[IC] Conflict's Chime

[The Red Seelie]

The Fool's Game

Ito Ai, a hospital patient whom had been in and out of hospitals for the greater part of her life was having that same reoccurring dream that she had been having since her most recent internment into hospital. The first time had been weird, the third time had been a bother, this was her 12th time ascending this damn tower. Her dream always picking up where it left off. She had come to memorise the details of this dream vividly.

She would always find herself ascending a staircase which was ironic given the fact that outside of her dream she wasn't capable of walking unassisted. The spiral staircase would be wrapped between an outerwall and an inner pillar with doors on both side of the staircase. Indecipherable writing on the door frame of each door. Yet every time she tried to wrestle with a door to open it the door wouldn't budge.

That is until after a few more monotonous moments climbing the stone steps of this mysterious tower this dream wasn't the same, well it was the same but not. A door was open.

She couldn't describe the feeling that washed over her, it was both one of familiarity and one of instance curiosity. She felt like she had to explore inside this door. It was her door if she could describe the strange sensation she felt as she stepped towards the doorway. Almost at once her senses were assaulted with a voice coming from behind her, as if spoken to by her own shadow. She turned to see who but the voice would always be behind her. It was repeating a message as if waiting for an answer.

"Is there not a wish you want to have granted? That one desire out of your reach?"
"Our halls will grant that most fervent desire."
"But if you decide to continue further in this tower..."
"If you set foot beyond our doors..."
"You will enter the Fool's Game."

"A wish? You want a wish?" She said considering for just a moment, This was a dream right? Therefore it didn't matter how big the wish she made was, Perhaps her dream would take on a more escapist feel so she could finally get away from it all. The stress, the worry, and the sleepless nights. Yes. She had a wish.

"I wish-"

---

Fujiko was standing in the middle of the school halls during lunch break, looking at the schools bulletin board to see if there was any new news she had to keep on top of, or if anything interest was going on such as events. Yet the only new thing she saw of note today was the missing persons poster for one of the students. Japan had been having a lot of issues with missing people and outbreaks of depression lately.

"Ai has gone missing" Her curiosity peaked at this little mystery, was it related to the game? Her fingers clutched her shirt, and the small bells just beneath. Just another avenue of mystery to explore. What on earth was the nature of this game she had joined. So many questions filled her inquisitive mind. As she just stood there her mind wandering off into the sea of possibilities.

[Ammokkx]

---

Diing doong diing doong...

"Fyuuu..."

One of the girls of class 3-3 slumped down at her desk by burying her head in between her arms. The lunch bell came as a relief to her because class was exhausting. Many of the students around her began to shuffle in the classroom, opting to eat lunch or go somewhere else to do so. She didn't have any energy to do the same, herself.

"Shizuku."

A voice called out to her, coming from the bag next to the table. For a normal person this'd seem strange, but Shizuku knew exactly why it was coming from there. For that same reason, she didn't respond, even as the voice started to call out her name faster, louder and more demanding. She just didn't care. Trying to drown out the noise that came from her belongings, Shizuku tried listening for other voices in the crowd.

"Hey, hey, did you hear? Apparently that Nakamura guy..."
"Did you see the latest episode of Gundai Fighters?!"
"Force of Will? So that's what this is..."

That last one caught Shizuku's attention, perking her head up as she scanned her eyes around the classroom. She saw a small group of her boy classmates put their desks together and crowd around, laying out the playmat for a trading card game. One of them pulled out two deck boxes, one for the player sitting across him. As she was watching, she could still hear the "Shizuku!" coming from her bag. Giving up, Shizuku took her phone out and flipped it around. Greeting her inside the casing was a trading card depicting a boy her age. Instead of a school uniform, however, he was clad in a fantasy get-up with two daggers holstered on the hip, barely hidden behind his dark cloak. "It took you long enough! What's your deal right now? Hurry up and join them for a game!" the card spoke to her.

"There's no way I can do that, Cross!" Shizuku replied to it with a whisper. Anyone who saw her like this would think the girl's crazy for talking to a trading card, but Shizuku knew only she could hear his voice. "It's way too embarrassing to be the only girl in a group..."

"Will you let go of your pride already?! It's been a week since you've become an architect, and you've still not practiced one bit! What are you going to do if a challenger comes up, huh? You don't have time to sit around like this!"

Of course Shizuku knew what Cross was talking about. The Fool's Game... in exchange for one wish being granted, you start playing the game as an 'architect.' Cross, Shizuku's J-Ruler, is her entry ticket. With him, she's supposed to do battle against others. The bell tied around Shizuku's wrist is meant to signal when another architect is in the area. If she doesn't win, then...

"...! Shizuku, your bell!" Cross suddenly shouted, worry in his voice. Shizuku was surprised for a moment, then looked down at her wrist.

Chingle... chingle...

