The Game of Life

**The Game of Life** is the first book in the main series, being about Kagayaku and her troubles as she tries to cheat death after upsetting Makoto, the Goddess of Life and Death, who puts a death curse on her out of fear. It was released on the 30th of October in 2020 and was finished on the 19th of September 2022.

## Synopsis

Kagayaku was always well known for her strange love for the supernatural. Accidentally angering a deity she met in the forests late at night, she finds herself cursed and has to escape death in order to see another day. The young hybrid has to rely on her senses, fear and friendship to survive this curse, otherwise she will fall and never see the light again.

## Plot

### Prologue

The prologue opens with Makoto sitting down in a chair in her dimension, a list in her grasp before looking up at the spirits gathered in front of her before calling out for requests pertaining to revival or reincarnation. Lobivia, a SandWing spirit who was amongst the group, is angered by Makoto as she waited several years to allow these requests, ultimately leading to a fight with a SkyWing spirit called Rhodonite that Makoto has to fawn.

Chihiro raises his hand first, asking for revival, though being interrupted rudely by Rhodonite, which angers a LeafWing named Hornbeam, snapping at him in Chihiro's defense. Makoto revives the SandWing HiveWing hybrid before taking Rhodonite's request, which is reincarnation. Makoto then announces she will be taking one more request as she begins to have a headache, Hornbeam raising her hand rapidly in response. She asks for revival, to which Makoto agrees to and carries out before the prologue ends.

### Chapter 1

The first chapter starts off in a hospital setting, with bright lights that shone down onto Kagayaku's back. There were several dragons in the room, one of them being Era in a RainWing disguise. There is writing at the back of the room in what looks to be spray paint. Era approaches Kagayaku, inquiring who she may be, to which she cannot answer. She then follows up by saying that she knows who she is, and that everyone knows her name as she possesses powers beyond any other mortal. Kagayaku is puzzled by this but cannot ask what the Deity meant.

Era then adopts a more aggressive tone, saying that she had to be kept away so their 'secrets' cannot run rampant among the mortal kind before changing the writing at the back of the room via a circular motion with her finger. Era then offers some advice, appearing dangerously close to Kagayaku's face, saying that the supernaturals would ruin her life if she wasn't careful, before the dream ends and Kagayaku is back in her room, having awoken at midnight.

Kagayaku is confused, but quickly realises it was a dream, before noticing something dangerous in her room.

### Chapter 2

Turns out a stray Dragonbite viper had managed to get in her room and was about to attack her, but Kagayaku reacted fast and opened her window, jumping out and running towards the forest, where she gets lost and trips down a hill, entering a clearing. She is confused, and becomes more alert when she hears movement from behind the shrubbery. She gets into a fighting stance, but lowers her guard when Makoto jumps out of the bushes, dancing around the clearing and growing life from her talons while doing so.

When she stops to take a break, Kagayaku approaches her, complimenting her and asking for her name. She answers and the two talk for a while, Kagayaku somehow being oblivious to the fact she's a Deity. Kagayaku explains animus magic to her, and the conversation was going well until Makoto hears Kagayaku's sister and mother in the air, looking for Kagayaku. Frightened, she dashes back into the shrubbery, Kagayaku calling after her, before Boreal and Ace appear and take Kagayaku back home.

### Chapter 3

The chapter starts with Kagayaku walking into school the next day, thinking about last night and heading to the social area to wait for her best friend Mepuru so they can walk to class together. She is confronted by Aella, Mepuru's adoptive sister, demanding for the hybrid's lunch money. Kagayaku tries to scare her off, but it doesn't work, leading for the two to argue before Mepuru shows up to school early and fawning their fight, Aella retreating. The two friends then walk to class.

Kagayaku is bored until the teacher, Egret, announces that they will be learning about the Spirit of Life and Death, which led for Kagayaku to realise the dragon she'd seen last night was a deity. She continued to listen for the rest of the lesson before the bell sounded for lunch.

