The lights flared across the grand plaza, filled to the brim with crowds and noises, laughing, muttering, cheering.
The moon glowed a bright, white hue as the stars filled the darkened sky hovering above the plaza.
The woman leaned idly on the brown wall, its cold, smooth surface a comfortable anchor when compared to the constant stand the middle people have to go through.
She wore crisp white jeans along with gray shoes and a beige T-shirt.
The white hue of her phone shimmered brightly, as she aimlessly watched youtube.
"Taking their sweet time, aren't they?"
A soft, breathy voice interrupted her solitude.
"Hm?" She answered, darting to her right, a slightly chubby white boy saluted her with a waving palm, a sheepish smile along his lips, his eyes green as emeralds, wearing a light purple sweater, warm black gloves, and black, cropped pants.
"Oh, yeah, they are." she continued "Which isn't what I expected from such a prestigious school."
"I hear ya," he chuckled, leaning beside her.
"With something as big as this, you'd think they would've at least made the effort of being punctual."
The girl looked away, towards the grand, wide open gateway of the plaza "... Yeah, but... I think I do kinda understand why they're making us wait."
He tilted his head "Oh, could you enlighten me then?"
"Look," She pointed towards the big entrance.
His eyes squinted at it, at the flood of people, old and young, flooding the already crowded area.
"Even now, there are still so many people who just came, I think these hours are given for the sake of granting more time for them."
He followed the line of her finger, nodding slowly at the realization.
"That makes sense," he muttered. "Still, they could've said something instead of leaving us hanging like this. No announcements, no signs, not even some dude with a megaphone."
She smirked at that, the edge of her mouth curling upward.
"I don't think a megaphone would've survived this crowd."
"Fair," he conceded, stuffing his gloved hands into his pockets. "Name's Raye, by the way."
"Myla."
"Well, Myla, here's to hoping we don't die of boredom before they close up that damned gate."
"Heh, here's to that, indeed..."
Raye:"Hm... Oh, yeah, I forgot! Did you know? Apparently, the exam will be centered around having a team of three!"
Myla blinked:"... Wait what? How do you even know that?"
Raye grinned as he presented himself with his hand:"Oh, well, not to brag but, I'm kind of an expert when it comes to learning about school exam orientation."
"What if someone doesn't have a team?"
Raye shrugged. "Then they either join one last-minute or get lumped with strangers by the system." He paused, then added with a grin, "Which is basically what happened to him, by the way. Said it was awkward as hell at first, but they made it work."
"Figures." She crossed her arms, eyes back on the slow-moving stream of people. "I didn't come with anyone. Guess I'll have to throw dice with strangers."
Raye gave her a playful elbow jab:"Hey, if you're desperate, I'm alone too!"
She glanced at him and scoffed:"Oh? So all of this was just a commercial to recruit me?"
Raye gasped, hand on chest like she'd wounded him.
"Myla! I'm hurt. Deeply."
Then, without missing a beat, he grinned. "But yes. Absolutely. Shameless recruitment attempt."
Myla rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth betrayed her.
"Well, at least you're honest about it."
"Always," he replied with mock pride "So, what do you say? You, me, and... someone else unfortunate enough to wander into our orbit?"
"Hm..." She tapped her chin. "You're loud, probably annoying, and might talk too much under pressure."
Raye nodded solemnly "All true."
She smirked "Alright. I'll consider it."
"Yay! That makes one! Now wh-"
The lights all turned off, gasps echoed all around the plaza.
Myla questioned:"What the hell?"
Raye muttered lowly
"... So... It has started."
Suddenly, screams, a loud creaking came from the east.
Men.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HEY- WAIT, WHAT THE-?!"
Women.
"LET GO OF ME! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
Teens "H-HEY! STOP! WHY ARE YOU CLOSING THE- HEY!"
It went on and on.
Myla pushed herself up and took ome step forward, zooming in on an attempt to see the crowd, the moon's low illumination allowed her:"Those sounds...?"
Struggling, pushing, grabbing, all at the eastern gates, those who were at the doorway were taken away from the plaza, so were the ones outside.
The heavy doors were shifting inwards, screams became more frantic, tears flooded the place.
"STOP! PLEASE!"
"WE'LL DO ANYTHING!"
Raye narrowed his eyes (Aggressive much?) as they widened back in normal shape, he pointed wildly at the door and shouted:"... From the entrance, they're closing the door!"
"What?! But there are still people in there, why would they even do that?"
"I don't know, I'm on the same boat as you! It seems they're... Forcing them out?"
All at once, he turned to the people of the plaza, all panicked and confused.
(Now. Let's see how this goes...)
Raye called:"Hey! Everyone! Be carefull! They're trying to take us away from the plaza! Someone is plotting to get us all discalified!"
Loud gasps and whispers echoed, everyone's attention turned to him, people began to run away from the entrance, leaving the ones stuck in the danger zone to fend for themselves.
Raye turned back to Myla "Quickly, we gotta follow them!"
Myla:"Right."
They sprinted towards the west, where by now, most of the populace was.
On the western wall, a black blazing dragon was engraved, a grand, overwhelming symbol, it was.
Two identical towers stood atop the wall's corners, Myla turned back to the chaotic side, another two towers were on the far wall's corner.