"H...uh?" Shizuku stammered.

"Someone inside this school is the same as you, Shizuku! This is your chance, request a battle and-!"

"Yo! Is that a Ruler?" a new voice rang out. Shizuku flinched and looked up, staring at one of the boys she'd seen at that other table, earlier. "It is! I didn't know you played the game, too! Hey, we're actually having a few matches during lunch and could really-!"

The sudden nature of the boy's approach and imminent request left Shizuku flustered. She could only stutter out the following: "O-Oh! N-no, I'm just a beginner and... s-sorry!" She grabbed her bag and fled the classroom, leaving the boy's friends to tease him on how he sucks at talking to girls. The truth that they didn't know was that Shizuku just got scared of how the boy may have been another architect. She walked down the hall at a brisk pace, trying to get away from the group. The bell's chimes didn't stop with distance, however. It just kept occasionally making sound, and those sounds didn't come from the shockwaves of her walk.

Then, suddenly, when having rounded a corner, they stopped altogether. Shizuku found herself in one of the hallways close by the entrance to the courtyard. "Seems you missed your window," a displeased voice came from her uniform's pocket. Cross' voice. Shizuku ignored him and took a look around. Among the crowd of chatting and moving students stood a lone girl, looking up at the largest bulletin board inside the school. Shizuku couldn't tell if they were classmates or not. Although a bit apprehensive, she found herself drawn to the girl. She looked so lost in thought... was it something on the board? Taking a few steps closer, she tried searching for what the other girl was looking at. Most of it was just club recruitment and test announcements, though one new thing was on it as well. It seems one of the students went missing... Ito Ai. Shizuku found herself standing next to the girl now, and turned her head.

"Um... did you know her?" she asked, somewhat sheepishly.

[The Red Seelie]

School

---

Fujiko's mind was stuck in thought so much so she'd have missed the chiming of her bell, the gears of her brain was whirring as she was considering all manner of wild considerations of what could have happened to the girl, of course she was freed from this abyss of deep-thought by the voice of another whom had also coincidentally managed to sneak up next to her without her knowing.

She would jump in surprise back stepping away from the voice in surprise, hand immediately clutching her chest as her heart rate had raised quickly from that surprise. "W-woah woah hey you startled me." Fujiko would say in protest to that surprise. Only to blink twice and realise she was talking to a fellow classmate. "Oh hey, er, Shizuku was it?" She said talking to the girl the first time with the grace of a fish out of water. Mostly because she had been startled but as that wore off her voice would pick up some of its confidence as she sheepishly shuffled back to her original spot.

"No, actually I have no real idea who she is besides the fact that she used to go here." Fujiko would say playing with a strand of hair as she thought to herself. "I just found it intriguing, and wondered how or why she disappeared. Conspiracies are interesting y'know?" She said as she'd shoot a question back at Shizuku. "So what are you doing? are you also curious about what happened to this girl?"

[Ammokkx]

---

"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump..." Shizuku was quick to apologise. Like she thought, the other girl was curious about the missing person. "I saw you looking at her poster, so... I just... wanted to ask, I guess," she answered. Come to think of it, Shizuku hadn't seen this girl around either. "Are you new to this school? I don't think we've met."

"Argh, when will you learn?! Quit being so straightforward, damnit! Talk more like a proper lady!" Cross yelled at Shizuku from his spot inside her pocket. Shizuku pulled her phone out, pretending to check it briefly. She didn't do it on purpose, but the J-Ruler card slotted into the casing was clearly visible to the other girl.

"Sorry, I thought it went off for a second," Shizuku explained. It was all just an excuse to pull up her bag and throw her phone into it, the voice of a malcontent boy echoing from inside. She turned back to her conversational partner. "Uhm... you knew my name, but I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Shizuku Fumino, from class 3-3. It's nice to meet you!"

After her introduction, Shizuku turned to look at the missing person's poster again. "I wonder what happened to her... I heard she was in the hospital a lot, so I never saw her around school. She couldn't have run away from the hospital, right...?"

[The Red Seelie]

School

---

The girl had apologised to her quickly not that she had to afterall it was Fujiko's own fault that she had been so lost in thought staring at the poster of the missing girl. But almost immediately following that apology came a barrage of questions and a particularity that Fujiko would of caught up on. Given away by the fact that the moment the J/Ruler started talking she had widened her eyes as she had most heard it.

"U-um. Shizuku-san." She would say with very carefully placed tone of voice wondering if the person in front of her had done what she just did intentionally or was simply completely aloof with revealing the fact that she had a talking card. Fujiko had a card that was similiar alive... except her own J/ruler was nowhere near as loud. So. Fujiko would progress the conversation as best she could after that surprise just in order to make sure anyone that was watching would be out of earshot before she did her next move. "Oh me? You are right, I'm new here and I'm from um, The Okinawa Prefecture, Anyway I'm from Class 2-2 which makes you my Senior." She would say with this casual conversation. Finally satisfied with people being far enough away.

