Years of Lies [IC] [Best Veteran Q2 '12]

"Body jumper," Marisa squeezed herself behind Kerin. "M-mister government person...? Can you please go away?"

"Body jumper? What's a... wait, what? Government?" Kerin looked back at this Fausto person. He had a disgustingly ugly sweet smile on his face. It almost made Kerin want to puke. He pulled Marisa closer as Fausto looked directly at her.

"Sweetheart, can you please go die in the arena for me? Thanks."

Kerin felt his temperature rise quite quickly and his face heat up. What was with everyone and being so cruel to Marisa!? She hadn't done anything for them! Why?! Like the gods, for putting her in this tournament and Shiro and Ryuu and now this Fausto! It was just a bunch of crap Kerin couldn't taken anymore. He wanted to punch this guy so bad. To just break his nose, to hear that satisfying snap. Because this guy, oh this guy. He just reeked of evil.

"You son of a bítch," he let go of Marisa, clenched his fists and strode over, his nostrils flaring. Seriously, what was with people?! What happened to love and stuff, why did people have to be so damn disgusting. No little girl should have to put up with this! He bared his teeth, but refused to hiss like the usual vampire. As he approached Fausto, he shoved Amelia and the other angel he didn't bother remembering the name of aside and swung at Fausto's face. "You don't just talk like that!"

"You don't just talk like that!"

That was what the vampire that had been standing with Marisa this whole time yelled as he shoved Amelia and Shizuka out of the way, his fist swinging afterwards and heading straight for Fausto's face. Not wanting things on the helicopter to get any worse, Shizuka quickly reacted and snatched the vampire's wrist and pulled it back mere inches from its targets face.

"Instead of being a fool and rushing into something you don't understand, how about you just let someone else deal with the current problem at hand. Why don't you think about protecting your little friend over there instead of picking a fight to protect her."

Shizuka twisted the vampires wrist and shoved him backwards in the direction of Marisa, then turned his attention to Amelia - quickly locking eyes with Bernkastel giving off the 'I know more than you think I know' look to grab her attention.

"Amelia, what the hell is going on and what aren't you telling me? And don't play me for a fool because whether you're already ahead of me in this game or not, you're not going to make it as far without me as you would with me."

Chapter 2 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

'Calm down, Amelia.' I told myself, however my fists were still clenched at my sides. For the second time, Shizuka came to my aid. Even though he was silent, and just stood there, it was the best sort of protection I could have. Bern certainly wasn't getting into this mess, and Marisa? Kerin wouldn't allow her to get within ten feet of him. And when the little girl innocently asked for him to go away, she was met with a dark request. That made Kerin snap. He stridded over, fist raised to hit Fausto, but...He was stopped just as quickly. A force by the name of Shizuka had his wrist. The angel simply tossed him back in Marisa's direction, before looking at Bernkastel, and then myself. Fausto had a huge, prideful smirk on his face, which distorted his once soft, happy face into something disgusting. Shizuka was sort of... Threatening me for answers. I couldn't disobey, because I wouldn't stand a chance without his alliance. Taking in a deep breath, I hurried to him and said in a hushed voice;

"ItouchedhishandandIsawscenesinsidethegovernmentbuilding." I winced at how my words mushed together, but I continued to explain. "T-there's a body jumper in Fausto. He's taken him over, and... " I glanced at Marisa when she frantically began screaming out. I was too late to react. Fausto was right beside me with his kind, knowing smile. His grip was on my left arm, and... I could see his ghastly thoughts swirling inside his head. He was going to break my arm! My face went pale at this realization, and he was just beginning to push back on my bones, when he sort of... Fainted. I quickly jumped away from his grip, while inspecting my arm. I gaped, and coughed roughly as if to puke. A sharp piece of bone was pierced through my arm. My bone. It wasn't the complete bone, though. More like, a thin piece the size of a pencil. Maybe because i was overcome with shock, was why I didn't feel pain.

I fell to my knees, and began coughing. My insides whirled and contracted at the gruesome picture plastered into my brain. I was shaking badly as i let out a choked sob. Even though i couldn't feel anything, that didn't change the fact that a puddle of blood had formed beneath me. My head went fuzzy, as a cold sensation swept through my left arm. I couldn't hear anything around me. I was tramatized. Was I dying? I looked at my arm again, and paused. The blood. It was gone. The gash was gone. My bone was gone. I looked my arm over in disbelief. Healing was NEVER that fast. I looked around blindly, and reached my hand out in my confusion. What happened? My head...My arm...They were alright? Or was i going insane? Did i die? Perhaps not. Marisa must have slipped from Kerin, and she was now shaking my shoulder as if... I hadn't been paying attention.

"Ami! Ami, it wasn't real. Wake up, wake up!" Her voice sounded desperate. I blinked a few times, before everything hit me. What Marisa had seen.

I had been explaining to Shizuka about the fake, when Fausto ripped me away from him, grabbed my forehead, and pressed down. He backed away, and within seconds, everyone watched out as I looked at my arm with a horrified expression, before doubling over and coughing. I had gone crazy, over something he had done to my mind. Where was Fausto now?

I tossed my head around, to find him sleeping beside Nokoto. On the other side of him, was the body jumper. A man with a big body build, six pack... A muscle-builder. His forest green cargo pants hung loosely from his skin, with a brown belt holding them up. A small portion of his slick stomach was viewable, before a tight black tank covered the six-packed chest of his. Muscles bulged out of his arms, which were crossed over his chest in wait. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. A narrow chin was pointed up mockingly, while two red eyes gazed down at me. His pupils, were like that of a cats. The final feature, was the spiked orange hair covering his head. Pointed in all different directions, the tip of each individual spike, was dyed a darker orange.

"I call that, self-defense." He muttered lowly. His voice was still a bit abnormal, but I could recongnize it now. I scrambled to my feet in astonishment, before backing away in fear. "Y-you're...!" He cut me off with the slight wave of his hand. "I know who I am. Your worst f***ing nightmare since the boogy man. Hello everyone. I'm Natruo, the designer of the 'Population Games'." He said it so calmly... The fact he was in charge of killing us all in the arena, sounded like nothing more than a job at McDonalds on his lips. "Now then, anyone else wanting to punch me? What about you, Mr. Lolita lover?" He cocked his head in Kerin's direction. "I'll happily make your remaining life in the arena a living Hell in exchange~"

As soon as Marisa had moved from behind him, Kerin rushed foward to stick to her. Who knows what could happen next! This... Amelia as the other angel had said, had just fell to her knees, coughing. Marisa grabbed her and shook her gently.

