I ducked as someone threw a sandwich at me. I looked up to see Jay being strangled by Mune. "Have you lost your mind?!" He yelled at him. "A food fight?! That was your way of having fun?!" He only laughed.
I felt something trickle down the side of my head. I touched it and realized it to be mustard, the yellow sauce on my fingers. "Ew." I said.
"What in Lorian is going on here?" Nico asked, hiding underneath the table. Lorian? What in the world was Lorian?
"Incoming!" Lina screamed. I turned, only to have my face covered in porridge. I used my right hand to remove as much as I could off my face. Someone threw another piece of food at me, and this time I didn't even bother to check what it was.
This was starting to piss me off. I picked up a salad on Mune's plate and was about to throw it at the nearest person when a huge wave of water crashed into everyone there.
"Alright, that's enough!" Someone hollered. Everyone slowly got up in our now drenched uniforms. Five people-including Vanitas and Grai-stood on top of two tables. Each one of them looked like they were willing to bash as many heads as they wanted to the moment one of us would speak. Only Grai seemed weak.
At the edge of his mouth, a thin line of blood slowly dried as his hands were filled with the same substance. A horrid thought came to mind; had he killed someone? He glanced at me, before turning to the crowd. "Now I want to know who started it and who continued it, got it?" His voice echoed across the room. Everyone pointed at two people; Jay and another kid.
One of the people came down and walked up to Jay. The look in their eyes had me hiding behind Lina. They gave him a cool stare before replying, "Jay Kanazaki, please follow me to the head board." They turned around, and walked to the door. Jay, both terrified and confused on what to do, followed him.
Once they left the room, another person came down and walked to the other kid. "Luke Williams, please follow me to the head board." Just like the other two, they walked out. The doors slammed shut, causing Lina to slightly jump.
"You are given five more minutes before heading to your next task." Vanitas spoke. His face held the same cold, cruel look the others had. He jumped off the table and everyone began to eat again. At least, after they found where their food was.
The four of us simply sat at our table and tried to figure a way out. "Okay, so we know that all the places that have exits have guards there." Lina began.
"And the only people who can leave those exits are the elites." Mune continued. "We also know that at some point, we will have a fighters test."
"So we just have to figure out how to become an elite." Nico finished. "Only one problem though."
"What's that?" I asked.
"One, we don't know who the elites are. And two, even if we do find them, it's likely they won't tell us."
"Finding them isn't a problem. The elites are the ones that keep everyone in line. Those guys that took Jay? They're the elites. And there's also a chance that Vanitas is one of them." Mune corrected.
"Speak of the devil, here he comes." Lina told us, her finger pointing at him. He stood in front of us, his deep green eyes holding a cruel look.
"So which one of you provoked him?" He asked us. We stared at him like he came from Mars.
"Provoked him?" Mune questioned. "That's funny. When it comes to these things, Jay is the one that provokes us to join him. Didn't Grai tell you that, being his friend and all?"
He glared at him. "He's my cousin, not my 'friend'. And he never spoke of such things. Rather he showed me what you people are capable of." Someone placed a hand on Vanitas's shoulder. Grai shook his head. Vanitas glanced at us one more time before walking away.
Jay was waiting for us outside, grinning like a goofball. "Hey. How are you guys doing?" He asked us childishly.
Nico glanced at his hands. "Jay, why are there bandages on your hands?" Jay hesitated, before going back into his foolish state.
"No idea what you're talking about." He lied.
Nico grabbed his hand and pulled up to his face. "Why are your hands bleeding?" Fear struck his eyes at the voice.
He tried to break free, but failed immensely. "I'm fine, alright?! I just got a cut on my way here." He finally spoke.
"They burned your hands, didn't they?" Vanitas questioned, surprising everyone.
Jay stared at him before looking to the ground. "Yeah." He mumbled. There was a heavy silence between us. "They said that this was something that they do if someone like me causes a ruckus. They think it teaches them not to do it again." He wiped his tears immediately. "Come on. We don't need to be late for our next task."
He speed walked past us, almost ignoring our presence. Lina looked at Vanitas, confusion and pity filling her eyes. "How do you know this?" She questioned him. He pulled up his sleeve, revealing multiple burn marks.
"When you're born with a mind you can't control, the people around you help you by either destroying it in the simplest and least painful way, or . . ." He paused before continuing. "Or they cover it up enough for you to never feel it again, mostly through torture. Sometimes they even kill you if they can't do anything else."
He let his sleeve fall down his arm and left in Jay's direction. "You might want to follow him." He called out. "Your tests will begin shortly after him."
Without thinking, we ran behind him. "H-Hey! Wait up!" We hollered.
~~~
We waited outside with the other "new fighters." Vanitas disappeared inside a room, but appeared behind a window. There were headphones inside his ears as he watched through a screen. Jay was inside at the time. "Do you think he'll join the elites?" Lina asked.
Nico shrugged. "He could. But that's up to them to figure it out." The doors slid open, revealing Jay. He looked the same, except his sleeves were a deep orange.
"Jay Kanazaki, please report to room 5476 to receive your first task." A voice called through the speakers. He glanced at us, before heading to that room.
"'First task?' Isn't this our first task?" Mune pondered aloud. We all said nothing. A boy with deep crimson hair opened the door and pointed at Nico.
"Your next." He said. Nico glanced at us all before walking into the room. We waited. In less than two minutes, he came out with black sleeves. His face was covered with bits of blood.
"Nico Asuna, please remain where you are." He looked at us with fear. A boy with blonde-brown hair came out of the room and pointed at me.
