#cynismi plot

Clink! The coin falls into the dish, spinning for a moment on it’s side before clattering to a stop. There’s a moment or two of silence before sound fills the air -- the sound of glasses tipping together for a toast, the sound of applause, and sound of jubilant chatter -- and swirls around you, bringing with it the smell of fine wine. It feels as though you’ve been immediately transported into the most happening party on a mid summer’s night. The air glimmers brilliantly with a shine akin to gold leaf. By the time that the sound dissipates and the air clears, a figure stands with open arms, laughing loudly. 

“How-dee-day!”

The figure allows one last guffaw to rip from his chest before he speaks again. 

“The name’s Di-Oh-Ni-Sees, an’ I’m just pleased as punch t’be seein’ ya right now!”

With each syllable of his name, Dionysus chose an ridiculous pose -- finger guns, flexing, what have you. He takes a minute to look over Calandra, then lets out another laugh.

“Ya look like a chick who really knows what she’s ‘bout! I can respect that! Here, y’all can have this! But I gotta dash real soon -- life of a god’s real full of stuff ya gotta do, y’anno?”

Dionysus, at that moment, seemed to pull an object out of thin air before presenting it to Calandra.

“’Fore I go, though, y’all don’t go tellin’ that buff, two legged Oreo that I’m here, y’dig? He dang gives me the willies.”

“Y’all keep this our lil secret an’ I’ll have more presents for ya down the line, a’ight? Peace!”

The hall is silent for one long moment before the air sparks to life, thrumming with a lively electric energy that raises goosebumps along your arms. The vibrations grow stronger, rattling in your chest; in a flurry of feathers and light, he rises from the ground to stand before you.

“Hey, yeah! It’s my turn now! I’m gonna look so… so COOL–”

He’s supposed to be a god, but his diminutive stature doesn’t really do much for him. It honestly doesn’t even look like he hits five feet.

But it seems you’ve gotten his attention.

“–Hey there, human! Wahahaha!”

He seems overly amused with himself.

“–Get it? Because you’re a human, and I’m not! I’m a god! I’m–”

“–Hermes!”

He laughs boisterously again. Can this amount of noise really come from someone this small? Well, chihuahuas ARE really yappy dogs…

“Anyway! We’re gonna be great friends, person guy! You got the raddest, baddest god out of all of them! And as thanks, I’m gonna give you something! You’ll love it, probably! It’s coming from a god, after all, right? Wahahaha!”

He leans forward and high fives an object into your hands, the contact sending a strange sort of shock into you.

“I’d love to stay, but I gotta go, buddy-man. Good luck with your, uh… this!”

He gestures to all of you.

“And remember! Don’t tell the sweaty bull man about this! Unless you HAVE a death wish, I mean.”

“Stay strong, yeah?Later!”

After a resounding clink of the coin, the air grows – thicker? No, that isn’t the right word - perhaps more charged. Even the coin seems to vibrate within the dish for a moment before a bright spark of light illuminates the hall.

A bright silhouette of life bubbles up behind the altar…

In a moment then it fades back down, leaving only a slight glow…… 

“ Oooouuuooo! Look at this, it worked! Amazing! Wooooaaow!! We— “

“ Oh!—-…………. Was it you who did this? “

“ Ahhhh that’s so great! It works thanks to you! “

The girl in front of you didn’t seem to realize that you’d really done nothing more than plop on a coin in a dish – seemed much more important than that huh.

“ I’m—- ah…aha– I’m Mnemosyne!! Thank you for putting your trust in me! It really means so much! Thank you! “

With a quick curteous bow she was back to talking - except something flickered oddly, like she was a broken light.

“ Oh— I should give you something then yes? I have a lot of good things ah– here you are! “

Mnemosyne reaches out and plops something down in your hands, her own hand flickering as it finished.

“ Ah— I wish I could talk more but— ah I need to go– but ah– “

“ Please don’t tell the big guy out there about this, our little secret ok! Hehe~“

The negative emotion that sweeps through the students around you is almost palpable. You can feel sweat beading on the skin of your palms as heat rises to your face. The rest... Of your life? What about your families? Your friends? Your career? Just where are you, and why have you been kidnapped?

As though the beast could read your mind, his voice rumbles into life once more.

“You have been selected and brought here to undergo trials that will, in themselves, test the very limits of your mind, your heart, your morals, and your physical form. There is but one way to escape this imminent fortune.”

