Characters: *to be updated*
(all pictures of characters made using RinmaruGames)

Name: Konan Demlior
Age: 15
Party: Kuriat
Appearance:



Name: Alka Rotana
Age: 15
Party: Amendelians
Appearance:



Name: Islandpuppet Spearbringer (Island)
Age: 15
Party: Harp
Appearance:



Name: Pertree Stillowe
Age: 15
Party: CommonRain
Appearance:



Name: Carl Bremen ("Coma Cancer", Cancer)
Age:+15%
Party: Blood&Tears
Appearance:



Name: Lochlain Ikaru
Age: 15
Party: Blue Chey
Appearance:



Name: Vedim Rhetoran
Age: 15
Party: Seafare
Appearance:



Name: Revalin "Reva" Rexa
Age: 36
Party: Roy-G-Blood
Appearance:

There are eight, and the outsiders. Outsiders get shipped off to the mines for who-knows-what kind of torture. Those who choose one of the eighttheyre lucky.

At least thats what youve been hearing for the past 13 years. Thirteen years. It felt like an eternityan eternity spent in hell.

Adults say, It couldnt have been that bad. You must be exaggerating. Huph, you know children.

They dont remember the years they spent, not with the clarity you do. But you cant blame them. Theyve been living years outside of the Conditioning Center. It isnt a dreadful place of horrors to them. Its just a pristine, stainless-steel-and-concrete building at the center of the town they live in.

Commontown.

Everyone who is no one lives there. Adults over 50, newborn babies, and the occasional runaway. The people who have served their time in the war or the B.R.P. and who have now retired. They go live in Commontown to prepare to die.

Its a graveyard.

The whole world is halfway in the grave anyways.

Outside of the Dome, the world is dead. Inside, the people are dead. Which is better? Who would dare to reason that out?

The life cycle of the average person.

One. You are born. You wake up into a new world, probably the inside of a hospital room. Your mother barely holds you before you get shipped off to the Incubation Center of the Dome. Because the Government can take better care of you than your parents. The sick part is that people actually believe those lies.

Two. You grow up. Fake smiles, fake hugs, a practiced lecture here and there. As soon as you can understand the human language, youre being told about how good the Government is. How they save peoples lives. How one day, you can save lives too.

Three. Conditioning.
You are sent to the dorms. When they arent eating or sleeping, youre in school. When you arent in school, youre being trained in first aid, basic defense and attack techniques, sports, and childhood games. Childhood games with a bloody spin, that ishopscotch through mock minefields, hide-and-seek tag with dart guns

They are training you for war, why dont more people see it? War and death and suffering.

Four. Overcoming.
They day when you stand up before the crowd, friends and family members who never knew you, not a single dry eye, and you cant figure out why they care.

And you tell them all that youre ready for life.

That you dont need more Conditioning.

That if you fall down and scrape your knees you arent going to cry.

And then you choose a party.

There are eight.

Blood&Tears. CommonRain. Amendelians. Kuriat. Blue Chey. Seafare. Harp. Roy-G-Blood.

Blood&Tears. For the sick at heart. For the cursed, the ill-minded, the soulless ghouls.

CommonRain. Mindless slaves of the government. They are blank bodies, doing as told by their masters. It is said that in their midns they live dream livesbut with all the other lies the Government tells, I wouldnt count on it. Either theyve beat you so hard you cant live without them, or youre so depressed with life that you run the risk just in case you might get a chance at some happiness.

Amendelians. Firm believers in the deceased demon Amendel. Xenophobic, antisocial, fierce and demanding, and not to be provoked. Their religion binds them tight to each other so that they cant be separated.

Kuriat. Bullies. Strong, stubborn fighting machines with not much intelligence to speak of. They are ruthless, and they get away with it.

Blue Chey. They say what they mean, straight to your face. Genderless, no identifying characteristics, at least to outsiders. Strong magical and telepathic powers. Little regard for social status.

Seafare. Stuck-up geeks who are too smart for their own good. They arent good warriors, but they can get you anywhere, anytimeif, of course, they so happen to feel like it.

