Ryosei looked down at the clothing in his hands. He decided to not question as to where or how Eika had procured them, due to the fact he sensed that it would be an unimportant question when he had so many more about the new world he was now consigned to living in.
The outfit consisted of a loose, white, linen shirt that had slightly puffy three quarter length sleeves and a v shaped button up part at the very top. It tucked nicely into high wasting black jeans, adorned by three brass buttons and a comfortable looseness in all the right places that he immensely appreciated.
Along with proper undergarments and clothes, he felt confident enough to walk downstairs to face the challenges ahead of him. At least that's what he desperately tried to convince himself.
Eika's words had gotten to him, the 'There's a reason why I told you that story.' ringing in his head over and over.
He was scared.
Did he really want to know what she meant by that? Did he REALLY want to know what his new reality was?
He crouched down in front of his bedroom door, tucking his head into his knees and holding his head with his hands. He rocked himself, shaking as he remembered the night Eika had nearly killed him. Was it really just yesterday? Did he really eat a corpse? Did he really develop hearts, pointed ears, and small horns? Was all this just a dream?
Would he have to kill people?
A memory flashed in his mind, a vivid painting of red and white, of wide eyes and screams. He shuddered, he was breaking down again. He was terrified of what he would have to become to survive, of what he might have to do.
He was scared he would turn bad again, but this time, he had a feeling that he would be too tired to care.
"CalmDownCalmDownCalmDownCalmDownCalmDown…"he whispered in a shaky tone, his voice cracking at the end.
He took in a deep, shuddering breath. He forced his mind to calm, his breathing to steady, and his body to hold back the mounting fear. He thrust the gray memory back into its cage.
He would not falter. He would not break before at least doing the courtesy of knowing what living this new life entailed.
He would hold himself together for a little longer, just a little longer till he heard everything.
Then he would walk up the stairs, with slow, careful footsteps, lay on this bed, delicately placing himself down, and when reality hit him, he would fall.
He would fall and fall and fall and fall and fall till he could no more, and then he would smash on the ground.
He would break, and he would cry, and he would try to deny everything.
Then when he could deny no longer, when his tears ran dry, only then would he pick up the scattered pieces of himself.
With a practiced hand and an able mind, he would piece the cracked parts of him together again, and he would finally rest.
He could finally rest…
***0O0***
Eika waited patiently for Ryosei in the living room, her legs crossed, her back straight, her hair curled and her black and white dress perfectly folded in her chair.
She could sense he was scared, sense the anguish, feel the anxiety. She knew. But she did nothing to ease it, as she learned long ago, she couldn't. It was only right for him to fully comprehend what his future actions may be.
It was only right of him to realize he would kill.
There was no 'ifs', no 'maybes'. It was a clear, cruel reality. It was a certainty he would have to face, it was an unspoken rule that all supernaturals had bloodstained hands . She only hoped he could face this reality
, this bleeding world he would begin his descent into.
Or else he would end up like the second one, the girl she had turned, the Demon…
She forced the thoughts free when she heard Ryosei's approach. It was soft yet heavy footsteps down the hard wooden floors, a slight hitch of the breaths, and the clenching and unclenching of his fist that alerted her.
He was ready. He knew what this new reality implied, but he would face it willingly. Eika envied such sentiment, such strength. If only she'd had that…
Her face grew dark as her mind flitted through centuries worth of darkness and pain. It was only broken when she heard Ryosei's deep, alto voice.
"Ms… Eika?"
She was torn from her memories, her eye blank for a moment before she returned to her senses. "Hm? Sorry just… memories… Now then, let's-wait. Did… did you just… did you just call me MS. Eika?"
Ryosei's sunlight on ocean blue eyes blinked, confusion apparent in his face as he nodded. "Yes, is that a problem?"
"Yes, there's no need to be so… polite." she clarified with a slight laugh, amused at his manners in a rather dark situation. Or rather, soon to be dark.
He looked over to the side, his expression slightly embarrassed while he mumbled,"Habit, I was born to a Japanese mother. Politeness and showing formality and respect to elders and superiors is important to me."
She chuckled at his embarrassment. She was going to enjoy pranking and teasing him, she just knew it. Her mood immediately dropped when he sat down in the beautiful red velvet and dark mahogany chair and said,"Okay. So… give me the crash course, please."
She already missed the joking from before, she didn't want to explain it all over again. She either said too much, like the first time, or too little, like the second.
'As the Humans say, let's hope for the third time being the so-called 'charm'!'
"I'd rather not shove everything into your brain like human school teachers do nowadays. A crash course would hardly be beneficial in the long run, I don't you'd remember when it counts. What's that called again? 'Info dumping' was it?"
