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

Rai reflected back on the events that recently happened and how he got onto the train. He remembered the leader's daughter, he even saw her slap her mother, probably because she sent her off to her likely death. The other two people selected, another male with blue tips at the end of his wings and a shorthaired girl with gray wings, and he wished that he could've had a prideful walk towards the train. A few seconds after the rest of them had sat down; Amelia was placed or dropped on her seat.

After Amelia was dropped the guard who was with her then said, "Those TV monitors are going to be displaying the reaping recaps of everyone who was picked from each district. Our own district will also be displayed. Do not cause any problems on the train ride and everything will go smoothly. Tell Ms. Kunjui when she wakes up. Good luck to you all."

Rai peeped at Amelia on her seat, moving out of discomfort and that just symbolized that the taser's effect was wearing off. Rai then simply scoped out the competition, with no one else concentrating on anything besides Amelia. Rai saw the girl stand up and simply shrug off her pain, and Rai made a mental note to watch out for her, because she had potential.

The other girl looked upon Amelia with loathing, it would seem she had something against Amelia and by his hypothesis, she was probably rebellious, and he laughed on his insides thinking about two opposites both in the same competition, well, as far as he knew. Rai then watched Amelia walk to Shizuka, and then the other girl, he remembered that her name was Pewita, or Pewi he thought she liked to be called.


"Yo, Kaito, right? Why are ya hanging over here and not with the others?" Pewita said as she slid down a bit too close to him and blinked her violet eyes at him. "Pretty interesting, the selections this year." She added as she moved a hand through her hair.

Kaito then looked at her from head to toe, and just when he was about to act with hostility, he remembered that these were death games and that friendship would be very useful to him, at least until he was done with her. " I'm not good with people." Rai said replying to her first question.


"You can call me Rai, I hate my birth name. Also, interesting isn't something that could even encompass the fact that we have Ms. Dollfaced over there." Rai said while smiling at her, turning on the charm that he had but never showed.

Rai then made a mental note to become Shizu's ally, just to make sure that he wouldn't be defenseless.


Rai then began thinking about the other reapings as he saw the other races then picking their own contestants.

Rai then examined two female participants that had gone on stage. Shiro and Marisa were their names, at least as far as Rai knew.

"Marisa is more than she seems, she is probably very powerful and Shiro, is a bit off his rocker if I had to say so." Rai simply thought to himself.

Chapter 1 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

I was hardly fazed by his cleaner threats, and I simply sat there as he coaxed words of death into my ear and mind. A smile crawled onto my face ever so lightly, and my eyes became brighter. "Looks like this year will be adrenaline-rushing...I do not scare over death, Ryuu. I scare that my plans work too well to be legal." That was it. With those words, I had sealed the fact that Ryuu was my enemy, and not one to help. "Two people to kill now, I suppose. Thank you for the compliment, but, I do not flatter others when they are not in the least bit needed in flattery. Watch the trees above your head." I finished, watching him walk off.

The air was now a little tense, and I picked up my tea cup, only to set it back down without a taste. "Hm...He made my tea run cold. Such a waste..." I looked at Xavier, as he muttered something to himself, and I gave a curious look into his face. "You think so too, hm?" I lean closer to Xavier. "How about we form an alliance? We will both gain from it, and..." I pause to look at Ryuu, who seemed to now be occupied. "If we end up being the final two, you will not have to worry about me overtaking you. You help me take out the enemies, and I will protect your back for the crown."

Chapter 1 - Pewita Humoi - Angel District

Squinting my eyes at Rai, I couldn't help but let out a smile. "Rai? Oddly enough, I prefer that name as well." What was he getting at...? I tucked the hair on my left side behind my ear, and glanced at Amelia whom was talking with Shizu. "Amelia? Yea, I wasn't expecting that either. Remind me to kill her off first, will you?" I smirked, and leaned back just as a nervous female servant placed a tray of sweets at our table. I stared at them for a moment; the lush chocolate cake looked good...But so did that apple crisp...What about those lemon squares? They all seemed rather expensive, but I held back my hand and only looked.

Chapter 1 - Bernkastel Vermillia (x) Xavier Harrah - Demon District (Joint Post)

Waiting for his answer, Bern fiddled with her tea cup, anc carefully examined the patterns woven into the rim. Of course, it was a 50-50 chance of his answer, so it may have been luck that he had agreed. As soon as he did, he immediately turned back to the window. Not good. I stood up abruptly, and flattened down my long black skirt. "No time to day dream. When we get to district five, we won't have very much time for chatting. Come along." Without even checking to see his reaction, I walked out of our gathering of chairs, and went to the very back of the compartment. Before a servant could stop me, I ripped the door open, and jumped along the iron pole keeping the train together. I slid away from the males grip and shouts, and disappeared into the next, empty compartment. Those servants should have expected something like this to happen, because I had done this exact same thing the other two times.