"Your turn." He told me. I gulped, and followed him inside. I passed Grai, Vanitas, and a few others who all glanced at me for a moment before going back to their business.
The blonde boy opened the door at the end and slammed it shut when I stepped in. I whipped my head to see a screen, showing Grai's face. "Begin simulation." He said.
Before I could say anything, the floor behind me opened, revealing Yuuto. He tried to throw me across the room. He could have done so, if I didn't stab with an ice spear. I stared at him with fear and shock. Fear with what I had done, and shock for this power. "W-what. . . what have I. . ." I couldn't finish. My hair started turning white, and my sleeves turned black. I let go of the spear and cowered in front of the wall.
I looked at Grai, my stomach begging me to vomit the contents it held. He only looked at the body with grimace, before looking back at me. "You may leave now." I walked out of the room.
"Oni Tomodachi, please remain where you are with Nico Asuna." A voice said. I glanced at my friends and stood beside my cousin.
"Why are we here?" I whispered.
"I have no clue." He replied.
"Is it possible to walk away from here?"
"If you mean by escaping, I don't think that's possible."
There was a few minutes of silence, then I broke it again. "I feel like throwing up."
"Don't we all?" He answered sarcastically.
Mune went in, and came out with green sleeves. "Mune Misuki, please report to room 4986 for your first task." Lina went in, and came out with magenta sleeves. "Lina Misuki, please report to room 6943 for your first task." After a few more people, everyone left, Nico, Grai, Vanitas, a few others and me remaining.
"So, you're the new recruits." The same kid with blonde-brown hair came up to us. "So what can you do? Can you kill an opponent in a matter of seconds? Can you escape an army unscathed?" He demanded, throwing questions at us every five seconds.
"Lay off, Eli. They still need to control their powers." A kid with blonde hair defended us.
"One of them needs to control their powers. And besides, it's not like I'm asking them about it. It's just their skills. That's something most people in the advanced squad usually do." He argued, a proud smile on his face.
"I smell a brainless human nearby." A kid with hair dyed a deep shade of green intervened in their conversation.
Vanitas rubbed the temple of his head. "Idiots." He murmured under his breath.
"I heard that." They said in unison.
The boy with crimson hair gave us the following motion. "Come on. I ain't gonna be telling you twice." We followed him while the others continued their debate. We passed many rooms, some Vanitas didn't show us on our tour. "You two are being annoyingly quiet. How old are you?" He questioned us.
"I'm fourteen, and he's fifteen." I managed to say in a weak voice.
"Uh-huh." He took it into thought. "Say, is it true Vanitas saw you five a few years ago?"
I shook my head. "Four. Lina was never with us that night."
"I'm not talking about her in the first place. I'm talking about you guys and Grai."
"Oh. . .yeah, he saw us. I saw him standing outside with Yuuto that night, when Grai was on the verge of death."
He laughed. "Death? Like hell. Not even death can stop him."
"What do you mean?" Nico asked.
The boy glanced at him. "You should know what I mean by that, Nico."He continued to head to one of the rooms. "After all, you've known him longer than Onion here."
"Oni." I answered with a cold glare.
"Don't care." He waved his hand. "But what I do care about is that you're turning me into Antarctica right now." Nico nudged me as soon as crimson hair turned around. The front of his jacket was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow. Surprisingly though, his eyes were calm.
"S-sorry. I didn't know." I stammered.
"Well now you do." He opened a door, revealing seven beds, each one having a different symbol on the top of the bed. The walls were white, with splashes of red and black here and there. "Oh, you guys made it on time." He informed the four people there, including Vanitas and Grai.
"Your jacket's covered in ice." Green hair boy pointed out.
"I noticed." He pointed at two beds. One had a symbol that looked like crystals while the other had a deranged lightning bolt. "Those are your beds. You"-He pointed at me-"Are getting the one on the left, and he gets the one on the right."
Nico collapsed on his bed and fell asleep immediately. I stared at all of them uneasily. "Um, can I at least get names? Who are you?"
The kid with brown-blonde hair answered that question. "I'm Eli. The kid with green hair is Zane, but he's known as the cranky scientist amongst us. The girl that brought you here is Crimson-"
I interrupted. "Crimson's a she?"
He ignored my question. "She might look calm, but don't let that fool you - She carries at least three pistols, two grenades, and two packs of bullets. You could say she's our weapons' woman. You already know Vanitas and Grai. What else. . ."
"That's enough, Eli. He simply asked our names, not our identities." Vanitas stopped him. "Get some rest. I'll be back soon."
"Wait! Where are you going?" I asked him.
"Lets just say I have night duty this week." He said, leaving.
"He's kidnapping kids again." Zane elaborated.
"Again? What do you mean, 'again?'"
"Yuuto is basically the leader of us all. And I'm talking about worldwide 'all', not just us. Sometimes, he'll ask one of us to collect wandering or lost children from the ages 6-18."
"Worldwide? Wandering or lost children? What?"
"Nevermind that now." Crimson said, collapsing onto the bed. "Right now, we need to rest." And with that, she fell asleep. I crept into my own bed, and thought about what Eli said before falling asleep.
"Maybe I'm in a coma, and all of this is a dream." I told myself.
"Hate to tell you this," Nico said underneath his covers. "But it's all real. I could punch you if you still don't believe me."
"No, but thanks anyways."
"Alright. If you aren't going to ask anymore questions, I suggest you go to sleep now before I slit your throat." I rolled my eyes, annoyed. What a pain, I thought. All bark and no bite you are. I closed my eyes and fell into a blissful world of horrors.