EnderOni, Loop 2

Chapter Twenty Three:

GAME START

-...-

As strong as a start to the loop that there was, as the group rested in the safe room, nobody seemed to want to go back out to investigate. After awhile, everyone started getting tired. There was enough beds for everyone right now, which was good. Tyler wanted to go to sleep, but looking through his journal, was reminded of a rule he had to follow. He couldn't hide in the safe room forever. That meant that every couple of hours, he'd have to step out. Even if Onity couldn't kill him off now, it was still in need to be followed. Tyler wasn't going to take the chance otherwise.

Another thing that bothered Tyler was that this loop, he noticed a difference. His friends were emotionally stronger then before. Well, Sky and Ty and Sub had still not seen the monster and probably had a reason to believe this would all blow over, but Bodil and Jerome and Ian had seen the monster, and knew what they were in for. He applauded them for not bursting into terrified tears in the last few hours.

Tyler sat up on the side of his bed, the journal resting at the end of the covers. He yawned, but made sure not to wake anybody else up. He got up, grabbed his journal, and quietly walked to the weapons on the table, taking the dull plate shard. He placed the shard in his pocket and escaped up the stairs, getting out of the room without being caught. He'd had his practice before escaping from Janet. And, I guess in the other loop as well.

Tyler couldn't help but yawn again as he walked the hallways, which seemed darker then normal. He was sure it was nighttime now outside. The flooring quietly creaked as he stepped, and he wondered around aimlessly, finding himself yet again looking around the first floor. He'd seen it before when they looked for Mitch, but his tired haze lead him here. He wondered where Onity was, and what was going to happen sooner or later. His glasses slide down his nose as he walked down the middle hallway, and he pushed them back up. For a moment, he believed he had seen a purple fog, but it turned out to only be his paranoia.

Tyler stepped into the cell room, the room that, back in loop one, was the death of Ty. He stood in there, remembering everything that had happened in there. The moment that Onity had been found out, and the moment Onity tired to kill them all. But Tyler used his magic, not only to defeat Onity, but in collaboration with Seto's powerful spells.

"Oh...That's right." Tyler whispered, a thought popping into his mind.

If he remembered correctly, it was around this time that Seto, Jason, and Brice showed up. Well, based on what he vaguely remembered being told by the. Tyler shook his head and walked out of the cell room, back towards the front door. He noticed small marks on the door that Bodil and Jerome had left earlier when they were freaking out. They made him shiver. It was sorta cold in there, even with the small warmth of the torches on the wall. There was another thing he had noticed. Some rooms had actual electrical lights, while others only had torches. The first floor hallways had torches, but most of the second floor had electrical lights. How strange.

Tyler turned to one of the boarded up windows, the first one on the left hallway. He found a small crack in one of the pieces of wood, giving him less then half an inch to see outside. It was nightime, and there were trees moving in a slight wind. There was a pond with a small bridge outside, just like he remembered. He didn't see anybody out there. No sorcerer, no spaceman, and no artist. He sighed and turned to walk back. However, before going up stairs to check out the upper floors, he decided to look at the enchantment room one more time. Since he could do magic, he found himself drawn to it. Maybe he could learn new things. Maybe.

He turned the corner to walk down the right hallway, watching the flickering of the torches on the wall. It made the hallway ever so creepy. Tyler yawned again, and lifting his head, and the light of the fire reflecting in his glasses. When he looked back, he stopped. Movement was detected in his sight, and when he found the energy to focus on what was ahead of him instead of aimlessly walking, he saw faces. He saw the sorcerer and the spaceman and the artist staring back at him. He had hoped to be able to stop them when they opened the door to come in, but he was already too late.

"T-Tyler?" Seto asked, the three still unmoving.

"Oh, h-hey! How'd you guys get in here?" Tyler asked, tilting his head.

"Tyler." Brice gulped.

"Tyler turn around." Jason added.

Tyler then woke up fully, looking around to find the cold purple mist wrapping around his legs. His heart jumped as he turned around to see the oni. Right on time. Last loop, this was when Brice lost his ability to see. And now, blind he was to the beast standing behind him.

"WATCH OUT!"

Jason was the first into action against the monster, using his jet pack to launch himself at the oni, pushing the beast with as much force as he can. Tyler stepped back, taking out the shard from his pocket, holding his journal with his other hand. Tyler used this opportunity to get close to the oni, and use the shard to slice into the monster's side.

"Jump back!"