Xavier watched as Bernkastel waltzed over into the other compartment,despite the servant's yells to stop. Bold is what she was. Well, people would be suspicious if they just went into another cabin alone so......He decided to put other thoughts of what they were going to do. A red blush and a flustered expression was faked by Xavier and he ran into the cabin.

~~~~~~~~

The pair of us appeared back in the compartment with everyone else about twenty minutes later; hands locked together.

I nodded at Xavier, and my expression quickly changed from it's previous emotion, to blankness when I felt Ryuu's eyes upon us. "...." I kept Xavier's hand in my own, and pulled him along back to our section of the compartment. Looking outside the unblocked windows, we were passing through the vampire district. Meaning, we were only a about ten minutes away from being in district five.

Xavier almost shot a glare at Ryuu, but quickly turned his gaze to Bernkastel's hand when they sat down. He was playing with her finger's; awaiting to stop in district five.

Chapter 1 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

(I'll edit this later)

Ryuu sat for what seemed like hours to him. He did not take sitting down easily. He was a man of action, and sitting still was something he couldn't do, especially when he was in one of his 'moods', the mood for killing had been strong in him all morning, and his bloodlust was getting worse the more he thought about Bernkastel.

Suddenly, something happened. Bernkastel and Xavier had gone towards one of the other cabins. Ryuu sat up, thinking he would do something. He wanted to do something. Sitting for so long did not sit well with him. It wasn't long, though, before he realized what was really going on. He shook his head, and slumped back in his chair, his eyes gazing at Bernkastel and Xavier.

I suppose everyone has needs, maybe some a but stronger than others. It's too bad they won't last long enough to enjoy it. Ryuu thought to himself.

He looked out of the window, impatient as ever. He decided he couldn't sit any long. He sat up and started pacing back and forth through the corridor of the moving train, his eyes occasionally glancing at the two of them. His fists were in balls. To him, they were ants, and not just because Ryuu was a giant among them in stature, but he knew he could crush them like toothpicks given the chance, and there will be a chance.

Never releasing his eyes from the other two across the way, Rai then picked out his competition from the taps, just from a look, Shiro, Marissa, Amelia, Bernkastel, Jin, Shizu, Amelia and Ryuu. This year's competition would be intense to say the least. Amelia had pain tolerance, which was a very useful weapon, especially in these games.

Pewita then squinted her eyes at Rai, and then she smiled saying, "Rai? Oddly enough, I prefer that name as well." She tucked some of her hair behind her ear and then she glanced at Amelia whom was talking with Shizuka. "Amelia? Yea, I wasn't expecting that either. Remind me to kill her off first, will you?" she then smirked.

He let his mind go to reading Shizuka's lips and he saw something about watching backs, and he knew that a pact was made, and he already thought to himself, "This is unfair!!! The games hadn't started yet and he's already forming alliances!! Well, then, two can play at this game."

Rai's notion that Pewita had some sort of grudge, or dislike for Amelia, who he personally didn't have anything against did not play in his favor, besides that, but in order to have a pawn in his game of chess, he had to play along, saying, "I will remind you and even assist you if you need it, which I doubt you do need, if you decide to help me out. I need someone to depend on, someone to watch my back, and I will return the favor. Will you help me out?" Rai then held out his hand as a show of friendship.

Pewita then leaned back just as a female servant nervously placed a tray filled with sweets at our table. Pewita then stared at them for a moment, Rai only craving the lemon squares then added with a small smile, "Hungry? I'm craving some of these foods, of course, I'll let you pick first."

Shizu then began strolling over to Rai and Pewita, and Rai then smiled thinking to himself as he began forming a plan on how to ally with Shizuka, "Mr. Rook, welcome to the games."

Chapter 1 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

There was a silence that followed soon after my announcement on competition, but Shizuka broke that silence, with what was a pact of truce in the arena. The way he worded it, sounded as though he was asking something like this:

"We're going to make a truce, but once you're not useful anymore I'll get rid of you and win myself."

This did not go unseen by myself, as I answered with a smile. "Oh, I'll probably be killed off long before that should happen. But yes, I accept the truce." It was a brief decision, but it was better than going into the arena alone; especially after overhearing the plans this year from my mother. Really, my truces were going for more than just those in the angel district. Though this may be her first time meeting demons, humans, and vampires in person...Well, the daughter of the government leader got special privileges, to say the least. Just because we had a truce, did not mean I was obligated to share information with him, which would be the difference between life and death. Only I and two others going into the arena knew this certain piece of info, so it would be obvious that I already had a truce with them; even before I was announced as a participant. It was a good skill, to think ahead.

Gingerly, I decided to keep my distance from the grouping of participants, and I sat down on the opposite end as not to bother them. It was quite obvious that Pewita and Kaito had a truce already, so that meant there were two teams in the angel district. My thoughts trailed off to the plate of delicate sweets placed before me, and I dipped my finger into the frosting of a chocolate cupcake. I licked my finger experimentally, and smiled. "Sweet."

Chapter 1 - Pewita Humoi - Angel District

'Well, that was rather easy...' I thought, partly listening to Rai, while the other half homed in on Amelia's conversation with Shizuka. When my ears began to buzz, I knew that it wouldn't be possible to take in two seperate conversations at a time. My attention went fully back to Rai, as he finished his little proclaimation. I hardly hesitated, and answered quickly before Shizuka came over from my other side. "Sure." I then reached over and grabbed the first finger-food I saw, which was the lemon square. Normally I would not eat sweets, but I suppose hunger got the best of me. I bit into the dessert, and I made a noise which was me being surprised by how sweet it was. I swallowed down my bite, before unpolitely shoving the rest in my mouth before Shizuka could even see a hint of my pleasure in lemon squares. He was with Amelia, so he was to be treated like he was Amelia herself. Of course, it seemed Rai had different plans seperate from mine, as he eyed the other boy. 'Don't make too many alliances, bud. You're gonna end up breaking a few, and people will be pissed. Like I am now.'

Chapter 2 - Meet Your Allies and Enemies

Summary:
You all have arrived in District Five. It is a place spilling to the core in misfit Gods that are set to work bringing you to your own personal hell, so I would act as polite as you possibly can. These people will be the first to judge you, so you do not want to make bad impressions on them. What with being in a tight compartment with the people you are either going to murder, or be murdered by, there will definitely be some tension. Will you be willing to make light conversation, or will you stay silent throughout the trip?

What Will Be Happening?:
* You will be arriving in different train stations from the other districts, but that doesn't mean you get any more alone time with the other three participants in yours. Cameras will be all over the place to flim your ever move and broadcast LIVE around the world.
