"And that is the sign, Miss Patel our very short but amusing encounter has come to an end. Please if you may stand up and make your way through the portal and through the double doors."
I hesitantly kept my gaze on her as I cautiously attempted to lift my hand, from the corner of my eye I saw my hand move slightly. I carefully stood up, totally confused at why all of a sudden I can move again. I could see from Scarlet's grin that she was trying to stop herself from laughing at my confusion. I began walking towards her and the portal, and again that deep-seated feeling of fear welled up inside with each step I took closer to her. As I approached, she held her hand out with a smile gesturing for a handshake. I held out my trembling hand to shake hers watching her closely, her expression of happiness and kindness was the complete opposite of how my body felt just by being near her.
"You're welcome." she beamed as she shook my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. As she released my trembling hand I turned and approached the portal, while trying to maintain a watch on her with my peripheral vision. I raised my hand to check the portal, I noticed I am wearing a black sleeve with golden embroidery on the end. In shock I quickly looked down at myself, my pyjamas were replaced with a long black silk robe lined with red and golden embroidery around the ends of the sleeves and down the centre and around the bottom of the robe, with the addition of a red and black sash, black belt and black leather boots. I must have been too distracted to notice when my clothes were magically changed. I looked back at Scarlet with an expression of total confusion, she smiled and gestured for me to walk through the portal with a wave of her hand. Holding my breath and closing my eyes I courageously walked through the portal.
Arriving through the other side felt instantaneous with no adverse effects which was a huge relief, I have read and seen sci-fi TV shows where these sorts of things can go horribly wrong. The hallway had an extremely eerie atmosphere, the walls and the floor being made of large old stones lit with torches on the sides. I rushed to an opening in the wall, as I peered out an overwhelming feeling of warmth and comfort washed over me, as I felt the warmth of the sun, the sight of trees and the sounds of wildlife, the sense of familiarity was calming. I leaned over to inspect the building, I was in an extremely large castle above the surrounding treeline. The castle looked extremely old, the outermost walls being invaded by vegetation, the castle was made of up many complex layers of walls and buildings, similar to the designs seen in old history books.
"It was nice to finally meet you Emilia, Good luck!" Scarlet shouted from behind, I looked back again seeing her smiling and waving. As the portal disappeared, so did the faint feeling of fear from being near her faded away, my body felt physically fatigued but it was a huge relief to be able to relax once again. I began walking towards the double doors, stopping at the door I could faintly hear voices coming from the other side. I froze as I remembered what waited for me on the other side. A feeling of panic quickly surged around my body, I began thinking about everything Scarlet said and started doubting myself, as I turned around considering running.
"Miss Patel please enter it's completely safe." An elderly male voice spoke through the door.
I opened the door slowly not knowing what to expect on the other side. The room was oddly welcoming, the exact opposite of the eerie hallway, the natural light that came from several windows beautifully illuminated the entire room. Around the sides were unlit braziers made of bronze along with one large chandelier in the centre of the ceiling made of gold. There was a red carpet with fine gold embroidery leading to an extremely large pearl orb the diameter as wide as my shoulders, held up with a strange golden-green metal fashioned in the shapes of waves rising and coalescing around the bottom of the orb. A few paces behind the orbs sat four imposing figures behind an extremely long wooden table.
"Please come in so we can have a better look at you young girl." Smiled a slender young lady, her hair was white as snow fashioned neatly in a bun, her emerald green eyes glowed slightly, she wore a beautifully woven purple and green robe embodied with gold symbols along the outer edges of the robe, adorned with very beautiful gold jewellery each with a different coloured gem that each had their own unnatural glow. It seemed as if she puts a lot of effort into her appearance, from the top of her hair to her torso looking flawless and perfectly mput together.
"Yes please, we still have many more candidates to see after you," a young woman said, her appearance looked very normal, her short hair was extremely scruffy but did not obscure her vision, wearing a plain top and an extremely weathered brow jacket, but there was a large mechanical golem behind her. The golem had a humanoid shape and looked slightly bigger than an average human. Armoured top to toe in thick large grey metal plating, underneath the armoured plates, was a visible blue glow in its core and two bright glowing blue eyes.
"Don't be so harsh on the younglings, don't you remember your first experience here?" the old man questioned the young woman. The old man wore a similar robe to the one I was given but extremely tattered, with an unkempt long grey beard and hair, wearing a tall pointy hat with a very long wooden staff on the table in front of him, the staff had a natural appearance it has twists and curves from top to bottom, the edges occasionally glowing with a faint green hue. His appearance closely resembled that of a classical wizard.
The last remaining person was a man, he did not speak or even acknowledged my presence, his size was monstrous, if he was to stand he would easily tower over the mechanical golem, he had a thick moustache connected to his beard, his upper body was engorged with muscles, covered in scars of different shapes and sizes. He must have participated in countless encounters.
"So I assume the process of what will happen next has been explained to you?" the old woman asked.
"Um yes kind of but I'm not exactly sure what I need to do" I hesitantly replied
The old woman pointed at the orb, "Well it's surprisingly simple just put your hands on the orb over there and let the orb do all the work" smiled the young lady pointing with the end of a pencil and went back to writing into her book.
Nodding in understanding I closed the door behind me and slowly walked to the orb, as I approached the orb it started to react to my presence, with each step I took the pearl orb began to glow faintly and started to levitate a few centimetres above its stand. Placing my hands on the orb it began to hum, and a strange feeling overtook my body.