Opaque Playmates

"Hey, nii-san!" A shrill voice cried out in the murky chamber as the person who released the three syllables starts to rotate around her own axis moved erratically around. "Check this out! There's goo eveeeeerywhere~" Cheerful as few, it was rather peculiar to think that a dagger was stuck in her right eye-socket and several blades perforated her abdomen. As a matter of fact, she looked like she was rather healthy... Aside from the aforementioned fatal injuries. But even then, an outsider could easily deduce that the girl was, by no means, normal. For starters, her blood was absolutely pitch black and it did not look like blood at all. The strange and sticky substance was, upon initial examination, more similar to tar. Oh, and she was also playing around while being impaled repeatedly. If her status as a supernatural being was unclear at this point to a stranger, they were either ignorant, children or in denial. That is what the young man who observed the perforated petite had deduced at least. He was not exactly the brightest bulb either, but hey, even he had some common sense... "Some" being the keyword. As he observed her in the darkness, as best as he could, he pondered whether he should remove the blades he had pierced through various locations on her body. Taking the necessary steps to properly approach the ecstatic little thing, he pondered whether it was such a good idea to let her in his room in the first place. Wide-eyed and idealistic, the girl faced him with her one remaining eye. A toothy grin met the wispy-haired boy's unfazed gaze. The anticipation in the girl's eyes was a feast for empaths; so innocent, so treasured. When he finally faced her, he remembered just how tiny she was. So fragile, so precious. She truly was one of a kind in this world; he needed to show this rare gem his appreciation.

So he brought his hand into the air and stabbed her left eye-socket with the blade he had been holding in his hand. The thrust had such force, the brittle child-like body fell backwards and hit the shadow-stained floor with a loud "thud". Liquid ooze poured out of her sockets and the body had hit the floor in a rather grotesque position, with its arms spread to the sides and various blades perforating her abdomen. As she had primarily been stabbed from behind, the hilts supported the poor girl's back. Grinning at the primal scene of carnage, the boy stroked the bangs away from his eyes. "Yuck", he exclaimed as he touched the tar-like substance stuck in his hair. Apparently, he had been a little too violent this time along. He hated it whenever people spilled their goddamned liquids on him. Then ha had to wash up, change clothes and sometimes even do so multiple times. The girl should not have done that. He ran up to the corpse, teeth gritted and eyes aflame, and punted the limp body into the only source of light in the room, an oculus. People never learned that he hated them, he thought as he continued to sneer at the broken being. Why couldn't they just die when he attacked them? Heck, why couldn't they all just die when he wanted them to?! Goddamned assholes, ruining his day.

"Nii-san?"

The voice emanated from what was now a murky substance stuck to the floor covered in a halo of sunlight. The change had been quick; very quick, as a matter of fact.

"I don't wanna play this game anymore. It's booooring."

As these words echoed through the empty dome, the seething rage in the young man was suddenly subdued. He had forgotten... He had forgotten who that was. The figure who had first been thrashed by his fist and then his blades. The figure who expressed no pain, no sympathy, no sorrow. Even as a corpse on the ground, the figure had still retained its toothy grin, with the slight kitty tooth poking out. But now the voice was just pouty and not to mention annoying. Damn, if he could just make her go away, he would. But he can't. Following up the thought with a sigh, he decided to concede.

"Fine. Just get over here. We can do something else, sis."

The statement was met with an unrestrained squeal and the sound of metal hitting rock tiles reverberated throughout the chambers. Hansel was glad that the oculus drowned some of the echo, as he could not stand loud sounds. Hansel watched as the strange, boiling fluid of murky energy reformed in the place of his sister and slowly started to float towards him. This had always been a rather freaky process, even to him. It is was difficult to comprehend that your sister was, in reality, just a wad of black gunk that happened to possess the capacity to speak. But she was here, at least, and that was all that mattered... She was his too, and he was hers. They were together, like they had always been. As far as Hansel could remember, at least. The two of them had been the only constants in his short life. From the moment he had awakened in the desert, met the strange one-eyed man and traveled to this exquisite prison. Yet he had grown and she had not. She was, to the best of the young man's knowledge, stuck in a stasis like the other members of the expedition. In other words, she was not the weird one; he was. He had grown from boy to man, while even the blue one had retained her freakish appearance, not a day older. Gritting his teeth, he felt a slight envy towards his sister, who had managed to stick with the norm. But then again, he thought, She's made of shadows.

