"Khun-san..." Bam said. We were waiting for the next test to begin in yet another large room. 

Khun seemingly snapped out of thought. "Hm?" 

Bam looked up. "The ceiling here is rather bright..." 

"Yes," I added. "And it curves and moves too..." 

Khun also looked up. "Ceiling? You mean the sky?" 

We both started. "The sky?!" we exclaimed in unison. 

I looked outside. So that's what the sky looks like... it's beautiful... 

Rak, on the other hand, burst into laughter. "Gwyah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" he pointed a finger at both of us. "You don't know what the sky is?" 

"This blue thing is the sky?" 

Rak froze then started laughing again. "You idiot! Hey, there are idiot turtles over here!" 

I was too busy staring outside and admiring the sky to smack Rak for being so rude. 

"Th-then," Bam asked, "At night, does it glitter and shine? W-with stars?" 

"Stars?" Khun said. 

"S-s-s-stars?" Rak started another round of laughter. 

"Huh? But Rachel said that you couldn't see them unless you went to the top of the tower," Bam said. 

This time Rak fell over in laughter. He was literally crying. "What are you talking about? That's obviously just a legend!" 

"What do... stars look like?" I asked. 

Bam smiled. "I don't know, but Rachel says they're very pretty. She says they wink and shine like small lights when it's dark." 

"I see..." 

"In other words," Khun said, "The thing we call the sky is an imitation created using Shinsu modeled after the legend." 

"An imitation..." 

"I doubt the real sky actually exists." 

"Oh... I see." 

"Who is Rachel?" I asked Bam. 

He smiled. "She's the one I'm looking for. Why I'm climbing the tower." 

"I see...you and I are very alike, Bam..." 

"Huh?" 

"Oh... sorry," I apologized. "Seeing you kind of feels like myself reflected back. I mean, we both are pretty much completely clueless about everything here, got 'lucky' during the Shinsu wall test, and also have weapons that-that Rak thinks are powerful enough to dub us 'his prey'." 

"I WILL hunt you turtles one day!" 

Bam smiled. "When you say it like that it's not at all a bad thing." 

Just then several screams could be heard from inside the testing area. 

"What was that?" Tracksuit Guy asked. 

One of his teammates, the one with two swords, replied. "Probably a death cry." 

"Huh?!" 

"It came from in there," Rak said, sitting up. 

"What if the next test..." Bam said nervously, "... is really dangerous?" 

"They wouldn't kill us," I reassured him. "We're just kids." 

"Kids that are taking tests to climb the tower," Khun reminded us. 

The lady in the weird bee dress smiled sweetly. "Next team, enter." 

"Blue turtle, more chocolate bars," Rak said. He was once again lying on the ground and us three were sitting strategically on top of him. He exhaled a breath that blew our hair sideways. 

"They're taking a while. The last group ended immediately." Khun noted with a bored expression on his face, just as another group's screams reached our ears. 

"Again!" Bam cried. I patted his back. "I'll protect you." 

"What's going on in there?" Khun said, frowning. 

"You kids look extremely distressed." I jumped and before I registered what I was doing the Colorless December was at his throat. The creature, which looked like a plastic bag of a human, gave me a somewhat wounded expression, although its face was in a permanent smile. "Oh! Sorry about that." 

"Who are you?" Khun asked, looking suspicious. 

"Don't glare at me," Plastic Bag said. 

Khun turned away. "What do you want?" 

Plastic Bag held up a finger. "I thought I'd give just you kids a hint for the next test." 

No way...!

"Really?" Bam asked, looking delighted. 

From Khun's expression, he's thinking, Bam is so very innocent... because honestly. Those golden eyes shone even brighter than mine did. 

"Shh! Keep your voice down! The other teams will hear you!" Plastic Bag said, shushing us. 

Rak, on the ground beneath us, was snoring away.

"How do you know a hint?" Khun asked, still suspicious. I was as well. There was no way that he could possibly know what was going on in there unless he could somehow see what was going to happen ahead of time-like the future-

Wait... Time. 

"Khun," I interrupted Plastic Bag before he could give the hint, "Teams only scream ten minutes after they've gone in. The ones that have passed and haven't screamed have finished the test under ten minutes." 

"We've got a smart one here!" Plastic Bag said, wiggling around. "Correct you are! I see that you and I are both creatures of high intellect." 

"You're right," Khun said, ignoring PB. 

"Then we have to finish the test within ten minutes," Bam said. 

"You're a quick learner," PB said, putting his hands on his (non-existant) hips. Khun still looked deep in thought. 

"Thank you for giving us such an important-" 

"You don't have to thank a fluorescent plastic bag," Khun interrupted, looking annoyed. 