"Ami! Ami, it wasn't real. Wake up, wake up!"

"Marisa, what are you doing?" Kerin's eyes widened as he refused to believe what he saw. So, that's what body jumper meant! But... Fausto was fine now and a giant guy stood next to him. What exactly had just happened?!? The guy, those muscles, that hair! He didn't understand much, only that he was giant and could probably pulverise Kerin in a few seconds. Kerin silently thanked the angel for stopping him from punching him; if he had, he'd probably be dead right now. Wait, so, if ... had this giant guy been inside Fausto from the start? Had he been listening to their entire conversation? Crap, if he was... they were definitely doomed.

"Hello everyone. I'm Natruo, the designer of the 'Population Games'," the giant said. Oh shìt. Now Kerin was doubly thankful. He quickly gave the angel a funny look, which meant some kind of apology, but went back to staring at the giant, Kerin's hand still on Marisa's shoulder. He then looked directly at Kerin. "Now then, anyone else wanting to punch me? What about you, Mr. Lolita lover? I'll happily make your remaining life in the arena a living Hell in exchange."

Kerin knew when to shut up and that time to shut up was now. All he did was look at the man. Not exactly in fear, though he was kinda frightful what the man could do to him. Not apologetically, since he wasn't sorry for what he did. If he did anything to Marisa, Kerin would not hesitate to do what he was going to before. He just stared at him, his hand on Marisa and shook his head slowly. He had a lot of questions about the guy, like was he human, why did he design the Population games, what was he doing here, and so on, but Kerin figured he would have a better time getting answers from Marisa or maybe this Amelia girl. He would ask them later.

At first the soft sound of the ringing between his ears brought Xavier a true and seldom quiet, but the moment didn't last long when the angel - Amelia planted a fist into Fausto, and yelled frantically at him. Of course Xavier couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, his hearing still impaired from the whole head banging thing, but the dreaded thing to Xavier at this point, was that they were all still loud. He just banged his head in the wall to deafen himself, and some of them didn't even give a glance at him. The only one being Ryuu. And it wasn't like he was going to be one to shut up, Xavier knew that much. "......" Xavier could feel his eye beginning to twitch from the noise level. Not good. He's never expressed a single sign of displeasure so quickly before. Not good at all.

The blood was still dripping from the gash Xavier had recently made and it began to mat his hair with the sticky red substance. In fact it was slightly beginning to break past the absorption, and it now began to slide down into view, working it's way down his nose. His face was beginning to mimic the color in anger, his eye still twitching as if he was having a seizure. Xavier could tolerate the random barking from his dog Toro, but with a sentient being? No, no, no, no, no. They know better. They know when someone is annoyed, irritated, or flat out angry. At least intelligent ones anyway. Which these people don't seem to be. At all. Xavier hasn't even been taught anything, he's only taught himself, and he's at prodigial levels of intelligence. Xavier modified an Ipod he found by his house, got it working with virtually junk, improved it's song capacity, downloaded his songs from other music devices, and increased the battery power to two weeks. Almost all of them are idiots compared to Xavier. To him, almost all of them are morons, idiots, inflated with ego, and loud. The only exceptions is the girl next to him, Paris, and the rebel, Bernkastel. Bernkastel was none of what the others were, and Paris was most likely inflated with ego, but it's better than being loud.

Now let's take a look at the people making him go insane in the corner, Amelia and Kerin. At first, Xavier didn't care much about these two, in fact he thought the boy was kind for acting as a brotherly figure to the vampire, Marisa, but now he was just acting like a guard dog. Barking at whoever dare insult or hurt his master. It was saddening, irritating, and pathetic at the same time. Saddening, that Kerin was protecting a girl that would most likely die anyway -though he isn't saying she will-. Irritating, by how loud and brash the boy would rebutle against the perpetrator. And pathetic, by how quickly he had fallen into the whole cutesy act. Xavier isn't saying that she's faking it per say, but she could damn well be using it to her advantage. Tch.

Amelia. Apparently the daughter of the leader, of the angel district. At first coming off as an innocent teenage girl, now comes off as an over reactive and loud, twit. What was there really to say here? She punched 'Fausto' in the gut, and yelled at the top of her lungs at him, when everything had calmed. Effectively ruining Xavier's chance at solemness in this hectic helicopter. There isn't really much else that she has done though, she wasn't consistent in this behavior, but at the moment, Xavier views her badly. Although this is very liable to change if she regains her calmness. Hm.

Then that was when the game master showed himself as the body jumper. The man seemed to give off a 'charming' sentence towards Kerin, who promptly shut up immediately when the man had announced his name. What was the name he said? Natruo? Stupid name. Idiotic person. Perfect fit. It didn't matter if Kerin had stopped talking, when there was another person, to fill the air with their own talking. And this man was most likely the most arrogant person in history, controlling all the possibilties of how they die. Xavier ignored his existance, wiped the visible blood off him, and turned to Paris with an offer she couldn't refuse. "Hey, Paris...If you be quiet, I'll let you do anything you want to me for the rest of the ride."

Ryuu had begun to tune out a bit after Xavier had banged his head on the wall, almost oblivious to the events that were going on around him. He kept his eyes shut, as if resting. Even through all the 'nonsense' going on, and the fact that Ryuu tried to shut them out of his mind, he could hear bits of their conversation, including mention of a 'body jumper' and other things. He didn't know what was going on, and at that moment, he didn't care. He just wanted the games to start, which is why he closed his eyes, and imagined himself at the Reaping, fighting. He often pictured himself doing things he liked when he was bored, or wasn't in the exact position to do them himself.

But nothing could take the place of the actual event, the actual process of doing it. He recalled times he went on a hunts. Before, he would kill randomly, often picking the hunted by the most trivial things, perhaps that they didn't have on shoes that he liked, or they gave Ryuu a dirty look. All were, of course, excuses just to kill them. But eventually, he grew tired of killing weaker people, and began picking people that could defend themselves. He often tracked down his 'victims' back in the Demon District, and 'analyzed' them, seeing if they would put up a fight themselves. Because of this, he had much more fun in his life. He had even come close to dying on three separate occasions, one injuring him so much that he was in the hospital for a week. He thought himself he was going to die.

Best fight of his life.

Ryuu had tuned back in to what was happening briefly as he saw a large man, not taller than Ryuu, but close, standing in front of them. He was large, muscular, and had peculiar spikey orange hair. How he had managed to get there was a mystery to Ryuu.

"I know who I am. Your worst f***ing nightmare since the boogy man. Hello everyone. I'm Natruo, the designer of the 'Population Games'."

