The table was long, but fuller with another person. The blue tablecloth was an ocean, the gray plates were ash covered islands. Food laid out as a buffet to take as we pleased.

Sage gulped down large helpings of food, inappropriate for a time like this. Zolona ate slowly, looking at Echo, who wasn't eating at all. I glared at them, dwindling in the silence around us. I bit into my crispy taco, courtesy of the chef. At least my favorite food was on the table.

Sage sipped her cherry soda. Echo looked across the room, the food in front of him getting colder by the second. Zolona was about to bite into her salad before releasing a sigh.

She slammed her fork on the table. "You have to eat something."

"You haven't received food in the last two days. How are you not eating?" Sage said, her mouth stuffed with food.

Echo shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't expecting the food to be this good. It's homemade."

"And you're not used to that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I had no time to make dinner working late. Microwaves were the best option," Echo said.

'What the hell is a microwave?'

"We have a lot of good food here. Steak, salad, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, spaghetti, garlic bread, fruits from our garden, tacos, ice cream, and macaroni and cheese," Zolona said.

"Not like I can eat everything... stupid lactose intolerance..." Sage mumbled.

"Mac and Cheese?" Echo's face lit up.

"My favorite, other than my steak-salad combo. Something wrong?" Zolona asked.

Echo smiled. "It's my favorite. What kind do you have?"

'Oh god, they already have something in common.' I felt like I'd hurl.

Zolona smiled, pleased by his response. "I make mine with eight different cheeses. The dairy here is made from the milk of a beast similar to the cow called a Black Demented Stray. I'll have Sage pass down the macaroni and cheese, steak, and the spaghetti. I hope you eat it"

Echo's stomach roared, demanding for food to be shoved down his throat. "Guess I'm starved."

Echo put portions of food on his plate and ate it at a normal speed.

"So?" Zolona asked.

He licked his lips, wiping cheese sauce off his face. "Delicious."

His voice sounded guilty-- probably because his friends were locked in the dungeon. I'd screw my friends for Zolona's food.

"Good. You'll need all the strength you can get," Zolona said.

Sage stuffed her mouth full of chocolate. "Why?"

"Echo starts lessons tomorrow. He'll also get to know us," Zolona said.

My eyebrows shot up. "What!? You can't actually want us to accommodate for him."

Zolona nodded. "You heard me 635202."

Sage slumped to the table. "Sure, Zolona."

"Sounds interesting," Echo smiled.

"Tomorrow, we'll fix where you'll stay, what you'll wear, who will be your trainer, and other important things. For tonight, we'll celebrate," Zolona said.

"We have a lot to do. Besides, why celebrate at all?" I asked.

"He's my nephew," Zolona said.

"And aren't I like your daughter?" I slammed my fork on the table.

"You're not one of the twins." Sage said.

I moaned under my breath.

"What? Too much?" Sage asked.

"That was unnecessary, Sage," Zolona said.

"How will we celebrate?" I asked.

"We're going to play The Game," Zolona said with a wicked smile.

I raised an eyebrow and nodded in approval.

Sage squealed, "I love The Game!"

"What game?" Echo asked.

"You'll pick up the rules quickly, if you don't die..." Sage said.

"Get the injections 635202," Zolona said.

I rose from the table. "Yes, Mistress."

I headed into Zolona's room. It was bigger than mine. The tall posts on her king sized bed reached to the ceiling. A canopy of red silk hung between the pillars. I walked to the closet and turned on the lamp with a match. I punched in Zolona's access code— the first couple digits of my number, 6352— and entered.

Brief cases in different colors laid organized in the walk-in-closet: black, pink, white, silver, yellow, and one gold. Black were pain enhancing vials, pink numbed pain for surgeries, white was a truth serum, and yellow kept people under a medically induced coma.

As I grabbed one of the silver cases, I couldn't help but stare at the gold case. That was Zolona's most prized possession, although I was never authorized to see its contents. Sage was the only person besides Zolona who had proper clearance, and most of the time when she entered the closest, the door was locked. Stupid clearances.

After staring at the gold case for a moment, I focused again and headed back into the dining room, where Sage, Zolona, and Echo waited for me.

Sage tapped her foot in rage. "What took you so long?"

"You haven't explained this game well," Echo said.

Zolona sighed and rolled her eyes from annoyance. "We each wander through a series of rooms. You have to do something a person likes to do or is good at in one of the rooms. The talents come from anyone that's in The Game. Winning a challenge opens the next door to another room and another talent. Losing, however, sends you deeper into the corridors with even harder challenges. It's a great mental testing exam, and you get to know people in it."

"Is there an overall goal?" Echo asked.

