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 Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:09 pm
((Remember people, do not post OOC stuff in this thread. This should be the only OOC thing here. Post in the OOC section. Check there for discussions and questions. Remember to also check there for important updates.))
Toronto, ON
Canada
October 12, 2004
The seven gods looked out on the earth, over the city that would be the setting of the beginning of their game. Humans milled around, unseeing, though there were those special few that felt them, sensed eyes that shone with a power enough to warp their lives.
One of the gods spoke. "Do you think it will take long?"
Another grinned. "It all depends on how good the chosen are."
The words made all the gods tensed up, the challenge hanging in the air. None of them particular care to loose, some more than others. They eyed one another suspicion heavy in the air until one spoke up.
"Tomorrow it'll begin."
They nodded in unison, and one by one faded into the night. As they each left, pondering the plans they would set with their chosen of them one held another agenda, one that would bring even the gods to their knees.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:49 pm
It was the dead of night.
Hands in the pockets of his black duster, Koji Hinata walked the moon-drenched streets of Toronto. His shadow loomed long, and his boot heels were the only sound above the night wind. He scanned the streets as he walked, alert for danger or anything suspicious. All he saw were quiet brick buildings and streetlights shining pale gold.
It was on a night such as this that the man in black appeared to him, stepping out of the shadows as if he were a part of them. Koji had been walking home after playing all night at a local club, just as he was doing now, when the man stopped him and turned his comfortable if dull life upside down.
He stopped suddenly, absent-mindedly melting into a shadow as a police car cruised silently down the cross-street ahead. When it was no longer in sight, Koji turned the corner and hurried to his apartment. Ever since meeting the man in black nearly three months ago, things around him seemed different. Unseen eyes seemed to be watching him at all times and strange feelings of apprehension would fill him to the point of paranoia.
‘Why does it feel like something I’m not going to like is coming?’ he thought. ‘Never been much for omens, but they seem to like me an awful lot, judging from the past few months.’
Shaking his head to clear it, Koji came to a stop in front of his basement apartment, keyed the door open and went in. The place was quiet and dark, the only light spilling in faintly from behind him. Shutting the door, he turned on a lamp and looked around. Not overly decorated, but comfortable. An old green couch, TV, a dresser with a few exotic statues on it. And in the far corner, an unmade bed.
With a tired sigh, he shrugged off his duster and threw it on the couch as he walked to the fridge. Not much was inside, a few white cartons of Chinese food and two bottles of beer. Grabbing a long necked bottle, he took a long drink, feeling all the tension leave his body as the frigid liquid poured down his throat. Bottle in hand he made his way to the couch, glancing at the answering machine on the coffee table.
A bright red three blink insistently though he ignored it, knowing what the messages were. Two were from girls he didn’t know the third was a guy who wanted him to join his band as lead guitarist. None sounded appealing. Taking another drink, he sprawled out on the couch and felt something dig into his butt. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out something that looked like a handgrip for something. Wrapping his fingers tightly around it, Koji held it out before him and willed it to life.
Faster then an eye blink, two beams of silver light shout out from both ends of it, forming a longbow with no string. Pretending her had an arrow in his free hand; Koji mimed the action of notching an arrow and drawing it back. As he did so, a beam of white light appeared, stretching into the shape of an arrow. For a few minutes, he held the pose, marveling at the strange beauty and power before willing it all away with a thought.
Why the man in black had given him this magical weapon he still couldn’t figure out, nor did he understand the cryptic message the man told him before leaving.
“Keep this close for your life depends on it. The Wheels of Fate are turning swiftly. Be ready.”
Too tired to care about riddles, Koji placed the handgrip on the coffee table and turned on the TV. Turning it to some cheesy sitcom, he watched it with little interest until exhaustion finally took over and he allowed sleep to take him away.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:17 am
It was a curse of life that the type of person that you dislike the most would also be the type of person that ended up your boss. She sighed as Mr. Cutter called her into his office and as soon as her butt hit the chair she was being lectured.
"I know you're just a temp here, but if you can't be responsible how are you going to make it in this world. You're still young but you have to learn to be responsible."
She gritted her teeth. She was 5 minutes late and suddenly she was irresponsible. How was she was supposed to know the traffic would be so bad, and it was only 5 minutes.
