Round 2 [all characters and round announcement]

[utopiamods]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

- I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its waking passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere deeply tired. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

The tram pulls to a stop outside the academy station, and anyone onboard is ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. You can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. Stood around are any number of students in the uniform of the school. Some of them even look awake. There are several receptionists at the desk towards the back of the lobby, but for now they seem busy with paperwork.

Anyway, the many screens are far more interesting. Once a good number of students are gathered inside the building, they all activate at once to show a cheerful, almost cavity-inducing woman in the school uniform. She smiles, waves, and launches into her speech without further ado.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Unfortunately, some of you have had to leave unexpectedly... This is a little upsetting, because they didn't finish paying their fees. So they've left a few things behind. Their friends should collect those to remember them by! After all, they might not come back, or they might be back next round! You never know.

"Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Make sure to listen carefully, and remember, you can find all of this and more in the Exaclan manual!"

She outlines the battle system for the newbies as she has every round previous, then claps her hands. The screen goes blank for a second, and then shows a blue screen with FIRST ANNUAL EXACLAN TOURNAMENT in scrolling white text. The girl appears again in a smaller window in one corner of the screen, and resumes talking.

"This is a special round! Exciting, isn't it? Of course, you can keep fighting as you normally do, too, but we'll also be running a tournament! Every Player has to take part, even if you don't make it through the preliminaries, but you should try hard! There's a big prize for those of you who make it to the last rounds. Now, there are twelve of you this time, and you'll all be fighting in the preliminaries."

The screen changes, to show first the list of Players, then a tree-style tournament diagram. The matches for Day 1 are as follows:

Rafiel vs. Hikaru Sulu
Lloyd Asplund vs. Montblanc
Mai Tokiha vs. Yuka Osada

The matches for Day 2 are:

Shoryu vs. Kallen Stadtfeld
Road Kamelot vs. Grenn Atair
Molly Hayes vs. Miwako Ihara

"After you all fight, we'll have six Players left. That means the third day will have three fights again! Ah, the last three days are for finalists only, but we'll talk about that later! If you have any more questions, ask at the desk, okay? Bye for now, and work hard! The fights start tomorrow~"

Comments

[goodtobetheking]

"It would be an honour, Taiho." He glanced around, keeping the movements relaxed. Everyone had gone back to their own conversations and problems, so they could take their leave soon. Except... well, they were obviously waiting for something. He could probably stand to stay around a little longer. He looked back down at Enki, quirking an eyebrow in response to his expression. "Obviously I'll do my best to meet your expectations, however low they may be."

[choseanidiot]

"I suppose I'll even have to lower them more than usual... I'm not sure I can even safely put you to smooth the coverlet of my bed." Enki could, of course, not be any less than Shōryū, here, and smiled blithely at the pretend humility.

With a grunt, Enki stepped away and looked out over the lobby, turning around so he could see if Gaara was here, yet; while Enki wasn't sure he appreciated the view of him as 'fragile', the Kazekage had done quite a lot for him, and his... Eyes unfocused for a moment, Enki's thoughts ground to a halt. His what? That was only Shōryū behind him.

And while Shōryū was special, in his own, annoying way, he wasn't the king and so wouldn't--- He was forgetting something. Tingle in his fingers where he'd just been grabbing the hoh, and the light behind him seemed stronger and warmer than in the rest of the hall.

"Sh--Fuukan---" Enki wasn't sure what he'd been about to say, because he'd lost his train of thought due to the distraction earlier and turned back to Shōryū. And was nearly blinded by that special presence that was Shōryū/the king's, and no one else's.

Enki almost went down to his knees again, only stopped by grabbing onto Shōryū's hoh (he'd need to change, considering it really was too 'dressed up' for this place. At least if he wanted to blend in). As it was, his knees buckled and almost touched the floor.

"I--- They made me..!" Enki hissed, hands fisting in Shōryū's hoh as he finally made the connection between 'they took the memory of who I chose as king of En' to what was going on.

