Candice and I were falling from the sky - well, not a sky, but an endless black void.

"Candice, you can open your eyes now," I said.

"Woah... did I go blind, or...?" She looked at me. "Nope, I can still see you. Where are we?"

"I'm not sure. But if what Drake and Lukas said about this test is correct, then we need to stay vigilant. Who knows what could come at us." I said, squinting around at our environment.

Suddenly, we hit something. We didn't see what we hit though.

"What did we hit? I can't see anything except the endless void." Candice said, getting to her feet.

"Same... and why did the impact not hurt us?" I asked, brushing myself off.

A few moments passed, and Candice and I stared into the darkness, wondering where we were.

"Candice, you're a Fire Element - can't you use your flames like a torch and light the way?" I asked. I would've used a spell to light the way, but Candice still thought I was a Dark Element and would wonder why I was able to use a Light spell.

"Well... if it's the only way... I don't trust my fire, it could get out of control..." Candice took a deep breath. "But I guess I'll have to try."

She held out of her hand into the black nothingness, and a small flame flickered in her hand. Her hazel eyes seemed to glow dimly, too.

Slowly, the black void disappeared and created a hallway. The hallway looked like a hospital, though - but no one was there, and it was eerily quiet.

"Creepy abandoned hospital... just great," I said, stepping forward. I wasn't a fan of the unknown...

"I can lead the way if you'd like," Candice said.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you," I said, and Candice stepped forward.

Instantly the air turned cold and the ceiling lights flickered as if angered by our sudden movement. The hallway felt tense and Candice's flame was snuffed out.

Then we heard moaning. Load wails coming from somewhere down the corridor.

"Why did it have to be this..." I said. I couldn't see anything with Candice's light.

"Candice, make your flame again please," I said, wondering why Candice hadn't done it before.

No flame was made, and no answer was spoken.

"Candice, I said to make the flame again!" I snapped, but still, there was no answer.

I took a deep breath to soothe my irritation, then made a ball of light.

Candice wasn't there.

"...C-Candice...? Where did you go...?" I called out into the darkness, searching for her. "If this is some sort of prank, this not the time!"

The silence after my sentence was only broken by the wailing - but it got louder.

My heartbeat started racing. Where did Candice go? I'm pretty sure she'd never have done something like this.

Then I heard footsteps. Fast, getting louder, like someone was running towards me.

I ran, feeling a cool breeze behind me, knowing that something was chasing me.

"HELP!" I yelled, hoping that someone, or something, would come and help.

But no help came.

I panted as I ran, running as fast as I could.

Finally, I decided that running wasn't going to help, and I turned around swiftly, my hands glowing with magic.

"Stay back or I'll use my magic!" I yelled.

The footsteps stopped. It seemed like the figure was there, but just out of range for the light orb to illuminate it.

I quickly sent the light orb to the shadows, and it showed a giant moving statue of a little girl in a frilly, lacy dress.

"If you want to survive, and pass the test, you must rescue your friend from their biggest fear... by facing your own in this maze. There are three locked doors in the center of the maze. Only one of them is correct. You must collect all keys, and then guess which door is correct, and use the key for it.

If you choose the wrong door, you will be forced to go through it and die a most painful death. Your friend is just past that door, after all, and you wouldn't want your friend to suffer, would you?

However, if you dare try to get the keys, you will have to solve puzzles, listen to fate, and outmatch your opponents. This test is for those that have the most power, or the most skill - and do not possess the other quality.

Your time starts now."

I instantly ran, bolting through the maze, searching for a key. I didn't want to leave Candice where she was and leave her there. What even was her fear, anyway? She seemed so fearless like nothing could touch her... so what was she facing?

Eventually, I saw spilled acid on the floor, burning holes into the ground. And at the end of the hallways was a door with a gargoyle in front of it.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped over the holes, losing my balance on the final one. Luckily I managed to use my magic to stabilize myself.

I reached the gargoyle and was about to attempt to use magic to slide it out of the way until it spoke.

"If you wish to pass,

You must answer my riddle."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, recite the riddle," I said. If there was anything I could do, it was solve riddles.

