There was a giant door just past the podium. It had 3 numbers on it. Two, one, two. No words were exchanged, they both understood what it meant. Akio and Justyn walked through the door to see a giant room. There were hundreds of people already there and there was a giant stage with two men standing on both sides, probably guards preventing people from climbing onto the stage.
People trickled in slowly as the minutes passed. There were tables and chairs all around the room and they made themselves comfortable. They got weird looks and stares. I mean how could people not stare at them? They're both covered in blood, almost from head to toe. But a lot of people were just as bloody as them. They must've gone through the same thing.
They sat down, staining the white table cloth with the blood on their hands. They didn't speak. They were still processing what even happened in there. Justyn's eyes were darting around like they were looking for answers and Akio was just frozen. They were both tired, and rightfully so.
There was another table next to them with a man sitting on his own. He couldn't take his eyes off the sorry sight that was Justyn and Akio. He got up and walked over to them.
"So…" The man said, smiling. "What the hell happened over here?"
Akio looked up at the man. He was a tall guy. Short slick hair that was swept back. He wore a black hoodie with a red t-shirt underneath.
He pulled out a chair and sat down with his hands intertwined as he looked at the both of them.
"How did y'all get so beat up by doing a trial like this one?" The man said, chuckling.
Akio looked back down at the blood-stained table. Justyn then looked up at the man.
"We uh… we were attacked." Justyn confessed, not really knowing how to tell him that they ended up in a restricted area.
"Hah, I can tell. But I've never seen anything of this caliber on the first trial."
"This trial was different." Akio said sheepishly, not wanting to say he was in a restricted area either.
The man spread his hands onto the table and pushed himself up to where he was looking down on the both of them.
"So, how 'bout I join y'alls alliance or whatever's goin' on here." He said smiling. Akio and Justyn looked at the man, and then to each other.
"I mean.. If you want to, sure." Akio responded.
"Alrighty! This should be fun! Anyway my name's 'Hollow', what's yours?" He said, pointing to Akio. Akio just stared.
"Hollow?" Akio asked, confused.
"Alright I may have fibbed a bit, my real name is Vance Marlon, but I like to go by 'Hollow'."
Both Justyn and Akio found it weird he went by a pseudonym but they would tolerate it, as long as he'd be a loyal member of the team. Akio raised his hand. "My name's Akio."
Hollow pointed to Justyn.
"I'm Justyn."
The man lowered his hand slowly and stared at him sternly. "How you spell it?" He asked.
"It's Justyn, with a 'y'."
"Y'know it aint funny takin' the name of a god, right? That's very disrespectful to the real Justyn."
"No, that's genuinely his name." Akio said, covering his face with his hands.
Hollow looked at Justyn with genuine surprise. He never expected someone to meet someone actually named "Justyn". This was a first for him, although not unheard of.
"What did you mean by 'disrespectful'?" Justyn asked.
"Well, it's just that, Justyn died almost a year ago." Hollow said.
Now that he mentioned it, Justyn did recall Akio saying something about him being dead. He didn't really connect the dots back there, but now it all makes sense.
"Wait, gods can die?"
Both Akio and Hollow glared at Justyn like he just asked a really stupid question.
"Of course they can!" Hollow exclaimed "Gods are just contestants that were chosen to be gods. They aren't immortal, they can die just like all of us."
"How did he die?"
Neither Akio or Hollow said anything for a moment.
"Well, no one actually knows," Akio said. "It could've been suicide, or an asassination."
"Oh yeah, assassinations happen all the time." Hollow said.
"Well he didn't die to an assassin. He was probably pushed into the void, because no body was ever found. Not even gods with clairvoyance can find it!"
"An assassin couldn't do that?"
They debated whether it was an assassination or not. It could've honestly been anything. For all they knew, the god could still be alive somewhere, but has just never been found. It was an interesting topic.
They spoke for around an hour, and people kept trickling in. Suddenly all the lights turned off. Spot lights then turned on, illuminating the stage. Everyone could see the man standing there.
"Hello everyone!" A loud voice echoed through the auditorium. "My name is Ben, I am the Senior Administrator for the trials." Ben talked confidently, similarly to Atlas, but he also had a cocky tone to him. He emitted a feeling of superiority. "It has been 5 days now," he continued. "-and most of you were awake that whole duration. It's remarkable what a human can do when they need to get a task done.
Five days?! It's really been that long! No wonder Justyn was so tired. He spent 5 days straight completely awake, most of it probably in the halls.
"As plenty of you have probably already figured out, that was the first trial. Congrats to all of you who made it through. Your next trial shall start in another 5 days."
As Ben turned to leave, a man jumped onto his table and screamed at him, "WHY! WHY MUST YOU MAKE US DO THIS?! WHY CAN'T WE JUST LIVE OUR LIVES?!"
Ben turned around slowly. "Why? Well we can't just let anyone live." He stated.
"But wasn't the point of the trials to prepare us for life?" A woman from the crowd asked.
"Well, it's not as much to 'prepare', but more to figure out who should have the right to live." Ben responded. This left a sour taste in everyone's mouth, even those who already knew this.
Ben chuckled to himself. "The human mind is feeble, and fragile. It can scar easily, and be hurt even easier." He said. "This trial was meant to weed out the weak-minded. Those who collapse under-pressure can't move on."
"So you're saying this trial was meant to get rid of the weak?" Someone asked. "Isn't that a bit harsh, I mean we were only looking for a door."
"I think you misunderstand." Ben said, scratching his chin. But before he could continue, he checked his watch. "Ah, I must go now. All of you should get some good sleep, because the next trial won't be any easier!"
He walked off the stage smiling to himself. The curtains closed and then the doors that led into the auditorium, opened back up, to show a hallway. Everyone slowly started exiting the room.
As Justyn, Akio, and Hollow exited, they saw that all the numbers on the doors went in order, from least to greatest. It was no longer a maze and every single person there sighed in relief.
There was a sign on the wall that said "1-5943". It must've been how many contestants there were, but they were surprised. They severely underestimated how many people there were.
After some time of walking Justyn and Akio made their way to their room. They gave their goodbyes to Hollow and went inside. The room was very fancy, with a nice view out of the window. It was a city! It expanded as far as the eye could see, but Akio wasn't as excited about it as Justyn was.
"That's a border room I think. We wouldn't be allowed out there anyway." Akio explained, but Justyn just ignored him.
"If I pass the trials, will I be able to see something like this?" Justyn thought to himself. He had never seen anything like it before, at least not to his knowledge.
Justyn finally turned away from the window to look at an alarm clock. It was 2:36 AM. Justyn looked down at his bloody clothes. He looked in a closet to see a spare. He grabbed a pair and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
When he got out Akio was fast asleep in bed. Justyn went up to his own bed and got into it. He turned off the lamp and looked out the window. He still couldn't believe how beautiful it was. He soon fell fast asleep, watching the city glow, in all of its glory.