After opening the two big doors, Joy stepped into a wide spacious room.

She instantly felt pressure as mostly everyone's eyes turned on her as she entered the room.

The room was practically filled to the brim. Inside being a group of roughly 40 people spread out throughout the room.

They were all seated at tables, a small few were sitting at the same table together but over half were spread out.

"Good luck."

Those words came from Ben but as she tried turning back to ask if she had to stay, the doors slammed shut.

Ben was gone, and now she was alone again not knowing what to do.

Now worried and confused Joy turned back to look in front, scanning the room once more. Joy could feel so many gazes, some were hostile while others were simply curious, holding no malice.

She gulped nervously, the silence was deafening.

No one was saying a word and she felt as if her mere presence disrupted something in the room. There was tension in the air, an uncomfortable one that didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

Joy stood there, unsure of what to do for a moment before someone finally broke the silence and called out.

"Hey you! Why don't you come sit over here?"

Joy turned towards the source of the voice slightly relieved. But that was right before she saw the identity to whom the voice belonged to. The source of the voice was a bulky man, he was wearing a tank-top that had the word love imprinted on the chest area.

He had bulging muscles accompanied by ginger hair and a small goatee.

Joy instantly felt intimidated by him despite his odd shirt. It wasn't just his muscles that intimidated her though.

Maybe it was his aura?

But since she was wanting an escape from the staring barrage she was under she gave in. Choosing to walk past many people; some were seated together at one big table while others sat at smaller desks.

After walking past all of them she was face to face with the man.

"The name is Arthur," He stood, reaching out his hand to greet her.

As Joy reached her hand out as well she noticed how big his hands were. They were at least double the size of hers and Joy's hands were small by no means.

She responded while returning the shake, her guard up slightly, "Hi there, my name is Joy."

Arthur paused for a moment, holding a surprised look on his face, her hand still in his.

He quickly smiled though, seemingly overcoming whatever made him freeze for a moment before responding, "That's a beautiful name, it's nice to meet you."

Joy smiled, "Thank you, it's nice meeting you too."

She didn't feel good about the compliment despite what her smile would suggest. She was faking it.

I mean she wasn't about to delve into how she hated her name and why with a stranger after all.

Right after they exchanged greetings Arthur sat back down and Joy followed suit; sitting in the chair next to him.

'Oh, most of those uncomfortable stares are gone now huh?]'

Joy assumed it was most likely due to her now being seated towards the back of the room. She was also sure Arthur's build was another reason most of the stares ceased, he had quite an intimidating figure after all.

A minute or so passed before Joy couldn't bear the silence anymore, leaning towards Arthur.

She whispered, "Are we waiting for something?"

"Yeah, so that guy Ben or whatever he called himself. He brought all of us here one by one." He paused, scanning the room for a moment before continuing, "For this last time when he went out he told us that the last candidate would be here soon."

Joy looked at him intently, "Am I right to assume that the last candidate he spoke of was me then?"

"I'd say so yes."

Joy nodded to acknowledge the information before moving back into her normal sitting position.

'That still didn't answer my main question of if we were waiting on something… I mean, it did answer It vaguely but I was hoping for something more specific. Oh well, we'll probably get more information soon; no reason to dwell on it too much.'

After thinking it through, Joy slumped back in her seat a little bit, deciding to shut her eyes briefly while they waited.

She intended to simply keep her eyes closed as a way to give her eyes and mind a rest but unknown to her, she was slowly slipping away into a leisurely sleep.

***

Joy woke suddenly after hearing a loud sound.

She turned quickly to see the big doors she entered from before being open now. She presumed the noise she heard were the big doors being opened.

Everyone, including her all looked at the door. All in the room waited with baited breath for whoever, or whatever would be coming through.

A second or two passed before someone walked through.

It was a small looking boy with white hair, plain black eyes and freckles. The boy was peculiar looking. Not just in his unique appearance but in the way he carried himself.

The way he walked was so smooth and graceful that he almost appeared to be gliding over the ground. His footsteps didn't make sound either which added to the feeling of him not walking normally.

Joy watched as he walked towards a tall unoccupied desk in the front of the room. The desk was in front of a chalk board and for some reason, now that she looked closer the room looked familiar.

It was reminiscent of a classroom, just with more space and wider tables than the desks she had been familiarized with growing up.

Joy looked in confusion until she saw the person who followed after the young boy.

It was Ben, who shut the doors and soon after followed the boy; now standing beside him at the desk.

Joy, assuming the information she so desperately wanted to know would be revealed soon, quickly turned toward Arthur.

"How long was I asleep?" She whispered.