Suddenly she'd lean in close to her senior dropping all pre-tense for just a moment. "You know I can hear them right?" She said motioning to Shizuku's bag. "I don't know if your looking for a fight. But I'd rather not fight you Senpai." She'd say before leaning back and shrugging. "You'd probably beat me." She said continuing with her obviously faux smile. It was the type of smile one would give when they were scared but not wiling to show fear. A fear that stemmed from the fact that this 'enemy' had just approached her so casually and revealed whom she was just as casually.

[Ammokkx]

---

"...Huh?"

Shivers ran up Shizuku's spine as the other girl told her she could hear Cross' voice. "I-... I didn't..." she stammered out, at a loss for what to say in the moment. However, when the other girl began lamenting about how she wouldn't be able to beat Shizuku, a different feeling took the place of that fear: Understanding. This girl must have been the same as her. "Ah... I see," Shizuku said. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly when I approached you."

Giving Fujiko a sad smile, Shizuku opened up her bag again. She reached into it, taking out her cellphone to slip Cross out of his confinement. Holding the card in front of herself, the boy briefly glanced at Shizuku from inside. He then closed his eyes and turned his head away. "His name is Cross. He's usually like this," she giggled, turning him around to face Fujiko.

"She wouldn't battle you even if she could," he replied in a dismissive tone. "Shizuku's been refusing every chance she got, ever since entering this game."

Shizuku couldn't refute that one, as it was all too true. Wanting to move on from the topic, she said: "Um... you're the first person I've met who's also an architect. Maybe... if it would be okay with you, would you want to come to a card shop with me after school?"

[The Red Seelie]

School

---

Cross huh? That was the name of the ruler of the architect in front of her, seemed like a pretty cool individual all things considered. Though he was very vocal. Were they supposed to be like that? Her eyes were drawn to just how normal Cross looked. He looked like a stereotypical hero of a fantasy game. Fujiko's ruler on the other hand...

Well she'd rather not think about it as even looking at her Ruler for short periods of time made her feel uneasy like she had done something she couldn't remember.

She'd snap back to reality for a moment though after a small trip down the thought lane about rulers and how Cross basically confirmed for her they could be wildly different. She had been frowning the whole time! Poor look.

So instead she'd slap her face gently with both hands for a moment to pep herself up a bit. She didn't have much of an idea of where to go with this game, and plus if she could have someone to trust it would make participation more smooth right? "You know what! Sure, lets meet at the card shop after school. I think you and I both have questions for eachother and talking about them here isn't the best bet." Fujiko would say quietly before leaning back a bit. "Just as long as your not using this as a chance to ambush me right?" She'd say with a goofy smile even though she was totally considering that this could be the case.

[Ammokkx]

---

"Oh! You know where it is, then? The one just a little into town, right?" Shizuku eagerly questioned. "It's a promise, okay? I have some club activities after school, so I can't come straight away... but I promise you won't have to wait long!"

Shizuku didn't want to bother the other girl much longer, so she gave her a little wave before walking back into school. As she put some distance between the two of them, Shizuku looked down at her wrist. The bell was still hanging there, but it was silent unlike before. It's clear that it was reacting to the gold-haired kouhai from earlier, so its silence was strange. Shizuku pulled Cross out again. "Cross?" she whispered.

"It doesn't react if you know they're an architect," he flatly answered, "because it means you two can find each-other again."

Shizuku giggled to herself, replying with "I suppose that makes sense!" in a hushed tone. Her J-Ruler looked uneasy, however.

"You two are enemies, you know." he said, not looking Shizuku in the eyes. "And even if she wasn't... there's something off about her. Don't be so trusting of people," Cross warned his architect.

"Off? I'm sure she's a nice girl..."

"... Just be careful, Shizuku."

---

The final classes of the day ended and students began to tend to their business. Some went straight home, while others stayed behind to chat or do club activities. The sun was shining bright outside when Fujiko exited the building. It was nice, clear weather with a mild breeze to it. The day had a pleasant and warm feeling to it, which has a calming effect on anyone who didn't mind that kind of thing. She'd briefly follow the same route as a few other students coincidentally going in the same direction, but they were in their own group separate from her. When the group of students split from Fujiko, an eerie feeling hung in the air.

Somehow, despite other people on the streets, Fujiko felt alone. Something about the air was different. She felt some small vibrations from underneath her shirt, accompanied by a subtle chime. It seems she wasn't alone in it. The aura of the J-Ruler on her person began to call out to her, to call her to the tower. Someone had challenged Fujiko while she was on the way to the card shop. The breeze now felt chilling, that chill carrying the unmistakable feeling of someone's bloodlust.