Ryuu opened his eyes completely now, looking daringly at Natruo. He had a grin on his face. He turned to another vampire next to him. Apparently he must have done something to piss him off.

"Now then, anyone else wanting to punch me? What about you, Mr. Lolita lover? I'll happily make your remaining life in the arena a living Hell in exchange~"

Ryuu couldn't help to butt in. Like the demons back in his District, this man was a fighter. Ryuu spoke with vigor and an air of confidence.

"Is that an open invitation?" He asked Natruo, not breaking his gaze, as he smiled at the man.

Everything was just going back and forth from being calm to everyone losing their damn minds, but Shizuka definitely saw in Amelia's eyes that he had made his point and she was going to reveal to him everything he needed to know. The rules of the game had changed, no longer fighting for a championship to claim the grand prize of Self Pride Shizu was now going to be fighting for his life.

"ItouchedhishandandIsawscenesinsidethegovernmentbuilding. T-there's a body jumper in Fausto," Amelia began splurting out at Shizuka, "He's taken him over, and... " that was when Marisa began screaming. Suddenly Fausto had rushed passed Shizuka and knocked him backwards, the odd thing was that he had made sure to push his hand on Shizuka shoulder while doing so. The last thing Shizuka remembered seeing was him grabbing Amelia, but then everything took a turn for the worse. Shizuka began rubbing his eyes as they became slightly blury, which quickly followed with a searing pain that shot down his entire left said - a pain so strong it caused his left leg to give out and he crashed to the ground. Every pain sensor on Shizu body was now telling him that he was being attacked from within, it felt as if someone as fed him gasoline and then ignited his entire insides. Just as quickly as the pain began though, it vanished and the next thing he knew he heard people screaming more.

"Ami! Ami, it wasn't real. Wake up, wake up," a tiny voice screeched out of Marisa. Shizuka's eyes readjusted to his surroundings and he saw that Amelia was now also on the ground and Marisa was frantically shaking her. Her Shaking worked and Amelia began to come back down from wherever Fausto had just sent her. Speaking of which, where was Fausto? That was when Shizkua attention was distracted and drawn to Kerin.

"Marisa, what are you doing?" He was yelling at Marisa for shaking Amelia and moving away from his protection. It was also at this time that he glanced directly at Shizuka, their eyes meeting briefly and each other acknowledging what the angel had done mere minutes ago - in a sense saving his life. Returning his attention back to Amelia, Shizuka saw that she was now staring at something..actually someone. Now turning his head to see were her eyes were locked, Shizuka came upon Fausto's unconcious body and some jacked guy standing over him.

"That's a body jumper? Definitely wouldn't want that in my body," Shizuka thought to himself. The spiky orange hair was the first thing to be noticed and it clearly made this guy stand out in a crowd. Blood red eyes that burned holes through your skull stared Amelia in the face. Next was the simple fact that he was a large man, who was very well built and in excellent physical shape and he was wearing a black tanktop and cargo pants.

"I call that, self-defense," stated the mystery man suddenly.

"Y-you're..." stammered Amelia before being interrupted by our new guest.

"I know who I am. Your worst f***ing nightmare since the boogy man," he made sure to take his time and glance around the helicopter and look each individual contestant in the eyes. His cat like eyes flashing their dark red and piercing everyone, recording their images for later. That was when he cleared his through and began his small speech.

"Hello everyone. I'm Natruo, the designer of the 'Population Games'. Now then, anyone else wanting to punch me? What about you, Mr. Lolita lover?" His comment was directed at Kerin, good thing Shizuka had stepped in when he did or this scenario would definitely not be playing out as positive as it still was. "I'll happily make your remaining life in the arena a living Hell in exchange." And just when a normal person would thing the worst was over, it wasn't. Ryuu rejoined the scene.

"Is that an open invitation," he blatantly and sarcastically stated.

Chapter 2 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

Natruo. The designer of the population games. I stood there for a moment in utter shock. I had not expected him to make an appearance before us. After all, he was high-class. Above us. Our lives were as simple as they came. He felt no emotion killing us all, simply because he thought of us as animals. That was how we were prepared, too. Trained for our day, cleaned and dressed, before going into the slaughter house. I swallowed. This man, for a comparision, was almost like Ryuu. He loved fighting. He loved killing. However, he knew how to hold his temper. He was a cool cucumber, while Ryuu was a heated pepper. Natruo was dependant on physical combat, but he worked it out so his tactics were more... Professional. Sending in a wave of energy into the nervous system, he could attack your body from the inside out. I even heard, he could use these strings of energy to make your heart explode. He was also a body jumper. A person who could turn their body into a certain water-based form (Usually mist) and take over someones body. That was what had happened to Fausto.

I took in a few light breaths, and composed myself. Everything I had saw and felt, hadn't been real. But that didn't mean he couldn't actually pop my bone out like that. With those muscles, and his powers... He could rip limbs. I had been lucky. I gave Shizuka a worried look. I hadn't paid him any notice, but he seemed to have gotten it alot worse in terms of Natruo. He actually looked to have been in great stress and pain. I wanted to help, but Natruo's gaze was urging me to sit. So I did. Right where he had directed to. Which, just so happened to be beside him. I didn't object to this. He was in charge. He could kill us all without hesitation. We were easily disposable.

I decided to keep my mouth shut now, like I had from the beginning of the trip. Most likely, Natruo had been here from the very beginning of the helicopter ride. He had been observing us. He wouldn't have been discovered, if it hadn't been for me attempting to give back his ring. He would have heard the rest of what Bernkastel had to say, but she still said quite a bit. I wonder what he thought now? Did he know who was a rebel here? I was a dead girl if he did. No amount of money from my mother could stop him from sending me to the stockades. The gallows. Anywhere for my death. He wasn't infamous for his kindness. He was infamous for his ruthlessness. His towering demeanor. His sharp, spiked personality like that of his hair. He was a God, that was for sure. There weren't many original Gods now, but he was one of them. One of the most powerful people policially, and physically. He also, was intelligent. That was why he was in charge of our killing entertainment. He knew how to add the perfect spice to it. His best year, was probably the fifth. It was a year, where the contestants had been thrown into a rainforest. All the supplies needed for survival, seemed to be there. Pure water, edible food, weapons... Honestly, the participants weren't in any hurry to find eachother. But, within a few days of inactivity, he made an announcement into the arena. That a person would die, if said person didn't kill someone every twelve hours. Then it was a race to kill. People were immediately being hunted and killed in packs, before alliances turned against eachother when there were no more left to hunt. The final three. One angel, and two humans, finally made the discovery. The two humans had been hunting the angel together, when their twelve hours was up. They ended up slaying eachother, when their target was curiously looking on from inside a tree. She hadn't killed a single person in days.