* You are going to be led by a group of Gods to the center of the district, where you will board a huge helicopter; best part, the other districts will be in the same helicopter, and you will be seperated only by air and a couple of bored guards at your fingertips.

Angels:

Demons:


Vampires:


Humans:

*This chapter will focus more on eyeing your neighbouring districts, and how well you will react to the situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

Within minutes of my return from our conversation, I could feel the train physically halt beneath me, even though the change in speed was so minimal. I took a look out of the window beside me, to realize just what awaited me in district five this time around. It didn't seem to have changed much since my first visit, and even if it did change, it's not like it would affect us, right? This is simply the checkpoint to go to the next continent by helicopter. Oh right. The holicopter ride. That should be pretty fun this year. Let's just hope it won't get violent like last year...From the corner of my eyes, I saw the servants beginning to gather up Paris and Ryuu. "Xavier?" I cleared my throat, and lowered my voice. "Let's not show the world just yet..." I nodded at him, so he would hopefully get at what I was hinting at. It would be better to let it out during the interviews...

Before I could add anymore, two servants came over and ordered us to prepare to leave. The moment they turned away to deal with a complaining Paris, I held Xavier's hand again, and whispered three words.

When the train finally came to a stop at the station, I let go of Xavier's hand hesitantly, and followed the other participants to the exit. The moment we stepped out onto the platform, the only thing in our view-like always-were robot cameras. They all hovered into our faces for close-ups, and their lense spun around as though they were trying to identify who we were. It was probably the most annoying thing in the world, but I would have to deal with it. I stood my ground with my face flat and emotionless, and the cameras slowly hovered away to take a better look at Paris. At least we had the celebrity here. As long as she was there, the cameras were going to be buzzing in her air-space. After all, Paris was known all over, not just in the demon district, for her modeling and awards. She had the absolute perfect body and perfect record, so news groups were probably going insane with her being in the games. I could already picture the sort of designs the games designer would plaster onto her skin. Something to show as much skin as possible, and to make her appear even more sexy. These games might just be better than my first...

Thank God it didn't take long for the Gods to show up. Like always, our leaders were two huge men. Not huge as in they were overweight, but huge as in gigantic. District five wasn't technically misfits, but people whom were too dangerous to be placed in cities. District five was pretty much a military base to keep things in order in the four districts. Don't you love how much we're completely controlled? Well, I don't, so that was why I was there. Why they were trying not a second time, but a third time to kill me. The first man was named Nixtus if I remembered correctly, but the second one's name would always slip my mind. It didn't matter. Not like we were able to talk with them without getting in trouble. Nixtus was waving the cameras away angrily, as he glared at me. Oh, maybe it would be a good time to say that I sort of...Hit him last year, I could still see the long scar across his bare upper arm. "You four are going to cooperate and follow." He said in his matter-of-fact voice. His crimson eyes scanned over to Paris, and I saw him visually flinch. Was Paris popular with the Gods as well? I suppose so. A very interesting fact that I would have to put to my advantage sometime.

So, we were off in our crammed little group. Crammed not only because Nixtus decided bring us straight through a city, but also because the cameras were being pests and literally hovering under our feet. It was like our legs were going to matter to the Gods voting, and sponsors...But, I did not object and restrained myself when one began making constant clicking noises around me. It was taking pictures of me! I pretended not to notice, but I'm pretty sure it did a worm's view of what's past my legs. Got to love these things. I didn't have to look past Ryuu to know that Paris was simply in heaven with the cameras. I could see her posing as she walked, and allowing the cameras to take pictures of every inch of her body. Though, I was unsure why anyone would want to see close-ups of her neck or nose.

The city was more like a huge factory, and it wasn't the prettiest city I've had to pleasure to walk through. The air was smoggy with factory smoke, while the streets were crowded with soldiers and workers hustling around. When I saw a wrench fly past after hitting the camera that was now rolling down my ankles, I popped a smile and ten million lenses fixated on me. Immediately, I lowered my lips as if nothing happened, and just stared at the back of Ryuu's head as we walked single file down. Xavier was behind me, so I couldn't see what he was making of all of this... Probably just as annoyed as me. Because district five is so small, it didn't take long to reach the barrier seperating the city from the helicopter platform. Remember those helicopters around a thousand years ago? Completely renewed now. I learned the hard way that these things came equiped with weapons on the INSIDE. I rubbed my shoulder unconsciously, and eyed the clump of metal. Helicopters were now made soundless, but from inside they still made a slight buzz. Apparently old helicopters were so loud, people would have to cover their ears and they could be heard from miles away. Not this one. This one was sorta shaped...Like a taco. A taco with insect legs and propellers on the top and sides. Good image? Well, I think the designers could have made it a little more eye-positive.

Armed soldiers were lined up from us to the helicopter; as if they really expected us to attempt escape now. Slowly, we were lead to the honking hole that led inside, and were pushed in one after another. What surprised me, is that this year, we weren't the second ones to arrive. Inside I found eight people looking at us. The vampires obviously, but also the humans. I raised my eyebrows, but didn't say a word as I slid in beside the girl named Marisa. The room was an exact square, and leather benches were rounding it. Only three walls were visible, but as soon as everyone was aboard, the fourth wall would slide into place and we would be trapped like a rat in a mouse trap. I placed my hands on my lap, and took a quick glance at everyone. Marisa looked completely terrified sitting beside me. Shiro, the girl beside her was looking at me with bloodthirsty eyes, and Nokoto...Looked completely content. A very interesting group this year. How many times have a said interesting?

Well, it didn't matter. It wasn't like it was exciting. Just...eye-catching? I didn't use the word this time. Remind me to expand my vocabulary, would you? I began taking low breaths, and that's when I smelt it. Roses so strong it was intoxicating. I looked up to find a white rose being held towards me by...Nixtus. He had an evil smirk on his face, Man, the Gods really can hold grudges, couldn't they? Without any warning, he pushed the thorned stem of the rose down my shirt and between my breasts so only the glossy petals were visible, while tossing a small candy on my lapel. "Die this time around, will ya?" He patted my cheek harshly, and roared with laughter. "I bet alot on you dying this year! Don't ruin my wins, Be-rn-ka-st-el~" With that, he quickly stomped out of the helicopter, and I was left there stunned and staring at the small candy. Looking closely...Heh. Caramel. Caramel which would have milk as an ingredient. The son of a...I took the candy between my fingers, and looked at the wrapper, before tossing it into Marisa's hands boringly. "Enjoy." I muttered, not even bothering to remove the rose now scratching at my chest. These guys really couldn't wait for me to die.