### Chapter 4

Mepuru and Kagayaku are sat outside, eating their lunch, while Kagayaku tries to tell Mepuru about her encounter last night, only to be shrugged off. Kagayaku is confused by this, but doesn't let this get her down and continues to talk to her friend about other things before they had to go to class, which was art. Kagayaku drew Makoto, while Mepuru drew a forest, though she wasn't very good at it. Kagayaku hid her drawing from Mepuru for as long as she could, but the SandWing eventually saw it and complimented it.

After school, Kagayaku headed to the cafe to buy a slushy, as usual on a Wednesday, and she is greeted by the cashier, Gila, who asks if she wants her usual, to which Kagayaku agrees to. Gila gives her the slushy and Kagayaku pays her before the cashier tells the younger hybrid that strange things have been happening in the forests at night. The chapter ends on this note.

### Chapter 5

Kagayaku is intrigued and wishes to know more, so Gila explains it. After hearing what happened, Kagayaku came to the conclusion that Makoto was up to this, to which Gila agreed with her. They bid their goodbyes at last and Kagayaku leaves the cafe to return home, entering the house and greeting her sister before heading to her room and contemplating whether or not she should go back and talk to Makoto again.

The time skips to a few hours later, where Boreal is seen telling Kagayaku to go to bed and not to leave the house again before leaving. Kagayaku sets her alarm to midnight and goes to sleep, telling herself she will see the peculiar dragon again.

### Chapter 6

The chapter begins with Kagayaku's alarm going off and awakening the dragonet. The hybrid sneaks out and heads towards the forest, where she starts getting a bad gut feeling. She ignores it, however, and goes deeper into the woods, eventually coming across a strange bridge. This confused her as she didn't remember there being a bridge on the woodland trail. Despite her worries, she went onto the bridge.

Unfortunately, the bridge snapped and Kagayaku's wings became stiff, making her hopeless. She falls off the bridge, but is saved by Makoto before she could fall to her death. The two talk for a while and Makoto heals Kagayaku's stiff wings after explaining the syndrome to her, remarking that 'her friend Russell gets it all the time', which sparks up a conversation about deities.

Kagayaku calls Makoto a goddess, which causes her to panic and to try to convince Kagayaku she too was a mortal, but failed. Kagayaku ended up accidentally angering Makoto as a result, leading to the Deity to curse the hybrid out of fear before running off. Kagayaku goes back along the trail, but soon comes to find she's lost, just like what Gila had told in her story.

### Chapter 7

Kagayaku is still lost in the woods, and is trying to get out. At one point, she stumbles across a pond and looks at her reflection in the water, surprised by how bedraggled her appearance had gotten. She then continues wandering around, unable to fly out due to how covered the sky was from the trees, so she attempts calling for help, though her attempts prove futile. It begins to rain as she finds a small burrow that she fits herself in, trying to rest, but unable to as she believes she can hear another dragon outside, though she couldn't see anything at first.

She feels a talon tapping on her shoulder, and she turns around, exits the burrow, to be met with the face of Brightside in her reaper form. The two converse for a bit, before Brightside states that she would help Kagayaku out of the forest, which she does. Kagayaku returns home, and goes to sleep.

It then cuts to Kagayaku at school, sitting in class, when the teacher announces that they would be going into the very forest she was lost in for a nature trail. Kagayaku is annoyed by this, and the scene changes again to the forest, now during the day.

Kagayaku is walking with the class while the teacher occasionally stops to explain something, the dragonet thinking that she could see flashes of silver in the corner of her eye, while Mepuru pestered her with questions, irritating Kagayaku. Eventually, Kagayaku notices something and wanders off whilst the teacher is explaining something, the class trying to inform her that Kagayaku was leaving the group, though the teacher didn't pay much mind to this.

What Kagayaku had spotted was a note, and she began reading it.

Turns out this had been written by Makoto herself, and was to Cyrus, the God of Summer, about how Makoto was going to kill Kagayaku for finding out about her being a Deity, causing dread to pile up in the dragonet. She eventually returns to the group, feeling even worse.

### Chapter 8

The chapter begins with the reader being informed about the start of Makoto's curse affecting Kagayaku's dreams, causing her to become paranoid and tell everybody, but nobody believed her. Eventually, she went out to shop in Sanctuary with Mepuru, donating to a RainWing street preformer and sitting on a bench with her friend, still worried about her fate. The two talk for a bit, before Mepuru yells for Kagayaku to watch out for a brick, pulling Kagayaku out of the way of a stray brick that would've split her skull open on impact. Horrified, Kagayaku states that was in one of her dreams, causing Mepuru to realise this was worse than she thought.

