Chapter 7. CARTER

I continued my run from Ephiria. I turned the corner to found myself bumping into someone. I fell to the ground. I looked up to see Darius. He said, "Wow, buddy. Where are you running off to?" Ephiria caught up., "He had escaped and was trying to run away." He said, "Can't say I am surprised. Okay, let's head to the office and get your results." They gave stern looks indicating that they weren't taking no for an answer.

We reached the office. It had white painted on its walls, the cream-tiled floor with a red carpet to complement it. There was a brown desk with office equipment on it. There were two shelves filled with box files. In the office chair sat Mrs. Celine. She said, "Congratulations on surviving the test." Barely with my life. She continued, "Your results are that you are a tenebris. Here is a guidebook that will provide with all the fundamentals." She pulled out a drawer and removed an olive green book. On it, a title was written in red, "A GUIDE TO YOU" I took the book. She said, "Okay now you can all go. Mrs. Calisto is holding an assembly. I advise you to go now so that you can make it."

I was led through a tunnel to an elevator. We went in and up we went. We traveled through the forest until we arrived at the arena. We took our seats and waited until a star landed right in the middle of the arena. No one seemed surprised at all. What stars landed here every day?

The light extinguished leaving behind Calisto. She announced at the top of her lungs, "Today when the sky turns dark. The Trials of Luna will begin. The rules are simple. Firstly, no murder is tolerated. Elimination will be possible by destroying a gem that will be in the middle of everyone's chest. Secondly, any use of weapons or chaos is allowed as long as it doesn't jeopardize the first rule.

The trials will occur in the dungeon. You will be facing traps that will test your problem-solving ability under pressure. There are 2 ways of winning. One, you are the last group standing, and two, you get 3 of the 5 hidden beetles. Join them and begin the 2-minute countdown. If you finish the countdown while still in possession of them, you win. If anyone comes and defeats during the countdown, they take the win even without their countdown needing to be started. You will also receive wristbands that will beep when your group member is eliminated. Read your guidebooks for more details.

Now the prize is a jump to rank A. You all well aware rank is everything here. The higher your rank, the more privileges you enjoy. The six ranks i.e., A, B, C, D, E, F. The other prize will be an artifact to be disclosed to the winners only. I wish you luck in this endeavor." She flew off.

Darius said, "Since we have a new member, we might as well teach him how chaos works. I know just the place." They lead me to a mountain. I said, "I'm not climbing that." Ephiria said, "Don't worry. There are stairs." She pointed at a staircase that looked to end at the top. Oh, that's definitely better. When we reached the top, I felt out of breath. I gasped for air. The air up here was thick and cold up there. I felt like dropping a taking a long rest but something told this wasn't the hardest part. In the distance was a…museum.

It was big with 2 floors and white quartz pillars holding giving it support. We went through the double doors to reveal a night sky-designed marble floor, walls, and ceiling painted shades of aquamarine. There was a portrait of a 30-year-old espresso brown-skinned woman with long silky hair and piercing emerald green eyes wearing a light green chiton. At the bottom of the frame, the name "CLAIRE DREMICK" was engraved in it.

Claire was approaching us. She said, "Oh, what do I owe the visit?" Darius said, "Good afternoon. We are here to request a training zone." She said, "I see someone has to make some last-minute preparation. You know you can't fatten a cow on its due date." He replied, "But still doesn't hurt to try." She said, "Okay follow me." She led me to a room where they were 3 small beds. To the side was a small table. On it was a jug with 3 glasses next to it. She poured some strange-looking liquid that was a mixture of blue and green into the glasses.

She brought the glasses to us and told us, "Drink and then go to those beds." The rest did it effortlessly. I told myself, "Maybe it tasted like honey or smelt like roses. Don't judge a book by its ugly cover." I let it go down my throat. I was wrong. It tasted so awful and the smell–I don't even have words. My body felt dizzy. My eyes complained to close. I pushed myself to the bed and collapsed.

I awoke in a white void. I wasn't alone. The rest were also here. They didn't look like they were green like me at all. I am not meaning the color. Darius said, "The lesson begins now. To use chaos. We focus on our extreme emotions. I mean experiences that brought anger, fear, and sorrow. Emotions that make our guts churn – that make our blood boil. We use them to tip into our chaotic sparks. The more you tip into your spark, the more chaos you can conjure."

Ephiria said, "You can use that chaos for multiple things according to what breed you belong to. You can even use them to cause calamities. Let me show you" She put her hands together. Light emitted from there. She opened the hand to reveal 4 sparks of energy intertwined. She threw them in the air and 4 explosions occurred – one after the other. Darius said, "The best teacher is experience. Mrs. Claire, please begin."

3 wormholes appeared. From them, 3 human-sized praying mantises came out. Each charged for one of us. The rest started fighting with their mantises. I, on the other hand, ran away in panic. I didn't get far before the mantis caught up. I looked for a weapon. Nothing but white was around. I felt my clothes–desperately hoping for a weapon. I finally felt a cube in my pocket. I got it out. It was as tiny as dice and metallic.

With false hope, I conjured up some moments in my life that left a big toll on me–the dying look on my mom's face, the day my dad abandoned us, and the times I was bullied because of my heterochromia. Electricity went down my spine. Black mist went out of my hands to the cube and it turned into an axe.

It was roughly longer than the height from my head to my waist. It had a metallic bat on its tip which had a wing open that continued as the blade. My instincts commanded my body. I held the axe like how I used to hold an axe when I chopped wood during camping vacations. The mantis attacked. I swung the axe. It blocked with its forelimbs. It tried to push the blade away but I kicked making it stunned.

I raised the axe in the air and swung it down swiftly. I cut it into 2. My instincts left me victorious. The dream ended. I was back in bed. A silky raven-haired, ghost pale light-skinned girl with grey eyes stood over me. She was wearing a midnight blue tank top and a black skirt that reached below her knees. She said, "You made it. Congratulations," I replied, "Thank you…" She replied, "Morticia Gravestone" I looked at the time. It was now 5:00 p.m. I asked, "You are here to…" She said, "To direct you to where you shall be staying." I asked, "Where are the rest?" She replied, "They already went off. They requested I direct you. So if you may." I stood up and said, "Lead the way."

She led me to a shed. It was dark. All turned silver and we had teleported to a room. It was all wood. It had a bed, a cupboard, and a drawer. There was a praying mat on the floor. It was as plain as I am describing it to be. I turned to see that Morticia had disappeared. I first prayed the Swalats I had missed and the recent one. I could myself acquainted with the cabin. After that, I read the guidebook discovering how this chaotic stuff has to deal with me. According to it, a hybrid is born from a mix of mortal and mystic blood. The child will have chaos running in their veins giving them their mystic parent's powers. My father must have been a mystic. Mostri can sense a hybrid at the age of adolescence when chaos becomes thicker in their blood. They attack to get rid of the potential threat. Hybrids are considered the biggest threat since we're half human, order, that doesn't affect humans, has less effect on us. I could try to escape this but those things will never stop till I am dead. I decided that I will comply with these people. They were the only shoot I had at finding my mom. Soon darkness filled the sky. I prayed for Allah's protection.

My vision turned silver and I ended up in a place with grey bricks stretching out for miles. The ceiling was high and had chains running along it. The walls were wide making the place spacious. This was the dungeon. My colleagues were next to me. A wristband appeared on our wrists. A round red gem also appeared in the middle of my chest–exactly where Calisto said they would appear. Calisto announced, "May the trials begin." A loud growl of a beast echoed in the dungeon. Now I understood why the dungeon was so spacious.