"They try to beat me,

They try in vain.

And when I win,

I end the pain.

What am I?"

This one was tricky. Something that couldn't be beaten, and many have tried to beat... but at what? And how would it end the pain when it won?

And then the answer struck me. The irony, really, being in a hospital.

"Death," I answered.

The gargoyle moved aside painfully slowly, so I just magicked it out of the way so I could get past the door.

There was the key, on a pedestal. I snatched it from the room and raced outside, jumping over the acid holes and trying to find the other keys.

I wasn't going to guess with this key just yet. I didn't want to have to go through the door when it was wrong.

I opened doors, glancing inside them to see if there was anything relating to puzzles, or challenges. But they were all normal hospital rooms.

Finally, I managed to find one with pressure plates all over the floor, with symbols of the Elements on them.

A message was on the ground I was on, so I moved back a step to read it.

To pass this test you must step on the pressure plates in this order:

First, the misunderstood

Second, the uncontrollable

Third, the self-preserved

Fourth, the friendly

Fifth, the gentle

And the last, with everlasting grace.

If you follow this path, you shall be safe.

So I had to guess which Element to step on first. Right.

First, the misunderstood...

Which Element would be misunderstood? Thinking on all the Elements, I knew which one it was, thinking of Rachel and Lukas.

I stepped on the pressure plate with the symbol of Dark, closing my eyes tightly and hoping that it was correct.

Nothing happened. Phew...

I opened my eyes and thought about where to step next.

Second, the uncontrollable...

That was easy. Fire Elements were always known to be wild and have short tempers, not to mention their power was deadly and hard to master. I confidently stepped on the Fire symbol, and nothing happened.

Third, the self-preserved...

This one was a little tricky. Nature Elements had some nobles who focused on self-preservation, but it didn't represent the whole Element. It would probably suit Water Elements better, as they have mostly been the ones to focus on immortality - even in death they tried to preserve their corpses, trying to master the power of stasis.

I stepped on the Water symbol. Nothing happened, thankfully. I sighed in relief.

Fourth, the friendly...

This one was very difficult. All of the Elements could be friendly. But which ones seemed the most friendly? I could already rule out the ones I'd already done. Unless it repeated some?

No, it wouldn't do that. So it must be either Light, Nature or Ice...

Light Elements were very friendly, yes, but more scared and shy. They were pascifists, and lived in the mountains. Legend says that they had once been descendants of the new extinct Air Elements...

...But I had to focus on the task at hand. Who knows how much time Candice has left, facing off against her worst fear.

So the friendly wasn't Light, and it definitelt couldn't be Nature - the leader, Mother Nature, was a powerful woman who cherished grace in all of her subjects and citizens. They didn't want any of them to mingle with those she deemed unworthy of their attention.

Thinking on it, it definitely had to be Ice. Ice Elements were known to have good humour, despite rumours that they were cold and empty to others. No, they were the ones to have the most emotion and laughter and light-heartedness. I envied their ability to smile through everything.

I stepped on the Ice symbol - nothing happened. By now the key was just out of my reach - I only needed to to step on two different symbols to get there.

Fifth, the gentle.

That was Light, obviously. And then the last one was Nature.

Stepping on the two symbols, I took the key floating in the air. Now I just needed one more key.

But I couldn't help worrying what Candice might be going through...

+.*.+

"You're nothing, Candice!" A voice lined with venom shouted from somewhere in the black fog. "You'll always be worthless!"

Candice shot a blast of fire in one direction, hoping to hit whoever was talking, but the voice kept speaking normall and she assumed that she missed.

"You can't even hit me! Hah! Your parents were always much better than this! You're letting them down!"

"SHUT UP!!" Candice yelled, shooting another fire blast in a different direction. It missed.

"You're so pathetic! You call others weaklings when you're so weak yourself! You're always so arrogant and selfish, aren't you?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Candice screamed, blasting fire everywhere, getting frustrated.

The voice just laughed, apparently thrilled at the fact that their insults were getting through to her. Candice gritted her teeth. She couldn't just be shooting fire aimlessly everywhere. She had to find the voice and attack it at just the right time before it was out of her sight, or move out of the way.

