act 2


    Penelope: ¡°Now the killer most definitely had the victim dead at this point, dragging the victim to the snare to hang them up by the heel, but that¡¯s when the victim¡¯s weight gave in and caused the snare to drop them¡­ therefore the killer needed to improvise.¡±


    Jak: ¡°You¡¯re talking about the nail right?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Precisely, the killer needed to ensure there victim actually stayed up, hence why they used the step stool in order to reach the ceiling in order to hammer a nail right through it¡¯s foot, once they did that they began to hide any evidence of a struggle, which almost steered all of you in the wrong direction¡­ and yet somehow you were all saved by a drunken man¡¯s antics.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°How exactly did the killer cut the victim¡¯s head again?¡±


    Jak: ¡°A razor blade that was hidden in a PB&J.¡±


    Kanji: ¡°¡­What?¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Oh I get it! To deter those with peanut allergies from looking for it!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Could also just be because it¡¯d get rid of evidence while potentially killing another person¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Yes, yes, the killer created a spool of blood to both hide the scratch marks on the wooden floor, and to potentially make it seem like they were covering up for their blunder by letting the victim fall.¡±


    = Act 3


    Penelope: ¡°This is when the killer started to get rid of the evidence, letting the victim bleed out. First they must¡¯ve dispatched the bottle of aspergillus fumigatus in the study room, then they moved to the water supply room to dump the foldable step stool into the stream, then they probably moved to the dining room to hide the bloody razor blade, all without being seen¡­¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Yo wait how can you just assume they weren¡¯t caught?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Use your brain then we can talk¡­ anyways after all of this we can piece together a cohesive picture.¡±


    Jak: ¡°First the killer took the victim by surprise¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°By distracting the victim with a noise indicator.¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Wait a minute, how do you know that?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°I did my own investigation¡­ and found a little radio device inside a lightbulb, I simply unscrewed it from his lamp.¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Hang on, wouldn''t the others have seen it!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°The lamp was turned off¡­ was I honestly going to be in a classroom with you?¡±


    Jak: ¡°Penelope, please continue so I can sleep this stress off.¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Glady¡­ now then, with the victim distracted the killer presumably attacked, suffocating them with fungus to make the uranium poisoning worse, once the thing was dead the killer hung him up, but because of its fat nature the snare trap the killer had prepared gave out, but since the killer had already thought ahead of time to add a reset feature to their trap, they were able to fix their mistake by using a step stool and hammering a nail into the pig¡¯s foot when hung up again, however it¡¯s here they realized they would have to cover their tracks and mislead whoever was investigating them¡­ hence the razor blade to create a pool of blood, and there plan worked! It fooled all of you low lives into actually believing that the victim was killed while suspended in the air! After they were done spilling blood they started discarding the evidence, and we can safely deduce they did this while not being seen because of the small radio buds they left all around the building, I have them right here for you all to see!¡±


    Jak: ¡°So with those radio buds¡­ the killer directed the attention of others away from where he was disposing of the evidence?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Correct.¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­I fear you have another thing to add¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Oh I do, but I¡¯ll save that for later¡­ however, we now truly do know how the killer perfected his crime.¡±


    Jak: ¡°And we would¡¯ve never figured it out if it weren¡¯t for three certain individuals¡­ Hikari, Jeremy, and Penelope.¡±


    = Case Closed =

 Chapter 0.8 - Let The Game鈥檚 Begin!

    Penelope: ¡°Well, how did I do?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Wow! You were amazing! Even if you are quite scary!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Aw that pleases me, perhaps you and I could talk privately after this to discuss how you¡¯ll thank me.¡±


    Oscar: ¡°If we¡¯re done with the ideal chatter perhaps we can finally talk about being let go? And maybe¡­ Oh I don¡¯t know, reporting all of this to some law enforcement?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°For once I¡¯ll agree with hoodini here.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Wait a minute, why did Hikari get credit but I don¡¯t!¡±


    Jak: ¡°Cause without him none of us would¡¯ve listened to Jeremy¡­¡±


    Just then, Atropos would fire her gun in the air¡­ a¡­ BB gun.


    Atropos: ¡°Wow you guys were really good! Much better than the other class of students who originally had to solve this case!¡±


    Noir: ¡°D-did you say other students?¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°There are others!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Oops! Did I say that? Aw what a dud I am¡­¡±


    Atropos seemingly giggled to herself, like hell she did that by accident! She¡¯s trying to psyche us out¡­


    Atropos: ¡°You see you aren¡¯t the only ones who we¡¯ve forced to play our little mortal game of trust and love!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°You mean there are others? Where are they!? Can we talk to them?!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Get your ears unclogged cause I just told you that you guys did much better than the original class that tried for this!¡±


    Jak: ¡°Get to the point!¡±


    That¡¯s when hell froze over, the trial area that looked like we were standing in clouds started to darken¡­ we felt like we were being paralyzed again!


    Clotho: ¡°They died.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    That voice¡­ It was the weeping mask.


    Cain: ¡°T-they WHAT!? You¡¯re joking right!?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Nope, they got it wrong because they couldn¡¯t find the culprit based on the one evidence that you almost got wrong as well!! As divine justice for getting it wrong, we killed them!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°What kind of sick joke is this! Just let us go! We played your sick tutorial! Now you give us what we want and tell us the way out!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Oh you want to know how to get out?¡±


    Nina: ¡°YES!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Oh okay then¡­ Well in order to escape¡­¡±


    She raised her arms, and at that moment wings sprouted from her back as she was raised by wires¡­ and a silhouette darkened over her entire body¡­ only leaving her eyes to illuminate.


    Atropos: ¡°Is to get away with murder.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    No one could believe it.


    Nina: ¡°MURDER!?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°WHAT?! Murder as in killing people?!!¡±


    Suddenly, our watches would start beaming holograms¡­ and we saw six rules.


    ¡­


    1: To escape the killing game you must get away with a mortal murder.


    2: The first individual who murders their victim(s) becomes the blackened and must have their case put on trial.


    3: Every case from here on out will regard who killed the victim, if the mortals discover who the blackened is, then divine justice is in order.


    4: All mortals must participate in the killing game trials or face individual divine justice.


    5: No vandalism of Olympus property, if broken too many times individual divine justice will be set into order.


    ¡­


    Nina: ¡°J-J-JUSTICE!? How can you call this divine justice!? You¡¯re actively telling us you¡¯ve killed people before!¡±


    Atropos: ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that they weren¡¯t able to bring divine justice on the blackened! Besides¡­ we don¡¯t only kill the innocent¡­ sometimes mortal beings such as yourself become so englamored about yourself that you¡¯d do anything¡­ even if it means to kill¡­¡±


    Nina: ¡°N-no way! No one here would even think about doing that! R-right everyone?¡±


    Nina turned to all of us¡­ but¡­ we all fell silent, was it out of fear? Or because we all knew we had just been caught in a truth about who we really are¡­ we just had a bombshell dropped on us, the only way to escape was to kill one of our classmates and get away with the crime¡­


    Hikari: ¡°NO! NO I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS!¡±


    Hikari¡¯s voice¡­ It was annoying, sure, but it was meant to be heard.


    Hikari: ¡°I won¡¯t believe this! I know we¡¯ll all make it out of here together! That is my oath! An oath to make sure we all get out of here alive!¡±


    What was he blabbering about?


    Avrom: ¡°Yeah! There¡¯s no way we could ever kill one another! We just prove we can figure out any case put on trial! No one would risk that!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Whatever Avery says I say louder, you may think you have us trapped¡­ but I¡¯m sorry to say this hon, but that we will have the last laugh.¡±


    All three sisters were now on the giant wooden stage¡­ and unexpectedly, all three started laughing.