He had forgotten Shōryū was King. It hadn't mattered when he wasn't here, but now that he was, Enki realized, he'd remember each and every single time he saw Shōryū and then looked away. It apparently also meant a revelation each time, because they'd made him forget it so thoroughly, and what wasn't bound of his kirin nature was simply overwhelmed, or something.

...

Was it too late to keep it from Shōryū?

[goodtobetheking]

Much too late. Shōryū's eyes narrowed to slits as his kirin half-collapsed, first leaning over to catch his waist and keep him upright and then, when he managed his half a sentence, lifting again, this time to set him against his shoulder. Firmly in his line of sight, and not about to move out of it. And certainly incapable of bowing. He'd have to find another solution later, because as short as Enki was, he wasn't exactly light, but for now this would do. 'They made me--', what? Bow? He wondered, absently, if they possessed a power that could force a kirin to kneel to someone other than their king.

"How impolite of them," he murmured, giving the attendants at the other end of the hall an appraising look. "Allow me to spare you the trouble."

At least the heavy fabrics of the hoh were good padding for Enki's sudden perch, though he was thinking much the same as his kirin. Judging by the uniforms worn by the rest of the crowd, he needed to change immediately.

[choseanidiot]

"Wha-- hey!" Enki's eyes widened as he was suddenly grabbed and lifted up. And then some more, to land on a shoulder. Shōryū did not need to rub it in how much taller than Enki he was. Of course, this way, no matter where he looked (though he was still careful), he had, at least, the top of Shōryū's head in his line of sight. And that, luckily, seemed to be enough for the memory-loss to not kick in.

"Just wait until you find out what memories they've taken from you!" Enki snapped, and then snapped his mouth closed, because Shōryū wasn't stupid, and while he'd obviosuly thought 'they' had simply made Enki kneel, Enki had now, against his resolve, managed to reveal that wasn't it.

Because, unfortunately, Shōryū just wasn't the idiot Enki sometimes would prefer his king to be. Because calling someone an idiot didn't make them so. Also unfortunately, Shōryū wasn't the sort of person who wouldn't play with this after he got over the 'they have manipulated us' thing.

He needed a memory charm immediately and to hope it contained the right memory. Unfortunately, Shōryū might insist on other things first. Things connected to the battling. He'd just have to... well, hope he could convince him there was no need for the battle-related things. Unless... He'd also just have to hope neither him nor Shōryū were chosen as Players.

[goodtobetheking]

"Memories?"

The king hummed to himself, a low, thoughtful sound, and shifted his grip to let Enki settle himself more comfortably. He wasn't a table, but with ample padding and equally ample patience, he'd do. That done, he set off for the desks at a reasonably sedate pace. "And that in particular? What would they gain from that, I wonder."

To be honest, he was slightly surprised at the severity of Enki's reaction. Amused, yes, but there was something unsettling about the kirin being essentially knocked to his feet that often. Clearly he'd been holding out on Shōryū all these years regarding the Ouki.

[choseanidiot]

And settle was what Enki did, ankles crossed, one hand on the shoulder he wasn't sitting on, but considering Shōryū's pace, he hardly needed that steadying influence. Maybe there was some way of making sure all kings would carry their kirin around like this. Would serve them right.

But then, Enki remembered not all kirin and king pairs were as matched as they were.

"To fight," Enki spat, bile rising up in his throat again. He'd observed two battles; the first one to see how they worked, the second only accidentally.
"But there's no logic to what memories are taken. Like the fact that I have to rediscover the taste of peaches each time I eat them. That ain't so bad, though." Enki scratched his scalp before continuing.
"There will be an introduction later, if they do it like last time, for the new ones... or for people who're just stupid." Enki couldn't help it, really, but having to consider the battles were unsettling him, and he had to make up for that somehow. And that somehow was implicitely insulting his king.

"But, simply... They've taken memories, and somehow allow a select few to draw weapons from the chests of the others. The weapons inflict pain but no 'real' injuries. The pain though... is real enough. Those able to draw weapons are supposed to fight each other," Enki said, face drawn and voice sharp, and a glare at nothing in particular thrown out in front of him.