Thus, Natruo had lied, and made all the other districts a laughing stalk to how easily they had been fooled. That one angel, had been the only one not forced to kill. She saw through the trick, and waited for everyone to kill themselves off. She was almost as smart as Bernkastel, so it was no wonder, the Gods allowed her to live with them. From then on, she had been a world-known scientist and researcher. That was the year, when Natruo came to our district to congradulate us. To shower our people with expensive gifts like they did with each victor's home district. I had been thirteen at the time.

My father had still been alive. My mother was a little less crazy with beauty, too. I was present whereever Natruo went, inside the government building. I had been curious of him. About the Gods. What kind of people were they? I had always expected them to be eight-foot giants in robes. He had dressed so casually for the occassion, I stuck out in my jewel-dotted pink dress. He teased me a lot. Asking if I was going to work in a candy shop because of how sweet I was. He asked if I was a candy. That was when my dad became angered with him. I didn't know why he was telling Natruo to leave. He just wanted to sleep with me. Wasn't that alright? My bed could fit him... I could get more pillows...

Once Natruo left to explore our district, my dad explained. Explained that Natruo didn't mean sleep in my bed. He meant touching me. Foddling me. And I had agreed to something that a thirteen-year-old should never experience. I still didn't understand, so I looked up the words he had used. I was horrified by my discoveries. When I next saw Natruo, I asked him why. Why he would want to do those things to me. He answered calmly, that he was going to marry me, and my parents couldn't stop him. My dad tried. And, a few days later, he died of a heartattack. I was sure Natruo had murdered him. And that's how I grew to hate the spike-haired man.

I pulled myself out of those horrible memories, to find an arm wrapped around my shoulder. Natruo's arm. I froze, and bit my lip to keep from whimpering. I didn't want him to touch me. Never. His strong arm ran around the back of my neck, before slinging over my opposite shoulder. My thoughts began to cry out for help. Anything, to get him away from me. I couldn't move. I was a statue, as his fingers trailed across my collarbone. I released a small, choked sound from my throat. 'Get off! Please!' My mind pleaded. But when I went to move away, he only pulled me closer. He knew I hated this. He knew I hated him. Was this a punishment for hitting him? I'd take a bullet any day if he would just... I looked up at Shizuka, whom was now being flocked by Marisa. If anything, I wanted him to help me out. To see how pale my skin has gotten, and to see the desperation in my face. To see my eyes pleading for him to do something. To ask Natruo to release me. Anything! I would tell Shizuka anything, if he could just get this problem to leave me alone.

Suddenly, he was speaking up to Ryuu's question. "Hm? Ryuu, was it? How about you stay silent, stay non-violent for now? I don't feel like messing up my clothing, to mess with you now. Wait..." He checks his watch and smirks. "Landing in about half an hour. So, how about tonight? Does that do you fancy, or do you need your beauty sleep~?" He teased. So, I guess he was planning on fighting Ryuu when there weren't any witnesses. Great. Just great.


Chapter 2 - Marisa Ryunatta - Vampire District

I gave out a small, helpless whimper as Amelia got to her feet. I knew where this would end up, and I was semi-worried about the result. I watched, as Amelia took her place nervously beside Natruo. His arm, immediately slid over her shoulders, and that's when I looked away, to worry over someone else. Shizuka. I reached out my tiny hand, and placed the fingertips on his shoulder from where he knelt. "Are you okay, sir?" I asked innocently. Of course he wasn't. His left side was practically useless in the pain he was in. I placed my finger on my lower lip in thought, but I hoped he understood this gesture. The gesture not to say anything. To perhaps, keep a secret. I reached down for his left hand, and began leaning back to pull up the giant. He was like, four times bigger than me, so it was pretty impossible for me alone to pull him to his feet. I only used the moment, as I heaved weakly for him to stand, to do my thing. Send a spark of my own energy, to send his nerves in order, and to realize he wasn't being attacked. Because, he was surely going to get a second wave if I didn't do this. Only, it would roll to his right side. Just as I saw his right arm flinch at the pain that Natruo caused, but it was like a little shock. It vanishedd just as quickly, with me holding him like his. When he finally did stand, I beamed. I immediately came back to hide shyly behind Kerin. "Uu. All good." I said, taking Kerin's hand so it engulfed mine. He was nice to have, even if he was a little overprotective. I carefully edged him away, and allowed him to sit back into his seat. Instead of myself taking the seat next to his, I sat directly on his lap; giggling and pulling his arms around me.

"Mew."


Chapter 2 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

I began tuning out of things, the second attention was removed from me, to Amelia and Fausto. I sighed in relief. I hated talking. Explaining. Besides, that whole taking the devices from the helicopter, hadn't been much help, because Natruo had been here the entire time. Either way, I didn't care. My attention was being drawn back to Xavier and Paris. The celebrity had an evil grin across her face, as her hands trailed his arm seductively. I blinked a few time, before walking over and sitting on the other side of him. Paris stopped, almost immediately; grumbling under her breath and pouting. I raised my eyebrows, but only a tad. Since when was Paris so easy to stop with her touchy-feelly-ness? Whatever, it wasn't my business, and it wasn't my concern. Instinctively, I reached down and picked up the rose which had avoided being trampled on. I gave it a delicate sniff. Hm.

Casually, I brushed my elbow against Xavier's arm as I adjusted myself into my seat. Looks like he didn't know how to put up a mental sheild. Which, was good for me. I leaned forward, and with two of my fingers, brushed the blood off his forehead. I showed the fingers to him, and gave him a blank look. If he could read my eyes, they were questioning. They asked, 'Why are you bleeding?'. Because, truth be told, I had not seen what had happened. With another touch of his wrist, I opened myself into his thoughts. Thoughts that consisted of how loud everyone was in general. I gave a short nod, as if to say, 'It'll be quiet soon'. Because, it was quieting down. The alarm from Natruo's appearance, was beginning to calm. Natruo didn't induce battle with Ryuu, so it looked like everything else was going to be quiet. Small chatter, at most. Pewita, Fang, Paris, Nokoto, and Shiro had been silent for almost the entire ride. Thus, we were going to enter a calm period now.

Kerin hurried to the angel's side as Marisa tried to heave him up. It wasn't hard for Kerin at all and practically took all the weight as Marisa stood up. Kerin was strong, not that anyone seemed to noticed anyway. It was all he had, his strength. That and his brains to help him here, though as everyone else had pointed out, he wasn't particularly tactical. When he was on his feet, Marisa quickly pulled away, leaving Kerin still holding him. Kerin looked over at the giant as he heard a squeak and saw Amelia in a choker hold. His eyes widened. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how. At all!