I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "Oh-ho-ho! Jealous, are we?" 

I received the end of his flat glare. I'd never had much chance to any kind of drama to happen, so if I could get my chance I'd take it! And, with these two totally adorable teammates here, too!

"A fluorescent plastic bag?" said PB. 

"Khun-san?" Bam asked. 

"He's just trying to use us to test this theory," Khun said, and I had to admit that that made sense. He turned his glare to PB. "If we finish the test within five minutes, his theory is proven. And if we don't..." his glare deepened. 

"You know, being too careful will come back to bite you..." PB said. "Abandoned son of the Khun family." 

He started. 

"What?" Bam asked. 

"Well, I suppose you can't help it after the cruel betrayal you experienced." 

Betrayal? Abandoned? How dare that puffy bag...!!

"Khun-san! Eurasia-san! No!" Bam cried.

Before I even knew what was happening both me and Khun had PB pinned underneath us-his knife and my weapon both pointed at his throat. Khun looked slightly surprised.

"Okay, thanks for the push, Plastic Bag," I growled, "But you really don't have to add an insult at the end of it. I don't care if what you said is true or not."

Rak lept to his feet, instantly awake, grabbing his spear. "A fight? I'm in!"

Slowly Khun got off PB, and I followed suit. "Leave," he said. 

"Next team, enter." the lady said. 

Khun picked up his briefcase. "Let's go." 

I stuck out my tongue at PB before following. "Khun, are you alright? Don't listen to what that puffy douchebag said." 

"I'm fine." 

"Fight's over? That's no fun," Rak grumbled, following us. 

"Do you have a fetish for fights or something?" I wondered aloud, because that was a question that I had wanted to say for quite some time now. 

"Go, go! I'll be rooting for you!" PB said from behind us, waving his arms enthusiastically. 

I sighed. 

"Mr. Khun, look." Bam said as we entered the next testing area. There was a giant clock-like contraption hanging on the (non-existant) wall. "The time must be related somehow." 

"Forget what the plastic bag said," Khun said. 

All of a sudden twelve identical red glowing doors appeared. "What the-!" Where'd they come from?!

"My name is Hansung Yu." It was then that we noticed the person sitting in the middle of the room, right under the clock. It was hard to tell whether it was a girl or a boy, but I decided boy for the slightly masculine voice. It was hard because he had long golden hair in a bun with a red pin sticking through it, and was wearing a beautiful blue-and-gold kimono-thingy. "I'm the director of the test you're taking." 

"That means he's really... a-amazing, right?" Bam asked. 

"Yeah." Khun replied, gaze fixed on Hansung Yu. "What's he doing here?" 

"The condition for passing this test is opening the correct door. That's it." Hansung Yu said. "You have only one chance to open a door, and if you take longer than ten minutes, the test will be forcefully terminated." 

"Forcefully terminated? Won't you get killed as... oh, right," I said, realizing what I was saying. 

Without saying a word a large circle appeared in the middle of the room. Rak peered down it. "What?!"

"How awful," Bam said, covering his mouth. 

"So that's where they all went?!" I cried. "That's horrible!" 

The circle disappeared. "The test will now-" 

"Wait!" Khun interrupted him. "We need more clues!" 

Hansung Yu smiled pleasantly. "I've given you all the clues." 

"No way," Khun said. 

"Is this another test of luck?" Bam asked. 

"If it is, then you and I are sure to pass," I said half-jokingly. 

"Hey! Quit being mean and give us a clue!" Rak barked. 

"Please?" I added for the sake of politeness. 

"The test has begun," Hansung Yu announced instead. 

"Listen to me!" 

The gears of the clockwork structure groaned and the large hand started ticking. 

"This is messed up," Khun said. 

"This entire tower is messed up, if you ask me," I grumbled. 

Rak was throwing a little hissy fit and Bam was caught in the middle of it. "I'm annoyed!" He roared, stomping one foot up and down as Bam valiantly tried to keep his balance. "Calm down!" "I'm annoyed!" "Let's think of the right answer together!" "I hate thinking and needles!" Rak roared, continuing to stomp his foot. 

I sighed, then starting thinking. Even though PB is insufferable, what he told us-or what I realized -isn't incorrect. There are twelve doors and the time limit is ten minutes, obviously. Other than that that annoying Yu guy told us nothing... 

I watched as he stirred something into his cup, then lifted it using both hands and sipped delicately. I saw him looked slightly amusedly at Khun, who looked also deep in thought. 

What if...? 

"Khun," I said carefully, watching Rak crawl across the floors in annoyance, "Could it be a trick?" 

"How could it be a trick?" was his airy reply. 