Ryuu's heart was pounding as he felt the train slowly come to a halt. He was beyond excited. This was what he had wanted to do for years: pummel the other races to a crisp, especially the angels and humans. He knew he would soon get his chance. Finally, Ryuu would settle for not just murdering his own kind, but the lesser races as well.

Ryuu is a killer. His lust for blood and urge to harm stems since he was little, and it doesn't quell, no matter what. However, killing his own race, which he still finds fascinating, leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but the feeling of soon killing the lesser races made his heart race, and his mind wander. In a while, Ryuu would soon have the time of his life.

As the train halted, a servant came up to Ryuu and told him to get off. Ryuu never liked to be commanded, but felt obliged to contain himself for later. Ryuu stepped out of the train, not exactly sure what he would have to prepare for. Ryuu was suddenly flooded with robot cameras. Although he didn't mind the attention at first, he found himself getting annoyed, very fast. He felt his arm rising up on instinct to tear up one of the cameras, but stayed it. He knew it wouldn't be a good idea to cause a ruckus, not right now, at least. Ryuu wore a somewhat angry expression on his face, but he was also beyond excited. The Reaping was going to be the best times of his life, he knew it, and if he would die there, he would die doing what he loved: beating people to a pulp.

Ryuu smiled a bit as he noticed most of the cameras were around Paris. A fact he was thankful for, as they brought the cameras a bit away from his face. Still, some hovered around him. He took a quick look around, then grabbed one of the cameras and threw it off to the side. Ryuu hoped no one noticed that. Normally he wouldn't care, but this was a delicate situation.

It was then that two "men" showed up, if you can call them that. They stood a bit higher than Ryuu, and Ryuu was already a giant among the others. But Ryuu wasn't intimidated. He never was. One of the two Gods spoke, but Ryuu wasn't really paying attention, so he didn't hear what he said. He followed, silently, holding back a smile on his face. Then suddenly, he heard clicking noises. He looked around the see the cameras hovering around, taking pictures of him.

That's it, he thought. Ryuu had done his best to control himself, but he couldn't stand doing nothing any long. He grabbed one of the hovering cameras and ripped it apart, then threw it to the ground. An angry expression on his face, he halted in the line for a second, examining the other cameras, before calming himself and continuing. He walked through the city, looking more like a factory, but Ryuu didn't really pay attention anyways. He was more mentally visualizing the coming up games in his mind than he was the city. They reached the barrier of the city, and proceeded to a helicopter. Going into the helicopter, Ryuu barely made sense of anything else around him, until he got inside.

There sitting were eight people, four of them vampires, and four of them..humans, Ryuu thought in his mind. Ryuu looked at the humans and a made a face of disgust. He didn't know he had to share a ride with these lesser races. Then, he smiled at them. Perhaps Ryuu would get a chance to do some exercise before the Reaping began.

Ryuu sat down at the end of some vampires, not willing to sit next to any humans, but sat across from them, not eying them with a smile. He eyed particularly at one name Nokoto, and another named Raike. He was easily larger and taller than any of them. In fact, he was probably larger and taller than anyone in the whole helicopter, a fact he was proud of. The race Ryuu hated the most were the humans. So much more than the others, in fact. It was beyond prejudice, or hate. It was despise. He looked at them as unworthy as even his servants. He looked at them as less than dirt itself. Ryuu carefully contemplated how to go about this. He could attempt to kill them now, but that would ruin the whole occasion of the games. Then again, Ryuu wasn't really much for grand occasion, although he wasn't against them either. He spoke towards the humans, in a cold voice.

"It must be terrible to be such a pathetic race. I'm curious how it feels to have to go to sleep every night as a human. Well soon, you will all be asleep, permanently..."

Ryuu waited for responses. He didn't necessarily give a sh*t what others said about him, but he liked to make it seem like he does. That way, he can have an excuse to hold a grudge, that will later turn out to haunt them. And Ryuu "The Rhino" loves, and I mean, loves hold grudges. He didn't know how all these races would react to each other here, but Ryuu had a feeling in his head: one of these people here wouldn't make it to the games, Ryuu wouldn't allow it.

"....." Silence. That is Xavier followed my conversation with Bernkastel. The only noise he could hear was the sound of the train slowing to a halt, and yet that was still quite low in volume. I guess Xavier can thank his demon blood for hearing that miniscule noise. He looked like a completely blank shell, that wasn't made for thinking, nor fighting. Some would say that gives him a disadvantage, others would claim that as an advantage. On one end, nobody can clearly estimate his strength and go in while underestimating him, but on the other end, he'd get less sponsors and while others would be getting care packages, he'd have to live off the land. Both are interesting to see play out. "...."

Once the train had finally made itself to a complete stop, Xavier immediately stood up to leave the train, but the servants were to busy dealing with the princess. No, don't actually think he's calling Paris a princess. It's called sarcasm. She always had to have things her way. She freaked out when there was about a nanometer more of sugar then she wanted before, and the servant had gotten no end to her yelling. Disgraceful. Xavier felt Bern grip his hand and whisper to him....


Xavier was the last one in line when they had exited the train, and he was met with the most annoying things he's ever seen in his life. The stupid robot cameras. Gosh, if you looked in a dictionary Xavier wrote, these mechanical monstrosities would pe the picture for annoying. Maybe you'd find them in ubnoxious too. Once the camera's made their rounds over both Ryuu and Bernkastel, they both swarmed Paris and me. They chose Paris for her entire body, but for Xavier, they just wanted to see his eyes. The camera's kept hovering not two centimeters away from Xavier's chest and would constantly look up, hoping for a chance too look at his eyes. It took all of his might not to throw one to the ground and smash it.


He saw two men approaching them and he inwardly sighed in relief. Maybe, the camera's would go swarm them instead of him. He was already at the point where he'd crush one under his feet, and he didn't need to get in trouble. They were gigantic and stood an incredible height over most in our district. Although, Xavier wasn't intimidated. It's not as if he was thinking he could beat them in a fight, but he just wasn't scared. Because of the camera's annoying the hell out of him, he didn't hear a word that the men said, but Xavier knew to follow the rest of the group. He wasn't dumb.

Xavier was keeping his eyes glued to the city around him. He was always used to the cramped, compressed piece of space that he had to live in, but this. This was incredible! Large, towering buildings were across the horizon. Like nothing Xavier had ever seen in his life! Smoke stacks filled the air, but it was still an amazing place to the demon. A new world he'd say.


At hearing the words spoken to Bernkastel, Xavier was beyond pissed off. He just wanted to go up to the man and snap his neck in half. It was bad enough to even bet a penny on someone, but when telling someone to die for the sake of money?! That's much more than revolting, that a new word needs to be made for it. How dare he say that to Bern?!

