Part 1: Know-It-All
{Upon death, humans are sent to a mysterious place. Once there they are judged. They are judged upon the memories of their own actions, and the actions they display in front of an arbiter. Humans are either sent to “Heaven” to be reincarnated, or to “Hell”( the Void) where they are thrown into eternal darkness. What if a human sent to be judged isn’t dead after all?}
I am awakened by a soft ding. It is a subtle sound that tries to avoid being heard. It is accompanied by the sound of sliding doors, metal scraping against metal. My vision, both shaky and blurry is of no use to me. Stumbling about, the texture of the ground beneath my shifts from tile to carpet.
“Are you alright?” a voice almost as subtle as the ding asks, sounding both concerned and hesitant. My mind is clouded with questions. Where am I? Why can’t I remember anything? Why can’t I see? Why does my head feel like an elephant is stomping on it? Who is talking to me? Having forgotten about the voice, I continue to stumble forward, with the sound of my thudding footsteps being interrupted by more voices.
“Welcome to Quindecim. We are your bartenders, Decim and Ginti,” two voices say in unison, with one containing an underlying tone of annoyance.
“Where are we? Why are we here? What is wrong with her?” the voice from earlier squeaks. Who is my companion? Is it another girl? Or is it merely a man with a squeaky, and high pitched voice?” She, (I am just going to assume it is a girl), speaks fast, and is almost incomprehensible. “I want to go home! Let me out now! If you don’t... If you don’t... I’ll have my father sue you!”
“Which one of you is Decim, and which one is Ginti?” I ask, desperate to make sense of it all. I’ll focus on getting the facts down... I’ll figure out who is who and then-
“I am Decim,” a calm voice says, followed by the voice that sounded annoyed “...and I am Ginti. Did you not see or hear us introduce ourselves earlier?” Ginti seems high strung, and easily irritable. His coworker, however is the complete opposite of him. He sounds calm and collected.
“I asked YOU questions FIRST!” my companion shouts, slamming her hands down on the bar’s counter, causing nearby glasses to rattle and shake. “I DEMAND to know what is going on! Is this some kind of prank show? This ISN’T FUNNY!” She, ironically seems to be the female equivalent of Ginti.
“I WON’T-” Ginti hollers, just to be interrupted by Decim, “I’m afraid we can not answer any of your questions. In fact, there are only a few things that we can tell you. One: We can not answer any of your questions. Two: We will now have you play a game. Three: We will have you choose the type of game by roulette,” Decim is now interrupted by Ginti. “Four: We will have you stake your lives on the game. Five: Until the game is over, you cannot leave this bar. Basically, do us a favor and shut up and listen to the instructions we give you.” Outraged, my companion storms away in a series of clicks, the sound high heels connecting with the firm surface of the floor.
//Click, click, click. The sound resonates loudly within the hallway. The hallway is framed by bright orange lockers, and is filled with students. In fact, the hallway is extremely crowded, with the crowd only parting to make a path for a girl donning high heels.//
“Do you have any objections with me pushing the button?” my companion asks, bringing me out of my fragment of a memory. “I just want to find out what stupid game we are playing and get this over with. This prank is RIDICULOUS! A game to determine who dies? Ha! You two sure have a twisted sense of humor.” Wordlessly, I nod, and a series of dings fill the hair. At the end, my partner reads the result aloud. “Darts huh? My boyfriend taught me how to play. I’m going to win in a matter of seconds!” What a strange girl... At first she refused to go along with any of this and now she seems both confident in herself and the outcome.
“Have you ever considered the possibility that this may not be a prank? They could be telling the truth... What if this game really determine who dies? What will you do if is true? What will you do if you aren’t as good at darts as you think you are? What will you do if I live, and you die? Will you accept your fate? Or will you-” I pause, unable to continue due to the strong throbbing along my temples. Rubbing my temples I wince, and all the while my mind begins to wander... What is wrong with me? Am I sick? Did they drug me? Am I already dying? If so, I should let her win...
“Shut up!” my companion hollers, “What are you some kind of know-it all?” her voice continually rises along with the level of anger behind it.
//”She is SUCH, a know-it-all” a familiar voice whines, with words of agreement echoing in the background. “She needs to put in her place...”//
“Miss? Are you alright?” A curious Decim asks, from somewhere above me. “You fell off your stool...” Sure enough I can feel the soft, yet firm rug beneath me, pressing against my back, and rubbing against my exposed skin. I wish I was wearing pants instead of shorts...
“She’s FINE. She was probably just trying to rediscover gravity,” my companion responds in my stead, her voice filled with contempt.
“JUST PLAY THE DAMN GAME!” Ginti hollers, pulling me up by my arms and giving me a shove. He must give my companion a shove too, because she huffs in outrage. “The rules are simple- Even you idiots should be able to understand it. You will throw each of the darts in front of you by turns, until one of you is down to zero points. Each of you will start with 501 points. Or, if you happen to run out of darts first, whoever has the score closest to zero will be the winner. You each have seven darts. Go at it!”
Decim clears his throat, trying to remind Ginti that he still has more that needs to be said. “Throw them from behind the line below... Blah, blah, blah... The targets are connected to your bodies... You can spare each other pain or cause each other pain... Blah, blah, blah... Be sure to have fun!” By the end of his speech, Ginti sounds like he is looking forward to our suffering.
To prevent or cause...
To lose or keep points...
To win or lose...
To live or die...
What will I, the know-it-all do?
//”I wish that she would just die.”//
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SHE'S NOT DEAD (Death Parade fanfic)
Fanfiction{Upon death, humans are sent to a mysterious place. Once there they are judged. They are judged upon the memories of their own actions, and the actions they display in front of an arbiter. Humans are either sent to “Heaven” to be reincarnated, or to...
