Third Person
Paris, France: Jardin d'Eden
8:32 P.M.
There are no crickets around but it seems that it was the only thing they could hear in the hollow space while they just sat there, waiting for the gamemaster as told. Raine's finger wrestled her index finger with the other as the ginger-haired boy beside her kept sniffing the shampoo scent off her hair.
"I thought you'll be the male figure between you and Silver," Raine was skeptical about having Bronze in the same room.
"Nah. I'd rather be the one he was searching for, instead of the one searching, besides the look on your boyfriend's face was hilarious!" he laughed before pushing away the hair covering her long flawless neck. Widening his eyes, he inspected the small spot foundation covered before smirking, "You're one naughty girl, I see."
"For shame, Bronze!" Romien offered to switch places with Raine, who was quiet at the time but by far, uncomfortable by Bronze's actions, "Be thankful that the camera crew wasn't here to record this, or else you'll get in a frenzy."
His knitted brows came down when he saw how close was the girl to Gold to the point that he's comfortable hugging the boy, "I'll let Platinum know about this..." he muttered.
"We're not a couple, Bronze," Romien glared at him, "He's my Literature teacher. And I think, Silver must know what you are doing."
Pushing his hair backward, he said and winked at him, "He already knows I'm slutty and flirty as a fudge but he still loves me," with his mask slightly crooked, he adjusted it as his eyes gleamed with arrogance,"...so I have nothing to lose..."
Crossing his long leg over the other, Bronze rested his head against the wall before jumping out of his seat when he saw a mysterious girl sitting beside him with her eyes looming upon him, then he realized that the girl was wearing a mask over her nose and lips.
'Is she sick or something?' Bronze thought but the girl gave him a paper and a pen for him to sign. The girl's eyes smiled as he accepted it and immediately signed it with his hands wrote with style.
"You could talk, you know?" Romien kindly said to the girl before beaming her a smile.
Pointing to her throat, the girl indicated that she wasn't able to talk while blushing her cheeks hopelessly. She handed the paper and pen for Romien to sign when her hands decided to clumsily drop it. "Oh I got it!" offered Romien as he reached the two objects.
The girl blushed more and made a bow multiple times while her steaming face went up to her forehead, visible for the others to see. After signing the IXCents poster, Romien gave it back to the capped woman who hugged the poster as if it was her previous child. Raine smiled warmly, thinking of Saccharide's wrong intuition about the couple.
With the desire to conversing with the girl, Raine stood up to approach her but opportunity denied it when the instructor came in and greeted them.
"This device will beep and disqualify you if you open your eyes or if you try to talk, alright?" one of the instructors gave them each a glass-like helmet and explained the details about it, "...so if you want to win- Do. Not. Remove. It. Don't. Cheat."
Needless to say, Bronze convinced the manager to turn this game into an IXCents vlog for today and the couples were grouped into 4 groups. There are two teammates in each group classified as the wanderer, which and the seeker.
Before starting the game and before they put the helmet on the wanderers, Saccharide requested to talk to Raine one last time, "Just do little steps, alright?" he commanded and directed her to the game plan, "I'll always call your name by the time I hear little screeches. Once you hear me call your name, ruffle some leaves so I'll know if you're near."
"What if the others thought of it too?" she asked, sparking a doubt in the strategies of the boy.
Thinking for a few seconds he snapped and whispered a new way for them to win it. Giving it not much thought, the girl was amazed by how fast he formulates a new plan but she also saw how stressed he is about winning it.
"It's just a game, Saccharide," the girl giggled before kissing him on the crook of his neck, "It's alright if we don't win the prize."
A smile creeping on his face, he returned the kiss, leaving another mark on there, "It's better we do our best to win than feel sorry for not trying."
"You left a- another mark..." said his girl as she covered the spot where she felt hot.
Winking at her stupefied expression, he grinned before kissing her on the lips one more time, "It's like a tracker, it'll be easier to find you this way," they parted ways as Raine entered the humongous maze.
"I'll find you in there," he whispered and went to the red line where they'll initiate the ceremony, "I promise to my dashing eyes and skill."
The announcer stepped beside the seekers and told them the permitted techniques to find their partner. Ultimately, the goal was to find their other half and reach for the end of the maze together. The seeker may finally find the end of the maze but it's not some sort of valid point if the other half was not found.
It's an easy game of hiding and seeking but the players who are classified as wandering can't speak and can't see where they are going.
The helmet on their heads will alarm the operators of the game if the one wearing them talked or open their eyes. Wanderers can't stop moving, whatever happens, they have to walk and never stop because the moment they stop making steps for at least 5 seconds, they'll be disqualified.
"Any questions? If there are none, Let's start in 10!" the female announcer waved a sparkling glitter colored flag high in the air.
...
10
...
Silver looked at the big counting board hologram and yawned as his cameraman zoomed in on his handsome face.
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09
...
The 23-year-old, Sir Edward, has his finger gripping his chin. He looked serious and competitive as he stared at the first two different paths visible from the starting maze. Like, Silver, he has a camera zooming in on his face.
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08
...
Then, the hooded male just stood there like a David statue come to life. He has his hands inside his pocket while he looked around the competition grounds but not getting caught in Saccharide's stare. Tapping his right leg like a messed-up mannerism, he pulled something from his inner shirt.
...
07
...
With the activated alert, Saccharide kept his peripheral version on the main target but was still trying to figure out how to find Raine fast.
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06
...
"Oh, and one more thing guys," Successfully getting their attention, the announcer smiled as the audience from outside who was watching live via monitor cheered and went wild.
There's one more twist in this game.
The timer stopped clicking as Saccharide felt chills under his clothes.
"Oh shit," he muttered.
...
05
...
"I'll give a tip to you," she dictated while looking down at their stupefied expression, "You can make the game more challenging and find your original partner or you could make it easier-" she sent us a chilly smile before going on.
All of them listened with lent ears, all of them squinted their eyes as the surroundings darkened. The wonderful lights crowning the top of the globe was turned down, there is only a little amount of light emitting from it.
"-by taking anyone available regardless if they are yours or not," the explanation ended but it felt like there was more coming, "But you'll have a hard time finding them for sure because we changed their original outfits and made sure to cover their face and hair."
Their guts were wrong belittling this challenge, it exploded with a different variety of feelings, there is no time to explain for the countdown continuously beeped like a bomb, ready to explode like they were in a New year Eve's night setting.
"Raine," Saccharide muttered the name of her lover when he realized, she could be rebounded by someone.
But he has faith that the girl will defend herself- At least before he'll get to her. Before this game date ends, they'll know the imposter.
"But remember lads, you cannot talk to them once you found one of them because the helmets can detect voices within the proximity of its sound recognition,"
...
04
...
"And you're not informed," the announcer spoke to the mike again, "We'll be working in the dark to add to the challenge and thrill."
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03
...
A second ago, it was dim.
...
02
...
But now the globe adapts to the natural darkness outside with only the moon acting as the light. All of the boys cursed but there was no time to flap their lips. Saccharide adjusted his eyes to the dark as his glow became more luminous in the dark.
If there is one weapon he could be proud of, it was his natural angel glow. Silver already smiled before turning to his fellow angel. They nodded and it simply meant an alliance throughout the game.
But again, he could be the imposter.
...
01
...
Before that, they're bound to play this hell of a game.
...
00
...
The sparkling flag glowed magnificently in the dark as it signaled the start. Sync with the flag was the LED light arc at the entrance of the maze, it glowed and it indicated the start of the sprint.
"Go!" shouted the announcer.