Nerena Corvantis
"I know it was you. Screw me over again, and we are going to have major problems," Mira said, whispering in my ear. I turned away, and walked towards the door of the checkpoint area.
I expected her to figure it out. Anyone who's gone up against my tentacles, never forgets the experience. I wasn't worried about her. She was smart but easy to navigate around.
With everyone situated I proceeded forward, allowing Sora to place a hand on my back.
As soon as the sliding door opened, a path with an abundance of light fixtures appeared. The lights transitioned, from a bright white, to an array of faint colors that flickered every second. The walls changed from silver to a rustic burgundy. The path was dark and wide, reminding of how light would refract in the depths of the ocean.
With my bracelet deactivated, I could understand the struggle Jace had gone through trying to decipher the path.
He was more capable than I thought.
"There are panels underneath the floors. Avoid them." The voice in my head said, and just as the voice finished Mira announced the exact same thing.
"It appears the girl has found a way to deactivate her bracelet."
"Of course she did."
Before we continued, I instructed the team not to venture from the line. For a while, the team followed my lead. But Jace's cloud bumped into Cyrus and zapped him, causing Cyrus to tumble across the ground. "Cheap move Jace," Cyrus shouted, picking himself off the ground.
Yawning Jace responded, "You're one to talk."
"Take off that blindfold and face me now." Cyrus said
"In a rush to get embarrassed again?" Jace shot back, still laying on his cloud.
"Brace yourselves, the ground is changing" Mira shouted, as the ground beneath us shifted.
My teeth bit the inside of my cheek.
But she wasn't accurate with her callout. The smooth texture of the walls also transformed into a protruding topography of panels.
"The layout has changed. You are no longer going the correct way," a voice from the speaker said.
Our group fell into a frenzy.
Blind people shouting at each other, blaming each other for our current situation.
It was pathetic.
People claiming to have knowledge of things they know nothing about, was my biggest pet peeve. But this situation also reinforced what the elders at Vuka Puha always told me; Knowledge in its purest form, is a silent power. Anyone who is loud about their knowledge, will always have no power.
Silent and not wanting to be involved in the chaos, I focused on the signature.
Catching the trail again, I proceeded down the dimly lit corridor without them.
I didn't wait for them to notice, because they never would. I summoned my tentacles and grabbed everyone, yanking them close.
They fought at first, but soon got the point after a gentle squeeze.
As we traveled down the new corridor, the new panels on the walls shifted their location every few seconds
Amongst the chaos, I felt the signature grow potent.
"Watch your feet everyone, just stay forward," Mira shouted. I looked over my shoulder at her, and gave a slight squeeze with my tentacle.
I picked up my pace. I just wanted this dumb test to be over.
A voice echoed through the corridor, one that I expected, but it still made my heart sink.
"The layout has changed. You are no longer going the correct way." The floor gave out beneath us, dropping us a few feet onto a cold, hard surface.
"What happened? Did someone step on another panel?" Cyrus asked, his voice becoming more agitated.
"No, there were panels on the walls too." Mira chimed in.
"Our leader chose not to tell us for some reason."
My knuckles cracked.
"Um.. How exactly did you know about that, Mira?" Voen asked.
"Don't worry about it. Any reason you didn't tell us? Leader?" Mira asked, staring directly at me despite having a blindfold on.
Annoyed, I picked myself up off the ground and just ignored her question.
At this current point, I felt like we wouldn't ever get out of this maze. I was through with it all.
Not giving them the chance to screw us over again, I coiled them in my tentacles and followed the signature, which was difficult, like following the scent of blood in the ocean.
My team made demands, and I ignored them. The cosmic energy of Mira started to rise. I made sure that the tentacle was reinforced further.
After another ten minutes, I got us back on track and to the next checkpoint. This time, the proctor's voice didn't come from the speaker telling us to rest, or to switch the leader.
Just another sliding door that read the last stop.
I was lucky, there weren't as many paths like there was when Jace was leading.
"We reached the next checkpoint," I informed them, as I released my grasp on them.
I walked through the sliding door.
A strong gust of damp air smacked against my body, forcing me to take a quick step back.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the new scenery. There was no longer a dark hallway, just a walkway about three feet in length protruding out into the open sky, filled with dull grey clouds.
I could see the end. No next checkpoint, no forked path.
This was it.
They were making us walk off a cliff to our deaths. I couldn't understand the reasoning for this. It was mad. I looked back to the door, it didn't close.
Did I lead us down the wrong way?
Thoughts rambled through my mind, I was sure that I followed the correct signature. But why were we brought here?
"Why do I feel the wind?" Cyrus asked.
"Are mazes normally like this?" Voen chipped in.
"No they aren't. We are no longer in the maze. Our leader messed up"
I stormed over to Mira.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to cause a problem right now?"
"Im just calling it how I see it." She responded, arms crossed, still blind folded.
"What do you mean we aren't in a maze anymore?" Sora asked, her hair frizzing.
I looked back towards the end of the cliff, I felt there had to be a reason.
Would the school let students die in tests like this? Deep down I knew they wouldn't. This had to be part of the test, or did I make a wrong turn.
"I think we need to jump." I said, my voice fighting over the howling wind.
Standing firm, Mira tone became aggressive "I think not, I don't sense anything else under my feet."
"How can you sense anything Mira?" Sora asked. Mira ignored the question
"Let's go back to the checkpoint area," Mira said, trying to push everyone inside.
I shot my tentacles out at them and pulled them back.
"Can you stop rag dolling me!" Cyrus lashed out.
Mira let cosmic energy surge from her body and broke free with brute force. I knew what I had to do. I flung the others off the cliff, and commanded all my tentacles to restrict Mira.
With her in my grasp, I jumped off the cliff.
The fall was quick, and the impact against the net hurt due to being reinforced by cosmic energy.
People yelled at me, cursed me. It was fine, I was confident in my decision. I rolled toward the proctor who was standing at the end of the net, attached to the Isle. He gave me a considerate nod and helped me out.
He waited until the rest of the team rolled out of the net to speak.
"Congratulations on completing the first midterm required to get your provisional Rifter Runner License." There was a long pause as he looked each and every one of us in the eyes.
"I'm displeased to inform you that you failed."