With a sweeping turn, Monotaur thrusts a hand forward to gesture at nothing other than the towering gate that lay behind him. The stone walls suddenly seem far more foreboding than they had when you first awoke.

“You must successfully navigate the labyrinth.”

What lays beyond the gates immediately becomes clear: a twisting, turning, challenging slew of tunnels and trap doors, meant to trap and antagonize those who dared set foot in its space. 

“When the sun next breaks over the Eastern horizon, the gates to the domain beyond will open. For now, gather your strength, and come to your wits. Sleep, feast, be merry; for tomorrow, challenge begins.”

“Should you seek to tip the favor of the gods, two coins -- brazened with the gate’s image -- have been included in your parcels. Place one in the offering plate of the god you wish to contact, and beg their favor. They may bestow pity on your souls.”

After a fair stretch of time -- you presume, at least; this place seems to be devoid of clocks, or even sundials -- a shattering, reverberating crash is heard throughout the area. If you hadn’t started at the noise, it, at the very minimum, left the hair on the back of your neck standing at end. Had something happened? If it had, to what? Or to who...?

As though you were magnetized to the spot, you find yourself following the waves of sound to its source -- back to the presence of the Monotaur. It becomes apparent just what the ultimate cause of the disturbance was immediately: the ax the colossus had been lugging is firmly implanted in the dry earth, cracking a four-foot area into two. One of the beast’s hands lays on the hilt of the weapon, as though he wanted you to admire his handiwork. You, however, try to look away; the implicit power it held and damage it could cause only bodes ominously. 

You look, instead, to a thatched wicker basket that sits by his feet. It beckons to you, obviously, but... Do you have the courage to approach the beast?

Evidently, one of you does. A tall young man, bearing a plastic helmet reminiscent of a Viking’s helm, steps forward, and hesitantly opens the lid. There’s a brief moment when he shuffles around, but when he straightens up once more, he’s holding what appears to be a parcel of parchment bound with a threadbare white ribbon.

“These... Have our names on them!”

“At least, I think these are our names. This one has my name on it.”

He pauses to open it. A key lays within the folded parchment, but it seems that the parchment itself is what causes the boy to startle.

“It’s a map! But they have... Footprints on them? And our names? I don’t really get it...”

Attention is detracted from the young man as the sound of metal grating against stone is heard, bringing your eyes back to the monster and his ax. The weapon had been pulled from the ground, and left to rest on the shoulder of Monotaur with ease. 

“The items which you now possess... A map of Ablisse, and the keys to your abodes.”

Abodes? Your stomach twists. Does this mean...

《♪♪♪》

Blurry eyes open and, after a few moments, focus on the grey, darkly dappled sky above you. The air that is drawn into your lungs is tinged with dust. The hard, packed earth you feel below you confirms it: you are, indeed, laying on the ground, outside, in a place that lay under an ominous sky. There are others around you, laying in equally bizarre positions -- spread eagle, hunched over, on their side...

Hesitantly, with a pounding head, you bring yourself to your feet. Your legs feel like jelly beneath you, and if it weren’t for the fact that you knew the ground below you was solid, you’d almost think you were standing on the uneven surface of a swaying rope bridge. The sound of an object -- like that of a piece of metal -- clinks occasionally amidst the dull drone of being dragged.

The being in front of you towers above you and whomever else dared to rise to their feet. Horns -- two horns, one intact and the other chipped, erupt from the elongated face of the monster, which ended in flaring nostrils and a single golden ring. Below this bovine countenance is a form that seems to be most human -- a chest and a stomach the ripple with muscle, a pair of arms that come to elbow, forearm, and wrist -- but ended in horse-like legs, dark, cloven hooves, and a tail that swished as the colossus moved forward. In one hand lay the throat handle of a heinously large ax -- from knob to eye, it could rival the height of some of the students around you, and the blade itself could julienne a hair. In color, the creature is split down the middle; one side black, one side pure ivory. Most terrifying about this beast, however, are the eyes -- the deep set eyes, one dark, almost all pupil… And the other, flaming, protruding from the creature’s head like a beacon set in the socket.

This… Was a creature of legend. What stood before you was none other than a minotaur, the likes of which Theseus had defeated on the island of Krete. If the beast were not breathing and shifting as a living being directly in front of you, you wouldn’t believe your own two eyes. But all of your sense were rallying in agreement: this was nothing but the truth.

“... You have finally found the calling within you to open your eyes… I was beginning to suspect that some of you, if not all, would not.”