    Atropos: ¡°You think you¡¯re any different to regular mortals?! You will break under the pressure eventually¡­¡±


    Lachesis: ¡°I can¡¯t wait for them to figure out that it¡¯s kill or be killed¡­¡±


    Clotho: ¡°And that¡¯s when we cut¡­ at¡­ there¡­ string¡­¡±


    Soon, all eighteen of us hurried back into the moving cloud as it took us back down¡­ all the while we heard their cackles¡­ I dozed off of course, letting go¡­


    Jak: ¡°¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­¡±


    So, we¡¯re in a killing game huh? A lot of us were still reeling from this shock: Nina was tearing up, Noir was shaking, Kanji was gritting at his teeth, and Cain was tugging at his choker.


    Hikari: ¡°Come on guys! What are we all sniffling for!? When I make an oath I mean it¡­ As long as I¡¯m here I¡¯ll make sure we all survive this! Together!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°¡­And how can you be so sure of that? What if someone¡¯s already been thinking of how to kill?¡±


    We all turned our attention to Penelope.


    Hikari: ¡°¡­I¡¯ll make sure to stop them¡­ I¡¯ll stop you, I¡¯ll stop just about anyone¡­ When I make a bet, I always see it through.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Yeah! Wherever he goes I want to follow!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Avery! You can¡¯t just say those things, you don¡¯t even know him! Just stay with me until we can escape¡­¡±


    Avrom: ¡°No!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°¡­wha-what do you mean no?¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Shuichi, I can¡¯t just stand around you for protection every day and night! I need to stand up for myself and Hikari can show me that! I just know it! I have a talent to get all eyes on me! I can be just like him!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°HA! Good to have you on my side kid! Now come on everyone! Once we get back to the building we can establish a plan¡­ together!¡±


    Oh brother, this is going to go well isn¡¯t it? But at least someone¡¯s looking to keep us in check, and honestly¡­ that¡¯s what we all need right now, why?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Because this is just the start of the eclipse.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 1 - The Fall of The Sun.

    We all just stood in the gate of Olympus room¡­ none of us wanted to talk to one another, well actually that¡¯s not entirely true! There was one person who was the life of the funeral.


    Hikari: ¡°Hey! Come on everyone, why are we just standing around here? Let¡¯s all have a big feast in the dining room! I¡¯m cooking!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°I¡­ really doubt your cooking would taste good¡­¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Well you¡¯ll just have to come to the dining room and find out.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°You really think I¡¯d ever indulge in your stupid antics? Don¡¯t think I forgot what you did either¡­ you stole my flute!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°For the last time I didn¡¯t take it! But you can prove me wrong by talking over it with my famous pasta!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Pasta? ¡­ mind if I join you?¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Course not! Come on kid, follow me!¡±


    Hikari and Avrom left, not far behind was Shichiro but only because Avrom went with Hikari.


    Oscar: ¡°Oh what the hell I¡¯m hungry, pasta here I come!¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Maybe this¡¯ll get Jeremy sober¡­¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°H-hey WAIT A MINUTE! SOBER!? I¡¯m PerFEctly fINE!¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Oh no you ain¡¯t! Come on Juno help me out here.¡±


    Juno: ¡°Do I have to? ¡­ No wait I¡¯m actually kinda hungry, alright I¡¯ll help.¡±


    Next was Oscar leaving for Hikari¡¯s pasta, and the only reason Valentinia, Yoshiharu, and Juno went was so they could find a way to sober up Jeremy¡­ well Juno had a double reason, they did mention they were hungry.


    Cain: ¡°Fuck this! I¡¯m going to go find my room!¡±


    Abel: ¡°Wai! All this crying isn¡¯t good for your skin care!¡±


    Nina: ¡°R-rooms? Wait, we have rooms? Wait for me!¡±


    Kanji: ~Yawn~ ¡°Wowee I¡¯m tired¡­ If we get rooms then I¡¯m sleeping for the rest of my time here.¡±


    The next few to leave were Cain, Abel, Nina, and Kanji, mostly because they were exhausted from today.


    Penelope: ¡°Mutt, follow me.¡±


    Makoto: ~sigh~ ¡°I suppose I have nothing better to do¡­¡±


    Noir: ¡°Hey wait a minute! I¡¯m not done talking to you!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Oh gods¡­ I need to make sure they don¡¯t kill one another¡­¡±


    Haru: ¡°Oh killing?! Count me in!¡±


    And the next five leaving were Penelope manhandling Makoto towards the study room, Noir was still looking to oppose Penelope which Lapti?a took as a sign to follow after to tone down the intensity, and Haru followed just for the potential intensity¡­ Which left me alone¡­


    Atropos: ¡°Well, well, well! Look who¡¯s all alone! Mr. Jac and Jak!¡±


    I turned around to find Cthulhu mask swaying back and forth.


    Jac: ¡°Do you ever take off your mask?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Not unless I¡¯m showering! ¡­ You wanna see?¡±


    Jac: ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for an invitation to a horror movie.¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Hey! I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m the cutest girl you¡¯ll ever get to know!¡±


    Jac: ¡°You look old¡­¡±


    Atropos: ~Gasp~ ¡°I am twenty one for your information!¡±


    Jac: ¡°Look what do you want?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Just getting to know the students of course! Think of me as the cool substitute teacher!¡±


    Jac: ¡°A cool substitute would let the class leave early¡­¡±


    Atropos: ¡°Nuh uh! You aren¡¯t gonna trick me! Look, I may be the cool substitute, but I also really love this game!¡±


    Jac: ¡°A game where we kill one another?¡±


    Atropos: ¡°YES! It may seem messed up to all of you but we test the limits of mortal selfishness! Along with whether or not mortals can be trusted with dishing out divine justice!¡±


    I was already out the door leaving Cthulhu behind in the building and stepping into the meadows.


    Jac: ~sigh~ ¡°What to do now?¡±


    I could join Hikari and his pasta feast, or help Lapti?a out in the study room¡­ or just call it a day and find a place to sleep¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    I entered the main building, the mannequin was removed along with the snare, blood, even the scratch marks Jeremy mentioned, they seem to have done a complete cleaning of the halls. All this thinking was making me hungry¡­ aw shoot pasta sounds so good right now! I guess I¡¯m off to the dining room. I opened the dining room door and discovered quite the scene¡­


    Hikari: ¡°Hey look, I''m adding the right amount of butter!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°No! You¡¯re adding too much! It¡¯s gonna make the sauce too creamy when you mix it with the shells!¡±


    Avrom: ¡°I¡¯m just hungry!!! Hurry up!¡±


    Juno: ¡°Patience Avrom, all good things come to us in time.¡±


    So Hikari and Shichiro were fighting over cooking, and Jeremy was fast asleep on the couch.


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh hey you! You came here to check up on Jeremy or are you here for the pasta?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Would you believe me if I said both?¡±


    I sat down and simply continued to watch everything unfold.


    Hikari: ¡°Look, these pasta shells are usually really hard if you don¡¯t butter it before boiling it! Then you have to butter it right after as well!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°How does that make any sense? Come on, just hand me the damn wooden spoon and let me finish cooking this!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°No! This is my famous pasta! Pasta shells, old cheese sauce, and a pinch of garlic! Let me show the kid how an older sibling should cook for them!¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Hey I¡¯m his step sister! I decide what¡¯s best for him!¡±


    Juno: ¡°If you two continue to bicker you¡¯re going to kill the kid from starvation¡­ if you don¡¯t finish this meal in a minute I¡¯ll make sure to cook both of you in the oven just so I don¡¯t starve myself!¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Woah! Woah! Hey slow your roll Juno! Look I get it, sometimes we need to flip the serious switch but we also need the fun switch every once and a while right?¡±


    This little ragtag group was a nice peaceful moment in times of tragedy.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Jeremy: ¡°Ugh shoot¡­ my head is throbbing like crazy¡­¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Just keep your head down idiot¡­ your hangover is gonna be crazy.¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Alright everyone! Are you ready to feast on my great and famous pasta!¡±


    I watched as Hikari passed out individual bowls to each of us.