Once they boarded the helicopter, Xavier had no idea where to sit down. The seats around Bernkastel were taken, and there was no way in hell he was going to sit by Ryuu. That idiot is gonna get himself killed with his arrogance. Xavier's going to get a good laugh when he dies. Especially if it's by his hands. That would be very funny. He saw that the only open seat next to someone was Paris, and he didn't want to sit with someone from another district. Not that he was prejudice, it would just be awkward for him and the people next to him. It was going to be weird sitting next to the celebrity, but it'd have to do.

-Raike groaned as the train slowly began to cease its movement. He had given up on trying to study his opponents a few hours before, and had just tried to sleep again. Whats worse was that he had just found the perfect position for it too, which was extreemely difficult for people riding the train. He slid his legs over, and stood, grasping a pole for support while waiting for the train to stop, yawning a bit. The servent that usually called for the contestants to get ready, came, but saw that Raike was already up, and so he returned to wherever he had come from.

As soon as his boot hit the ground, he could hear the thousing clicking sounds of cameras taking pictures, as well as see the men holding video cameras. Throughout his life, he had never been very photogenic, and this? Well, it ryally pissed him off. He remebered how the situation was set, and restrained himself from attacking the camera men. When the gods came up, and began to speak, Raike zoned out, coming back to earth and hearing something about getting to some sort of chopper. He didn't know where it was, so he ended up following the rest of the group, still keeping a scowl on his face, and a hand in his pocket.

When it came into sight, and the group piled on, Raike could already feel the tension in the small space. The demons and vampires were glaring at the humans, and the angels didn't seem to be doing anything. He began to wonder why the humans had chosen to only accept angels as friends, it didn't really seem right. The demons have strength on their side, and vampires had some sort of power, he didn't know, or care to know. As he turned to look in front of him, he saw one of the demons glaring specifically at him.

-Raike stared right back, giving an even colder glare, and responding to his words with his own frigid tone.-

"Well, Horns, it feels pretty good going to sleep as a human, and also living as one. Also, I don't really plan to die here, so sorry if that put a dent in your plans or whatever. But right now, I don't have time to talk to you, Hellboy. Your threats are shallow, and boring, and you obviously have a high opinion of yourself. Just because you were the best in YOUR district, you shouldn't get too cocky, it might get you killed."

Chapter 2 - Amelia Kunjui - Angel District

Now, just because I'm the daughter of the Angel's district leader, did not mean I was prepared for the treatment we got on the ending train ride. At least half a dozen servants swarmed into the room from God knows where, and were cattling us to the main exit at the center of the train. I had been too busy thinking, to realize that we had already stopped, and the outside world was frozen back into place, instead of the blurred forest I had been watching with interest, Speed always fascinated me, especially when it came to how quickly my mother's servants could make me look to be in my thirties. Speed was so underrated....

I looked up from my little day dreaming, to find that Pewita had grabbed my wrist, and flung me to be the first to exit. What...? I was confused at first, until of course the magnetic sliding doors broke apart, and two dozen little hovering cameras shoved into my air-space. It took effort just to leave the train's opening, and even then, I couldn't see anything beyond the annoying machines. Noises were droned out from their buzzing and clicking, but a nearby smash hinted the fact that somebody had gotten irritated. But, I was too concerned with the cameras down at my feet to worry about something someone had done. "H-hey! " I nudged a few away from me with my feet, and folded my arms around me protectively. I hated cameras. Loathed them. Ever since my mother was in power; cameras everywhere. I'm pretty sure there are still pictures of me at age six, having a bath with my dogs...Somewhere in cyber-space, anyways. For some pedophiles to find. No wonder I wasn't allowed outside without a handful of guards at my disposal...

Abruptly, a wave of cameras were smashed to my left, and I felt air rush past my face. Now looking at me with snake-like eyes was probably the most dangerous people I had ever had the pleasure to do me a favour. A God. He wasn't directly from the God's district, looking at the clothing...But a powerful God nonetheless. He had a powerful upper body, and his arms were literally ripped with muscles. He must have taken out at least ten cameras with that one arm swing, because upon further examination of my left, some weren't exactly weren't built to be smashed against cement. I swallowed nervously, and to my relief, the other cameras backed away considerably to make room for yet another body-building God. They were very threatening to me, to say the least. They hadn't said anything to me, nor the other participants, so there was an awkward feeling as though we were going to end up like those scraps of clicking metal. Looking behind me, I could see Pewita, Shizuka, and Kaito in that order. Pewita's fists were bunched up in irritation, and a sparking piece of iron was at her feet. Suddenly I felt sorry for the robot.

"Sorry about the paparazzi, miss Kunjui" The first God spoke out, waving to the cameras which now formed a perfect circle around our group. His low, ghastly voice was rather intimidating as well. Thank goodness he wouldn't be in the arena...I would be dead in flat, ten seconds. But, he seemed nice enough; giving me an apology even though he was probably betting on our lives mere hours earlier. But, I wouldn't have to worry about pleasing the crowd and getting more sponsors. I always had my mom---Oh. I smacked my forehead unconsciously, and closed my eyes. Right...Sort of *****-slapped my own mother back there...Not good sponsor-wise in her pockets...And I doubt she would have a change in heart after saying that I hated her. I really had to watch my mouth when it came to literal life-or-death situations....

I muttered something under my breath, but even I did not know what I was supposed to mean. With my royalty appearance, I probably had next to none on the sponsors scale. Sponsors money, equals wheither I die from starvation or poisoning....I better stay clear of suspicious plants, then...Unless Shizuka would be kind enough to lend some of his medicine. But what could I give in return? Probably only a limb body within a day. Which, brought up another question. Why make a truce with me of all people? I wasn't even on the chart for 'likely winners'!

I nodded slowly to the God, before lowering my lips into a frown of disappointment. I really wasn't going to last long in the arena. Especially if what I heard was true. I needed more allies, and fast. The God cleared his throat, before announcing that we needed to follow the two of them to the helicopter. This may have been contradicting my previous thoughts, but...A helicopter! Probably the coolest thing the humans invented back in the rusty years. Slowly, our group moved south from the northern station, and straight through the city. Factories thirty feet high, and the size of football fields engulfed us into a narrow street filled with workers and cameras. This was not for your claustrophobic people. And the place was so...Orderly. People didn't walk down the sidewalks in clusters, but in uniformed lines of one. No cars. Just your average two feet and optional hovercraft. There were no signs of children or women, so I quickly came to the conclusion this was a sort of military base for the Gods. Honestly, I was impressed, even though these very people were the ones bringing 'order' to our own...

