One day, a certain message arrived at the houses located in Fuyuki. Fourteen people found a golden envelope addressed to them, promising a fun, all expenses paid vacation at a lavish mansion some ways away. As it turns out, these fourteen people had nothing better to do and so, some by themselves and some with others, they began their journey towards the address listed.
Shirou,Saber, Rin, Archer, Sakura, Rider, Kuzuki, Caster, Assassin, Ilya, Bazett, Lancer, Caren and Kotomine found themselves standing before a giant mansion that had been built deep into a mountainside. No, rather calling it giant mansion might be an understatement. It was more like a humongous compound or perhaps a private resort would be more fitting. But more importantly....
“...Some type of anti-magic field? Or perhaps territory would be a more appropriate term,” Archer muttered to himself.
“Well the invitation did say that magecraft was forbidden. I’m amazed that the host was able to enforce such a rule,” Rin shrugged.
“Now now, it makes sense doesn’t it? If magic was allowed and a fight broke out, this place would get wrecked. Besides isn’t this supposed to be a vacation? Let’s all just go in and enjoy ourselves,” Shirou said with a light hearted smile. With those words, he made his way past the entrance gate, inside the territory. He was soon followed by the rest of the group.
Only Caster and Kotomine were remained at the entrance, with a feeling of unease in their hearts.
“The person who set this up… could it be…?”
“...I wonder what.... The meaning of all this is… Well there’s no point in thinking about it.”
With minor discomfort, the two followed the rest into the mansion, and the gate closed behind them.
----------After the group had vanished inside, seemingly out of thin air two figures appeared where they had been standing just a minute before. One was a brilliant dazzling figure clad in a golden armor, and the other was a devilish looking girl with a demonic expression on her face. The identity of the host and mastermind should be obvious.
““Kehahahahaha! Who set it up? Who else could it be? I, the Golden Witch Hero King Gilgamesh am host and master of this land. And I, the Cute Angelic Demonic Witch Devil BB am the mastermind. Look look, see? Isn’t it proof enough that only we alone can use magic inside the zone of anti-magic? As for the meaning, it’s simple, all so simple. Entertainment, a game, the most dangerous, delightful game. Which way will the roulette spin, where will the ball land? Who will die and who will prosper? The actors have assembled, the stage is set, the anticipation is killing me, but it is still not quite yet time for the curtains to rise.”
Laughing to themselves, the Witch King and Devil vanished as the air cackled with electricity and loud rumblings could be heard in the distance.
-----------The first thing visitors did was choose their rooms. It sounds simple, but it was surprisingly difficult as there were numerous rooms, each one quite luxurious. These rooms were unlocked but in each room on the drawer contained a single key which they could use to lock and unlock the door as need be. And of course once they chose their room, they would need to unpack their clothes and other belongings.
“Hmmm… looks like a storm is coming,” muttered Rider as she glanced out the window of her room in the midst of unpacking.
----------Everybody had agreed to meet up in the main hall once they completed their tasks. However, something was different. On the table was a golden envelope that was not there before. Inside was a strange message.
‘Greetings visitors,
Welcome to my humble abode. Please make use of it as you wish. Enjoy yourself, play, celebrate, live life to the fullest extent you can for it is finite and can often be cut short quite suddenly. Beyond that, I have recently come across a rather amazing treasure, yet it is of no use to me. So I shall share it with the victors of this game.The lower the number, greater the share.
Also forgive us for not showing ourselves for we are rather shy.’
“What a strange message,” remarked Sakura.
“More like nonsense,” retorted Rin.
Putting the odd message out of mind the group quickly forgot about it as they explored the rest of the mansion and began enjoying the various entertainments, unaware of the cruel, silent eyes watching them from the shadows, waiting for the game to begin.
They enjoyed themselves, played, celebrated, partied all evening long well into the evening. Rider helped Sakura make her way to her room, lending a shoulder for the exhausted Sakura to lean on.
As Rider closed the door, Sakura plopped onto the luxurious bed.
“Tired, Sakura?” Rider asked with a smile. The two of them had been locked in a rather intense series of tennis matches, wanting to finish the outdoor play before the storm arrived.
