They all stood outside the main academy building waiting to be transported to the location of the exam, and as they waited, a familiar face approached with her usual languid expression.
"Greetings, everyone," Clara greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Tristan asked, surprised by her arrival.
Amelia, who had been smiling mere moments before, now wore a scowl upon seeing Clara.
"I asked permission from the headmaster, so I'll be going to the location of the game with you all, so I can offer support. Unless you don't want me to, I could just…"
She was soon interrupted by Garfield, a smile on his face and his arm draped behind Tristan's neck. "We would love for you to come. Isn't that right, brother?"
Garfield looked at Tristan with eyes that pleaded for him to give the correct response. Tristan, knowing exactly what Garfield wished for him to say, sighed and then nodded.
"It would be nice to have your support," he said.
"Well, I don't want her support," Amelia whispered, her arms crossed and her expression far from pleased.
The time had come. The pond in front of the main school building began to shift as a concealed door revealed itself to the public, sliding aside and allowing the water to cascade into the now-opened hidden entrance. A stairway emerged before them, and with the headmaster leading the descent, they all followed down the steps.
As they walked down the cobblestone stairs, they admired the architecture—Tristan more than the others, as it reminded him of ancient Roman construction. They descended deeper, even farther than the secret laboratory beneath the academy.
"What is this place?" Tristan asked.
Amelia was quick to answer.
"It was a passage created years ago for the sole purpose of evacuating the citizens if ever necessary."
"Is it no longer in use? Because I've never heard of it before," Garfield asked curiously as they continued walking.
Amelia paused for a moment, almost reluctant to reveal why Garfield had no prior knowledge of the underground passage.
She sighed and, in a regretful tone, said, "This place was created for residents of the High District to escape in case of emergency. It was not built for the lower district's residents and was kept a secret from those who lived there."
Garfield was disappointed and angered by this newfound information but refused to speak out against the discrimination that had clearly taken place. He simply looked to the side with a disapproving expression.
"So why would the headmaster reveal this place now?" Clara asked as she walked slowly behind Tristan.
Amelia, annoyed, clicked her tongue and looked to the side.
"Maybe she just wanted to reveal it. Who knows." She said as she sped up her walking speed
Clara looked down, and Tristan noticed. He quickly caught up to Amelia and began whispering to her.
"Amelia, would you mind being nicer to Clara? I don't think she has many girl friends, and she's really trying to make an effort, so why don't you give her a chance?"
"Why are you so fixated on that girl? She's just a random stranger you happened to meet," she replied.
Tristan sighed, then said, "Same could be said about you, but we became friends, did we not? I just want you to be her friend. Besides, it would be good for you—you don't have many girl friends either."
Amelia gasped.
"Yes, I do."
"Name them," Tristan said, grinning.
Amelia paused as she began to think of her girl friends. Then the daunting realization came to her—she had none besides Synthia, and even then she wondered if that counted, considering Synthia was her sister.
Amelia stayed silent.
Tristan chuckled, then said, "Okay then, if you can be her friend that would be nice, both of you need it."
Amelia sighed.
"Fine, I suppose I can attempt to be her friend."
As they reached the end of the stairway, they found themselves before a stream of freely flowing water. Several boats rested on the surface—one for each team—each accompanied by an educator who would guide them. Clara followed Tristan onto his team's boat, and there she and Amelia began to speak.
Every other team boarded their own boat as their educators began rowing. As they drifted along the underground stream, they marveled at the stone architecture surrounding them. Soon, they reached the outside and saw the ocean—vast and endless. They stared in awe, the sheer beauty of the sea leaving them breathless. But they could not linger; they had somewhere to be.
Amelia and Clara seemed to get along well during the boat ride. They appeared to share common interests—whatever those interests were remained unknown to Tristan—but one thing they might have bonded over was their mutual loneliness, as saf as that sounded.
As they rowed, they approached an island. Tristan and his group were docked upon sandy shores while the others continued around the island, likely dropped off at their designated locations, along with the bags containing what they had purchased before leaving the main land.
They waved goodbye to Clara, and then Mr. Moore left them, rowing his boat around to the other side of the island.
"You three wait there for further instructions!" he shouted.
As he rowed away, his expression betrayed his sadness—most likely because he was still heartbroken over the fact that Miss Eleanor was an evil terrorist… or rather, just a terrorist, since terrorists could not be anything other than evil.
"Poor man. I really hope he gets over Miss Eleanor," Amelia said, her tone sympathetic.
Garfield nodded, agreeing with her sentiment.
"Well, it's his fault for falling for a terrorist," Tristan said, not sharing the compassion of his two companions.
The three waited for a while, sitting on the beach for the instructions Mr. Moore had promised. To keep themselves from dying of boredom, they drew pictures in the sand and began guessing what each drawing represented.
They started off simple with animals, then moved to creatures Tristan had never seen before, at least in this world creatures such as trolls, giants, fairies, and elves.
"How come I've never seen these creatures before?" Tristan asked.
"Well, there aren't really any that reside in Sector 2 of Constella, due to the fact that we refuse to take them in."
Tristan looked to Amelia, wanting to know why these other races were barred from entering Sector 2.
"Well, it's not as if my father and mother didn't want to welcome them. The decision was made by the masses. My father is a ruler, and he must consider the well-being and comfort of his people. And another reason is that those races are, most of the time, used for manual labour… they're slaves."
Slavery—familiar, and yet unfamiliar. A constant across worlds, not just this one.
"Even giants?" Tristan asked.
"Giants are more like tall tales. Nobody believes they exist, but that never stopped authors from putting them in stories."
Finally, after an hour or two of waiting, their instructions appeared—a visage of the Headmaster.
"You all will make your way into your terrains at the count of three and begin this year's Selection Game."
"3."
Each number rang louder than the last as every participant stood ready.
"2."
"1."
"Begin!" she announced, declaring the commencement of the Selection Game.