    Juno: ¡°No plates?¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Oops! Sorry I¡¯m used to eating out of bowls, all of my plates lay broken in my trash.¡±


    I took my spoon and scooped a few shells into my mouth¡­


    Jac: ¡°Oh my god¡­ Hikari this is-¡°


    Avrom: ¡°SO GOOD!¡±


    Avrom was already scarfing down his entire bowl.


    Avrom: ¡°Seconds please!¡±


    We all seemed like one big happy family¡­ I wish it could stay like this forever.


    Shichiro: ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll admit¡­ this is much better than I initially thought¡­¡±


    Hikari: ¡°See! What did I tell you! Let it be known that Hikari Teruya never goes back against his oaths!¡±


    Avrom: ~Munching~ ¡°Your oaths?¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Yep! Remember this Avrom, a true man will always swear oaths with your loved one''s best interest at heart.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Tch~ A true man wouldn¡¯t need to delude themselves with such humbug to protect their loved one¡¯s¡­¡±


    Hikari: ¡°No that¡¯s not true! When a man makes an oath they can never go back on that, and if they do¡­ then you know that they are the lowest of the low, they aren¡¯t even men at that point! Remember that kid, a real man never goes back on his word.¡±


    Avrom: ¡°¡­A real man huh?¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°The gambler has a point you know, you can¡¯t fully throw away his point Shichiro, right everyone?¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Huh? What I wasn¡¯t listening at all to what was being said, now come on Jeremy eat!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°No way! I¡¯m not into garlic!¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Stop being a baby and just eat it! Or else your hangover will never get better!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°G-get back! Look my hangover is healed already! See? All bet- AH MY HEAD!¡±


    Juno: ¡°You should probably stop stressing yourself out, talking isn¡¯t helping either if you have to think about what you have to say all the time.¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Jeez thanks mo- AH!¡±


    Jac: ¡°¡­Hey maybe we should get Jeremy some water to drink instead.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Oh right¡­ where do we find water here again?¡±


    I¡¯d approach the sink and turn the faucet on while holding a cup under it, however before I handed it to Jeremy I whiffed the top of the cup to make sure the water wasn¡¯t poisoned¡­ smelled fine to me.


    Jac: ¡°Here, now mind answering why the winemaker can¡¯t handle wine?¡±


    Jeremy would chug down the cup of water.


    Jeremy: ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m a bit embarrassed to admit but it doesn¡¯t really take much to make me drunk.¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Are you an alcoholic?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°WHAT!? No of course not!¡±


    He¡¯s lying¡­ to an extent, but I shouldn¡¯t just put him on the spot like this.


    Hikari: ¡°Hey where did Haru find the wine anyways? She¡¯s the one who served it to him right?¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Well¡­ at first she claimed she just wanted me to examine it, so I did, but then she poured me a glass and that¡¯s when she asked if I could give it a taste test, Makoto attempted to talk me out of it but I simply said I would only take one sip¡­ I should¡¯ve known better of course.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°Seriously? This is who I have to depend on now?¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Hey no one knew we would be forced into this kind of situation! Let¡¯s all just get along please, that¡¯s all we need right now¡­¡±


    This was my cue to leave, why? Trust my sociology and study of behaviorism, things were getting gloomy.


    Jac: ¡°Thanks for the meal Hikari, and thank you everyone else for making tonight a lot easier to swallow.¡±


    I approached the doors and exited the dining room¡­ I should see if we have bed rooms at all.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Cain: ¡°Woah! Look at my cool door knocker guys!¡±


    Oh jeez I should probably turn around now¡­


    Cain: ¡°Hey caramel! Is that you?¡±


    My hair isn¡¯t even caramel colored! But I couldn¡¯t just turn my back now¡­ it¡¯d give off a bad social image, so I decided to walk towards Cain and the group.


    Nina: ¡°Hey Cain, I don¡¯t think your knocker is anything special compared to the others¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°What? Come on, look at it! It¡¯s a peacock!¡±


    Nina: ¡°Yeah, and mines a stupid lamb!¡±


    Kanji: ¡°We sure it ain¡¯t a sheep?¡±


    Nina: ¡°What are you implying¡­.¡±


    Abel: ¡°Can we just sleep and talk about this tomorrow¡­¡±


    I took a glance at the doors, there were actual names on the plaques this time, and now door knockers in the shape of animals were drilled on. Cain¡¯s was a peacock, Nina¡¯s was a lamb, it seems Abel had a fox, but I couldn¡¯t make out Kanji¡¯s, I wonder what mine was.


    Cain: ¡°Yo caramel! Wanna have a sleepover?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Is that even allowed?¡±


    Abel: ¡°Well¡­ nothing in the rules state otherwise¡­¡±


    Kanji: ¡°That¡¯s- such a bad idea my god do you not think things through at all?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh? Why you jelly?¡±


    Kanji: ¡°Fuck no! But who¡¯s to say one of you won¡¯t kill the other? Aw fuck this I¡¯m going to sleep¡­¡±


    Kanji opened his door and left us alone.


    Nina: ¡°The clown does make a good point¡­ but at the same time at least we¡¯d know who killed who right?¡±


    Abel: ¡°Theoretically speaking, Kanji makes a good point based on the situation we¡¯re in, however the point you¡¯re making would make things a lot easier for us¡­ For I have no problem with Jac sleeping in my brother¡¯s room.¡±


    Nina: ¡°Hey wait, is this you actively putting your brother up on a silver platter¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Nah I¡¯m sure bro here just gets what I want, come on caramel let¡¯s gossip till we drop dead!¡±


    I was barely looking his way, sure I heard all of that¡­ I wasn¡¯t gonna entertain it however, as I was busy searching for my own door. My door was the same as everyone else¡¯s, except that my door had two knockers, a dog and a cat¡­ cute.


    Cain: ¡°Hey are you even listening?¡±


    I felt Cain tapping my shoulder.


    Jac: ¡°Huh? Oh no sorry, I was busy trying to find my room.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Ooo how come you have two knockers? Maybe there¡¯s something interesting in there! Perhaps I can see?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Oh! Oh! I wanna see it too!¡±


    Abel: ¡°¡­Meh, why not.¡±


    Aw great, now I had three individuals prying their way through my door¡­ No going back now. I unlocked my door, actually all I did was turn the doorknob, there doesn¡¯t seem to be a lock, but there was a set of stairs leading to my room, six stairs, six concrete stairs leading to my rather middle class room.


    Cain: ¡°Wow¡­ this is boring¡­ I love it!¡±


    Nina: ¡°You know I¡¯m not as disappointed as I thought I would be, there¡¯s a strange comfort here.¡±


    I guess I can understand what they¡¯re saying, the floor was literally all carpet, the rough course type, three bean bag chairs, an inflatable mattress, the walls were a calm tone of tan, the ceiling was a light gray, and the only light was a desk lamp on my nightstand, this entire room¡­ was basic, boring, and the only reason it was the life of the party was because I was there.