The scene then cuts to Kagayaku in music class, playing the piano with great skill, gaining praise from her music teacher upon finishing her performance. The roof then begins to collapse on top of the dragonet, Mepuru crying out to warn her, allowing Kagayaku to take refuge under a desk, allowing her to survive.

After school, she headed to Gila's cafe for a slushy, and the other hybrid seemed to sense her unease, demanding to know what was wrong. Kagayaku then explains everything, and Gila surprisingly believed her, confessing that she had died and met Makoto herself, and that though she hadn't seen the Deity curse anyone, she knew that Makoto was one to give unethical punishments over small things. She gave Kagayaku her slushy, and bids her farewell after stating that she had to avoid any disaster that appeared, stating that Mepuru would help her.

Kagayaku returns home and goes to her room, putting the radio on and listening to news, which was talking about how more dragons have gotten lost in the woods, and that Hestia was going to send a search party to the woods in order to search for them. The rest of the news was cut off by Kagayaku turning off the radio, and exclaiming out loud for Makoto to attack her, and that she wasn't afraid, eventually giving up when nothing happens. The beach rock on her bookshelf glitters in the light, and Kagayaku snaps at it, getting an odd feeling from the rock.

### Chapter 9

The curse had began to get worse the longer that Kagayaku was living, causing Mepuru to get worried, but Kagayaku found cheating death quite fun. She and Mepuru were now laying on a hill, watching the sun set while her best friend asks how she is still alive, and Kagayaku replies that she was 'built different' in a humorous manner. Mepuru gets serious, saying it shouldn't be joked about, considering Kaga and herself could get hurt from this, to which Kagayaku states that she was right, before the two get to their feet and fly back to the hybrid's house for a sleepover.

The sleepover was going well, before midnight came and Kagayaku was awoken by loud noises from the living room. Astonished that everyone else was sleeping through this, the hybrid's curiosity gets the better of her and she sneaks out of her room, grabbing a flashlight from the kitchen and heading into the completely dark living room.

The watch that she was wearing then began blurting warnings, about how there was a 'dangerous entity' nearby and that she was going to die. These warnings spooked the dragonet, and she attempted to run for the door when a stabbing pain hits the back of her head, and she collapsed, the one responsible for her injury laughing as she blacked out.

She awoke in her room to be met with her entire body being covered in bandages, and a panicked Mepuru, who had saved her. She exclaimed that she had awoken to loud noises in the living room and found Kagayaku unconscious there when she had went to investigate. Mepuru then wonders what caused the noises, and Kagayaku states that it was most likely Makoto's doing.

### Chapter 10

Mepuru says that she believed it was Makoto's fault as well, and asks Kagayaku why she wanted her dead. She answered by saying that she annoyed Makoto simply by calling her a goddess, causing Mepuru to become dumbfounded. She began laughing, and then asked why she would get mad at that. Kagayaku, who wasn't laughing, replied by saying she believed she wanted to keep a low profile as a Deity, and that she wanted to talk to her. Mepuru, understanding that her intent was to go back into the woods and talk to her, causing her to start frantically trying to talk her out of it, stating that she was 'in a horrible state' and that Hestia was also sending a patrol there.

Kagayaku, getting cocky, states that Hestia nor her injuries couldn't stop her and that she was going out anyways. Mepuru sighs and insists on coming along to protect her in case something bad happened, and the two leave the house together to go to the woods. They arrive in a couple of minutes, and call out for Makoto, when it becomes foggy, causing the two friends to become separated, irritating Kagayaku. She then wanders around, calling out for Mepuru and Makoto, before coming across a wing of deceased SkyWings from Hestia's patrol, frightening the hybrid dragonet.

Kagayaku ran away, eventually coming across a bench to sit and rest on, but she soon learned that was a mistake.