"The patrons at the library expect a brand of service, and we expect our employees to give it to them. Not being there to service them is unacceptable."
Ariana tapped her watched as he continued. Maybe she could just go back to when she decided to just sleep in a little, she had her fingers halfway on the dial before she caught herself. No, if she wasn't careful when she used it. She sighed and dropped her hand.
"I expect you to be here on time from now on. Is that clear?"
She folded her hands in her lap to prevent herself from falling in temptation. "Yes, it's clear." She said gritting her teeth. "Clear that I need another job." She stood up a smiled. "I quit."
Then turned around and walked out of the office. A half a block from the library it suddenly clicked what she had done. "s**t."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:58 pm
After getting off the plane, Timothy walked down the ramp wondering what had happened. They had been on their way to England, but for some reason they had been sidetracked to Toronto, Canada. He made it into the main lobby and looked around. He was on his way to a special seminar in England at one of their universities. He knew that he wasn't going to make it now so he called up his colleague that was waiting on him in London. Timohty told him that he wouldn't make it, because he was sidetracked into Canada.
He took a tranist from the wing of the airport that he was in so he could get to the main terminal. He decided to rent a car and go to a nearby hotel. He ended up renting a little Saturn. He decided that it would have to do, and then took off to find a good hotel. There was a nice Sheraton hotel their in the town, and having stayed at one of those previously, Timothy chose that as his destination of staying.
He gathered his bags and went up to his room. He was in room number 587. It was of course on the fifth floor. He went up and found that he had wireless internet and got on to check his e-mail. This way he could tell his parents that he actually wasn't in England, and that he hadn't actually left the continent at all.
He moved the gun that he had and put it under his pillow. He had a quite difficult time sneaking that through security at the airport. He had to put it in a lead case in the far side of his case. It had been situated to that the nonattentive guard had not seen it pass through. From there it hadn't been that hard. It hadn't been hard from there. After moving the gun, Timothy changed out of his clothes and changed into a white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He laid down on the bed and started to watch the TV.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:01 am
The insistent ring of a telephone broke through the fog in Koji’s mind, pulling him from the dark comfort of sleep to the harsh light of wakefulness. Groaning in protest, he opened heavy eyelids and checked his watch. It read 12:15. He had slept all morning.
‘No wonder I feel like s**t,’ he thought, rubbing his eyes.
Suddenly the answering machine kicked on, played a dull ‘Sorry I missed you call’ speech then beeped. There was a slight pause then a young man’s voice spoke.
“Hey, it’s Ethan again. Koji, the guys and me would really like you to join our band. Give me a call, my number is 555-6545.”
“Damn,’ Koji sighed, running a hand through his short black hair. “Give it a rest already.”
He met Ethan two weeks ago while performing at a blues club. Since then the guy called him nearly everyday, almost begging him to join his band. Koji had ignored his requests, hoping he would get tired or get the hint to buzz off but no such luck.
“I better hit the streets before he calls again. Good thing I don’t have a gig tonight, he’d probably wait for me there.”
Getting stiffly to his feet Koji headed for the bathroom, peeling off his shirt and tossing it on the bed along the way. Once inside the room he stripped out of the rest of his clothes, started the shower and stepped under the warm water. He stayed there a long time, hands braced against the wall as the soothing water poured down his head and shoulders. All too soon, the water turned cold, forcing him to leave his sanctuary.
Drying himself quickly, Koji slipped back into his old clothes, noting the fact he had to do laundry soon, and set out to scrape up something to eat. Unfortunately, there was nothing except a few bottles of beer. Adding grocery shopping to his mental list of things to do, Koji grabbed his guitar case and checked his instrument tweaking it a bit before zipping it up. As an afterthought, he took the bow handgrip from the coffee table and slipped it into his back pocket.
Ready to face the world he put on a pair of dark sunglasses, stepped out of his apartment and saw a young guy with spiky red hair sitting a few feet away on a bench.
‘Aw, hell no! God, give me a break,’ he thought as the guy Ethan saw him and nearly jumped off the bench towards him.
“Hey Koji, glad I finally found you. Boy, you’re not easy to get a hold of.”
Clenching his jaw in annoyance, Koji locked his door and started walking. “So now you’re stalking me or something?”