She quirked one of her eyebrows up, a perfect blend of skepticism and humor on her face as Ryosei finally registered the fact that a demon had a better sense of how to educate than half of his school teachers. He began to wonder if demons had a better school system than half of the human ones…
"Yes, we do. Any how, how to tell you about it… Oh! I'll tell you the initial structuring of it, like organization and everything, where you stand in general, and then I'll answer questions. How's that?"
"Why not anything else? Like this… game thing. System? Is it a system? Like, why was it made? What's the point, who made it?"
She stared at him, a deadpan expression on her face, her red eye looking at him like he was an idiot.
"What?"
"C'mon man, seriously?! It was explained when you were turning, the whole omniscient voice over that mysteriously appeared while you were in agony and how a bunch of Demon Lords and Satan made it?! Get with the program!"
He blinked. "They did?"
She looked like she was ready to kill him, but kept her cool in the end. Barely.
She sighed, calming herself down before looking him in the eye. He stiffened like a board at her eye's intensity. He braced himself for what was to come. When her voice spoke, it was sad, distant, like she was reliving a personal memory.
"The society of us supernaturals is separated into an aristocracy. Within our own individual races, there are noble families that govern them, acting like the chiefs and leaders who fight the other races for territory, status, power, the list goes on. All of the races are ranked in terms of prowess, influence, power, strength, money, etc. etc."
"We battle each other every 2 years to determine the rankings. The ones who are the most important are the current and former top fives, as well as the growing powers. The races that participate are the Demons, Devils, Vampires, Werewolves, Fallens, Underfolk, Undead, and Monsters. Monsters and Undead are probably the wild cards out of all of us if I'm perfectly honest."
She stayed quiet for a bit, letting Ryosei absorb the information.
The only sound was the fire crackling in the fireplace, casting long shadows and golden highlights across the wooden floors, the neutral toned walls, the leather furniture, and the various accessories of different sizes that adorned the room. She'd lived in this house for centuries now, and decorated the house herself.
She was comfortable here.
But sometimes, she felt as if she was a stranger, an unwanted visitor that shouldn't be there in those strange moments. Moments like now. The moments where it reminded her a tad bit too much of her real home.
"So…", Ryosei's voice snapped her back into reality. She turned to look at him again, observing his agitation as he raked his hands through pretty hair, ran it over his pretty face, closed and furrow his pretty eyes and brow.
'It's unfair how pretty he is. Should I tease him on it… The fact that no matter what I do I can't seem to find another word on how to describe him? Hmmm…. Now that I think about it, that actually seems enjoyable…'
"So what? Spit it out love, I don't have all night."
"Erm… What's the difference between a Devil and a Demon? How are Supernaturals and Monsters any different? And… what are you? Why was it when I was turning it gave me the option to be a Royal Vampire or High Demon…?!"
The temperature of the room which had initially coasted at a pleasant 75 degrees of warmth and coziness plummeted to at most 50 immediately after the last question slipped from his lips. It only got lower, the fire sputtering out, leaving the room dark. And yet, Ryosei could not only see his breath, but the fury glinting in Eika's single red eye.
Her voice came out soft, slow, deadly sweet poison and honey mixed equally in part to each other, working in tandem to make Ryosei wish he'd kept his mouth shut.
"Demons tend to be superior and more attractive to Devils, though Devils are craftier, less honorable, and better at disguising one's self than Demons. Supernaturals are more humanoid in origin and appearance, born from the human mind. Monsters are born from the world instead, being introduced to the human mind rather than conceived from it."
"And as for what I am… You really can't figure it out? I'm an outlier, the outlier. I am a hybrid, a unique existence that is a blend of multiple races. I am unnatural. I am unique. I am me."
"But… why are you a hybri-"
"OKAY, enough personal questions. I'll tell you a little more and then you go to bed, you have college right?"
"...Yes, sorry. What are the rankings and characteristics of the races?"
She sighed a bit, the temperature rising back to its previous level before she'd become livid. The cold hadn't particularly bothered him, it was the cold aura that she'd given off that had shocked him. As such, he gave a small sigh of relief when she released her aura.
"Hmm… let's see… Alright, this is gonna take a little while, I'll give you the condensed version without any of the convoluted politics and confusing relationships, but it's still a LOT to take in. "
"The Ranking for first and foremost is the Demons, obviously. Demons have varying looks and personalities, but generally the aristocrats and royal lineage are attractive individuals with absolutely horrible personalities, or decent personalities with a near fatal fault or flaw in it. I am clearly the latter among the Demons. Also, fun fact, Demons have been in first for ranking for 800 years now, so… Yeah. There are different castes in the Demon hierarchy as for the other races, but that's for another time."