Turns out Makoto was nearby and sat down next to her, exclaiming that Kagayaku was 'her favourite dragon in the world' and that she was worried when she thought Kagayaku had died from the vase, though she clearly didn't mean it. Kagayaku, distraught, asks why she was cursed because she didn't do anything wrong, and Makoto's voice adopts a sinister tone as she says that mortals can't be snooping into Deity business, before grabbing Kagayaku's cheek, digging her talons into her flesh, drawing blood. It was at this moment that Kagayaku remembered Makoto's death touch ability, and began panicking, trying to get Makoto's talons off of her, but her attempts were in vain.

A part of Kagayaku believed that she would leave her alone, and was just threatening her, before Makoto stated that she was going to 'put her out of her misery'.

### Chapter 11

Kagayaku was distraught by this news, as she believed she could cheat death forever, but was wrong. However, things turned out in her favour as Makoto held back, for some reason, and pulled away, exclaiming that she would 'get her next time' before leaving, causing a small spark of Kagayaku to believe that she was invincible in some way. Kagayaku would then get up off the bench, running off in the opposite direction of Makoto as she tried to find the exit to the woods.

She eventually finds a rock and kicks it into some bushes, getting surprised when she heard a cry from the shrubbery as a dragon emerged, being none other than the SkyWing queen herself, Hestia. Kagayaku, panicked, began apologising profusely, and Hestia let her off, stating that her search party had been attacked by 'some weird invisible creature', and that she believed it was a crazed animus dragon, though she wasn't too sure herself.

The two would then begin to find the exit together, finding a clearing that they could fly out of, only to discover Kagayaku's wings had grown stiff again, so they had to walk to the exit.

Once out of the woods, Kagayaku looked back into the entrance, the fog clearing, to be met with the sight of her estranged friend Mepuru, her injured body dangling helplessly from a tree's branches.

### Chapter 12

Kagayaku is sickened by the sight, and Hestia states that she was going to check on her, before heading back into the woods, Kagayaku following suit. The Queen checked the SandWing's wounds and affirmed that they were infected, but fresh, and there was a faint pulse, meaning there was still a chance to save her, giving Kagayaku a glimmer of hope. The two would then go back to Kagayaku's home in Sanctuary to treat her friend's wounds.

Once back home, Kagayaku led Hestia to her room and found an emergency medical kit somewhere else in the house to give to Hestia in order for her to disinfect and bandage Mepuru's wounds. Once she was treated, Hestia left, bidding the dragonet farewell as Kagayaku fell asleep.

The scene would then change to the morning, where Boreal is heard yelling angrily about the mess in the living room, and demands to know what happened. The dragonets lie and say that a burglar had broken in, and that they had fought her off. Boreal seems to believe it, and asks the two to come through for breakfast. Kagayaku would the express her glee for Mepuru's survival, and the SandWing thanked her for helping her, before Kagayaku stated that Hestia had helped as well.

### Chapter 13

Mepuru doesn't believe Kagayaku, and bursts out into laughter, before saying that they should go through to breakfast, to which Kagayaku agrees to, and assists her friend with walking through to the dining room, where Ace greets them upon arrival. The friends sit down, and Mepuru does a quick prayer to Astra before eating. Once finished, they headed back to Kagayaku's bedroom, where Kagayaku would inform her SandWing friend about what she had experienced in the forest, leaving Mepuru puzzled.

The two talked for a while, before Mepuru voiced her worry for Kagayaku dying. The hybrid reassured her she would be okay, before Ace entered the room, stating that they were going out. When Kagayaku asked where they were going, Ace simply shrugged and said she didn't know. Kagayaku and Mepuru looked at each other and stated that it would be a long day.

The scene would then cut to a jewellery shop, where Mepuru is seen inquiring to Kagayaku if emeralds or sapphires fit her better. Kagayaku replies stating that both would look great, while going to pull a diamond out of her foot, making her unaware of the loose metal sign that was swinging down towards her.

### Chapter 14

The sign slammed into Kagayaku, causing her to hit a shelf that was behind her, making the shelf collapse on top of her while Mepuru cried out in terror, and Makoto laughed. It was at this moment that the reader is informed that Makoto felt bad for hurting Kagayaku, and was only hurting her because she was worried about the Deities getting their magic exploited by greedy mortals.