“Not really. I just wanted a chance to talk and you wouldn’t return any of my calls.”
“That should of tipped you off I don’t want to talk.”
“Why?” Ethan asked, struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. “I just want to tell you about my band. Is that so bad?”
“I’m not interested,” he said sharply, crossing the street and headed to the city park.
Undeterred, Ethan followed him. “Why not? You’re wasting your talent playing it petty clubs and bars. Team up with us and you’d probably make twice the money then you would alone. Come on, what do you have to lose?”
Koji ignored him as he went to his favorite spot between the bus stop and a hotdog vendor. Setting his guitar case down he took his time removing the instrument and tuning it up, hoping Ethan would get the hint that the conversation was over. Instead, the stubborn guy hovered over him like a vulture, waiting for him to finish. Almost out of patience, Koji stood up, removed his glasses and looked him hard in the eyes.
“I don’t like taking orders from others and that’s what I’d have to do if I join a band. I do fine on my own. I don’t need anyone. Why do you want me so bad anyway? I’m not the only guitarist around. Go stalk someone else and leave me alone.”
Ethan returned his stare unflinchingly. “I want you because you play with soul. I’ve been watching all your performances and when you play, it’s like you’re pouring your heat into the music. The audience really responds to you. Plus you’re not bad looking and seem to girls falling at your feet.”
Reaching into his pocket, Ethan pulled out a small yellow business card and handed it to him. “My band and I are going to be playing here tonight at 9:00. Come check us out for yourself. After seeing, us play, if you still don’t want to join then I’ll back off and that’ll be the end of it. Deal?”
Koji stared at him for a bit, his resolve wavering. With great reluctance, he took the offered card.
“Fine. Now get lost, you’re scaring the people away.”
Ethan flashed him a triumphant smile. “You won’t be sorry. Remember, 9:00.”
Glancing at the card, Koji stuffed it in his pocket and put his glasses back on without answering. Finally getting the hint, Ethan all but skipped his way back across the street and was soon out of sight. Feeling drained from the conversation, Koji went over to the hotdog cart and ordered himself a dog and coke. He had just given the guy his money when a strange feeling of apprehension filled him, slowly getting stronger with each second as if something big was comeing.
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:20 pm
Timothy woke up and rubbed his eyes. He looked over at the clock and it said 6:14. He knew that he was going to have to get up soon. He didn't really have an imediate reason to go back home any time soon. He was supposed to go to England and stay there for a couple days then come back home. He wasn't scheluded to teach again though for another two and a half weeks.
He went back to sleep and woke up with his alarm at 8:30. He slid out of bed looking around the room. The sun was peeking through the curains lighting up the room. He looked down and starred at the floor for a little while.
Getting off the bed, Timothy went to the bathroom and took a nice hot shower. He hadn't enjoyed a shower in a while and decided that this was going to be one to be enjoyed. He got out of the shower and looked for a towel. There was a white towel on a little rack above the toilet that had a little Sheraton logo embroided into it.
He made his way into the kitchen/dining area of this little room. He turned on the TV to see what was going on that day. He didn't really see anything interesting on the TV so he turned it to a local news station. He saw that it was going to cold so he decided that he would throw on one of his hoodies before going out. He grabbed the University of Arkansas hoody that he had and put it on.
Timothy walked outside and looked around. There wasn't much close by to the hotel and he decided to catch a cab and head in town. He didn't really have any instructions for the cab driver so he told him to just take him into the town.
After a little drive they arrived in the town and he paid the driver. It didn't cost much. He started to walk around and was just looked at all the different stores.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:59 pm
"No Mr. Andretti, you don't have an appointment here. Our editor never contacted you. Now, if you'll be so kind, please leave the premises before I have to call security."
Andretti was shocked.
I know I got that call from here!
"Fine, fine. I'll see myself out!" he said, throwing open the lobby door and walking out.
How can they say that? I got the call from them! Wait a minute...
His thoughts went back to that old man in the white suit. The one thart gave him this sword that no one seems to see.
"That's it! The old man! He was the one that called me!" Andretti said, recognizing the voice that was on his voice mail.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:48 pm
"Please remain in your seats until the plane has come to a complete stop. Thank you for flying continental, and enjoy your stay in Toronto."