By now the gates were halfway closed, the people inside the plaza watched in horror, some stared down in shame as the calls for help were unmet, some tried to run to help yet were stopped by others, one brown, black eyed girl with a ponytail and a red dress yelled.
"Let me go! My brother's still in there!"
Two teenage boys held her back, one of them shouted back:"Stop it! You'll get caught too!"
"I don't care! I need to help him!" She
"If you go there, both of you will be eliminated! What then, huh?!" He countered loudly.
Tears began to stream from her eyes as she called:"ELLIOT! please, come on!"
"Lisa!" A voice shouted back from near the plaza's gates, a brown boy, his hair a complete dark mess, with an athletic build, he pushed through the crowd, some men in black suits began blocking his path, he swiftly pushed some, dodged some, hit some and ran,the now almost fully closed doors a few feet from him.
Myla, watching the scene unfold:"What...Is he doing? The door is almost shut, how will he even pass the gates?"
Raye:"Hm..."
The folks shared Myla's thoughts as they watched his struggle.
He dashed and forced himself into the doorway, squeezing rushing through as the path got narrower and narrower.
As he continued his sprint, everyone's eyes began to widen slowly, whispers came through the crowd.
"He's going through!"
"He's doing it!"
Lisa's stream tears began to slow down, as frown turned to smile, the two teens stood frozen in shock.
Soon, cheering began to erupt as he was halfway through the immense doorway.
"Come on, dude! Just a little more!"
"You can make it!"
Raye turned once again to the crowd as he smiled:"COME ON EVERYONE, LOUDER!"
And just like that, the adrenaline hit, and a phew did just that.
A phew cheered, though their screams of encouragement were loud enough for the rest who stayed silent, watching, expressions morphed between awe, confusion, shock and anger.
"COME ON, ELLIOT!" A tall, muscular, copper-toned man cheered.
"YOU CAN DO IT!" A chubby, bearded man cried.
Myla chimed in, cupping her hands around her mouth "YEAH, DON'T YOU DARE TRIP NOW!"
Lisa:"Come on, ELLIOT!"
With a final, diving jump, he crossed- well, almost.
Elliot:"Huh-?!"
His right leg, which was the last part to get out... Was now stuck in the shifting door.
...
Elliot's pupils dilated.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
His screams poured in crushing agony.
Lisa cried:"ELLIOT!" He pushed harder "LEMME GO ALREADY!" The teens, mortified at the view of the fallen man, did as she told, never leaving the view.
She rushed, as the doors struggled to close.
Yet their distance felt endless, the doors were almost closed, he couldn't move an inch, the sound of bones fracturing more and more, his cries became frantic, tears gushing out, until-
"Stop. The doors," a loud, deep, commanding voice shouted from the north-eastern tower.
...
The creaking stopped, the gates came to a halt, everyone's head turned to the figure inside the tower, a white, tall, frail man, his eyes bore the amber's colours, narrowing as he stared down at them in silence, wearing a black attire, his shoulders stiff squares as his arms sat behind his arms, his chin tilted upward, his mustache and few strands of hair on his head were all white.
"Release the limb," he demanded, his voice, even without a microphone, was like a divine order.
"This courageous boy has shown his bravery, he may continue onward," he approved, gesturing to Elliot, who was frozen in place, the tears slowed, the pain almost fully ignored in comparison to the amber eyed man's presence.
The crowd stood in stunned silence.
Then-creaks echoed again, the gears groaning as the massive doors rolled backward just enough to free Elliot's crushed leg. He slumped forward onto the stone floor, panting like a beast cornered by fire, sweat dripping, mouth agape.
The moment his body hit the ground, a flurry of black-suited medics came rushing in from the sides, crouching beside him with precise, almost mechanical urgency.
Lisa had nearly reached him, but one of the officials gently stopped her with a raised hand.
"He'll be taken care of," the agent said curtly.
The man in the tower watched without emotion. He raised one gloved hand high-and suddenly the plaza lit back up, blinding white spotlights snapping on all at once from hidden fixtures along the towers.
Gasps erupted again-not from shock, but awe.
The entire eastern wall-where the chaos had just taken place-was now sealed shut. No evidence of a gate remained. Just cold, polished stone and the vague outline of the black dragon crest.
The man's voice returned, sweeping over the crowd like wind over a field:
"Take this moment as your first lesson."
The plaza stilled.
"Opportunities-once closed-remain closed. Those who act without resolve will always be swept aside. Those who act with resolve..." he motioned once toward Elliot's recovering body, "will find the door yields, however momentarily, to the strength of will."
Myla furrowed her brows. The man's words felt like both a warning and a performance.
Raye muttered beside her, "What is this guy, a villain auditioning for a teaching role?"
Myla:"Whoever he is, he sure likes going for the last minute, doesn't he?"
The man seemed to hear him. His gaze swept the entire plaza, pausing briefly-just briefly-on them.
"The Academy of Miracles," he finally announced, "Welcomes the brave, the capable, and the daring. If you are none of these, you may leave now."
No one moved.
"I am Dimitri Von Aurenhart, this academy's director, and, as you could guess, the current president of this state."
The man finally turned, his coattails flowing, and stepped backward into shadow.
"Be prepared for today's second test, you will be informed shortly of the details, until then, you may rest."
As he relayed these final words, the man left the crowd and went back inside the tower, as his presence vanished, a single thought was shared by everyone of the candidates:
"What is this place?"