You all should know by now that I put the important stuff in bold, but...just to make sure. Important information is in bold. Enjoy! :D

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Fifteen dead.

Twenty-four alive.

On to Stage Two.

Teamwork.

"They're waking up!" My eyes zero in on the cameras knotched in the corners of the chambers as bloodied and bruised apprentices wake from their comas, screaming in agonizing pain. A buzz of energy electricutes the Hybrids around me as they work on readying stage two for start up.

"Where are the medics?" Thomas growls from somewhere to my left, I jerk and whirl around as a girl with green hair zips past me, a box of blue salts in her hands. The Bluemist.

"They're on their way!" Gavin, a member of the Guarde, snaps back, his golden eyes swirling with frustration. Thomas scowls, dragging his fingers roughly through his hair.

"Do you see them?" Thomas questions, pointing to the monitors full of moaning apprentices. "They're in pain and some of them won't survive without the Bluemist!" He retorts, shoving Gavin's shoulder and stalking off in a circular, jittery dance. Gavin's eyes darken and his hands clench, I roll my eyes and cross my arms.

"Hey!" I bark, striding toward the two of them, absolutely no room for arguement in my voice. "Both of you, shut the hell up and quit arguing. You're giving me a damn headache, Gavin get out and go find the medics. Boil the Bluemist and get it into their system as soon as possible, some of their injuries will kill them without it." Gavin nods his head and steps away, casting one more poisonous look at my second-in-command. I wait patiently for Gavin to be out of ear shot before whirling on Thomas.

"Thomas fucking Latimer!" I growl, grasping ahold of his bicep and jerking him away from the prying eyes of other Hybrids. "The hell is up with you? Relax or I will kick your ass out of here!" I whisper shout, glaring at him. Thomas scowls, his eyes shifting toward the monitors and then back to me.

"Gwen could die!" He hisses, and I lose my temper. My palm comes up and smacks him across the cheek, wiping the scowl right off his face. He was acting like a child - no, he was acting like a father - and that wasn't okay. His emotions are how he ended up as second-in-command to me instead of Keeper.

Bluemist. A powerful Hybrid creation mixed with ethanol, an Alchemist element. It looks like blue bath salts but was actually a highly active healer. When boiled it's magical qualities are released and it becomes a liquidated, drinkable bandage that instantly searches out injuries and heals them fifty percent of the way. But only apprentices with life threatening wounds would recieve it.

"A lot of them could die without the Bluemist! Not just Gwen, but Andreana, Emerald, Zander, and I'm sure there are others! Stop letting your emotions cloud your judgement. That is exactly the reason I'm Keeper and not you, you failed to keep your emotions seperate from your job. Hell Thomas, you're acting like a child and I don't need this! Right now you are my second-in-command, not a father." I bite, Thomas grinds his teeth together and wipes the emotion off his face. A veil of calm blankness falling in it's place, and I know I've pushed him too far.

"Of course Keeper." His voice comes out cold and mechanical, and way too formal. I sigh and rub my forehead with my palm, waving my other hand carelessly through the air.

"Go help the medics, boil the Bluemist and help distribute it throughout the chambers. When I need you I'll tell you in my thoughts, but for now, go clear your head."

"As you wish Keeper."

"Say one more thing like that to me again Thomas and we're going to have a lot more issues than just our imminent death." I growl as his retreating form, a thick layer of ice coating my words. He doesn't respond but his back stiffens as he winds his way through the Hybrids and presses his thumb to the scanner before disappearing from the Exams Operations room.

I sigh heavily and rub my temples, feeling the beginnings of a mother headache coming on. "Keeper!" I cringe back from the high pitched voice but raise my head all the same, meeting the expectant gaze of a young Hybrid.

"Yes?"

"We've finished creating Stage Two, now what?" My mood brightens at the sound of that and I push past the Hybrid to stand around a long, glass table with a computer system inside the glass.

"Project the realms, I want a 3-D visual." A clump of Hybrids run their fingers along the glass and suddenly, two minature realms appear before me. One was built with ropes, bridges, rock walls, and tree houses. Everything was suspended in the air, hovering hundred of feet over a sea of hot lava. While the other was in a glass dome under water, fist swam around the realm and the atlantis typed city trapped within. Except, it wasn't a city but more like an intricate maze.

"Excuse me for asking, Keeper, but how is this going to work?" A timid voice speaks up, I prop my hands against the glass counter top and smile at the scene. A whirlwind of excitement blowing through me. But an overwhelming wave of sadness follows it. Thomas should be here, with me. Because that was how it had always been.