"But really, you're actually quite self-conscious about yourself, aren't you?"

Candice's throat seized up.

"Oh, hit a nerve, did I?"

Candice wanted to attack the voice, wanted to strangle it, wanted to shut it up - but she couldn't move. She wouldn't.

Fighting back tears, she was finally able to shoot a blast of fire in a direction. "You don't know anything about me!"

"Oh, but I do know that Rachel was your first friend, did I not?" The voice said. "But what if I told you that she secretly just felt pity for you when she talked to you for the first time? And what if I told that your little brother Drake hates you because of your fire?"

Candice knew the part about Rachel was a lie. But the part about Drake made her slump. As she started to grow more desperate and sad, she felt more drained. Was this voice... feeding on her despair?

"Ooh, yes, give me all of those insecurities..."

Candice felt tears well up in her eyes, but then she quickly wiped them away. But she finally got an idea on how to deal with this voice.

Maybe she couldn't defeat the voice, but she could at least cut off the magic that was draining her, and the voice that they were speaking with.

Candice concentrated hard, trying to block out the voice's word in order to focus on one thing...

A sound-proof barrier was formed around her, and just as the voice screeched "You're nothing!" the barrier was sealed from the outside world completely.

Candice took a moment to calm herself down, taking deep breaths.

First of all, the part about Rachel - an obvious lie. Rachel was the sweetest girl, whom Candice thought of like a little sister, despite only knowing her for a few days. They had a special bond that no lie could ever break, unless the liar was incredibly skilled - the voice probably didn't know that.

Second of all, the part about Drake. She knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to be against Fire Elements, annoying as he was. He was fine with Rachel and Lukas around, and they were Dark Elements - the most feared Element of all. He'd have been more cruel to her if he actually despised Fire Elements.

As she felt her energy coming back, and her spirits being lifted, she tried to formulate a plan to try and defeat-

Suddenly, she saw ice shooting out from the darkness. Wondering what was going on, Candice removed the barrier, and saw that the ice had come from a boy.

"Heyo! You okay?" The boy said, stepping closer with a grin. "Looks like you needed help - name's Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate."

+.*.+

Cynthia finally arrived at the third key, walking inside a large room with the key hanging from the ceiling. There was a protective barrier around it, though, so she assumed she had to find a button or switch to remove it.

But as soon as she was fully inside the room, the door closed and locked behind her, and Cynthia had a sense of dread in her guts...

A gate on the opposite side of the room was opened, and...

...a bloodthirsty centaur charged out of it, straight towards her, with a mighty roar that shook the room.

Just great. It had to be one of the most powerful beasts in the magical universe.

Cynthia sighed, and got in her defensive stance. Luckily she'd read a lot about centaurs when she was in a pony phase as a little girl.

She knew that centaurs loved a fight, and never appreciated the gift of talking - they preferred to be free as animals, rather than have a more human side of things and go further in technology - they valued Nature more than anything else, and nothing is more natural to them than embracing their animal side. They were quite friendly with Nature Elements, though - unfortunately they didn't have a Nature Element here, so it was going to have to be a fight.

I took a deep breath, and my hands glowed with magic (purple and yellow to the respective Elements), and I readied myself.

The centaur continued to charge at me, and I shot a blast of light before shooting a blast of darkness, alternating between them.

The centaur was not faltered.

I rolled out of the way as it crashed into the wall, its head stuck.

I took advantage of the moment and concentrated on a slow but powerful spell. Transforming something so huge would need a bit of time, and I seemed to have that.

But the centaur managed to free his head from the wall, and shook off some rocks and pebbles from his head, before turning to look at me roar.

I didn't have time to finish the spell, but I shot it at him anyway, just as he was about to ram me with his horns.

Then the centaur froze, dropping to his knees, clutching his chest. What had that unfinished spell done...?

Did I kill the creature...? Was I even capable of such a thing?

All I wanted to do was transform it into a newborn kitten, I hadn't tried to kill it...