Meanwhile, Kagayaku finds herself back in the hospital mindspace that she was in during the events of the very first chapter, except this time, she is able to talk and move around. The strange RainWing greets her, introducing herself as Jericho, though her name is glitched out on text and hard to read. Jericho then expresses her anger towards Kagayaku for getting involved with the supernaturals, and that they have 'ruined her life', before showing her a vision of the future.

They were teleported to the Dimension of Death, where Makoto can be seen crying, except her eyes are red and her tears are black, frightening Kagayaku. Jericho would then inform her that this was something she'd have to deal with in the future, that her curse would be terminated, and that a family member would be turned against her, causing dread to pile up in the dragonet.

Jericho would then tell Kagayaku that she was in this mindspace because she had fell into a coma.

### Chapter 15

Kagayaku is upset by this information, but she was glad it had turned out this way instead of death. She would inquire if Jericho was a faction of her mind, to which she denied, and expressed her confusion towards Kagayaku not showing much of a reaction to being told she was in a coma. Kagayaku replied that she thought showing her fear would be stupid, making Jericho angry. Kagayaku would then ask to see another vision, though Jericho was tentative, asking if she was sure, in case anything ruined her mental wellbeing. Kagayaku assures she will be fine, and Jericho complies, showing another vision.

The scene changes to the Dimension of Death, and Kagayaku is in awe, asking where they were, to which Jericho simply answered with just 'space'. Soon enough, Astra could be seen in the distance, making Kagayaku curious, before the vision abruptly ends. Kagayaku is angered by this and demands to know why Jericho ended it, before the RainWing expressed her anger and hatred towards the Head Deity, before transforming into her 'true form' and kicking Kagayaku out of the mindspace, forcing her to awaken from her comatose.

### Chapter 16

The chapter begins with Kagayaku awakening from her coma, seeing her loved ones and Mepuru crying out with joy. Her family and friend then express their joy for her awakening, before her parents ask the doctors how long she had to be in the hospital for, getting their reply: a week, which irritates Boreal while Mepuru kneels down to grab Kagayaku hand, stating she'd never leave her again, leading for the hybrid to reassure her that the accident wasn't her fault.

This reunion was cut short, however, by the doctors saying that visiting hours were over, forcing the family and Mepuru to leave.

A week passes and Kagayaku is out of hospital, but she frequently finds herself returning as the curse got worse and harder to dodge, trapping Kagayaku in a cycle of despair that she desperately wished to get out of. Eventually, one rainy night, Kagayaku had enough and packed her bag, heading back out to the woods to get revenge.

### Chapter 17

Kagayaku reaches the peculiar bridge she had fallen off once before, and she pondered how to cross it, before settling on running across, reaching the other side just as it fell back into the ravine that lay below it. Kagayaku would then begin progressing through the woods, shining her flashlight around as the fog grew thicker. She found herself not being able to locate Makoto, that is, until she heard singing from deep within the forest, making her scared, but also curious, as she went to the source of the noise.

Turns out it was Makoto singing, sat on a log in a clearing, and she was singing Kagayaku's favourite song at the time, causing the hybrid dragonet to forget her anger and listen. However, she eventually slipped on a wet leaf and fell into the clearing, catching Makoto's attention, which led for her to exclaim that she was 'offering herself to her' and calling her pathetic. Kagayaku would then state she wanted revenge, making the Deity amused.

Soon enough, Kagayaku brought out her knife and began attacking Makoto, causing a skirmish. At one point, Kagayaku got a bad bite wound and retreated to behind the log in order to treat it, causing Makoto to trip over it whilst trying to get to the dragonet. The fighting continues, until Kagayaku threatens Makoto, demanding the curse be lifted, but Makoto refuses, stating she would make it worse, before retreating off into the woods.

Kagayaku returned home, falling asleep as she wondered what fate would have in store for her this time.

### Chapter 18

The chapter begins with a SkyWing announcing that Queen Hestia would like to visit, awakening Kagayaku. Boreal would then burst into the room, exclaiming that the SkyWing queen was at the house in an excited tone, before leaving. Kagayaku left the room, heading to the living room, where she saw her family sat on the sofa with Hestia, who seemed happy to see the hybrid. She asks for a moment alone with her, and they head to Kagayaku's bedroom, where she explained everything that had happened to her since the last time they had met, shocking the SkyWing queen.