The fact that it took nearly half an hour to reach the helicopter port was saying something about the size of this base. But, we got there in one piece without having the cameras or Gods attack us...Which, was a good head start. As always, the helicopter waiting for us was just like what I had seen take my father away last year. Hadn't heard from him since, so most likely dead. I had a good relationship with him...A much better one compared to my mother and myself. He would have stopped my mother from scheduling unneeded enhancements, and he would just cradle me and say I was perfect just being who I was, and that no enhancements would make his love for me greater. Oh...The tears are beginning to fall down my cheeks, and I brush them away clumsily as we step up to the platform. I can't look weak already.

We are just beginning to rise into the helicopter when yet another God stomps out with a huge smirk. What was in there that made him twist his lips into such a sinister way? Cautiously, I walked up to the entrance of the helicopter, only to find twelve pairs of eyes inside. Four belonging to the vampires...Then the demons, and finally the humans. I swallowed heavily, and stumbled around for a seat. Shyly, I slid down beside a boy from the human district I remember being named Raike. And he was talking to a demon across from him. Ryuu. It seemed to be a rather intense parting of words, and I prayed deep down that there would be guards to accompany us to the Gods district. Ryuu didn't look like one for calm flight, and Raike seemed to be one that would push him right down. My eyes trailed to Bernkastel, whom had a rose down her shirt and was giving a little candy to Marisa. Those two. Those two were going to be her allies.

Chapter 2 - Nokoto Osoku - Human District

Freak.

That's the only word I could think of that would do minimal harm to such a...Freak. Of course I was talking about Jin. Miss Psycho Girl. MPG for short? After that whole incident of her almost choking me to death, they had her confined to a different part of the train. Even then, I could hear the violence and screaming. At one point, a servant came into our compartment to borrow an extinguisher. Can anyone ring out crazy for me? I'm pretty speechless myself. She must have rabies or something. Next thing I knew, the servants were suiting up and taking tazors with them whenever they went two meters close to the DOOR.

The ride was rather boring, to say the least. I was expecting maybe a little entertainment for our final days alive, but...What we got were the recaps of the reapings over and over again. Recap, survey, recap, results. That's how the televisions played out. No remotes to change the channel, and when I asked for one, all I got was a laugh by a couple of armed servants. Faust, whose real first name is Faustochi (Yes you hear me right. Even better, his parents are drug-addicts) is actually the sweetest-looking guy I've seen through all the participants in the recaps. His eyes are not sharp and bloodthirsty. A midnight blue shade, that are round and full of happiness. He may be a little on the pale side, but his lips are full and a cute pink. Couldn't you just DIE? (Not legit speaking. But if you wanted him to live, then I suppose) His hair must have been dyed, but it looks so natural, one might wonder if he is half-old. Fluffy snowflakes of hair that bounce with each lean he does. I also learned the interesting fact that he adores cooking. He went on about the difference between cupcakes and muffins, and I actually LISTENED. Not because I was simply attracted to him, but because his voice seemed to flow so nicely, it was a shame it would be broken in the games.

Raike didn't seem like much of a talker when it came to food. He was in his own little world off in the corner. I wanted to ask him to join because he looked so darn lonely, but Faust disagreed. Later on I realized why he didn't want Raike over here. He wanted to ask about becoming allies. A truce until nessesary. Of course I would accept! I mean, having a cute guy watching my back? Best thing ever. But that still led to the question of; if I make it to the end with him, will I have the guts or heart to kill him?

It had been hardly three hours, when the servants came back from an abrupt absence, and told us we were just arriving at the western station. Goodie. Couldn't wait. After that was the cool helicopter ride, right? Jin was the first to leave the train with a servant at her side. She looked rather beaten up, but not anything a few days of rest wouldn't heal. Rest? You got no rest the moment you were in district 5, apparently. The moment me, Faust, and Raike left the comfy quiet of the train, we were bombarded with fireworks of clicking, beeping, buzzing...By what? Cameras! I beamed at the sight of them, while the others sulked and waved them off. Cameras! I took one in my hand, and allowed it to sit in my palm as it took pictures of my face. When more cameras began crowding me curiously, I let go of the camera I was holding, and waved around happily. "HI MOM." I cried out. That seemed to spark the rest of the cameras away from Faust and Raike, and over to me. Now I was doing a few dancing moves to keep their attention fixated on me. I could see Faust laughing his arse off, and Jin was scowling. She didn't seem to like how only a couple cameras were looking at her.

"Stop with the damn ballet routine and grow up."

I stopped mid-spin, and completely went straight as if in a police lineup. It was offending to call it ballet, but I wasn't going to argue when I saw two heaping Gods glaring at me. One kept glancing at their watch, so I realized that they may have been waiting for me to get out of superstar mode and into reality. I wasn't doing too good, was I? I looked back at Faust, and he simply gave me a thumbs up and smile, which reassured me that I wasn't going to get beaten up. "Now before someone starts breaking into song for the stupid girl, lets get a move on." The two guards were just turning away to direct us, when a melodic voice crept through the clicking of the cameras. To defy their little funny, was Faust. Beat boxing. The two Gods looked as startled as I did. Before long, I was bursting out laughing at how silly Faust looked doing that. When Faust finished, the Gods looked so dumbfounded, that I had to add, "Looks like you got High School Musical this year."

It took longer than expected to reach the helicopter platform, what with the constant stops we had to make. About a hundred buzzing cameras followed us right up to the platform, before taking off back into the city. Seems they had reached their limits. Our little group was literally shoved towards the entrance of the machine, and stood before a group of vampire participants. Marisa, Shiro...Fang and Enix. Those were the names I remembered. It was rather awkward; finding a seat among the vampires. I ended up sitting directly beside Shiro. Faust sat on the other side of me, then Raike. Jin placed herself on the farthest corner possible from us; scratching at a tube that had been placed in her wrist. She was probably going to be drugged before the helicopter took off.

Before long, the other two districts arrived. The demon district, and then the angels. As soon as Ryuu came in, I could see the hatred pouring out of his glares. He then made a nasty comment to us, and before I could respond, Raike took the lead. Raike didn't seem like a bad person. Ryuu sounded blood-thirsty. Faust simply stayed calm, and ignored the demon. His gaze seemed to trail over to Marisa, whom looked a little more than freaked out in her circumstances. Now I was beginning to pity her. She was the youngest here, it seemed. Thirteen, while the rest of us ranged from sixteen to eighteen. But, why was she so high in the rankings? Beside her, was the infamous Bernkastel. One of the three winners of the sixth poppy games....Only one of last years. A definite challenge, but...Marisa came up in second in the votings.