"Of course. You have to make it out and wake up. The final challenge is always you facing your worst fear. The more challenges you lose, the harder it is to beat that fear. Also, the more damage you do to yourself—like being in a fight and you get hurt, if someone hurts your feelings, or if you fail a challenge— makes it harder for you at the end. That damage carries through every challenge. All of us are separated throughout The Game unless we stumble to the same door. In that case, it's a contest. The winner goes on, and the loser goes into a harder corridor. Does that make sense?"

Echo nodded slowly. He was probably letting the new information sink in. "I guess... but where did this come from? Did you say injections?"

Zolona chuckled. "Before I came here, this castle used to be a laboratory. I'm still not sure what research happened here, but it was abandoned when I arrived. However, the silver cases were left, and I discovered their potency for an interesting game."

"Huh... I wonder how old they are then?" Echo asked.

"I doubt anyone knows," Sage scoffed.

"Probably longer than that sick Commander who took over your kingdom." Zolona mumbled.

"You knew him?" Echo asked.

"I knew Bernard Peterson well. I grew greatly disappointed of his actions." Zolona groaned.

"... That's..." Echo began.

I interrupted his bullshit. I wanted to play The Game, not get all cuddly by the table talking about the past.

"Let's not get distracted. We're using one of the vials in the case, putting the serum in four different needles and injecting it in the skin. Should be fun," I said.

"I hope so," Echo gulped.

"Alright," Zolona took the vial out of the case and then took out four needles, "Remember, you won't wake up until you win The Game. So get somewhere to comfortably sleep for a while. Also, remember if you struggle and you can't make it out, eventually you will wake up with a lot of actual damage in the areas you were attacked during The Game," Zolona filled the needles with the serum, and tapped on one of the needles two times.

Sage giggled with excitement. "Hope you're not afraid of needles, Echo. Oh, I forgot, your sister's the brave one."

"Sage, play nice," Zolona spoke firmly.

I rolled my eyes. "We never play nice."

"Playing nice can be just as fun." Echo smiled.

Zolona attempted to smile back. "Besides, we're going to have Echo's talents in the mix."

Sage shot her hand up like a schoolgirl and plopped into her chair. "Do me first."

Zolona injected her with the vial at the elbow.

Zolona raised an eyebrow to her nephew. "Scared?"

He had taken a step backwards. "I... I just don't do things like this. Is it that bad?"

Zolona sighed. "It's entertaining, depending on whose talents you get for challenges. Besides, it gives you the fun of guessing whose they are. You get to see memories, talents, and different play styles for different problems. If you're afraid of this, you haven't seen anything," Zolona went to inject the serum into his right arm at the elbow.

Echo pulled away. "Don't do my right arm."

"Yes, that's right. The left arm then?" Zolona asked, gesturing to his chair.

Echo rolled up the sleeve for his left arm. Zolona injected the vial. He fell asleep faster than Sage. As soon as his eyes closed, Zolona rolled up the sleeve for the right arm.

Zolona gasped. "It's bigger again."

I got a closer look. The Mark extended up to the lower part of the elbow.

Zolona paced in the room. "His growth rate is faster than anyone I've ever seen. It's impossible."

"Well, Sage's report indicated it arrived a couple days ago, and you also mentioned there's no way that it could've been delayed," I paused, "Is there no way this crap was delayed? Medications? Magic? Drugs? For crying out loud, I hate the fact this is throwing us off. My hand already burned because of it, and I bet my face is next if we're not careful." I crossed my arms.

"The Regime he lived under didn't have much magic besides oracles. They didn't have people like you, 635202. However, they had daily drugs to prevent dreaming, and even some magic was included in that like getting visions. It had a high content of C5D8, a man-made drug filled with antidepressants, numbing agents, and deterioration properties," Zolona said.

"So?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"When Sage gave a blood test, the count of C5D8 in Echo's system was triple of Ember's. It could have something to do with all of this. Bernard never played out a move before thinking it over. We were chess mates, so I'd know," Zolona sighed, "So what in hell compelled you to do triple his dosage, Bernard...?"

Zolona tended to mumble about her past often, although once she did, you couldn't bring it up without a cold glare. I tried before, so this definitely wasn't a time to talk about it. The hell Zolona went through would remain a mystery to everyone except her. Guess that pissed me off a little, but at least Zolona still focused on what was important.

"Maybe we can use The Mark to our advantage?" I put a hand to my chin.

"I would certainly hope so," Zolona went to the case for another needle, "It's the only thing we can count on."

I rolled up my sleeve at let her inject me with it and sat in my chair. The liquid was warm, almost like that of a sedative. My eyes became heavy, slowly closing as I drifted away. My head spun and knees weakened as I fell into a deep sleep, feeling my body collapse to the chair under me.

The Game started.