[goodtobetheking]

No wonder the kirin was livid, then. They must have gone through a great deal of effort to manufacture a combat atmosphere that wasn't poisonous to the holy creatures, and only succeeded in enraging them further. No kirin would consent to a war game, real wounds or no. He sighed.

"What an elaborate prison. Have you been amusing them, then? Or have you been misbehaving enough that I'm here to secure your cooperation?" The king was, after all, the only being in existence who could order their kirin to fight. It made sense that he would make the best hostage. Apparently their powers were limited to memory loss. Removing the essential nature of a kirin was apparently beyond them, except... He hummed again. "It must be a powerful spell, if you haven't called your shirei."

[choseanidiot]

Enki's eyes widened briefly at the clear, underlying 'do I need to make you behave?' threat in Shōryū's voice and he stabbed a finger into Shōryū's temple.

"Don't you dare," Enki hissed, hoping that the idiot wouldn't do as they obviously wanted him to. But there were penalties for not participating... But as far as he knew, they were all connected to the Player who refused to participate, not anyone else. But, unfortunately, Shōryū wouldn't see it like that, and of course Shōryū would 'dare' to order him to fight.

"I wasn't chosen this round." He hoped he'd never be, but what would the odds be of that? "And if you're the one they brought in to secure any future cooperation... They don't know much, do they?" Enki said with his nose in the air, but it was all hot air. Because Shōryū was exactly the person they'd want to bring in...

Then Shōryū had to bring that up, and Enki swallowed and grabbed the ponytail Shōryū's hair was in, needlessly tugging on it, and a bit too harshly, perhaps.
"I can't. There's... Nothing. They must have sealed my horn, but I feel nothing."

Frankly, even if it was exceedingly annoying to have the revelation each time he'd look back at Shōryū, at least it was there. Something that hadn't been taken away. There was of course also the weakness to blood, which he'd noticed when he came here, but still...

He wasn't going to mention they had taken his nyokai's name, too. Shōryū knew what it was, but if he'd just forget it again? That'd just hurt.

[goodtobetheking]

"Clearly they've been misinformed," he agreed dutifully, with a wince as he was jabbed. "You realise there might be no alternative." A pause. A correction. "No immediate alternative." He doubted a prison designed to make its inmates fight would have much patience with something as peaceful as a kirin. Though he wanted very much to have words with whoever decided it would be a good idea in the first place. What had motivated it? Power, curiosity?

He twitched again as his hair was yanked on. He let the tug pull his head back, and watched the parade of emotions across Enki's face with half-closed eyes.

"Nothing?" Well then. He reached up to Enki's forehead, and deliberately placed the palm of his hand against where his horn would be. The touch was solid enough to be uncomfortable, but light enough that the hand could be shoved or slapped away without Enki losing his balance. He would have warned him, but that yank had hurt a little.

*Worst* King ever. Ever! Call the kirin abuse hotline!

[choseanidiot]

Enki went rigid, feeling disbelief bubble up (he did not just---) and then unease that bloomed into pain. It was probably just due to the fact that this was Shōryū that he didn't jerk back harshly enough to simply fall off the shoulder he was perching on.

He shoved the huge hand off his forehead and then planted his fist onto the top of Shōryū's head.

"What the--! You---! Idiot!" Enki had been shouting, but now took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. His forehead tingled uncomfortably, and a chill was still clinging to his spine. Did the idiot even understand how unpleasant that was?!

"What was that even supposed to prove?" Enki leaned down to hiss, using the hand he'd earlier slapped away to steady his awkward tilt.

cry me a river and build some levees on it, kirin.

[goodtobetheking]

"A seal isn't-- Oi."

Shōryū ducked away from any follow-up blows, though he kept his hand up as a support. If Enki fell off after that, he'd probably set about making his king's life a total misery with a zeal reserved for wronged women and this particular tiny kirin. "A seal isn't permanent," he finished, when it was safe again. The idea that someone would remove Enki's horn had been, for a few seconds, a horrible possibility, and as far as he could see, the instinctive, horrified reaction he'd just been on the receiving end of had instantly disproved it.

There'll not be any rivers, but I may flood your bedroom. You can't build levees there!