"Vampires are currently in second, however they're always competing with the Devils and are constantly switching between third or second. Then again, considering how they've kept the spot for second for the most part for 700 years, they're kinda superior to Devils when it comes to consistency. Vampires are for the most part attractive individuals with an even more confusing caste system than Demons, but I'm too lazy to explain it and I'm tired. But anyways, they have a rivalry with the Devils and hate the Werewolves, which we'll get too! Fun fact: higher level vampires have real, beating hearts."
Ryosei interrupted her, holding out his hand as a pleading gesture as he rubbed at the beginning of a migraine."Um, can you stop for a second? I need to process this…"
She hesitated, allowing him to digest the information while trying to figure out a way to condense it more. Even though Demons were several times smarter than the average human, it was still a lot to take in.
"Ready?"
"...Yes. Please continue."
"Ehem, okay, um… Devils. Currently, the Devils are in third place. They alternate between second, third, and sometimes fourth depending on their leadership, since there always seems to be a coup every few decades. The Devils revolt, people die, it's like the French Revolution over and over again. Every. Single. TIME. If they had a stable government, who knows, they could possibly become a threat to us Demons. They're attractive… but that tends to be a minority of them, like succubuses, incubuses, and the like. Fun fact: They're nice looking and all that, but nothing like Pureblood Vampires or High Demons. But… attractive."
"Alright, time for Fourth! The Fallens are fourth right now, but again that's a toss up with the Werewolves. Fallens are basically a riff raff of miscellaneous species that had lost divinity. It can be humans, animals, spirits, you name it, but they're ruled by Fallen Angels since they're the strongest among them, though some spirits are and can be exceptions. They're a stable people and have a lot of diversity, but that's all I can really say for now. Fun Fact: they're shockingly good at roulette and gambling, particularly Russian Roulette."
"Fifth, Werewolves. They're infective species, much like Vampires and certain Demons and Devils. We say WereWOLVES, because that's more or less the majority and can infect others the best, but WereCREATURES would be more accurate. They're essentially anamorphic shapeshifters of various bloodlines. The purer the blood, the better the strength, yada yada, blablabla, you've read Webnovels. Fun Fact: They're INCREDIBLY obnoxious."
"Ehem, ANYWAY. Now the two minor factions, sixth and seventh. They're the Monsters and Undead, though they've yet to participate in the Ranking Games. Monsters are basically any mythological being from any culture. Like yokai and ayakashi from Japanese mythology, or cyclops and giants from Greek and Roman. There's no real government, it's survival of the fittest in all sense of the saying. They don't really care about rankings. Fun Fact: They're like the emo teens if the races were a family. Disappointing."
"Next, the Undead. They have a sorta… kinda… half baked 'government', if you can call it that. Magical undead are at the top, like Arch Lichts, and regular undead are at the bottom, like skeletons and crap. They could be an infective species, kinda, but let's be real, dying with regrets isn't really infectious. Fun Fact: They're disgusting."
"Lastly, the Underfolk. Gnomes, dwarfs, trolls, Earth Dragons, spirits and more, basically anyone that's factionless and doesn't want to fight. They do not participate in the Ranking Games, and due to their neutrality everyone likes them as they don't care much for race. They're the creators, producing and manufacturing weapons, armor, essentially everything from technology, to furniture, to war devices, and even nicknacks and clothes. Fun Fact: They are sweethearts, but are weak save for few exceptions, so no one messes with them and helps them."
She sighed, stretching her muscles as she got up with a big smile and began to leave.
"Anyhow, that's the super condensed, shortened, and extremely watered down and simplified introduction to Supernatural society! Now I am TIRED and parched, so I'll be on my way and-"
"Wait."
At Ryosei's tone she paused, slowly turning to face him with a smile plastered on her face, her red eye shining with dread as she knew what he would ask.
"These Ranking Games as you call them,"he stood up slowly, his face hidden with his hair and his fists clenched tight,"how is the winner decided?"
It was silent, save for the crackling of the fire. Eika's smile was gone, her expression sad and grave.
"...I'm sorry Love...."
He turned to her, desperation and denial on his face as he repeated,"How is the winner decided?!"
"..."
She sighed, closing her eyes before turning away from him and walking to the doorway, before stopping yet again. It was then she whispered something that made Ryosei fall into despair.
"The most Kills or teams captured."
She walked away from him, up the stairs and just, just away from him.
She didn't want to watch another person fall apart. Not again.