Round 1 [beta characters here]

[utopiamods]

And then you woke up and it was all a dream.

Or... was it?

You don't know. The details are fading. Some of it seems as clear as if if had happened minutes ago, whilst the rest is as hazy and vague as a long-lost memory. You remember blood and screams; a girl with a bright smile. Need to get rid of you, someone said. For a little while. Sometimes you were running, fighting, facing dark shadows with red eyes and mocking smiles. Sometimes you were hunting yourself, hurting people, feeling the power of your weapon coursing through you as you headed towards your prey. Sometimes you were watching your friends die, or your family, or your enemies.

Your shadow is you, and you are your shadow, and its voice is all around you.

Free us. Free them.

Static. More images, some you will remember and some you will not.

...but, your shadow whispers, the Demon King always returned. Didn't he?

You are outside, and the sky is blood. The towers glow, humming atonally as a star lights up the sky. The campus blazes with its light; the lines of the symbol span the horizon, and a tiger smiles.

Once, the knight despaired and sought a sage...

The tiger smiles, and the world is consumed in fire. You're falling, falling, and the shadow's voice falls with you.

There is a story everybody knows.

Light streams through the windows of your room. In eight different rooms, in four different buildings, thirty-nine students wake up with a start, and find their campus as picturesque and empty as it was the day before.

The day before? What...

A cheery voice breaks through the fog of confusion, loud over the speaker system.

"Good morning, students! Please be at the lobby by midday for the week's announcements."

Comments

[princesspowerful]

Molly's eyes were wet and her body sore when she woke up. The realization that she really couldn't do anything here, that she was useless without her power had really hit her hard. She couldn't be a hero. It was impossible. Usually Molly wouldn't bother herself with what is possible and what isn't, but she couldn't help herself.

She didn't remember a lot of her dream, but it still affected her. Soon, of course, she would disregard it as a dream and move on but for now she was going to curl up in her bed, cry a bit more, and listen to Kallen and Gino talk because at least they were alive.

[hairwag]

Tomoko woke up with a start, and sat straight up, a look of terror spread across her face. Both her hands were held firmly on top of her head, as if to protect herself from some deadly, incoming blow. And before she could stop herself, she called out to the first person she thought of in a situation like this.

"H-Himoto-san?!" As soon as the name spilled out of her lips, she began to realize what was going on. She began to realize where she was, and that it was all just.... a dream. No. A nightmare. A very bad nightmare. She was in this strange, frighting place that was her school but not still. She let out half a breath, half a sob of relief.

[trollofthree]

"You're gonna have to stop apologising eventually, you know." Because she wouldn't look at him, he watched Molly instead. She'd woken up as they talked, but it looked like she wasn't ready to get up either; he could see her shoulders shaking under the blankets. Must've been a bad night for everyone.

"Not that I don't appreciate it. You've been kinda uptight," he grinned, briefly, "Bu~ut I guess I could've helped out a little more, huh."

He'd already fallen silent in anticipation of her yelling at him when Tomoko woke up, and he blinked over at her as she shot upright. His grin reappeared, and he waved to get her attention. "Ah, Tomoko, good morning!" And another towards the lump of blankets that was their fourth roommate. "You up yet, Molly?"

[queenscheckmate]

"It's not your fault," Kallen said before sitting up. She still faced the wall, away from Gino. Kallen was and always has been a good listener and knew someone in the room was crying. "But this isn't the time for joking or for fake smiles and kindness Gino," she said quietly, "Something's not right here."

She motioned to the ones behind them, Tomoko and Molly. All three girls (Kallen included) had been crying at some point. She wiped the dried tears off her own face. She wasn't crying now, but the other two girls were. The result of that you couldn't chalk up to some 'pudding' or PMS. Something wasn't right here. Tomoko had called out Sora's name while Molly hid under the covers. There was no way all of them would just cry at the same time... unless it was all connected.

The ex-pilot finally turned around to face the male, even if her face was directed towards the floor for the moment. She knew she probably looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks and when she decided to wake up, a bus hit her, backed up, and ran over her again. How she felt and how her appearance weren't going to exactly align with each other. For now, she looked acceptable and brought her head up to look at him. Her eyes were still watery from the nightmare and her face looked heavy. "Don't say anything," she warned.

She moved out of her bed and knelt down next to Molly's bedside. "Hey..." she said quietly. She wasn't going to ask if she was all right. She wasn't.

No one in this dorm was.

[princesspowerful]

She heard Tomoko yell out for someone and she heard Gino ask if she was awake but besides shifting a bit she didn't answer. Maybe if she went back to sleep then she would have a good dream where she saved the world and everyone was happy and she was super strong. Even if she had that dream, she doubted it would feel as real, she doubted it would wash away the previous dream.

As Kallen moved to her bedside, Molly peaked her head out of the blanket to look at her. Her face was tear stained, nose running, and maybe a bit puffy, but she didn't really noticed.

"Hi" she mumbled at her.

[hairwag]

"M-morning." Tomoko choked out the response, though it was a struggle. Then she let out a struggling gasp for air. She had been holding her breath without even realizing. Her heart was still pounding so hard she was near positive it was going to bust out of her chest. She was feeling the same terror that she hadn't felt since Sora had saved her on that fateful day back at her school. But she couldn't let this terror control her.

She lowered her hands from her head, and shifted, so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, silently watching Kallen and Molly. She had to be strong. Strong like one of Himoto-san's weapons should be. Stronger than the girl in that lifelike dream, the one who had...

"I think I'm going to be sick." She whispered.

[trollofthree]

"That'd be a bad idea," Gino advised, moving beds so he could sit next to Tomoko. Not too close, because she was one of the jumpiest people he'd ever met, but close. The hand on her head, on the other hand, was automatic by this point, some kind of inconvenient, newly-developed Mei-reflex. "You'll wreck your pajamas." He looked around, and spotted a likely help. One short cross-room trip later, and he held a bowl over her lap. It still had a few crumbs from a late-night snack around the edges, but it would do. "There you go!"

[queenscheckmate]

Kallen watched as Gino made his way over to the other girl. She was probably right in assuming that her and Gino were the oldest in the room. Not that these two girls were their responsibility but kids always happened to look to their older counterparts for help, guidance, and comfort.

She reached up and pushed an idle hair behind Molly's ear before moving her thumb to wipe away her tears. She couldn't do much about the snot, but handed the girl some tissues from the nearby nightstand.

"Can I ask you something? I know it'll sound strange but..." The teenager wasn't really sure how she was supposed to approach this. Kallen's voice was quiet, but loud about to reach everyone in the entire room. "... do you remember dying? Something taking you out... like a shadow... wearing someone you know face if not your own." It was hard enough for Kallen to get that question out. She was sure that no one in the room outside of herself had survived the part of the fight. She remembered the faces if all those who were left. Gino was confirmed dead because she saw it with her own two eyes. But she was sure Molly and Tomoko weren't there when the tiger attack.

At least, she hoped they weren't.