Kagayaku then stated that she knew a 'supernatural expert', before taking Hestia to Gila's cafe. The Queen's appearance shocked Gila, and gave her a cup of tea when asked to. They begin talking about Makoto, and Gila shares everything she knew, before turning on the radio, which was talking about the appearance of a large storm which would hit Sanctuary. They eventually leave, heading back to Kagayaku's home where Hestia got her guards and left for the Sky Kingdom.

Kagayaku would head back to her room, eyeing the beach rock on the bookshelf before going back to sleep.

### Chapter 19

The chapter begins with the reader being informed that Kagayaku's curse had indeed gotten worse. She went into school for the first time in the week, before being confronted by Mepuru's sister Aella, who was insulting her for her curse, before stating that Mepuru was off sick, allowing Kagayaku to get up and walk away, causing Aella to get angry and follow her. Eventually, Kagayaku snapped and scratched Aella across the snout, frightening her and causing her to run away, which would soon lead to Kagayaku being confronted by the head teacher.

When she left the head teacher's office, she got into another accident when a teacher dropped several knives and one stabbed Kagayaku, getting the dragonet more injured as she tried to handle it. Eventually, Kagayaku went to the nurses office, and was taken to the hospital so she could get her wounds treated.

Eventually, the day of the bad storm came.

### Chapter 20

Kagayaku was looking out the window of her room when Ace entered, confronting Kagayaku and stating that she was going to move out, causing the dragonet to become distressed. The two eventually agree that they would go out on a walk before the storm starts, and Kagayaku gets ready, putting on a coat before heading out to meet Ace. Before the sisters could leave, however, Boreal appears and demands to know where they are going, and Ace says they were going out, and that they would be okay, before leaving.

As the two were making their way through town, Mepuru spots them and comes over to say hi to Kagayaku, eventually joining the group as they flew to a bunch of hills, sitting on one as it began to rain and the wind started getting stronger. They try to fly back to town, but find that they have to wait where they are due to the weather intensifying.

Eventually, Kagayaku thought she could hear someone crying out, and checked to see Makoto struggling against the intense winds of the storm. Kagayaku is angry, thinking that Makoto wants trouble, before realising that she was in trouble herself, and decides to help her, thinking that violence was never the answer in the first place. Makoto seems surprised as Kagayaku grabs her arm, pulling her out of the air and on the hill, where she would wait with Kagayaku's group until the storm passed.

Kagayaku would then explain to Mepuru and Ace that she had saved Makoto, and that only she could see her because she was special. She was distracted from her sister and best friend, however, when Makoto tapped her on the shoulder, and apologised for cursing her, healing her wounds and lifting the curse.

Kagayaku then states that everyone should go home, and they all lift into the air, flying back to Sanctuary as a group.

### Epilogue

The epilogue begins with Makoto rushing through the forest, seemingly looking for something. She eventually reaches a clearing, and calls out for someone else, Cyrus, the God of Summer. He would inquire to Makoto if she managed to kill Kagayaku, to which she denied, and Cyrus was glad, then asking if she was forgiven. They begin talking about Kagayaku, Makoto expressing her worries for her soul, and dreading what the other Celestials would think about her. Cyrus would reassure her, saying that she would be fine as long as Makoto protected her, to which the Deity agreed to.

Eventually, they would change the subject to blessed spirits, Cyrus asking if Brightside was stressed having to deliver souls all by herself, and that she should get another blessed. Makoto agreed, and wondered who she should bless. Cyrus suggested Goldie, and Makoto said he would be a good decision, but respected his wishes for not wanting to work for another Deity.

Soon enough, Makoto states that their work was done, and they leave to return to Celestial.

## Trivia

* TGoL had a graphic novel adaptation that was discontinued shortly after it's creation.
* The vision shown in Chapter 14 is the issue Kagayaku has to face in *The Poisoned Oath*
* Chapter 20 is the longest in the book.

## Links

* The story on Toyhouse
* The story on Wattpad
* The story on Ao3