Chapter 2 - Paris Junibe - Demon District

Boarding the helicopter, I frowned at the sight of the two districts already inside. They weren't taking private helicopters? Just great. Pouting, I popped myself down by the entrance, and crossed my limps; only to be accompanied by Xavier. The sexy guy from my district. My eyelashes fluttered a bit in confusion, and then my lips curled up on end. "Hey there, sweetie. Couldn't resist sitting beside me? A beautiful, sexy celeb~?" I giggled as I teased the boy, and ran a finger down his cheek. "You're a shy one~"

Chapter 2 - Bernkastel Vermillia - Demon District

Next thing I knew, Ryuu was spatting insults at the humans. Was he seriously trying to place targets over his heart and brain? If he had a brain... "Listen, brainless..." I mumbled, plucking the rose from between my breasts. The thorny bit pricked my fingers, but not enough to draw blood. The petals of the flower were perfect and glossy. "Wait until the arena to get yourself killed...." I didn't bother waiting for his reaction, as my attention turned to Xavier and...Paris. She was rolling one of her elegant fingers down his cheek, and using a rather odd tone that rolled with each sentence. A seducing tone. I didn't show any outward arguement to her flirting habits, but in my tiny soul I was seething. My knowledgeable side said it was because Paris shouldn't be getting close to people she'll have to kill. Another reason, because Xavier wasn't stupid to fall for her tricks. At least, I hope he wasn't.

Before I could think about it any further, the angels arrived. Rather late, mind you. My eyes immediately picked Amelia from the group, and watched as she nervously took a seat beside Raike. She was the only one, who knew what I knew. Well, besides...I glanced to my left, before chucking the rose like a dagger between Xavier and Paris; nearly piercing her eyes if she had leaned in any further to pluck a kiss on his cheek. The impact in which the rose hit the opposite wall, made a slight 'click' before bouncing off. The stem of the rose had made a small dent in the metal of the helicopter. Bern may have skewered Paris' eyes otherwise. "No romance." I muttered, before going back into my own little world of the arena. "...."

Kerin cringed only slightly, but lazily turned his head towards the general direction of that goddamn, stupid bell. He knew what it meant. Actually, every single person in the district knew what it meant. The Reaping. Pretty much a killfest with teenagers being the main attraction. Kerin had managed to avoid being picked for the last x amount of years but still, the process always made him anxious and then there was four, poor bastards that were picked. They were pretty much doomed, even if they won. Sighing, Kerin put down his bass guitar and wandered over to the front door. He opened it only to find a pair of guards standing outside, a line of teenagers just like Kerin behind them.

"Kerin Knight, you--" one of them started but was interrupted by Kerin's raised hand and nod of agreement and slowly joined the group of teens. The guard nodded back. "We are thankful for your co-operation."

Kerin glanced around, seeing the faces of his fellow potential fighters. He felt sorry for them. Most of them. Some of them were shaking where they stood, stumbling as the group began to walk to the government building, joining the mass of teenagers, worried parents and whoever else wanted to watch the show. Kerin felt heat rise in his chest and he clenched his fists. He just wanted to punch them, he really did. They were all sick and disgusting, thinking that sending teenagers to war was a good idea. He pushed the feelings back, as far as they could go. Creating a scene here was not a good idea.

* * *

The speeches finally started. Kerin almost knew them off by heart. They were boring, long, repetitive and... unnecessary. The speech was pretty much just "Hey kids, you're going to maybe die. Good luck, have fun!" A small girl beside of Kerin collapsed to her knees, breathing silent tears. He didn't blame her. He felt anxious himself.

"Hey," he offered her a hand, "it's gonna be okay, okay?" It really wasn't but Kerin didn't have any other words of comfort. She didn't reply, she just took his hand and whimpered softly. A few of the older teens scowled at her.

The man, that British guy with the black hair, Cal... Calzus maybe, began his half. Then the voting began. Kerin blinked as a girl jumped forward to the front before anyone's name was even called. Idiot, who would want to do this. Kerin's heart dropped as the second name was called. And the third. And then finally the fourth.

"Kerin Knight!" Calzus called out and the crowd cheered wildly. Kerin's heart moved to his throat and then down to his stomach. The guard behind him nudged him forward, pushing him further into the crowd.

"I'm going, I'm going," Kerin said, his voice wavering a little. At first thought, he was scared. At second... yup, still scared. He stepped forward through the crowd as his name rang through his ears, several hundred more times than it was said. He thought it over again. Wait, this could... perhaps be a good thing. For the past three years, Kerin had lived for nothing and now he could see if God still wanted him alive. He clenched his fists as he joined the others on stage. He was good at fighting, always had been. True, the last person he had punched in the face was some smug kid last month who had picked on some other kid, but this was his chance. It was better him than the rest of them. He looked over at the kid who had been standing next to him. She looked... relieved. Kerin smiled slightly. He had saved someone at least. He then looked over at the others who were chosen. They all looked fairly average except for the first girl, who looked all too eager and the other girl. She looked small, probably weak. Kerin frowned a little. Poor kid. The applause ended and Calzus ended the ceremony with some poor excuse for a finale.

"May the odds be forever in their favor!"

* * *

The four were quickly whisked away inside the government building by a dozen or so guards. Kerin was only able to steal glimpses of the building as his eyes adjusted to the light. It was regal, that was for sure. The four were finally dumped inside an expensive room, fit with beauty, carpets, reclining chairs and a fireplace that had all been paid for with the taxpayers money. Kerin blinked. Okay, so what now? The silence was broken by the crazy one.

"I swear to God. Get in my way, and I'll kill you all," her voice just dripped with some kind of malicious evil. Kerin clenched his teeth together, trying to keep his frustration under control. Yeah, kill the team you're on. Nice one. He forced a sneer of somesort.

"Like God has any time to listen to your oaths," he sniffed back at her, taking a seat on one of the recliners. He could tell he wasn't going to be friends with this girl. "He stuck us here, he's obviously not on our side."

Chapter 1 - Shiro (Daxity) - Vampire District

I unhinged a growl from deep in my throat, but I didn't say anything more. I didn't need to be told by some teen older than me, that God wasn't on our side. He wasn't on anyones side. And neither was I. I work along, and I don't listen to others. I watched as the oldest boy sat himself down, before I flicked my hair, rushed to the door, and began kicking at it in my frustration. Damn. I just wanted to see blood spill! Preferably, not mine.

Chapter 1 - Marisa Ryunatta - Vampire District