Horror swept over me as the centaur fell to the floor, gasping for air, and stopped breathing.

Terror came over me as I realized I had just taken a life.

A powerful self-loathing was born inside me, and all the hatred that I's saved for my parents had now been turned on me.

Petrified with what I'd done, I didn't care that the barrier around the key was gone - all I could think about was the horrible thing I'd just done.

Now I knew why hybrids were forbidden from the world. Because they had power that could do something like this, with only unfinished spell, with only one mistake.

I slowly turned to the key, and snatched it from where it was hanging, and dashed for the door, heading to the three doors to help Candice with her own fears, desperate to get away from my own.

After arriving at the three doors, I didn't know which was the one to choose. I was quite indecisive, so this just made me even more fearful of myself.

What if I choose the wrong one? What if I die and Candice is forever trapped in her own nightmare? But what if I choose the right one but it's too late and Candice is dead, or gone mad?

I took a deep breath to calm myself. That fear wasn't needed right now. I needed to let go of it.

But I couldn't. That was the problem.

So I just need to focus on the doors. That's all I needed to do. Not the possibilities of what could happen, but just... the doors. How I should decide which door to choose.

I heard different noises from each door.

I put my ear to the first door and heard jungle sounds, and the roars of a dragon and crackling fire. Maybe Candice was of burning down whole forests and dragons? But no - Candice probably wouldn't be afraid of dragons, she was a fearless type. So that ruled it out immediately, regardless of whether the jungle part was true or not.

I put my ear to the second door and heard the sounds of the ocean - watery sounds that seemed like it was filled with water. Well, Fire Elements were weak to water, so this was eligible. But the problem was that Candice wasn't scared of water, was she? So the third door was probably the correct one. Now which key opened the third door...

The third door was suddenly being covered in frost. I gasped quietly, wondering why there was ice here...

I took one of the keys and put it in the lock - it broke. I put the second one in - it also broke.

Of course the third one's the charm.

I used the third key for the third door, and I had to use my Light magic to melt the frost so I could actually open the door.

When I opened it, I saw a room filled with darkness, and two figure were shooting ice and fire into it, back to back.

I ran inside, wondering what was going on.

"Candice? What's going on?" I called, joining her and some Ice Element boy.

"This guy is Nate, and he's a friend of Lukas, apparently! When he heard that some people had infiltrated some test, he used an invisibility spell to jump in too." Candice said. "Now we're dealing with a creature that feeds on despair."

"Wait, I can't even introduce myself? Why do you do this to me, Candice?" Nate said with a grin.

"Now's not the time for jokes!" Candice and I yelled in unison.

"Okay, sheesh, I'm sorry." Nate said, but he still had a little grin.

I used my Dark magic (those two still didn't know I was a hybrid, so I'd have to settle for just Dark now) to pull out threads of the shadows, as if pulling apart a yarn ball.

I did it faster and faster and faster, getting a bigger ball of darkness as the shadows around us were being pulled away. The creature wasn't going to have anywhere to hide soon.

But then, the darkness stopped struggling against my magic to pull it into my ball, and started helping with it instead. It caught me off guard, but I managed to keep the spell going. It was much easier now - but I realized I couldn't let the ever-growing ball touch me. The spell information stated that if anyone touched it, the contents of the ball would be absorbed by the person who touched it. I couldn't let it touch me, because then the Light Element part of me would suffer and break under all of that pressure.

So I made sure to keep it a safe distance away.

But it seemed to have a life of its own, pushing its way towards me. The creature had been spotted, however, to be a giant salamander.

As Candice and Nate focused their attacks on it, I was being overwhelmed by the ball of shadows. As it got closer and closer I couldn't hold it back any more.

I lost my control on my magic and was sent hurtling into my chest. A cold chill swept over my entire body as I fell to the ground, trying to fight the darkness.

I landed on something cold, but weirdly soft... I heard shouts and cries... my ears were ringing... two people were staring at me... I couldn't make out their faces...

And that's when another cold chill passed over me, completely unrelated to the cold thing I was lying on, and my body succumbed to the shadows.