“Well yeah. Still though it’s been a fun day.” Sakura replied with a small laugh. “Everybody really is doing their own thing. Shirou and Archer are currently in the kitchen having their very own cooking duel with Saber, Rin, and Ilya as the judges. Lancer went out saying he wanted to try fishing in that lake near the mansion. Kotomine and Caren are playing chess in the study. Assassin said he wanted to read some of the poetry they had in the library. And I think Kuzuki and Bazett were playing darts in the lounge with Caster cheering Kuzuki on.”
“It’s really been a truly fun day.”
“...Yeah, it has. I hope this peaceful, fun atmosphere can continue-”
Rider’s words were interrupted by a sudden flash of lightning outside, the roar of thunder and the sound of pouring rain. The storm had finally arrived. And with it-
“SORRY BUT THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE, I M P O S S I B L E~”
A strange new voice echoed in Sakura’s room as the lights flickered on and off. Sakura lept off the bed and the two of them were instantly at guard.
“Sorry sorry not actually sorry at all~ It feels like it’s been an eternity but it’s finally time for this killing story to begin okay? I’m sure the spectators in the audience are tired of waiting, they’re bored out of their minds of this happy go lucky rose colored prologue. So boring I took zoned almost all of it out, has it really been an entire day like come~ on~. But that’s okay, because those of you in the audience reading and watching, it’s time for the curtains to rise, for the story to begin, so without furtherado IT’S SHOWTIME.”
A strange never before seen girl was in Sakura’s room. Although neither of the two knew who she was, she did bear a striking physical familiarity to Sakura herself. But that’s about where the similarities ended. In terms of personality and atmosphere the two couldn’t be more different. And more importantly the words she spoke sent shivers down the two’s spines.
“Killing story? What do you mean?”
The stranger turned her face towards Sakura. Her expression was filled with joy… along with an absolute cruelty and malice.
“You don’t need to know. All you need to do is lament your fortune and know that this story doesn’t need two purple haired heroines in it.”
“!? Sakura get away.”
A sinister black beam was fired at Sakura. Magic? It was impossible to use magic here. However there was no mistaking the thing before their eyes. Gritting her teeth, Rider through herself in the path of the attack.
And found her body pierced with holes. She died before she even hit the ground.
“Rider!?” Sakura screamed as she ran to the tattered corpse of her friend.
“Hmmm… Pretty foolish. All you did was delay her fate a little. Despair knowing that once judgement is handed it cannot be stopped. But still…” The devil looked at the girl who was crying hugging the body of her dead friend. She snapped her fingers and the corpse… vanished.
“What did you do!?”
“Don’t worry. All I did was… send her home. Now onto what I was doing before I was so rudely interrupted.”
A flash of darkness. The sound of a body hitting the floor. And seemingly from nowhere, joyous mocking laughter and thunderous applause as the Witch Devil took a bow and vanished.
----------A scream echoed down the hallway. Several people heard it and began sprinting towards the sound, to see what had happened. Rin, Saber, Assassin, Kotomine, and Caren to find Ilya sitting on the floor screaming with fright. And they could clearly see why. On the door to Sakura’s room… was a strange symbol that had been painted on.
Spoiler:
Panicking, Rin ran up to the door, trying to open it but it was no use. The door was locked.
“Stand aside.”
The combined force of Kotomine and Assassin’s tackle broke the door open. Before them… laying on the bed was Sakura’s corpse. It was clearly a corpse. There was no way a living body could survive with so many holes punched through it. Even if perhaps they were non fatal… the stake that had pierced her throat was clearly fatal.
Another crack of lightning and thunder.
“Sakura… no….” Rin muttered, walking up to the body. “It can’t be…”
The rest of the group there silently followed her their eyes focused on the body of someone who had been alive just a few hours ago.
Caren solemnly closed Sakura’s eyes and began reciting a prayer so that she could rest in peace. As she finished she noticed that Sakura was grabbing something in her hand.
“What could this be…” Caren reached down and grabbed it.