    Jac: ¡°No place like home I suppose, I guess make yourselves comfortable, and I¡¯m pretty sure there are extra blankets, hoodies, pillows, and other comforts in the drawers, closet, and shelves if I know myself well enough.¡±


    Just like I thought, there were all kinds of blankets and pillows stored in my room. I noticed there were a bunch of random trinkets in my room, a lava lamp, a fan, a heater, building blocks, Russian dolls, these were all things that my ¡°friends¡± have gifted me¡­ but to be honest, I¡¯m pretty sure they just wanted to dump their junk somewhere and excused it as gifting.


    Cain: ¡°Neyh~ man your room is so ordinary it¡¯s a bit relaxing¡­¡±


    Cain was laying spread out on the sofa bed¡­ which ironically might be more expensive than the air mattress due to the material and padding.


    Abel: ¡°B-brother it¡¯s really rude to not ask permission for your actions! Not only did you impulsively slip one of his hoodies on, but you just unraveled his sofa creating clutter!¡±


    Jac: ¡°It¡¯s fine, I already said to make yourselves at home.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Seeee Abel? Caramel says it¡¯s fine¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°Okay how come I¡¯m being called caramel? My hair doesn¡¯t even resemble caramel coloring¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Ain¡¯t that what everyone¡¯s calling you nowadays? I think it¡¯s cute.¡±


    Wait what!? Who started this!?


    Abel: ¡°Cain¡­ it¡¯s pretty clear Jac doesn¡¯t like the nickname started by Haru¡­¡±


    Aw well that makes sense actually.


    Cain: ¡°Really? Fine, then I¡¯ll just call him honey¡­¡±


    Jac: ¡°No.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Alright then, how about-¡°


    Jac: ¡°Just call me Jac, these nicknames are getting to my head¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Ugh, but Jac is sooo~ bleh¡­ what¡¯s the word?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Average?¡±


    Cain: ¡°For lack of a worse word, yes, average.¡±


    Abel: ¡°I¡¯m friends with idiots¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Hey that¡¯s no way to speak about your bro!¡±


    We all spent time talking in a roundabout way, it was nice to see what life could¡¯ve been as school students, just hanging out in our dorms discussing trivial yet fun topics. I sat on the edge of my mattress, Nina in between the bean bags, and Abel on the ground. Cain meanwhile laid on the sofa bed with his legs kicked up behind him and his head resting on his open palms.


    Abel: ¡°I think it¡¯s time for us to depart to our own rooms, please?¡±


    Abel was desperate, desperate for what exactly? I don¡¯t know.


    Jac: ¡°Agreed, it¡¯s getting a bit late after all.¡±


    I pointed to my green alarm clock, 9:40PM.


    Cain: ¡°Wait, we''re not having a sleepover?¡±


    Nina: ¡°When did you think we were ever doing that?¡±


    Abel: ¡°Please forgive him he¡¯s dense¡­¡±


    With that all three left¡­ hey wait I didn¡¯t even get my hoodie back! So I followed after looking to retrieve it, but Cain was already couped up in his room¡­ it would be a bad idea to just barge in there even if the doors had no locks, not only because it¡¯d be suspicious, but also because I wouldn¡¯t exactly be in a safe space, maybe the study room group were still up?


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    When I walked over to the study room area, the doors were wide open.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Can you all just calm down¡­ you¡¯re turning our butler pale.¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Do not blame me for the coal lungs mistakes.¡±


    Noir: ¡°Coal lung! Rich coming from a inbred BIT-¡°


    Lapti?a: ¡°ENOUGH! My ears are ringing and this is getting annoying! I¡¯m putting my damn foot down!¡±


    I¡¯ve never heard Lapti?a be this loud before.


    Makoto: ¡°¡­I wonder if they have dry cleaning here¡­¡±


    And Makoto was as detached as always¡­ I should probably not even get involved.


    Haru: ¡°Heya caramel! Where have you been?¡±


    I felt Haru press their forearms against both my shoulders.


    Jac: ¡°Hiding from you of course.¡±


    Haru: ¡°HA! That¡¯s funny, you¡¯re funny, say what¡¯s your ultimate? You never really told us!¡±


    That¡¯s right, I never told anyone my ultimate¡­ and I¡¯d like to keep it that way.


    Penelope: ¡°Oh sweet Haru, please refrain from chasing away the prey.¡±


    It seems Penelope noticed me standing outside the room, and in response to Penelope, Haru was moving me into the study room.


    Noir: ¡°Why do you speak like we¡¯re lesser! It¡¯s annoying and crappy! Come on Jac you don¡¯t like it either right?¡±


    Jac: ¡°To be frank¡­ actually no this entire thing is stupid and a waste of time, Penelope you know exactly what you¡¯re doing, and Noir I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re entertaining them.¡±


    Noir: ¡°I¡¯m not entertaining anyone! I¡¯m simply defending myself¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Defending who exactly?¡±


    Noir: ¡°MAKOTO!¡±


    Suddenly all eyes were on the butler.


    Makoto: ¡°I suppose I can¡¯t stay silent for long, as much as I hate to voice my own opinions, I will say that the way master addresses me does raise my concerns¡­¡±


    Noir: ¡°HA! See!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll negotiate a deal then, we¡¯re all familiar with diplomacy correct?¡±


    Noir: ¡°Course we are¡­ but why would we ever make a deal with you?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Cause it keeps me from annoying you¡­ right?¡±


    Noir: ¡°¡­Fine¡­¡±


    Noir¡¯s treading dangerous territory, but I¡¯m intrigued as to what Penelope has planned.


    Penelope: ¡°All I ask is that everyone in this room calls me ¡°Master¡± from now on, it¡¯s a simple request really.¡±


    Aw, so that¡¯s the plan, funny as it is smart.


    Noir: ¡°Really? That¡¯s it?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Of course, and if you were all to agree then I¡¯ll reconsider how I treat you, such as how I talk and act in reference and regard to my fellow classmates.¡±


    Noir: ¡°¡­Fine, I don¡¯t see a problem with it¡­ master.¡±


    She said that so begrudgingly, by all means this was a nothing deal! But I¡¯m sure Penelope knows that, this is more of a petty victory than anything else.


    Penelope: ¡°Now that wasn¡¯t so hard was it?¡±


    I don¡¯t necessarily understand why Noir took this deal, I mean this deal is simply an agreement between words so I suppose Noir has no real reason to uphold it, but we¡¯ll see¡­ because Penelope¡¯s deal didn¡¯t change shit! She just tricked the others into degrading themselves instead of her doing it for us, because instead of her insulting us, she¡¯s forcing us to elevate her to a higher level since the deal consists of calling her ¡°master¡±.


    Jac: ¡°Hang on, before I leave I need to ask you something Penelope.¡±


    Penelope: ¡°¡­¡±


    Jac: ~Sigh~ ¡°Master?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±


    Jac: ¡°How did you find those radio buds to begin with?¡±


    Penelope: ¡°It¡¯s simple really, I found it odd how since these buildings have no windows we have to rely on the electricity to light the halls, however most of the lightbulbs were turned off, hence I decided to check why. At first I thought it was a malfunctioning problem, but in reality I found those buds that can transmit audio.¡±


    Jac: ¡°Aw well that makes sense¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°I¡¯ll admit though, it would be a crime if I didn¡¯t give you and Lapti?a the credit for directing the trial, even if you did almost throw us off you quickly brought the class to the right direction.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°I- uh- thanks?¡±


    Haru: ¡°Ew things are getting too sappy¡­ where¡¯s all the fighting!¡±


    Makoto: ¡°It appears things have calmed down now that Noir and master have made that deal.¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Muuuu-aaaakoto, please refrain from putting Noir before me, as you should know, the order of names imply who has the most relevance in the situation, hence I should always be the first one you address.¡±


    Noir: ¡°Didn¡¯t we just make a deal about this!¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Of course we did, but I never said I''d disregard my principles.¡±


    Noir: ¡°Why you little shit¡­¡±


    Lapti?a had to separate the two again as Noir berated Penelope, the deal was called off of course all the while I stood by on the sidelines with Haru behind me and Makoto checking his wrist watch every few minutes.


