Pica grunted at the knocks on her door and curled into an even tighter ball. Uncle Furs knew she liked her sleep, so she wondered why he bothered her.

Her eyes snapped open when she remembered where she was and why: Ibi; the quest of the Elementals; her trial to become the Light Elemental. That wasn't Uncle Furs.

Now awake and excited, she jumped out of bed and flung open the door. Zelenia stood there with a hand raised to knock again; her eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't expect you to wake up that quick," she said.

"I usually don't, but today's special!"

Zelenia chuckled. "It is. We're going to eat before we start." She turned down the hallway to the mess hall.

Pica got ready—her stomach came alive with so many butterflies, she felt sick. Knowing it was just nerves kept her from staying in the bathroom, but she still headed to the mess hall, feeling nervous and eager.

Surprisingly, she wasn't the last to enter—she was actually the fourth. They ate breakfast with her furnishing the noise—even though nerves made her talk more random, the rambling helped settle her down some.

But Pica didn't lead them into the main chamber, Tegen did; she had fallen back to walk near Aeris and had an arm laced with Zelenia's. The young Moon provided faith and even though the Priestess of Air didn't speak with her, her nearness comforted her. They all headed up the steps to stand on the circular platform.

No one spoke for a while. "So, how do we get this started?" Helian asked.

"Maybe there's a trigger..." Kalisa suggested.

They searched for something resembling a button on the platform. Pica found it: a slot in the center for her medallion, exactly like the others. Pica stared at it as she fingered her medallion; the others didn't say anything, just waited patiently as she found her courage to begin.

Not knowing what her trial would entail made it scary; her excitement faded. She glanced at Geryon; she wished he remembered what the trials in the past had been like so she wouldn't be so nervous. Pica straightened up; she had done far scarier things than this before—things that she knew threatened her life. Her Element had even said she overcame her fear in stealing the medallion, so that meant she was brave. She could do this.

Pica took a deep breath, breathed it out, then knelt to insert her medallion into the slot. As soon as it became flush with the floor, the platform rumbled. With a loud boom, they rose. She looked around like the others in wonder, then realized that they were being brought up for her trial; she looked up but couldn't see anything that stood out other than the ceiling.

When they reached the first ring the pipes encircling the roof made, they stopped. The platform was now flush against the wall. Pica glanced up to see many more rings waiting. For a while, nothing happened.

"What do we do now?" Pica asked.

"Remember the sign," Zelenia said.

"Oh, yeah. 'Illumination reveals all, Nothing can hide, no matter the shadows, Provide the glow to see dangers'; what does that mean?"

As soon as she repeated it, the plentiful light gradually dimmed. They looked around in shock at the change. With it growing darker, it looked like the room shrunk; within the darkening shadows, eyes appeared, reflecting the meager light in a menacing gleam. Fangril's demons. The Elementals pulled out their weapons as they backtracked, staying in the light.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Pica asked, near panic.

Zelenia looked at her. "This is your test; you must figure it out. Believe that you can do it."

A demon suddenly launched out of the darkness at Helian. He dodged and shot at its black figure, but it melted into the shadows, gone. Another shot out at Aeris; she stabbed at it, but it vanished back into its cover of night. Blur after blur of black launched at them; they tried to strike them, but the demons remained unharmed. With the darkness devouring the light, the demons were invincible.

Pica shut her eyes to focus. Provide the glow, it said; provide the glow. There was only one other among the Elementals that could provide their own light.

Her eyes popped open, and she turned to Fire. "Geryon, I need you!"

The older man looked at her then made his way over, brushing aside demons trying to grab him. Their light was nearly gone. Zelenia cried out when a demon tackled her and disappeared under it. Renuo went down, then was dragged into the darkness; Kalisa grabbed his hand to stop him, but they lost their grip and he disappeared.

As soon as Geryon got close, she reached for his hand, knowing what she had to do; he clasped her hand.