Tyler jumped back, out of the way, just as a small ball of magic shot passed and hit the oni. He looked back to see Seto surrounded by a light purple ring of magic. He had put forth an attack spell. A simple one but powerful no less. The monster cried out, shaking before getting back on it's feet. It's neon purple eyes glared furiously at the group before him.

"I got this!" Jason shouted, and was able to land another powerful punch with the help of his jet packs onto the monster's spine. The monster was clearly hurt by that, and made uncomfortable moans.

"Me next!" Tyler hopped in, using the plate to cut a scar across the hurt beast's cheeks, and then doing another risky move by landing a cut on the monster's side. The plate was dull, but he was able to leave a small cut on the monster's face, where there was a small leakage of purple blood.

"My turn!" Seto yelled, and without time to do anything, the monster was hit again with an attack spell.

The monster had been taken by surprise. So was Tyler. They worked together in unity, calling out when they were to attack to make sure there were no accidents. And for the first Oni attack, they were successful. All that needed to happen next was for Jason to land one more hit on the thing, and it disappeared rather quickly, the purple mist too. Everything cleared, and the four joined back together.

"What was that?" Brice asked. He wasn't able to help, for he had no weapon to use.

"It's the oni. A monster walking around here." Tyler answered.

"It wasn't very strong." Seto sighed.

"It'll get stronger." Tyler shook his head.

"What are you doing here alone?" Jason asked the teen.

"I-i'm not alone, actually." Tyler said. "Everyone else is back in the safe room sleeping. I decided to take a walk. I was too tired to think of it as a bad idea. I'm glad you all were here."

"Everyone?" Seto asked.

Tyler gulped. "Me, Sky, Ty, Sub, Bashur, Ian, Bodil, Ant, Jerome, and Mitch."

"That's a lot of people." Jason said.

"Why are all of you here?" Brice asked.

"We were given invitations. What about you?" Tyler asked.

"Same." Seto nodded his head.

"We were given different times though, i'd assume." Jason stated.

"I wonder why." Seto looked confused.

"We should probably go somewhere safe. You said something about a safe room, right Tyler?" Brice asked.

"Oh yeah. Come on, let's go." Tyler nodded.

With the plate shard in his pocket, his journal in hand, and the last of the 12 pawns in the mansion, the four walked upstairs. Tyler was the last one up the stairs, and in the moment of silence between the group, Tyler looked back down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs were a pair of glowing eyes, red and purple. Onity glared up at him, a bleeding cut on his cheek. Tyler's eyes widen, and he turned back and continued up the stairs.

Tyler took them to the safe room, and upon getting down the stairs into the room, Tyler found that they had woken up, and the lights were on. They turned to Tyler and the three behind him, surprised.

"T-Tyler!" Sky said.

"Seto? Jason? Brice? Oh no." Ian blinked at the newcomers.

"Not more." Mitch groaned.

"I'm crossing my fingers that no more have been invited." Bodil shivered, sitting on the side of a bed.

"Where did you go?" Ant asked Tyler. "I know you found them, but you couldn't have known they were coming."

Tyler shook his head. "I coudn't sleep, but I was too tired to realize it was a bad idea to go out alone. But I found them in time."

"There was a so called Oni, but it only took a few hits before running away." Seto reported.

"You defeated the monster?" Jerome asked.

"I don't think it died though." Brice added.

"None of you even have a scratch on yo-"

There was pause in the middle of Ian's sentence. Ian looked down to see the bandage on Tyler's arm.

"When did you get that?" Ian asked.

"Oh this? I've had it. Did you just now realize it?" Tyler asked.

"Come to think of it, I didn't see it earlier." Sky said. "Did you walk in with that?"

"Yeah." Tyler nodded his head.

"Really?" Ty asked.

"I cut my hand before leaving the house, alright? My hand isn't what we should be worried about." Tyler huffed.

"Anyway, why are you all hiding here anyway? Wouldn't you be able to escape the monster by going out the front door?" Seto asked.

There was a snort.

"If only!" Bodil spoke up. "It won't budge!"

"What about a window?" Brice asked.

"I don't know if you noticed, but they are all boarded up and we can't break through them." Bashur answered.

"Oh." Brice frowned.

Seto frowned and thought. "This is odd. It's like we're pawns. Why are we here? Whats with the monster?"

"You know what else I found off?"

They turned to Bodil. He pointed to the book in Tyler's arms. "Whats with that?"

Tyler frowned. He was standing out more then he wanted too. He looked down at it, coming up with an excuse. He didn't want anybody reading it. He couldn't say he had it with him this whole time, because the group he came in with were already doubting him on that with the bandages. So he sighed.