Hansel stared blankly as the blob reformed into the familiar shape of his sister, completely unscathed. As she grinned at him, her red eyes became but a squint and her protruding kitty tooth once again showed. "What do you wanna play, nii-san?" Her eager tone agitated him as well, as Hansel also wanted to play a game. Otherwise, he would end up being bored and being bored was something Hansel strongly disliked. In fact, boredom just made him want to smash, brutalize, slash, crack, hack, split, cut, punch -- "Nii-san?" Gretel's hand waved in front of Hansel's eye, having approached him while he was busy daydreaming. "What are we gonna play?" She repeated, her voice more insistent this time. Gretel was right... They needed to play something! If they didn't, he'd kill someone. Resting his lip on the knuckle of his left index finger, as if deep in thought, he exclaimed a mere second later. "I know! Hide and seek!" The suggestion was met by a shrill yell. "I will hide!" Gretel screamed in Hansel's ear. Aw no, Hansel silently thought and felt his heart sink a bit. I wanted to hide for once...

As his sister walked into the deep shadows, the young man averted his eyes to evade seeing his sister hide. Although, he did know that it was not necessary, as his sister could just disappear into the shadows as she saw fit, he still did it out of habit. 10... 9... 8... Hansel still heard the bubbly laughter of his sister somewhere in the room, even though he counted internally. 7... 6... 5... Shuffling in the distance. 4... 3... 2... 1... The curtain was set. "Zero!" He exclaimed loudly as he turned around and faced the abyss. "If you have not hidden yet, you will lose!" Grinning vehemently, he charged head first into the devouring darkness without a sliver of doubt. His dilated eyes searched in the darkness for signs of life. No, not there. He thought. Not there either! His eyes flickered in the inconceivable mist as if he could see. "No, no... Gretel." The voice was barely raised above a whisper, but he still knew she could hear him. "You have outdone yourself this time." And he was right; the statement was followed by a laughter resonating from all around him. "You always say that, nii-san! Now, can you find me?" A strange otherworldly aura synthesized the girl's voice, but this was no strange thing to the boy; not like this.

He scampered towards the construct which lead out of his room, believing that his dearest sister had hidden there, but found naught. Come think of it, hiding in front of the door would not be all that smart. Why had he even thought that she would be there? Sneering in rage over his own stupidity, Hansel summoned several swords with the flick of his wrist. Sending them across the room on whim, some ended up being stuck in the stone walls. "Come out, little bird! Come out!" Hansel lured with his most persuasive voice; not even a giggle answered. The young man's breathing picked up its pace now. He would not give up, never! As he took a step forwards, he suddenly noticed that the room was drenched in light. He covered his eyes and hissed in the direction of the source... Which was behind him?

Bedazzled beyond comprehension, he threw the last sword he had summoned in the direction of the light. The sound of flesh meeting cold, brutal steel confirmed that he had managed to hit something. But whatever he had hit still moved towards him, completely unaffected. His eyes gradually adjusted themselves to the light and he then noticed that the silhouette he had hit was closer than he had initially suspected. The source of light was the archway which the doors would usually barricade, which the silhouette had opened without Hansel's notice. Who dared to enter his chambers, uninvited? Perhaps it was another playmate? Sure, his sister was fun, but he could use some variation.

But upon closer examination, as his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed a characteristic feature which revealed the silhouette's identity. A paper talisman dancing in front of the person's face. Even though he walked flawlessly, had lively eyes and allowed a scroll to hang loosely in his grip, like a regular human, he had to be deceased. Why? A claymore perforated his chest cavity and he paid it no mind. He kept on walking as if commanded. This figure was hulking in terms of size, with bulging muscle and a massive stature. Yet Hansel did not wince when he saw the giant homing in on him, for he was an ally. An uncanny one, but an ally nonetheless. When he finally stood face to face with Hansel, Daishi Kumuro stretched his massive hand in the direction of Hansel and handed him the scroll.

Turning around, the undead man left as quickly as he had arrived. The pixie had sent word for him... This would have to be important. Unraveling the scroll, Hansel walked towards the oculus to properly read the text.

"My sweetheart. I am summoning you to a dinner party in the main hall. You are all welcome to partake in this feast tonight, regardless of position. With loving regards, Sūmi Masēn. ♥"

The ink-black heart which she had bothered to drop on the end of the letter both disgusted and intrigued Hansel. She was provoking him... She obviously was. But at the same time, she had invited everyone to a feast. She needed to have some interesting news, at least. Grinning to himself, Hansel turned around to face the darkness, his old friend, once more.

"Gretel! Come out! We have been invited to dinner!"

End Chapter 3.