[choseanidiot]

Still leaning forward awkwardly, Enki blinked, slowly. Oh. That didn't mean that sort of touch wasn't wrong to just spring on him like that. Or just not wrong period. Leaning forward a bit more, Enki was now looking into Shōryū's face almost upside-down and from the side.

"You. Are a horrible example of royalty. No respect at all! Perhaps I should try and return you. Claim you're faulty." That said (and quietly enough no one else would have heard, because if he didn't want to shout out who he was here, Enki would do his best), Enki sat up straight again on his perch.

And yes, a seal wasn't permanent. Enki had been clinging to that thought for the past week, hoping that was what it was. And also clinging to the hope that he wouldn't get chosen to be a Player, because while there was a way for him to participate and not fight, this simply meant someone else would get injured instead.

That was just not acceptable.

challenge accepted.

[goodtobetheking]

"After this long, who would take me back?" His mouth quirked as he met Enki's upside-down glare, his own expression entirely unashamed. The screen nearest to them flickered, and he turned to look at it, tongue clicking behind his teeth. "Hm, something's starting."

[AND THEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT HAPPENED AND HIS PLAYER IS LAZY. SEE POST.]

He had listened to the lady's talk with brow slightly furrowed and more concentration than one would expect, until the last section. When the tournament was announced, his face smoothed back into a slow, pleased smile.

*sabotages the staging grounds FOREVER*

[choseanidiot]

He was a bit annoyed at having a perfectly nice comeback (something about old mildewy men unfortunately not being accepted as returns, yes) interuppted by the video. Then he stared, because....

"That's not---"

Oh.

No.

No. Way.

There went any hope of just attempting to hide somewhere. Not that Shōryū would use his weapon, he knew (unless there was no choice, and then his master would lose... He didn't want to see that), but he'd hoped that he could drag out the inevitable about this whole battling thing. But now it was only a matter of time before Shōryū not only got the info out of the system, but also made Enki transfer the tokens.

Of course, Shōryū's laziness might, might work in his favour, but he may also be in one of his rare 'secret action' modes and Enki's just be steamrolled.

"Fuukan. Stop smiling. This ain't funny," Enki hissed, feeling the need to say something, even though this would drag Shōryū's attention back to him.

gasp the ministers will have a fit. You awful child.

[goodtobetheking]

"Of course not, Taiho," he made a faint effort to quell the smile which lasted all of three seconds, then crossed the remaining distance between the two of them and the desk.

"Room, please," he smiled at the assistant, one of his charming expressions. It apparently worked, she returned the smile. "And one of the manuals you mentioned."

"Shōryū? Black dormitories, room 1-B."

One manual, map and set of keys later, and they were walking away again without giving Enki a chance to snap at the receptionists.

a bit more paperwork won't kill them. Besides, they'll blame *you*.

[choseanidiot]

Currently, Enki felt slightly trapped. He could, of course, jump down from the shoulder he was perching on, but he was uncertain how long he could have Shōryū out of his line of sight before the memory-loss kicked in. So he sat still, frowning.

This time, Shōryū gaining five Weapons wouldn't take him out of the fight, necessarily. Not with the tournament, and Shōryū would hardly lose on purpose. Having been robbed of the opportunity to say something sharp to the receptionists, Enki just turned his head and gave them another glare before turning back again.

"What do we do now?"

There would, of course, be a vow at some point. The idea that it wouldn happen was absurd. But since Shōryū seemed to have deemed it better to go find his room first, Enki was uncertain what the man had planned after that, considering the vow could just as well have been made in the lobby.

[goodtobetheking]

What indeed. Shōryū would have preferred that he hadn't arrived in his robes; the first impressions given by that would set him back in terms of meeting the other people brought here. According to the registers and the crowds, there must be at least forty people - 'students' - attending, most of them children, with more arriving. He headed for the doors, and then out into the main compound. It was certainly an interesting place, architecturally.

"'We'? I have to change, and then I have some work to do. You can do as you please."

[choseanidiot]

"I think I'm almost impressed," Enki mocked, but his face reflected suspicion; Shōryū hadn't mentioned any vow, yet. Could he get away with dragging that out, and not get any idiot-mandated upgrades?