    Makoto: ¡°Mr. Miyata, would you perhaps join me in doing the laundry tomorrow?¡±


    Jac: ¡°Laundry? Wait, we have a laundry room?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°It¡¯s literally my sole duty to know the ins and outs of whatever building I¡¯m keeping in order, I can not stress how important a laundry room is in a situation like this¡­¡±


    Hey where did that formal tone go?


    Jac: ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard you so stressed before.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Yes¡­ look I¡¯m finding it rather hard to keep myself calm, let alone keeping the others calm¡­ do you have any idea how many times I¡¯ve wanted to tell the individuals here off?¡±


    Jac: ¡°So why don¡¯t you?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°Because that is a horrid idea! Do you have any idea how much panic and discourse that would cause? It¡¯s my responsibility to keep things here in check, even if it means degrading myself¡­ I have already planned a schedule based around the chores around the main building here, every 9:00PM will be laundry hour, and it would be helpful if I had an extra pair of hands¡­ especially if you also helped me at 3:00PM with maintaining the meadows.¡±


    Jac: ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t really have anything else to do.¡±


    I don¡¯t think Makoto expected such a quick response, but I¡¯m use to doing favors for people so this isn¡¯t anything new.


    Haru: ¡°O! O! Can I join!?¡±


    Makoto: ¡°I- Sure? The more the merrier.¡±


    Haru: ¡°Yippee!¡±


    Oh crud¡­


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 1.1 - The Fall of The Sun.

    Atropos: ¡°ATTENTION! It is now 10:00PM! Please return to your bedroom before 12:00AM as you are now under a two hour countdown before we enter the midnight phase!¡±


    Our watches would ding and present to us five new rules:


    ¡­


    6: We shall make any new rules deemed necessary as the game continues.


    7: 7:00AM marks the beginning of the morning phase, 12:00PM marks the beginning of the noon phase, 5:00PM marks the beginning of the afternoon phase, 10:00PM marks the beginning of the evening phase, and 12:00AM marks the beginning of the midnight phase.


    8: If you are caught being outside your bedroom after 12:00AM, individual justice will be in order!


    9: 100+ mysterious perks have been hidden! Once one is discovered it can never be used against


    10: You must address Atropos as Miss from now on!(This rule is optional, sorry for the inconvenience - Clotho)


    ¡­


    Well I¡¯ll be damned, I hurried to my room after we heard the nighttime announcement, I didn¡¯t exactly know what to expect from the others but I for sure wasn¡¯t gonna stick around! I returned to my room and decided to actively investigate it now. There was a bathroom to the right, ordinarily plain with floor and wall tiles and a couple of towels, they seem to even know that I prefer foam soap and loofahs, I tested the shower out and found that they worked! So I took a nice, brisk, and hot shower! Oh boy if I could describe how good that was I would compare it to heaven! Now with a towel wrapped around my waist I searched for some clothes to sleep in¡­ but that¡¯s when I found it.


    Jac: ¡°The hell are these?¡±


    I took out a dog and cat mask from my closet, they were hung up on hooks. These masks weren¡¯t the usual comedy-like masks, they were completely 3D! You could open them up like face huggers or simply lift it over your head and put it on that way, but what made these masks bizarre is that they were made from these tiny plastic rods, kinda looked like fishing nets, and they were completely see through! The eyes were even tinted a certain color, despite the little tennis racket like holes, you could definitely see something through them. Alright enough of this, I hung the masks back up in my closet and got dressed as I approached the mattress¡­ only to discover there was a painting above the entrance door I never saw before.


    Jac: ¡°Mitra¡­ and¡­ Pushan.¡±


    Is what the painting was called, there was a man wearing gold like pants and necklaces, a hat that also seemingly looked like it was made of gold! And white horses underneath him, all the while he carried lotus flowers¡­ Now what I found strange was that this painting listed two names, but I only saw one person¡­ oh well, I¡¯ll sleep on it and figure out what this all means in the morning.


    As I laid down on my mattress I started to think about each individual student:


    Jeremy Bcchus, the winemaker who can¡¯t handle alcohol, he seemed laid back albeit a bit informal yet trying his best to prove that he belongs here.


    Makoto Izanagi, the ultimate butler who¡¯s been masking his true feelings towards everyone, I doubt he¡¯s as perfect as people think he is.


    Valentinia Yusuke, the ultimate fortune teller who¡¯s intuition seems to actually be correct every now and then, I wonder why she¡¯s so optimistic all the time, that self esteem is huge!


    Nina Hailstorm, the ultimate archer that acts like a little girl¡­ actually I wouldn¡¯t doubt she is and is simply hiding that fact, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she hit me head on with a carrot I wouldn¡¯t feel the need to be scared of her.


    Noir Badger, the ultimate lead miner that looks timid and shy, but you would be surprised about how outspoken she can be, and it¡¯s really scary how we barely know how far she¡¯ll take it.


    Kanji Hansteinson, the ultimate clown who¡¯s always so angry and hostile towards us! A bit of an ass but he¡¯s proven to be smart when he wants to help us.


    Penelope Von Yoshinaga, the ultimate entrepreneur that acts like a monarch that¡¯s too good to be associated with peasants, hate that I have to work with her¡­ but she¡¯s proven to be a great ally and a horrible enemy.


    Shichiro Usui, the ultimate flutist who lost her flute, I wonder what she keeps in that notebook of hers? I actually wonder a lot about her, out of everyone I¡¯ve gotten to know her the least¡­ well besides the fact her and Avrom are apparently step siblings.


    Speaking of Avrom Priddy, the ultimate whistler who seems to still be child minded, he worries me¡­ if he¡¯s still trying to figure out how to live his life then that¡¯s a liability I have to correct.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Cain Dawood, the ultimate influencer with cotton candy hair¡­ he scares me.


    Oscar Murphy, the ultimate illusionist that I keep forgetting about, I don¡¯t know how he does it but he always finds a way to get out of any situation he doesn¡¯t want to engage in, maybe it¡¯s an Irish thing? Nah that can¡¯t be it.


    Abel Dawood, the ultimate economist who¡¯s actually reclusive and introverted to an extent, but if you listen close enough¡­ you can hear that hidden snark he¡¯s building up behind the back of his tongue, wonder if his sunset dyed hair has anything to do with that?


    Juno Fischer, the ultimate boilermaker who no one dares to question, would it be wrong to claim she¡¯s the mom of this class? She¡¯s always strict, hard ass, and yelling at everyone, and for a boilermaker you¡¯d expect her to be buff¡­ you¡¯d expect most of the students here to be buff, but nope! Their muscles are simply slightly toned and shaped around the edges.


    Lapti?a Virgo, the ultimate forensic scientist who¡¯s quiet behind his surgical mask, can¡¯t tell if his stutters are natural or if he¡¯s just really nervous all the time, but I like Lappy, he¡¯s cool, he¡¯s nice, he¡¯s not so bad to be around.


    Haru Kurokawa, the ultimate perjurer¡­ why is that a talent? Why is she here? I have no idea! And she¡¯s crazy! I don¡¯t want her around me!


    Hikari Teruya, the ultimate pachinko player who¡¯s oaths mean everything to him, I can tell his type though, he¡¯s the kind of guy to say he¡¯ll buy the toy his brother wants and will travel to the manufacturing company if there all sold out, he¡¯s a good dude.


