All participants gathered on Ryujima Island. Which sounds almost like "all the doomed came to the execution." But with the weather, honestly, an execution would look even warmer.
The game was supposed to begin as soon as the mansion's mistress appeared before all the players. But, as often happens with "supposed to," everything went off-script.
Two people arrived on the island.
Two. Instead of one. Is that normal? Or was this too perfectly in the spirit of such a game, where the rules are broken from the very start? Or was this actually according to the rules, we just didn't know them? Or... or... or.
And while the four participants stood in an awkward square of bewilderment, Tiamut, of course, was the first to come alive.
Without warning, without pause, without internal dialogue.
She simply ran.
Straight toward the stranger who stood with a smirk next to a guy who looked like a typical high school student from an anime: soaked to the bone and with the expression of someone who'd just gotten an F in life.
"It's you..." Tiamut exhaled, and a flood of words poured from her lips. "I couldn't even imagine! I mean, I could. But not here! I'm so glad... But why are you here? You... you're participating too?"
And all of this in one breath. She hugged him, not letting go with either her arms or her words. A hug on the level of "too many feelings not to touch."
"Shh," he whispered. "Now's not the time. Or the place. And besides, quieter, we'll talk later, everyone's watching and... they might misunderstand."
"Ah! Right!" She jumped back as if remembering gravity. "I completely forgot about them when I saw you!"
"And also. You can drop the formalities. There's no need for that here."
There's no need for anything here except trying to survive, but more on that later.
The two of them sat on the free sofa. The second sofa. The one opposite the others, as if preparing for an interrogation. Or a trial.
"Alright, I suggest we start by stating our names," one of those seated began. There was something tired and resolute in his voice. "It's awkward, you know, looking at someone you haven't met before. I'll start. Yahweh."
"Hov," the second replied curtly.
"Aragi," said the third, adding in an almost apologetic tone. "Pleasure to meet you. Though I'm a bit shocked, so many famous faces. Didn't expect it."
"Enua," the fourth threw out darkly. "I think some of you don't need my name. Just as I don't need yours."
Enua's eyes stopped on the new participant. Long, heavily, as if he'd recognized someone in him. Or hadn't, and that was worse.
"Kamiki," the other said in response, as if reading his thoughts.
"Tia..."
The door to the living room opened. And there... fanfare of silence. Cheryl and Morgana entered, behind them a woman with golden hair and a dress from the medieval era.
"All participants, attention!" Cheryl boomed. "The Mistress has arrived!"
And, as if on command, as if someone had pressed the collective "STAND" button, everyone rose. Instinctively. Without resistance. Even those who hadn't been thinking of standing.
Because before them stood her.
With a cane in hand and an expression on her face that said: "I'm not just the mistress. I'm a witch."
"I welcome you," she said with a light smile that promised nothing light. "As you may have guessed, I am the island's mistress, Mariana. All six participants are finally assembled. And now, please, introduce yourselves and tell me why you came."
And they began to speak.
One after another.
"My name is Yahweh. I came here to fulfill a wish. One I didn't manage to accomplish in life."
"Enua. Wish. Death. Past."
He said it as if he'd already lost. Though the game hadn't even started.
"Hov. I came for the same reason, except my wish isn't just a dream."
"My name is Tiamut!" Her voice sounded almost cheerful in contrast, almost too cheerful. "And I... don't know why I ended up here."
And... unexpectedly added:
"But after he appeared, I understood that my presence isn't a mistake. It's fate."
She straightened up as if about to deliver a speech before a tribunal.
"And I will fight for him. So that he wins."
At this point, even the air in the room winced from the tension.
"Oh-oh-oh," Mariana drawled with a light, very light smirk. "Quite interesting. Fighting not for yourself, but for another? In my game?"
She laughed quietly.
"Ykh-hykh-hykh, unusual. Impractical."
She clearly liked it.
"Kamiki," the next one responded. "I'm here to fulfill a cherished dream. And..."
He fell silent. Not because he didn't want to speak, but because he locked eyes with her.
With Mariana. The mistress. The witch.
He didn't look away, neither did she.
"I suppose it's my turn," the last participant sighed. "Aragi. You already know why I'm here. I suppose explaining to you would be like explaining to a director how the film he shot himself begins."
He shrugged.
"I don't think details are necessary."
"Excellent," said the witch.
She spoke as if announcing the end of the world. Calmly, smoothly, even a bit ceremoniously.
"Then... let's begin."
Pause. Not dramatic. Just... a pause.
"I declare our Grand Game open."
She clapped her hands. No lights, no fireworks, no fanfares. Only voice.