Luke looked up from his Gameboy Advanced and looked out the window to see the city below. It was nothing like where he lived. There were no trees from what he could tell and the streets seemed packed with bright lights he could only assume were thousands of cars in the streets below.
It was fifteen minutes before the plane hit the runway. As usual, a small headache formed as his ears popped from the change in altitude, and Luke was forced to turn of his Gameboy. His official reason for coming was to see his Cousins who had moved up north, but the dark haired boy had his own ulterior motives, 'Toronto, Canada. So this is where that b*****d who hacked my gaiaonline account lives. Fluffybunny375, I will find you!' Luke thought as the seat belt light turned off.
The blue eyed boy gathered his bags and slowly exited the plan, forced to wait in line behind a family with five younger children who wouldn't hold still long enough for their parents to grab the luggage. Eventually though, Luke made it off the plane and found his family waiting for him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:56 pm
Walking down the street, Andretti saw a girl standing there. She looked different to him, like she was capable of something he wasn't.
Why am I thinking like that? I've never thought like that before...
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:43 pm
Aimi woke with a start as someone's head came to rest suddenly on her shoulder. Still half asleep, she turned to see who had decided that she was a pillow, and flinched away reflexively. The fat, homely tourist woke up with a gasp, her small eyes fluttering open. "Oh," said the tourist in a thick Dutch accent, after a second of staring at Aimi like she was the one guilty of invading someone's personal space, "I am very, very sorry. Very sorry."
Aimi sighed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and turned to look out the window. It was too dark outside to see anything. Her brow furrowed, and she pulled the window cover shut. Her feet began tapping out an antsy rhythm on the floor, and she let her head fall back against her seat. She hated planes. At least in cars you could turn up the music loud enough to make other cars honk at you, or even pull over and walk around for a while if you really needed to.
In a plane, all you could do was sit. No, she revised, that wasn't quite true; you could get up and walk to the bathroom, if you could call it that, and you could walk back to your seat.
Biting her lower lip to keep from yelling something random just to break the polite, sleepy silence around her, she looked at her watch. 1:45am, read the neat, glowing green segments. She sighed again and leaned back in her seat, willing herself to relax. Six hours to go, and she would be back in Toronto. She might as well catch up on her sleep some more.
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:51 pm
Anthony still couldn't believe that he had actually forfeited the match. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it seemed like the stupidest thing he had ever done in his life. "What could have made me do that? How could one woman make me give up my life, just because she had a big hammer?"
He examined the hammer, holding it out in front of him. It was indeed a beautiful hammer. He had trouble holding it in one hand, but when he grasped it with both hands it felt so light. "I can't believe this could make me want to lose." He sighed, and replaced the hammer on his back, for he had found a backstrap he could hold the hammer in at some random store earlier.
He looked at his watch, realizing the time. "I better get home."
"Where do you think you're going, big man?" a voice coming from the shadows said.
"Yeah, we're thinking that you might want to stay right where you are."
Three men, one with a chain, one with a bat, and one with a crowbar walked into the light cast by one of the street lamps and surrounded Anthony. "Give us all of your valuables. Cash, jewelry, credit cards. You know the deal. Refuse and we'll beat you within one inch of your life."
Anthony frowned. How could he fight these three men without a weapon. He smiled when he remembered the hammer. "You really don't want to do this. At all. It would be a big mistake."
"No, you'd be making the mistake if you think you can fight us," the first voice said.
"Okay then, your mistake," Anthony said as he pulled the hilt of the hammer, releasing it from the harness as though it was never there. As he swung it from the harness, he directed it towards the closest thug, nailing him on the left side of the face knocking him out cold onto the ground. Before he the first thug hit the ground, the second was already charging Anthony. Anthony swung the hammer in an uppercut fashion, lifting the thug off his feet and sending him flying back about ten feet. By this time, the third was already running away, but Anthony decided not to chase him, but let the hammer chase him. He threw it with all his might, and it flew into thug three's back, knocking him over the edge of the sidewalk, tripping him onto the street.