I let out a soft whimper at Shiro's threat, and quickly hid myself behind a leather chair the farthest away from her. Suddenly, a buzzing noise to my left caught my attention away from the boy named Kerin, and I looked up to find myself staring into the eyes of several angels. They were playing a recap of each district reaping, and....Amelia! I perked up slightly as I saw her among the four people going onto a train. Amelia, Kaito, Shizuka, and Pewita...Next came the demon district recaps, and I winced at the second name I heard. Bernkastel Vermillia. The infamous winner of not one, but two population games. She was the biggest threat. Then came the human district. Nokoto, Raike, Fausto, and Jin. "...." I whimpered even more as the screen changed to show all sixteen of the participants. Age, height, and species. I was the youngest, and the shortest... It was hopeless. All of the men up there were rather...Strong-looking. And Bernkastel? Icouldn't dream of beating her. I quickly scrambled from my seat on the floor, and into the recliner beside Kerin. Sitting on my knees with my hands over my ears. Fang, the final participant from my district, raised his eyebrows at me, then at Shiro, before turning himself to the television I was attempting to ignore. "Yo, Marisa. How'd you place second on the survey?" I blinked, twisted my face in confusion, and looked to find my picture underneath Bernkastel's. I gapped, and read the title of the survey. The Gods had voted, and this is what they had come up with. That I was the second most-likely to win the games! W-what?! "I-I..." I clamped my mouth shut, and looked down at the floor.

I had just about broken the lock on the door, when I heard Fang's question from across the room. Immediately, I turned on my heels, stomped over, and glared at the television. "WHAT. How could a pipe-squeak beat me in the standings?!" I yelled out, whipping my glare towards the small golden girl. She looked so extremely weak and frail! Sandy blonde hair, and bright gold eyes. What the hell?! "I DEMAND an explanation, goldy locks!"

Great. She was already the youngest and had a horrible disadvantage....Now false survey results which pinned a "Shoot here" sign on my back? I was certain that I would be killed the moment I was in the arena. Thanks to a bunch of 'Godly surveys'. I whimpered as Shiro began to yell at me, and I curled into him chair. "I-I don't know...!"

"Hmph! Whatever! I'm gonna kill you the minute we're in the arena just for good measure! There can only be one winner in this district anyways. And there is no way I'm dying to the tiny hands of some elementary student!"

Kerin slumped further into the chair as he heard the crazy psycho chick kick the door down. Right, okay, just destroy the room. I'm sure those guards will be pleased with your wonderful work when they get back. He glanced over at the small girl as she moved away from the psychotic one (damn, why couldn't he remember their names?). Poor girl. Seriously, out of all the people they could have picked. She was small, she was young. Kerin himself was probably a good competitor; older, probably stronger. But she was the complete opposite. They probably picked her for some reason though.

His eyes flickered over to the TV as faces began to show. None that he knew, though he could tell that they were definitely competitors. Angels. Then it switched to four other faces, quite sinister looking ones. Demons, most likely. Then the humans came up. Kerin breathed a heavy sigh as he could recognise none of them. At least his siblings were safe. Kerin hadn't spoken to them since he left. He hadn't tried either but not because he didn't want to; he didn't know how. He bit his lip a little. What would they say if they saw him again? He killed Quinn. It was his fault. He didn't think anyone would forgive him for that. Heck, Kerin didn't forgive himself. He looked back up at the TV as all of the competitor's faces appeared. He looked over at the human ones again. Nokoto. Raike. Fausto. Jin. He envied them all. He would kill to be them. He glanced over at the psychotic girl. He would kill her in an instant if it meant he could be normal again. He heard the cushion seat next to his wheeze. So the little girl had finally sat down. She looked a little scared with her hands over her ears. Kerin wanted to help her, he really did. He gave her a comforting smile but she kept her eyes elsewhere.

"Yo, Marisa. How'd you place second on the survey?" the other male competitior said, staring at the TV. Kerin shifted his focus back over to it. Indeed, she was. Below some other girl from the Demon district. So Marisa was the little girl's name. But how weird. He glanced back over to her again. So maybe she was hiding something?

"WHAT?! How could a pipe-squeak beat me in the standings?! I DEMAND an explanation, goldy locks!" The crazy girl yelled out, blocking the TV with her face that had distorted into some kind of ... angry... thing. Kerin raised his eyebrows.

"She doesn't have to explain anything to you," Kerin blinked. He could feel the blood rushing to his head. He hated it, absolutely hated it when people treated other people this way. He had spent most of his human years kicking these kinds of peoples' asses.

"I-I don't know...!" Marisa curled into her chair, obviously scared. Marisa reminded Kerin of his younger sister Nora. Nora was cute and bubbly most of the time but she scared easy and hated to be confronted or yelled at. Kerin growled a little. He always made sure Nora was protected by these kinds of creeps. He couldn't now but he could help who he could.

"Hmph! Whatever! I'm gonna kill you the minute we're in the arena just for good measure! There can only be one winner in this district anyways. And there is no way I'm dying to the tiny hands of some elementary student!" The crazy one yelled back at Marisa. That was it.

"Shut up! Just shut up! Can't you see she's scared?!" Kerin got to his feet, his hands clenched. "You can't say crap like that, you don't even know what she can do! Shut up!"

His head quickly went over what she had said. Wait, what? One winner?

"Wait, one winner or... one survivor?" Kerin stepped back a little. He had never watched these games. Weren't they just trials and you could die?

Ryuu's eyes were fixed on Raike for quite some time. He glared with hatred. He hated the very fact he was even speaking to him, but for the moment, he could handle it.

"BECAUSE I'm the best in my district, it MEANS I'm the best. Who do you think could stop me? Angels? Pathetic feathered weaklings. Vampires? Their scrawny bodies would break below my hand like toothpicks. You Humans? Don't get me started on you humans. You should be lucky you are even allowed to participate in these Reapings. As far as I'm concerned, you'll be the first to go. Then everyone else on my hit-list which..." Ryuu looked around the helicopter,"...at the moment means ALL of you. I care not what you try to do to stop me, the fact is, you can't stop me."

Ryuu briefly heard what Bernkastel said. He turned to her, but didn't speak. Instead, he looked at her face, more at her forehead, as if a target was painted on her head, and he was a bull. Ryuu sighed and turned away. Ryuu calmed a bit. He knew odds weren't in his favor if he started an all out assault right in the middle of the helicopter on ALL of them. But that didn't mean he couldn't still try to fight at least one of them. The question was, who should he kill right now, and who should he save for later. It would have to be the one who isn't much of a fight, one he could kill to satisfy his bloodlust. He wouldn't want to waste it on a stronger one, as he wanted to save them for the arena.

He looked over everyone there. He wanted to pick the one to kill wisely. He considered Raike. He was a human, and his annoying face out of the way would be great to Ryuu, but he reconsidered. It was then that he began hearing the conversations between the vampires.

Marisa, perhaps? He thought to himself. No, I wouldn't want to kill a vampire. They probably are the toughest of these batch, besides demons. He looked over Kerin, and smiled. That one. Yes, that one. No! He's a vampire as well... Ryuu had not noticed, but while trying to pick out a person to kill, Ryuu had shut off all other conversation, either coming at him or around him. He could hear his heart pound to the tapping of his foot. He had a feeling. He now didn't want to kill someone, he needed to kill someone. Ryuu continued to look around at the others. He had heard rumors that these flights didn't always turn out well. He was sure he knew why...