"Uu. All good," Marisa pulled on Kerin's hand, leaving the angel to stand on his own, and practically dragged him back to his seat. Kerin blinked. Was Marisa oblivious to what was going on with Amelia? Or was this normal, Kerin had no idea! She sat him down and onto his lap, pulling his arms around her. He had no objections, as long as she was safe, but seriously, didn't she see this? Maybe she had an idea what was going on.

"What... what's happening?" Kerin said quietly to Marisa, because he seriously had no idea.

Xavier's eyes began blinking at an abnormal rate as soon as Paris's expression shifted, and her hands began trailing along his arms. He said she could do anything, but exactly was she planning to do-wait. She stopped. Why had she stopped? Xavier heard a long sniffing noise next to him, and his head turned to view the source of the noise. Bernkastel. Why did she move from her seat? Wasn't she explaining all the stuff to the competitors-Oh yeah. The game designer was here, so most of everyone became quiet -or quieter- at his appearance. Praise the lord for that.

"........." Xavier's head turned from Bernkastel, as he closed his eyes in pure content. Finally. People weren't talking, with small speak at the most. Xavier could deal with that, just not all the insanity of what had happened moments before.

"!!!" Xavier's shielded eyes opened wide, as he felt Bernkastel's hands wipe the blood away from his forehead. Wh-why was she...? Xavier could feel a strange heat rush into his cheeks, as a light pink color brushed onto them. His bewildered gaze shifted from the ceiling, and over into her own questioning eyes. Xavier could read the blank look immediately. 'Why are you bleeding?' Had she not heard what happened? Tch. That proves how loud everyone was being if she couldn't hear him banging his head on the wall! Seriously! Xavier nodded his head at the wall past her, blankly. It was directly at the small dent made above hers. "....!!" She touched his wrist softly, and his cheeks deepened into a deeper pink.

Ryuu's full attention was towards the one known as Natruo. As for everything else that happened around, Ryuu cared not. He never broke his gaze from Natruo. Ryuu was painting a target on him.

"Hm? Ryuu, was it? How about you stay silent, stay non-violent for now? I don't feel like messing up my clothing, to mess with you now. Wait..."

Ryuu felt like laughing a bit at the first part of the comment. Ryuu had been violent his whole teenage life, even before that as well. He had never known non-violence. It was like asking a fish to live above the water for a week. Natruo checked his watch as he thought to himself, smirking.

"Landing in about half an hour. So, how about tonight? Does that do you fancy, or do you need your beauty sleep~?"

Ryuu felt his blood pump through his body. The toughest opponents he had faced was demons. He wondered what a god would be like fighting. He knew they would be even tougher. Ryuu hadn't felt this excited in a long time. He even felt a pinch of fear in him. Not fear of death, or fear of Natruo, but the fear of uncertainty.

"I thought you'd never ask", Ryuu replied, "Just say where and I'll be there. Best make the necessary preparations with your family. You might not see them again."

Ryuu grinned eagerly. A thought then occurred to him. He didn't know much about the gods and wondered if they even had a traditional family. Come to think of it, he had no knowledge of the humans, vampires, and angels' way of life. Of course, he didn't really care, but still, he was curious of what they went through in their own daily lives. But not as much as he cared to kill them.

-Raike sat in his seat silently, taking in all that had just happened. An angel had slammed some other human kid against the wall, at which Raike rolled his eyes, because apparently the helicopter wasn't going to last pretty long. But the kid started to laugh, in some kind of weird demented auto tuned voice. When that little Marisa kid had asked the "government man" to go away, he only did that weird laugh again, and then asked her to go die in the arena, a phrase he used against... well everyone in his district.

Fausto then grabbed the angels arm and would have broken it had she not pulled away. She kept muttering about something he had done to her mind, and looked as if she had gone crazy to him. The body jumper then exited Fausto's body and revealed his true form. The dude was freaking huge, sporting muscles a big as the trunk of some old oak, and probably reinforced with steel. His legs looked pretty thin, since his pants had to be held up by a belt, but it could just be the same thing with Raike himself, his body looking normal, but actually being a hell of a lot stronger than he looked.

His hulk arms were crossed across his chest. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties, even though Raike knew there was no way that could be true. He had a look on his face that just seemed to piss Raike off, like he was looking down on him as if he were nothing, with those crimson cat eyes. His hair was styled in the way of some kind of thug, pointing in all directions, making Raike feel that if anyone was unlucky enough to get impaled by those spikes, they would not be likely to see tomorrow. He then made some stupid pun about him being their worst nightmare. Seriously? Raike had heard that too many times. He made some threat, asking if anyone else wanted to punch him.

Raike rolled his eyes, suppressing the urge to walk up and steal him. This guy was obviously stronger than everyone there, because even Bern wasn't moving against Natruo. Ryuu then decided to challenge him, typical.-

"Ryuu, as much as I would love to see you get owned, you know attacking him would be stupid, and your not completely incompetent."

-He glared at Natruo for a few seconds, then arched a brow at Paris, sighing.-

"Really? Here? Out of all times?"

((Sorry I took so long, I needed to find my flow again))

Chapter 2 - Marisa Ryunatta - Vampire District

I swiveled my body around, to face the boy with curiousity. What did he mean? There were plenty of things he couldn't possibly understand. To even comprehend. I cocked my head towards my shoulder with a questioning look. "Mew?" I shoved my hand into the pocket of my dress. This dress, with the ruffled sleeves and little flower designs, used to belong to my mother. Well, before she abandoned me. I loved my mother, but she had... Problems with her brain. It didn't work right. Just like my father's brain. She had hysteria, while he came a monster bent that everything wanted to kill him. Sometimes, i would hear him yelling to himself inside the study. Accussing a someone who wasn't there, to stop hurting his wife and daughter, when really, it was him. Him beating us with fists and him locking us away. He would always come to his senses and act worried, but both of us knew the truth. He was a complete madman. One day, he stole my mother away in the night, and they never returned home. A few days later, i learned that the barrier surrounding our district had been cut off for a brief moment. That was when a group of twelve vampires, fled. I heard that they caught and killed ten of them. The other two, were deep in the Human District before they were shot.

I had been abandoned, so with nowhere else to go, i turned to the orphanage. I always hated that place. The terrified visions i got from the children... Were real. They were beaten if they did something wrong, and they never left the grounds. All home-schooled.

