The faint light of the full moon peered upon Shinku, as he looked down on Arcadia from atop Suvaro Inn. The tranquil and picturesque view of the grand city at night was something the assassin of shadows couldn't dare to miss every night. Though the view was ever comforting, a sensation of weariness still lingered at the back of his mind. A plethora of thoughts continued to race through his mind, from worries of the unmaking, to his comrades back in Dante's Abyss, to his personal vendetta that remained unfulfilled. As his thoughts rolled in endless torment, a gust of chilling wind suddenly caressed his face.
"Are you strong enough, you might be wondering," uttered a sudden voice from behind which forced Shinku to quickly grip the hilt of his sword and whip around. He couldn't sense any presence near him but he couldn't deny the figure of a man standing a distance right in front of him. It is impossible to make out the person's face in the darkness, but from his silhouette, Shinku could tell that he was male. Moreover, his voice and the choice of an elegant black suit gave it away. "Oh and be at ease. I have no intention of harming anyone," the man spoke again, taking a step forward into the moonlight.
"And who might you be?," Shinku probed with deadly seriousness, his hand still tightly gripping his sword. He held his ground, boring his icy gaze into the mysterious stranger whose features were finally revealed under the faint light of the full moon.
"Of course, where are my manners? Agent Helix at your service," the man introduced himself, bending his body in a polite gesture accustomed to Shinku's culture which intrigued the assassin of shadows even more. The culture itself had been gone as far as he knew it, dead in fact along with the obliteration of his clan. "And I was asked to call you Mr. O'Skully. Trevor O'Skully if I'm not mistaken," he continued, raising his body back to a straight, elegant stance. He spoke in a rather formal manner, his young visage sporting a calm, yet confident expression.
"Asked?," Shinku responded briefly, his tone betraying a hint of suspicion.
"By Carnival Rosa, the organization that I represent. And yes, we know who you really are," Helix quickly responded with a polite smile, too polite that it felt too sinister given the context of their conversation. His demeanor wasn't entirely hostile, but his confident expression behind the sensitive words he uttered hinted a dangerous persona behind his innocent facade. "But as I've said before, I intend no harm nor to frighten you with a threat. Rather, I came here for an offer, a chance to test yourself and fortune along with it," he offered, gesturing a beckoning motion with his right hand.
Shinku responded in silence, eyeing the stranger warily with his piercing eyes. He kept his ground, unsure whether he would want to hear more of the stranger's offer or just plan his escape.
"Of course, the offer comes with a price. It's a game to be frank, something similar to Dante's Abyss, but well, with a different set of rules. Though of course, the same as that game, this one is similarly flavored with a death match," he explained in his usual conversational tone, his eyes unwavering at Shinku's glare of suspicion.
"I assume you got my information from Karl Jak, is that right?," the assassin retorted, his eyes narrowing at the agent.
"We, rather, have our own ways of gathering information. But I assure you, it's nothing that you need to worry about," Helix replied calmly, his voice devoid of any hint of faltering or discomfort despite Shinku's icy gaze.
"So the game's more like - kill or be killed for that 'fortune'," Shinku muttered, his eyes suddenly veering elsewhere.
"That's pretty much it. But consider this, with the offer of riches and prestige, who knows who might show up as your competitor? Maybe even someone you'd need to deal with. Besides, aren't you used to killing people? And I'm certain that you've got a long list of your personal targets." Helix continued, his lips forming a sly grin. He eyed Shinku closely, his eyes glinting as if a predator that almost caught its prey.
Shinku stared down, deep in thought, his tight grip on his sword loosening ever so slightly as he contemplated Helix's offer. As he looked up again, he met the gaze of the agent, a smile spreading across the man's face as if certain of closing his deal. "What if I decline?," he asked, his glare softening slightly into a look of curiosity.
"Well, there's nothing much that we can do about it. And there are plenty of other combatants that we can ask to participate anyway. But then again, we couldn't guarantee that such an opportunity would come your way again," Helix responded confidently, a wide inviting smile now playing on his lips.
Shinku nodded silently, his gaze still fixed on the agent as he thought of his decision. "So what are the terms?," he asked after a short pause, his hand finally freeing the hilt of his weapon.
"Pretty simple really. Fancy us with an interview, and express your interest to play the death game in front of a camera. There's no need to trade your soul or anything," Helix chuckled lightly, throwing his hand out in a dismissive gesture. "On a more serious note, you'd have to part with that weapon temporarily while you're in the game. Also, we'll be toning down your abilities slightly but rest assured that the same applies to the rest of the participants. I'm sure you're familiar with this one," Helix explained, pulling out what looked like a metal collar from the side pocket of his tuxedo. "This one will limit your abilities, mostly the same as your experience at Karl's game. The same applies, remove it and 'poof' you'd be obliterated to smithereens and that will be an automatic loss for you," he continued, walking closer to Shinku to hand the collar.
Shinku glanced down at the object in Helix' hand, hesitating a bit before reaching out for the collar. Once he held it in his hands, memories of Karl's game rushed into his mind. Sweet and bitter memories alike flooded his thought before he decided to face Helix again with a nod of approval. "Fine, I will join your game," he said with a terse voice, placing the collar inside his cloak.