It turned out to be… a key. But not the key to Sakura’s room. This was the key… to Rider’s room. A chill filled the room. There was no way, it was impossible, Rider couldn’t possibly have killed Sakura. But what other reason could there be to explain how the key to her room was in Sakura’s dead hands?
Anxiety and paranoia filled the group as they rushed to Rider’s room. Arriving there, the unpleasant feeling in their stomachs only grew. On the door to Rider’s room was the same symbol that had been on Sakura’s room. The door too was locked. Using the key they obtained from Sakura’s room, they unlocked it and slowly opened the door.
On the bed… lay the corpse of Rider. It was mutilated in a similar fashion to Sakura’s body. No, perhaps it might have even been worse. However what was the same the stake lodged in her throat.
Rin snapped. Screaming, she grabbed a chair and began smashing the walls, the windows, everything she could. “COME OUT MURDERER I’LL KILL YOU. YOU INVITE US JUST TO KILL US? I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I’LL KILL YOU I’LL-”
She was quickly restrained by Archer and Shirou. The rest of the visitors had finally arrived. All of them stared with horror at the scene before them as the rest of the group filled them in.
A nasty suspicion crossed Kotomine’s mind. Slowly approaching the corpse of Rider, he notices that she too was gripping something in her hands. Heart sinking, he leans forward and grabs it.
It was… the key to Sakura’s room.
Silence fell on the room.
----------“A splendid opening act. Now it is the time for the second part.” The Witch King cackled in the darkness. The roulette was spun, his victims chosen.
----------After the murders of Sakura and Rider were discovered, a somber, depressive atmosphere came over the rest of the group. As would be expected, nobody wanted to stay in the mansion anymore. However when they tried to leave they discovered that the gate to the outside world was closed shut and quite impossible to open. Getting soaked to the bone due to the ongoing storm, the survivors had no choice but to return to the mansion. Dinner was eaten in silence, and everybody kept to themselves, seemingly lost in thought until night fell. And then slowly, one by one each person in the mansion excused themselves to their own rooms and after making sure to look the doors, retired for the night.
----------In the darkness of her room, Saber tried to put the images of the corpses out of her mind. However, it was futile, the picture of Sakura and Rider’s dead bodies were seared across her mind. She shut her eyes as hard as she could trying to force herself to sleep when a mysterious flash of light in her room forced her to open them.
There, in front of her was… the golden king in all his glory. A sinister aura surrounded him as weapons seemingly appeared in the air. Yes, in this place the only person permitted to use magic was this man!
“Rejoice Saber, for you are the next to be chosen. However, rules exist to be broken by me. If you submit, surrender yourself to me right now, I do not mind sparing you, changing your fate of death with another.”
Saber began to leap forward, with a burning hatred in her eyes. “I’ll never surren-”
“A pity”
A stake flew through the air and pierced her throat, knocking her back onto the bed. Countless more blades skewered her body, instantly snuffing the life out of her.
Gilgamesh… stood by studying his work.
“Truly a pity. At the very least, for you, I can at least allow your corpse to retain its beauty.”
With a snap of his fingers, the countless blades that had skewered Saber’s body vanished, along with the various wounds on her body. The only thing that remained was the stake piercing her throat, a calling card to prove to the non-believers that this was the work of Gilgamesh.
----------Similar to Saber, Tohsaka Rin was also finding it difficult to fall asleep. No, considering the identity of the first victims, perhaps she too furious to fall asleep. Constantly thinking, trying to figure out the culprit, imagining all the things she would do to the mastermind once she got her hands on him. Not once in a hundred years did she imagine that instead, the mastermind would come to her instead.
A golden flash. The golden king. Before he could even take any actions, speak any words, spurred by rage Rin had already thrown all the gems she carried at him. But without magic, they were little more than harmless rocks. The stakes thrown back… were far from harmless. Gurgling blood, Rin slumped back into her bed, her throat pierced with a stake like Saber earlier.
----------It was the following morning. Everybody assembled in the banquet hall for breakfast. However, no matter how long everyone waited, two people failed to show up. Feeling uneasy, the people agreed to split into two groups. Shirou, Lancer, Kotomine, Caster, and Ilya would go check on Saber, and Archer, Assassin, Kuzuki, Karen, and Bazett would go check on Rin.