With my meager belongings, i pretended to fit in among them. Most of them were bruised, pale, and bandaged. Some were completely insane. A small group of kids, were the example of perfect health. Well-fed, glossy hair, and high grades. This group was known as the "Pretties". They were treated better than everyone else, simply because they could hold a smile on those perfect, pink lips.

That their eye color was just the right shade of hue. That they knew manners like the back of their hand.

That was how they avoided beatings. By being perfect. They didn't even have to be old. They could be as young as six, to be pampered with the best rooms. The best food. Everyone else, was slated with only three meals. They weren't even big. Enough food for these child slaves to work. One time i saw a little boy sitting in the hallway. He was blocking my way, so i nudge him.

He fell over dead, with a bottle of kitchen cleaner in his grip. It horrified me that a boy so young, had killed himself. I couldn't have possibly understood his situation, because i wasn't like him. I was a pretty.

I pulled the contents of my pocket into my palm, and held them out into my view. A few blood capsules... Elastics... And several little discs of metal. Hardly the size of my pinkie's nail, i picked two out, before shoving my hand back into my pocket. I held one out on my finger for Kerin to see. Just a tiny disc with a sticky backing. I reached out, and placed it behind his ear. His hair obstructed it from view, too. I did the same to the back of my left ear, and smiled happily.

'Uuu! There! Br--Kerin, now we can have a...A...Private convo!' I thought. Only, it was no longer a private thought. It was spoken as clear as day, right into Kerin's head. It worked both ways, too.

"Mew!"


Chapter 2 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

I saw Paris glare at me from the other side of Xavier, but I only shrugged in return. If she really thought she could scare me off thgat easily, she had another thing coming. Smoothing Xavier's wrist with my index finger in a calming motion, i planted my other hand on my hat. Normally, i would keep my witch hat low enough to hide faces from my view. So people couldn't see my eyes shift red. I lifted my hat up ever so slightly, to watch Natruo. He was getting real comfortable with Amelia. A little too comfortable to my tastes. But i didn't intervene like many were probably thinking. I just sat in silence like when i first got onto the helicopter. Only now, I took in my own silence, to study Natruo. Twice i had seen him previous to now. Both occassions, after my participation in the Population Games. So, my question was why he was accompanying us now? Maybe because of Amelia, but that still didn't make quite enough sense. I thought this through, right until Raike disrupted Ryuu's decision to fight Natruo. I immediately disagreed with this outburst.

"Raike," I said, fixating my eyes onto him. I didn't realize they were still a bloody red. "It's his decision. I would rather you not..Express your opinion."

The second i was done addressing the human, i lowered my vision to the floor. I could feel a sort of slithering sensation in my left arm. That just happened to be the one closest to Xavier. Hence the 'slithering', i glanced to find myself looking into the beady eyes of my snake tattoo. This snake, wasn't any known species on Earth, so i didn't have a name to call it in front of everyone. Lucifier, was the name i privately used. It's skin was a canvas of star-shaped holes, which were the windows to my real skin. The rest of the snake, was black. I watched with mild interest, as it's head slid down right to my hand. It was looking at Xavier's hand now, like a target.

Just when it looked like it was going to slither right off my skin, I used my other hand to cup around it's head. Immediately, the rest of it's long body began thrashing around on my skin like a real snake. It's tail was up to my shoulder. I took my left hand off of Xavier's wrist, and placed it on my lap. "....." A light hissing sound was beginning to emit from my arm. But, you'd have to be rather close to hear it. Well, and it would have to be quiet.

Kerin blinked a few times as Marisa put this thing behind his ear. What was it, a microphone? A parasite? One of those fake earrings? Marisa put one behind her own so Kerin wasn't too worried.

"Kerin, now we can have a... a... Private convo!" Kerin heard Marisa's voice echo in his head. Kerin rubbed his finger over the device. So it... was attached to his brain? That sounded too silly to be actually possible. Although, Kerin would never have believed 3 years ago if someone told him that he would be a vampire in the near future. He smiled. So... how did it work? Marisa hadn't said anything, did she just think it? Wait, if that was the case, was whatever he was thinking getting transmitted into her ear? Aah! The whole thing was just damn confusing!

'H-hello?' he thought quite stupidly. Was this how it worked? 'Can you... hear me?'

Geez, he felt stupid. And now, if Kerin guessed how this thing worked, Marisa knew he felt stupid. Great!

"Oh, sorry Bern, I forgot we don't have freedom of speech anymore...tch"

-He had seen her blood red eyes staring into his, but he wasn't intimidated by them, or her. It was just that there was no point in trying to hold Ryuu back, and frankly, Raike wondered why he had even cared to say something in the first place. He scowled, and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and crossing his arms once more. His breathing became more controlled, as if he was sleeping. In his mind, he began to think of a way to escape the game.

He had a feeling the fields closest to the walls of the arena were littered with mines and other deterents. The forests were probably even worse, who knew what could be hiding in there. How did the gods get their power, or did they have any weakness at all? These questions began to frustrate Raike, the more he contemplated them. Another question popped into his head, "How would he survive?" He sighed, knowing he would probably have to use all of his wit to get through this one.-

(ooc: long post ahoy!)

Chapter 2 - Marisa (x) Kerin - Vampire District Joint Post

I tilted my head at how awkward his thoughts were sending out. I knew why, but i always found it amusing.

'Uuu, no worries, br--- Kerin-sama! I can only hear the thoughts you allow me to hear! Haiiiii!!!' In reality, i gave him a short, happy wave. 'Nows! You had a question mark face.' I did my own, cute impression by doing a double-take. I laughed almost immediately. An adorable giggle which sounded like someone was getting tickled with a puppy.



Kerin gave her a warm smile back. Well, at least she wasn't worried about this Natruo guy that much. Which meant Kerin shouldn't be either. Anything she was scared of was something normal. Anything she was completely terrified of was something worrying. And anything that didn't waver that cute smile of hers was something that shouldn't be worried too much about.

'Oh good,' Kerin... thought back at her. Well at least his private thoughts could be kept that; private. He wouldn't want her seeing some mopey Kerin when the conversation would change to something that would spark a memory or something. 'So, uh, um, what exactly is going on? And who exactly is this Natruo guy and why is he here? And where are we going?' It probably would have helped if he watched at least one of these things. Ugh, stupid Kerin.



'Going on? There are lots and lots going on~!' I gave him a huge smile, before hugging my skinny arms around him. "Umms~ Natruo is a God! The one in charge of the games, Kerin-sama. So... Don't anger him, pwease.' I looked off in said God's direction. 'Its best not to show fear, sir. He takes advantage of that. But, he's the most scariest thing besides the president, sir. Very, very scary.'