"I found it when looking down the hallway when we got here. It's empty. I took it with me because I thought I could write down notes about the map, but that was when I thought we were only playing a new horror map, you know?" Tyler explained.

"Hmm....Didn't think you were the kind of person to do that." Jerome thought aloud.

"Hey, we were asked in the invitation to play a horror map before it's release, and I thought i'd write down anything before I forgot it!" Tyler replied.

"Well it's clear now that that invitation was a lie. If this is a horror map, then the game is over and I want out now." Mitch frowned.

"Does anybody have the invitation on them?" Seto asked. He wanted to look over one, but it seemed nobody cared to bring one. "Well, I want to see the front door again. I know you said it won't open, but maybe something like magic could break it open?"

"That's a good Idea." Sky agreed.

"He is a sorcerer after all." Brice replied and Seto nodded his head.

"Should we all go?" Ian asked.

Tyler shook his head. "Only three of us are needed to bring down the oni. I feel like maybe 5 of us is all that need to go."

"But what if the door is broken open and Seto is right?" Bodil asked.

"Then we can send someone to go back up." Seto replied.

"I'll go then." Tyler sighed. He had to go.

"Me too." Jason said.

"Great." Seto smiled.

"So will I." Sky said, and Bodil sluggishly joined.

"Sub wants to go." Ty pointed out Sub, who waked over.

"Alright then!" Sky nodded his head.

"We'll be back!"

Sky, Sub, and Bodil all grabbed a weapon off the table. Sky and Sub took the sharpened table legs and Bodil took the kitchen knife. They then headed out of the safe room, and towards the front door. They went down stairs and got to the front door, everything without problems. Seto quickly went over to the front door, examining it and trying to figure out a problem. Tyler watched as the others stood, slightly paranoid.

Seto looked frustrated.

"There's a strong magic holding it locked. I might be able to do something, but I can't do it alone." Seto reported.

"You need help?" Jason asked.

"Well, not from a person or even another sorcerer." Seto stood up and looked at the group. "I need an enchantment table."

"Well I know where one is." Tyler said.

"So do I, but I need it closer to the door. I don't know if the enchantment table can be moved or not. And removing it from the protection of the books currently around it would take a great deal of power away. But still..." Seto thought, looking down into his crossed arms. "I might still be able to make it work."

"We should at least try!" Bodil replied.

"I'll need help bringing It out here then. Come on." Seto nodded his head.

The group walked down the hallway into the enchantment room. Their foot steps made the wooden boards creak in the hallway, covering up any other sound. When the five of them got into the enchantment room, Seto rushed towards the table, examining it. The others stood around, waiting for the ok.

"Can it be moved?" Sky asked.

"Hold on a moment, please." Seto replied.

Tyler sat down on the table where he had found his journal. He looked around. Last loop, this whole room was a mess. He nearly died in here, hadn't he? And yet, he found that he had a little hope in his heart. Onity was smart, but could Seto really use magic to save them all? He was smart enough to figure out there was a spell on the door. He seems hopeful enough. Seto was a very honest person. He knew what he was doing.

"It might be heavy, but I think we can-"

Seto's words were ended by a loud sound from outside the room. The five looked at eachother.

"Was that-?" Seto began.

"The front door?" Sky asked.

"Guys, Bodil isn't in here!" Jason face palmed when he realized they were missing someone.

Tyler's heart leaped. "SHIT!"

They raced out of the room, down the hallway, to the heart of the first floor. And what they saw was a sight never to be forgotten. A piece of art. A statement. Time couldn't wait forever. To their horror, it was 1 o'clock.

Sky screamed, and Sub hid behind Jason. Seto starred, a mixture of emotions boiling inside of him, and well Tyler, Tyler knew this was going to happen. So why? Why was he so taken back? Why were his hairs on end, why was he scared? Why was he surprised? The answer was simple.

Before them, Bodil laid dead, the trunk of a tree propping him up in a sitting position. A tree! The wooden floorboards on the floor were broken and twisted, showing that the tree, which must barely fit, had been dragged in from the outside. The leaves of the tree were of fall colors. The beauty, now twisted. Bodil's arms were held up in the air like a puppet, a thin silver string tired to his wrists, presumably tied up from a tree's branches. He was a bloody mess, and so was the tree and the floorboards. On the wall next to the tree, a one was drawing in blood. On the tree's bark, above bodil's head, "GAME START" was written. Also in blood.

The answer was simple to why he was so afraid. The game now had truly began, and Onity made it clear he hasn't going to hold back any longer.

His whole body shook. He had no clue what he was in for anymore.

-...-