... Only until Shōryū had read everything he could find, he supposed, and that then depended on how quickly he did that.

"Can't tell you who has swords as weapons, I've only seen two battles," Enki frowned as he spoke, voice going sour as he remembered the stomach-turning brutality of how the first ended; giant axe-blade to the head--- That the injury hadn't been mortal didn't matter; the idea of seeing anyone here, especially Shōryū take another such hit...

[goodtobetheking]

"Two out of...?" He took his bearings, matched them to the direction the assistant had pointed, and set off towards what would be the black dormitory. Who would have a sword was one of the minor questions; it implied there was a large spread of weapons. Maybe a sword would be the least of the choices. As Enki suspected, Shōryū had already resolved to read everything he could find, once the kirin had been shooed elsewhere. If he saw his king actually working, it would shatter all kinds of carefully-constructed delusions.

"I suppose there's no point at all in asking about yours."

[choseanidiot]

He wasn't going to admit to having kept a sharp eye on how many battles actually had been fought. If he'd understood it right, more should have been fought, but the 'students' (understandably, in relief) were showing recalcitrant.

"Four, I think," Enki finally said, knowing Shōryū would take that for the truth it was, instead of an assumption. And then Shōryū had to go and be unpleasant. He did not want to think about his so-called weapon.

"Indeed not. You don't want to... use it anyway. It sucks," Enki's voice was breezy, quite at odds with the harsh judgement he'd put on it (himself). But it was the truth. No matter that it reminded of his nyokai, it couldn't take many hits. Not even a handful, if he remembered the dream right.

Shōryū wouldn't use it unless he really had to, but it wouldn't be of much use then, either. It kind of rankled that the protection he usually gave via his shirei had now been made much less and practically useless.

[goodtobetheking]

"Duly noted."

Then finding more Weapons would be his first priority; learning as much as he could about the system and the game, a close second. He fell silent for the rest of the walk. An idea was already forming in his mind as they - he - approached the dorm, and he stopped outside the doors with a brief smile. Was Enki really going to leave without asking for a partnership, or did he think he'd get away with it?

"I'm going to change. Was there anything you wanted before I go?"

[choseanidiot]

Realistically, Enki knew he couldn't keep Shōryū in his line of sight until he got that particular memory back (especially considering sleep), but it would be nice to cut down on the amount of times he'd be jerked to his knees.

With an annoyed sigh, Enki jumped down and turned around as quickly as he could. Nope, still intact. Okay, as long as he was quick about it, apparently... And was Shōryū really going to let him leave..? He wasn't stupid. He knew what he ought to do (ought to have tried to get done, in the week that had passed); but the idea to actively enable himself for the combat system here...

The urge to just turn around and walk away (would serve him right) was great... actually, ditch 'urge'. Enki knew Shōryū would worm up the ways for him to be able to fight and not pull down some penalty on himself, that would come no matter if he was his Weapon or not, but did he have to be... well, Shōryū!?

"No, nothing," Enki snapped and whirled around, managing about two steps before he turned around again. "You. Are a jerk. Say it already!" Because, in a way (despite Shōryū of course being his master in ways this silly, stupid, dangerous, heartless game could never imitate), the idea that they wouldn't have that bond was just... well.

He wasn't going to admit to having a hard time to leave.

[goodtobetheking]

There it was. He'd thought, for a bizarre moment, that Enki was actually going to call his bluff and leave, vow unmade, but apparently he'd judged it correctly after all. They were clearly growing predictable in their old age.

"Was that so hard?" Shōryū took one step towards the kirin, crossing the distance he'd managed to walk before cracking and turning back. "I will protect you, own you," his expression shifted again, wry, and he added, "--and never desert you. Nor will I force you into battle, though I can't promise the same for myself."

[choseanidiot]

"That--" Enki didn't get further as Shōryū spoke the vow and then he was just staring.

That.

Was just wrong.

"You better not use that one on anyone else," Enki muttered, giving his idiot jerk of a king a squinty glare.