GAME OF LIFE • open, intro

The darkness was closing in yet again- what was it this time? Why was it happening again? Ah, right, he remembered now. The attack on Tsubomi, red in tooth and claw, but only to be countered by her monstrous transformation. She planned to spare him despite his instigation of the fight and ill intent on her. Still, all was not well. That demon inside of the young female- Connie, a serpent of darkness, had possessed the female he had been fighting. No longer was she herself, but Tsubomi had undergone a monstrous transformation, shifting into a giant feline beast with scales, wings, fangs, and a long serpentine tail. From there, it was Connie in control, and his body and entrails were horrendously shredded and scattered in a berserk frenzy.

The darkness was repeated.

What was the time before that, though? Tsubomi and Connie were not the first, after all. Rika? Viper? Fallen? Leo? Kirika? No, some of those names were not right, but others were. His head swam with confusion again as he recalled a few more less-violent names. Those he trusted were somehow still fresh in his brain... Cierva, Lyre, Nora, Lila...
Wait, what did it matter now? It was pointless, as those faces were blank. The names remained, but were naught but meaningless words at this point. But why this time? He always remembered... always...

"But not this time, hm?"

That taunting voice... so nostalgic, laced with a dark venom and daemonic sneer. How could he forget? What was happening? His goal.... it was coming back to him....

Her.

Chosen as prince and to be her heir, despite being the son of Zacharias and Sora, a dragonslayer and prestigious artist, and mentored by the Adviser, Sacri Felix...
Ah yes, it was coming back alright. He was Ren, Heir of the Elite... but what did that mean?

"Nothing anymore, right? You've only just remembered your name... but you remember me, don't you? But my name will not be known to you this time, my dear Ren...
You feel it now, right? That burning, passionate hate and rage. I killed you, and I have killed you over and over and over... you haven't won against me, not even once...
And yet you are still determined, even after all of these failures."

"N-no!"

The cry broke out as he attempted to speak again, suddenly satisfied at the sound of his own voice. At least, this time, he had that. As soon as he uttered the command, however, there was a feeling of something wrapping around his neck, beginning to tighten and slowly crush inwards. Panicked, the boy reached his hands to whatever it was coiled around his neck- he could feel nothing, but a shadow of sorts had obviously curled around to strangle him. In the darkness, he could see nothing... but something felt new and different- highly unlike the last few times. He was a master of transformations, but this made no sense... hands? Feet? An upright build? Curious, indeed.

"No? Oh, how cute, my little Ren... but this time, I'm the one in control. We'll play the game how I wish now... so you just relax. It is strange that you have not realized it yet, my dear... the only reason you've been able to reincarnate and try again so many times is because I have allowed it. Please, did you really think you gained a power like that all by yourself? And what about your other abilities? How foolish can you be? Ah, but you are a child... I suppose I should expect no less..."

The rage bubbled inside of him as he felt the strangling snare around his neck tighten, despite being unable to feel it. From there he frowned deeply, a look of pure anger and wrath on his face... he had to defeat her. He had to avenge his death and lost life. All his previous attempts at making her feel similar pain resulted in failure. She was truly a monster....

"Heh, you think I'm the Monster...?"

The voice seemed closer this time, and he could feel a presence moving closer as a more ominous and eerie feeling filled him, starting from his very core.

"Well, my dear, you would be right," the voice whispered in his ear, a warm, sweet breath felt on the left side of his face. As he gazed out the corner of his cyan eyes, he saw her.
Blonde, wavy, gorgeous hair, with eyes as blue as the bright azure sky, with a long black dress with lace sleeves and frills.

"Who are you?" Ren choked out, suddenly finding himself frozen and unable to move, the rage bubbling at a steady and strangely controlled rate.

"I guess you will have to find that out as we engage in our game again. But you're not the master anymore- that role has been passed on to me... and the playing field has been set...
this time, you either win, or the cycle will stop forever... you'll be gone..."

"Damn you...."

With those two words, the girl smirked as a huge bolt of searing pain suddenly coursed through him, forcing him to scream out from the agony. It went on for several seconds before it instantly subsided, the blonde now directly in front of him with a devilish grin and a hair on the right side of his face, pressed warmly on his cheek.

"If you win this game, I'll tell you my name... and I'll engage in a proper fight... the one you have been craving ever since I tore your body to shreds and ripped out your soul to use as my own toy...
In fact, there is an idea.... in this game you have no freedom. You are nothing but a thing, an item, disposable... you have been my toy for so long, and so fun to play with... how about I pass you on down to the real Heirs? It would only be fair- after all, you have no power to call your own..."

From there, the girl, appearing to be about his age, seventeen or eighteen physically, took a step forward. The coil around his neck began fading, but Ren was unable to move his body away from her soft hand. He wished he could run away from her right there and then, or somehow muster the power to end her right in her tracks. The thought was unrealistic. The idea of him being a toy, though, sent his rage on end again as he attempted to speak. He was unable to bring the words up and out, however, as the girl brought her face nearer to his and planted a long, deep kiss on his lips, closing her eyes. Ren was unable to resist, but felt his rage suddenly dissipate and evaporate, leaving nothing but an emptiness behind. She was right- he was nothing but a plaything, and always had been. Without his hate, he was nothing but an empty and vacant shell, with nothing to live for. Lila, Cierva, Nora... none of them mattered anymore. Such things and people could only get in his way.

With the kiss, however, Ren found himself unable to reject it. As he closed his eyes, despite unwilling, he found himself slowly coming to accept something... but what? In place of that boiling rage, something new was being placed down by the Daemon. Replacing the wrath would be power. Raw power, but with a price. A leash. Who was she to allow him use of an ability without limits? He would be eternally bound for this round of the game. As the girl poured magic into him to grow and harness for himself, his acceptance was proof of willingness to be a servant or slave to it.

Pulling back, but keeping her hand on his cheek, the girl gazed deeply into Ren's cyan eyes with her own brilliant blue ones. "From this point in the game, you don't belong to me... you belong to 'her', my child... that is the price for this magic and the right to take a place in 'this' new world..." the girl said, retaining a cruel smile. Ren remembered her power quite well, and one way or another, he had fallen for it again; the power of promise. Deals, contracts, prices, seals, and above all, acceptance.
"Say her name... accept your fate..."

No! He could not... he did not want this at all. To be owned be someone else and to have his will restricted and bound by that of another...
Yet despite all of this, he was unable to stop his words. The contract would be fulfilled, whether he liked it or not, and Ren would take his place as a chained soul and spirit.
"Jackie Scevidinia..."

There, he said it, and as soon as the last syllable had been pronounced, the darkness closed in on his consciousness. He was far from what he used to be, and this would be his last run.
"Ah, but I will give you one hint...
.... Alice."

The darkness was repeated.

~~~

Turquoise eyes blinked open to see blue skies and sunlight, with a touch of warmth on the lovely breeze. He was right next to the shade of a tree, but not quite in the cool relaxing shadow of the large magnolia. Where was he? Sitting up and putting a hand on his head as he tried to overcome the confusion of the situation, Ren suddenly remembered. And with the magic that the Monster had bestowed on him, knowledge and wisdom of the current realm and universe came along with it.
"Jackie... Scevidinia... Alice... Ecc..ia..." he mumbled, attempting to collect his thoughts and figure out what to do next.
If it's a game you want, Alice, I'll give you a good one... where will I start? Right where you want me... Fairy Tail.