    Yoshiharu Hirotaru, the ultimate ping pong player who can flip between being stern to fun, she¡¯s like my aunt! But why does she have glitter in her hair? ¡­ ugh I can¡¯t get her breast out of my head, I usually don¡¯t think like this so why am I now? I haven¡¯t been into strong woman before¡­ or maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s a mix of comforting and stern¡­ oh no what does this mean about me!


    Atropos: ¡°ATTENTION! IT¡¯S 12:00AM! TIME TO GO TO SLEEP MAGGOTS!¡±


    And that only leaves¡­ Jak¡­ hey Jak, I¡¯m gonna sleep for a while¡­


    Jac: ¡°¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°..¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    ~Beep Beep Beep~


    I slapped my alarm clock off my nightstand as I rolled over on my mattress¡­ it was 7 in the morning and I didn¡¯t feel like getting up to confront the day since I was up all night.


    ~Bang Bang Bang~


    Cain: ¡°Hey Jac! You up? Well if you aren¡¯t then I¡¯m coming in to wake you up anyways!¡±


    Oh shit! Oh shit! I hurried to the bathroom and turned the shower on.


    Cain: ¡°Jac! Hey Jac! Oh you showering?¡±


    Jak: ¡°Y-yeah! I am!¡±


    Cain: ¡°Cool¡­ alright I¡¯ll just wait out here then, Hikari wants all of us at the dining room just so you know.¡±


    Hikari¡¯s really trying to live up to his oaths huh? Now then how do I switch to Jac, I ain¡¯t the best in group scenarios! Aw crud if only I was still sleepy, but since both Jac and I slept in during our kidnapping we both rejuvenated our energy, and while Jac investigated I got a few more hours till he dozed off during the trial, he took a power nap while leading the trial, then I went to take a power nap, and now we¡¯re here! Welp no fighting it now, I prepared myself mentally and opened the bathroom door with my hair wetted.


    Jak: ¡°Alright! So Hikari wants us in the dining room right?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Yep! Now hurry up, you''re the last one to wake up, come on let¡¯s go!¡±


    Cain took my hand and quickly ran down the stairs, but was stopped by Lapti?a.


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Weren¡¯t we supposed to wake him up together at 8:30?¡±


    Cain¡¯s expression went from anxious to now embarrassed.


    Cain: ¡°O-oh did we now? I guess I must¡¯ve forgotten huh?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°We were told this at 7:50¡­ it¡¯s 7:56¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Look I have the memory of a goldfish okay?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Where are you even taking him in the first place? Hikari wants us to meet at 9:00.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh you know! ¡­ places!¡±


    Just then Cain would hurry me to his bedroom door, with Lapti?a following after.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Hold on! Why are you running away from me!?¡±


    Soon I was in Cain¡¯s room. It was pink, had a lot of lights, cameras, makeup, and fashion accessories, but I did a quick turn around to see if he had a painting as well¡­ and behold he did!


    Jak: ¡°Apollo huh?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Huh? Oh yeah I don¡¯t really know where these paintings come from, my brother has one too if you want to check it out.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Nah I¡¯m good, say do you also have a mask in your closet?¡±


    Cain: ¡°A mask? Oh! I know what you mean, stay right here!¡±


    Cain would walk over to his closet as Lapti?a entered, and Cain presented a peacock mask.


    Cain: ¡°Tada!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­How come you get a beautiful one and mine turns out to be a bull¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°You have a bull?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m guessing you have paintings too right?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Yep!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Mine is of Khonsu¡­¡±


    Khonsu huh? Strange¡­ however I didn¡¯t have time to dwell on that for long as we all heard a knock at Cain¡¯s door.


    Cain: ¡°It¡¯s unlocked!¡±


    Soon after Cain said that Oscar walked in.


    Oscar: ¡°Oy, what the hell are you all doing in here? Yoshiharu wants us outside for some¡­ stretches or whatever, she sent me to fetch you guys.¡±


    Cain raised his eyebrow.


    Cain: ¡°Did she really send you? Or are you just here because you don¡¯t want to get punished alone when you get caught.¡±


    Oscar: ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯d prefer the former.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°W-what do you mean you don¡¯t know-¡°


    Oh yeah, Oscar really is good at staying silent and slipping away, he¡¯s kinda invisible in any situation he wants to be.


    Cain: ¡°Well then why the hell would we go if you ran away from it to begin with!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Because I¡¯m afraid she¡¯s going to find out I ran! I need an excuse!¡±


    Cain: ¡°Don¡¯t wrap us into this! I¡¯m already on thin ice with Juno! If I get on thin ice with Yoshiharu I¡¯m gonna die from emotional damage instead of physical!¡±


    Suddenly¡­ we heard someone coming up the six stairs¡­ was this it? Did Yoshiharu find us?


    Haru: ¡°HEYO!! Your favorite sister is here!¡±


    Oh it¡¯s just her.


    Lapti?a: ¡°For the last time none of us are related to you¡­¡±


    Haru: ¡°Um! Nuh uh! Whatever I say is factual! Anyways, are y¡¯all also hiding from Yoshiharu¡¯s morning exercises?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°N-no! Why would we be doing that?¡±


    Haru: ¡°Wow you¡¯re a horrible liar Green Day¡­ It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna snitch on you! I¡¯m here to actually help you guys out, we can hide in the study room and jam the knobs to lock ourselves in and wait until the exercise hours are over, now come on what do we have to lose?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°No! No, no, no! If we do that we¡¯ll awaken the wrath of Yoshiharu and Juno! Come on, let''s just get back and apologize profusely!¡±


    What to do? What to do? Hmmmm¡­ what to do¡­ Join Haru, or join Oscar?


    Jak: ¡°¡­Lead the way Haru.¡±


    Haru: ¡°YAHOO! Come on boys follow me.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

 Chapter 1.2 - The Fall of The Sun.

    This was a terrible idea, I don¡¯t even have to explain what could go wrong here, but screw it this might be fun!


    Jak: ¡°So this one single chair is going to stop anyone from getting in?¡±


    Haru had propped the backside of one of the dining room chairs under the door knobs.


    Haru: ¡°Yep! This will totally stop anyone from getting in!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°We¡¯re going to die¡­ it¡¯s over¡­ this is the end¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Man if you have time to worry about that then why don¡¯t you just go back to the meadows?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Because I left without permission to dumbass!¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh right, right¡­ well I guess we can all throw you under the bus then if we¡¯re caught.¡±


    Oscar: ¡°YOU LITTLE CUN-¡°


    Lapti?a: ¡°Shhh quiet¡­ this whole thing is stupid but if you actually want to hide, then stop being so loud.¡±


    We all sat around the coffee table, well everyone but Lapti?a who was sulking in the back.


    Haru: ¡°So how we doing?¡±


    Cain: ¡°How we doing?¡±


    Haru: ¡°Yeah! How are my favorite guys doing?¡±


    Cain: ¡°You have favorite guys?¡±


    Haru: ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Cain: ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t know you just said you did!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Look I¡¯m an intelligent enigma, my mind is a wonder of chaos!¡±


    Cain: ¡°Girl that doesn¡¯t even make sense.¡±


    I¡¯m surrounded by idiots¡­


    ~Tap Tap Tap~


    I felt Lapti?a tapping my shoulder, I mean who else rhythmically taps my shoulder like that but him?


    Jak: ¡°What¡¯s up Lappy?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Look¡­¡±


    Lapti?a pointed towards the valves.


    Jak: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the valves?¡±


    That was a stupid question on my part because Lapti?a dragged me from my chair to examine it like he did.


    Lapti?a: ¡°These valves are stiff¡­ I tried moving them but I couldn''t get them to budge.¡±


    I tried turning one, and he was right, the valves were stuck in place and wouldn¡¯t twist left or right.