I sighed again. He's totally lost in thought... Back to the problem at hand. I looked at the clock. Five minutes left. Okay, Eurasia, calm down and think. There has to be a right answer, if not presently clear. A sudden thought occurred to me. In the labyrinth where Enne is... there are many passages that twist and wind, designed to confuse and addle the brain... but in reality, even when you're faced with several forks in the road, it doesn't matter which one you take, you'll always end up at the same place. What if... what if this test is like that? Maybe Hansung Yu's instructions were vague on purpose because there are no specific instructions!

Suddenly Khun turned around and cried out, "Maria!" 

My thoughts slowed. "Khun?" 

I watched as something happened to him. He looked... almost... scared. Like somebody would look when they're experiencing a nightmare. 

"Khun," I said, a little more urgently. "Khun-" 

"Stop!" he shouted suddenly. I recoiled. He was panting hard, sweat beading his face. 

"Khun, listen to me," I said urgently. "I think I know what the answer to the test is, we can just open any random door because the instructions never said which door so-" 

"Rak, what are you doing?" 

We both looked up just in time to witness Rak kicking a door open. 

A tense moment passed. Oh please be right be right...!

All the doors turned green and the time finished. 

Rak let out a breath. "I feel better." 

"Hey, gator," Khun asked, looking a bit out of it. "Why did you open that door?" 

Rak had a super-serious face on. "Instinct." 

"Pftt!" I laughed at Khun's expression and at how Rak had said it... but then I remembered the frenzy he had been spun into a few minutes earlier. 

The sound of slow clapping brought our attention back to Hansung Yu, who had stood up. "Congratulations. You pass." 

"What?!" Khun said. 

"The passing condition for this test is the open a door within five minutes." Hansung Yu said. 

"That was what I was trying to tell you, Khun!" I protested. "It's just like-like... eh..." Right, I couldn't possibly let them know where I'd been... 

"You mean opening any door would've been right?" Bam asked. 

"Yes." 

Rak threw back his head and laughed triumphantly. "Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" he pointed a finger at us. "See that? See my deductive skills?" 

"You literally just said it was 'instinct,'" I deadpanned. 

"Let's go! Follow Rak the genius!" Rak turned and marched through the door. 

Bam watched for a moment, then smiled. "Jeez... I'm glad it worked out, though. Mr. Khun? Miss Eurasia?" 

"What does this test measure?" Khun asked. 

"Were the wounds inflicted on you by the princess that deep?" Hansung Yu replied. 

"The princess?" 

"Now that you're wounded, you trust nothing," said Hansung Yu. "You can't do anything without certainty." 

"So what?" Khun replied angrily. 

"The world won't wait for your certainty," Hansung Yu said. "You need companions who will open doors without hesitation." 

Again I felt another flare of indignation. "Look, Mr. Whatever-You-Keep-On-Drinking... I think that Khun's had enough of whatever you guys keep on hinting at today. Whatever it is, I don't care, because that obviously happened in the past and right now, we're in the present, so would you all please just drop it? It makes me stressed out just watching him and also, not to mention, I might actually kill someone if one more person tries insulting one of my teammates again." I held up the Colorless December, which was encased in cloth just like Bam's. "Thank you for your cooperation. 

"And..." Hansung Yu continued. 

"Um... Mr. Khun?" Bam asked tentatively. 

"Don't you want to protect those eyes, which don't know doubt?" 

Somehow I knew he was talking about Bam, not me. Khun's stance loosened and his eyes lost his anger.

I heard his unspoken thought. Yes. 

Hansung Yu smiled.

"I would want to," I said. "But I totally support Khun helping too!" 

From far ahead Rak called, "Yo, turtles! What are you waiting for? We've got a whole flippin' tower to climb ahead of us!" 

"Let's go, guys," Khun said, sticking his hand back into his pocket. 

"Okay," Bam said. I started following them. 

"Take care," Hansung Yu said. "You seem to be carrying quite the heavy bag." 

Khun paused and his eyes regained some of its anger. "What an ass." 

"You could stand to be a little less condescending," I told Hansung Yu, following them. 

Right before we exited, he said one last thing. "I look forward to what you will do, Eurasia Arie Kuro." 

That stopped me in my tracks. Eurasia Arie Kuro? "What do you mean-" 

"Call the next Regulars," Hansung Yu said, getting back into his seat. All the doors turned red again, which, in my opinion, only further proved my point. 

From ahead Bam called, "Eurasia-san! Are you coming?" 

"Coming," I called back. "This is so not over," I told Hansung Yu. "Later I will interrogate you, but right now... I've got some teammates to get to." 

-----------------------------------

This might end up harder than I bargained for... Anyway, there we go, I'm proud, so very proud! 

See you in the next chapter! 

-awakened-angel-chan