"Sweet! Good to have you on board. So let's get started with the preparations!," Helix exclaimed, throwing his right hand in the air, his open palm facing upwards. Within the blink of an eye, his body dispersed into a multitude of black rose petals which all rushed towards Shinku and circled the assassin of shadows in a violent twirl. Shinku flinched, almost deciding to escape the chaos but immediately calmed down upon sensing the absence of any dangerous threat from any of the petals. In fact, the presence of any sentient beings around him disappeared from his senses one after the other.
The petals moved faster until they became mere blurs of a black twister that covered Shinku's sight of his surroundings, the presence of people that were previously around him replaced by the spiritual presence of other beings, all totally stranger to him. Moments later, the black twister slowed down, the petals suddenly dispersing away from Shinku in a single direction. As they did so, the assassin of shadow's view was opened to a small room, manned by two female staff. The taller one between the two, greeted Shinku with a bubbly smile, immediately waving her hands in a welcoming gesture. The other one, a petite brown-haired woman, simply adjusted her glasses, her eyes trained on the screen of the tablet she was holding.
"Ladies, our guest, Mr. O' Skully has arrived," the voice of Helix surprised Shinku once again from behind but this time, causing little concern to the assassin of shadows. What Shinku did instead, was to bend his body in a gesture of courtesy to the ladies.
"Oh, there's no need for formalities Sh...errr...Trevor," the taller, blonde-haired woman giggled, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture, her bright hazel eyes momentary peering over Helix's sudden glare. "We..just want to ask you some questions," she continued, veering her eyes back at the assassin of shadows who has now straightened himself back up.
"But first, you might want to sit down," the other lady interjected while gesturing towards a small chair, positioned in front of the blonde lady's desk, where Shinku immediately walked towards and sat down. "Now then...", she continued while pressing a couple of buttons on her tablet. "...before we proceed, We'd like to inform you that this interview is being recorded and fed live for our distinguished clients. There's one camera right in front of you," she noted, pointing her finger at an eyeball-like device, floating in front of Shinku. "And two more right over there, and there," she continued, pointing at a fixed-mounted camera on the wall just beside the assassin of shadows and then to the other one, at the corner of the room behind him. "If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask right away, and we'll try to give you an answer to the best that we can. So without any further ado, I'll turn you back to Agent Aiko," the lady concluded, planting her eyes back on her tablet.
"Sweet! Thanks for that Jiyala!," Aiko responded, giving a wide smile at her companion before glancing back at Shinku. "So then, Trevor, what can we expect from one of the finalists of Karl's survival game for last year?", she beamed a smile, as she paused to wait for the assassin's reply.
Shinku remained silent for a moment, gazing alternately at the women in front of him before answering. "If they're here, perhaps for entertainment, I'm certain that I can give them a better one than what I showed from Karl's game," he answered cryptically, meeting Aiko's eyes head on.
"Interesting! So how do you intend to offer more 'entertainment' to our beloved audiences," Aiko giggled, leaning forward on her desk, her voice carrying a hint of intrigue.
"This time, I will fight to win," he responded sternly and briefly, veering his gaze towards the floating camera.
"So do you think you can win this game?," Aiko challenged, her lips extending to a smirk.
Shinku chuckled lightly in response, pausing for a second before replying. "Who knows? We'll never know till we try, right?," he smirked back, his gaze unfaltering before the lady.
"Of course! Of Course!," Aiko laughed, smacking her hands playfully together. "Well then, I guess we can't make our audiences wait any longer. Welcome to Carnival Rosa Trevor, and I wish you all the luck! Jiyala?," she greeted Shinku before turning her over to her companion.
Jiyala responded with a nod, before walking towards Shinku. "If you could please follow me," she motioned to the assassin as she walked past him.
Shinku immediately complied, seeing Helix once again, standing right beside the door. The agent greeted Shinku with a smile and a sluggish salute eyeing the assassin of shadows as the latter left the room.
The door opened to a wide hall area, crowded with a multitude of strangers, most of them dressed in similar suits as Helix and the others. The atmosphere was busy, influenced by the staff that roamed around in predetermined routes, some ushering more strangers into a variety of other rooms. Shinku himself, marched after Jiyala, his eyes discretely roaming around the place in curiosity. It wasn't much of a long walk, too short in fact, if not for the winding paths they had to take to make way for the others that crossed their path. Eventually, they arrived at a short, narrow hallway sporting a teleportation device on its end.
"I'm sure by now, you're used to the ways of that device," Jiyala uttered, pointing Shinku towards the teleportation pad with her tablet. "And if you could please surrender your sword. We'll make sure to take good care of it while you're in the game," she asked, in her usual stern tone, to which Shinku immediately complied.
He continued towards the straight path, freeing his lungs with an anxious sigh before finally stepping towards the pad. He heard the faint chime of the teleporter, as it whirred into life just a few seconds after he stepped on it. "Here goes nothing," he muttered, as he once again felt the sensation of his body being pulled from different directions, his vision surrendering to a sudden bright light.