    ~Bang Bang Bang~


    Juno: ¡°Hey! Open up!¡±


    Oscar: ¡°AH!¡±


    Lapti?a quietly moved towards the vent and crouched against the wall, hiding? I don¡¯t really know to be honest I simply moved over back with the others.


    Juno: ¡°Yoshiharu isn¡¯t mad with you Oscar, just disappointed.¡±


    Oscar: ¡°Well tell her I¡¯m sorry! ¡­ Actually it¡¯s not even my fault! I didn¡¯t even want to participate in the first place!¡±


    Haru: ¡°Boo hoo no one cares Green Day, anyways just come and get us! I¡¯ve fortified this room and there''s no way you can get in!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Juno got in and manhandled Haru and Oscar carrying them with her.


    Cain: ¡°¡­Heh¡­ Funny.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Time wasting is what that was¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Well then why¡¯d you even bother joining us?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Why would I tell you that?¡±


    Lapti?a fidgeted with his lab coat sleeves, and moved closer towards me.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Anyways, come on, I wanna show you something in my room.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Hey wait a minute I was going to show him something first before you butted in!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Can we just go?¡±


    Lapti?a completely ignored Cain and spoke directly to me.


    Jak: ¡°Well-¡°


    Cain: ¡°SNEAK ATTACK!¡±


    Cain jumped to tackle Lapti?a, and I got caught in the crossfire. Together all three of us fell¡­ well it¡¯s more fitting to say that the two of them fell on top of me.


    Lapti?a was relatively close to my face as his surgical mask loosened, falling to one side as he simply stared at me with the same deadpan eyes he always had, but his eyes were a lot more dilated than last time. Cain meanwhile looked over Lapti?a¡¯s shoulder and had his right hand pinned to the floor right above my left shoulder, the same big grin and puppy eyes, he looked like he was always under the influence of sugar.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Was that really necessary?¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Cain: ~Giggling~ ¡°Well now I have the upper hand, if you get up then I have Jacky all to myself.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°And if I don¡¯t?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh trust me¡­ you will¡­ probably.¡±


    Wait don¡¯t I get a say in this?


    Jak: ¡°You guys are gonna cave my chest in¡­ Look how about I just visit both of you until 9:00AM, thirty minutes each for both of you.¡±


    That¡¯s right, Haru¡¯s entire plan folded in under 3 minutes, it was 7:59AM right now.


    Lapti?a: ¡°I can live with that?¡±


    Cain: ¡°I- ¡­ ugh fine! But I get first dibs!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­Sure¡­ I guess I can clean my room then while I wait.¡±


    The both of them would get up and allow me to breathe properly. I¡¯d stand up on my feet and follow Cain to his bedroom, now that he knew we¡¯d be entirely alone.


    Cain: ¡°Okay! No distractions, no annoying brothers, and no more walls in between us!¡±


    At that moment he pinned me against the wall.


    Jak: ¡°WOAH!¡±


    Cain: ¡°Hmmmm¡­ you do look rather handsome¡­ but I can make you even prettier!¡±


    Jak: ¡°W-what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Duh! I obviously just wanted to give you a makeover! Come on, it''ll be fun.¡±


    ¡­ a makeover? That¡¯s it? ALL OF THIS FOR A MAKEOVER!


    Jak: ¡°A makeover? Is that really all you wanted me here for?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Well no¡­ but because we agreed to only thirty minutes I may as well do the things we can finish in that time, now come on sit down!¡±


    He would tug my arm and sit me down in front of a mirror.


    Cain: ¡°Now just sit real still¡­ trust me I¡¯m gonna make you look and feel great!¡±


    Jak: ¡°And what does that entail exactly?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Oh you¡¯ll see!¡±


    I spent the entire thirty minutes being pampered by Cain as he tapped my face with brushes and such, unfortunately he has no real sense of personal space because there were moments he would sit on my lap when he needed a closer look, other times he tried convincing me to try on outfits he had in his closet. Our thirty minutes were almost up, and by then he was laying on his bed seemingly exhausted¡­ I don¡¯t exactly know what he was expecting but he kept his arms spread open.


    Jak: ¡°Soooo¡­ If you don¡¯t mind me asking, these past couple of days you¡¯ve been rather¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°Clingy? Obsessed? Majorly overbearing?¡±


    Jak: ¡°Bingo!¡±


    Cain: ¡°I get that a lot¡­ I don¡¯t mean to be weird about it, but I just find it easier to make friends like that¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°This is how you make friends?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Well, I suppose not everyone I consider a friend¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°Elaborate on that, come on I know you got something more to tell me!¡±


    Cain: ~Chuckling~ ¡°Wow you seem more sociable then usually Jacky, but I¡¯m sure you can figure out what I mean by ¡°more than just a friend¡±¡­ Then again, I guess I don¡¯t mind your naivety.¡±


    I felt my heart beating faster, but I slowed it down by slowing my breathing down.


    Jak: ¡°I¡¯ll just take away from this that I¡¯m a really good camera man.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Heh¡­ yeah, I suppose you are.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Hey, I have to ask again since you really didn¡¯t answer me the first time, but is this really how you make friends?¡±


    Cain would go silent for a moment.


    Cain: ¡°I just find it easier to be around men, I collaborate with them more often than women whenever I do sponsor deals and all the other stuff that clogged my schedule.¡±


    Jak: ¡°I¡¯m guessing there has to be more of a reason than your talent.¡±


    Cain: ¡°What you expect me to share my entire life story?¡±


    Jak: ¡°If it ties into this topic¡­¡±


    Cain would think for a moment, before grinning to himself.


    Cain: ¡°Alright well, let¡¯s see¡­ My mother was never truly around so it was mostly my dad, my brother, and I, I guess that contributes something to it huh?¡±


    Jak: ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s more you still aren¡¯t telling me¡­¡±


    Cain: ¡°You¡¯ll just have to visit me next time¡­¡±


    He¡¯d give me a wink as our thirty minutes were up.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Now I was in front of Lapti?a¡¯s door, I knocked once and waited, knocked twice and waited, when I went to knock a third time the door finally creaked open.


    Lapti?a: ¡°Sorry¡­ I was just preparing myself¡­ mentally.¡±


    I followed Lapti?a up into his room, it looked like the inside of a lavatory, dimmed lights, white and green walls, science kits, his bed looked like an egg, and many more details. I also checked his painting, he was right, it was titled Khonsu, and he had a bull mask laying on the ground.


    Jak: ¡°So what exactly did you want to show me?¡±


    My shoulder is going to dislocate if it keeps getting tugged like this, because Lapti?a pulled me towards his bed and wrapped his arms around me.


    Jak: ¡°ACK! Too much physical contact!¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Sorry Jac¡­ but I need to test a theory.¡±


    Jak: ¡°For the last time it¡¯s Jak with a K now! ¡­ also what¡¯s this theory?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­This is the second time you¡¯ve said that¡­¡±


    Lapti?a seemed to stop talking to think¡­ before answering my question.


    Lapti?a: ¡°The theory on human warmth¡­ There are many ways to achieve it, one of them is intimate contact.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Seriously? And this is the first thing you try?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yep¡­ because I knew out of every option this was the most convenient¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­There¡¯s no way you¡¯re just gonna hold me for the full thirty minutes right?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°To get the best results, I need to commit to the practice.¡±


    Welp¡­ I guess we may as well talk while here.