I paused. I really hoped he knew who the president was. 'Um. I think he was ordered to spy on us. And we're going to the God's District. Mostly for training. Mew.'



A god, huh? Kerin nodded along as Marisa thought to him all he needed to know. Okay, so don't piss the god off and don't be scared of him. He could do that, probably. Maybe. Probably! Definitely! Yes, for Marisa, he would. But the scariest thing besides the president? Kerin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. This guy was tough, though really... he didn't look like it. If he wanted to freak Kerin out, he would need to be a massive, fire breathing dragon with loads of poisonous barbs and maybe some wings. To be compared and placed next to the president, he seemed like nothing. If he was almost as scary as him, why wasn't this Natruo guy destroying regions and creating natural disasters or something else god-like?

'Training?' Kerin looked over at Marisa. 'What... do we need training for?'



I noticed the look he gave Natruo, and immediately spoke up. 'Just wait until someone gets on his bad side on ground, sir. You'll see. He's not allowed to go blowing stuff up, because... When we're not entertaining the Gods by dying, um... We're their slaves. We make stuff for them. From limber to jewelry... Can't have injured slaves, right? That's why hospitals are so minimal. They don't need a slave with their arm missing. Natruo brings them to the Gods District, and kills them...' I shuddered at the thought and without meaning to, added to my fears. '...When you die, they take the wings and make them into clothing. Your hair makes wigs. Your eyeballs are played around with, so some God has sight. Your limbs might even be used by an amputee.'

I nuzzled into Kerin as gruesome images surged through my brain. Thankfully, i was conscious enough not to pop them into his mind. 'Training so even weak people like me, can put up a good show. They like it... Bloody.'



Kerin narrowed his eyes and looked back at Marisa as she hugged him harder. Disgusting. Gods were disgusting. And better yet, they were going to the district to train. What could he learn while he was there? Kerin was already okay with fighting and nothing could really make him stronger than he already was; he could break a bone with little effort if he had to. Magic? Kerin had never shown any sign of that, despite a vampire's natural talent and him being one (though he would happily give up an arm to change that). Though what would Marisa learn? How to dodge? How to defend? She didn't seem to have the muscle for offence unless she was hiding something.

'It's okay, I'll make sure they won't hurt you,' Kerin smiled at her, making sure his thoughts were well heard. He meant it. He just hoped Natruo didn't plan on taking Marisa out first. Kerin would risk his life, yes, but he doubt he could keep his promise if there was a full frontal attack on her. He would need Fang's help if that happened. Who had been silent the whole helicopter ride. Kerin's eyes hovered over Fang for a second before back to Marisa, smiling again.



When i looked back up at Kerin, he was smiling down at me... So i smiled back. His smile showed, that he thought everything was going to be okay. That somehow, he could save us both from death. I saw his gaze trail to Fang momentarily. I had taken a look his way beforehand, and he had been sitting there like a statue. Arms and heels crossed, with a look of pure concentration creasing his face as he stared down at his shoes.

'Uu. Fang's good. He's just in deep thought, is all!' I reassured Kerin, nodding. Everything had grown silent in the helicopter, except for the occassional disagreement or weak conversation. I looked in Bern's direction, to see red eyes looking past me, to Raike. A shiver immediately ran down my spine. Her eye color had changed from emerald, to ruby. Well, more like the color of blood. It was the same shade as Fang's eyes, too. As i watched her talk, a look of alarm and horror spread throughout my face. I watched the snake tattoo do it's wiggling dance on her arm. That wasn't what bothered me.

'Kerin-sama. Don't look at Bern or show alarm, please.' I thought, quickly curling my body inward to remove my expression. 'Her eyes were red when i saw them... And...Hauu...' I placed my chin, right onto the vampire's shoulder.

'I saw fangs. And... She's a demon, isn't she? Hau au au... Did you see the snake on her arm?'



Kerin slowly glanced over at Bernkastel and did indeed see the snake but it didn't strike him as that odd. A moving snake on the wrist might be bad omen or something, but this was coming from a demon who had just summoned a rather larger and more sinister demon barely an hour ago. And her eyes being red? Though he didn't know what the usual demon's eye colour was, he saw plenty of red eyed vampires. So what if they could change colour? Kerin's own brother Axel claimed his own hazel ones changed in the light or with his mood or some other kind of garbage. Maybe it was a less drastic change (from brown to a greeny-brown rather than that dimmer colour Bernkastel's were to red), but it didn't bother Kerin that much. His eyes drifted back to Marisa. Should he be worried?

'As far as I know,' Kerin shrugged. 'She summoned that demon before, is the snake another summon maybe?'



I squinted my eyes curiously. He was serious about never watching the Population Games before... I guess i would have to change that. He didn't seem to understand what tattoos meant to a demon.

'Uu. Kerin-sama... Yup, a summoning, but she isn't doing it willingly. Um... How to explain...' I closed my eyes and laid against Kerin in a tiny ball. 'Wells! When we're in the God's District, i'm gonna show you the previous games! We need to get her as an ally real bad, br-Kerin-sama.' I paused to think, and played with Kerin's fingers with my tiny pair.

'Let's invite her out to the roof tonight! Au! Au!'



Kerin gave her a sheepish smile and nodded. That would be a good thing, since he knew next to nothing about the whole deal compared to everyone else. And... not willingly?

'How do you know she isn't? What, the snake has its own brain? So what is it?' He nodded back at her request to team up with her. Fang had the right idea with that and Kerin himself had thought the very same thought several times. 'Wait, tonight? What are we doing other than training?'



'Uu. The snake is like that demon she summoned earlier. A real demon from the...Underworld, Kerin-sama. She's covering it's eyes. It was trying to go onto that boy's arm.' I was talking about Xavier. The boy who had wacked his head against the walls. The one who was just as emotionless as Bernkastel.

'For a few days we train, and then we do an interview! Today we're not training. Today we're meeting our stylists and getting a tour of where we're staying. Like...A leisure! Tonight we can have a little party on the rooftop!' Bern will be able to do anything!'



'Onto his arm? Okay... Uh, why?' Kerin's eyes drifted back to the snake on the arm. He almost laughed at himself. Marisa, despite how young she looked, knew a heck of a lot more than Kerin did about anything. That was probably because he had done nothing with his life as a human and less than that as a vampire. Or maybe he was just stupid. Probably that.