Immediately, light exploded from them; Pica focused on growing it as it radiated out from them. Fangril's demons shrieked before vanishing in a wisp of smoke; others tried to retreat from the growing light, hiding in their shadows. But like the sign said, nothing can hide from the light. Those that ran disappeared, too.

Once the room was bright again, Pica released Geryon's hand. Renuo walked back to them, mostly unharmed, and Tegen had shallow scratches on his chest. She turned to where Zelenia went down. She shakily returned to her feet using her staff; Helian helped her up, too. There were streaks of blood on the floor from the demon clawing into her, but no wounds marked her skin, already healed.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Zelenia gave a smile. "I am now."

"I'm so sorry, Zelenia; I should've been quicker; I should've figured out the riddle quicker; I should've—"

She raised a hand to stop her. "You did it just in time."

The young Moon headed over to heal Tegen's wounds and to check on Renuo. Pica looked around to see how to start their next challenge when she spotted another slot for her medallion on another ring further in. She pulled out the medallion and moved to the next one. After glancing around to see if everyone was ready, Pica inserted the medallion.

The platform rumbled and after another boom, they ascended to stop at the ceiling's next tier.

Pica breathed out. "Alright; 'Become too bright, Takes sight away, Learn moderation.' Don't make it blinding; that sounds easy."

Like before, the light in the room began to change, but instead of growing darker, it grew brighter. Pica had no trouble seeing with the increasing light—neither did Helian—but the others ducked their heads and shielded their closed eyes behind hands.

This part seemed simple: make it dimmer. Pica concentrated on dimming the light, but nothing happened. Her eyebrows scrunched as she focused harder; still nothing. She looked over at Helian.

"What's going on? I can't dim it; am I missing something?"

"Maybe it's like the other one; you can't do it on your own."

She scanned the Elementals; who could—Kalisa. Pica headed over to the dark-skinned gypsy. Being this close, Pica cringed—her aura seemed to ooze with darkness. Pica avoided her to prevent from becoming depressed, but she had to get over their opposing elements; they had to work together.

"Kalisa, I need you to focus on making it dark; think you can do that?"

Even with her eyes shut, she turned to her. "I'll try, but I don't think I'm strong enough to cover the whole room."

"Just do what you can; maybe it'll be enough to work with."

Kalisa turned her head back down and lowered the hand shielding her eyes. With both hands held waist-high, she tensed; Pica jolted like being shocked, as her dark energy brushed against her. Darkness outlined the gypsy's form, and the room darkened.

Pica monitored the amount of light in the room and when it dimmed too much, she focused on brightening it until the light returned to normal. As soon as everything looked fine, she told Kalisa to stop and for everyone to open their eyes. They did tentatively.

"That was easy." She skipped over to her medallion and looked for another slot. The next ring in held it; only one remained. Pica pulled it out, put it in the new slot, and waited for the next part of her trial.

"'Luminosity brings comfort, but, Be unashamed to brave the dark for there, Light shines the brightest,'" she repeated as the platform stopped. It sounded like it needed to be dark for her to complete this part; did she need to get Kalisa again?

Her mouth opened to ask what they thought when all the light disappeared. Pica couldn't see a thing, and neither was there a sound—she couldn't even hear the others breathing.

"Zelenia?"

She didn't respond.

"Aeris?... Guys!"

With still no answer, she got scared. Where did they go? Why couldn't she hear them? She had always been afraid of being alone, and it being pitch-black made it worse. Pica shut her eyes, trying to stop her shaking—her making it dark calmed her because she could control it that way.

"Think, Pica, think. 'Luminosity brings comfort, but'—Well, of course it does! No one likes it when you can't see. 'Be unashamed to brave the dark for there, Light shines the brightest,'."

Her eyes slowly opened as understanding dawned on her: she was meant to be alone right now so she would see that she didn't need anyone to stand against the dark. Others only helped brighten or diminish her light; within her, it was completely pure.

Realizing that, her chest swelled with energy like a sunbeam shone directly on her. She wasn't scared anymore.