The unease only grew as Archer’s group arrived at Rin’s room only to find yet another strange magic circle painted on the door. Trying to open it, they found the door locked, and proceeded to break the door down. Upon entering the room, their first thought was a sigh of relief. It looked as though Rin had merely overslept, lying in her bed with the sheets over her. Archer walked over to his master to shake her awake but as he lifted the sheets what he saw drained the color from his face.
Elsewhere in Saber’s room the exact same scene was playing.
Shirou felt like his legs lost all their strength. Slowly, his legs folded out from under him.
On the bed, resting so peacefully she looked like she was asleep was Saber. The only off thing was… the stake that had pierced her throat.
This time, neither of the two corpses was holding a thing. This was the first thing people checked once they got over the shock. However, a search by each of the respective groups found the keys to the room on top of their drawers.
In other words...
The keys for both Rin and Saber’s room were found on top of their respective drawers inside their room. It was… another impossible crime.
----------This time there was no silent atmosphere. The air was tense with raw emotion and anger. Accusations, threats, barbed words were thrown back and forth as the remaining survivors began to turn upon themselves. Others believed it was the work of the unknown host and began begging for mercy. The infighting continued throughout the entire day and by the time evening came, everybody was exhausted. Each survivor, returned to their own room, keeping a paranoid eye over their back, locked the door for all the good it would do, and went to bed.
Such foolish mongrels deserved the fate that befell them. Gilgamesh and BB laughed as they spun the roulette. Round and round they go, who will live and who will die, nobody knows…. Only once the victims have been chosen, could the game continue. The air was thick with desire and anticipation. The show must go on.
The next morning, Shirou, Kotomine, Archer, Assassin, Kuzuki and Caren met in the hall. They were all restless, none of them had gotten particularly a restful evening. However, once again no matter how long they waited the rest of the group did not show up. As one group, they went first to Ilya’s room, the closest. Yet again they found an ominous magic circle. Trying to open the door, Shirou found it locked so together they broke down the door only to discover Ilya’s corpse, a spike in her throat. In her hands held a key. The Key to Caster’s room.
Running to Caster’s room, they found the pattern yet again and the door locked. Using the key to unlock it, they found Caster’s corpse with a spike in her throat and the key to Bazett’s room.
Bazzet’s room had the pattern once again and a locked door. Using the key to unlock it, they found her corpse with a spike in her throat and the key to Lancer’s room.
Lancer’s room as they guessed also had the pattern and a locked door. Using the key to unlock it they found that he was dead with a spike in his throat and the key to Ilya’s room.
----------“”And with that we’ve reached the end of the show.””
The king and the devil smiled as they took their bows.
““Still, even though the story has ended, the game has only just begun.””
- - - Updated - - -
So for certain reasons I tried making some kind of Fate/Umineko oneshot/game. Anyway if you’re unfamiliar with Umineko the gist of it is actually pretty simple. The goal of the players is to try to solve the various ‘mysteries’ via mundane/non-magical means. This is the ‘Blue Truth’ or basically theories that would explain the mysteries. An example would be like ‘An extra person X secretly followed the rest of the group into the mansion and was responsible for the murders’ This will be responded to with a statement known as the ‘Red Truth’. Think of Red Truths as statements of absolute truth. For example: ‘From the beginning of the arrival to the time of the discovery of the final murder, only the fourteen visitors had entered the mansion at any point.’ This denies the Blue Truth, shutting it down and forces the player side to come up with another Blue Truth.
Assuming enough people respond, I’m going to set a tentative twelve day time limit on solving this game. On the first three days I will respond the the four most popular Blue Truths. The next three days I will respond to the five most popular Blue Truths, then six most popular Blue Truths and seven most popular Blue Truths for each of the final three days. This gives a potential of sixty six blue truths to use to pierce this mystery. (If not enough people respond I’ll just wing it or something, and if nobody is interested I guess that’s that XD)
(Thanks to Satehi for helping me test this gameboard)
Red Truths
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Originally Posted by Bird of Hermes
