Ulla's POV(past):

"Welcome to Koto."

"First kingdom! Here we go!" i grabbed my stuff and started walking before a hand grabbed my wrist.

"Ulla, i know you're excited but you gotta relax" Donella said.

"This is just exciting" i said "Maybe i should pick up a souvenir for Quirin and Varian from each of the kingdoms"

"you're thinking out loud again"

"Right, sorry"

"let's find this first trial, they're said to all be located in strange mysterious places"

"Yeah, let's do it!"

"Remember, don't cause a scene in town, and don't tell anyone what we're looking for, people will go to any lengths to get their hands on this knowledge"

i started taking notes

"Ulla! Are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go!" i said, dragging her towards the town.

Elizabeth's POV(present):

By the time the sun rose the next day we had made it to the fire kingdom.

"Welcome to Koto!" I announced.

"How did you know the way here?" Varian asked.

"My father, stepmother, and i traveled alot before we settling in Old Corona" i said.

"Well, what are we waiting for!?" Varian said, getting off of Prometheus "we've got a totem to find"

As we were walking through the market place we heard something.

"Come one come all! Come witness a spectacular feat like none you've ever seen"

"What was that?" I asked.

"Not sure"

We turned around the corner to see a young boy, i'd say about 12, standing next to a giant firework in the middle of a crowd.

Varian had a nervous look on his face.

"Var? You ok?" I asked.

"He overloaded the main fuse!" He yelled "it's gonna blow!"

"Watch out!" He ran to the middle of the crowd and pushed the boy out of the way.

The rest of the crowd ran as the firework exploded.

"Oh no!" The boy said.

"What were you doing kid!? You need to be more careful!" Varian said, catching his breath.

"Sorry..." the kid said "wait a minute i recognize you!"

"You do?" Varian asked.

The boy nodded "you're Varian! You brought hot running water to your kingdom!" He said.

"Well i didn't do that alone" he said, looking over his shoulder at me.

"I'm Yong by the way!" The boy said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Yong" Varian said.

"Hey, Yong?" I got the boy's attention "you don't by any chance know of any hidden totems or mysterious places do you?" I asked.

"I know of a mysterious place! Follow me!" The boy said, running off.

"What are we waiting for!? lets go!" I grabbed Varian's hand and pulled him along.

Yong led us to a tall mountain with a cave at the bottom.

"Think it might be here?" I asked Varian.

He pulled out his mom's journal.

"It does say the fire totem is hidden in the cave of a mountain" he said.

"Welcome to Mount Huǒshān" Yong said.

"Doesn't that just mean 'Volcano?" I asked.

"Oh boy..." Varian gulped.

We walked into the cave which seemed to get darker as we went farther in.

"This is getting creepy" i said.

"It's ok, we're here together right?" Varian said as he grabbed my hand, which helped calm me down.

"Right" i said.

"So...are you two a couple?" Yong jokingly asked.

"How did you know that?" Varian asked.

"Call it a lucky guess! Besides you're holding hands" Yong said.

Suddenly as we got to a large area in the cave there was a strong wind that sent us all in different directions.

I got knocked onto the floor. And passed out for a minute.

When i got up and looked around nobody was there.

A fog started forming in the small room.

"Elizabeth..." i heard an unfamiliar voice say.

A figure appeared that i didn't quite recognize...even though she seemed familiar.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You don't recognize me?" The figure asked.

When she stepped into the light i could see her alot better.

A taller woman with her hair in a long braid, a platinum blonde color like mine.

She was wearing mostly shades of grey.

There was a scar on her face and her eyes were glowing red.

Weird...

"Answer me! Who are you!?" I yelled, reaching into my bag and pulling out one of the alchemy balls Varian tought me how to make.

"Now now, no need to get hostile my dear, all will be answered in time.." the woman said, tapping her finger on my nose.

But for some reason I couldn't feel it.

It just gave me a bit of a chill.

This is part of the trial!

It's an illusion!

"Varian! Yong! Is anyone there!?" I called out.

Varian's POV:

What just happened?

Where did the wind come from?

I was alone in a smaller room now that filled up with fog.

"Where did the fog come from!?" I said.

"Varian..." i heard a voice say.

"Who's there!?" I asked, turning around quickly.

As i backed up i started to get a chill as if something was behind me, so i made the mistake of turning around.

The room was filled with automatons and in the back was a...sadly familiar...looking sight.

My father... trapped in the amber.

"This is all her fault" i heard a voice behind me.

I turned around to see a younger version of myself..down on my knees...crying just like i had been during that storm.

"No...it wasn't...Rapunzel was helping her kingdom! And she still helped in the end" i said.

"You know that isn't true..." the younger me stood up "If she were trying to help her kingdom she could have helped me right after the storm ended!"

"It wouldn't have done anything anyway! She didn't know the decay incantation!" I said.

"Maybe...but you had part of the scroll didn't you? Why not just suggest she try it right then and there?"

"I wasn't thinking about that" i said.

"Oh sure you weren't! You were so blinded by your own anger you didn't even think about those you cared about the most."

With a snap of his fingers another vision appeared behind him of when i hit Ellie with the arm of the automaton i had been controlling.

"I-i never ment to hurt her! I didn't see her!" I yelled.

Suddenly i heard a familiar voice.

"Varian! Yong! Is anyone there!?"

"Ellie!?" I called out.

"This is part of the trial! Don't let the visions get to you!" I heard her say.

I dug through my bag and took out a smoke bomb.

I threw it on the ground and green smoke replaced the red smoke and the visions disappeared.

The wall crumbled away and i ran out to where i saw Ellie and Yong.

"Is everyone ok!?" I asked.

"We're fine" Ellie panted.

"Look, is that the totem you were talking about?" Yong asked, pointing to the top of a pedestal.

"Yes! That's it!" I said running up to it before a shadow sped by.

"Where did-"

Suddenly, standing by the pedestal was a boy with glasses, green eyes, and blonde hair.

"Hey!" Ellie yelled.

"Give that back!" Yong said.

"Uh...how about no?" The mysterious boy said.

"We completed the trials! Not you!" I said.

"So what? I'm the one holding the totem"

Ellie pulled out a random vial from her bag.

"Put it back" she said.

"You think i'm scared of you, little girl?" The boy asked, laughing "well two can play at that game"

He pulled a vial out of his bag too.

I stepped infront of Ellie, blocking her incase he got any ideas about throwing it at her.

"Oh how cute, defending your little girlfriend?" The boy asked before turning his attention to Yong.

"Oh and the little one has fireworks, how fun!" He said "well, you three are adorable but i'm on a schedule so..."

He dropped the vial which turned out to just be a smoke bomb and disappeared.