Harp. Theyre hard to explain. Definitely the most personality out of all of the Parties. Their towns are a chaotic mess where anything goes as long as you stick to the rulestheir rulesnot the law.

Roy-G. Those people who side with the government. Crafty, classy killers who will do anything their superiors tell them to. They have no regard for human life, they scoff at feelings, and naturally, they think themselves better than everyone else.

Your choice.

And thenwho knows?

You havent gotten there yet.

Parties:

Kuriat (Kuri or Kuria)--not notably intelligent, like to fight, very strong, good warriors

Amendelians (Amend)--follow the deceased demon Amendel, like to induce visions for guidance, respect courage, are survivalists

Harp--believe that the past is in the past and should be lef there, play it by ear, wear magical feathers that sometimes allow them to fly or survive a fall from very high up, live crazy and messed-up lives, never judge anyone as right or wrong, go with the flow

CommonRain (Comm)--mindless slaves of whoever owns them (typically Roy-G or the Government), are living out their dream lives inside a delusion in their head, are not aware of reality, basically robots, have no eyes (or no pupils/irises)

Blood&Tears (Blood)--spirits are immortal, though their bodies decompose at an alarming rate, can survive intense visions, have supernatural powers, have a link to the Undying World and the dead, can raise the spirits of the dead, can possess others, are mostly indestructible, somewhat insane, sometimes work for Roy-G or the Government

Blue Chey (Blue)--plainly speak their minds, have no gender, have supernatural mental abilities, can read minds, can sense emotion, can shapeshift into a feline form, can survive intense visions, can look into other realms

Seafare (Seaf)--very intelligent (almost to a fault), try not to express emotion, very sarcastic, typically sides with the winner, are good at hacking into computer systems, can kiss up to the boss like none other

Roy-G-Blood (Roy-G)--directly work for the Government, believe in the Banner & Bleeding Colors, are incredibly clever, good liars, keep Comms as slaves/workers, basically do all of the Government's dirty work

Prologue

???, America, Date Uncertain

Rain poured down in burning streams, like acid on hot pavement. Tore into the rough, dark red earth. Plowed narrow rivers across the cracked ground. Trees waved their bare limbs like a swimmer waves their arms as they drown, sinking beneath the water, but still struggling in a last attempt to preserve their ultimately meaningless life.

In the blazing heat, the darkness, she clung to him, clawed at his arms, his hands, desperately fighting to hold him, to keep him there, screaming like a madman. Dont go, dont leave me, no.

Let me go, he spat out a whispered phrase, choking on the blood that poured from his mouth, so much blood. He was a deity, he was immortal, he was unstoppable, and now here, drowning in his own Tribes' namesake--"Let me go...please?"

She was crying, shaking her head frantically, as if refusing to let him go would somehow save him. She pushed her straight red hair, stuck with the rain and his blood, out of her pale face--a habit, not even aware of her own motion, like some careless, automatic afterthought.

"You make it look so easy," she whimpered, her uneven, tearful tone making her sound like a whining child. "You cant die, you cant die, don't you know? You aren't supposed to die. You were never supposed to die."

"Let me go," he whispered, and now black dots were clotting his gaze. He barely noticed them; he was in a kind of delirium, and now he felt it--the pain, the illness--all those scars, every wound--the pain came all at once, and it was so new--he'd never felt this before, what was it? He couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't feel, couldn't...

"Please," she begged. For the first time in her life, she begged. She was down on her knees, pleading to a slave because she was so scared of being alone. Because shed gotten so used to the sweet sound of his lies. Every lie. Just one more lie. Lie to me, tell me you'll live, tell me we'll live together forever, tell me that none of this is real, tell me...

But he didn't say anything.

So quiet, so quiet.

He's so quiet.

He was never this quiet.

Say something, please. Anything.

It was so wrong. So wrong. Him laying here, eyes glazed, wheezing through a flood of crimson, and so quiet.

And she lost him.

She threw her head back and screamed.