Pica focused on the light always bouncing around within her, making her cheery, bubbly, and so energetic. She never imagined that she could use her personality to defend others. Helian had said her personality was her strength; he meant it as both literally and figuratively.

Light glowed from her skin and radiated outward, overpowering the darkness. Before long, the room was lit again, and she could see everyone standing in the same spot when the light went away. They faced her with pleasure on their faces.

Overcome with relief, Pica ran at Aeris and threw her arms around her waist.

"You're okay! You're all okay!"

Pica could tell her attack shocked Aeris from her sudden stiffening, like she didn't like to be touched. After hesitating, her hands came down on Pica's shoulders for comfort.

"Yes... we're all fine."

She released Aeris and backed up, slightly embarrassed at her emotions taking over like that.

"Sorry," Pica said.

Aeris just gave her a small smile.

With another apology, Pica turned to get the medallion. She only wanted Aeris' acceptance and making her uncomfortable wasn't the way to get it. Maybe she just needed some more time to get acquainted with having a fan again... Yeah, that was it; her distance didn't have anything to do with Pica personally. She felt better that it couldn't be her fault; her rejection didn't hurt so bad anymore.

She pulled out the medallion, walked to the slot set in the center of the platform, and inserted it. When the platform boomed and they began rising again, Pica's excitement spiked when she realized there wasn't any left of the riddle—she was done; she had completed her trial. They had to now be going up to her Element.

As they rose, the walls surrounding them opened, allowing bright sunlight to bathe them. When the platform finally came to a stop, there were no walls to prevent seeing the Emeri Desert stretching on endlessly around them. They were now on the roof of Ibi, only able to see the desert leagues below them and the bright, clear, blue sky. Being so high up, the wind tugged to pull them off, and the sun felt so much hotter.

The air before her suddenly wavered like heat waves do for mirages in the desert. Pica watched, mystified, as the waves outlined the form of a tall and broad man. Light intensified as the image hardened; it flashed like a bright solar flare and when it cleared, a man stood there.

He wore golden armor that reflected every piece of light shone on him—Pica even saw a rainbow through one of the prisms. Unlike Helian's armor that absorbed the energy from the sun, this armor obviously provided it. He wore no helmet, so his golden hair blew in the wind and his eyes were like small suns. The man was planted on his feet, had his hands on his hips and a smirk on his remarkably handsome face.

"Hello, Pica; it is a pleasure to finally meet you." He had the same strong, pleasant voice she had heard before in her vision.

Pica smiled. "You said to come find you, so here I am."

He chuckled and his smile made him even more attractive. "Yes, I did; I knew you could and I'm glad you believed it, too.

"As you have guessed, I am the element of Light; my name is Cynethan. Pica, I have chosen you to be my Elemental from realizing that nothing could ever dim the essence of light in your soul. But it is not easy becoming a true Elemental and what is required."

She was sucked into Cynethan's eyes, and he showed her his memories of past Elementals standing where she stood and facing the same decision. Some couldn't take the pressure, while others straightened with determination, eager to shine.

What he presented her was a shock, yes, but honestly, she had a feeling that being an Elemental wouldn't be as glorious as she had always imagined. Uncle Furs' image ran through her mind. If accepting kept him safe, she could do this; she would sacrifice anything for him.

"So, what do you say, Pica? Will you, or won't you?" Cynethan asked.

She looked at him. "You believed in me, Uncle Furs believes in me, and I think they do, too." She gestured at the Elementals behind her. Pica beamed. "So, I think I can do it, too. Yes; I'll do it."

Cynethan's smile widened in pleasure, like a proud father looking down at his child. "Good. Very good."

Light began to radiate off him and was absorbed into Pica's skin. Her chest swelled with energy and power; she felt so sure of herself now; so righteous and positive. She could take on the darkness by herself if the others couldn't see—she'd be their guiding light whenever they needed her.

"Have faith that you can defeat Fangril," Cynethan said. After a last smile at her, light flashed like a lightning bolt, and he was gone when her vision cleared.

Pica took in a deep breath of pride before she turned to the ones behind her. "Now what do we do?"