"I'd say maybe 30 minutes. I'm surprised you'd be so brazen to sleep in this peculiar situation though."

Joy embarrassedly shifted in her seat, "Yeah, I'm surprised myself now that I think about it."

'I didn't mean to but it wasn't that bad of a decision. In hindsight I would've been safe since Arthur was next to me. I don't trust him completely or anything but at the very least he's a convenient person to be by. No one would mess with me if things were to go south with him near. Well... some might've but I'm sure I would've woken up since I'm such a light sleeper.'

Arthur continued. "Anyways, we should be quiet and listen to what they have to say."

Joy nodded adamantly.

The boy spoke suddenly, "Hello everyone. I'm glad to see so many of you look ready and prepared."

Joy's eyes widened attentively.

'Wait, I think I know that squeaky high pitched voice from somewhere…'

Before the boy could continue someone interjected.

"You're that orb of light that brought us all here right?"

The person who spoke was a young looking man, he stood up- clearly unnerved by the situation everyone found themselves in. The young man had long black hair and a chiseled jawline, for lack of a better word he was handsome.

The boy nodded. "You'd be correct in assuming that. I'm sure it was mentioned to you all by Ben, but my name is Aku. Please address me as such when talking to me."

The young man looked at Aku with a smug look on his face. He seemed to be sizing Aku up, which Joy could spot many others doing as well.

Aku smirked, "Something wrong?"

The young man stared at Aku, his smug look not fading. He stood in silence for a moment before glancing next to him. He was one of the people seated at tables that were full.

His eyes were locked with one person in particular, a girl with bright yellow hair. She was very cute, her most prominent feature being her blue eyes which while pretty looking had a fierceness to them. She had a beautiful figure as well which you wouldn't guess from her positioning. She had her feet up on the table as she leaned back in her chair. She also shared the younger man's smug look.

She coughed and right after doing so, the man looked back at Aku.

He chuckled lightly, "Not at all Mr. Aku." He sat down, "Please continue with your explanation."

There was silence for a moment. Not for long, but long enough for the air in the room to change. It seemed he and many others throughout the room had a realization of sorts.

Joy however, was not one of those people.

She had been looking on at the interaction in silence, just assessing and noticing what she could.

"That's good then. One thing though, Lorial." He was looking at the smug young-looking man.

'Oh, so that guy's name is Lorial,' Joy noted to herself.

"There's no need to refer to me as mister." Aku flashed a cheeky smile. "Like I said before, Aku works just fine."

Lorial nodded, "I'll remember that, Aku."

Aku looked away from him, now directing his attention to the entire room.

"Since that point's been addressed here's what I intended to tell you all. Ben may or may not have mentioned this but I'll say it anyway. You all here are going to be undergoing a series of tests."

He paused for a moment, scanning the room to gauge everyone's reactions.

Many either talked amongst others nearby or looked unwavering, showing they had already been told by Ben.

"Many of you were in, let's just say, less than savory positions. I offered you all a possibility. To stay in that situation or go somewhere different, away from the troubles you faced in your old life. I believe what I did for you all was a huge favor, one that should be repaid wouldn't you think?"

One of the people spoke up. "So you scammed us? Don't tell me you want some kind of compensation."

Aku shook his head, "No no no. I will still grant your wish without any kind of monetary compensation required. I simply have certain terms and conditions. My condition is that you complete a few tests I have for you. You see, while I may be a deity and all, I don't think granting a wish to just anyone is the best idea."

'Wait what? I remember Aku saying that the wish would be free of charge and while taking tests wouldn't necessarily be costly, it was still a lie. Or at the very least a loose manipulation. But that only brings up one question...'

"May I ask something Aku?" All the heads in the room turned to face Joy, who had been the one voice to speak out besides Aku's.

Aku gave a cheeky smile, seemingly excited to have engagement from someone, "Of course Joy. Ask away."

"What kind of tests? Nothing dangerous right?"

There was a pause before Aku started giggling, "Hehehe. That's interesting you'd ask that using that specific wording."

Aku slowly walked around the desk so he was now standing in front of a couple tables.

"Dangerous? What a specific thing to ask about. Something I find interesting about you humans is something as simple as the words you use."

Aku, truly enjoying the uneasy air in the room started pacing back and forth.

"Depending on the word it shows what a human thinks, cares, or worries about in the depths of their mind and soul."

He stopped pacing and with a very serious tone spoke, looking directly at Joy.

"No. The answer to your question is no. The tests will vary in difficulty of course but they will be very dangerous. I'm sure that's fine with all you though, yes?"

Aku's sweet boy-like face contorted into a demented smile.

"I saved you all so anything you experience here would pale in comparison to what you went through back where you came from...correct?"