Ivy stood in a pool of her own sweat, panting, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. “I…” –She inhaled– “Am never using those freaky vudu abilities… Ever again.” In front of them was a voluminous crowd of people, all ranging from ages seven to nineteen. Despite the sheer number of people, almost nobody spoke amongst each other, everyone's eyes fixated on the large holographic screen in front of them. They all stood in what resembled an empty parking lot, or at least a large slab of concrete.
On the screen, a countdown was displayed in pixelated text; They had made it with 30 seconds to spare. Haley turns to the three of them, pulling them into one big group hug. “Good luck. I know we don’t know where we are or what's going on, but…” She pulls away, her hand still on Ivy’s shoulder. “We’re going to get through this,” She squeezes Ivy’s shoulder with a look of tired determination. “Together.” She assures them.
“Together.” Ivy agrees, with a nod and a weary smile. As the group exchanges final looks between each other, some sort of flame lights deep in Ivy’s soul. She would make it through this alive and unscathed, whatever it was. As the timer reaches zero, the floor drops beneath them and Ivy lands somewhere unfamiliar; She’s surrounded completely by stone walls. The sky above is dimming, and next to her stands two unfamiliar people. A window appears on the stone wall in front of them before they can assess the situation. A robotic voice sounds from the sky.
“Phase one: The labyrinth. Three players must help each other navigate through a stone maze riddled with various obstacles.” As the voice drones on, a diagram is shown on the window in front of them. Ivy makes sure to analyze as much as she can. The obstacles are depicted as strange figures, and the labyrinth is shown as a large maze. An exit is not shown, and the image is hardly on screen for enough time for Ivy to memorize all of it. “Use any means necessary. You are currently in the Quest Zone, so you will respawn if you perish. Although the simulated death is very similar to the feel of real death, Please remember that, although it may feel like it, this is not real. Your goal is to reach the end of the labyrinth, where you will move on to phase two. Good luck, players.”
The window closes with a zip, and the walls around them begin to shake, as an entry way on each side of them begins to appear. Ivy turns to her team. It consists of a man, around her age, by the looks of him, and a woman, who is clearly a few years younger. The man has brown hair and dull black eyes, and the woman has red hair & green eyes. Ivy summons her status window. “Do you guys have a plan?” She asks, mindlessly scrolling through her abilities. When she glances over her window, both of them shake their heads. “Okay, then… Let's figure out what abilities we have at our disposal.”
The group assesses their abilities before Ivy decides to try something. She turns to the two. “Are you guys cool if I try something?” They glance at each other and nod.
“Mindbender.” Her voice cuts through the stillness, unwavering. The last time she had summoned an ability aloud, she had felt extremely embarrassed. Now, it didn’t feel so bad.
Her words hang in the air, a surge of energy pulsing through her veins, like ice— cold, but exhilarating— it was an extreme feeling of power that made her feel powerful. It was something that made her confident; Something that made her grin. The world around her shifts, becoming pliable and responsive. It was as if she could simply reduce it to ash with a mere flick of her wrist.
With purposeful grace, she raises her arm up toward the sky, an unknown force enveloping her in an indescribable shroud of darkness. A sinister, captivating aura radiates from her body. She flicks her wrist in a wide arc, quick and resolute.
At first, nothing happens; the silence deepens around her. But then, the fabric of reality begins to unravel. The labyrinth that once surrounded her starts to crumble, its walls disintegrating into swirling motes of dark matter that seem to cascade into nothingness. She watches as the intricate pathways dissipate, folding in on themselves and spilling into the void.
Gazing at the empty space where the labyrinth once stood, a huge wave of disbelief courses through her. Ivy glances down at her hands in disbelief, and asks herself, Did I just do that?
She exchanges a look of shock with her teammates. Without warning, the world around them fades into an inky blackness. Just as quickly as it disappears, an aggressive yank of movement pulls them from one place to another, and they find themselves back on the concrete slab where they had begun. She had done it; She made it out alive. 6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjp5CNnWuYq
Nobody else stands there with her, besides her teammates, who sit on the ground in shock. Ivy feels a wave of sympathy pass through her as she reaches her hand out to comfort them. Unprompted, an unfamiliar woman's hand wraps around her wrist harshly, dragging her in an unknown direction. “I- HEY!” Shouts Ivy, digging her heels into the ground. The woman stops in her tracks, turning around aggressively to face her.
“I’m only going to ask you this once. How did you do that?” She was an older woman, with wispy blonde hair and wrinkled skin that reminded Ivy of leather. Her makeup was perfectly done, but it didn’t hide her age. A gleaming badge pinned prominently on her chest proclaimed her role. “Staff,” Ivy slowly read aloud, under her breath. She glances up and meets the woman's eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Ivy furrows her brows. The woman's grip on her arm tightens. “You know exactly what I'm talking about. How did you get through that so fast?”
“I just… Looked for an ability I thought would work, and then… said it?” Ivy responds, hesitant and uncertain. The woman grows more angry. “You’re only supposed to have two abilities, and that was much more than a low class ability. I think you know that. Not to mention…” She releases her arm to gesture to her ears. “Your ears. You're a purebred Solarian. How did you sneak in here?”
“Wha… Sneak? My ears? Purebred? Can you say that again but… slower?” Ivy asks with a snort. The woman practically growls. “YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! You’re in a high class, aren't you? Class #5? Is that what makes you feel like you can sneak into an initiation event?”
Ivy groans in frustration. “How do I prove to you that I belong here?!” The woman glowers at her, squinting her eyes. “Show me your status window.”
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3F6iXtNS5
—
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvVycWBgt5
The woman stares at the window for some time, Lingering on the words ‘unevaluated’. “Curious…” She mutters. Ivy stares at her in confusion. Around them, more students begin to resurface from phase one, ragged and fearful. Most of them gather around a large screen hovering towards their left. “You can close the window now,” She states at last. “I’m keeping my eye on you, though.” She walks away ominously as Ivy swipes the window away with her index finger.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hZPpvb0u2
