Desperation (Part 1 - Hall G)

[Othon – Drachma]

After the first test for the staff selection competition, the day for the second test arrived. Even though the sun was absent from the sky of Othon, the candidates had adapted themselves accordingly. They had been called to the Central Field of the palace like the previous test, and all the qualified candidates from the first round were eagerly waiting there to receive further instructions.

In a short period of time, Maria and Jane had become good friends after delivering their best at the cooking competition. They were standing beside each other, and Maria was trying to act as if she was a Drachmann herself. Her act was convincing, but she didn't have the historical knowledge about the country like Jane. So, she took leverage of her friendship and tried to learn about the country from Jane, whenever she had the chance.

While they were waiting like the other candidates there, Maria looked at Jane and asked, "Jane, why are you so determined to become a staff here?"

Jane smirked and replied while looking ahead, "I don't want to become just a staff here. One day I want to become the Head of Staff…My grandfather was once the Head of Staff here, and he felt proud to serve in this palace. He used to tell us the stories of our first King, Ivanov the first. Centuries ago, Drachma was just a small country, out of which Amestris took some part in the first battle between Drachma and Amestris, and they built a wall to separate both the countries. After some years of the war, Ivanov the first appeared and united other small neighboring countries either by defeating tyrant rulers, or by making friends of them. For decades, he kept on doing that in order to save the other poor countries, by sharing the wealth from rich countries. Soon, the small Drachma became very huge, in fact now it is the largest country in the world. Eventually, all the remaining kings voted him to be the sole king of Drachma, because he was the one who united all of them. My grandfather felt pride in working at the palace, where once Ivanov the first lived, and I also want to do the same by serving the place where the greatest king ever lived."

Maria looked ahead and said with a low voice, "Ivanov, the first…what a legacy he left behind."

In the meantime, a man came to the field with a loudspeaker and informed everyone to reach Hall G in an hour for the next test. And as soon as he left, all the candidates present there moved toward Hall G. Everyone reached Hall G in just 15 minutes, but the Hall was closed as expected. After sometime when the hall opened, everyone entered inside.

There they saw the hall was filled with different kind of flowers, and the floor was regular soil and mud where one could easily find weeds grown. After a few minutes, the Head of Staff, Yegor Netto walked into Hall G and stood on the platform created for him. He took a mic and said, "Congratulations to all of you who made it to here, but unfortunately for some of you, the journey will end here. Only 30 candidates will advance to the final test, however, that doesn't mean the remaining 30 who won't advance are not good. It means that you still have room to improve your skills and amaze us next year," he smiled and halted for a moment after which he continued, "Now, for the test. As you can see there are lots of flowers in this room, and each flower, as well as each color, has some significance. In this test, all you have to do is to create a bouquet using at maximum 6 things in this room. If any bouquet exceeds 6 things, the person will be disqualified. And you have 1 hour to create your best bouquet, which means you cannot take flowers from the stalls after one hour. The bouquet which will have the best combinations and significance will win this test. Every one of you will be given a chance to explain why you designed a bouquet in the way you designed it, and what does your bouquet signify. Remember, the most basic requirement of a bouquet is, it should look good. Also, if you try to mess up the flowers for other candidates, you will be disqualified. Is everyone clear?"

"Yes Sir," the candidates shouted.

"If everyone understood everything, then let the test begin," Yegor smiled.

When the test began, every candidate in the hall started moving toward the flowers, while Jane was standing at her position. She was murmuring, "Only 6 things to make the bouquet! Why didn't he say 6 flowers?"

Maria was standing just beside her, so she heard her and said, "Maybe we can create a bouquet without even using any flower, or even the thing with which-"

"We are going to tie the flowers are even counted among those 6 things," Jane interrupted by finishing off Maria's sentence.

Both of them looked excitedly toward each other. "Let's make a damn good flower bouquet, Maria," Jane smiled with excitement in her eyes.

And Maria responded with the same kind of emotion. "Let's do it," She said.

"Don't you dare lose here," Jane grinned.

"It will never happen," Maria smirked.