    Jak: ¡°So about the valves, what do you think they¡¯re for?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°How should I know? I think the most common conclusion to come through is that it must affect the water supply we both discovered.¡±


    Jak: ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ You know I also have to ask you something else, what¡¯s your deal with Cain? Not to be confrontational but you seem to really dislike whenever he¡¯s around.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°It¡¯s because he prevents me from being able to conduct my investigations with you.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Is that all?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jak: ¡°¡­Right¡­ come on I know there¡¯s more, people aren¡¯t the best at hiding things from me you know.¡±


    Lapti?a¡¯s grip around me loosened a little¡­


    Lapti?a: ¡°It¡¯s not fair¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°What isn¡¯t fair?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°I make my first associate and it¡¯s immediately clear I have to share them¡­ that¡¯s what isn¡¯t fair.¡±


    Jak: ¡°Aww so you do care.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Of course I care! It¡¯s just¡­ hard to show it¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°Alright keep talking, there¡¯s no stopping now I hope you know that right?¡±


    Lapti?a: ~sigh~ ¡°I¡¯ve never actually had any friends before this¡­ or I should say I¡¯ve never really had any relationships before this.¡±


    Jak: ¡°No parents? Or a peer at least?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°None¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°Oh¡­ sorry to hear that.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Don¡¯t be, I''d rather live my life over a sheltered one, otherwise I never would¡¯ve figured out the things I know now.¡±


    Jak: ¡°But¡­ if you¡¯ve never experienced it before how can you know for certain?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°That¡¯s the fun part, I never will, but if I keep thinking about ¡°what if¡±, then I¡¯ll never be able to push through whatever it is that¡¯s trying to stop me.¡±


    Jak: ¡°And if you aren¡¯t strong enough? If you exhaust yourself? What happens if no one¡¯s here to help you?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°There is nothing within science that blacklists someone¡¯s stubbornness from keeping them alive.¡±


    Jak: ¡°But we all have limits, Lappy.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Maybe¡­ but I might just prove I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    We just laid there for a while.


    Jak: ¡°Hey Lap¡­¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°Yeah?¡±


    Jak: ¡°This human warmth theory of yours, what is it even about?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­That¡¯s confidential¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°Really? Or is it because you just don¡¯t want to admit something to me?¡±


    I could see his eyes glance away, his face turning less pale under the surgical mask.


    Jak: ¡°You seriously won¡¯t tell me huh?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­I¡¯m studying my own warmth if that will satisfy you¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°Oh really now? You¡¯re not studying mine?¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°¡­When did you become so assertive¡­¡±


    Jak: ¡°I told you, I¡¯m Jak with a K, not a C¡­¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°I know, but what does that mean?¡±


    Jak: ¡°Oh you¡¯ll figure it out eventually¡­¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Thirty minutes were up, and it was now 9:00AM, which meant Hikari was probably waiting for everyone to arrive at the dining hall.


    Cain: ¡°ALRIGHT IT¡¯S 9:00AM! LET¡¯S GO!¡±


    Cain from out of nowhere immediately busted through Lapti?a¡¯s door and pulled me by my leg out of Lapti?a¡¯s grasp.


    Cain: ¡°Come on let¡¯s go!¡±


    I¡¯d slowly get up after literally getting pulled to the ground, and realize that my watch was completely unscathed¡­ wait I showered with this on how was it still operational? I suppose the kidnappers aren¡¯t too cruel, the watch was slim and easy to sleep in, and I suppose it¡¯s also waterproof.


    Jak: ¡°Yeah! Yeah I¡¯m going! Come on Lappy, let''s roll.¡±


    Lapti?a rolled off his bed and followed after us.


    Jak: ¡°So what¡¯s this meeting about?¡±


    Cain: ¡°Meh it¡¯s more like a briefing.¡±


    Lapti?a: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ still technically a meeting.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Right, right, well come on let¡¯s go in.¡±


    I¡¯d venture into the dining hall, and discovered most of the students there.


    Hikari: ¡°HA! Told you Miyata would come!¡±


    Jeremy: ¡°Yeah Shichiro, look who showed up¡­¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°I never said he wouldn¡¯t! I just said it¡¯s unlikely¡­¡±


    Yoshiharu: ¡°Oh hon, it¡¯s alright to be wrong every once and a while.¡±


    Shichiro: ¡°All I said was that it was unlikely!¡±


    The only students that weren¡¯t here were Penelope and Nina, which was strange because Makoto was here.


    Makoto: ¡°AUGH! I¡¯m not done dusting off the corners yet! Please forgive me everyone¡­¡±


    Avrom: ¡°Hey, hey we already forgave you¡­ this is just sad in a bad way if you keep apologizing¡­¡±


    Valentinia: ¡°Yeah get your head screwed in straight, it¡¯s just dust, it ain¡¯t like it¡¯s toxic to breathe in.¡±


    Makoto: ¡°No! It¡¯s unacceptable of me to be happy with such things being left like this!¡±


    Noir: ¡°Makoto! I need help¡­¡±


    I looked over to the kitchen and saw Noir tangled up in electrical extension cords.


    Makoto: ¡°Oh shoot Miss Badger please refrain from moving!¡±


    At that moment Makoto took off to help out Noir.


    Hikari: ¡°Is that everyone?¡±


    Juno: ¡°Nope, Penelope and Nina are nowhere to be found¡­ want me to go fetch them?¡±


    Oscar: ¡°H-how about Jac?! He can go get them because I- I need your help over here Juno!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Yeah good thinking, I¡¯m counting on you to bring those two over here Jac, even if you just got here I¡¯d really appreciate it.¡±


    Cain: ¡°Field trip!¡±


    Hikari: ¡°Oh no actually I need you two here to help, Abel personally requested for your assistance Cain, and Lapti?a! Could you test out our soup to make sure we didn¡¯t unintentionally poison it.¡±


    Oscar clearly didn¡¯t want Nina or Penelope to face Juno¡¯s wrath, so he distracted her by having her help him chop carrots, meanwhile Hikari gave Cain and Lapti?a jobs¡­ so now my job was to retrieve Penelope and Nina.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Aw great I¡¯m out of the dining room, can¡¯t I just stay in one place? I moved through the halls, thinking I¡¯d find them in the meadows¡­ but instead I heard the faint sound of furniture. I peaked my head in the study hall¡­


    Nina: ¡°¡­This is wrong¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Nonsense, you want your reward for praising me right?¡±


    Nina: ¡°Yeah but¡­ this isn¡¯t exactly what I had in mind¡­¡±


    Penelope: ¡°Oh trust me, the taste isn¡¯t as bitter as you think it is¡­¡±


    I¡¯d finally get a good look as I saw¡­ Well, the best way I can explain it is that Nina was the one leaning into Penelope¡¯s lips more than Penelope was despite the way the conversation sounded. They parted their lips for a moment¡­ oh god they¡¯re saliva linkers¡­ that¡¯s gross as hell! But then they went back at it, not passionately, but slowly and methodically. I counted six times they kissed, before I finally knocked on the doorframe causing Nina to jump.


    Jak: ¡°Can you two do this in a more private room and get your asses to the dining room?¡±


    Penelope simply wiped her mouth and made a small smile.


    Penelope: ¡°Enjoyed the show?¡±


    Nina: ¡°H-hey it¡¯s not what it looks like!¡±


    Jak: ¡°I don¡¯t care, just get to the dining room¡­¡±


    Penelope would straighten herself out and walk past me, then Nina awkwardly wobbled after.


    Nina: ¡°I uh- ¡­ Did I look like I enjoyed it?¡±


    Jak: ¡°As your friend¡­ I just want to say I support you wholeheartedly.¡±


    Nina would punch my arm.


    Nina: ¡°Ha! Ha! Very funny¡­¡±


    Clearly offended, she pouted and stormed off to the dining room.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª