Round Six (Both Schools)

[musicalee]

By Sunday, the fog has gotten worse, with students barely able to see out of their windows. As usual, there's a message on the screens scattered around campus, but it might catch out a few sleepy students with the fact that it isn't the usual summoning to the main hall.

"All students will report to the Battle Arena at noon for assembly."

Anyone lost, confused or just contrary is led there by one or more of the prefects. Once they arrive and are seated in the well-lit arena - strangely untouched by the fog - they will notice that there is a raised dais in the centre. All six staff members are stood there; Mayor Mallorough and the shopkeeper Recette in the middle, with Day and Santana of Conquest on one side and Nanami and Dolorosa of Fortitude on the other. Unlike other assemblies, the rest of the prefects have been asked to sit with the others.

Dunleavy, the seldom-seen Mayor of Rakuen, steps forward towards her microphone.
"Citizens of Rakuen, today is a very important occasion." Despite the words she sounds almost bored, her tone flat.

"First of all, I would like to welcome those who arrived yesterday to our city and congratulate all who fought in this week's round. We're a little pushed for time, so I won't read out your individual results. Secondly, you might have noticed the fantastic weather we've been having this weekend... It seems we are about to see a particularly special round." She glances at the arena's clock tower, as the hands strike the hour, and then at the screens. Dutifully, they switch on to display a view of the lake.

Just in time, too. As the screens focus, the waters of the lake ripple - once, twice - and then surge upwards and outwards as a massive prow breaches the surface. Fabric snaps in a sudden breeze, and the creak of old, sodden wood echoes artificially through the arena. The lake isn't particularly deep - as several seated in the rows could tell you - but somehow it is now home to a galleon of considerable size. The fog seems to be emanating from it, curling from the deck outwards onto the shore, and its sails and sheets move as though caught by the wind even as it remains perfectly still upon the water.

The ship evidently settled, Dunleavy speaks once more.

"Every now and again, Rakuen is graced by a fragment of another world, marking the beginning of a different type of battle. Those whose names are read out have been chosen to take part in a quest. They will enter the ship, and explore its depths in search of battle and treasures. It will be dangerous, but I believe you are all capable." She still sounds detached and bored; it'ss difficult to tell if she's being sincere or not.

"If your name is called, please come and collect an extension for your glove here at the front. This allows you and two chosen Weapons to enter the ship. They are easy to use, speak the name of your Weapons and will yourself into the ship. Your Weapons will be brought with you, no matter where they are." She gestures to the two head prefects, who collect a set of boxes and move to the front of the stage.

"The device only allows you to take two Weapons into the ship at once, but you may enter and exit as many times as you wish during the week. Now, your ultimate goal is to reach the bottom and defeat the creature you find there, but there are other rewards to be found. Recette will now speak to you about collecting treasure during your quest."

She hands the microphone over to the young girl, who clasps it in front of her face with both hands.

"Um, yes! Because this is a dungeon, it's gonna be full of treasure... So if you find anything cool, you can bring it out with you! Sometimes monsters will leave behind items when you've killed them, too, and there are lots of items stashed away by pirates--" she pauses, "Eheh, I think so, anyway. It looks like a pirate ship. That's what pirates do, right? But even if it's not something you can use, I'll buy it off you or trade it for something you want, so if you take a bag, or ask your Weapons to carry things for you... Um, what was I gonna say... Please make sure to look everywhere!

"An' also, if you're having trouble finding Weapons, or you don't think you're strong enough, I'll sponsor you with equipment if you give me a share of your treasure at the end! If that's okay... So let's work together this week."

She bows, fumbles the microphone about three times, and eventually manages to hand it back to the Mayor. Once she's got it back, Dunleavy smiles at the audience.

"If you have any questions, do not hesitate to come and talk to me, or your headmistresses and head prefects. You will still receive raks for fighting inside the ship, and if you reach the bottom and defeat the creature there, you will have won the round.

Good luck, everybody."

With that the feed of the ship disappears from the screen and the list of Players replaces it. Dunleavy reads the names out loud.

Conquest

Indonesia
Prussia
Sis Strider
John Egbert [ou]
Cornelia li Britannia
Aradia Megido
Feferi Peixes
Aisha Clanclan
Sherlock Holmes
Rose Lalonde
Davesprite

Fortitude

Firifale
Belarus
Dahlia Hawthorne
Yuri Lowell
Sora Himoto
Reimi Hanamori
Sakuya Izayoi
Spain
Dave Strider
Daenerys Targaryen
Lelouch vi Britannia

Comments

[britainsbiscuits]

Needing to vow did not surprise her. England and Prussia had been allies many, many times before. They were always vowing to protect one another... Or destroy one another. It depended on their mood. England touched her chest as she remembered what America had said. Weapons had to be pulled out, right?

"My... weapon...? Will it hurt? N-not that it matters. I'm not scared, or anything!"

[scarredchick]

Truthfully she didn't know if it did or not. But she couldn't imagine it hurting if so many people were doing it. Or maybe it did hurt and they were used to it. She has an unsure look for a moment as she thinks and then smirk.

"Of course it doesn't hurt! It can't hurt because I'm so awesome at drawing weapons! Lets go outside and see if we can get it to work and find out what your weapon is!"

[britainsbiscuits]

England swallowed down a lump that had gotten caught in her throat before nodding at Prussia. It was fine, she was a country. Nothing would happen to her. At least, nothing that could kill her. She hoped. England did not know how this world worked.

She followed Prussia silently as they moved outside, away from the others. They did not stop until they were a good distance away from the arena and the noise.

"So."

[scarredchick]

She wasn't going to let it show just how nervous she was. She takes a deep breath and then takes England's hand.

A moment later and she remembers how to do this. She concentrates on drawing England's weapon from her.

[britainsbiscuits]

Once Prussia touched her chest with the gloved hand, the area around them lit up. England gasped as the handle of some sort of weapon appeared over her heart. It seemed to be hovering there, but also looked like it was sticking out of her body. While it didn't hurt, her body trembled. She was scared, excited, confused... How could this happen? It certainly had not been possible before, on earth. Their earth, at least...

1/2

[scarredchick]

Prussia was excited that it worked. She quickly grasped the handle in her gloved hand and began to pull. When she realized how heavy it was she put her other hand on it to assist.

2/2

[scarredchick]

She finally got it out and stumbled forward. The blade striking the ground. "Oof!" It was huge! Much bigger than she expected to come out of such a small person.

[britainsbiscuits]

England had not dared move when Prussia was still pulling out the weapon. She hadn't known if it would hurt! At last, whatever it was was fully out, and England relaxed her body.

"Wh... what is that?" she asked as she stared. It was a huge sword, perhaps even and inch or two taller than her.

[scarredchick]

Now that the lights are done blinding her, she can take a good look at the sword. It was definitely big and heavy.

She studied the shape of the blade and the weight. "It looks like a bastard sword. Jeeze, what a pain."

She takes a deep breath and lifts it. The thing was bigger than she was used to and she didn't have as much strength as she normally did. But she was able to hold it with trembling arms.

[britainsbiscuits]

"That doesn't look like any bastard sword I've seen..."

England moved closer to Prussia and attempted to help her lift it. All she was thinking was Did this really come out of me? It was so creepy, and England was not usually scared of magical things.

"Just what powers does this place have?"

[ruler_of_the_earth]

Giovanni had been observing everything, unsure (though he wouldn't admit such) of what to do. And then he saw a weapon being pulled out of someone's chest.

Holy shit he thought Santana had been screwing with him.

"...the hell?"

[scarredchick]

She is still holding the giant sword up, just barely, but hearing a voice behind her she looks back. "Hmmm?"

The distraction causes her to loose her balance and pitch forward. "Wah!" She struggles to lift the oversized blade back off the ground and huffs.

"Britannien, this thing weighs more than you!" she said with a thick heavy accent and moving to put it back.

[ruler_of_the_earth]

"I thought the Head Prefect was a fool when she said we pulled weapons out of others' chests." He frowned as Prussia tried to lift the sword, "How do they expect you to fight when you can't even use the weapon?"

[britainsbiscuits]

England had been focused on Prussia the entire time, still very much in a daze from the whole ordeal. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed there was one man watching them, or rather, gaping at them. He had been with them on the train the day before, hadn't he?

"Prussia, someone's staring at us," she said, keeping her eyes on the tall man. "I think he's been watching us for a while..."

[scarredchick]

And now she realizes it. She just about drops the sword and decides to just rest it down.

She turns to look at the guy. "Oi! Who told you you could come and watch?!" she shouted. She had wanted to keep whatever weapon England had a secret.

[ruler_of_the_earth]

He crossed his arms and raised a brow, almost in a judging way, "In case you haven't noticed, this place is hardly private. I just happened to see it occur."

[scarredchick]

She puts one hand on her hip and raises her eyebrow. "I thought it was far enough from the arena. Oi! What are you doing anyways! Britannien is mine, you can't have her!"

She may be struggling with this sword, but she would defend England.

[britainsbiscuits]

...What? England suddenly turned bright red. "Don't act as though I were a thing!" she said, tugging firmly on Prussia's long hair. How embarrassing, and in front of a stranger.

I need an edit button XD

[ruler_of_the_earth]

"Spare me the whole 'I'll defend my weapon' bull, I'm not a Player, so I couldn't use her even if I wanted to." He shrugged nonchalantly. In his mind, if he could use someone, he'd have no trouble taking them from the person. It seemed from the manual that the weapon had little say in what happened. Despite what England said, it seemed like they were close to being 'things'.
This could prove useful once he was made a player...

[scarredchick]

"Not a player, huh?" she says this slowly. She doesn't mind England tugging on her hair for a little while. "Oi! Britannien! I can claim him, too! Then I'll have two weapons and be an even more awesome player!"

[britainsbiscuits]

England tugged harder. "It's not that easy! Don't act as if it is!" What was the point of all this? Taking weapons, fighting, vowing pledges. Why were the people brought here to do that, and why would they be punished for not participating? England's gaze flicked over to the man in the suit again. She did not like his demeanor.

Then again, England rarely liked anyone's demeanor. She was not that much of a people-person. She was polite on the surface in order not to get involved in fights. In some ways, being a weapon might suit her for now. But what about in the future? How long would they all have to endure this?

[scarredchick]

She really did want to play the game, it seemed fun. Maybe she and Japan could make it a real game when they got back home. But for that, she would need to learn everything she could.

"It will be that easy!" she said. "Oi! Since you're not a player, then I'll be your player! You're, uh, Gio.. Gio something, you were on the train with us!" She remembered the Santa Claus prefect saying his name.