The South End of Commontown, America, New Years Day (2036)
Eleven Years Earlier

A single firework cut the black sky with a high, festive squeal and burst into a thousand golden stars, putting on a show for the finest of the fine--just a habitual luxury that the Government provided to give New Years a little pizzazz.

But to the lesser folk, the unwanted, the outcasts, it was so much more: a glimpse of what they weren't, but what they hoped to someday be.

And because of hope, far below those showering sparks, a beaten and weary man hoisted his five-year-old daughter onto his shoulders with a well-deserved grunt and, holding her securely, pointed to the flame of color in the sky--the grand finale: first red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet--fading into crimson streams. The girl giggled happily, and he smiled in a melancholy way. What little beauty there was, he would give it all to her.

"Look Alka," he said to her, "Those are the bleeding colors. To some, they are just the colors of the rainbow--but to us, it is much more." He took her off his shoulders and set her on the muddy ground gently, then dropped to one knee and looked her in the eyes.

"The rainbow represents our country, and all the parties. The parties are sanctions--" he shook his head, realizing that his daughter couldn't possibly know that word--"ah, different pieces--of the country, that all the people live in--except for us here."

His face grew somber. "Alka, one day, you can live in the city. You can go to one of those parties. And you'll never have to live in a slum like this again."

Capital City Square, America, Late September (2044)
Three Years Earlier

"And do you, Vedim Rhetoran, recognize that you are ready to overcome the difficulties of life?"

"Yes."

"Please step forward and extend your right hand."

The boy, thirteen years and seven days old, stepped forwards and extended his right hand, palm up. He looked at the crowd, and looked away. He stared, stone-faced, at a manicured oak tree on the far side of Capital Square, surprised that it didn't wither beneath the venom stocked behind his blue eyes. A strand of straight brown hair had fallen into his eyes, but he dared not move to push it away--this was the biggest day of his life, after all, and he didn't want to go back to Conditioning in shame.

"Overseer, please take the ceremonial knife."

He barely winced as the overseer pricked his thumb with the sharpened blade (which was less like a knife and more like a letter-opener), and his stomach churned. Biggest day of his life, not just his life, his parents lives and all of his family. And he was about to disappoint them all.

"Bring the banner."

The banner. The Bleeding Colors banner. The flag that any good, self-respecting member of American society worshiped, sold their souls to. The flag that marked the near end of his Overcoming Day Ceremony. The flag that meant he couldn't procrastinate any longer.

It wasnt really a banner or a flag. It was a table with a rainbow-striped tablecloth. On each color sat a pendulum on a bronze chainand any could be his.

"You mark yourself as you choose your symbol. More than this, you choose the Party for which you will stand eternally."

Red was Kuriat--a sword bordered with a flame. The fiery hunger for battle.

Orange was Harp--a lightning bolt with a swirling ribbon in the shape of a backwards s. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, and to be honest, didn't want to.

Yellow. A coiled snake. Amendelians. The house that his whole family pressured him to join. But he wasnt Amend. He didnt live and breathe passion for instinct, survival and that long-dead demon Amendel.

Green was CommonRain. A three-pointed star. He wasnt that depressed, just nervous and stressed out.

Blue was Blood & Tears--the usual jagged symbol next to a teardrop. He certainly didn't connect with their lifestyle.

Indigo was Blue Chey--a circle with an x in the middle. They were outspoken, mind-reading cat-shifters, but he didn't feel particularly drawn to them.

Violet. A diamond with a capital 'f'. That was his. Seafare, the shunned, the hated, the ones who always sucked up to the boss. He didn't understand. He couldn't. But it was his Overcoming, and he knew what he needed to do.

"The choice is Seafare!"

There was a hint, a scarce undertone, of surprise in the announcers voice. But he ignored it.

His mistake was looking at the crowd.

As the overseer took the bronze emblem and hung it around his neck, he saw them.

His parents: two stern-faced, angry, horrified faces. Staring at him with a barbed disgust, before turning their backs on the platform and walking away.