I shake my head, forcing my dreary, un-Keeper-like thoughts out of my head and clear my throat, pushing away from the table to address the Hybrids surrounding me. They were going to be monitoring and controlling the realms, so maybe it was about time I let them know who this was going to work.

"Stage Two is all about teamwork. Apprentices will divided into four teams of six. Two teams will be competing in the treetop realm while the other two are in the atlantis realm. The treetop realm is designed to resemble the human game, Capture the Flag. But instead of flags, they are trying to acquire all six tree houses. The teams will split into three groups of two and each team will chose a base to capture, but they'll have to fight the other team to win the base. The first team to capture all six bases wins and everyone left alive moves on to stage three. Any questions?" (Apprentices comment here if you have questions, I will answer). Silence greets me so I move on.

"The underwater atlantis realm is set up like a maze, again there will be two teams of six that will split up into groups of two. Each group will choose a different path and they will probably end up encountering the other apprentices on the other team. The first team to get all of their team members to the center of the maze wins and everyone left alive will move on to stage three. Any questions?" (Again, apprentices comment questions here and I'll answer).

"So everyone moves on? Even opposing teams?"

"Yes, everyone left alive continues on, even if their team lost."

"What's the point of this stage?" I turn toward the voice, surprise flickering through my eyes and I smile at the figure leaning his hip against a table strewn with computers with Hybrids tapping about.

"The point of Stage Two is learning to work together, Stage One taught them that sometimes they have to rely on themselves and only themselves. But Stage Two is all about teamwork, about trusting the Guarde - or in their case, each other - with their life. Sometimes you'll make mistakes as Keeper and sometimes it will be the people closest to you who help you see what you did wrong or how you can fix it. They need to stop hating the Exams and one another and start working together. Not all of them get along, well now they're going to have to."

"Who's on what team?"

"In Realm One: Treetop Base Capture is team red and team green.

On team green is: Sabrina Whyte, Crysalis, James Howard, Millicent, Roman Grey, and Noah Spooner.

On team red is: Andreana, Steve Bennett, Edwin Silverne, Maris Gold, Penny, and Gwendolynn Latimer. In Realm Two:

Underwater Atlantis Maze is team blue and team purple.

On team blue is: Samuel de Sapphiron, Loira, Luke, Serena, Dakota Bennett, and Diana Loch.

On team purple is: Hannah, Zander, Emerald, Leandra, Alice Crowley, and Ripley Korina Alician."

"So they all have to split off into groups of two?"

"Yes, that's how it works. Groups of two, teamwork. Protecting your partner and keeping them alive while they keep you alive. That said, we have work to do!" I whirl around, facing the figure leaning against the computer table with a grin. "Thomas, let the Guarde know to escort the apprentices to the entry doors for the realms. Make sure they all get a bandana with their team color, I want to make sure we know who lives and dies on each team."

"Sure thing." He responds, walking off. I turn my back on him and address the other eager Hybrids. "Well? Don't just stand there, find something to do!" Every Hybrid head nods in acknoweldgement of my words and the activity in the room skyrockets. I press my cool palm to my forehead, feeling the room tilt slightly with the amount of knowledge bouncing around my head. So much to do, not enough time.

Two arms encircle my waist, pressing my back into someone's chest. Thomas rests his head on my shoulder and sighs. "You're worrying way too much."

"Oh, now you want to be my prince charming? Ice prince?" I snark, Thomas snorts and pulls his arms away from my waist.

"I'm going to ignore that comment and help you, okay? I've sent the Guarde off to escort apprentices to wait for the beginning of Stage Two. But you need to come with me, you have some resurrecting to do." I groan, slumping forward. The amount of energy that would take...resurrecting fifteen souls from limbo. Oh the joy.

"Great."

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It's eleven P.M. here, I know that was not my best writing so I'm sorry guys but that is Stage Two! YAY!

Now, first thing; I will be posting the resurrection prompt with Thomas's POV as an example sometime tomorrow. And as for the second post exams task, Gwen will be your helpful POV for that.

I will also explain the realms more thoroughly later on as I need to first draw the stupid maze and place you all in it. And I also need to number the bases so I know where everyone is going and blah blah blah...yeah, welcome to Stage Two! The prompts will be more personalized now!

Also! To those who are allied with Luke, he is now being written by THGF1234 as HungerGamesWolf has dropped out.