the game begins

(Eric POV)

After Hanna kissed Leo, the game went on for a round or two without anything major happening. They decided to stop before anything went right. One of them was bound to refuse or lie. It might even have happened already.

They went on to discuss more consensual subjects, such as cinema, vacations and hobbies. It wasn't very exciting, but they did discover Daphne's passion for role-playing games, that Jessica wanted to be an artist when she was young, and that Blanche had a total of 3 cats at home: Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Eventually, it was time for dinner, and they settled down at the table. No one discussed anything serious. Everyone wanted to have a good time. Who'd want a final meal full of tension and argument? Because that was what was on everyone's mind. At the end of the day, one of them would be no more.

Just as the last slice of chocolate cake was finished, Nola reappeared.

"I'm delighted to see you've had such a good morning and meal. Seeing you all together like this would almost make me wish that one of you would leave us soon," said Nola.

The key word was obviously 'almost'.

"So, what kind of challenge are you planning?" asked Eric.

"I'm betting on a Blowjob contest," said Jessica.

"I think she'd rather we save that for the bedroom. No, I was thinking more of a bikini fashion show," said Abigail sarcastically.

"It wasn't on the agenda, but I can arrange it if you like," the young Leprechaun replied with a smile. Well, 'young' in appearance at least, Eric humbly confessed he knew nothing about Leprechaun biology.

"No, thank you, Nola. Can you end the suspense? I think we've waited long enough," said Leo.

"You still have some progress to make as Master Leo, you know? Let's play a game you've all played hundreds of times as kids," says Nola.

"Like what? skipping rope? play tag?" questioned Blanche, trying out a few suggestions.

"You're going to play hide-and-seek," replied Nola enthusiastically.

_"Hide and seek?" _said Daphne.

"That sounds a little too simple," says Abigail.

"I have several questions," said Eric, raising his hand.

"As always with you. Ask your questions," said Nola.

"Who will hide? Who will be seeking? Where will it take place? For how long?" asked Eric.

"Okay, calm down. I'll answer all these questions. The person in charge of the search will be Leo. The people in hiding will be the members of the harem. You have the right to hide anywhere on the island. It's forbidden to leave the island or go into the ocean. And this will last until Leo has found you all," says Nola.

_"But the island is huge, it could take hours," _exclaimed Daphne.

"That's why I'm going to give Leo a few advantages. First, as soon as he spots you, you're found, even if he hasn't paid attention. Then, once he's found you, you have to help him find the others. Finally, I'd take away the hearing of the people who are hiding, so that they can't help each other and can't just move when they hear people searching," says Nola.

Indeed, it would be a little more difficult if they couldn't hear anything during the whole ordeal.

"As soon as you're found, you'll regain your hearing," says Nola.

"How much time do we have to hide?" asked Blanche.

"You'll have 15 minutes before Leo is allowed to go hunting and the clock starts ticking," said Nola.

"Will the first person found be eliminated?" asked Daphne.

If so, it would be really horrible for both the person and Leo.

"No, but this one will have a better chance of being eliminated than the others. Do you have any further questions?" said Nola.

"What if I refuse to take part?" asked Leo.

"Then at the end of the day I'll eliminate the entire current harem and make a new one," said Nola.

The threat was serious. Leo had to participate.

"Leo, please play along. It's not that serious. You won't be responsible for who you find." said Abigail.

Abigail's words seemed to have calmed Leo down and made him more cooperative. So much the better. Eric could now concentrate on the game.

The main problem now was who to eliminate. For that was the whole point of the game: to eliminate someone. But who?

Daphne was out of the question. Leo would go straight into a tailspin. Abigail seemed rather practical to keep in the harem and was appreciated by Leo. That left Jessica and Blanche. One was first in the VP rankings, the other last. The answer was easy. Especially since he selfishly had no intention of sacrificing himself.

He already had an idea in mind, but he'd have to be quick - he only had 15 minutes.

"If you're ready, I'll wish you all the best of luck and then we'll start. You've got 15 minutes," said Nola.

Then silence invaded the room, or rather, he heard nothing. He noticed Leo talking, but he hadn't learned to read lips, so he could only guess at what was being said. Anyway, it didn't matter. He had something else to do. He ran out of the room.

(Leo POV)

In less than a minute Leo found himself alone in the room. He'd wished them luck, but obviously hadn't been heard.

"Now that they're all gone, I can talk about the rules concerning you," said Nola.

"What do you mean? What rules?" asked Leo, really hoping he'd misheard.

"As Daphne reminded us, this ordeal could last a very long time, especially if you're not motivated. So I've put together a little list to motivate you," said Nola.

Leo shivered. The situation was getting worse.

"Tell me this isn't what I think it is," said Leo.

"If you're thinking about additional transformations, then you're right. But I'm being generous and giving you a chance to avoid that," said Nola.

If he still had a chance, he was going to give it his all.

"It'll be 2 p.m. when you can start searching - you have until 7 p.m. at sunset to find everyone, or they'll all be eliminated. Every half-hour of unsuccessful searching will result in an additional consequence if you can't find them all. The consequences will be as follows."

You find everyone before 2:30 pm => 3 people with **** will not receive any transformations at the end of the day.

You find everyone before 3pm => There will be no additional transformations.

Everyone is found after 3pm => Add a transformation proposal to one person.

Everyone is found after 3.30pm => Double the number of transformation proposals for one person.

Everyone is found after 4pm => Give a Moderate transformation of the theme 'Submission' to one person.

Everybody is found after 16h30 => Give a Moderate transformation of the theme 'Rich' to one person.

Everyone is found after 17h => Give an Intermediate transformation of the theme 'Rights' to one person.

Everyone is found after 17h30 => Give an Intermediate transformation of the theme 'School girl' to one person.

Everyone is found after 18h => Give an **** transformation of the theme 'Gamer Girl' to one person.

Everyone is found after 6.30pm => Give an **** transformation of the 'Free use' theme to one person.

Everyone not found by 7pm => All members eliminated.

Leo looked at the list in front of him. He couldn't fail. He had to find them all in less than an hour or the situation would get much worse. And whatever happened, he had to find them all before 7pm.