A loud snort shot hot air from the titan’s nostrils as it’s deep, gravelly drone rolled to a temporary silence.

“... This is Ablisse.”

“Do not bother to stir yourselves into a panic, lest taking it out on me or the property around you. You are here -- there is no question of that. To waste your precious energy on fighting it would prove futile.”

“This is your new home, and there is no space which harbors harm against you. I am simply an overseer, and these be the grounds which I oversee. You are the inhabitants as of this moment -- you, as which, are that what I oversee.”

The eyes of the creature flicker over all of you, never resting on your faces for more than a split moment. Its voice rumbles in its throat once more.

“You are undoubtedly shaken, and the voice of reason has become mute. Very well... “

“We have much time… Have a turn of the hourglass to quiet your spirits. I will remain station and ward all inquiries.”

It looked off to the side and sniffed the air, allowing the axe to slip into a less attent position.

A sense of finality settles amongst you. Is… This it? Is this Ablisse -- the place you’d be promised all along? Pillars tower around you, some chipped and worn, hardly recognizable as pillars themselves. There is a forest surrounding you -- however, it becomes impossible to see past a point, but not due to underbrush or land formations. A thick looms amongst the tree branches, making it as though trying to see through a faint, green silk.

At a first glance, there are six buildings around you. There’s a large, rectangular appearing one farthest from your position, but several more circular one in closer range. A moment passes before you consider what you should’ve considered from the beginning: what’s behind you. An enormous stone gate stands solemnly at your back. Is it here to keep you in -- or to keep something out?

After glancing at the other kids around you, you have but one more resounding thought:

《♪♪♪》

Hope’s Peak Academy: the school that is, within the country and internationally, considered the peak of the Japanese education system. Every year, the search begins nation-wide for the qualifying teenagers whom rank in the very top percentile of excellence in a single given field -- a talent. Whether that talent is based around music and the arts, athletics, intelligence, or something incredibly unique -- Hope’s Peak Academy seeks none less than the absolute best. Its unequivocally superior student body is promised each year to excel those who have left its hallowed halls, leaving lasting marks year after year on the future of the country. Regardless of how you believe the school succeeds in such a remarkable fashion -- be it the extraordinary students, the phenomenal curriculum, or the outstanding teachers -- you cannot dispute that Hope’s Peak Academy is the epicenter of change and promise for Japan.

In the past, the school itself had brought in some students who were not borne from Japanese schools -- though this amount had never been very many in number, the triumphant outcome of their time in Hope’s Peak Academy distinguished itself. In order to expand on its groundbreaking success, Hope’s Peak Academy, after much internal debate and consideration, has launched a new attempt to expand their grasp and influence:

If the academy can prove to be the most excellent in Japan… Why not try to be the most excellent in the world?

Thus began the Cedetri Project.

《♪♪♪》

The Cedetri Project, as the newest and most important establishment of Hope’s Peak Academy, has become a top priority. It is regarded as the ultimate extension of international peace and understanding; the supreme gesture of amnesty worldwide. After extensive negotiation by this primarily privately funded school and the heads of numerous countries, monetary compensation was provided to the British government so that the use of Moehau Island, a British-owned piece of mountainous land within Polynesia, could be used as the campus locale. This campus, upon establishment, was dubbed Ablisse.

And now, as the first class grows ever closer to arriving in the educational haven of Ablisse, it becomes your turn to tell the story. You are only one of many -- rest assured, however ambitious Hope’s Peak Academy becomes, it would never intend to set you out on your own.

There are a few details that stand out in particular in the haze of excitement -- or was it anxiety? -- that permeated your thoughts on the day you were to travel to your new school. Boarding the small business jet was something of a breeze. The luxury of it all -- you’re not quite sure what to think! The journey didn’t last very long -- or, at least, it didn’t seem like it took very much time. You touched down on the runway and stepped out into your new school life. Lush green trees, flowers, vines, shrubs -- they seem to be everywhere. There’s so much life and sound around you. The roaring of the waves against the rock echoes off the flat surface of the pavement, and the salt of the sea embraces your skin like an old friend.

. . .

Did you go into the airport from there? Did you even bother to cross the tarmac? It gets hazy, almost like you’re wading through water. Are you sure you’re hydrated -- did you forget to drink on the plane? You’re… Not entirely sure. The world spins around you for a moment and the ground comes up to greet you in a matter of a split second.