"Ryujima Island exists only once in eternity. And each time with one purpose: if after six days at least one participant survives, the game is considered complete. And the one who survives... receives an answer. One."
"And the fulfillment of one wish. Any wish. From me."
Here her voice became soft. Almost tender.
"Of course, your task is to stay alive until the end. Or... kill me. Yes, yes, it's simple. Kill the witch and win." She tilted her head as if telling a fairy tale to children. "In other words... this is a game to the death."
Silence. Again.
But now not awkward, but frightening.
It reached everyone.
Six participants. One winner, the rest extras. Or corpses. This wasn't a survival game. This was a game of everyone else's defeat.
"And now..." she bowed, deeply, as if she'd just given a concert. "Allow me to take my leave. The rules are simple: kill each other... or die together. Either way, you won't defeat me, the great, almighty, divinely cruel witch of Ryujima! Ahaha-hah-haha-gkh!!"
She disappeared. More precisely, she left like a normal person. But the effect was like a disappearance.
"Damn it!" Yahweh was the first to break. He grabbed his head as if it was about to fly off. "I knew there'd be something strange here... but this much?"
"Playing" to the death sounds like a very crude metaphor for life. Or a very precise one.
"Making us kill each other," Hov muttered. "This is madness. I'm not going to spill the blood of my comrade. Especially one with whom I fought side by side..."
He cut himself off, because at that moment, as if scripted, someone entered the dialogue.
"And what about me?" a voice said calmly, almost elegantly. "I'm the one you fought against back then. The one you called your worst enemy. The one because of whom your allies perished."
Enua. The words in his mouth sounded not like a confession, but like a fact filed in an archive.
"Now's not the time to talk about the past," Yahweh answered coldly. "Yes, you were our enemy. Perhaps you still are."
"But the witch wants us to remember that. To divide us. Convenient tactic, isn't it?"
"So the witch will truly fight against us," Kamiki said.
He didn't look surprised. He looked... like someone who'd already read the script.
"There were supposed to be five of us," Hov noted. "Where did you come from?"
He looked at Kamiki like an extra line in a will.
"Yes," Kamiki answered calmly. "I'm the sixth. Apparently the rules changed, or maybe they were never clear from the start. Who knows?"
He shrugged. In his voice there was neither challenge nor fear. Only indifference mixed with politeness.
"That's not what matters now," he continued. "What matters now is thinking about how to survive the night."
And here, what no one expected but everyone accepted: division into groups.
"Of course, maybe this isn't the best idea..." Hov began. "But there's no other choice."
"Enua is our enemy. We don't know the others at all," Yahweh added.
Our plan with Yahweh is simple. We split into groups, in the first one it's him and me, we trust each other. That's already something. The second is Tiamut and Kamiki, she rushed to him like salvation. So she trusts him. And the third... Enua and Aragi. The strangest, they're strangers to each other, and to us. That's where everything interesting will start, if it starts.
And it will definitely start. That's the whole point of the witch's game.
"What about the servants?" Hov asked, as if remembering a forgotten file. "Remember, Gerudo said he's worked the longest? Even longer than Cheryl and Morgana."
"We can't trust them," Yahweh answered. "They might be her spies, or part of the game."
And here again, doubt. Not just between players, but between them and... everything else.
The servants. The house. The witch. Everything is suspicious, even the air.
Five participants, they said, but it turned out to be six. Who's to say the seventh player isn't someone in an apron?
The clock showed ten.
The living room was still full. No one leaving. Not because they don't want to, but because they're afraid to be the first to leave. Cheryl and Morgana still on duty. Yahweh and Hov discussing something, the others silent, or pretending to be.
And finally a voice.
"Aragi... right?" Enua addressed him. "You and I are in the same group. I think we should get acquainted. Where are you from?"
"If I tell you, you won't recognize it," Aragi shrugged. "Because I'm not from this time."
"Sorry, what?"
"I'm from the future," he said simply. "From one where humanity lost, where everything is erased. Where only the X creatures remain."
"X creatures?"
"They have no name. I made it up. They destroyed everything: people, cities, memories. I was born after the end."
Enua fell silent.
"But how do you know us?" he finally asked. "You appeared after we disappeared."
"An acquaintance..." Aragi smiled. "She knows almost everything. It's convenient. Especially when you're one of the few who survived. I came here not for myself, but for my world."
"Why alone?"
"Because it's better this way. Because... I don't want to see anyone die."
"Hm. That's hard."
"Perhaps, but I'm ready. Even if I die."
Enua, for the first time all evening, looked impressed.
"You're... quite an interesting person, Aragi."
"I'm just doing what I must."
He's honest. But... honesty here isn't an ally, it's weakness. Or bait.