After the fight, Anthony went toretrieve his hammer, only to find that when he thought about having it back, it was in his hand. "No way," was all he could say. He checked the men's bodies, making sure they were alive. The first guy was pretty bad, and would need to get to a hospital soon. As for the other two, they might have had a broken bone or three, but they'd be okay. Anthony retrieved his phone and dialed 911 and reported that he had just seen three men attempt to mug a man, but the man had fought back, and the three men needed medical attention.
He returned to his apartment afterwards and fell asleep.
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:57 pm
"Nothing has started yet," one of the gods said, watching the seven chosen as they went about their boring lives. "I want to see what they can do."
"Then why don't you?" A voice said, interrupting the god from gazing.
The God of Strength turned to the God of Chaos. Turning away from the God of Chaos, the diety looked back at the chosen. "I know better to listen to one such as you."
Chuckling the God of Chaos shrugged. "I thought you wanted to see something happen. Then let's see it."
The God of Strength knew the other god was about to do something, but didn't protest. The deity wanted to see what would happen. Suddenly all seven chosen were frozen as images came into their head, images of each other. Anthony, Luke, Aimi, Koji, Timothy, Marcus and Ariana-each of them were revealed, where they were and what they were doing right at that moment in time.
And a whisper in their ears. These are your opponents. As each person was revealed behind them was shown an image of their gods- God of Time, God of Death, God of Wind, God of Rebirth, God of Chaos, God of Ice, God of Strength each one behind their chosen.
Suddenly the images were halted, and the visions broke apart. The God of Rebirth and the God of Time entered.
"What are you doing," the God of Rebirth shouted. "It is against the rules to interfere."
The God of Time smiled. "Should I wipe away the event."
"No," the God of Strength stated, interrupting. "It is within the rules to show the chosen the games. This is all part of the game, is it not?"
The remaining three gods entered. The God of Death nodded. "Revealing the game rules to the Chosen is all part of it."
The God of Rebirth nodded. "Fine. Reveal the game but do not interfer unless part of the deal. Agreed?"
Around the room there were nods. One by one the gods dispersed, each preparing for thier chosen.
****
Ariana felt a prickling at her neck. She could feel someone staring at her. Annoyed more at herself than anyone else. She quickly turned her head and looked at the man staring at her. Dark hair, sort of handsome with a messenger bag on his shoulders, and she had the oddest feeling when she saw him.
"What?" she snapped out, regretting the words as she said them, already knowing she was just taking out her bad day on some randome stranger that made her feel strange. She sighed, started to say sorry, when suddenly a wash of visions appeared before her eyes. People, a girl on a plane, a man with sunglasses, another in a hotel, a boy going through an airport checkpoint, then the man she was looking at, as if she were seeing him right now and him in a vision then an image of herself.
In her ear a voice whispered. Opponents? What did they mean by opponents? Then just when she thought this couldn't get any weirder behind each one of these people a figure appeared, a figure that seemed to shine with something that was beyond reality. Then just as the visions came they abruptly ended.
Ariana gasped as if she had been holding her breath the whole time. Her hand clutched at her shirt as she looked at the man. "What? What was that?" She wasn't even sure if he had seen what she seen, but he had been a part of it, that was for sure.
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:19 pm
Similarly out of breath, Andretti stared at the woman.
"You were in my head!" he said, somewhat shaken up.
There was something behind her, something huge!
Shaking his head slightly, Andretti said, "Opponents? I've never met those other people before..."
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:31 pm
"Hey kid, enjoy your flight?" Lukes Aunt smiled as she saw the boy exit the terminal.
"I guess, I've seen the movie before but luckily I had my gameboy," Luke replied as he dragged his suitcase behind him. With his free hand, the blue eyed boy felt the outline of the hand held device in his pocket.
"Hm, well at least your safe. Danny's been waiting all week for you to come," his aunt smiled warmly, tiny crows feet appearing around her eyes.
"Same he...." Luke started but suddenly was hit by strange visions. People's faces flashed before his eyes. The scenes continued to change, from a plane, to a store window, to a hotel, to the street, then the same street again only the view was oddly turned around. The final vision was the one he found most exciting, he was standing in a odd room, surrounded by the people he had seen, each with a giant standing behind them. For a moment he thought he was simply having one of the dreams he got when he played to many video games, except without all the boring introduction, but suddenly he was back at the airport staring at his confused aunt.
"Luke are you ok?" she asked but only one word left his lips.
"Sweet."
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