Kerin's eyes drifted back to Bernkastel's face when Marisa mentioned her name. He felt a small knot form in his stomach. She was definitely planning something, was she going to do her thing tonight? Kerin kept the thought to himself; he didn't want Marisa worrying over anything.



I let out a soft giggle. Alright, i knew alot, but not everything. 'I can't read snake brains if that's what you're thinking, Kerin-sama. I only know a tiny bit about Bern, but... She's very mysterious.... Uu! I think we're close to landing!' I beamed. Finally, we could see the sky and breathe fresh air... I looked forward to that the most.

Chapter 2 - Natruo, The Game Designer - God District

"Hm, you don't say..." I grinned at Ryuu. Not because i was happy, but because it amused me to hear his opinion on the outcome. Ha... Haha. I knew how it was going to turn out, so i simply threw my head back and grinned at the ceiling. "Family, hm... I guess that won't be a problem with you. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, so i only hold back sevent-five percent of my strength~" I paused when i felt the helicopter tilt a fraction to my left. I looked down at the floor, and then at my watch; my grin turning into a frown. "Damn. It already began storming..." Great. Wonderful. My schedule was ruined. "Midnight, training court. I doubt you'll be late." The helicopter lurched severely to the right, and i grunted. "Good God... I'll kill these pilots if they so much as tilt this thing more than forty-five degrees..."

Chapter 2 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

I shivered in Natruo's grip. His body was so cold, even though the helicopter's insides were so... Heated. How his skin could become so chilled, was another point to how reptile-like he was. The eyes. The hair. The muscles that protected him like scales... A snake. No, a dragon. That's what he was. Some cold serpent.

I swallowed, and hesitantly began to pull away from him. Immediately, i was attracted back like glue. I tried again, and this time, i was rewarded. His arm slid away from me, and i scooted over so i was back beside Raike. My heart was in overdrive by how terrified i was. Practically everyone was scary. Bern with her high-standing streak, Ryuu with his fists and rotten words. Natruo because he was the Game Designer... Even Marisa was creeping me out. If only i could find a way to touch her... Then i'd know who she really was. If she was some sort of rabid animal underneath all that pure white fluff of joy...

Abnormal.'

The perfect word to describe Bernkastel Vermilia, at the moment. First, she had engaged combat with Ryuu, which was abnormal. Second, she had thrown an arrow between Paris and him before, which was abnormal. Third, she had talked longer than expected, which was abnormal. And now, Bernkastel had moved out of her seat, over to the seat next to Xavier's, sat down in it, and began to lightly rub his wrist, which, you guessed it, was abnormal. Why was she acting like this so suddenly? She had always seemed to be so .....collected? Was that the right word to use, for the comparison? Hm....

Xavier's eyes trailed down from her face, down to his wrist; more specifically, Bernkastel's thumb moving in circles on his wrist. It was soft, and gentle as it moved throughout the spot. It was....oddly soothing. He let her continue the action, as his eyes trailed from the thumb, back to reality. Back to what was happening in the helicopter. Had they even taken off yet? "......" Of course, the first thing he heard when he came back into tune, was this, "Is that an open invitation?". It was the village idiot, Ryuu.

Xavier almost rolled his eyes at the pathetic little excuse of a creature, but his hair had moved out of his eyes; can't let anyone see him do that. They didn't deserve to see him make an emotion. Nobody does. He just wanted to be left alone in his house anyway, but NO. The gods have to go make a little conspiracy theory that he'd be a rebel. Idiots. How could they expect him to be a rebel, when he had only met a human being, when he was eligible for the reaping? Oh well, now where were we? Oh, looks like the God had heard the idiot's question.

"Hm? Ryuu, was it? How about you stay silent, stay non-violent for now? I don't feel like messing up my clothing, to mess with you now. Wait..."

Praise the lord, for that. The pompous little ass-hat, Ryuu, was going to get what was coming to him. He was going to be massacred first hand. Xavier wanted to be able to see that, but sadly, he wouldn't be able to. I mean if Ryuu's a competitor, the fight would be held under-wraps, right? So Natruo could get away with it....Wait. Did he just see a flash of red come from Bernkastel?

Blinking, Xavier slowly swiveled in his seat, and turned to look directly at Bern. He could see her eyes have shifted from her old emerald eyes, and to a ruby color. Wait. When did this happen? But most importantly, why did this happen? It doesn't really make any sense why her pigmentation would change so suddenly....

Xavier decided to ask her about it. "...............Bern? Why are your eyes red.......?" He tilted his head ever so lightly at her.

Chapter 2 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

My gaze shifted to Xavier in alarm. My eyes?! Opening my mouth slightly to protest, but only coming short with a swallow. My eyes were red. Right. Red, not green. Ruby, not emerald. Pretty creepy for a demon. I exhaled deeply, and my expression calmed to a blank.

"Red? I believe you've gone around the bend... They've always been green..." I pinched the snake tattoo by the head, with the edge of my mouth flinching in pain. It did the trick. My eyes were green again. I looked up, as if to inspect the lighting. ".... How about now? It's just the lighting, i'll bet..." I glanced around. Who else had seen? I doubted i could convince more than one person that it was crappy lighting. Red was a much different color from green. 'Thanks, Lucifier. Just what i needed.'

Lucifier was going crazy on my arm. It looked rather pissed with me. I honestly didn't care. I didn't need it changing my eye-color. Under my breath, i quickly breathed out;

"Speaking there of a Viper's fang, not needed is the poison. Take hidden. Take refuge, beneath thy soul." Lucifier really did not like this. Hissing loud enough for maybe Xavier to hear, he squirmed up my arm, to my collarbone, and disappeared head-first into my left side. I acted indifferent.

"... I do hope we land soon... I'm beginning to get a headache,"

If Xavier's hair was out of the way, Bernkastel would've been able to see the surprise in his eyes. They were lightly widened, and they blinked rapidly in utter confusion. Since when was Bernkastel of all the people in the world, surprised? It didn't quite figure up to her, reputation, persay. Bern was blank, just like him. Again, it didn't make even a fraction of a sense. "......"

"Red? I believe you've gone around the bend... They've always been green..."

"........?" Xavier continued to blink even quicker, when she questioned his sanity. That was just plain rude. Xavier is a person who experiments, and his best observation tool, is in fact, his eyes. His eyes didn't deceive him, and he knows it. He just does. "....I doubt it Bern....You're eyes pigmentation, was in fact, red. I'm not dumb...." Xavier turned his gaze to the ceiling, but his ears tuned in to Bernkastel's whispering, and the small hissing sound emanating from her. Inwardly, he sighed. Xavier was going to have to ask her about it later, it seemed. ".....Me too....."