Up until now, Fujiko had been able to ignore the chimes of her bell. This time, someone wanted to battle. Maybe... maybe it was that girl from earlier, taking advantage of Fujiko's naivete to stalk and challenge her. Even if she tried to run, Fujiko had a feeling her prospective opponent wasn't keen on letting go.

[The Red Seelie]

After School

---

School had ended without so much as another event on the level of meeting that strange girl by the noticeboard. Fujiko had made plans to go with this school to the card shop and she wasn't about to renege on the girl. Sure everything about what she was getting into reeked of a trap, and sure everything about how casually the girl had showed her their ruler had also similarly perturbed her. She had no clue that they were supposed to speak. The girl had acted like communication with ones ruler was the norm.

The sudden chill that had over taken her had caused her to look around to see where it was coming from. What being had created such pressure. A base instinct inside of a person was to run from it, But at the same time her bell would chime... She hadn't fought yet nore was she looking completely forward to it. But whoever it was. If it was Shizuku or someone else. She'd win.

Thus holding onto her bell tightly with firm hand as her perspective of the world would begin to shift, A standard Japanese street replaced with the cold hard stones of a tower. A tower she had only seen once, and that was in a dream before she woke up safely in her bed. A dream where she had encountered her ruler. Standing in front of her was a great gate of swirling fog, intersecting specks of light and dark littered throughout the chaotic cloud of fog.

She'd breath in and step through...

What would her opponent see
Standing across from the opponents room, a room of nothing but trash heaps piled high with forgotten junk, the stone walls of the tower bare and exposed there was little color present save for the browns of rust. The center of the room sat a throne marked and scarred by time and rot. Broken symbols and shattered imagery lined the ruin. A figure heavily cloaked in drab rags so that making out any discernable identity was impossible, sat upon that throne, chained to their very chair with heavy wrought chains, and spiked through with rusted spikes emblazoned with words of many tongues, all standing for "King" to the very throne in a very visceral looking binding. A heavy crown of cracked stone lay upon the head of the giant, eyes obscured as it drooped low over its face unable to correct the placement due to the predicament. Its mouth had restrained by a rag. It was an intimadating sight. Not helped by the fact that in its two hands, bound to the arms of the throne, it grasped not the throne itself but two long golden chains, Both ended in large hoops, One hoop was left unfastened, the other was fastened tight around the neck of a a human sized individual and from that hoop hung a heavy sign, bearing the Japanese Characters for "Fool". The Person binded in such a fashion was Wearing a outfit befitting a court jester but with a mask reminscient of stage plays forever warped into a jovial smile

"Who the hell do you think you are ambushing someone in the middle of nowhere" Fujiko would say. Not from the throne. But from the role of the jester, forever to perform for the king and she was definitely frowning behind the mask. But all the stranger would see would be that eternal smile of faux-joy.

[Ammokkx]

---

---

~~The halls of Babel; The Bell's First Toll~~

---

---

"On short summer nights,
^{「Mizika-yo ya}

both our dreams and our reality,
^{Yume mo utsutsu mo}

are one and the same."
^{Onazi koto」}

A peaceful Haiku echoed in response to Fujiko's questioning. Her opponent sat tranquil on the flat surface of a rock, standing steadfast in the middle of a pond. Lillypads dribbled peacefully along the water's surface as some Koi swam underneath. Around the lake were carefully tended to flowers and plants, the two vistas separated only by a rim of oval pebbles. This was the garden in front of a traditional and storied home. The bamboo screen leading into the house may was closed, but the lanterns hanging from the roof of the outside hall dangled softly in the wind. The seeming owner of the mansion was a red Oni, dressed in a wine-red kimono and an orange coat on top. Aside from the red skin and horns popping out of the top of his black, ponytail-tied hair, the Oni looked like a gentle middle-aged man. He opened his eyes and stood up on top of his little perch, giving a courteous bow to the jester before him.

"It was not mine lord's intend to deceive or ambush, young lady. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us." So was the old man's formal reply. He raised his head again, focusing wholly on the girl. "My and mine lord are called Hideyoshi. Many an opponent have we faced, but pray I do not offend, rarely have we seen Architect and Ruler separated as you." Suddenly, the Oni extended and threw his right arm downards. "Shut it, Hideyoshi. This is my battle." he seemed to say to himself. As if to reply to that, the Oni said "Then I shall leave this to you, my lord."

After giving one last bow to Fujiko, the Oni's poise shifted completely. He stood much more relaxed, one hand resting on the Katana fastened around his waist. "Come on, let's fight! I don't want to waste my time," he said. His eyes were stern and narrowed on the jester.

The domain of the jester was a desolate ruin. The domain of the samurai was a tranquil abode. Both crossed over into the middle, fading to a neutral territory. The battle of two rulers was about to echo through the halls of Babel.