“Hello Mana-Script team. All participants have qualified. Your next assignment is to keep your candle lit until you either reach the centre of the labyrinth or sixteen other teams have their candlelight go out.” With that one of the walls of the room began to raise up.

“System? Hello? What are the rules?” Jude called out; hands cupped around his mouth. With that the voice crackled back to life. It was voice that had no discernible origin, nothing to give away the speaker.

“Hello Mana-Script team. What rules are you interested in finding more information on?”

“How many of us need to reach the centre?”

“Just the candle holder.”

“What happens if our candle goes out?”

“Then you are disqualified.”

“Are there other light sources?”

“Only the centre’s light.”

“What happens if we fight someone.”

“All wounds will be healed after the task is completed. Anyone who is fatally injured will be teleported away to a safe location and healed immediately. They may not come back to the test.”

“Okay! Enough!” Sol screamed. “We’re losing time. If you don’t have a plan, then just say.” He swiped the candle from the floor, upon touching the waxy shaft the flame flickered to light.

“Okay I have plan. Just don’t run off with that.” Everyone had their attention set on Jude. “Okay so we’ve got three of us who can use fire. So, let’s pretend we have the candle. Me, Agni, and Olivia will head up a team of three. And everyone else will stay with our candle holder Zoe.”

The small girl who had dressed herself all in black was in shock. She was not someone who was important, nor was she picked for anything. She preferred to go unnoticed, her grades were middle of the pack so that she was not picked out to be special or falling behind.

“Why me?” It was a loaded question. Said with both curiosity and poorly hid aggression.

“Because, you can use your darkness to cover the flame. I’d ask Agni to do it, but I want him leading a fire team.”

“But if I cover the candle does that not mean that we cannot see?”

“Next step of the plan, we have teams slightly ahead and slightly behind you. Close enough for you to follow the light and if you really need to see you uncover your candle.”

Everyone seemed unsure about the plan, for all intents and purposes it was just too weird. But Jude, Jude did not doubt himself. He was riding the high of the previous test and had a bit of an ego.

“Right, I will be the vanguard squad, so I’ll follow behind you lot. My two teammates will be Jack and AJ.” With that Jude snapped his fingers on his right hand and a small flame appeared cradled in the palm of his hand. He cupped it in towards his body and put his left hand over it disguising it and making it seem like there was something producing the flame.

Zoe was still panicking. Even if Jude sounded confident it did not change her whole being so suddenly. A switch had flicked for the team by gaining a leader but that does not affect the personality of those following. She had not even received the candle yet to enact the plan.

“Here.” A soft voice called out to her. She snapped back to reality, a soft smile from none other than Rin. He had been quiet for the last test and even in the break room. But here he was, he was holding the candle, his eyes round and welcoming.

Instinctually she reached out and grabbed the candle. As they performed a baton pass slowly everyone else was preparing themselves. Zoe was not confident, nor had she burnt away all her doubts. But the warmth of the flame had certainly brought her a level of calm she had been missing.

“Rin?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m leaving you in charge of the main group. Make sure Zoe reaches the middle.”

“Alright then.”

The first group of three to go forth was led by Agni. Sol and Zero trailed behind Agni but their appearance was engulfed by the darkness of the maze. The last image anyone would have of them for a while was Agni’s top. A stylized sports top: with a gradient the started at black and slowly became red towards the bottom.

Once their group had gone from sight it was Olivia’s turn. Olivia was leading Alice and Sahar. They were chosen for their chemistry and because Olivia just kind of thought it would be fun. Sahar’s Alteration was extremely versatile, and Alice had great movement options so if they got into trouble at least they would have fun.

Now it was the main group’s turn. There were fifteen of them and they formed a crude circle around Zoe. They entered the maze, candle still visible. As they stepped further in it was obvious that the light, they had used to see so far had come from the room behind them. Now all fifteen were trying their hardest to adjust to the darkness ahead of them, being bathed in a small orange glow.

“Everyone, keep moving forward. We’ll need to communicate in the dark. Just keep going at the pace you are and call out if you feel or see anything.” Rin said, trying to rally the troops but no one could be prepared for what happened. Rin put his hand on Zoe’s shoulder and nodded at her.

She held her hand over the flame and moved her hand in a motion as if she were caressing a ball, a perfect arc. The orange glow they had all relied on slowly drained away. A black umbrella melted over the candle. The final drop of light disappeared, and they were in true darkness.

Jude, Jack and AJ were not too far behind. But they could no longer see them. Fifteen people just disappeared before their eyes, without a trace. They could make out a few gasps and even the faint sounds of footsteps. But it seemed like the darkness was eating everything it could, it started with their visible forms and now their sounds.